My 57 Rimless

[rboutin111]

Hi Everyone,

Happy New Year!!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I sure did, but glad it's over. Now it time to start a new build :bigsmile:. I've been talking about updated my 29 gallon bio-cube. Here is the thread for the 29 gallon https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/174466-vermonts-cube.html My new talk is a Deep Blue 57 gallon rimless. I picked it up at my local fish store in NH on 01/02/14. I'll be building a custom stand and sump for it. I would love to get a lot of help from everyone on here for this build. Let me start with the tank specs.

Tank Specs
Display: 36" x 18" x 20" Deep Blue 57 Gallon Rimless
Sump: Custom 20 Gallon Long. 30" x 12" x 12". I need your help on this.
Lighting: Ecotech Radion. I have one Gen 2. I need to purchase another.
Skimmer: Vertex Omega 150. I purchased this on black Friday
Heater: 150 Finnex HMO with Digital Controller. Looks like I will need to updated this as it's only rated for 60 gallons. I love the digital controller. So I will probably go with the 300-HMO unless you recommend differently.
Circulation: I currently have one EcoTech MP10wES. I'll start with this, but think I will buy the Maxspect Gyre EF130 once it comes out. Have any of you used the FX150 on a tank this size?
ATO: AutoAqua Smart. I love this unit. It works perfectly and was a gift from my fiancee!!!
Controller: I currently have the ReefKeeper Lite Plus and don't care for it. I'd love to upgrade to an Apex. Might try to buy a used one on here.
Testing: Phosephate with Hanna Checker, CA, ALK, MG & NO3 with Red Sea. Love them all.
Coral: My bio-cube is mostly LPS. I love torch, acans, frogspawn and duncans. I will be moving all the corals from my bio-cube to the new tank. I plan to do to island. One that's 100% LPS and the other I might try my hand at SPS. Although I haven't had much luck in my cube except for a sunset monti and a red monti cap.
Fish: I currently have two DaVinci Ocellaris Clowns, Yellow Watchman Goby and a stunning Ornate Leopard Wrasse. All will go in the new tank. I plan to add a McCockers Flasher Wrasse and maybe another wrasse or two. Any recommendations? I'm a wrasse lover for sure.

Let's get to the pictures.

Here is the current 29 Gallon Bio-Cube. The 57 rimless will go in the same spot. It will fit perfectly between the two windows. This is our TV in our house.

The Deep Blue 57 Gallon

The start of the sump. I could use a lot of help with this. I've never had a sump like this before. Here is what I'm thinking. Overflow line into a 4" filter sock right behind the skimmer. That skimmer needs to have a water leaver of 9" so I have the first baffle at 10" to give me some adjustment room. I currently have a BRS bio-pellet reactor on my bio-cube. I'm planning on using it on the 57, I assume I wouldn't use a bio-pellet reactor and chaeto? What other filtration do I need? I'm considering creating a shelf for Purigen, but not sure if it's necessary? I would like to do my filtration as natural as possible. Please let me with this.

I had a 40 gallon breeder I was going to use for the sump, but it would have to build the stand so much bigger then the display tank to make it work. I can still make it work so if you strongly suggest I go with the 40 gallon I might.

Side view with tap showing possible baffle lines.

Top view.

I'm looking forward to hearing your comments. I plan to start the stand this weekend.

 

[rboutin111]

I would love to get some help on my sump design. Does anyone have any thoughts? I'm considering going back to the 40 breeder. I'd have to design and build the stand larger to accommodate it. I'm going to start the stand this weekend.

 

[LILBUDDHA]

First off all congrats on the up grade . That tank you have now is kinda a tight space for the sock and skimmer unless u allocate a lil less room for the refuge. The filter sock clip will tell the story when you dry fit it .Do you have the sock holder on hand now ? U also have to think about skimmer mait . How tall will the stand be and are the partitions wide enough to remove the skimmer for servicing . Rock and chaeto are fine but imho I would forgo the biopellets .IMHO they compete with each other . U more than likely need more rock for the display .

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Good luck with the upgrade! If you can go with the 40 breeder for the sump, I would. I think the benefits will be worth it in the long run.

 

[rboutin111]

Thank for the feed back. I went back to Petco today to buy the 40 gallon breeder for the sump. I'm building a custom stand so why not go with a larger sump. I've ready and have been told by so many of you that bigger is better for the sump. It makes the stand longer then desired, but it will still fit between the two windows in my living room. With the larger sump I have to design the end door to be large enough to slide the sump in the side. This forces me to make the stand wider with a 5 3/4" countertop reviled. I want to hold the same revile on all three sides. I am a little concern that with such a large countertop it will make it harder to work and clean the tank. I'm going to need a step stool anyways as I'm only 5'-5" tall.

Do any of you have an over sized stand for you DT? What are the pros and cons?

 

[kschweer]

Congrats on the new tank! I really think you're going to like it, I run one too. I think going to the 40 breeder was a good idea you will be happy with the extra room. I also agree that with not running the pellets, keep things simple. Possibly look into running a manifold instead of multiple pumps, using one for everything saves space and energy. Best of luck with the build I'll be following along.

 

[rboutin111]

Congrats on the new tank! I really think you're going to like it, I run one too. I think going to the 40 breeder was a good idea you will be happy with the extra room. I also agree that with not running the pellets, keep things simple. Possibly look into running a manifold instead of multiple pumps, using one for everything saves space and energy. Best of luck with the build I'll be following along.

Thank you! I read your thread early this week. Your tank looks great. My aquascape will be similar to your's with the two islands. I'll have to look into running a manifold. Do you have any resources on this? I assume I would have one pump for my return and are you considering one pump for bio-pellets and carbon reactor if I do them?

 

[kschweer]

Thank you! I read your thread early this week. Your tank looks great. My aquascape will be similar to your's with the two islands. I'll have to look into running a manifold. Do you have any resources on this? I assume I would have one pump for my return and are you considering one pump for bio-pellets and carbon reactor if I do them?

Thank you. By running a manifold you can run one pump for everything. Return, carbon, biopellets (if you go with them) and anything else that needs a feed pump. My system is ran by a single jebao dc6000. This feeds my carbon/gfo reactor, my skimmer and returns water to the tank. Here's and example of what I mean. Basically you "T" off of your return line to feed other equipment.

Hope that helps

 

[rboutin111]

Thank you. By running a manifold you can run one pump for everything. Return, carbon, biopellets (if you go with them) and anything else that needs a feed pump. My system is ran by a single jebao dc6000. This feeds my carbon/gfo reactor, my skimmer and returns water to the tank. Here's and example of what I mean. Basically you "T" off of your return line to feed other equipment.

Hope that helps

Thank you!!! This is very help full. It looks easy enough. Are those ball valve your using for each reactor to control the amount of flow they get? Is the Jebao noisy at all? I read that it has a hum to it.

 

[kschweer]

Thank you!!! This is very help full. It looks easy enough. Are those ball valve your using for each reactor to control the amount of flow they get? Is the Jebao noisy at all? I read that it has a hum to it.

Yup, ball valves are used to control flow to the various pieces of equipment. My jebao is very very quiet, when I first fired it up I thought it was broken until I saw water start flowing. Another good option would be the reef octopus dc pumps. They are very well made and the controller is built much better than the jebao controller.

 

[rboutin111]

I read a thread today about spinning chaeto in the refugium. It makes a lot of sense to me so the entire ball of chaeto get light. So I've come up with a new sump/refugium design. This would be using the 40 gallon breed I picked up. Let me know what you all think.

 

[fanandy8]

]Do any of you have an over sized stand for you DT? What are the pros and cons?





I just set up a 40 breeder and when I made my stand I made it oversized. My main reason was I made it so I could fit a 75, 90 or 120 on it if I upgrade down the road. Its nice having the extra space around the tank to be able to set things like when doing water tests, feeding etc. In fact if I do go larger I will probably just build another stand oversized to have the extra room.

 

[rboutin111]

Today is my birthday. I wanted to spend it building the stand :bigsmile:. I'm very pleased with how it's coming along. My house was built in 1850 so the floors are not level. I had to make some major adjustments to get it level. The new tank is going to be a major improvement for out living room!!!

 

[kschweer]

Looking good! Hope you had a good birthday.

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Awesome build. Almost a mock up of what I had a few years ago. I'll look for my build.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/126188-57g-rimless-aka-mistress.html

 

[rboutin111]

Awesome build. Almost a mock up of what I had a few years ago. I'll look for my build.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/126188-57g-rimless-aka-mistress.html

Thanks for sharing. Is it still up and running?

 

[rboutin111]

I got more done on the stand tonight. I still need to build the doors and the top. The top will be a natural wood. I'm going to paint the stand. Not sure what color yet. Maybe a Richardson Brick Red.

The face frame. I screw it together using a Kreg Jig.

Blind screws is Kreg Jig.

The base of the stand. I did a 3" toe kick.

Foot detail

The 40 gallon breeder fits perfectly. I'll be able to have full access with two doors on the front and a door on either side.

 

[PaulKreider]

awesome looking build coming along!

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

That stands like great. Way to go. Coming along nicely.

Thanks for sharing. Is it still up and running?

No I had to tear it down. Had to replace the ac in the house we just bought.

 

[ReefCartel]

Thank you. By running a manifold you can run one pump for everything. Return, carbon, biopellets (if you go with them) and anything else that needs a feed pump. My system is ran by a single jebao dc6000. This feeds my carbon/gfo reactor, my skimmer and returns water to the tank. Here's and example of what I mean. Basically you "T" off of your return line to feed other equipment.

Hope that helps

This is Awesome. So this Manifold is basically coming from the return pump? can you tell me what fittings were used? Im setting up a zeovit system and I wanted to connect the media reactor and carbon. also wondering if i can connect a calcium reactor as well.