54G Corner Build

[gerryo]

 
Good morning guys and gals.

So, I have my Corner Stand built, covered with Oak, stained and sealed.
I have my Sump tank all ready.  A 30 inch shallow tank - abt 20G.  I also have the glass cut to install the bubble trap - app. 9 inches high with an over - under - over setup.

I have built my Fuge out of acrylic which was no easy job. This will hold abt 10G with a overflow box into the return portion of the sump.  I will use a low vol. pump to move water from the return section into the fuge and simply drain back into the sump.

My question is;  Will Live Rock Rubble work OK in the fuge along with Live Sand and should the sand be about 5-6 inches deep?  I also have quite a few fairly big shells of many types.  Is it ok to put these into the fuge as well?

Question number two is;  There are a lot of pods and worms in my LR and Rubble.  Should there also be a CUC in the fuge?  I know that snails do not eat the pods but they do eat algae.  Should this be left to produce Nitrates?

Thanx for your help.

[Hookup]

There are two main thoughts on a fuge, sand or no sand.  I personally like the no-sand version with some LR rubble to help with pod production.  This enables the bare-bottom to be vacuumed clean during water-changes because in my case, the density of the cheato slows the water flow and suspended detritus falls to the bottom. 

I see no problems putting some CUC in your fuge, but I believe as a rule it's not required or done that often.  I have a few hermits in my LR bin (in the sump) just to keep on top of any build up or what-not... But nothing's in my fuge but cheato and a handful of rubble.

[Vincenzo.]

no sand. about 4-6lbs of rubble or one light weight very porous piece and lot's of chaeto.

[gerryo]

 

OK. So, no sand it is.  A few hermits to clean up and lots of cheato.  Other macro algea if it grows on the rock and slow water flow.

Light will be spiral flourescent on during the day, for the time being, until I get everything else set up.

I plan on using an old Fluval Canister as water mover, as this I already have and it does not cause too much flow.  Should I put active charcoal in there as a water clarifier?

Thanx for your help Guys.

[Vincenzo.]

ya carbon is always good and easy to maintain. Just change every 3-6 months

[Hookup]

watch what brand of carbon you get... some have been proven to leach phosphate back into the water...  Ask the LFS, they should know.. if they cannot 100% with confidence say yes or no, then i would not risk it and find carbon elsewhere.

[gerryo]

I now have my sump being pumped into my fuge which is overflowing back into the other end of the sump.  This pump is my Fluval 204 into which I have put 900 ml. of Marineland Black Diamond activated carbon.  I got this carbon yestereday and installed it yesterday.  Now today you tell me to be careful of which carbon I purchase.
There is just too much to be aware of and not enough time to do all of this questioning ahead of time.  It will just have to do, Phosphate or not.  I'm NOT changing it this soon.

Seems to me we need a list of GOOD things and a list of Bad things.  Maybe then all us noobies could know some of the things you Pros know.

Anyhow, my system is running backward for now until I get my tank.  Then I will get it turned around and running properly.  Sure feels good to have that much wet water flowing.

By the way, I purchased my sump tank from BA's and it was adverted as a twenty gallon.
When I was filling it I put in 3 - 5 gallon Bottles of RO water and it was full.  Seems to me that only adds up to 15 gallons.  Ah well.  Live and learn.  But I doubt that they would let me check it out first.  Something else to put on the BAD list.

[Rybren]

I use the Black Diamond carbon in my tank.  Don't worry about it, it's one of the good ones.

WRT the sump volume, your 5 gal jugs are likely imperial and the tank volume is likely US gallons.  20 USG = 16.654 Imp Gal.

Try going to www.WetWebMedia.com  there's an incredible amount of info there, especially for noobs.

[gerryo]

Sorry about that, folks.

I just guessed that I was living in Canada.  That's a laugh.  (laugh - did I spell that right or should it be in american - laff?) 

Everything seems to be going OK with my sump and fuge.  I shut everything down last night since nothing is in there that needs water movement.  When I went back to it this morning the water had found it's own level - even flowed backward through the Fluval and leveled the water in the fuge with the water in the sump.  Since my fuge is 18 in. high and my sump is only twelve, the sump was rather full.  Guess I'd better watch out for that difference in the size of a gallon. 

[gerryo]

I just realized that this is NOT a 54G Build.  It is a 44.964G (Imp.) Build.

That's going to be hard to get used to.

Maybe I should switch to a 92G.  That would then be 76.606G (Imp).

Well that wo'nt be any easier to remember.

[gerryo]

Hi all.

  I've been thinking.  (My xyl says "Oh No".)  Anyway, here goes.  I have been thinking of reefing in a 54G corner for some time now.  My discussion yesterday about tank sizes made me realize that a 54G is actually pretty small. 

So what about a 92G.  I already have my stand built for the 54.  Would that have been a waste of time and money?

This morning I done a lot of careful measuring and guess what?  IT FITS !!!   
I had made the stand about 3 inches wider and longer than was needed for the 54 so with the added dimensions of a 92 it is just about the right size.  What about strength, you say?  Ok.  I used all double 2x4 framing on edge with all 1/4 inch ply on those.  Then covered the whole thing with 1 in. oak.  If that isn't strong enough, I don't know what would be.
Anyway,  would a 92 be better than a 54 ??  How much more would it cost? etc.,etc.

Needs some thought.  Any comments or ideas?

[Hookup]

All in all, I do not see any huge inceases in cost... this is my pro-con list;

Costs increases
  1. possibly more lighting.. tank might be deeper/bigger... can be phased in
  2. additional salt & trace elements/etc... more water by almost 2x, therefore you'll go threw those 2x as fast... 10% weekly waterchange went from 5.4gal to 9.2..
  3. additional corals - well this not only costs up front, but it hits on item 2 again... more stuff taking calcium/mag/alk from the water, the more they need to be replaced.


benifits
  1. more water = more stability = everything happier... also when things start to go south, you have more time to catch it and correct
  2. more water = more stuff - this is always fun
  3. at 90gal corner, you now can get into some bigger fish than you would have had access to at 54g
  4. as a foot-print in your house, they are about the same, so double your fun with out creating an OMG IT'S HUGE effect, while still being OMG HUGE
  5. does a 54gal fit inthe stand as a cool sump?  (cause that would be neat..)

[White Lightning]

For cost purposes, you will need to purchase more live rock than that of a 54 gallon . I believe the rule of thumb is 1-1.5 lbs per gallon of water. I found the live rock to be the biggest expense when I first set up my tank. In hindsight, I wish I would have went bigger. A 90 would have been great as opposed to the 65 gallon that I currently have. Go BIG or go home is my motto.....

[gerryo]

Hi gang.  I'm finally back from the great beyond.

Meanwhile I have been working on my tank.  Bought the 54G Corner and have a Tunze 9410 skimming away in there.  I also have T5HO lighting from Current USA which I will show later.

Bought a lot of Live Rock and actually overfilled the tank.  See picture.

Sump, fuge canister and display tank add up to about 85 gallons, less the space taken by the rock, sand and equipment, probably comes out to about 60 gallons.  A lot of water messing about.

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[gerryo]

So, to the lighting.

I purchased 1 - 24in. T5HO and 2 - 18in T5HO by Current USA.  Now these lights do NOT fit onto a triangular tank very well so I built an aluminum rack to hold them.  The 2ft across the front, and an 18in along each side of the triangle.  The picture is self explanitory.

These light are phenominal in that they actually cause some problems to some corals, such as the Pagoda Coral.  Had to be acclimated.

I then bought a 150W clamp on HQI by Corallife, to place in the triangle not covered by the T5's.  With this light in place none of the leathers, the pagoda, and my hydnaphora would not open up.  I removed the light and everything is fine again.  I'm moving the HQI to my Nano which has been started.

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[JetJumper]

Very Nice!  I have the same tank at home which will eventually have SW in it.  Too much on my plate right now to do it though.  Looking good!

[gerryo]

I tried to do a post with some pics of my corals.  First it says that each attachment can be 1024, and that you can do 10.  Then when you get this all set up with each pic resized and browsed, and you try to post, THEN it tells you you can only do 2048.   Why aren't you told this at the beginning as well instead of waiting until we have gon through all thos machinations.

Anyway, Thats 2 pics at 1024.

So here's some of my corals.

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[gerryo]

And a couple more.

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[Rybren]

Looking good Gerry,

Now hurry up and get some pics on your other thread!

[gerryo]

Thanx Jerry.

I have no problem posting here, whether it be pics or simple thread.

I'll go down and take a pic of the Nano right now.