Back from the dead

[bmorecopper]

Hey gang,
I have finally made it back from the dead. I know, I know, you missed me. Hugs and high fives later. :celeb1: I hope everyone is doing good. Between crazy work schedule, a ton of family birthday parties, playing baseball on Sundays and anything else you can throw in the mix I have been non stop for the last two months.

Now that things should start slowing down, I want to switch everything over from my 44 pentagon to my 54 bow front. I want to have everything done and in place by Christmas.

My goal is to have an optimum environment for my little part of the world. (as is everyone else) I guess the best thing to do is list the equipment I currently have. Priszm protein skimmer, Aquaclear 300 filter, maxi jet 400 P/H, Koralia 3, 150w MH pendant. Thats it. I have a crushed coral substrate that I have had for 10 years and live rock

Things I would like to do...
Start with a sand substrate instead of crushed coral.
Add more live rock
upgrade to a 250w MH pendant
remove as much as possible from the top of the tank to under.

I know I am missing some things but I can't not think of anything else right now.

I would like to do a DIY for anything under the tank. I can post the dimensions in a few days
I am not opposed to drilling the tank. However, my wife is very opposed to drilling through the floor.

Today I am sanding the tank stand and hope to have that sanded and waterproofed by the end of the week. I am not sure where to go from there.

I would love to make this some sort of group build and I can make this a separate thread if needed. I was thinking this would be good for anyone like myself that wants to step up to the next level but doesn't really know how. So with half of a novel written, I will defer to you guys and gals. Any ideas, suggestions, words of wisdom, prayers, etc, will be appreciated.

Copper

 

[2turtles]

My two cents is to go light on the substrate

 

[bmorecopper]

My two cents is to go light on the substrate

As in, a thin sand bed?

 

[2turtles]

You could go with crushed coral or "sugar sand", whatever looks good to you. IMO all a 2 or 3 inch sand or gravel bed does in catch and hold a lot of detritus which leads to water quality issues later on. A thin cover gives the look without the trouble, but you still need to vacuum every once and a while. Your fish will push it around as well.

 

[bmorecopper]

You could go with crushed coral or "sugar sand", whatever looks good to you. IMO all a 2 or 3 inch sand or gravel bed does in catch and hold a lot of detritus which leads to water quality issues later on. A thin cover gives the look without the trouble, but you still need to vacuum every once and a while. Your fish will push it around as well.[/QUOTE


When I had my FOWLR I had a two inch crushed coral substrate because I vacuumed it every time I did a water change. Since I have had my reef I have dropped to about a half to three quarters inch substrate. I wouldn't want to go any deeper then that. I do like the idea of "sugar sand". Is it possible to vacuum sand? I figured it was too lite and would suck up in the vacuum.

 

[BigKodiak]

WOW copper...I thought it was just me that fell off the face of the earth over the summer months.
BK

 

[03LightningSVT]

Let's see if I understand what you mean by "remove as much as possible from the top of the tank to under."

1. 54 Bow needs drilled & overflow box for future sump.
2. You are finishing up the stand & will provide dimensions later.
3. Sump needs custom built - optiumized for space and skimmer available.
4. Return pump and all plumbing needs completed.

Am I even close?

 

[bmorecopper]

Let's see if I understand what you mean by "remove as much as possible from the top of the tank to under."

1. 54 Bow needs drilled & overflow box for future sump.
2. You are finishing up the stand & will provide dimensions later.
3. Sump needs custom built - optiumized for space and skimmer available.
4. Return pump and all plumbing needs completed.

Am I even close?

Right on the nose!

 

[turbonegro]

I would go without the sand and upgrade the skimmer to some type of cone skimmer. I have several 250 watt ballast laying around if you want to say some money on the lighting. I have drill bits for drilling holes in glass. I would also checkout dosing 2part if your going to do sps.

I think it would be fun if we did a tank build with the club at your house. If you get everything we need we could have that tank done in a few hours.

 

[03LightningSVT]

Sand or not can be decided much later...we need to get water flowing in this thing first
1. We need to determine stand size and the area dedicated to the skimmer. Internal skimmer or not? Same questions need to be asked about the return pump and any other gear you plan on having in the sump.
2. Purchase sump or DIY sump depending on requirements of above. DIY custom acrylic sump alone will take several hours to construct from raw sheet to finish w/water test.
3. Now that you have spent $$$$$ on a new skimmer, return pump, and sump..you get to bring out the fun toys and and drill holes for the overflow. Is this tank acrylic or glass? Acrylic no biggy, glass on the other hand (from what I understand)is a different story in that most tank bottoms do not like to be drilled as they are tempered. Only sure way is to contact the tank manufacturer and determine which panels are safe to drill. Once you have that info, you can determine where and how many holes you want to poke in this thing
4. Next, you're going to want to buy or DIY your overflow box, install and finally connect it all together with your plumbing goodies, bulkheads, pipe, fittings, valves, etc.

There are several DIY/build threads here on RC detailing all of the comments above.

+1 with what Turbo said "I think it would be fun if we did a tank build with the club at your house."