My 54Gal Corner Tank Dairy Dialup Warning

[markglad]

Well when May comes around my tank will be one year old.
The real credit goes to mr9ironââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦

I had done fresh water for 8 years then one day took them down and for another 8 years never looked back, then coworker mr9iron says salt water is not that hard and after some pictures of his then disassembled tank I was hooked! With mr9iron help this is my first venture.

I knew I wanted a corner tank and I took advantage of his long history with reef tanks and basically let him pick what I should have (its easy spending someone elseââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s money!) I researched what he picked out and then spent a whole lot of money, but at least I did it right the first time!

The Systemââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦
The Aquarium is an All Glass Aquariums 54 Gal Reef Ready
The stand/canopy are custom built by myself
15 gal sump
ASM G Series - G1 Protein Skimmer
Magdrive in sump pump, rated for 950gph
Icecap 250w MH 10,000k with spider reflector
I got some supplemental Compact Fluorescent Actinic lighting mr9iron had laying around.
And not wanting to mess with buying water I got an RO/DI system

The Stand

I dyed the background instead of paintingââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦

After the Stain

The Canopy

The Sump

ASM G Series Protein Skimmer on Movable Stand

The Sump Filling Directly from the RO/DI

 

[markglad]

Filling the Aquarium

Filling the Aquarium

I wanted sand so I used a thin 1ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ layer at the bottom.

I thought I was going to be smart and fill the tank directly from my RO/DI system.

With Lights

Well time to add the salt to the sump and turn on the pumpââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.my bright idea did not work, like so many other I suffered from the sandstorm as soon as the pump went on!

 

[markglad]

The Cycle

The Cycle

Starting the cycle with 44 lbs Fiji Premium Live Rock 44 lbs May 5th 2005

Beautiful!

Still Cloudy, it took a week to clear upââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦..

After the storm clearsââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦

35lbs Additional Rock and Aquascaped, the Rock Wall does not touch any of the glass so no dead spacesââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦

Done in just 3 1/2 Weeks

 

[markglad]

My First Additions….

My First Additionsââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.

My Established Tankââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦..

My First Arrivals the cleaning crew!

Off the top of my head I believe it consisted of ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦..

12 Scarlet Hermit Crabs,
30 Mexican Red-Leg
1 Abalone
2 Emerald Mythrax Crabs,
1 Brittle Star,
2 Serpent Star,
20 Nassarius Snails,
20 Astarea Snails
2 Sea Cucumbers

They came from Marine Depot Live, very happy with the crewââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.

Everyone made it out fine except the Abalone, he crawled into a cave and never emerged again.


This colt was my first cutting given by mr9iron

My first purchase a Pumping Xenia, this little guy did very well but eventually subsumed to my hammer coral which decided this guy was too close to him, maybe it was for the better if he continued to grow I might have a tank full of Xeniaââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.

My first fish a Royal Gramma hard to see in this shot, my wife named him Merlin

My first shrimp a Coral Banded Shrimp, this guy is HUGE now!

Mr9iron kept telling me I needed to get a Frogspawn or Hammer, looking at the picture I was not impressed, then when I saw them in person, I got bothââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦

Some ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œRedââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ Zoos from Extreme Corals, donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t know about you but that IS Orange!

If Only I Had A Brainââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦..also from Extreme Corals, much more happy with this purchaseââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦..

 

[markglad]

Ok My photography is slowly improvingââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦here is my tank as it looks today.

Crocea Clam

Orange Cap growing very well

This is my newest acquisition, a Bulb Tip Anemone picked him up for $36 he looked pretty small but has swelled 4 time his size in my tank, he must like it there.

 

[markglad]

Ok here are my best pictures I an using a Sony Cybershot DSC-P92 5 Mega Pixel and am still learningââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.

Now I picked up a couple of hitchhikers, it was really hard to get a shot of them as they hide a lot, but was able to snap a couple of pictures if anyone can help me ID these things I would really appreciate the helpââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.

 

[markglad]

Well thanks for stopping by, suggestions and comments are welcomedââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚¦..

 

[CarmieJo]

Beautiful. I love how you did the canopy. My 54 gal is only 2 months old, I hope it looks as nice as your's in 10 more months.

 

[usmcsgt]

Sweet tank!!!!

 

[padros4]

Haha! Wow, that's crazy that Patrick and Squidward hitchiked on your rock! I bet Spongebob misses them...nice tank by the way! I sure hope mine looks like that 10 months down the road.

 

[mr9iron]

Mark, thanks for the kudos that you gave me in helping with your tank. Really thought the credit goes to you and your willingness to learn as much as you can about this hobby before you dive in head first. I was impressed with the way Mark went about getting into this hobby. I showed him some pictures of one of my tanks and he was hooked. Mark then read every book that I had concerning reefing and we spent countless hours planing and talking about his upcoming tank. It was truly amazing to see someone take an interest in this hobby like Mark did and actually take the time to learn as much as he could. The pics are great but I can honestly tell you that they do not do his tank justice.
BTW, I had a great time living vicariously through Mark with this tank. He was open to suggestions and IMHO he did things right the first time. That was something that I preached to him. Do it right the first time, do not try to get by to cheap and it will reward you in the end. Good luck with the tank Mark and I cannot wait to start putting a few of those frags in the nano I am planning for the living room.

 

[markglad]

Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m just glad I was able to get everything going without huge headaches. Just wish I got into it before mr9iron sold all his live rock! The only real problem is I had to try the clown fish a couple of time, there must be a predator in my tank! The Brittle Star or the Coral Banded Shrimp are huge and were my suspects. This pair seem to be doing very well and are taking to the anemone very well. I actually had to take out my Royal Gramma and put him in a little 7 gal because he was way to teratorial and I was afraid of losing another pair of clowns. Well as my photography improves I will post more pictures.

 

[tehon3299]

Awesome tank man! I hope my 90 turns out this good. What do you use for powerheads/wavemakers in the tank? Keep the update pictures coming!

 

[sundance1]

Very nice! thanks for shareing.

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Looks great!!

 

[Brandon M]

Nice tank, looks great!

 

[Hopestar075]

very inspiring! I am in progress right now....

 

[crokus]

I like your stand and canopy alot! I just ordered a 54 gal corner and plan on building my own stand. Is there any things you would have changed or any helpfull tips for building a stand like yours.
Thanks,
Scott

 

[Brandon's Reef]

looks really good it is pretty difficult to aquascape them how you like them though. Good Job!

 

[Rock Anemone]

Greta looking tank, keep up the great work! I must say, your photo taking skills improved a ton!:thumbsup:

Rock Anemone