The Flying Turkey
Active Member
Hi everyone!
I'm a new member and I'm starting my first reef aquarium. I'm starting this thread as a journal for myself, and I hope all of you enjoy it also. At the very least it can serve as a guide for other reef newbies to see how I did it, what I did right, and what I did wrong.
At first I thought I wanted a JBJ 28 gallon cube, but after doing tons of research I found that bigger is better when it comes to a reef. But being an average guy with a growing family and a limited budget, it took me a while to find a system large enough that didn't break the bank. I was leaning towards a JBJ 45g rimless, or a IM 38 gallon rimless. After doing more and more research, I decided on a 50 gallon rimless cube with 20 gallon sump. (Brand name withheld so this doesn't come across as a commercial for them. They are a sponsor of another forum I found) They make a reef ready package that includes the rimless cube, stand, sump, protein skimmer, return pump and plumbing. The price was good, even better than the JBJ or IM setups, but shipping would have added another $200 onto the price, so I was hesitant. By accident I found they were selling the same system on Ebay with free shipping so I bought it. If anyone is interested in the brand shoot me a PM!
I won the auction on a Saturday. They shipped it out Monday morning via a freight company. It went from California to Illinois and made it here by Thursday. The freight company called me to schedule delivery, and I had it the very next day, Friday. 5 days isn't bad. It came on a pallet in two boxes:
It was very well packed:
Here you can see the sump packed nicely inside the display tank:
The skimmer was packed well also:
The stand is made of very thick MDF on the 50 gallon model (I hear they use real wood on the 66 gallon and larger models) and it came unassembled. It was also packed very well, no scratches or dents:
Assembly instructions were very basic, but if you've ever assembled anything from Ikea you'll have an easy time building it:
There is also instructions on how to unpack the aquarium and a breakdown of all the skimmer parts:
Assembly of the stand took me 30 minutes. I leveled the stand to the floor. It also came with a foam "leveling mat" that you place between the stand and display tank. There was another foam "leveling mat" for the glass sump too. Then I placed the display tank on the stand:
Here's the sump. Return is on the left, refugium section in the center, and protein skimmer on the right where the display tank drains into the sump:
That's my low-tech Par 38 CFL 6500K fuge light with a clamp-on reflector. Is that a good choice for a fuge light?
Once everything was in place I installed the bulkhead fittings and ran the included tubing down to the sump. I like the tubing as it provides less restriction to flow and I can move things around if I need to.
Here is a shot of the all glass overflow with the drilled out holes in the bottom:
The plumbing includes a 1" PVC Durso standpipe for the return/drain and a PVC supply tee'd off for two flow nozzles. I filled it up with tap water for a leak test and I ran the return pump. With return flow at full flow (395 GPH) I was getting a loud noise from the Durso pipe, so I slowed flow down to about half that and it quieted right down. I'm still trying to figure out if 200 GPH is too slow flow through the sump, or how to quiet down the Durso at full flow. I even tested the skimmer.
Everything worked properly so after a few days of running I drained all the tap water out. She is just sitting now waiting for me to get everything else I need. Already ordered is a Reef Radiance Lumentek Pro 120 LED light, a Jebao WP25, and a 200w ViaAqua Titanium heater.
Up next is an RO/DI system, ATO, sand and rock and reef salt mix. Also some Chaetomorpha for the fuge and maybe some sand. I'll post more as things come in and I get it set up.
Thanks for following along!
I'm a new member and I'm starting my first reef aquarium. I'm starting this thread as a journal for myself, and I hope all of you enjoy it also. At the very least it can serve as a guide for other reef newbies to see how I did it, what I did right, and what I did wrong.
At first I thought I wanted a JBJ 28 gallon cube, but after doing tons of research I found that bigger is better when it comes to a reef. But being an average guy with a growing family and a limited budget, it took me a while to find a system large enough that didn't break the bank. I was leaning towards a JBJ 45g rimless, or a IM 38 gallon rimless. After doing more and more research, I decided on a 50 gallon rimless cube with 20 gallon sump. (Brand name withheld so this doesn't come across as a commercial for them. They are a sponsor of another forum I found) They make a reef ready package that includes the rimless cube, stand, sump, protein skimmer, return pump and plumbing. The price was good, even better than the JBJ or IM setups, but shipping would have added another $200 onto the price, so I was hesitant. By accident I found they were selling the same system on Ebay with free shipping so I bought it. If anyone is interested in the brand shoot me a PM!
I won the auction on a Saturday. They shipped it out Monday morning via a freight company. It went from California to Illinois and made it here by Thursday. The freight company called me to schedule delivery, and I had it the very next day, Friday. 5 days isn't bad. It came on a pallet in two boxes:
It was very well packed:
Here you can see the sump packed nicely inside the display tank:
The skimmer was packed well also:
The stand is made of very thick MDF on the 50 gallon model (I hear they use real wood on the 66 gallon and larger models) and it came unassembled. It was also packed very well, no scratches or dents:
Assembly instructions were very basic, but if you've ever assembled anything from Ikea you'll have an easy time building it:
There is also instructions on how to unpack the aquarium and a breakdown of all the skimmer parts:
Assembly of the stand took me 30 minutes. I leveled the stand to the floor. It also came with a foam "leveling mat" that you place between the stand and display tank. There was another foam "leveling mat" for the glass sump too. Then I placed the display tank on the stand:
Here's the sump. Return is on the left, refugium section in the center, and protein skimmer on the right where the display tank drains into the sump:
That's my low-tech Par 38 CFL 6500K fuge light with a clamp-on reflector. Is that a good choice for a fuge light?
Once everything was in place I installed the bulkhead fittings and ran the included tubing down to the sump. I like the tubing as it provides less restriction to flow and I can move things around if I need to.
Here is a shot of the all glass overflow with the drilled out holes in the bottom:
The plumbing includes a 1" PVC Durso standpipe for the return/drain and a PVC supply tee'd off for two flow nozzles. I filled it up with tap water for a leak test and I ran the return pump. With return flow at full flow (395 GPH) I was getting a loud noise from the Durso pipe, so I slowed flow down to about half that and it quieted right down. I'm still trying to figure out if 200 GPH is too slow flow through the sump, or how to quiet down the Durso at full flow. I even tested the skimmer.
Everything worked properly so after a few days of running I drained all the tap water out. She is just sitting now waiting for me to get everything else I need. Already ordered is a Reef Radiance Lumentek Pro 120 LED light, a Jebao WP25, and a 200w ViaAqua Titanium heater.
Up next is an RO/DI system, ATO, sand and rock and reef salt mix. Also some Chaetomorpha for the fuge and maybe some sand. I'll post more as things come in and I get it set up.
Thanks for following along!
