Daniel's first shot- 57g rimless

[Diwrigh]

So I picked up my first reef tank last week after months of research. I've had a few years of freshwater experience, but a reef tank has always been my end goal. I'm a little late to the party , having already made some progress (and mistakes) but starting now is better than nothing! Picked up a deep blue 57g rimless tank with overflow, deep blue stand, and a 20g tank the previous owner had been using as a sump. He also threw some old T5's in as well.

(Note: Unfortunately the lights pictured were only to take photo for sale, not the ones included. I'll post the lights included later)

Tank was dirty so I cleaned it up a bit and got it settled into place in my bedroom. Since then I have ordered many things but the list of what I have so far/ordered is below:

Equipment:
Tank-- Deep blue 57g rimless
Stand-- Deep blue
Sump-- Your average 20g tank previous owner used. (might upgrade for fuge in future)
Return pump-- Reef Octopus VarioS-2 Controllable DC Circulation Pump
Powerheads-- Hydor Koralia Evolution 1400/1500GPH (plan on adding to this in a couple weeks)
Powerhead controller-- Hydor Smart Wave Circulation Pump Controller
Heater-- Eheim Jager Aquarium Thermostat Heater, 250-Watt
Controller-- TBD
Sand- 40lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink
Rock-- 40lbs Pukani Dry Rock from premium aquatics, and one 6lb live rock from LFS to seed.
Skimmer--TBD but probably RO Classic 110INT 4"
Lighting-- No name brand included 4 bulb T5's. Will post pic
RO/DI-- AquaFX Barracuda RO/DI Aquarium Filter, 100 GPD

Will add to this list as I go along and make progress

-Had things going well, got my return pump in so thought it was time to get going! Had already done a leak test and had all my RO water ready to go. Filled the tank (not the overflow) and added 40lbs live sand and the one piece of live rock (40lbs dry rock coming). Well... when I opened the return pump it was cracked. So now I had a stagnant tank... bummer.

-Today I get my powerheads in so I am going to have flow this evening and then replacement return pump comes in Sunday. From now until then, I think I am going to do some plumbing work because the previous owner plumbed it sort of... lazily. Will update this evening once I get powerheads in!

Current status (as of last night w/ no flow or circulation. And yes I know its not centered I fixed that post photo I also took all of these without the plan to do a build thread but now that I have I will be taking much better quality photos. Stay tuned

 

[pluikens]

Looks like a great start! What are your plans for stocking? If considering a heavier bioload, you may want to consider the Reef Octopus Classic 150INT. It's very close in price to the 110INT, is very highly rated on Bulk Reef, and may be more suitable for your tank size with heavier bioloads.

 

[Diwrigh]

Looks like a great start! What are your plans for stocking? If considering a heavier bioload, you may want to consider the Reef Octopus Classic 150INT. It's very close in price to the 110INT, is very highly rated on Bulk Reef, and may be more suitable for your tank size with heavier bioloads.

So far thinking a medium bioload (6-7 fish or so) as this is my first shot so I'm not going to bite off more than I can chew. That being said, for an extra few bucks you are probably right. When I pull the trigger on the skimmer I will update, but I'm going to look into that. Thanks

 

[pluikens]

Even for your first tank, as you learn more I bet you will want to keep a variety of fish so that stocking list may grow. Remember to consider corals, anemones, etc. as bioload too. You'll probably end up feeding at least some corals something and that will contribute to your bioload.

 

[Diwrigh]

Even for your first tank, as you learn more I bet you will want to keep a variety of fish so that stocking list may grow. Remember to consider corals, anemones, etc. as bioload too. You'll probably end up feeding at least some corals something and that will contribute to your bioload.

Good point, I’ll probably end up goin with the bigger one. Better to overestimate than underestimate right?

 

[Diwrigh]

Okay update: Got the powerhead, heater and lights installed (lights just on for picture, will turn off).

Also starting to play around with some aquascaping, haven’t found it yet but got some good pieces.

Still a little cloudy but hopefully now that flow is goin it will clear up.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Okay update: Got the powerhead, heater and lights installed (lights just on for picture, will turn off).

Also starting to play around with some aquascaping, haven’t found it yet but got some good pieces.

Still a little cloudy but hopefully now that flow is goin it will clear up.

Looking great and nice chunks of rock!

 

[SPR1968]

That’s a great start your off to, very nice indeed.

 

[Diwrigh]

Thanks guys! Looking much more clear this morning. Going to Atlanta for a day (might swing by a LFS if anyone has suggestions for shops open on Sunday) will hopefully have the return pump running tmrw night.

Couple pics from this morning, my live rock is a little bleached but I think it’s just sand settled from the setup. Gunna try and lightly brush it off tmrw

 

[Diwrigh]

Even for your first tank, as you learn more I bet you will want to keep a variety of fish so that stocking list may grow. Remember to consider corals, anemones, etc. as bioload too. You'll probably end up feeding at least some corals something and that will contribute to your bioload.

So a LFS is going out of business and have these for sale I believe they are all bubble magnus skimmers. Think any of these could be better than the RO for the money? The one on the far left looks like it might work? They are for bigger tanks but if it fits can’t hurt right?

 

[Diwrigh]

Okay sorry for the delay, I've been super busy with work lately. Got a temporary plumbing in place (soft tubing just flowing through my existing sump, will post pic tonight), and plan on hard plumbing the system this weekend.

 

[Diwrigh]

Few pics! Cycle is almost finished, water still a tad cloudy. Dry rock is in, although I need to do some work on the scape, probably need to take one or two rocks out.

Also got a little Royal Gramma Basslet! He's in the bottom right corner

 

[GoonReef]

sweet build ! love the deep blue tanks, my only suggestion would be to move the rock to not touch the glass. At least on the sides and front will make cleaning for you extremely less annoying which will make doing less of a chore and more a reward of a pretty clean tank. Coraline will grow on the back eventually.

GoonReef

 

[GoonReef]

sorry for double post didn't see the skimmer question, the curve 9 is over kill for that tank size i love my RO 152-s. dont go above a 6" neck for the skimmer. the 110INT is a great choice. if you want check local forums and craigslist for used but new is always so nice.

GoodReef

 

[Diwrigh]

Thanks for the tips! Yea I spent about 3 hours outside moving rocks around on a cardboard cutout and found a design I really liked... turns out it didnt fit so i kind of got frustrated and put it in haphazardly. I will be adjusting it this weekend and post pics

Im also definitely trying to go used on skimmer if possible, probably with the RO. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[GoonReef]

yeah would definitely like to see more pictures when you re-scape. I personally don't like rock touching any glass at all cause its so much easier to clean, remember to leave coral grow room! if you have more rock left ....#sumpit!

GoonReef

 

[Diwrigh]

yeah would definitely like to see more pictures when you re-scape. I personally don't like rock touching any glass at all cause its so much easier to clean, remember to leave coral grow room! if you have more rock left ....#sumpit!

GoonReef

I will upload some soon, I like my new look much better

 

[Diwrigh]

So since my last update I have rearranged the Aquascape for a more open looking feel, and I also picked up two Bangaii Cardinals and my first coral! Local reefer sold me a solid GSP rock. It has some scarring on the edge, but Im confident it will repair itself soon. Picture taken after about 24 hours in the tank! I also won a $100 gift card to premium aquatics and picked up an open box Kessil A360we light. For now one will do me, but eventually I want to replace the old T5's with a new T5/LED combo rack and add another A360we. I'm currently in the process of plumbing my Eshopps R-100 sump (harder than i thought! Been to Lowe's about 4 times and havent even plumbed anything hard yet!), then once that is all hard plumbed I'm going to throw in a Carbon/GFO reactor and a skimmer! Hopefully I will get a fuge light and some Chaeto soon too Stay tuned!

 

[GoonReef]

nice ! unless you want that GSP everywhere keep it isolated... trick for hard plumbing is unions unions unions ... oh wait did I say unions ? lol. but for real get some easy pipe from the Bigbox store get like 8 45's, try to avoid 90's and then get an easy PVC cutter from Harbor Freight. if there isn't one near you (my heart then bleeds for ya) amazon would have them or just an easy saw and saw box will do the job. just make sure there are no rough edges. for glue you don't need to purple prime and glue, just glue is fine. yes some may disagree there but I feel your system is running crazy high pressure water numbers. make sure you push the pipe in all the way, 1/4" turn then hold for 20 seconds. never had a leak in say ..... 70-90 feet of plumbing

 

[Diwrigh]

nice ! unless you want that GSP everywhere keep it isolated... trick for hard plumbing is unions unions unions ... oh wait did I say unions ? lol. but for real get some easy pipe from the Bigbox store get like 8 45's, try to avoid 90's and then get an easy PVC cutter from Harbor Freight. if there isn't one near you (my heart then bleeds for ya) amazon would have them or just an easy saw and saw box will do the job. just make sure there are no rough edges. for glue you don't need to purple prime and glue, just glue is fine. yes some may disagree there but I feel your system is running crazy high pressure water numbers. make sure you push the pipe in all the way, 1/4" turn then hold for 20 seconds. never had a leak in say ..... 70-90 feet of plumbing

Yeah ive been told the GSP is a tank takeover! Im keeping it at least an inch away from any other rocks, but I think I'm going to get it to grow up the overflow. Not sure yet but we shall see. Yeah Im putting ball valves on the return and main drain, but of them with unions. Then im going to have a union on the emergency drain, and at least one by the reactor T. I have the pipe, cutter, primer and glue (it was only like $3 extra for the primer pack so I just went ahead and bought it). You say you think I will have crazy high pressure water numbers?