Rainer's 55!

[Rainer]

Ok posted a lot in the intro forum, but I wanted to get a good build thread going, cuz i know you all love pics! My goal with the 55 is to eventually cross the threshold from FoWLR to a bonafide reef tank.

Also, this 55 is going to be my experience getter for after I get married and build a bigger house. Then I hope to join the "Big tank club" with 200+g tank at least.

 

[reeffreak]

Good luck and keep us updated where you are going from here.

 

[Doc]

ask us questions, we are ready to throw useless bits of info your way

-Doc

 

[jhnrb]

very good plan. thaks for the pic.

 

[Rainer]

heres the update after a couple important additions...

let me know what ya think of my powerhead placement...

also I put 30lbs of arg and 20lbs of live arg, and my first test showed about .5 ammonia so i think my cycle started :D

back of the tank looks horrible i know, but i plan to get a cover of some sort over it and eventually build me a sump/refug underneath so my heater and future skimmer can go down there. Also once i can my rock in and going ill be prolly do away with the canister.

 

[reeffreak]

It looks like you're getting nice surface agitation so the position of the Koralias should be fine.Looks great!Lets get some rocks up in there.

 

[Rainer]

rocks are coming in on wednesday, will prolly spend all night aquascaping since im off on thursday :)

 

[reeffreak]

You will spend all night aquascaping and the next day decide that it does quite look right.Then in a few days move thing around again and again and again!!!!

 

[Rainer]

heh prolly so....ill be bored waiting on the cycle to finish anyway...


i ran a quick test tonight on just ammonia and nitrites, how high should these two be peaking ?

 

[Doc]

i would place both powerheads near the top. the more surface agitation the better the water is oxygenated.

-Doc

 

[yote]

rocks are coming in on wednesday, will prolly spend all night aquascaping since im off on thursday :)

If you get all done to your satisfaction is one night,it'll be a miracle:mrgreen:
Your getting a great start.

 

[reeffreak]

heh prolly so....ill be bored waiting on the cycle to finish anyway...


i ran a quick test tonight on just ammonia and nitrites, how high should these two be peaking ?

It all depends on what kind of die-off.Sometimes the cycle is instant and sometimes it take up to 6 weeks.Your not going to see much ammonia and nitrite with just live sand.The real cycle will begin when you add the live rock.

 

[NewPortRichey]

What kind of filtration?

 

[Rainer]

i have a fluval 305 atm but ill be taking it out once i get all my rock in and my skiimer arrives

 

[Rainer]

ok I got bored waiting for my stuff to get in so I went to walmart tonight and bought a 10g tank to use as a refug. What do you guys think would be the ideal setup for this? Im not concerned with having a sump really? I might change my mind later, but for now I only want to use the 10g as a refug.

Im pretty much a newb to all this, I know the purpose of the refug and understand its benefits (thanks to the refug article ). From the article i gathered that I only want about 10gph flow through the refug. How do I restrict to that since most pumps greatly outdo that?
Is there anyway to incorporate my fluval 305 gravity fed canister into a refug that is almost sitting on the ground?

yall asked for questions :)

 

[reeffreak]

You can use the fluval for the return but it will need to be ran empty.The pods need to get back to the tank and not trapped inside the media.I'm not even sure the fluval could handle being restricted since most tanks have some kind of ball valve on the return pump to control the flow.Your also will need either an overflow box or drill the tank to bring water to the fuge.

10gph?
About 200-300gph will be fine.

 

[Rainer]

well my fluval has what they call an aquastop valve which seems to allow me to set the flow at whatever i want from completely open to closed.

 

[reeffreak]

Then it should work as a return pump,kinda expensive for a return pump don't you think?

 

[Rainer]

well i was just gonna turn it off, after i got my skimmer going and all my rock in :frustrat:

im not sure with it being gravity fed that it would work, but its worth a shot? what kind of return pump would be sufficient for this? I looked at mag drives, the smallest one at fosters is about 60 bucks and 500 gph i think, also gotta figure out a good overflow setup

 

[reeffreak]

I'm a little lost....
Doesn't the canister have a motor to draw the water in and the return it?

A Mag 5 will work.It will only being pushing around 300gph after about 4 feet of head lost anyways.Quiet One makes an even smaller pump(300gph at zero head height,maybe pushing 200gph at 4ft.)....cheaper too.