50G Frisian Reef

[Yverish]

Hello there,

My name is Martijn. I live in the nice little town of Makkum (province Friesland, hence the thread title) in the Netherlands together with my wife and two daughters.

This build thread is a summary/copy of a thread on a Dutch forum. Will be posting updates as building continues.

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Late april we’ve bought our first reef aquarium an Aquatlantis Aquaview 92; 92x50x55cm (200L / 50G water), 12mm Optic White glass. It was brand new but without sump and plumbing, so we could buy it for a very good price.

From that moment I started collecting pieces and equipment, planning to get the tank wet after the summer holidays. First thing done was cabinet lighting (and using the cabinet for storage...)

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In may I could pick up a custom build sump from Aquaja. It is a Diamond Line 275 sump, but finished with black foil (instead of white)

 

[Yverish]

Next up was plumbing the Herbie style overflow (2x 40mm)

All plumbing in the cabinet is connected with 3-way unions before the bulkheads through the bottom of the tank. 25mm return, 40mm overflow, 40mm emergency overflow.

First thing plumbed were the returns, the main overflow with a Spears gate valve

 

[Yverish]

Before plumbing the return manifold, I’ve made a “cabinet” for the electronics, DJ-switch and controllerboard on the left and a protected space for the sump on the right.

Plumbing a bit more of the return manifold was the next thing to do, before moving over to the controllerboard. On the right one more fitting will be connected for UV.

 

[Yverish]

Electronics were next. Started with a piece of plywood, mapped everything out, drilled some holes and painted the board. I’m very happy with the result.

Electronics so far:
APEXel with VDM module
Red Dragon 3 Mini Speedy 50W return
2x Tunze 6055 powerheads
2x Kessil A360WE LED fixtures

The tank is on a test run now with tap water, no leaks so far (running for two weeks). Next up is aquascaping.

Question for you all: my sump has a very small skimmer section (front left in the last picture) of 5.7” x 6.3” and 9” water height. Any skimmer suggestions for my tank size (approximately 50 gallons) fitting the compartment? I came across the Aqua Medic Power Flotor line, anyone with personal experience with that line of skimmers?

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Awesome build dude, shame not many people have responded to this thread
Do you have an idea of what you'll put in the tank? Or have you already got stuff in the tank? (it has been 4 months since you posted this lol)
*Im here because Im thinking of setting up a 50g but idk what to put in it, i have 2 clowns and a mandarin in my 20g currently, but id like to get maybe a snowflake eel and a dwarf lionfish or a spotted puffer if I upgrade)

 

[Yverish]

Awesome build dude, shame not many people have responded to this thread
Do you have an idea of what you'll put in the tank? Or have you already got stuff in the tank? (it has been 4 months since you posted this lol)
*Im here because Im thinking of setting up a 50g but idk what to put in it, i have 2 clowns and a mandarin in my 20g currently, but id like to get maybe a snowflake eel and a dwarf lionfish or a spotted puffer if I upgrade)

Thanks for the first reply in my build thread. I’ll give some updates in my next post!

 

[Yverish]

I’ve scaped and got my tank wet with salt water early september:

I’ve fitted an AquaMedic Power Flotor M in my skimmer chamber and with the addition of a dosing pump (I’ll be running the DSR EZ-line of products) the engineroom was finished! (for now )

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Awesome, if I get a 50g I'll have to look into the hardware and stuff youre using. Super excited for you, cant wait to hear what you got next. Hopefully some fish and/or corals

 

[Zach B]

Wow, looks awesome. Hopefully someone with more skimmer experience will chime in

 

[dantimdad]

That's a beautiful build! Good job!

 

[Dark_Knightt]

Wow, looks awesome. Hopefully someone with more skimmer experience will chime in

#reefsquad we need skimmer input

 

[Yverish]

In the mean while a reasonable CUC has been added:

2 emerald crabs
Astraea snails
Nassarius snails
Trochus snails

As well as a lawnmower blenny (Salarias Ramosus)

And a couple of ocellaris clowns

 

[Chrisfish]

A belated welcome to R2R, sorry I can’t help with the skimmer but your tank is awesome, looking forward to seeing more.

 

[Yverish]

Over the last weeks I also added some corals and frags:

Not everything is glued on the reef yet, some corals are still acclimating

 

[meermann]

Late april we’ve bought our first reef aquarium an Aquatlantis Aquaview 92; 92x50x55cm (200L / 50G water), 12mm Optic White glass.

Hi Martijn. Do you use any foam mat between the tank and the cabinet? Aquatlantis recommends to use their Carpet Shock, haven't seen it anywhere.
Another question: how the aquarium and the cabinet was delivered? In the single package or there were two packages with the aquarium and the cabinet? I'm asking because I'm trying to realize how hard will be to lift it to the apartments.
Thank you.

 

[Yverish]

Hi Martijn. Do you use any foam mat between the tank and the cabinet? Aquatlantis recommends to use their Carpet Shock, haven't seen it anywhere.
Another question: how the aquarium and the cabinet was delivered? In the single package or there were two packages with the aquarium and the cabinet? I'm asking because I'm trying to realize how hard will be to lift it to the apartments.
Thank you.

I couldn’t find the suggested leveling mat either. I just used a readily available foam mat from a cheap brand and cut it to size.

I bought the aquarium as a show room model of which the cabinet already was put together. So I can’t tell you in how many packages the tank + cabinet arrive unfortunately...

 

[meermann]

Thank you for the fast response.

By the way isn't it too wet inside the cabinet? I don't see any fans that blow air out in your setup. Are walls dry?

 

[revhtree]

Looking good!

 

[Yverish]

Thank you for the fast response.

By the way isn't it too wet inside the cabinet? I don't see any fans that blow air out in your setup. Are walls dry?

No fans indeed. And luckily no moisture problems inside the sump/electrical area. If it would occur, then I’d install a fan.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Following along! Great photos already!