Setting up a 60 bare bottom coral tank

[jeffnewt]

Well, I finally have a spot and the basement sink is becoming a reality, so I guess it is time to begin my new project.

What I am working with is an older 60 gallon acrylic, that I love beacuse It has the full open top. It has a built in overflow on one corner.

The sump I have is the old school amiracle, (my old boss used to say that its "a miracle that the fish survived") thats rated for 125 gallons. not sure what the actual gallon cap. is, somewhere around 15 I would assume, The bio-ball chamber is the majority of this thing, which I don't need, so I assume I will have to figure out how to put the skimmer in there, perhaps cutting the lid back, or mounting the downtube directly into the side.

The other side to the sump is small, and would be used for the refugium, which has worked in the past. I put an 20 watt subcompact bulb in there and it was growing macroalgae like weeds.

I know 55 seems to be the preferred size, but this is what I have, and I am going to use it. I don't think it being taller is much of an issue.

I plan on useing egg crate with this, and having basically just corals, mabye some liverock to start out, and then later perhaps going all out reef tank with this.

Before I start to move this downstairs, does anyone see any problems with this setup?

 

[Reefergeorge]

Just wanted to say looks good. I like the open top and the rounded corners. Was wondering myself how you plan on running a skimmer but I guess a dremal can fix that. Keep us posted.

 

[jeffnewt]

OK, its now moved down to the basement, full of water, and looking very stange in what used to be a makeshift closet in what is now refered to as "the lab". Here are some pitures of how crazy this room actually is..

So I need some feedback at this point. I thought about this for months before I decided on the bare bottom route. I have been having problems in the past with ditritus, and many other things that go along with substrate. I didn't want a plenum, so that doesn't leave a whole lot besides bare bottom. I am a bit nervous about this, but haveing so much control over the water is really starting to appeal to me at this point.

This tank is hopefully going to be used for the sole purpose of propagating corals, and growing out frags. I am still fairly new to reef everything, but I have been reading hours a day and I hope this project turns out as good as all my other ones.

What are some things I need to consider when going bare bottom? I am planning on a light "dusting" of reef sand perhaps, just to break up the acrylic bottom. I am thinking skimmer+refugium and a few powerheads should be enough to filter the water, along with the limited ammount of liverock I will be putting in here. Some cleaning inverts, and that should be a pretty good setup.

As far as lighting goes, I am considering 260 watt pc. Check this thread http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=309067#post309067.

I was initally thinking halide, and the tank being deep is another factor. I will be useing eggcrate to raise the frags up, but I still think that for the perpose of this tank, MH would be the way to go. Thoughts? How much more electricity is MH going to suck up then PC anyway? Is there an inexpensive halide setup I can buy and get running, and add another one later as my little frag farm grows? Pendent was what I was thinking, how mant watts could I start with if I wanted to get one, and then add another later?

 

[jeffnewt]

Not sure if anyone is following this or not, but here is what is going on today.

So far, all has gone swimmingly.. Got the salt in, and later added some live rock. My mistake, was deciding to start it cycling with the fiji liverock from the fish store. It was good, but expensive, even for 3 pieces, it set me back a bit. I wanted to have some of this stuff, it really is nice and worked very good in the past, just pricey. Next time I buy some, it will be from somone doing a teardown.

The sump issues have been mostly resolved, I have plenty of space for a skimmer, but for right now I want this thing to cycle to I will be shopping around for one for next payday. If someone can suggest an in sump unit that doesn't take up much space, like the urchin, I would be happy to listen. I want to use skimmerwhisperers maxijet mod, so anything down that road would be great.

The sump has the main chamber, with a 2.5 gallon tank dropped in to diffuse the flow a bit, and keep the large mass of calurpa back, and if you look at the picture of the return outlet, it has not only a slight sponge around it, but a breeding net as well to keep that weedlike grape calupa back. I have some other macro I am going to get soon as well.

I bought the eggcrate sheet today too, so I will be working on that tomarrow.

 

[Wieselsport]

It might be a good idea to get all the live rock that you want in the tank now so you dont have to cure the stuff later and tear the rocks down in the future. I'd like to add more to my tank and it looks like a PITA to take it all out and rearrange and cycle, let alone the coral casualties. Just my thoughts. Cool set up, its fun setting things up

 

[james734]

Looking good.

 

[Reeferdude]

Looks good so far. I think 55 is only "preferred" because manufacturers mass produce them. Maybe I'm wrong? When I had my current tank made it was based on my 'plan'. Water flow/tank turnover. Lighting, and filtration. Turns out it's 43 gallons. There are certain truths to reef keeping. And many myths. But the one thing I've learned in the 15+ years I've been doing this is nothing is set in stone, no one person or philosophy is gospel and what works for someone else may not necessarily work for you and visa versa. Especially when it comes to a 'system' and how it functions. You are the main factor in your reefs success or failure an it looks like you're off to a good start.

 

[Mrktplayer]

I have a barebottom 50 gallon. I have a spray bar at the bottom and that helps keep the detritus in suspension

 

[jeffnewt]

Himm, a spay at the bottom? I will have to think about that. I have a sheet of the white/blue bonded filter cloth around the standpipe in the overflow box to catch the ditrtius. How are you getting it out of the tank? I was thinking a turkey baster once a week would do it with the pumps off for a minute.

 

[Mrktplayer]

It's just pvc pipe hooked up in a closed loop. It provides a nice flow at the bottom and keeps the detritus in circulation, although it does end up collecting in certain areas. I just siphon it out during water changes.

 

[Mrktplayer]

oh btw, the barebottom doesn't have the aesthetic appeal but some people use.... shoot, I forgot what it's called. Starboard or something. It's basically a cutting board for cooking, and people would glue sand to it, and they'd place that on the bottom. It has the look of sand yet it's a barebottom. Or you can wait for the coraline algae to takeover the bottom, which also looks nice.

 

[jeffnewt]

That is an intersting idea. http://www.professionalplastics.com...5524/sesent/00/Sanalite-®-HDPE-Cutting-Boards
But for now I actually like the barebottom look, it has a clean laboratory feel to it.

As for the grid work I am starting on, I bought a huge sheet of "eggcrate", (which is actually overhead lighting grill) that will act as the platform for the coral, mostly pluged frags, to sit on. I am wondering if that light will come with reflectors...if not I will most likey have to get some, or make them somehow..

This thing is cycling, and with no fish to worry about, I may crank it up a notch using my ancient cycling secret, frozen fish food tossed in the water. I am also thinking about cranking the temp up to 83 degrees or 84 even. Lets get this thing going allready...

 

[jeffnewt]

Well, we are getting close to go time with this. It's cycling kind of strangely. The ammonia got up to about 1 ppm, and that was with the brine shrimp, and chopped up prawn at about 83 degrees. I eventually took the rotting prawn peices out but the weird part is that the nitrite never reached above .25 ppm. The nitrate is hovering at something near 10-15 right now, this is day 6. Perhaps with the barbottom this is doing what it should be. I did have live rock in there, plus some water from my other tank.

The first rack is in, but man, there is some hardcore diatom action on the bottom. And yes, I just vacumed the bottom yesterday.

So as of now, it seems all is going ok, the snails cleaned up that rock nicely. Hopfully by monday levels will be almost good.

Yes, and thats the 100$ light on top- 260 watts of algea growing action(for now). The strange leg things have got to go, but for now they are nice as I am messing around inthe tank so much.

 

[Krish]

Looks like a great start to me! Good luck!

 

[Damsel13]

so so far so good on the light?

 

[jeffnewt]

Yeah, they were actually not that bad. The have alumnium rails on front and back, fairly sturdy all around. The fans are useless, I thought they were broken at first beacuse there was no sound or air, but I realized they were indeed on, just very cheap. I bet I can pick up some better ones and wire right into the exisitng wire. Were would be a good spot to get those? computer store?

 

[james734]

Id' try Fry's electronics here in Renton. They have tons of stuff in the there.