Diy 55 gal setup with stand and Refugium

[jbmoz]

I am in the process of setting up a 55 gal tank with a 30 gallon sump/refugium. I thought I would share some pics and ideas as this is where I have picked up most of my ideas.

These are pics of the DIY stand.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=23726&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=24787&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500

It is 49 inches wide 16 inches deep and 32 inches tall
I bought the doors in the furniture section at lowes for 48 bucks. I stained it with gel stain and rub on poly. The handles are starfish. The frame is made from 2X4s and the wood is 1/2 inch sand ply. ( I would use a higher quality plywood if I ever did this again.)

Inside I have installed a wire trough to make it easier to run the wire I have also installed a gfci powerstripwith ten plugs for power.

[jbmoz]

This is 1/2"styrofoam insulation which I picked up for 4.75 at HD to keep from having twist

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=24789&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500

[jbmoz]

This is a photo of the bulk head. There is one on each side just in case one gets clogged they are obout 4 of 5 inches from the top

note that I painted the back of the tank blue with krylon spray paint.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=24790&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500

[jbmoz]

this is a pic of the overflow and return plumbing

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=24791&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500

[jbmoz]

Initially I had planned to use a plenum in this tank with a substrate of Caribsea Special Reef Sand but after calculating the costs I had to come up with an alternative. I searched 2 HD in Greensboro 2 HD's in Winston Salem and 5 in Charlotte for Southdown all to no avail.

I read everything I could find on DSB's and Sand and finally decided to go with a 5 inch DSB consisting of 3 inches of regular Bonsal Play sand with 2 inches of Arag Alive indo pacific black on top. I know that I am running the risk of Diatoms but after all of my reading I decided to take a calculated risk and try it.

It actually looks very good and I have my fingers crossed.

I kept the old 4 inch DSB in the 30 Gallon that I converted to a Sump. Everything is up and running and I am praying that I dont have a really bad cycle.

[jbmoz]

I used all of the sand, water, and LR from my existing 30 gallon for this new tank. I added 34 gallons of RO salt water to the set up and a new Titanium Submersible heater. (I am impressed with the heater it is really accurate) I also sprinkled some of the old DSB into the new one and I snagged a couple of handfuls of LS from the oldest tank at my LFS. I am hoping to avoid a really bad cycle and have my fingers crossed. I only have 4 inches of fish in the tank. and after setting everything up my readings were as follows

Salinity 1.024
PH 8.3
KH about 9
Calcium 400
Nitrates 0.0
ammonia 0.0

Does anyone think I will be able to avoid a Cycle?
Here's a Pic
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=25059&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500

Please ignore my ghetto hood