My 55 Gallon Reef Build

Jae1977 · Nov 19, 2018

This is my new 55 gallon that I hope to get up and running over the next few weeks. The stand and canopy are from my first 55 I had several years ago. My dad built it for us for Christmas one year.

The tank is an Aqueous tank I picked up at Petco during their $1 a gallon sale. At the time I was planning on just using my canister filter I had left over. So I wasn’t concerned with drilling it. Then after reading around on here for a bit I decided to go with a diy sump (20g long from Petco). Now, since I can’t drill my tank, I’m going to go with a CPR or similar overflow.

So far I have:
Tank and stand
20g sump (still needs built)
2 165w CBB lights ($51 each on an amazon lightening deal)
Canister filter
40lbs dry rock

Need to get:
CPR or similar overflow
Return pump – looking at a Jeboa DCT-4000
A couple wavemakers
Heaters
Heater controller (my last tank my heater stuck on and killed the tank)
ATO

Next step is to wire up new receptacles (gfci) on their own 20 amp breaker. I know the existing receptacle where the tank will be will not have enough room on it for everything.

Any comments and suggestions would be much appreciated. This will be my first time with a reef tank.

hdsoftail1065 · Nov 19, 2018

That tank is going to look nice! Sorry to hear about your heater malfunctioning. I just went with the inkbird 308 it works for me. Some people like it, some people dont.

NY_Caveman · Nov 19, 2018

Looks like a good start! Welcome to R2R!

Jae1977 · Nov 19, 2018

hdsoftail1065 said:
That tank is going to look nice! Sorry to hear about your heater malfunctioning. I just went with the inkbird 308 it works for me. Some people like it, some people dont.

I’ve been looking at the inkbird. I wish I had held on to my Ranco controller from my home brewing days.