Rustylugnuts 55Gal Build thread

[Rustylugnuts]

Sup reefers
After all I've learned sponging off of the many killer threads here on RC I thought I'd document my own tank.

Ok Heres the story, I got into this hobby bout 2 and a half years ago with my 29g tank. At that time I had a Brackish tank with about 2" of CC, my trusty HOT magnum, a fluorescent fixture with 2 NO bulbs and a heater. The livestock then consisted of a green spotted puffer, 2 figure eight puffers a silver scat and 4 bumble bee gobys (Thinking back I realize that may have been overstocked). The tank worked out well enough ,a little fin nippin here and there but nothing too serious, but it just wasn't quite what I was after .
Ive always wanted saltwater aquarium and one day when talking to a LFS employee it came up that the puffers scats and gobies I had were pretty hardy when it comes to salinity ( picture ace ventura going reheHEALLY). So needless to say i went home and started playing with the salinity levels. I started a drip of saturated salt solution in to the tank using a knot in some air line (tightening the knot until it hit a drop every 2 to 3 seconds) with a gallon jug. 3 days later my SG was up to 1.020 and a week and a half later all the critters still showing no signs of stress. Its funny because I remember thinkin "cool I have a saltwater tank(this is before I found RC!) I guess i better start in on LR and a skimmer".
I started getting live rock a little bit at a time ( I hope im not the only person who has left a LFS with 1 measly lb of LR) and eventually a seaclone skimmer.

I didn't find reef central until I had gotten about 15 lbs of LR a blue and domino damsel

the scats and puffers were soon reacclimated back to 1.010 and traded in for a small box of salt. Unfortunately this wasn't in time to save my domino, the puffers and the blue devil had pestered him to death (and my water params must have been horrible).
I know it sounds weird but I had gotten attached to the gobys and just couldn't get rid of em so in the tank they stayed (still have 3 of the original 4, one dissapeared and has since been replaced).

Anyway back on track (for now) eventually my LR stash got up to around 35 lbs, the CC got replaced by a 4" DSB, an aquaclear 50 was thrown on for more flow, 1 more NO fluorescent happened to fit on the top, the blue devil got traded in and replaced by a pair of ocellaris clowns (1 black 1 orange), and I recieved a couple of free mushrooms that had attached to PVC (really cool LFS in paduca KY).

All that and I FINALLY get to whats in the now.

[Rustylugnuts]

Right now everything is perfectly happy in the 29g I have sitting at a friends house (getting babysat for the vacation I've just returned from).
First here is the thread I decided to steal the DIY stand plans from
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=831994
I liked that design because it was simple and structurally sound (read overkill)

Pops had some spare 2x10's he graciously donated to the cause. We needed 2x4's so we had to rip em .


We only got the wood measured and cut on the first night

[Rustylugnuts]

Here is some shots of the next day


sry im too lazy to rotate just turn your head to the side

Heres a better shot

measuring out the corners to cut for the bottom sheet of ply

I was kinda geeked out when i got home so i had to do a shot of the frame with the tank and future sump in place

[Rustylugnuts]

Last Tuesday I moved the Stand from Carbondale to a buddy's woodshop in Desoto. I had originally planned to use some birch plywood to skin the stand similar to what was done in the above posted thread, but my friend (who knows much more about woodworking than i do) offered up some rough cut cedar he had layin around becaues he knew my wife wanted a dark stain for the stand . He mentioned that cedar would be a better wood for a dark stain than birch would be. After he threw the first board through the planer I was hooked on the idea.

Sorry I forgot the camera the day we put everything together but here is a couple pics of the finished product







Oh yea here is a good before shot of the display tank. I got it from a guy in class for 40 bucks. He had some cichlids and a horrendous algae problem before he tore down the tank.

The tanks been sitting dry in storage for a good while now and promises to stubbornly resist my attempts at cleaning.

[Rustylugnuts]

the next step will be the canopy. Ill try to rig my NO fixtures up to fit until I can order a pair or t-5's or two. After that ill look in to drilling the 55. This might take a while because I'm on a tight budget but hopefully It won't take me too long to get around to ordering the diamond hole saws.

[Criminal#58369]

Looks like you are off to a great start with this build, can't wait to see more progress.

[Rustylugnuts]

Criminal#58369
Thanks, It might be slow going Since the hole saws are cheaper than T-5's and its a lot easier to drill the tank when empty It might be a better idea to do the drillin 1st

[Rustylugnuts]

Ok that didnt work too well. I was drillin the back panel of the 55 couple months ago, and when I got about 3/4 the way through I found out that the whole tank was tempered (BOOM). It sounded like a gun went of in the driveway when the back pane shattered into a million tiny pieces while retaining the general rectangular shape. (moral of the story get a couple of polarized filters and check for plate before you drill).
Ok so back to the drawing board. After surfin a bit and going through a few 40g breeder threads I decided to switch to the 36 x 18" footprint myself. A couple of days after I pick up my very own 40 I walk into my favorite lfs and see a pre-drilled 30 g with the back pane already painted blue laying unused on its stand. I asked the owner if it was for sale and he said 40 bucks, so I swiped it.
So now I have a 40 a 30 and a couple spare 20L layin around waiting (begging) to be setup. The plan so far is to transfer the clowns and the softie frags in the 29 over to the 40 and use a 20L for an equipment only sump. The 30 is going to be another display/refugium and will share the 20 with the 40.

[Rustylugnuts]

I like the calfo style coast to coast overflows so the 30 and 40 is going to get one each.

40g breeder


30G refugium display


And the equipment sump


The left and right side are 12" x 11 5/8" with 5 baffles taking up 6 inches (probably overkill but I will not be able replace my ol seaclone n hot magnum for a while) . I have a mag 5 and a mag 7 for the return pumps, both of these would be on the left side and the skimmer and heaters will be on the right where the 30 and 40 drain into.
Quick question I have a pair of koralia 2's for flow in the 40. Should I cut back on the flow by using a mag 3 and 5 for return pumps?

Side note Filtration will consist of around 50 lbs LR 20lbs of it man made (2 part salt and 0.5 part sand and 1 part portland), 4" DSB in the 40 (maybe in the 30 later on). Im going to keep the seaclone for now as well as the hot magnum. I have several feet of 4" acrylic pipe for the eventual DIY skimmer and I plan to ditch the canister in favor for a pair of phosban reactors (1 for carbon and 1 for GFO).
I already have 4 39w T-5's w/individual reflectors for the display and some walmart daylight compact fluorescents for the refugium.

[Rustylugnuts]

Well I asked around and it turns out that the bubble terminator 20L is a bit overkill so a sump redesign is in order. I also looked around at the price of plumbing parts (esp union ball valves) and decided to go with the classic sump/refugium setup instead. One side benefit of this plan will be the ability to save one of my mags for backup in case of pump failure.

So If I only get one tank other than the 40 for the sump I want it to be as big as possible. That leaves me with the 30.

The tank is 16" tall and the tallest baffle is about 14" and the shortest 12"

The return section is sized to fit a Octopus recirc110 with a little room to spare
from right to left skimmer section 13" return section 8" and the fuge is 14" I plan on Placing a ball valve above a T in the return line to feed the sump.



This is just a rough draft and I would greatly appreciate any input.

[Rustylugnuts]

Oh yeah I almost forgot the 30 is already drilled for a 1" sched 40 bulkhead. I plan on sealing this off with a bulkhead and cap.