Time for an upgrade...55g micro-budget build

[Salty O'Shen]

i'm tyring to figure out if they are worth the effort and the extra work to build the sump. a 20g L isn't that big and maybe it's more trouble than it's worth to do the mangrove thing. i'm trying to be as thorough as possible with my sump/refuge plans tho...

first coat of finish on the stand, will post pics tonight after the second coat of finish is on, i'm hoping to move it in the house sunday morning and spend sunday filling with sand and making water

[OneDummHikk]

It is worth it. It adds water to the system and gives you a place to hide the equipment out of sight even if you only have equipment and water in the sump.

[Fat Tony]

it took me all of about an hour to build and the same to go get the glass cut so yes it think it is worth the cost personally

[Salty O'Shen]

sorry to not be clear in my previous post. i'm wondering about the addition of the mangroves part. i'm certain on the sump, but i don't know if the mangrove trough and the maintenance on the mangroves (is there any besudes wiping the leaves?) is worth the extra bit of work...

[Fat Tony]

It all depends on how bad you want mangroves... I like them so I felt like the 15 minutes it took to build the trough was worth it

Yes, all the maint. that is requires is wiping the leaves from time to time.

[Salty O'Shen]

I've completed the staining & finishing on the outside...the water sealing, priming and painting in the sump area...

next is to paint the inside of the doors and rear plywood panels since theses each have to go through the process of staining and finishing on the outside and sealing, priming and painting on the inside.

here's the front view with tape still on it waiting for paint to dry...



a view of the side and front of stand...i am happy with the choice to use the paneling, now if only i hadn't had the lame idea of putting the rear ply on after i painted it...


I left the rear ply panels off so i could have easier access to the inside of the stand for painting and sealing...problem was this allowed the stand to twist in the temp swings in the garage and now i have a beautiful, slightly twisted stand ... i had to shave the doors a little after "straightening" the stand as much as possible. shouldn't have counted on the three sides of paneling to keep the stand true...ah well, still looks good inside the house

inside the sump area...this will hold 10 gallons if there's a catastrophe...hope i won't ever test it...




moved the stand into the house yesterday and filled the tank with live sand and saltwater, next up...live rock for cycling and curing the tank... trying to determine the source for the rock, will cure it in the tank...i see a "good buy" on LR from PetCo 45lbs "uncured" fiji premium for $150 shipped...still on the hunt for LR options tho...maybe even only 20lbs live and 30-40lbs of non-live...ideas?

[Fat Tony]

Yeah, go for the 10 or so pounds of live and the rest Marcorock (google marcorock) I do suggest that you spend the little extra on the marco and get the dry Fiji and not the budget stuff... there is a huge difference in quality.

Here's what a 25lb box of Marcorock Premium Fiji looked like in my 55





BTW, I should have the retro reflectors for you lighting available next week for cheap (think $30 shipped for both instead of $40 each plus shipping).
http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp...OD&ProdID=1533

I am going to keep and use my ballasts though, but Ballastwise has their electronic 150W ballasts on sale right now for $50 each...

http://www.ballastwise.com/item.asp?...FID=17&level=1

add a couple DE 150w bulbs and call it a day..

[Salty O'Shen]

looks like i'm going to get a couple pieces of LR from the LFS and order 25# of dry marco rock, i like the way it looks, do some aquascaping and see if i want more.

i've just gotten the rear of the tank painted and into the house, working on filling it up with water and live sand. is there any reason i need to worry about lighting the tank during the cycle? any problems with adding the rock in the next week or so?

i'm still saving the dough for lighting and i want to get the cycle going sooner rather than later...

[Fat Tony]

Do a Muriatic (Hydrochloric) Acid bath on the rock prior to putting it in the tank, You will want to at least soak the rock for a couple weeks outside the tank (trust me on this, the smell could be pretty bad if there is a good deal of organic matter on the rock still when it comes in, like mine was). Great rock, if yoiu buy the premium stuff (at least mine was )

The reflectors are ready to go if you are interested

[Salty O'Shen]

alrighty, i got the stand finally completed, i had to do a modification on the doors to get the magnetic latches to work properly, there's always problems when you have a ignoramus with zero cabinet-making experience such as myself playing with power tools!!

anyhow here's the final product for the stand, from the corner, notice the tank is filled with SW and sand, waiting on the marco rock to arrive later this week (i hope)


Here's the full frontal


and the inside of the sump area, still waiting for the lighting to be installed and then i'm waiting to complete cycling the tank and stabilizing the levels so i can move the livestock over, hopefully in mid-may...


also, the 2-koralia 3's will be here this week along with the eshopps overflow box and the mag 9.5 return pump...

now i need to figure out why everyone is out of stock on the octopus nw110 that i had settled on for a skimmer...anyone who can help locate one will earn a great big gold star!!

[OneDummHikk]

Because they know the MSX is a better buy? Or a Vertex?

[Salty O'Shen]

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Because they know the MSX is a better buy? Or a Vertex?

mr. hikk, are you suggesting i've made a poor choice? money is a consideration, the vertex get's close to the $150 target, but the MSX is out of the question....ready for some feedback

[OneDummHikk]

No, far from it. The Octopus' are good skimmers. They have the same body as the MSX does. Made in the same plant. There seems to have been an issue with the smaller MSX (160) that got people mentioning the Vertex line of skimmers. I think any one of the three would be a KILLER skimmer on a 55 and be able to grow with you.

I hope that my comment wasn't taken badly, it was meant in jest. My apologies if you took offense from it as none was meant.

[Salty O'Shen]

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

I hope that my comment wasn't taken badly, it was meant in jest. My apologies if you took offense from it as none was meant.

no, certainly not taken badly, just made me worried that i was on the wrong track...i know that you and most everyone on here are supportive and not lathered in attitude...that said, i'm considering the vertex now but i've got a few weeks until i'm setting up my sump, the MSX is too far out from the cost target...

[Salty O'Shen]

three weeks into cycling the tank, i've moved through the ammonia spike and now have a nitrate spike...hoping to see the end of the cycle soon...maybe because i'm subconsciously hoping for his demise i moved one of my turbo snails from my 20g into the new 55g to begin working on algae that is beginning to build up on the back wall of the tank and the live rock i seeded the tank with...also dropped in a couple of the blue legged hermits to give me something to look at in the tank and start working on the pieces of shrimp still in the tank

i also purchased a t5 fixture last week on ebay...4 x 54w(2-12k & 2actinic) & 4x2bulb blue LED moon light...it doesn't have individual reflectors, but with three separate cords and switches(2 for t5, 1 for moon), built in cooling fans and a cool mounting system that hinges back to allow access to the tank all for 159.99 shipped/no tax, i'm very happy with it...

25# key largo Marco rocks arrived and they are everything i hoped they would be, thanks for the suggestion on the rocks Fat Tony!

mag 9.5 for the return from the sump i'll build after i move everyone outta the 20g is also here and waiting and the eshopps-1000 HOB overflow box as well...now, let get moving bacteria, i'm ready to get this show on the road!!!