Sarah's 57 gal extremely uncooperative SPS tank

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Time for a new build thread! As the title implies this will be predominantly SPS, though it may take me a while to build it up the way I want it.

I took a short hiatus from the hobby, but I missed it so much that I convinced my husband it was a good idea to let me have a new tank mwahahah.

Here are the specs (updated 12/22/17, I will try to keep this section up to date as things inevitably change):

Tank/stand: 57 gal Deep Blue rimless reef ready with center overflow and custom stand.
Sump/return: eshopps r100 3rd gen refugium sump and Jebao DC 3000 return
Lighting: 36" ATI NanoBox retro T5/LED hybrid. 6 T5 bulbs, 6 NanoBox LED pucks. The suspension kit is hung from two wall brackets that were meant for a shelf.
Skimmer: None. I have an eshopps PSK-100 sitting in the sump but I do not turn it on due to current light bio load/light feeding regimen. I'm sure I'll need to use it eventually.
Flow: 1x MP-40 with battery backup, plus the return flow.
Other Info: Bubble Magus BM-T01 for automated dosing of 2-part calcium alkalinity additives
Rock/sand: about 60 lbs of dry rock and 20 lbs Bimini pink special grade reef sand
Tank inhabitants- fish: two oscellaris clownfish
Tank inhabitants- coral: purple (milka?) stylo, red encrusting montipora with blue polyps
Other things in the tank: RBTA, chaeto in the refugium, 3 snails

Pic. This is the original stand, which was later replaced:

 

[McMullen]

Looking forward to pics!

 

[LBA]

Flow: for now, 1x MP-10 with battery backup, looking to add a second soon.
Rock/sand: using leftover rock from my old tank, which amounts to about 20 lbs. More will be added later. BB for now, may add a very thin layer of sand later.

How fun! I definitely agree with getting a second MP10 and would like to suggest aragonite or heavier for the sand bed. I have to dial my mp's down significantly to avoid blowing sand out of the corners. But I also mounted mine on the back wall.

 

[Preme]

Sweet!! I'm definitely tagging along on this one, I have a 56 Gallon which has very similar demensions and mines also SPS dominated!

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Pic has been added! More to come.

I am currently working on my plan for hanging the lights. I bought a pair of shelf brackets in which I plan to drill holes and use j bolts to hang the light. Here is what the brackets look like, they match the gunmetal wrought iron lamp and coat hooks in my entryway already, but I ordered these without the lip on the end:

 

[Preme]

Pic has been added! More to come.

I am currently working on my plan for hanging the lights. I bought a pair of shelf brackets in which I plan to drill holes and use j bolts to hang the light. I was going to post a pic but the uploader won't work so I guess I'll do it later

Any ideas of your stocking plans?

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Any ideas of your stocking plans?

I definitely want a pair of clowns and a nem, I had them in my old tank and they were one of my favorite parts about the tank. Other than that I am not sure... reef safe only. Any suggestions?

 

[Preme]

I definitely want a pair of clowns and a men, I had them in my old tank and they were one of my favorite parts about the tank. Other than that I am not sure... reef safe only. Any suggestions?

I really like the naoko Wrasse, and golden Rhomboid Wrasse. I may be adding those both to my tank!

 

[Preme]

Also like sunburst Anthia, which would work well in that size tank.

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

So I am in a little bit of a pickle. I bought this setup on Craigslist for $400 for everything including lights, skimmer and sump, which is a steal considering that the eshopps sump alone is worth $300. But I am trying to keep the costs down for initial setup.

I measured the space for the tank before bringing it home, but even though it technically fits the space, it looks kind of ridiculously big there (you can see in the pic that it is right up against the side of the front door). This is because the stand is bigger than the tank itself. So now I am thinking of replacing the stand, but unless it's a cheap crappy stand that's an expensive thing to do. But I want to get this right before I get the tank up and running because once you do that it's hard to go back.

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Also like sunburst Anthia, which would work well in that size tank.

I love anthias but I thought they needed huge tanks, perhaps I was mistaken?

 

[ontop27]

I have the same tank. I love the quality hate the location of the overflow... Look into the eshopps series sumps. Generally around 200 ish

 

[Water Dog]

How well does the MP10 hold on that tank with the 1/2" thick glass? For my next upgrade, I'm thinking of getting the non reef ready version of that tank and drilling it for the Synergy Reef Shadow overflow. I'd like to use my 2 MP10s from my Biocube, but I'm concerned about the the pumps staying attached with the 1/2" thick glass.

 

[Preme]

I love anthias but I thought they needed huge tanks, perhaps I was mistaken?

The sunburst Anthias are best kept singular. I have seen the sunburst in smaller tanks in the past... but a lot of times the tanks there in don't have as many fish. So if your in love with it then you'd have to decide if you wanted to make the sacrifice of not getting as many fish.

Also I believe @kschweer has a borbonius anthia in his 57 gallon.
So I personally think you'd be fine with the sunburst!

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

How well does the MP10 hold on that tank with the 1/2" thick glass? For my next upgrade, I'm thinking of getting the non reef ready version of that tank and drilling it for the Synergy Reef Shadow overflow. I'd like to use my 2 MP10s from my Biocube, but I'm concerned about the the pumps staying attached with the 1/2" thick glass.

I didn't even think of that. I will let you know how it works out but a quick google search says others with this tank have used them and they fall off from time to time.

So maybe I have to get an mp40... bummer

 

[Preme]

So I am in a little bit of a pickle. I bought this setup on Craigslist for $400 for everything including lights, skimmer and sump, which is a steal considering that the eshopps sump alone is worth $300. But I am trying to keep the costs down for initial setup.

I measured the space for the tank before bringing it home, but even though it technically fits the space, it looks kind of ridiculously big there (you can see in the pic that it is right up against the side of the front door). This is because the stand is bigger than the tank itself. So now I am thinking of replacing the stand, but unless it's a cheap crappy stand that's an expensive thing to do. But I want to get this right before I get the tank up and running because once you do that it's hard to go back.

I found a stand on Craigslist that is smaller and will fit, but it's not as nice. I can't decide if it's worth it to sacrifice the quality for the size restriction.

Here's a pic of the smaller stand, with a tank my size on top (mine would just be higher). Sorry it's blurry:

You could also build a stand your self, using 2x4's. Then using plywood sheets as the doors and sides of the tank. That would also allow you to make it the style that fits in for you and you could paint/stain it so it could look exactly how you want it if you'd do a quick google search of reef tank Stand plans there should be quite a few things that come up!

 

[ontop27]

Unsure of the sizes are the same but on my RR 57 rimless I have two mp10s and a gyre all hood just fine

 

[ontop27]

Unsure of the sizes are the same but on my RR 57 rimless I have two mp10s and a gyre all hood just fine

Hold*

 

[Water Dog]

Unsure of the sizes are the same but on my RR 57 rimless I have two mp10s and a gyre all hold just fine

Yours is the Deep Blue 57, right? If so, that makes me feel better. I know the discontinued Oceanic Illuminata 57 used 10mm glass whereas the Deep Blue 57 uses 12mm glass.

 

[ontop27]

Yep deep blue mp10s are more than fine on it