BGrand's - 54g Corner Tank Build

[BGrand]

And so it begins.... My better 3/4's bought me a 54 gallon corner tank for Christmas. Super new to the Saltwater world. I currently have a small Marineland 5 gallon portrait glass saltwater tank running after 6 months (2 clown fish, of course, and a cleaning crew). I am totally engrossed now in this hobby and want more. Obviously she knows I'm having fun with it and wants me to leave her alone. With the kids off to college now my only other hobby is collecting good bourbons. Now I can enjoy the bourbons and stare at my tank.

The tank is currently with the LFS that I bought it from (great fish only store in Indy) waiting for the sump, pump, and skimmer. Once they receive those they will plumb it and I will then schedule them to come out and help me install it. Obviously it will need to sit and run for a couple of months while it brews up all necessary ingredients for a good safe tank. During that time I will be adding other accessories.

I have posted several questions about equipment on R2R and also on BRS's facebook page and believe I know the equipment I am going with. Here is the short list:

Sump = EShopps RS-75
Pump = Octopus Varios 2
Skimmer = EShopps X-120
Lights = Kessil A360X (starting with one and adding a second later ($$$))
Propeller Pumps = 2 EcoTech Vortech MP 10WQD
Heater(s) = ???
Rocks/Sand = ???
Refugium = due to space in the sump probably won't be able to add a refug. will try later.

I will keep you all posted on the progress. Let the games begin......

 

[BGrand]

Last night I received my first purchases from BRS. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

 

[SPR1968]

Great start and thanks for sharing all the pictures!

Welcome to R2R as well by the way!

 

[BGrand]

Great start and thanks for sharing all the pictures!

Welcome to R2R as well by the way!

Thank you very much. Love all the help I'm already getting on R2R and the info from reading the posts. Look at me I have a badge now woohoo. Where do I go to become a supporter?

 

[SPR1968]

Thank you very much. Love all the help I'm already getting on R2R and the info from reading the posts. Look at me I have a badge now woohoo. Where do I go to become a supporter?

Click on your name on the top right and then go to acccount upgrades, the supporter is at the bottom

 

[BGrand]

Click on your name on the top right and then go to acccount upgrades, the supporter is at the bottom

<--- Look it's there now! Thanks for the help @SPR1968

 

[NY_Caveman]

Sounds like a good plan! Welcome to R2R!

 

[BGrand]

Purchased the EShopps RS-75 sump today. One step closer to the build.

 

[BGrand]

Purchased the rocks, sand, fishless cycling chemicals, and heater. BABY STEPS!

 

[BGrand]

Received the rocks and I believe I have constructed the final draft. Glued the left and right pillar and a couple of the shelves. You can see the tank outlines on the cardboard. The box in the background has the depth of the tank which is the black line. Next I will rinse the rocks and get ready for the tank install.

Install is scheduled for 1/7/2019. Starting the year out right. Next weeks photo should be the tank in the cycling phase.

 

[BarSnackz]

Digging the rockscrape! I wish I was this creative!

 

[BGrand]

Digging the rockscrape! I wish I was this creative!

Thanks @BarSnackz , just kept playing with it until it came together. I knew I wanted a cave/tower type design. Had to use the pieces I received from BRS.

 

[BGrand]

IT IS IN!!!! Set up last night. Water is clearing up and temperature is rising. Tonight I will start the cycle.

The bow front really magnifies everything in the tank.

 

[BGrand]

Thank you @BRS for my latest shipment. Received these bad boys today and will put them in tonight.

 

[BGrand]

Cycling day 13:

I’ve been following Dr. Tim’s cycle process with the addition of One and Only (whole bottle), MicroBacter7 (2 caps full) and Prodibio Bio Digest (3 vials). After the third time of adding Ammonium Chloride (7 days ago) the ammonia and nitrates have been off the charts of my Red Sea test kit. The ammonia has been dropping the last couple of days and as of today my numbers are as follows:

Sorry about the colors but I created an excel spreadsheet with conditional formatting to color code my perimeter goals which are under the column titles (Phosphate also has my math equation to convert the Hanna checker to ppm). I am absolutely in no hurry because I am taking off for a week at the end of February and won’t put fish in there until I get back. The first things to go in there are some snails until the beginning of March and then two clowns I have in a small cube. Sump sock has been out and the skimmer has been turned off the whole time. Temp. has been 78 and flow has been set at a medium flow.

My questions are as follows:

1. Does everything look right?
2. Do I do a 25% water change like Dr. Tim’s says now or wait?
3. Do I add ammonium chloride again to see if it disappears in 24 hours?
4. Do I wait on both? And if so when do I do both of those things.

 

[BGrand]

Cycle is complete. Moved two clowns, a damsel, and a goby over. Added 6 crabs (2 blue leg and 4 red legs).

 

[BGrand]

Light came in and I modified the mounting bracket so I could mount it in the corner. Nothing is built for a corner aquarium. It is such a unique thing that everything needs to be modified. Anyway here is the new light. Now it's time to play with and set the light settings. Let the algae growth begin, once it starts I will add the snails. No real reason for the snails yet. Crabs and Neil Diamond Goby are doing a great job with the cleanup. Also added two more Kupang Damsels for a total of three.

Fired up the skimmer last week and left the head off of it. Tried last night to add the head back on but it still can't be adjusted to stop over flowing so I took it back off.

 

[kamla]

did you glue your rock work?

worried it might fall...

 

[BGrand]

did you glue your rock work?

worried it might fall...

The pillars are glued and the front left shelf is glued. The two middle shelves and the two outside shelves are not glued but they "lock" in real well. I put the rock in first and then the sand so the rock won't shift due to Neil Diamond Goby digging everywhere.

 

[BGrand]

So I added my new Clear Water Scrubber (CW-50) to the system. What a pain the in the hiney ;Muted. Not because of the scrubber but because of the lack of space under the aquarium. I knew when I got in to this that space was going to be limited. These are the cards I was dealt when the wife wanted to get this for me for Christmas (love the aquarium honey). Hopefully this scrubber will work so well that I can eventually take out the skimmer but for now I have 25 pounds of crap stuffed in a 20 pound bag.

All joking aside, I moved the sump back and my pump controls over. This actually gave me some space in front of the sump for other additions.

So far the scrubber is running good. I used a Sicce Silent 1.0 pump along with some soft silicone tubing from all from @Bulk Reef Supply to supply the water. I used a 3/4" PVC elbow on the main drain (slipping it over the threaded bulkhead) along with 1/2" PVC on the emergency drain. I also put a ball valve on the main drain to help control the gurgling sound it makes as it drains. I bought a Bluetooth/WiFi (Amazon $10) controlled outlet to control the light (12 on / 12 off). I also bought the light shields (@Bulk Reef Supply) since the light will make your entire sump area glow hot pink. It is quite enough I can not hear it with the doors shut to the cabinet.

As far as livestock I am up to the following:
Diamond Watchman Goby (named Neil as in Neil Diamond)(Rocks are on the glass so he can only dig in to the voids)
2 Clown Fish (names are Money and Space. As in Nemo Money (small one) and Nemo Space (she was getting to big for the nano))
3 Kupang Damsels
Peppermint shrimp
Lime Green Hammer Coral (middle right pillar)
Purple/Green Duncan Coral (top of left pillar)
Pulsing Xeina Coral (placed on the front right separate island)
Mushroom (no idea what kind my wife brought home from our FLS)(lower shelf in front of the left pillar)
Another coral I have no idea what kind my wife brought home from our FLS also (lower shelf on the far left side.)

Here are some picks: