Fluval 57L Reef Aquarium Improvements

Hunter90 HD

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Good morning / Afternoon / Evening All,

I am looking at redesigning my current Fluval 57 L tank filtration system for better filtration / water quality.

At the moment i am currently using the system as designed except i changed the return pump to a UV filter pump.

As you can see below, this is the default Fluval 57L tank design:

gFTFlkGU1602213273-530x530.jpg


At the moment i have currently:

Right-hand side chamber - K Media top and sponges at the bottom
Middle chamber - Full of ceramic rings
Left-hand side chamber - UV Light

Below is my proposed re-design:

1622065762715.png


Proposed change:

Right-Hand side chamber :
Blocked bottom water inlet, to have water skimming off the top only acting like an overflow box
Fine sponge just below the top water inlet to catch detritus (will clean every 2-3 days)
The pass down through Seachem Matrix media as it passed down the chamber
I have added an acrylic plate with a 1" gap at the bottom to force stop the water being drawn to the side as it is currently, then up through this acrylic chamber (side water inlet blocked) into the Middle-Chamber.
Middle Chamber:
I will drill a 22mm hole in the side of the current plastic divider to allow to flow into the Middle-Chamber then down through Brightwell Bio Brick all the way down to the bottom of the chamber, where i will house my chemical media: ROWAphos, Seachem Purigen, Activated Carbon - Water will then pass into the Left-Hand Side chamber
Left-Hand side Chamber:
Water will be pulled through my All Pond Solutions 700 Litres/h UV Steriliser and back into the Display.

I will also introduce a live-rock into the display tank.

Also, in addition, i will be installing a HOB Reef Octopus Protein Skimmer on the side of the tank for Protein Skimming.

I hope this makes sense.

I have done a fair but of research and i believe i have chosen the correct media types for this Nano Marine Reef tank.

I currently have 2 young clownfish, and 3 mid-size LPS corals - An addition with 3 hermit crabs and 2 Turbo snails as my cleanup crew.

My Nitrate is 10ppm which is too high and I need to get them down, all the other parameters are spot on.

No live rock currently.

Anyways, i hope this explains my project in clear detail, please suggest any improvements to this design if there is a way i can make it even better via different media's etc...

Any feedback would be great!

Thanks for reading!. 1622068251533.png
 

Benjammin

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Any change to the filtration is an improvement. I have the 123L and I will be getting the Intank media basket. They have one for the 57L as well.
Project looks cool tho.
 
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Hunter90 HD

Hunter90 HD

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Any change to the filtration is an improvement. I have the 123L and I will be getting the Intank media basket. They have one for the 57L as well.
Project looks cool tho.
Yeah I had one of the internal baskets but I didn’t like the sponges, basically my tank at the moment has several sponges of different grades, but they are becoming nitrates houses if they are not cleaned regularly.

I found that with ceramic rings also they can trap detritus if not catched by the mechanical filter.

one of my main drives for this change is the back of the tank just builds up with so much detritus it’s becoming a nitrate factory purley because it’s not being captured before entering the bio media.

I love these tanks but the filtration is poor if not upgraded.
Lee
 

Clarkii82

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Hey. I’ve been thinking about buying one of these tanks for my 3yo daughter. I note your comment about filtration but I’m guessing that’s in reference to setting up as a reef tank. Would you say okay for a freshwater tank?

Also, can it run without the filter media in the middle column? I’m thinking if I buy a 57 I can use it as an isolation tank for a problematic reef dis temporarily whilst I stock up my main tank.
 

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