Johnny's New-Old 55gal saltwater tank

RockStacker

RockStacker

Reefing newb
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This is a reset of my 55gal tank after relocating to our new place.

The tank has been running at our old house for five years with mostly soft corals and a few small fish.
After not having to relocate the tank for a long time, I have underestimated the work involved. Long story short, I made mistakes and the corals are PISSED!

Here's a picture of the tank at our new place. This is 3 weeks after relocation.
The water is cloudy because I rearranged the LR again which stirred up the sand.
The bleached rocks are new base live rock that I added to give the tank more LR volume.

Current inhabitants:
1 False Percula clownfish
1 Green Chromis ( I had 3 but 2 did not make it after relocation)
1 Scooter Blenny
1 Flame Angelfish (recent addition)
2 Peppermint Shrimps
Unknown number of hermit crabs
Unknown number of snails

I do not know yet which corals survived - I will get a better idea in the coming weeks.

Current Equipment
1 Magnum 350 Canister Filter
2 Hang-On-Top filters (I forgot what brand/model)
4x 65watt 50/50 CFLs

I am hoping that in due time the surviving corals will grow back and from there I can fill in the gaps with new softie frags.
 
Hello and Welcome!

Tank looks nice! In the future if you decide you want to keep other types of corals, you should consider upgrading the lights, getting rid of the mechanical filters and increasing the flow.
 
Thanks :)

LPS and SPS are a bit out of my reach for now. I really like how they look but the initial investment in equipment has kept me at bay.
Perhaps when LED lighting has gone mainstream and prices get competitive I can reconsider because that would open up the budget for the rest of the required equipment.
For now, soft corals and other coralimorphs are my thing.

The only true mechanical filter I have is the Magnum canister. I could remove the filter media from that one and convert it into one bulky external powerhead :)

The two other filters that hang on the back of the tank have no filter media and I just use it for water movement. I've had those from my other discontinued tanks and I figured I would put them to good use.

I am going to eventually add two or three Hydor Koralia Evolution powerheads and perhaps a wavemaker to increase water movement but that's for the next round of budget talks with my wife :)

Bio-filtration is handled mostly by the live rock. My sand bed is too shallow to provide any denitrification I think.
The Magnum does have two bio-wheel channels but I do not know how much those contribute compared to the live rocks.
 
Sounds good!

And sand bed deep enough to provide denitrification will eventually crash your tank when the sand bed get disturbed, and the bacteria that do that take months, to years to never to become established there. You are much better off with a good skimmer and fuge to deal with nitrates.
 
Just a few updates on my tank:

Here's the tank after making a few changes to the setup.
I added two Hydor Koralia Evolution 550 powerheads running 24/7 on each side.
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I replaced the Magnum 350 canister filter with a Reef Octopus BH 1000 skimmer.
Here's the skimmer collection cup on day 2:
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Here's the top of the aquarium. It is an open top with the lights sitting on a grate on top of a wood frame.
I am currently working on upgrading this canopy. I will post pictures once it is done.
There is a small fan running at low speed to provide additional cooling for the CFL fixtures. The built in tiny fans are overworked so I put in some extra help. The moving air also hits the surface of the water for some evaporative cooling.
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While working on the canopy upgrade outside, I took a picture of the topless tank showing the two "surface agitators". These are old HOB filters running without any filter media and I just use them for water movement.

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One of the two surviving coral colonies.
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Picture taken without flash:
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Some coraline starting to grow back in some spots:
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What to do while waiting for the canopy paint to dry?
Clean up the electrical connections inside the cabinet :)
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Scooter Blenny munching on some pods.
I think the pod population is starting to recover. This guy is getting plump again.
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.
 
Here's the retrofitted top.
The height of the lights make it so much easier to work on the tank.
The tank should also now be able to breathe much better and cool down.

However, I am not sure how much light loss results from the new height.
If the lack of light becomes an issue, I might replace the lights or get some additional lights that can fill in the gaps.

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It looks like you are running PC bulbs, which dont put out much usable light anyways so I think the hight is going to seriously effect the light getting to the corals. I dont think they would be able to get anything at all, even if you were using T5 bulbs I think you would have a serious issue with usable light.
 
The BRS RODI unit finally arrived!
75 GPD RO/DI 5 Stage *PLUS* System

I am currently doing a leak test to make sure all fittings are good. I'm trying to keep the water pressure between 50psi and 60psi for now.
At full open my water supply was going over 90psi and BRS recommends a max of 80psi.
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I am still doing the 1 hour initial run that was recommended so both blue and black lines go to the same bin. I will save the water for the lawn and garden.
Moving forward, the waste water will be dumped into the pool :)

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For now the entire kit will be in this bin so I can move it around. I will store it in the garage when not needed and bring it out to the back when making new water.
I also plan to keep all the extra parts in the bin so I don't have to run around the house looking for them.

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TDS meter on the OUT side of the DI unit.

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TDS meter on the IN side of the DI unit.

I also ordered the Chloramine kit so I can swap out the parts. Those should arrive next week.
Unfortunately our municipal water supply has chloramines (between 0.8ppm and 2.2ppm) based on the last annual report.

QUESTION:
After you finish making water, do you dry out the cartridges for storage? or do you just keep the water in there?

This is what I was thinking of in terms of storage and water rotation:
1. I will have at least four 5-gallon containers.
2. I will fill them all up with RODI water on the first run.
3. During the weekly water changes, I will use one 5-gallon container.
4. Then I will refill that container with new RODI water and it goes to the back of the line.
5. The next week, the next container in line is used and so on.
6. I am sure to miss some rotations but the idea is that none of the water in the container sits for too long.

Currently I do not have any of those 100+ gallon drums so I can't just make one massive batch and just keep refilling as needed.
I am renting this place so I have to keep hardware footprint to a minimum :)
 
BTW, I was telling my wife about hooking up a Tee fitting between the RO and DI unit so I can make some drinking water too.
My grandmother heard the conversation and told me "Don't be a sissy! Tap water makes you stronger."
You can't argue with experience :)
 
Just a photo update of the tank.

The surviving zoanthids are opening up. I am not sure if it is because they like the new place or if they are starving for lights because I raised the PC fixtures by 12".

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You don't have to drain the water out of the RO/DI unit. As you go you'll find that you are making water more and more. As for the light, I have to agree with Hannah on this, PC lights are not really helpful in a reef tank. Fine on a FOWLR tank however. What part of Cali are you in?
 
I have posted the first video update of the tank.
I hope to post additional videos on a regular basis if time permits.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEYOJtFdxJ0"]55 Gal Soft Coral Tank Video 1 - YouTube[/ame]
 

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