55 Reef on a Budget

[meco65]

Yea you could park your truck on that stand.

 

[adnup]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8095843#post8095843 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by blue02celi
one more ?
how tall did you make the tank? I think most come around 30" right? but thats kinda low IMO. I was thinking 40" but then again I dont want it to start getting unstable as it goes higher. 30 seems like Id have to bend over more just to look into the tank, not that Im tall

just measured it. Its 31.5"

 

[adnup]

Well some of the rock is cured! :bounce1: :bounce2: :bounce1: :bounce2:

Here it is for now. I think I'll re-arrange it later but I'm tired tonight.

Yeah I know the bowl has to go now......

No I didnt make the branch rock, thats covered in Green Star Polyps pulled out of my main tank.

 

[danmartis]

thats it?

 

[staticx]

I agree the stand is a bad desighn all the weight of the tank is held on the bolts and that is not what you want you want the wood itself to support the weight not the hardware but for a 55 gallon you can use about anythiong

 

[Lydo]

No the stand is not a bad design. The weigh is not on the bolts. If you actually read the thread you will see that he has 2x4s inbetween the top and bottom section of the stand.

Adnup, thanks for this thread. I was following it when it first started and I copied the frame you used for the stand and it's awsome. I have a 90G on it and it looks great.

 

[scoutmaniak]

Any Updates???

 

[hernluis]

damn that is the same stand i built for my tank!!!!!!!!!

 

[newton27]

The Bowl

The Bowl

What is the bowl in the tank for anyway?

 

[piscivorous]

I am going to be starting my 55 in January after the holidays...unfortunately I can't drill my tank as it has a tag that states all sides are tempered glass...so I'll be going with an overflow hanging off of the back...otherwise, I think I'll be following this thread for some pointers...keep up the good work...THANKS!!!

 

[savethereef]

looks nice

 

[adnup]

Re: The Bowl

Re: The Bowl

Its been a while since I looked at this thread.
The tank is doing great, I haven't done much with it. The playsand and DIY rocks are doing great. I have alot more rock thats done curing in a river I need to go get.

I use the overflow for two other purposes,
1. To put frags until the glue sets
2. To grow cheato

I'll gets some new pics

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8699516#post8699516 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by newton27
What is the bowl in the tank for anyway?

I use the bowl to get frags started.

 

[adnup]

Re: The Bowl

Re: The Bowl

Its been a while since I looked at this thread.
The tank is doing great, I haven't done much with it. The playsand and DIY rocks are doing great. I have alot more rock thats done curing in a river I need to go get.

I use the overflow for two other purposes,
1. To put frags until the glue sets
2. To grow cheato

I'll gets some new pics

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8699516#post8699516 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by newton27
What is the bowl in the tank for anyway?

I use the bowl to get frags started.

 

[Saicho]

Nicely done adnup. Keep us posted

 

[cowboyswife]

This is an amazing thread! Thanks so much for sharing all of your work!

 

[bgwil99]

Thanks from all of the newbies! I will be using a lot of this info. I need to build a stand and canopy for my daughters reef tank (first reef tank in my family). And I am sure I will be working on another setup before long.

Brian

 

[bgwil99]

Thanks from all of the newbies! I will be using a lot of this info. I need to build a stand and canopy for my daughters reef tank (first reef tank in my family). And I am sure I will be working on another setup before long.

Brian

 

[adnup]

Thanks everyone....
I've been so busy with the holidays and such that I've kinda just let this tank do its own thing. My wife cleans the glass everyday and I change the sock once a week and thats about all I've done to it. Everything is doing fine, I'm using it for frags so its not super pretty but you can see in these pic's that that DIY live rock is coloring up nicely. The one thing I'm not happy about it the sand. The larger pebbles get green and coraline on them . I really like the pure white look I get from the LFS live sand.

But here are some updated pics

P.S. Bowl changed to a glass(back left):rollface:

Also I dont know if I talked about mag mounts in an earlier post BUT they are the best thing I've ever done to either tank. You can see my first "prototype" on the mag on the right in the second pic. Suction cups SUCK!!:hammer: They were pretty easy to make and work flawlessly for about $10 a powerhead they save me alot of aggravation

 

[adnup]

Some new DIY rock added. The other is starting to color up really nice. I've been slowly adding some to my main display tank. I'm also doing a DIY prop system in my garage.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Very nice. It's looking good. I'm glad to get an update.