Tim's 54 Gallon Corner -> Going Reef

[TLTGF]

Watching my tank moments ago, I watched, cringing, as my very large hermit was climbing on my humilis acro... This always freaks me out. At any rate, I watched, as a medium sized crab came out of the coral and started to wave claws at the hermit.

Needless to say I investigated and found out I have a Trapezia guttata. This type of crab, from what I've read, will live in and protect certain SPS species! Great hitchhiker!

 

[Jlsardina]

I've seen quite a few of those in birds nests. Awesome suprise

 

[katoom27]

Thx kc I appreciate the compliments. I'm sure your stand will turn out stellar. Still waiting for any comments on my refuge and dsb plans as explained in my previous posts. Your advice and critiques is greatly appreciated. Thanks again guys

 

[rob_mango]

Well I would do deep sand bed but it needs to be 4 inches deep

 

[katoom27]

Rob thanks for the reply. I was wondering if I could slope the dsb so it would be around 2" in the front and slope to around 4-5" toward the back. Would that work?

 

[rob_mango]

Well I think that would not work as Well as a even 4 inches there is life that lives at all levels of the dsb so if you ask me I would just do it at an even 4 inches

 

[katoom27]

Rob that makes sense. I'm just concerened about looks. It seems that some like the Dsb and some don't. It is very confusing to a Guy like me who knows only what I have read on forums and have no practical experience. You can start leaning one way and then you here negatives about what your looking for. Are there any big negatives going with just a 2" base of aragonite?

 

[rob_mango]

I am running dsb in my main and my refuge and it has a lot of benefits to it .... me personally wouldn't go with out a dsb and as a 2 inch sand bed is good 4 is just better from what I have seen

 

[katoom27]

So 2" in the front sloped to 4-5 in the back would still be better than just 2" overall. Is that a safe statement to make? Didnt you have 2 mp10 in your tank? Do you have the oolite or the sugar sized aragonite for your dsb and if so how does the mp-10s react with it. Dust storms? Thanks again for the advice rob.

 

[rob_mango]

I would just go with 4 inches even just to be safe.... and yes I have 2 mp10s they do great no sand storms as I use the extra fine.... but my dragon godie makes more dust then my mp10s

 

[katoom27]

Cool thanks for the tips

 

[TLTGF]

Katoom, to be honest, I'm watching how your sump/ fuge come out as I may want to change a bit. Currently I have a 15 gallon sump with just LR in it. I would like to do a fuge and eventually a skimmer - Kc has a nice setup though its hard to understand looking at the pics.

 

[katoom27]

Tl I'll try to get photos soon almost done with sump. Definitely a rookie job. Once the sump is done I'll start in on the fuge. I'm not sure if you understood my posts a couple of pages back regarding my setup but the photos should help once completed

 

[KcTx]

I'll try to tell you everything I can to help & why I did mine the way I choose to. My tank is drilled with a 1 inch 90 that goes to the refugium. I have a 4 inch sandbed with about 25ish pounds of LR along with some cheato & other micro and a few mangroves. as you can see I have a 1 ball valve that I'm about to replace with a plastic 1' gate valve. Don't even jack around with any other style valve, it will save you more time than you know matching your flow on the return & overflow. I have the 1 inch pvc just above the SB Tee'd with a 45 on one side that faces the glass and the other stide blow dirctly into the rocks causing the cheato to catch some flow. So from the fuge I have another 1' bulkhead that overflows into the sump where the octopus skimmer is. The sump is WAY deeper than the skimmer can be so I built a stand that sat @ the level that I needed it to be & put my heaters and probes out of the way and under the skimmer. And from there it goes though the little washboard thingy to the return pump. I use a 3/4 return line & ball valve, I will also be replacing this valve with a 1" gate valve that I will bushing down to 3/4 in & out.
Hope this is helpful, feel free to ask anything.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/tims-54-gallon-corner-going-reef-165782-45.html#post1686824

 

[KAhner]

What does everyone think about a good DSB for my tank? I've seen aragonite and I like the fine brilliant white looks it displays. I've also been told it has more nutrients than sand. I realize its not cheap prob gonna take around five bags. Any comments regarding this substrate would be appreciated.

This was a few days ago but I just read some more about it. I have a DSB of oolitic, and that's what I recommended to you. I would still recommend a very fine sand, but from what I've been reading a calcium carbonate sand is probably a waste of money (wish I woulda saved mine now). Basically for the bufferring capabilies and calcium release to happen requires pretty large ph swings. It might help you from dropping drastically (mine has never dropped below 7.8 even with pretty bad neglect), but if your gonna maintain a proper ph the buffering and calcium release isn't even going to happen. So what i'm thinking now is save the money and get a silica based sand.

 

[katoom27]

Sounds good kc. How many gallons is your sump and fuge. What are your demensions. Good info thanks.
kahner thanks for the info. I tell you what I have an empty tank and am already pulling my hair out trying to get this thing setup. So many opinions its hard to know which setup is gonna work best for me. I'm not complaining about the opinions I've been asking for them so thanks to all who have contributed. I guess I just have to make an educated guess on all the decisions that will be made and hope iteorks for me.

 

[KcTx]

my sump is 8w x 21L x 18H = 13 gal "ish" I keep water lvl @ 15" making it 10 gals. That leaves me 3 gallons of back flow from display.
The Fuge is 13" cube but 23 tall making it 16.5 gal & I have over flow @ 20" into sump. That makes it a even 15 gallons with 1 gallon back flow room. In total I get 4 1/2 gallons that can come back from display in case something happen. I have not tested it yet but the level of my overflow in the main tank should cut off at about 4 gallons with the 90 on the bulkhead.

The only thing that sucks about my sump & refugium is that there is no taking them out. The skimmer and all other equipment will come out fine but the sump and refug had to be put in before the stand went against the wall, I also notched the back support to the stand to allow the refug to hang out of the back of the stand giving me just a little extra room. I guess all in all I happy enough with the setup. BUT the splashing & salt buildup on the Janky MDF stand is really starting to cause it to expand and I fear I'll come home o a floor full of rock and fish.

 

[katoom27]

Kahner have you found any silica based sand that looks as good as th oolite. Other than the cost have you noticed any other problems with the polite?

KC, sounds like are setups are similar. Not to rub it in but I have room to pull all my stuff out. Get your stand going before its too late!! Lol No it was a pain building the stand and definitely not cheap. Anyway my five was going to be 12" cube x 20 tall. I have room to go taller but am not sure about lighting. What light are you using? How is the flow to the bottom of your fuge considering your gravity feeding 16" to the bottom of the fuge (back pressure) and I'm sure your sump is being fed through the top (no back pressure)

 

[KcTx]

I'm just using a 6500k grow light as everyone suggested. I have a Coraline 6w 10,000k T5 fixture but t actually seemed to be to much light so I removed it. The only issue I have with the flow into the refuge is that if I open the valve to much it begins to suck air into the 90 as its leaving the display causing the water to burp. When I replace everything I'm going to replace the 90 on back with a tee and put a little air bleed hole in top to stop the burp.

 

[KAhner]

No problems yet. I will be increasing my flow significantly pretty soon. So we'll see about sandstorms, but I think it'll be alright. I haven't really looked for any cheap sand yet, I will when I set up my fuge in a couple weeks. I've seen some pool filter sand at my moms house, I'm not sure if it's safe yet but it looked nice and I think it's cheap.