Mike's 55 Gallon Rebuild!!!

[msnwld]

Hey folks I'm new to this forum and just wanted to say hey to all you guys n girls. I decided to redo my 55 gallon mixed reef and wanted to keep a ongoing thread of the progress. I didn't have a sump before but I am doing one this time so I'm gonna have a few questions about setting it up properly and what you guys found that works best for this size tank. Also what kind of PVC pipe and what is safe glu wise for saltwater aquariums. Ill post a picture later tonite when I can get on my computer

 

[msnwld]

Finally got a picture up on the computer For some reason I couldnt get my phone to load it not sure why but if anyone has the Samsung Gallaxy 3 let me know how you upload pics please. did first water test last night and very suprised at the results. Any input you have on a tank that is been up and running with new sand and new water but old established rock of 3 years and give the results i listed below please do as im kinda confused as i would have thought there to be slight amonia and nitrites???

Water Temp - 79 segrees
SG - 1.026
PH - 8.3-8.4
Amonia was real clost to 0 (pretty yellow on the test kit)
Nitrite looked like 0 also
Nitrates looks to be right around 0 on the color scale

 

[NeilFox]

Looking good. You may have enough established rock to suppress any big cycle. As far as PVC is concerned, plain old sch 40 from Home Depot is fine, the same with the glue. It is rated for drinking water.

How long has the tank been set up? You may want to ghost feed to keep the bacteria up.

 

[dcantrall100]

Looks great.

 

[TX..r33f]

looking good! what size sump do you plan on getting? for me i think you can never really go to big on the sump size. Then you can hide your heater and skimmer down their, clean things up a bit. Also what lights are you running?

 

[msnwld]

i was looking at one of the pre built ones for up to 125 gallons. i cant do but so big since space underneath is limited to about 10 inces wide so i was thinking about puttin g2 of them under there or find 2 - 20G tanks and DIY methods. tank has been up for 2 weeks with everything in it. the sand is brand new with 40lbs of carib sea arragonite and 20lbs of oceans live sand. the rock is from my previous setup about 60lbs or so never really weighed it and bought is so sparatically at firs so dont remember weight but i know its close to 1lb per G. lights are the Solar Xtreme 48224 T5O. it was actually malfunctioning and its almost 4 years old and no stores could do anything. i have no reciept and got in touch with the manufacture and they sent me a whole new control board, display panel and new moonlights all for free. they really tool care of me especially with it way out of warranty and no reciept. so thumbs up to them as i have seen mixed reviews on them and they are hands down great on the service. they even said if the control board didnt fix the issue they would send me a new fixture for free. valur of $300.00. it was $350.00 when i got it cause it just came out. gonna start to ghost feed tonight and see if i can get anything out of it but ran another test last night and its crazy everything is right on point. ill post a pic of the tubes with chart colors next to them in a little bit.

 

[RGCEsq]

Your tank looks great. Any update?

 

[msnwld]

Not much got updated lately. Got all my rock back into the tank after a 30 day bake. All cycled with 5 turbo snails and a GSP frag. Not sure what fish I'm gonna run with this time. Any thoughts?

 

[msnwld]

Not much got updated lately. Got all my rock back into the tank after a 30 day bake. All cycled with 5 turbo snails and a GSP frag. Not sure what fish I'm gonna run with this time. Any thoughts?

Oh and a new Skimmer. Reef Octopus BH 2000 not much skim mate yet since there isn't much in the tank only about 1/2 cup after 6 days but this Skimmer definitely is strong and can see it really pulling the waste out once my bioload goes up.

 

[msnwld]

got a few updated pics of the rebuild. What do u guys think?

 

[msnwld]

Even crazier I already have coraline on the glass and all my equipment. It really started to take off in the past 2 to 3 days. Haven't added anything either such as purple up. Does this mean that the water in my tank is in good shape???

 

[msnwld]

Bump

 

[msnwld]

Got some new pics of the tank

 

[pkane11384]

Looking good. Watch that Pulsing Xenia. It grows like a weed

 

[msnwld]

It was 1 stalk a month ago. The Duncan has sprouted 3 heads in about a month to. Everything has probably doubled to trippled in size since purchase