55 gal build 2 years in the making

[darklcd]

hey all

well it took me a while to get everything going but here it is my 55 gal build that yes took me almost 2 years and I have next to nothing to show for it.

first off here is a small history on where it started and what has happened.

I started out with an idea of doing a 25 gal tank in my living room as a nice coral tank. I had a seaclone skimmer, a 600 gph pump and for light I had a 250 watt hqi MH with 2 pure antic t5's.

It was going rather well and then this....

following this wonderful event that totaled both my 25 in my living room and my 55 gal that i had running I had to take a break for over a year until I got to move into my new place.

I managed to get my hands on 40 lbs of live rock, 30 gals of good water and gravel from a tank that had already been running with no problems (I checked the levels and everything) I added more water plus the 30 lbs of rock that I had from my old set up (after a good wash and run for the better part of a month) and this started as a project that I had running on the floor in my house.

I built the stand myself on sunday it was a very basic stand and working with only 4 2x4 boards and here is what I have so far

I know the light needs to be over the top of the tank but the tank is not where I am going to be leaving it and until I do I am just moving the light back and forth I had it over the center of my tank and I did not have it high enough and it started to melt the center brace so I moved it back where i had it.

I have had it running for the better part of 10 weeks. As of right now here are my levels as of last night

specific gravity - 1.023
nitrite lvl - 0 ppm
nitrate lvl - 2 ppm
ammonia lvl - o ppm
Ph lvl - 8.3

I am not running anything major in my tank at the moment. I have a seaclone skimmer that is working well when looking the price and quality. I have an in tank pump running 850 gph that is doing a nice job of moving water around. I am still using the same light that i had on my other tank and the only problem that i have run into so far is that with the light over the middle of the tank I can see the shadow from the center brace but I can live with that.

So that everyone knows I am not going to adding much else into the tank for equipment. I know my flow levels might not be as high as some people might like them to be but for what I am looking for its going to work well. I am also not going to be running an external filter or sump for now if at all. I am very interested in having a filter-less tank set up. If I have to later on I may add a hang on filter but nothing major at all.

I don't have any other tests right now but I will be getting more as I need them.

There are a few fish and corals that I have my eye on at my lfs and I have a feeling that December is going to be a good month for my tank.

when I have more photos and info I will post.

I am doing this tank to show that to get into a 55 gal tank people don't have to spend thousands of dollars to get a good looking tank.

Please tell me what you all think. There are no good or bad ideas or posts they are all taken in and looked at.

share your ideas with me please

thanks for looking

 

[darklcd]

light is now over the center of the tank I will have pics up tonight when I get home....its not the best looking set up but until I get my new ballasts in it will do

 

[FreakinReefin]

hey all

well it took me a while to get everything going but here it is my 55 gal build that yes took me almost 2 years and I have next to nothing to show for it.

first off here is a small history on where it started and what has happened.

I started out with an idea of doing a 25 gal tank in my living room as a nice coral tank. I had a seaclone skimmer, a 600 gph pump and for light I had a 250 watt hqi MH with 2 pure antic t5's.

Hey Darklcd, I'm sending out those ballasts this weekend btw...question...what happened in this photo?? Did your washing machine explode or something? It looks like foam on the ground.. Was it a fire? What happened??

 

[darklcd]

it was a fire yes. started out small in the kitchen and I got that out no problem but the fire dept didn't do their jobs and didn't check well enough. the foam is something they used after the water. If it had just been water I could have saved a lot more stuff but that stuff was almost acid like and destroyed my tanks

 

[Chichas01]

Is that a marine substrate? It looks fairly coarse. Are you worried about it trapping detritus?

 

[darklcd]

for the time being its working ok. I am going to get some other stuff when I move my tank into my living room. I have no fish or anything in my tank so at the moment its not a big deal

 

[NaTe R]

i got this info along time ago and would like to pass it along to you.

I saw that piece of lava rock in your new tank though i would share this and you decide weather that really needs to be in there. Cheers

lava rocks mineral content

Nitrate Nitrogen.................................4.0 p.p.m.
Phosphorus........................................ 6.0 p.p.m.
Potassium......................................... 59.0 p.p.m.
Zinc.............................................. ...........6 p.p.m.
Iron.............................................. ....10.0+ p.p.m.
Copper............................................ ...5.5+ p.p.m.
Magnesium.......................................2. 0+ p.p.m.
Boron............................................. ....10.0 p.p.m.
Sulfate........................................... ......7.0 p.p.m.
Organic Material.......................................... .5%
PH................................................ .........8.2 Units
Calcium..................................1.3 Meq/100 gm*
Manganese...........................0.6 Meq/100 gm*
Sodium...................................0.1 Meq/100 gm*
Cation Exchange Capacity..3.2 Meq/100 gm*
* Milli-Equivalent per 100 grams

 

[darklcd]

I just threw it in with the rest of them. I didn't really have a reason its just in there lol


thanks for the info

 

[darklcd]

Can anyone on here tell me what I can do to get rid of a cyano outbreak with out using any chemicals or is that the only option I have I?

 

[Chichas01]

Lots of flow will help a lot. If that does not work, you may have a nutrient issue. Based on the the previous posters comments about the lava rock, is there any other non marine rock in the tank? Might be best to remove it.

 

[akunochi]

Flow FLow FLOW LOL

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Lose that crushed coral, it will trap detritus and feed algaes till the cows come home.

 

[darklcd]

not sure what you mean if you are talking about the substrate its not even crushed coral its just standard gravel. I am think about silica stand and seeing how that works out but thats not until it gets moved into the living room.

I was talking to one my the lfs around and they told me that a large water change might help any thoughts on this?

I know that the flow will help out and I am waiting on a good deal on power heads (just started buying better lighting) but what can I do in the mean time I don't want it to over run my tank

 

[akunochi]

Silica sand will just add to the diatom bloom. With the Lava Rock and Silica sand you may have enough leeching minerals to do real harm to the system.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

not sure what you mean if you are talking about the substrate its not even crushed coral its just standard gravel. I am think about silica stand and seeing how that works out but thats not until it gets moved into the living room.

I was talking to one my the lfs around and they told me that a large water change might help any thoughts on this?

I know that the flow will help out and I am waiting on a good deal on power heads (just started buying better lighting) but what can I do in the mean time I don't want it to over run my tank

No crushed rock, it is even worse. Silica sand will help feed Diatoms which are undesirable. Stick to aragonite which is crushed coral as in beach sand or bare bottom. If 1/2 of that rock was in a sump, would help with flow. Used Koralias can be found here and other sites. If you got any contaminates rom the fire in the tank, massive water change and run good carbon. Good luck pal.

 

[sandswhitson]

Water changes wildl help but only if you are using RO/DI water. If you don't use RO/DI then you could be introducing pollutants with your water changes.

 

[Chichas01]

Silica sand will just add to the diatom bloom. With the Lava Rock and Silica sand you may have enough leeching minerals to do real harm to the system.

Ditto that. Loose any and all rock and sand that isn't marine environment specific. You will be MUCH happier with the results.

 

[darklcd]

I pulled that lava rock out and I can't do much about the sand right now. I am just trying to find a way to take care of the cyano its getting worse and there is not much that I can do for flow.

Any other ideas?

 

[akunochi]

phosban, chemiclean can assist in removing it. Other than that the standard answer is to add flow anyway you can.

 

[Myteemouse]

keep the lights off for two days at a time.
ANd only feed (if you have fish) every other day..
water changes once a week (20%)
this will help the cyano.