56g Reef Build

[wrxreefer823]

Good evening, and Happy Holidays to all!

I am starting this thread to document my tank build, and hopefully receive some good advice on a tank I have decided to start up after about two years of being without any fish. In the past a had a 29 gallon FOWLR, and went to the store today to pick up a new stand for the tank, and ended up leaving with a 56 gallong tank, stand, and new filter amongst other items. I've condidered doing a sump with this tank, although I would have to find a way to get the water to the bottom of the cabinet, as the tank is not pre-drilled (this is where some handy advice would come in).

The tank itself is a 56 gallon "column" glass aquarium, 30"w x 18"d x 24". I figured that would give me plenty of room to add some spiffy livestock without breaking the bank too much. The rest of the equipment includes;

-Fluval 305 Canister filter
-CPR Bakpak HOB protein skimmer (will this work for a 56 gallon? I've heard mixed opinions from friends and employees at LFS's)
-Acan LED lighting (not sure which model I want yet, going to go order them tomorrow)
-2- 30lb bags of live sand
-More salt than you can shake a stick at
-and a few random power heads I had laying around

As you can tell, this will be a work in progress, but I figured I would slowly add on as needed. I unfortunately was not able to get the stand today since we are experiencing some snow, but I'm sure by this time tomorrow I will have the tank full and will be working on getting my salt levels correct

As far as the Bakpak goes, does anyone know of any over flow attachments that are available for them? I'm sure I could just as easily make something as well.

Thanks everyone, pics will surely be posted soon!

cheers

 

[wrxreefer823]

Okay, so I'm a bit pressed for time but have a question for anyone who would be of assitance. I bought a 36" Solar Xtreme T5HO Light Fixture, and it seems that it will not power up unless plugged into a GFCI outlet, which of course, there are none in close proximity to the tank (or even in the same room for that matter).

My question is, are there any lights available that do not require that they be plugged into a GFCI (that are able to support corals), or am I just SOL? Thanks!

 

[wrxreefer823]

Time for an update.

I worked out the lighting issue I had... turns out I just had to rewire the plug... who ever the idiot was at the manufacturer didn't wire the plug right. Crisis averted With that being said, I finally have tank pictures!

Here's the tank awaiting the stand (had to postpone the set up a few days due to a snow storm we had, and I wasn't able to get the stand).

First bucket of water is in!

A little more than half full...

Salinity levels are good, and threw on the lighting that came with the tank just to show it off.

Added the sand a day later, I was almost afraid of the swamp thing jumping out during the middle of the night...

Sand finally settled, and I added the live rock, as well as the new (fixed) lights!


I decided to upgrade my protein skimmer to a Coralife Super Skimmer 65g model, and it seems to be working just fine (still in the break in period), as well as my power head, up to a Hydor Koralia 750. Between the output of my Fluval and that power head, the tank seems to have more than enough flow.

I'm still trying to tweak the program on my lighting to be well suited for corals... Any recommendations on the lighting cycles? It's equiped with two daylight tubes, two actinic's, and the moonlight LED's.

Also still trying to figure out somewhat to incorporate a sump, I'd really like to get the skimmer off the side of the tank!

Thanks, and happy reefing!

 

[reeftanknewbie]

Great start..... check out my 56 column build for ideas on a sump.

 

[wrxreefer823]

Great start..... check out my 56 column build for ideas on a sump.

Thanks! I took a glance at your build threat and I will certainly be following it! (Belated) Congrats on your baby as well! Thats exciting

 

[wrxreefer823]

Alright folks, time for a much over due update! (with pictures!)

I had added a few damsels, 1- Yellow Tail, 1- Lemon, and 1- Blue Devil and they did wonderfully in the tank. The Lemon was rather large and kind of took over the joint, more or less decided to make a crap ton o' holes in the sand.

After a week or so I had an increasingly unsightly case of brown algea, so I felt it was time for a clean up crew. I went with 5-Nassarius Snails, 5- Turbo Snails, and 10- Hermit Crabs.

Here you can see the algea, this was about at its peak. (The whites washed out the sand in the picture, but I assure there was a nice blanket of brown on the floor of the tank as well.)

After a week or so I decided to throw in a few clowns, so I purchased 2- Ocellaris, and 1- Cinnamon. They were doing very well save for the fact that the damsels surely would have killed them. Long story short (and a rather large head ache later), I have 3 very happy clowns, 3 very GONE damsels, and a rearranged aquascape. I also threw in a Fire Shrimp.

The clowns and shrimp have now been in the tank for a week and are doing wonderfully. I also now have a ton of copepods on the side of my tank, and what I believe to be a small hand full jelly hydroids... The following picture shows one of these "hydroids" (the white dot with tentacle looking things)

Last but not least, I think I have solved my sump/over flow idea/issue. I found an over flow box I liked at a LFS and a friend who works there is going to hook me up with all the needed equipment to get my sump started. Not sure if I want to incorporate a fuge yet or not though. I might as well while I'm at it!

 

[zmckenzie]

I love the new rock scape!

 

[Flippers4pups]

Here's a pic from about a year ago.

 

[wrxreefer823]

I love the new rock scape!

Thanks! It gives a lot more hiding spots and little tunnels than the previous set up did. AND it's stable

Here's a pic from about a year ago. View attachment 136516

Very nice! I'm really looking forward to getting some corals and more fish in the tank to change up the color scheme. All I have now is red and orange.

 

[wrxreefer823]

It's been a week since my last update is the tank is still running strong I spent a night during the week getting a handle on my new test kit, and was very pleased with the results! The parameters are pretty close to ideal, and I'm very pleased with the fact that the tank is so stable at such an early age.

Tuesday evening my friend from a LFS gave me a great deal on a spunky little Hippo Tang, and on day 4 he is still doing great, and eating like a champ!

I finally sat down and drew up some crude plans for a sump while I had some down time at work. I figure I will go with either a 15, or a 20 high for the sump.

I'm not totally sure whether I want to ditch the Fluval 305 and go with a a filter bag, or use the Fluval as my return pump (I can see the latter option posing many problems in the long run, but I dont want to feel like I wasted the money on the Fluval either). Any advice?

Thanks, and happy reefing!

 

[fisher4d]

I have a 56 also with. 20 high sump. With a filter sock and decent size skimmer there's just not enough room for a fuge. I use a hob fuge.

 

[wrxreefer823]

I have a 56 also with. 20 high sump. With a filter sock and decent size skimmer there's just not enough room for a fuge. I use a hob fuge.

I've considered a HOB fuge, but I really dont have the space behind the tank for a HOB unit. My main reason for building the sump is to get everything off the back of the tank. I figured if I did decide to continue to run the Fluval and use that as my return pump, that would be a huge space saver since I wouldn't really have to house a return pump, or a filter sock.

I went out today and picked up a 20 gallon high, along with 6 peices of 11x14 acrylic (better to have extra for those "oh sh!t" moments), and a rather large piece of egg crate. Oh, and beer. Now comes the fun part!

Another question I had, what size should the fuge be?

 

[Lamball1]

Looks good. Hopefully the coming weeks will go like planned-
1 word of advice- dont buy damnsels!
Keep the pics coming!

 

[Metal Man 1221]

I would recommend another form of a siphon break, check valves stick and then you end up with half of your tanks water on the floor. Trust me, its a mess you don't want to clean up. What I did was drilled a small hole in my return just above the water level.

 

[wrxreefer823]

Looks good. Hopefully the coming weeks will go like planned-
1 word of advice- dont buy damnsels!
Keep the pics coming!

Thanks!! I'm very happy with how this tank is turning out... compared to my old 29g FOWLR, this is a walk in the park *knocks on wood* - I know I probably just jynxed myself and my tank will crash at 2:37am AND somehow the flatscreen will fall off the wall crushing the cat and dragging the PS3 to the floor with it, all in a matter of 22 seconds.

But I digress, I LOVE how you refer to them as Damnsels... that got a good chuckle out of me

I would recommend another form of a siphon break, check valves stick and then you end up with half of your tanks water on the floor. Trust me, its a mess you don't want to clean up. What I did was drilled a small hole in my return just above the water level.

I wasn't aware of the problem with check valves... You mean they stick open if (when) the power goes out and there's no flow? I'm intrigued by your idea to drill a hole in the return, but I'm puzzled as well. Could you elaborate?

 

[wrxreefer823]

Minor set back. The 20g will not fit into my stand. Back to the drawing board!

 

[wrxreefer823]

After recalculating, I'm going to have to go with a 10 gallon standard. It's the only tank that would logically fit inside the stand *curses self for buying the "sale" stand from petsmart*. In doing so I'll have to run the protein skimmer off the side of the sump, and continue to use the fluval, as I won't have room to accomodate a filter bag AND return pump.

 

[wrxreefer823]

Aaaand the skimmer is too tall to fit in the cabinet as well. I actually had to laugh at this, because it is the EXACT height of the space under the shelf in the cabinet. Now if I can figure out if the shelf gives the cabinet structural support or not, I can easily take out the shelf and be able to use the 20 gallon AND the skimmer.

 

[wrxreefer823]

So I decided to scrap the sump project for now. It's going to turn into a headache REAL fast. I do have a quick question. Does anyone have a blue tang that is possessive of a certain area of their tank? My little guy seems to be guarding a corner of the tank for some reason. Just starting doing it yesterday...

*EDIT*

I've actually got all sorts of crazy stuff in the tank. Lol... My friend and I noticed a feather duster growing up out of the live rock, which got me pretty exciting. She also noticed a bristleworm, which I've only seen once since she pointed it out last week. Lastly, I've got a sea slug crawling around, which is spewing some sort of brownish dots. Any ideas what THAT could be?

 

[wrxreefer823]

Alright fellow reefers, time for a LONG overdue update (with PICTURES and VIDEO!)

I last left with plans to make a DIY sump... well those plans have been scrapped. Due to the odd shaped opening of my stand, I would only be able to fit a 10 gallon sump into the bottom, and given the fact that I wanted to make a 'fuge in there... well that would make for a very very small 'fuge. I've been toying with the idea of a HOB unit though, still not quite sure. Haven't purchased any new equipment at all, save for a API Tap Water filter, which I could not be happier with. Since I live in an appartment, it's kind of tough to install a full RO/DI system, so this at least assures that my fishies get clean water.

New additions to the tank include a Cherub Pygmy Angel, and a green Bubble Tipped Anemone, both pictured below:

The anemone went unhosted for a little while, about two weeks or so until I woke up one morning to this sight, and I couldn't have been more excited!

After the Tomato clown decided to host, they've been inseperable. He even attacks my mag float! Lol... One more shot of the pair...

I still have yet to see the clown bring any food to his anemone though... I'm not TOO concerned with it, I just think it would be really cool to watch it happen more than anything.

So far the tank has been holding up very well! I did have a case of Ich about a month ago or so, which I treated for and it cleared right up. All I can say after dealing with that is, I wont be buying from a certain LFS anymore

My blue tang recently started being somewhat aggressive and has been nipping the fins of my smallest Ocellaris, so in an attempt to "reset the pecking order", so to speak, I rearranged my rock work. I must say, I do like the new lay out, but all my spots of coraline are now hidden oh, in case you're wondering, the anomone IS in there, it's just under the rock in the upper right. I imagine it will come back out once the stress level from the move subsides. The tang has calmed down a lot though, so I'm pretty satisfied.

All in all, it's been a great run so far, and I couldn't be happier with my tank! Lastly, I'll leave you with a picture of a renegade hermit crab who thought a snail was his ticket out of the tank, and a Pre-anemone/rock move video.

Cheers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNL5d-_itQQ

-EDIT-

I forgot mention I took out my powerhead as well. When it was in there, it seemed that the tank was getting too much flow and all the livestock would hide in the corner under the power head. Since it was removed from the tank, they make use of all their swimming space, and I still have adequate flow coming from my canaster filter!