Benjamin's 57g Rimless Reef

[mrbee2828]

Well after a year of running a successful reef and 2 years of ensuring I'm doing justice in the maintenance department with other tanks, I've decided to finally try a SW tank in my house. This is going in my office where I spend about 10-12hrs a day in the spot I used to have my cichlid build. One of the benefits of my garage build is that I could make a mess and automate a lot of maintenance things like water changes. My office happens to be on the opposite side of the house so water changes will prove to be annoying as most know.

This is a 57g rimless that I got off a guy in our local reef club. He was frustrated with the filtration setup and the DIY stand in his foyer so he finally swapped this out for a nicer stand and longer, shallower rimless setup. This tank was setup with a single 1" nano overflow and 3/4" return.

Here is the tank on our local club's "tank tour" back in October/2012:

And here it is today:

I'm opting for a herbie so it needs another hole drilled and I haven't quite figured this out yet. I'll probably do it between the 2 and down a few inches and make a new overflow that will enclose the return as well. This will have a full syphon and 2nd emergency drain.

My intention is to build this and most likely sell it as a complete setup in about a year. Honestly, I love building this stuff as much as I love the livestock. I'm building the stand with 4 finished sides so it can be positioned as a peninsula or run it lengthwise in a corner. So I'm trying to center the overflow and hide the guts if the future owner wants it as a peninsula. I'm also considering putting it in another spot in our house down the road as a peninsula if I don't sell it. Who knows, maybe I'll love it and have it in the office for years Only time will tell! More to come.

This will be a slow build... I'm looking at this being wet in April. The stand will be what holds everything up.

 

[mrbee2828]

Equipment...I don't have everything decided on but here is what I'm looking at right now for the setup:

• 57g rimless (purchased)
• 1000SSS skimmer (purchased)
• Maxijet 5500 (was on my cichlid build)
• Custom glass sump. I've got salvaged 3/8" glass and may try to make my own for sh!ts and giggles.
• Refugium
• Most likely Radion LEDs but I'm also looking at the Vertex Illumina SR 360
• MP10ws (purchased)
• 2 200w Titanium heaters (purchased)
• 5g ATO (was on the cichlid build)
• Fiji pink sand like I have in the 75g (purchased)

I cleaned the skimmer which had been neglected for awhile. It ran great but it was time for deep clean in a vinegar bath and a little elbow grease.

I managed to squeeze this into my current sump so it can get seasoned a bit and when I'm ready to get it wet it will be ready on day one with live sand, live rock and water from a water change on my 75g.

 

[mrbee2828]

Coral... the 75g was an*experiment*and learning tool. The corals in the garage tank right now are things I've picked up at meets, traded for or got because or a good deal. It's a true mixed reef without much of a plan. This tank I'd like to scape and hand pick coral. I've decided that I'm going to stay within a red-purple-blue palette with some white here and there. I'm also considering painting the office a cool light gray with a tint of blue/purple in it since it's been the same tan that was here when we moved in 5 years ago. I don't plan on a huge variety here but I'll be hunting for some of these pieces with the end goal of having minimal rock and a few large colonies:

• Purple plating monti
• Purple monti digita
• Red, purple or blue acros
• Red, purple or blue zoas
• White pipe organs
• Pink bird's nest
• Pink stylo
• Red or pink hammer
• Not sure about an anemone (I'm not sure I want the hassle of it's movement)

 

[mrbee2828]

Fish... to contrast the coral, most of the fish will be yellow or gold in color. I have a few the will blend in as well and pop off the wall behind the tank since it won't be painted (and I'm a fan of no coraline on the glass). I'm trying to find some less common fish. I love chromis (colorful, cheap and hearty usually) Obviously I'm not getting all of this but I want a small school and a shrimp goby pair, a total of about 10 fish eventually. Maybe even less because I don't want avoid as much hostility as I can with the rimless. I'm looking at these:

• Yellow & Black Heraldi Angelfish (on the fringe but will be the center piece)
  
  1 School
• Trio of Acares Midget Reef Chromis (really like the look of these with the colors)
• Trio of Lemon Chromis
• Trio of Vanderbuilt Chromis
• Trio of Agile Chromis
• Trio of Black & White Chromis
  
  A Pair
• Black-Rayed Shrimp-goby (a ton of pop)
• Flag-Tail Shrimp-Goby (amazing looking)
• Clown Goby (probably just go with the blenny)
  
• Red Mandarin
  
  1 of these
• Midas Blenny
• Tail Spot Blenny
• Pair of Black Ocellaris Clowns (they'll pop off the back wall and rimless look)

 

[mrbee2828]

Here is a sketch for planning the lighting and plumbing. I really want this to be a unique setup and a show piece for what I can build. I also loved how everything floated in place at Charles' so I want this to be as simple looking as possible. I'm planning on making a floating canopy that has all the wiring within the wall. My idea at the moment is mount the LEDs inside a vented enclosure and create a nice cleat for the light to be suspended on. It will literally look like it's floating and be clean like TVs and such these days. I'll also have only one wire coming out of the stand and a power station inside. You can see I'll have a wooden enclosure for the overflow and return which will match the stand.To keep it low profile I'm reverse mounting the bulkheads and trimming them as flush as possible. This can be an issue on larger setups or bottom drilled tanks due to pressure and the way the gasket and nut are designed, but inside a small overflow it shouldn't present a problem... however, it's DIY and an experimentation

 

[obscurereef]

Haven't read it all, but the previous set up as far as the display looks stunning. Stock looks awesome too. Out of those 3 options, the midas blenny is the winner IMO. So much character and color. How will you not be distracted constantly in the office ?

 

[mrbee2828]

I don't know how my focus will work but all I do is think about it all day anyway and surf forums

 

[obscurereef]

I don't know how my focus will work but all I do is think about it all day anyway and surf forums

99% people on this forum (false percentage obviously, but you get the point ).

 

[Psychocircus91]

Wow, never realized how beautiful rimless tanks are. Adds even more natural appeal.

 

[TLTGF]

Following along - great / unbelievable planning.

 

[obscurereef]

Just noticed the red/pink hammer that you want! Must be very expensive and hard to find.

 

[mrbee2828]

Following along - great / unbelievable planning.

Well this is almost 2 years of watching people like you and other members here and abroad. We've all learned along the way and figured out what works best. I didn't plan much on the garage build in the way of live stock so this time around I'm making a few more decisions before I get too far along

 

[mrbee2828]

Just noticed the red/pink hammer that you want! Must be very expensive and hard to find.

It probably will be. Now that I'm doing the aquarium thing part time as a business it's a bit easier though. I can call a few distributors and let them do all the work We'll see. As for the red, I'm not able to get ORA pieces directly yet but I'm hoping over the next year I'll come across someone wanting to frag what I'm looking at.

MIMF Hammer Coral | Euphyllia sp. | ORA | Oceans, Reefs & Aquariums

ORA Red Planet | Acropora sp. | Oceans, Reefs & Aquariums

 

[mrbee2828]

I stumble onto a deal on a Marzarra P with controller. Mazarra-P LED Lighting System I'm picking it up later this week. If it doesn't turn out to be what I was thinking I can resell it at no loss. It's a shame that it'll be sitting in my garage for a few months still

 

[mrbee2828]

Just a small update, no real progress yet. I picked up the Mazarra system last week. I can't wait to see what it looks like, however I fear it's not going to have the spread I need. It might create a cool spotlight effect though. Only time will tell. I'm considering breaking down the garage later this summer and doing a custom lagoon out there. Something like 8'x2'x16". If I do that I may grab the 2 radions out there and use them on this tank. Then get a few more of the Mazarra's for the lagoon. I also got a MP10, fiji pink sand and gathered up the locline and bulkheads.

 

[mrbee2828]

Just an update so this doesn't die. This is still in the works but delayed.

 

[mrbee2828]

Yet another update to keep this alive. It's been an amazingly mind-numbing process but we are finally done with the architectural plans and have a final quote from the contractors for the bank. We hope to close this month and begin demo. I imagine that if we close this project will carry on through Christmas unfortunately. It's hard to believe we start discussing this addition a year ago. The tank could have been matured already lol. In other news I picked up a calcium reactor for this build. I have only dosed in the past so this will be yet another learning curve but I have high hopes for this tank.

 

[mrbee2828]

Still in the works everyone. They started digging the foundation for the addition a few weeks ago. I should be relocating my office to another room next month and beginning the build in Dec/Jan.