Rebuilding my 55 gallon

[eugeneK]

Good morning URS!

I had to break my tank down in 2008 since it was set up at my parent's house and I simply didn't have the time to constantly go there and check on it. I finally bought a house in early 2009 and I am excited to rebuild it again at my own place.

Since I have 150% of all the equipment needed to set up, it should be an easier venture this time. I think I would like to start with 99% dry rock. If anyone has a place they would recommend to get it, please let me know.

Here are some pics of the tank, sump and what would be the sump/laundry room

 

[chrisqueenz]

Sounds like an exciting build, what are the plans for the tank? Reef, fish only?

 

[reefman5511]

2 places for the rock would be www.marcorocks.com & Bulk Reef Supply

 

[eugeneK]

Sounds like an exciting build, what are the plans for the tank? Reef, fish only?

It's going to be SPS dominated Reef. I have 4X54W T5s that i have successfully used for sps in the past.

2 places for the rock would be www.marcorocks.com & Bulk Reef Supply

Thanks Gary, i'll check them out.

 

[backdraft79]

Try to get some live rock to seed the tank. Get it from a good LFS and you wont have issues.

 

[eugeneK]

Plumbing is finally done and some of my stuff came in. Freshwater test also went well and i am making RO to rinse the Dry rock I got.

I am more that satisfied with the rock I got from BRS, very good mix of denser (monti skeletons) and very porous Fiji stuff plus a few flat table acro skeletons and some branches. I ordered 50lb Sunday and told them what kinda sizes I want and it came in today ( thursday ) and its better than I expected. Also , since its 50lb Dry I got a ton more rock than i expected. Bigger chunks in pic #2 may look like boulders but they are hollow and very light, just covered in sand/mud.

Gonna rinse it, aquascape it dry and start the cycle next week.

 

[solRNY]

looking good, what type of rock did you buy on BRS?

 

[eugeneK]

cheapest 1.37/lb mixed rock they are having a sale on

 

[eugeneK]

Took me all night but I was able to piece the rock together. I definitely have to say that I enjoyed aquascaping the rock this time and was able to get a bit more creative.

I am going to start a new diary/progression thread after i make more R/O and fill it up with water.

FTS

Left side cascading towards the middle

Right side, an island with 2 vertical structures. Def need to come up with a name for it.

All the rock I have left over!

 

[GMaquarium]

hi eugene. rock stack is looking good

 

[superkat]

i really like the two separate islands.

 

[eugeneK]

thank you

 

[solRNY]

stack is loooking great

are you going barebottom?

 

[eugeneK]

stack is loooking great

are you going barebottom?

thanks!

I am debating on BB or a shallow finely crushed coral or shallow aragonite just for looks. Might have to make a poll for it

I am def. setting up a remote DSB/fuge in a bucket near the sump. Just ordered 40lb of sand from marcorocks and I might have a bulkhead kicking around.

 

[eugeneK]

I know that in this hobby patience is the key but waiting for a tank with dead rock to cycle is truly testing my patience

Ammonia spiked and declining, now nitrites are up to 4ppm and nitrates have declined a bit. Since the lights are out the entire time, there is no algae of any kind yet.

Looking promising!

 

[eugeneK]

tank is ready for Cleanup crew!

Ammonia 0 , nitrites 0 , nitrates 10 and declining
I fed the empty tank last night to test for spikes and no ammonia today. Cycle took almost exactly 3 weeks.

Got a RK light in the mail too!

 

[superkat]

this is great news!!!

 

[EllieSuz]

Eugene, whatever you do, don't put any crushed coral in there. I did that back when I was too new and dumb to know better and I was soooo sorry later. I ended up with a shallow bed of aragonite sand and it's so nice now.

 

[superkat]

i've got a bunch left over in the 120g...out it comes. bleh.

 

[eugeneK]

Thank you Eileen,

I went with CaribSea reef blend as many suggested. I have used it before and It doesnt look as good as fine sand per say but if i am to keep mostly SPS , I am better off with it.

My RKL came in today! I figured out almost everything exsapt for how to turn lights back on after hours by pushing standby. the command would not work even when set to...