iChillum's 55 Gallon Acrylic

[iChillum]

Well, here it goes. I've been out of the hobby for now 5 years, and now that my little one is almost 2 years old, I decided I'm finally ready to get the fever back :spy:. I recently posted up in the newbies forum since I'm still getting my sea legs back and get some general advice. Some of the information I took, and some I threw into the wind whether the right decision or not. As I piece this reef together over time, I'll post up changes as they happen for your viewing pleasure or at the very least humor.

The Tank:

The journey began with a simple spark to get back on the hobby, and a healthy amount of watching Craigslist because sometimes I can be a cheap...well you know the rest. I was able to find a used 55gl Advance Aqua Tanks aquarium with stand a hood for a cool $200. Looks like I'm off to a good start.

View attachment 8342

Yikes. If you take a look at the photo above, it's an important reminder that a $200 aquarium usually costs a little bit more because of labor :frusty:. Sure it had some scratches and a boatload of dried coralline algae...but It was still worth it I believe.

View attachment 8341

After several hours of scraping this thing down, it's finally nice and shiny and ready for primetime. Next was to start getting all of the equipment necessary to make this reef a reality...possibly a reefality? ...At this time I've decided I probably won't spend the time for polishing the aquarium since the scratches do not appear to be that visible while wet.

Lighting & Equipment:

Today I FINALLY ordered all the equipment for the project, and soon all there will be to do is to get the sand and live rock in to cure for a few weeks. Here is a list of the equipment I ordered.

Lighting:

Okay, okay.This is the section that I may get painted as a villain because of my deviant ways. I didn't go with LED lighting as nearly everyone had pushed me towards. Whew, it feels better just saying that and getting out to air a little. I found a good deal from a financial standpoint, and decided for the types of corals as well as the controlled temperature I have it would suffice. You can see what the likes look like in the above progression picture to get an idea.

Coralife Lunar Aqualight Quad T5 HO Aquarium Light Fixture w/ Lunar LEDs
48" L X 9.5" W X 2.5" H
2 - HO T5 10,000K bulbs
2 - HO T5 actinic bulbs
4 - LED bulbs
54 Watts

Skimming & Filtration:

For now, I will not be doing a sump or refugium as I had done with my previous aquarium...although I do have future plans for one. :nono: I promise I'll get on that soon, but for now I have a canister filter and protein skimmer that will be doing the work.

AquaMaxx HOB-1 Hang-On-Back Protein Skimmer
Aquariums up to 75 gallons

Penn Plax Cascade 1000
265 gph
Aquariums up to 100 gallons

Controller:

For now, this will primarily server the purpose for lighting, wavemaking, temperature and PH though that will expand at some point!

ReefKeeper Lite + SL1 Expansion Unit
1 x ReefKeeper Lite head unit
1 x PC4 (four outlet power strip)
1 x SL1 (pH, ORP, temp, and 2 x switch inputs)
1 x iTemp temperature probe
1 x DA pH probe


Heater:

Nothing fancy here...but should do what it's intended to do!

Eheim Jager TruTemp Submersible Heater 150watt

Powerheads:

I've read mixed reviews over these powerheads, but overall I like the magnetic design. Most of the bad banter from reviews has been to a clicking noise...but not enough to deter people from buying it apparently! Overall I like the aesthetic, and have heard several folks that rave over them. :eagerness:

2x Hydor Koralia Evolution Circulation Pump/Powerhead 750 gph

Salt Mix:

If anyone really cares...I'm trying out a new salt mix. Reviews from reefers make it sound like it does a good job on maintaining good magnesium levels between water changes as well:

Red Sea Coral Pro Salt Mix 175gal - Bucket



That's all for now! In-hand I have the aquarium (obviously), the canister filter and lighting and the rest is en route as of today. I'll post some pictures up when I have everything setup prior to sand and live rock.

On a related topic...I'll be looking for 100lbs of live rock VERY soon.

 

[09bumblebee]

Sounds like an excellent start. No one will tell you you shouldn't of done that. We all do things different that's whats so great about this hobby. So many options and there isn't a right way or a wrong way. T5's are some of the best lighting out there. LEDs are still new and some people will say they aren't natural bla bla bla bla. Can't wait for this tank to progress. This is an awesome community and I'm sure you can find rock here on the forum just ask.

 

[CRW Reef]

Sounds like a great start and the equip looks good too. Your t5s will be fine and prob grow most corals for sure that you want to start out with. Looking forward to seeing you stocking it. And as bumblebees said don't hesitate to ask if you have questions or need anything.

 

[freedominco]

I used t-5 lights for the first couple years I was reefing, they were great for the first 6 to 9 months the bulbs lasted. I had to replace 8 at a time to keep my corals happy and at $25 a bulb my LEDS paid for themselves very quickly.

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[iChillum]

Wow, well I truly think that this was the definition of a warm welcome!

09bumblebee & CRW Reef:
Your words of encouragement, and dedication to make this into a great community are completely noticed! I'm sure I'll be avid in these forums as time continues to march forward, and I really can't wait to start showing some pictures off once all of the preliminary items are completed.

freedominco:
I have in fact heard the same from several people here in the forums in terms of pricing for bulb replacement, and experienced much of the same in my previous build 5 years ago. With this said, time will only tell what kind of urgency is created based off of financial impact!


Since I ordered the remainder of my items from MarineDepot.com which is located in California...it's looking like my order will arrive tomorrow! I'll post early next week once the build out is complete.

 

[iChillum]

Oh...and if anyone wants to weigh-in...

Would everyone agree that based off of the equipment listed in my initial post that I will have sufficient flow in the tank?

 

[cdrewferd]

Oh...and if anyone wants to weigh-in...

Would everyone agree that based off of the equipment listed in my initial post that I will have sufficient flow in the tank?

You might have enough flow, you might not. Hard to say until you get your rock in there and see how things are going.

 

[hurrafreak]

You've probably spent more time planning (which is great) than most of the people who jump into this hobby haha! Tank looks 100% better after you cleaned it up! Can't wait to follow the build man!!

 

[Cake_Boss]

Oh no! No LEDs? A canister filter won't work for reefing! They're nitrate factories!



Bahahaha, looks and sounds like you still have your sea legs. I really like the look of T5. Maybe I missed it, what are you planning on stocking? What sump are you planning on?

Oh and WELCOME!

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[iChillum]

cdrewferd:
Yeah...when you put it that way, it would be like asking if a 25 mph wind is the same in the city versus the country :behindsofa:
Too many variables, and much too early to be asking myself that question lol.

rockys_pride:
Hardy har har :fish:

Livestock...well it's a rather deep subject when it boils down to it. However, for the sake of not going on a tangent here is a quick and dirty list of what I've been eyeballing:

Fish
I'm hoping that I won't go too crazy with this since I really want to fill the tank out with corals, and can't go too big or too many for bio-load. Here is the list of my current thoughts though some probably won't make the cut.

• Midas Blenny
• Leopard Wrasse
• Clownfish (possibly Maroon...but thinking about going with a slightly less aggressive type...the mated pair I used to have went out of there way to attack me as often as possible if I got close to the anemone)
• Spotted Cardinalfish
• Coral Beauty Angelfish

I feel like I'm rather limited with a 55 gallon, and have been steering clear of tangs which I probably love the most. The highlight of my previous tank was my Achilles Tang! But with the prospect of a good amount of rock work and such a small tank, I couldn't offer them the swim room that they really deserve.

DEFINITELY up for suggestion here...

Coral:
I'll most likely try to do a nice blend here...but will obviously have to judge my light coverage and place from top to bottom accordingly. Here is a random list of things that have caught my eye for the tank build:

• Acan Lord
• Zoas (lots of "pretties"...looking for vivid colors here)
• RBTA
• Bird's Nest (not going to really push toward anything more difficult than this in the SPS realm)
• Yellow Fiji Leather

Ugh...I could go on with the corals list for days I think, but I'm once again trying to not get overzealous with a 55 gallon tank!

All in all, I feel like the whole process of stocking the tank can be pretty organic. Start out with a few corals and a fish or two, see what my levels look like for a few weeks...and push forward as I see fit .

 

[iChillum]

Almost forgot...the sump.

In the spirit of my apparent frugality, I will probably just grab a 20 gallon tank off of the interwebs as someone decides to sell one off. Head over to Lowe's to get some glass cut and seal everything up with the silicon and we are off to a running start. From here, I'd probably go the sand bed and chaeto route!

 

[freedominco]

If I was you I would also drill the tank so you don't have to run an over flow box for your sump.

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[iChillum]

If I was you I would also drill the tank so you don't have to run an over flow box for your sump.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

Intriguing...my only experience is with an overflow.

• What are the pros/cons of the tank being tapped versus an overflow?
• Are you aware of any handy dandy DIYs online?

 

[freedominco]

It's a much cleaner look, plus you don't have to worry about your overflow box losing siphon if the power goes out.

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[iChillum]

Well, I finally got everything shipped today, a little later than expected. I'm pretty much ready for live sand and rock now, and can't wait to get started!


The AquaMaxx HOB-1 after I had completed assembly. Looks to be very well built, now to just see how it actually skims :drunk:

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The power and controller systems...engaged! Still tidying up the cords with wraps.

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And of course, the tank with everything except the PH probe (since I still need to calibrate it). The powerheads are a lot bulkier than I had imagined, but they are growing on me. This shot is with just the lunar LEDs on.

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More shots will be coming soon I assure you, for now I am tired from setting everything up! :sleeping:

 

[jahmic]

Oh that skimmer will work for sure...I have one on by nanocube and it's a beast.

I ran hot water through it for about 20 minutes to break it in, and it's been silent ever since. The cup took a few days to get adjusted to where I wanted it, but it's been pulling a steady since then. I dump my cup about every 3 days and there's definitely plenty of nasty in there.

 

[iChillum]

Oh that skimmer will work for sure...I have one on by nanocube and it's a beast.

I ran hot water through it for about 20 minutes to break it in, and it's been silent ever since. The cup took a few days to get adjusted to where I wanted it, but it's been pulling a steady since then. I dump my cup about every 3 days and there's definitely plenty of nasty in there.

Good to know...I had read others mentioning that the cup takes a little diligence.

[HR][/HR]

Alright, I have the sand and rock officially ordered today. All this waiting is killing me.. :sick:

I decided to go for dry rock after waking up to a nightmare involving bristleworms.

BRS "Reef Saver" Eco Dry Aquarium Live Rock
75 lbs from http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/

After finding THIS video on YouTube which does a good job of showing the size of the pieces I'll be getting, I decided 75 lbs would probably suffice since it's so porous.

CaribSea Dry Aragonite Special Grade Reef Sand
55 lbs from http://www.marinedepot.com/

[HR][/HR]
It's dreadful thinking that once these finally get here...I will still need to let them cure. Patience is a virtue.

 

[kyuubichan218]

I feel your pain. My rock was dry from marcorocks and has been in water almost two months, salt water a month. The cycle is just starting to finish (ammonia down to 0.5 from like 8 ppm on API test kits). I rushed my first setup though and made lots of mistakes that I'm avoiding by taking my time. It sucks to wait but the results are well worth it.

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[cdrewferd]

Yes, slow wins the race. As they say, "the only things that happen fast in reefing are BAD".

 

[Cake_Boss]

Yes, slow wins the race. As they say, "the only things that happen fast in reefing are BAD".

Don't they also say, "If you're not first, you're last!?"

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