DJ's 54 Corner Tank Build and Progress

[djpensive]

Hi Guys,

I'm new here and thought I'd share my current progress on my tank build.

I'm building a 54 gallon corner tank that will be sitting in my living room behind a couch. So far I had a custom steel stand built for it so that it sits perfectly in the spot it's going in. I'm just finishing up the canopy build, I need to sand it prime and paint it and install handles for the doors on it. I drilled the glass, installed an eshopps overflow box, I have a eshopps med-cube sump I'll be using, an aquamaxx cone q1 skimmer, a Hydor L40 pump, I'll be lighting this with an al hydra 26 light and haven't picked out my wave-maker yet. This is my first reef tank I've kept African's for years up to this point but when I moved I found a new home for those fish and got a new tank to start down this road.

I'm starting to get into the aqua scaping step of this tank and will be using reef saver dry rock to build all my structures. (to me this is one of the most important aspects of a tank build.

Give me some feedback on this so far, perhaps some useful do's and don'ts as well. I look forward to sharing and learning from all of you.

 

[djpensive]

Beginning the aquascape design

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members

Start a tank thread & share your tank with us so we can follow along, we love pics

 

[djpensive]

Where should I post the tank thread? @nanoreefing4fun

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?forums/reef-chronicles.62/

 

[djpensive]

@nanoreefing4fun any chance you can move this thread over to that location for me, if not I'll just start a new one in there.

 

[StevesLEDs]

Looking really good!

-Jeff

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

@nanoreefing4fun any chance you can move this thread over to that location for me, if not I'll just start a new one in there.

Moved

 

[djpensive]

Thanks! will update again soon, Making more progress and getting O-so-close to starting the cycling!

 

[djpensive]

I've finally got it up and cycling. I haven't added the canopy I've built yet, because if it was on then I'd be extremely tempted to try out the al hydra 26, and cause myself to start off with an algae bloom. I'm doing my best to slow down and enjoy the process because I've heard that taking my time will yield much better results!

 

[djpensive]

Hi Guys,

I have a question and I'm not sure it's going to have a straight forward answer but here goes. Glass top, mesh screen, or open top? As you can see in earlier pictures I built a enclosed canopy, this can should keep any "jumpers" inside. I still think I'd like to keep the tank a bit more secure than being fully open, but I could do a mesh screen across the top. Any pros/cons to using the glass top vs a mesh top? to provide more info the lighting I'm using will be an LED hydra 26 from what i understand glass won't cause much of a loss in wavelengths. Share your experiences so I can learn.

 

[mr_tap_water]

The only problem with glass covering is gas exchange and Sometimes can have a knock-on effect with your ph, also needs to be cleaned quite regular ,
if you do decide to go with glass Best to go for greenhouse glass as I believe it's the thinnest you can buy. The only real plus side with glass is you hardly ever you lose any evaporation and keeps the heat in longer.


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[djpensive]

@mr_tap_water will it have an effect on the gas exchange even if the sump has an open top and I leave the rear corner section of the top of the tank open? I would think just an open sump would take care of the gas exchange problem, but again I'm new so I don't know much about these things

 

[mr_tap_water]

@mr_tap_water will it have an effect on the gas exchange even if the sump has an open top and I leave the rear corner section of the top of the tank open? I would think just an open sump would take care of the gas exchange problem, but again I'm new so I don't know much about these things

You could be right there The sump will exchange gas but I would imagine will restrict it still To a degree but probably Will be so minor it would be nothing to worry about.


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[mr_tap_water]

Also the way I was looking at the gas exchange where your flow pumps break the surface of the water is where most gas exchange happens and by covering that up Will restrict it to the sump area only.


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[StevesLEDs]

I've been running glass lids for years and years with open sumps and refugiums and have never had any issues. The skimmers usually provide adequate oxygen levels and the surface area of the sump/fuge provides adequate area for CO2 evaporation.

Glass lids have their benefits like reducing evaporation, making the room less humid and keeping the salinity relatively stable as well. If you plan to use LEDs, everything will run nice and cool regardless of the type of lid. Heat will be a concern with glass lids with other types of lighting though.

-Jeff

 

[djpensive]

Thanks for your help guys!

 

[djpensive]

I had to pop the canopy on and try out the light, just couldn't resist

 

[djpensive]

 

[djpensive]

So good and bad news, I'm starting to see brown diatom algae in the tank!

From what I know and understand this is natural and means my water cycling is nearing completion. So now what? I don't want the outbreak to take over the tank so I've shut down the lights. Is it time for me to start adding a CUC to the tank, and put my cap back on my skimmer and filter sock back on, and do a partial water change? I'm starting to get really excited about this because I will soon have living things in the tank!