55g in wall setup

[NanoReefer411]

Tech tanks also have no center brace, black silicone, and a starphire front! ;-) That's what I looked into getting before your tank. The downfall is, they are very expensive. =(

 

[Slate]

Hey Tyler,
Shawn's nano thread got me wondering about your sump setup for this tank. What size/type of sump are you using. Perhaps you could take a pic of it, I would love to see how you have it set up.

 

[tdgates10]

I went cheapo for my sump. The only tank that would have fit my skimmer would've been a 40 breeder. I wasn't about to buy one so I went down to HD and got a 30g rubbermade tub. The only thing I have in there is my skimmer and return pump. Like I said earlier, I put a float on it today for ATO, but that's all. I just wanted all my equipment in there and out the DTl. There is still room for my carbon reactor and a UV when I get another one.

 

[Slate]

Are you just running that MJ1200 as a return pump still?

 

[tdgates10]

Yup. It's pushing about 200gph through the sump which is about 5 times flow though. I'm running my skimmer a little wet, and I'm emptying it once a week! When I put my reators in there, I might bump up to a larger pump and split the flow a few times instead of having multiple pumps. It's defiantly not done, but it serves it's purpose. The only thing it's missing is a fuge.

 

[Slate]

The fuge is my largest motivation for a sump. The scientist in me just loves smaller forms of live and their development. It would be nice to open up the door to my stand and see what is going on there and the option to get rid stuff hanging in my tank is always a HUGE plus. I'm thinking of figuring out what size tank I can get under there that will be tall/large enough to still run the HOB Remora on it. But all of this will be subject to how well that overflow box works for Shawn.

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

Yep same here, i want a decent section of my sump to be fuge. I plan on using a 10 gallon for my sump, i have no idea how to setup the baffles just yet though.

 

[Slate]

I am leaning towards glass baffles attached with silicone. Silicone is cheap and then with glass on glass you don't have to worry about risk from your baffles expanding with different temps and what not.

 

[tdgates10]

If I do a sump I'm going to make a 10g one that I can put on a shelf between the sump and DT and just feed it via the drain from the tank. No pumps, nothing, just gravity. But again, I'm not sure if I'm going to even do one. The main reason for my sump is to eliminate equipment from the DT and increase the water volume.

 

[tdgates10]

Change of flow

So, about 2 weeks ago I swaped my flow around. Currently I have 3 K2's and 2 MJ1200. That puts me at about 45x turnover. Well, I was doing a ton of reading on Gyre tanks and how they work. (Gyre Write Up). So I set my Power Heads up in that style, minus the divider and the wavemaker. So, it's not a true Gyre, but the effect has been tremendous. My lighting on this tank is 260w of PC lighting.

Well, from my previous halide lighting on my 180, my sps that I do have, have colored up ten fold! I'm not sure if this is due to very high skimming and flow but it's amazing. The colors are getting better every day. These two were a lot more brown in the 180!

Here are a couple of pics that I shot under the atinics, strait from the camera!

This Acro had no color what so ever in my 180.

 

[tdgates10]

So I haven't posted a FTS since I really started the tank. I changed quite a bit of it around. Water is back to being crystal clear and like I said earlier, I'm getting some pretty good color from the PC lighting.

FTS 10.27.2009

 

[tdgates10]

Well, today I came home from a wonderful day of kegging my christmas stout to find my floor under my tank a little damp So, I start by checking my sump and there lied the problem. Crack in the bottom of the cheap ol rubbermade sump:evil: So, I had an extra 20g long tank in the basement. Brought it upstairs and thought there was no way my skimmer was going to fit. Some how it must of been my lucky day because it just squeezed in. So, I didn't get my baffles in, but I have an idea for that :badgrin:

So, in short, if you use a Rubbermade tub for a sump, check it often for leaks! and always have an extra tank on hand in case of something fails!

 

[tdgates10]

Thought I would give a little update on what's taking place on the tank. I'm going to be ordering the Tek 48" T5HO 2 bulb retro for now(with in the month). I will hook that up to run with my current lighting and see how that goes. I'm pretty much going to gut the current duel satalite fixture and make a larger retro with the following bulb combo: In the back will be (2) UVL Super Actinic PC side by side, then a single 54w 14000k UVL or Guismann Aquablue T5, a single 54w 10000k UVL Aquasun T5, then in front will be (2) 12000k UVL Actinic White PC side by side. I think the T5's in the middle will really boost the coloration in my small amount of SPS. They will be about 5-6 inches away from the light, so I think it will do, but if not then I'll order another 2 bulb T5 retro and just run that.

I'm also going to finish the stand probably tomorrow. I'm going to add some doors to the front of it and paint to match the wall, so it should blend in pretty well. We'll see. Wish me luck

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

Glad you had a spare tank sitting around Can't wait for more updates!

 

[jake65]

sounds like a plan, cant wait to see pics

 

[slim_jim989]

so did you ever finish framing up the closet i love the use of space so instead of making a hole in ur wall there was already one there . Keep up the good work.

 

[tdgates10]

Well, the nice thing was, the closet had on opening of 47". The tank is 48" so it fits perfectly without having to do much framing. I just framed in the stand and that's it. I have to leave access in the front of the tank because it is a closet with no rear access, so I'm in the process on finishing the bottom. Once I get my light updated, then I will finish the top.

The space is very nice. The closet was just a waste of space in the room any way, but now it's the focal point on the main floor

Thanks for the nice words guys. It's a pain to rebuild your coral list! I'm heading to Tacoma this weekend, so I'll see if I can get a hold of anyone that can sell me some SPS and Zoas.

 

[tdgates10]

Here's the stand...just need to add some hardware and bottom molding

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

Excellent work it looks great Tyler!

 

[Chichas01]

wow, that's a HUGE skimmer! Must have been from the 180? That thing looks like it holds the majority of the water volume in the sump.