55 Gallon Rollins Reef

[Cadwalader]

So I finally have upgraded from my 20L. I bought a 55g tank with sump and stand for $200. Now the process begins of building the new tank. My planed equipment is as follows.

Aquarium vital statistics
The display tank measures 48”x 13”x 20” with a capacity of 55 gal and a sump of 12 gal, giving the total capacity for the system of 67 gal.

Biological Filtration
Berlin-style system with protein skimmer, relying mainly on 60 pounds of Pacific live rock (mostly Fiji) as the main filter media for the system. The substrate in the main display tank comprises of .2-2mm Indo-Pacific Black aragonite sand and measures about 2 ½” deep.

Chemical Filtration
PhosBan 150g run through a Two-Little Fishes PhosBan Reactor 150
Phosban running Activated Carbon 10oz which stays in tank for one month before being replaced

Water Changes
Small (15%) water changes carried out every two weeks using a salt mix and RO water.

Skimming
Berlin Turbo Classic Protein skimmer powered by a Maxi-Jet 600

UV Sterilizer
15W Gamma UV Sterilizer powered by a Maxi-Jet 600

Water circulation
Water circulation is controlled by one external pump:
One Quiet One Pump (300 gph)
Plus Two Submersible pump in display tank
Tunze Nanostream (1000 gph)

Total flow rate of 2300 gph
Turnover of 41 times per hour

Lighting
Aqualight Pro HQI/Compact Florescent/ Lunar Light Fixture
Two 150W 10,000K metal halide bulbs
Two 96W actinic

Or Possiblly a T-5 set up haven’t decided yet


Heating
200W Visi-Therm Stealth Heater

Automation Devices
One ATO Auto Top Off Controller
One Reef Keeper 2 by Digital Aquatics controlling:
All light devices
All temperature devices
pH probe

Planed Stocking list:

Corals:

LPS
Zoas
Soft Corals

Inverts:

Clams
Fire Shrimp
Cleaner Shrimp
Emrald Crab
Hermits
Snails


Fish:

Clownfish (2)
Spotted Cardinalfish
Diamond Watchman Goby
Bangel Cardinalfish (2)
Flame Hawkfish
Kole Yellow Eye Tang
Six Line Wrasse


Any help along the way as I plan to put this thing together would help.

Im still trying to decide between Tunze Nanostreams or Hydor Koralia pumps

Also Im not quite sure which lights Im gona get yet so any ideas would be appreciated.

[xcreonx]

Looks pretty good. Seems like you're doing your homework..... refreshing! :P

The two suggestions I would have is to 1) def get two heaters, one as a backup, if you live in a colder climate. One could easily fail. And 2) You might consider a more efficient skimmer than the Berlin. There's alot of good info here about skimmers so perhaps look into that.

As far as your lights, if you're hoping to keep LPS, zoas and softies, I would go for the T5s. I have a TekLight T5 on my 35g and keep corals of that flavour. I have the 4x 24watt setup and only run 2 of the bulbs about 6 hours a day. The corals love the light. Don't get me wrong, metal halides are great. But smallish tanks don't really need them especially if you're not keeping clams and 'SPS'. The 150w Metal halides aren't too powerful so if you do decide to put them on this tank, they should be fine as well. personally, I really love the T5s.

Those nanostreams are really nice too. Im not so familiar with the Hydors, maybe someone else can chime in.

[Cadwalader]

Thanks. Im taking what I used and learned on my 20L and putting it to good use on my new 55. I agree on the lights but I also want to maybe keep a clam or two. I know friends have done it with T5 with less watts then I am planning to have.

Also what skimmers does everyone recommend for a 55 gallon.

[Cadwalader]

One other thing I am gona do two heaters a 200w Visitherm as the main heater and then a 100w as a back up if it breaks. Im less worried about keeping it hot then keeping it cool as I am living in Florida. I may have to invest in a chiller.

[specialkb]

Sounds good i too have a 55, where in florida are you?

[Cadwalader]

Couple of up dates

One of my friends is taking apart his 55. So I am buying his 48" HQI for cheap, along with 40 pounds of live rock, and his UV Sterilizer

Building should start around Aug 16th as soon as I get back down to Orlando

[XSiVE]

I love my Hydor Koralia pumps, I have a 1 and a 2 in my 55. The 2 (600gph) creates a pretty strong & broad current across the entire length of the tank. I was quite surprised at how good they are for the price.

[Cadwalader]

Quick question for everyone. If I have a refugium attached to my sump and then have my UV inline after my sump will the UV kill any pods that go through the return line?

[perrl]

I have a Koralia 3 on my 55gal along with a Maxijet 1200. I have a few SPS so I need a little more flow. For the money Koralias are excellent. I also have T-5's and love them. They allow the SPS to grow without problems. The few mushrooms that I have hide from the light under overhangs but otherwise xenia, ricordia and favia do well.

[thirschmann]

yo Henry... if you put the uv on a power head before the refugium you will be fine. Then have the sump over flow into the refugium and have your return pump draw directly from the refugium.

Alternatively, you could have the drain line from the tank split into two, one end gravity feeding the skimmer, the other end feeding the refugium. Then have both the skimmer and refugium overflow into the sump and have the return plumbed into the sump.

Or just put your refugium above your tank, let the sump return feed into the refugium and then overflow into the main tank, this way you won't have that return through the center of your tank and the pods will float out naturally. With that tunze from matt you won't need much water movement from the return. You can put the uv, skimmer, and phosban reactor in the sump no worries this way.

and one more alternative to the previous one. You could keep the normal return in the tank and have the return T off lower down to feed the refugium. This way you can regulate how much flow you want in the refugium (since you generally want to keep it pretty slow)


Hope all is well and I PMed you back.

[thirschmann]

hey now henry... how's it coming along?

[Cadwalader]

Well here is an update:

My two fish made the 1000+ mile journey with me on the Auto-Train from PA-FL. Everyone survived and is healthy.

I got my 55 from my friends house and got it set up.

I added 40pounds of Arag-Alive sand and 15 pounds of Aragonite substrate.

I also added the 20+ pounds of live rock that I had plus about 40+ that a friend sold me.

I hooked up the return with a Mag7 pump that should handle about 500gph after headloss.

I put everything together and let it cycle for a day or two and now have added my clownfish and my cardinal. I also added a few hermits and snails that survived the trip also.

My plans for next week are to get the three more fish a friend is iving me. Yellow Tang, Flame Hawkfish, and a Bangii Cardinal. Also finsih getting the sump plumbed and up and running.

I will add pictures soon and keep everyone updated.

[Cadwalader]

Couple more updates:

I got a Yellow Eye Cole Tang and a Six Line Wrasse the other day for my tank so my count is now up to four fish.

Also my friend who unfortunately is stuck in London is letting me borrow his 48" Outer Orbit HQI's which look sick on my tank but raise the temperature a little higher then I would like it. I still need to get the legs for it or raise it off the tank with a suspension system.

I still need to do the plumbing for the durso standpipe and for the rest of the drain and get a good skimmer for the sump. I also need to hook up my phosban and carbon reactors as well.

Other than that the tank is running great and as soon as the Kole tang gets less shy it will be awesome. I think Im gona start adding corals latter next week.

[thirschmann]

looks like your making moves on your tank... you still have some of your corals in my tank, the ones that made it that is, so feel free tograb them whenever you want. Also have a few other corals i can throw your way if you want, just give me a call next time you get a chance to check on my tank.

If you take some pictures and post htem I can give you some more advice on your setup, if you like. Good luck buddy and remember to take it slow with stocking. I'm sure you've mentioned it up but what skimmer did you go with?

[Cadwalader]

Some new equipment for the tank:

My friend who is unfortunately stuck in London has been kind enough to let me borrow his old Outer Orbit HQI lights which are amazing looking on my tank and pump out a sun like 560 watts. Unfortuantlly the legs are two wide for the tank so it is up about 9" above the water line on two pieces of plastic. The nice thing though is I can run the halides and the temp is only at 79.

I also just ordered a Euro-Reef RS-80 skimmer from Marine Depot for only $180 which is a deal for these skimmers. It should work really well in my sump and with the better skimmer I can have a higher bio load.

Other then that the tank is running great. I still need to re aquascape a little but the fish seem to enjoy the live rock and the increased swimming room from the 20L. Also I took my mom to the fish store and she loved it so much she is gona buy me any fish I want and a Toadstool mushroom coral