My 54G Mixed Reef (pic intense)
- Thread starter Avast Marine
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Avast Marine
.Registered Member
DIY Vortech
Tunze Nanostream
I think the DIY Vortech is a little out of my league. It would be tought to beat the Tunze as far as wattage goes. I may end up just using a maxijet 900 with a venture attached as my backup pump, since If I had a Tunze in there just for backup I think I would end up turning it on all the time
. Toys.
Tunze Nanostream
I think the DIY Vortech is a little out of my league. It would be tought to beat the Tunze as far as wattage goes. I may end up just using a maxijet 900 with a venture attached as my backup pump, since If I had a Tunze in there just for backup I think I would end up turning it on all the time
. Toys.
Avast Marine
.Registered Member
You need a tank first :lol: . Or is it that you need the shop to build the tank? Seriously when we bought ths house that was priority one for me. It's hard for guys to take you seriously when you have to move the scented candles off the tble to cut a 2x4 :rolleye1: .
I picked out a nice manderin today and just put him in the qt tank an hour ago. I have been sticking with the phyto feeding the tank every day and it has been getting to the point where I have to clean the pods off the glass at least twice a day in order to see in the tank. I need to treat him for ich. Hmmm......hypo or copper......any one have suggestions?
Avast Marine
.Registered Member
BTW, 10,000 + views. You guys are watching 
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Avast Marine
.Registered Member
Its not too hard, there are some great threads here in the DIY forum. You may have noticed I still don't have my hood built :lol: . Now that the shop is just about done I am going to start working on it, seems like a good fall project.
BTW the hood will be linear actuated (of course it will be).
I just want to make sure I am happy with my lighting 100% before I build it. I have been researching the switch too 400w 20k se XM on a m59 ballast and a luminarc a3 mini as a single bulb setup......hmmm....
Avast Marine
.Registered Member
:lol:
Avast Marine
.Registered Member
Ok, I want to respond to a couple of corner tank owners here. I do geta lot of PM's from people regarding this setup and would like to keep it all out in the open so everyone can benifit.
As far as the closed loop outlets that are behind my rock work I think they do a really good job of keeping crud from accumulating behind the rock where it is nearly immpossible to syphon. The down side to it is that it takes up a little room and blowss the sand towards the front of the tank as well. I have built up a little rock dam about 3" where most of the sand was jettingout from and this has solved the problem and frankly I think it gives the tank a natural look with differant heights to the sandbed.
As far as the size of the 54 corner goes I am generally happy with it. The 92 doesn't have that much of a bigger footprint (really). My longterm plan is to setup a 210 in the next room and have both tanks plumbed together via common sump. At that point the corner tank will become a seahorse tank and I will turn the flow down substantially. If this were going to be my stand alone reef tank for a long period of time I definitely would go the 92 corner route. In the long run the amount of money spent on equiping the 54 vs th 92 is not substantial enough IMHO to make it the deciding factor. My tank sits 8" from the wall and is plumbed externally. If I had a RR 92 and plumbing went below it would occupy the exact same footprint. I did that for a reason . I am not going to disuede anyone from this tank. It is great! You can do alot with it and not many tanks in this volume range can compete with available room and depth of viewing feild. If 54 is as large as you are prepared to go, then do it! Just be sure to leave enough room to move to the 92 if the urge ever strikes (our little secret 
)
HTH guys
As far as the closed loop outlets that are behind my rock work I think they do a really good job of keeping crud from accumulating behind the rock where it is nearly immpossible to syphon. The down side to it is that it takes up a little room and blowss the sand towards the front of the tank as well. I have built up a little rock dam about 3" where most of the sand was jettingout from and this has solved the problem and frankly I think it gives the tank a natural look with differant heights to the sandbed.
As far as the size of the 54 corner goes I am generally happy with it. The 92 doesn't have that much of a bigger footprint (really). My longterm plan is to setup a 210 in the next room and have both tanks plumbed together via common sump. At that point the corner tank will become a seahorse tank and I will turn the flow down substantially. If this were going to be my stand alone reef tank for a long period of time I definitely would go the 92 corner route. In the long run the amount of money spent on equiping the 54 vs th 92 is not substantial enough IMHO to make it the deciding factor. My tank sits 8" from the wall and is plumbed externally. If I had a RR 92 and plumbing went below it would occupy the exact same footprint. I did that for a reason
. I am not going to disuede anyone from this tank. It is great! You can do alot with it and not many tanks in this volume range can compete with available room and depth of viewing feild. If 54 is as large as you are prepared to go, then do it! Just be sure to leave enough room to move to the 92 if the urge ever strikes (our little secret )HTH guys
dastratt
New member
Another 54 owner, Ive been tagging here as the set up is really impressive. (I'm not nearly the DYIer, for example I cannot attempt to fit the sump in this space so I'm making due without for now. My inhabitants seem okay without it.)
The 54g is the only decent size tank we could fit in the space we had and it makes a beautiful presentation in the corner of a smaller room. I had a 35 hex and this tank enabled me to up the water volume, width, and usable space for rock and corals substantially while still fitting in the same space (barely). The bowfront makes for much better viewing. If you've got space and the money for the 92 do go for it esp if you want a tang or larger fish, that is one real limitation of the 54 vs 92 IMO. (I keep only 2 Osc Clowns, 2YTD and a 6LW).
The 54g is the only decent size tank we could fit in the space we had and it makes a beautiful presentation in the corner of a smaller room. I had a 35 hex and this tank enabled me to up the water volume, width, and usable space for rock and corals substantially while still fitting in the same space (barely). The bowfront makes for much better viewing. If you've got space and the money for the 92 do go for it esp if you want a tang or larger fish, that is one real limitation of the 54 vs 92 IMO. (I keep only 2 Osc Clowns, 2YTD and a 6LW).
Avast Marine
.Registered Member
Thanks for checking in dastratt, I love my tank too
Speaking of fish.....
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58279226@N00/250883670/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/107/250883670_20208d5cd9_o.jpg" width="600" height="449" alt="tex" /></a>
Been home tonight waiting for som guys from the club to come by and get a group order and decided to work on the two pictures I have had the most trouble getting. Actinic shot and fish shot. I wasn't overly crazy about this fish ("Tex") when we got him, but I let my wife pick fish. She wanted this guy to be the main species for the tank, so I agreed. He has grown on me quite a bit. TONS of personallity and no coral nipping. I like to run alot of carbon on my tanks anyway so if something bad should happen, I feel comfortable in knowing that the damage will be minimal. So stocking plan goes like this:
Peaceful, easy going reef fish large enough or fast enough to not be mistaken as food for my snowflake when the day comes to combine all of the tanks. No tangs, clowns, butterfly's or anything that will chase or aggrivate Tex, and no cleaner type fish inverts for the same reason.
I think that leaves me quite a few options don't you?
Heres a shot of #1 who fits the bill.....
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58279226@N00/250883668/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/104/250883668_1576b5ef00_o.jpg" width="600" height="449" alt="mandrin" /></a>
Not the greatest picture. You can see how nice that frogspawn has colored up in my tank. The flourecence of this guy is pretty unreal. Also of note is the lime green coraline is fading to purple. Yippie, I hate green rocks
. I also added about 8# of small branch rock to fill some holes and give me some shelf support in places that were a little wobbly.
BTW, I did the freshwater dip/ 50% waterchange 3x method to treat the mandrin for possible ich. Not likely that he had it but, better safe than sorry .
Speaking of fish.....
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58279226@N00/250883670/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/107/250883670_20208d5cd9_o.jpg" width="600" height="449" alt="tex" /></a>
Been home tonight waiting for som guys from the club to come by and get a group order and decided to work on the two pictures I have had the most trouble getting. Actinic shot and fish shot. I wasn't overly crazy about this fish ("Tex") when we got him, but I let my wife pick fish. She wanted this guy to be the main species for the tank, so I agreed. He has grown on me quite a bit. TONS of personallity and no coral nipping. I like to run alot of carbon on my tanks anyway so if something bad should happen, I feel comfortable in knowing that the damage will be minimal. So stocking plan goes like this:
Peaceful, easy going reef fish large enough or fast enough to not be mistaken as food for my snowflake when the day comes to combine all of the tanks. No tangs, clowns, butterfly's or anything that will chase or aggrivate Tex, and no cleaner type fish inverts for the same reason.
I think that leaves me quite a few options don't you?
Heres a shot of #1 who fits the bill.....
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58279226@N00/250883668/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/104/250883668_1576b5ef00_o.jpg" width="600" height="449" alt="mandrin" /></a>
Not the greatest picture. You can see how nice that frogspawn has colored up in my tank. The flourecence of this guy is pretty unreal. Also of note is the lime green coraline is fading to purple. Yippie, I hate green rocks
. I also added about 8# of small branch rock to fill some holes and give me some shelf support in places that were a little wobbly.BTW, I did the freshwater dip/ 50% waterchange 3x method to treat the mandrin for possible ich. Not likely that he had it but, better safe than sorry
.
Avast Marine
.Registered Member
They have a natural resistance. They are not immune. Stephen Pro has written quite a lot on the topic. It seems to be one of those reef folklore things. I wouldn't have even thought to consider ich (a believer in the folklore myself) but, I got him from a wholesaler in the area that is notorious for their ich. I know, great place to go fish shopping huh? Really though their prices and selection make it worth it, you just have to be prepared to lose one in QT every now and then.
BTW, hows your pair doing?
BTW, hows your pair doing?
Stile2
New member
they're doing great! the six-line still picks on the female every now and then, but never the male. both are cruising all over and picking at the rocks.
I just got two bottles of pods from OceanPods to beef up my pod population. One bottle for the fuge the other bottle in the tank in the middle of the night.
Keith
I just got two bottles of pods from OceanPods to beef up my pod population. One bottle for the fuge the other bottle in the tank in the middle of the night.
Keith
Avast Marine
.Registered Member
All righty, the time has come to build the canopy. This is not going to be a overnight project, but I will update along the way.
Tonight I got the slides mounted to the wall.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58279226@N00/253760872/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/113/253760872_d0ff11c9d6_b.jpg" width="1024" height="766" alt="DSCN1342" /></a>
and the hardest piece of the canopy is cut and sitting on the front trim.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58279226@N00/253760868/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/100/253760868_cf0a98fd64_b.jpg" width="1024" height="766" alt="DSCN1341" /></a>
If anyone has experience with linear actuators nows the time to speak up .
I think I am going to go with 1 actuator and 1 gas strut. I am not sure the load or speed yet. Or even where I am going to attach them. It seems like a challenge now that the slides are mounted to the wall, how do I get the frame mounted to the slides? They should screw from the back side, but I can't get to em now :lol:
Wheres 8Ball_99?
Tonight I got the slides mounted to the wall.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58279226@N00/253760872/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/113/253760872_d0ff11c9d6_b.jpg" width="1024" height="766" alt="DSCN1342" /></a>
and the hardest piece of the canopy is cut and sitting on the front trim.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/58279226@N00/253760868/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/100/253760868_cf0a98fd64_b.jpg" width="1024" height="766" alt="DSCN1341" /></a>
If anyone has experience with linear actuators nows the time to speak up
.I think I am going to go with 1 actuator and 1 gas strut. I am not sure the load or speed yet. Or even where I am going to attach them. It seems like a challenge now that the slides are mounted to the wall, how do I get the frame mounted to the slides? They should screw from the back side, but I can't get to em now :lol:
Wheres 8Ball_99?
8BALL_99
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8228254#post8228254 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dandy7200
If anyone has experience with linear actuators nows the time to speak up
I think I am going to go with 1 actuator and 1 gas strut. I am not sure the load or speed yet. Or even where I am going to attach them. It seems like a challenge now that the slides are mounted to the wall, how do I get the frame mounted to the slides? They should screw from the back side, but I can't get to em now :lol:
Wheres 8Ball_99?
LOL,
Its looking really good. One Actuator will work great.. I've only got one on my 92 and the canopy is made of all oak! The actuator on mine 92 is Rated for 150lbs. Your canopy shouldnt' weight no where near that much. Probably around 30-40lbs.
As far as mounting the Canopy to the Tracks haha that is a little tricky. You will need to attatch them to the Canopy First. Measure for your studs on the wall then just Transfer that to the back of the Canopy.. Mount your tracks to the Canopy. Now for the Tricky part. I set my canopy inplace on the tank then lifted it Straight up. Lift it High enough so you can get to the first set of Screw holes on the bottem of the track.. Once you get the first couple in just raise it up so you can get to the next set of holes. I cut a couple of 2x4s for this. First 2x4 was just long enough to raise the Canopy to the first Screw holes.. The Second 2x4 was long enough to raise the Canopy up the ceiling. It would be a good Idea to have an extra set of hands to help hold it up.. I did mine alone and it was a job lol.. I tried to mount my 180 Canopy alone and couldnt' pick it up over my head lol.. Had to recruit my wife for a lil help :rolleye1:
Hope that helps a little. Keep up the good work.
Avast Marine
.Registered Member
That helps alot . I tore the sheetrock off the wall and put up 1/2" plywood before I got the tank in place so I wouldn't have to worry about finding studs since I am doing built ins for the room. I am thinking that I would like to have the actuator mounted behind the tank and push the canopy up rather than lifting from the top, sort of like the TV lifts. Do you think I could put one on just one side and it would lift without racking the structure over time? I know the rails will keep it going but, I guess I am just on unfamiliar ground with this one, so thats why I was thinking may be the gas shock on one side and the actuator on the other. I was also thinking maybe two of the lighter powered actuators, one on each side. If they are wired together do they always lift/pull at the same rate? If so I think that would be safest? How about speed? 1"/sec seems good to me, what speed is yours? Remote control or Rocker switch.....ahhh the really important question. lol
. I tore the sheetrock off the wall and put up 1/2" plywood before I got the tank in place so I wouldn't have to worry about finding studs since I am doing built ins for the room. I am thinking that I would like to have the actuator mounted behind the tank and push the canopy up rather than lifting from the top, sort of like the TV lifts. Do you think I could put one on just one side and it would lift without racking the structure over time? I know the rails will keep it going but, I guess I am just on unfamiliar ground with this one, so thats why I was thinking may be the gas shock on one side and the actuator on the other. I was also thinking maybe two of the lighter powered actuators, one on each side. If they are wired together do they always lift/pull at the same rate? If so I think that would be safest? How about speed? 1"/sec seems good to me, what speed is yours? Remote control or Rocker switch.....ahhh the really important question. lolSimilar threads
