FishDooD's Aquarium builds

[FishDooD65]

Erwin FD's Fish Tank build

Hello everyone my name is Erwin and I am a member of the Florida Marine Aquarium Society (FMAS). I have been in this addicting hobby for many years. I have always been fascinated with aquariums since I was a kid. Its something that gives me a lot of joy and pleasure, to come home and see my aquarium. Anyways here is the start of my thread, it was a 6 month project that ended being worth the wait lol. I upgraded from a biocube 29. The main reason I went with the 55 is because I already had the tank, so why spend the money on a 75 or 90 when eventually I plan on upgrading again. I also got a huge deal on the stand and canopy from a fellow FMAS member. A big thanks goes out to my fellow FMAS people, I could not have done it without their help and support. Thanks Cadu Gauch, Got Corals, Cory Coddington, Sal9012, and David Suli.

Aquarium: 55 gallon Aqueon tank, stand, and canopy

Overflow: Glass-Holes.com 700gph kit

Return Pump: Rio 2100 (upgrading to DC pump soon)

Internal Circulation: 1 Jebao WP25 & 1 Hydor Koralia Evolution 1050.

Heater: Aqueon Pro 100 watt

Lighting: 2 Evergrow D120 Full Spectrum Dimmable LED fixtures (with optics removed)

Filtration: 4" Filter Sock and filter floss in between sump baffles, SCA-302 Cone Protein Skimmer, Chemipure Elite, 5 watt Biocube UV Sterilizer, and Santa Monica Upflow Algae Scrubber.

Current FTS

 

[MrDJeep123]

Can't wait to see how things progress.

 

[FishDooD65]

Can't wait to see how things progress.

Thanks a lot! I will update this thread when I get home tonight after work for a better overall system description.

 

[FishDooD65]

Well, I started with this system more than a year ago. its was my Biocube 29. it was a mess and looked like a giant frag tank lol





So i decided it was time for an upgrade, the 55 was in my parents shed and i'm glad i kept it. I got to bring it back to life. I also found a local FMAS member who gave me a heck of a deal on the stand and canopy thanks to Cory!



I then proceeded to build a sump to house the skimmer, filter sock, UV sterilizer, heater, and return pump. 10 gallon tank. I cut up some acrylic baffles, i siliconed them into placed. I even notched the teeth for the middle baffle. its not show worthy but it works, good enough for me lol.



Picked up some equipment. The Jebao WP25 and Evergrow D120 Full Spectrum LED units

 

[FishDooD65]

So then it was time for manual labor, meaning I got side tracked and had to put together a 265 for my in laws lol. I got it done one day.
3 year old for reference lol







Back to my build, I ordered the glass-holes.com 700 gph overflow kit along with some goodies



I then acquired some rocks from a good friend and fellow FMAS member, CaduGauch, which i cooked in a hydrogen peroxide bath to nuke anything on them.





Then, I got some help from my wife and she picked out the color plus she also helped with the manual labor and painted the stand and canopy. what a woman!



Then it was time to drill my tank for the overflow kit install.



Proceeding afterwards to paint the back of the aquarium black

 

[FishDooD65]

I also managed to get a great deal from another FMAS member and friend on the skimmer for my build. Thanks David Suli. Its an SCA-302 skimmer rated up to 150 gallons, perfect for my build. I also had to remove the first baffle in my sump in order to make accommodations for the big skimmer. I decided having a big skimmer will be more effective than a small refugium which was inspired to me by Zeph in NYC on another forum. He guided me in that direction and he believes in this philosophy of "nothing but a skimmer" lol. Its been great advice so far.





Then it was time to get the water and rocks in there for the cycle to start. I also added 40 pounds of Caribsea Fiji Pink sand.









After the water cleared up, notice this is just rock piles and not the final aquascape



Got the skimmer kicked on and sump working great

 

[FishDooD65]

I then ran into the biggest problem I had, after mounting my LED fixtures to my canopy, i found out the i could not close the canopy shut without the power cords hitting the inner part of the canopy.



This was resolved by getting 90 degree angled power cords and trimming the inside of the canopy. Worked like a charm and i found the cords on ebay for like $20 shipped, i got lucky lol.



Its kind of ghetto but it works lol. i can always fix it in time if need be.



I was then given some advice from my buddy Cadu Gauch that the optic lenses might amplify the lighting from the LEDs and make them too strong being that my fixtures are like 4"-5" above the water surface. After using his PAR meter, he was right and also the optics make the light beams look like flashlights on to the rocks lol.

You can clearly see both of the centers of the rock piles with a strong beam. not good IMO.



I decided to take the fixtures apart and remove all the 90 degree optics.









Way better spread now lol

 

[FishDooD65]

Then it was the moving day, my tank was at my parent's house during the cycle. I had to break it down, load it up, then drive it to my apartment, and then set it up. It was raining so i covered everything up with a tarp.



My good friend Jason helped me do all the moving and my brother in law helped me with his artistic skills to aquascape the rocks. I think we all did a great job and I did not lose anything. I'm very happy with everything. I would have taken pics about the process but i was so focused on getting everything in the new tank lol. Here it is where it sits today





I got these two new guys from Marine Net a month ago and they are doing good. Keep in mind i will be upgrading again to a bigger tank in time. If the tangs grow too big faster than I get my next build up, they will be rehomed to a friends bigger system.




Here is a shot of one of my corals that has grown tremendously Hollywood Stunner Chalice, about 5 months growth



Random Shots (sorry about the lighting, i have been messing with my camera settings and lights to get better pics)



Better Pics

 

[FishDooD65]

Here's some more coral candy



Morphs







Blood Rains



Yuma



Ricordea



Zoas



Plate Coral from Sal



New ORA SPS



Everyones Fav, dirty skimmate cup lol

 

[Cytranic]

Awesome build! Looking forward to progress!!!!!

-Cory

 

[FishDooD65]

Awesome build! Looking forward to progress!!!!!

-Cory

Thanks buddy! The tank is doing great so far.

 

[cadugauch]

looking great Erwin!

 

[FishDooD65]

looking great Erwin!

Thanks for everything and all your advice buddy

 

[powers2001]

Subscribed.

 

[FishDooD65]

Well a short update, GONE with the SCA-302 Skimmer and HELLO Reef Octopus NWB110. I have always wanted this skimmer and I got a heck of a deal. Thanks to sal9012! Also got some really nice frags from cadugauch, Thanks buddy!

Reef Octopus Skimmer (Breaking In, it was cleaned spotless when I got it)



SPS Frags





Better Pics coming soon

 

[FishDooD65]

This reef octopus skimmer is a beast! The best skimmer I have ever owned. The gunk that it pulls out is crazy, AWESOME!!!!!

One Day of skimmate



Two days of skimmate

 

[FishDooD65]

Well its update time. I fixed my algae scrubber and hopefully lowering the photoperiod and sanding down the knitting screen helped it get it going. I will report back in another week to see the progress. Well I tested my parameters today after feeding heavily everyday to see what happens. I have no nitrates. None, i tested a friend's water just to make sure and it had nitrate, but mine is yellow on the API kit. I know API isnt the best but for nitrate, calcium, and alkalinity, i am sure they work. Even AquamanE can vouch for that LOL. It must be a combination of my filtration routine and components. My skimmer is rated for 110 gallons, i change my filter sock the moment it gets clogged, new bag of chemipure elite every month to month and a half, and maybe my algae scrubber is working lol, it has some yellow/green slime on it. I had a small diatom bloom, brown stringy algae but no green hair algae. I'm shocked lol even after heavy feeding to my corals with different foods. Mixtures of Marine Snow, Seachem Zookplankton, Reef Chili, Cyclopeeze, PE Mysis, Selcon, Garlic Extreme, and Brightwell Aquatics AminOmega. I also feed my fish a mixture of flakes. They love my mixture of Cobalt Aquatics Pro Breeder and Marine Vegi Flakes. I also give my tangs TLF green sheets of nori and New Era Marine Grazers. Im guessing my filter sock swapping out every 4-5 days helps remove food that hasn't broken down therefore no nitrates and my skimmer is a beast that removes green gunk. Thats where I am now.... I got some new frags i will post pics soon! Also I would like to add after weeks of testing, I havent had the need to dose my system much calcium and alkalinity. Possibly 1 mL of each two part every week. Maybe since its a new tank and coraline algae really hasnt taken off yet. Or possibly since I dont have much that will consume it out of my 60 gallons of water volume.....

 

[FishDooD65]

Here's one for all you SPS lovers. I've been having success with my SPS so far, too soon to tell but I am striving for the best. Enjoy and sorry for the cell phone pics LOL


Green Fields Monti





ORA Elkhorn Monti





Monti Setosa





Recovering Poci from Temp Swing





Recovering Ponape Birdsnest from Temp Swing





Ponape Birdsnest Frag





Green Milli





Green Monti Digitata





Cali Tort





Ora Stuber Stag

 

[FishDooD65]

More frags and pics.


Alpha Omega





Punk Rockers





Mystic Montipora





Spongodes Monti





FTS

 

[D_Reep1106]

Nice build! I have a 55 being set up now and I will be upgrading to a 6ft tank in august I'll find out dimensions tomorrow. It's coming from a church member that is tired of it sitting in his basement so long story short I am looking to get LED's and using the same ones now on the 55 as I would on the 6ft tank so how hard was it to take off the lenses and do you plan on using the same fixture when you upgrade?