Fin's 55

[Original Fin]

I got my first toadstool today, and I wanted to share some pics, so why not start a build thread? Tank has been up for about 5 months...my first reef, and I am so hooked.
I plan to keep only softies and polyps in this tank, but I can't deny the appeal of SPS and LPS calling me. Think that will be another tank though...someday!

Here's the toadstool looking pretty happy. I drip aclimated for about an hour, and this pic was taken about an hour after he first went in. Since posting this, all polyps are now fully extended.



Kenya Tree Coral...had this for a couple months now. Also having a happy day, but once a while it seems to get bothered by something and wont fully extend.


My nem, also about two months in the tank. Took a good month for him to acclimate and start eating, but now he eats as much as I can dish out. He's about twice as big now as he was when I brought him home. Wonder if he'll split?


Not sure if this is a problem or not, but check out feather duster-ville:


My current WIP...the 55 stand is so tight underneath, I'm DIY daisy chaining two 10gals together for a sump/fuge. Note that the DT will overflow to the back r-hand corner, a HOB skimmer sits on the back wall, intake and outflow seperated by a baffle. Skimmer outflow, and whatever the PS can't handle coming from the DT flows through an over-under over bubbletrap, and into a small fuge chamber. Notice that the last BT wall has been painted green to keep light out of non-fuge areas. Water exits this tank through a 1" bulkhead to the next tank. Tank 2 will house the return section, a UV sterilizer, a top off float valve, and possibly a second fuge chamber. I plan to just run a simple gravity reservoir with the float valve for top off till I get around to purchasing an RO unit. The return pump will probably be a mag 5 or 7...we'll see. (My helper is Molly the min-pin. Her sister, Ginger, not a fan of the cordless drill, so she's hiding out somewhere.



More to come

[Parrothead]

Looking good, nice choices on the corals, as far as the green stuff goes, I have no idea, might need to grow a bit to make a positive idea.

Very, Very nice Doberman, whats his/her name, beautiful animal

[Original Fin]

Looking good, nice choices on the corals, as far as the green stuff goes, I have no idea, might need to grow a bit to make a positive idea.

Very, Very nice Doberman, whats his/her name, beautiful animal

Thanks for the kind words. That pic that came out kinda greenish...those are all tiny feather dusters. They are actually more purple than comes through in the pic. I've got hundreds of them. Had a small scare a couple days ago and thought they might be hydroids, but no...just feather dusters Still, there's a carpet of them, and I won't be abe to put any corals there. Just hoping they don't take over the tank...I read they're not known to, so fingers crossed.

The doggie is actually a mini-pincher, although I did grow up with full size Dobies...sort of like being raised by wolves? . Her name is Molly...weighs all of 11 lbs. Her sister, Ginger, is quite a bit larger.
This is one of her finer moments with our cat Max-

and here's Ginger-

[callahans4]

hey fin, where were you able to find such a nice stool in our area? this is mine. been in the tank about 2 months, even survived all my water issues.

[Parrothead]

Thanks for the kind words. That pic that came out kinda greenish...those are all tiny feather dusters. They are actually more purple than comes through in the pic. I've got hundreds of them. Had a small scare a couple days ago and thought they might be hydroids, but no...just feather dusters Still, there's a carpet of them, and I won't be abe to put any corals there. Just hoping they don't take over the tank...I read they're not known to, so fingers crossed.

The doggie is actually a mini-pincher, although I did grow up with full size Dobies...sort of like being raised by wolves? . Her name is Molly...weighs all of 11 lbs. Her sister, Ginger, is quite a bit larger.
This is one of her finer moments with our cat Max-



and here's Ginger-

Simply adorable, aren't pets great

[Original Fin]

hey fin, where were you able to find such a nice stool in our area? this is mine. been in the tank about 2 months, even survived all my water issues.

The toadstool came from Tropical Haven in Modesto. I was just there to browse, but when they said they'd do this one for $30, I jumped on it. I saw a similarly sized one at Aquarium Concepts in Dublin for $80 last weekend, but that one was more colorful. Both are about 4". I occasionally make the trip to Dublin just to drool...they have a huge selection of really nice corals, but their prices are higher too.

I got all my start up equipment at Pet Extreme in Turlock, but I've sworn them off as far as livestock goes after losing a clown to brook, and a six line wrasse to some mystery illness. I can't tell you how many dead and dying marine fish I've seen there over this past summer, but seems like they are trying to clean things up lately.

Where are you located in the Central Valley?

[Original Fin]

I'm thinking I'd like this to be my next add. Octopus Ink Heteroxenia Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Octopus Ink Heteroxenia - Aquacultured

I have a back corner island where this would be perfect. The top of the rock is about 6 x 6, and 8" below the surface in high flow, which is directed away from any other rock (meaning it shouldn't be able to creep too far). My tank is lacking in color, says my wife, and I would tend to agree. When we go window shopping, she always gravitates to the day-glo LPS and SPS like challice, brains, trumpets and the like, but I keep having to remind her that we're going to start with softies first. Then she looks at all the beige leathers and shrooms, and says they are boring. Well, I disagree with boring, but alot of them can be a little drab.
Some others I like from Live Aquaria are Rhodactis Shrooms, Yuma Ric (I already have some FL greens) Neon Green Palau Nephthea, Evergreen Starburst, blue palys, Singularia Finger, Carnation Tree and Red tipped Tree Coral. Anybody have any other suggestions for colorful softies?

[twisted]

I'm thinking I'd like this to be my next add. Octopus Ink Heteroxenia Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Octopus Ink Heteroxenia - Aquacultured

I have a back corner island where this would be perfect. The top of the rock is about 6 x 6, and 8" below the surface in high flow, which is directed away from any other rock (meaning it shouldn't be able to creep too far). My tank is lacking in color, says my wife, and I would tend to agree. When we go window shopping, she always gravitates to the day-glo LPS and SPS like challice, brains, trumpets and the like, but I keep having to remind her that we're going to start with softies first. Then she looks at all the beige leathers and shrooms, and says they are boring. Well, I disagree with boring, but alot of them can be a little drab.
Some others I like from Live Aquaria are Rhodactis Shrooms, Yuma Ric (I already have some FL greens) Neon Green Palau Nephthea, Evergreen Starburst, blue palys, Singularia Finger, Carnation Tree and Red tipped Tree Coral. Anybody have any other suggestions for colorful softies?

Fin! love the pics! the xenia you linked is real nice. a frag of that may end up in my tank real soon! your little duster ville looks pretty cool! do alot of research on the carnations. they are tough ones. i know quite a few ppl including myself that watched them just fad away. if you want to make you lady happy, pic up a frag of birdnest or stylophoria. they are pretty hardy and do well in mixed tanks. my tank has lots of zoas and palays and mine thrive. for lps, acans and blastos, frogspawn and hammers are good with softies also. rics and shrooms are great. just make sure you can contain them to an area because they can spread quickly. greenstripe shrooms dont look bad in the color scheme. purple deaths, eagle eye, fire and ice, are some nice polyps. so are pinks and candy apple's, tomahawks(i've had some for a little over a month and love em.) you could also add a sponge to get some color.

[callahans4]

just north of you in hughson. im not a bigt fan of tropical haven, knida disorginized in there. haven't been to dublin yhet, mostly goto sacramento for livestock. do you know of anyone who has purchased livestock online?

[Original Fin]

just north of you in hughson. im not a bigt fan of tropical haven, knida disorginized in there. haven't been to dublin yhet, mostly goto sacramento for livestock. do you know of anyone who has purchased livestock online?

I know a lot of other folks on this site do, but I haven't yet. Maybe soon though.

[Original Fin]

Snail trails! Actually, this is the second time I've seen a clutch on the glass. The first ones did not mature, just became part of the food chain. Probably a good thing...I know certain species of FW snail populations can quickly get out of control.
Anyone had any success (or misfortune as the case may be) getting marine snail larvae to mature in their tanks? If so, which types? I have Mexican Turbos, Nassarius, and Astreas, not sure which is responsible for this.

Water is green with phytoplakton...just been dosed.

[Leetch]

Snail trails! Actually, this is the second time I've seen a clutch on the glass. The first ones did not mature, just became part of the food chain. Probably a good thing...I know certain species of FW snail populations can quickly get out of control.
Anyone had any success (or misfortune as the case may be) getting marine snail larvae to mature in their tanks? If so, which types? I have Mexican Turbos, Nassarius, and Astreas, not sure which is responsible for this.

Water is green with phytoplakton...just been dosed.

I have both Nassarius and Astreas in my tank as well and I have a few little babies running around but can't tell what they are yet as the shells haven't matured and they don't come to the viewing part of the tank very often.

We do have two other little buggers running around with rounded shells so I'm not sure if those are babies or my senility is kicking in and I bought them and forgot

[Original Fin]

Did some new aquascaping...

got this Xenia a couple weeks ago...loving it!


My Ric is in a much better position for photos now...


Relocated and finally glued some button frags too. Camera battery died just before I could snap the pics though...will post later, and try to get a 1/2 decent FTS. My digital camera does well with macros, but all my FTS shots come out blurry because of the tank lighting as I have no canopy...still experimenting with that.

[Original Fin]

Toadstool has really colored up!


BTA has relocated to where I can actually see him full on...


Still working on that FTS

[Parrothead]

Looking really good, keep it up

[Original Fin]

Finally picked up the last item I needed for the sump/fuge I've been working on. Got the whole thing online over the weekend, and the results are so far so good.
I needed a return pump, and I ended up getting a Mag 7, which turns out to be more powerful than needed, so I'm glad I plumbed in a return recirc/bypass line.
This is my first go at designing and plumbing a sump system, and I've been taking my time with it for several months now. There's a ton of info and tutorials out there on this subject. Thanks to Melev's Reef, Rickets Reef, YouTube etc...I was able to study a lot of different designs, and incorporate the ideas that suited my specific needs and limitations.



Project goals:

• Refugia for macro algae, pods, LR & DSB
• Improve water clarity/quality/increase bio capacity
• Stabilize PH w/reverse lighting on macro
• Increase/improve flow through display tank
• Provide a hidden area for heaters, skimmers, ATO, drip dosing and monitoring.

Design Criteria:

• Had to fit inside a standard 55G stand
• Stand was in use and couldn't be moved. No access from above...display tank full and in use.
• Had to operate as quietly as possible...DT is in a livingroom.
• Had to facilitate ease of cleaning and maintenance

I ended up using two partitioned 10 gallon tanks, connected by via bulheads w/ 1" Sch 40. Here's what it looks like:

The first fuge area (for macroalgae)...11x20x4. Cheapo 9 watt flourescent for now. Upgrade planned for T5HO:

2nd Fuge (DSB, LR etc...) and return section. That's a 5" black aragonite sand bed:

Back to the first (left) tank, here's the 1" Sch 40 inlet and filter sock and heater (hidden next to filter sock), and the protein skimmer; a CPR Aeroforce HOB. This helps to make the most out of the limited space I have. It does not displace any volume in the sump, to the contrary...it holds about 3/4 gallon, and it's easily accesible for removal/cleaning from the back of the tank. This whole section is behind the green bubble trap wall of the macro and pod fuge. The stand had to be pulled out about 8" from the wall to acccomodate maintenance and cleaning of the PS.

Back to the right side sump, here's a close up of the return plumbing and ATO float valve. A mag 7 feeds a 3/4" sch 40 return line which tees off to a 1/2" bypass line. Visible is the 1/2" ball valve. It's difficult to tell in the pic, but the 1/2" clear tubing doubles back into the return chamber. There's another 3/4" ball valve out of frame above the tee. The 3/4" is open about 90%, and the 1/2" is roughly 75%. In testing, when I closed the bypass off and ran it all to the DT, the overflow handled it, but sump #1 could not flow to #2 quickly enough without overflowing. If I had to do it over, I would have gone with a 1.5" or 2" bulkhead:

[Original Fin]

This is how I ended up plumbing the return line to the tank. It's just a 3/4 tee, which I think helps to create more random and complex flow patterns in the tank. It was also easy to adjust depth below surface with this fitting, which turned out to be handy when taking into account any siphon backflow that will occur as a result of pump failure. The sumps normally operate with about 15gals total, leaving 5 gals of safety. When I tested for pump fail conditions, it looked like I still had a gallon or two to go before overflow would occurr.
According to Mag, after taking length and sweeps into account, there really shouldn't be any more than 400 GPH by the time it comes out of the tank return. I also have a Koralia 1050 for DT flow.

Another shot of the DT return line:

Here's a behind the DT look at the PS placement:

The HOB siphon overflow, utilizing a 1" Hofer Gurglebuster, which performs as claimed. I am getting the water fall cascade noise, but no gurgle to speak of.

Behind the right side of the DT, you can see my gravity feed top off reservoir, a slim 6 gallon potable water jug, sitting atop a crude but effective wooden stand.

[Parrothead]

Good job, I still put a siphon break on that return, just in case.....

[Original Fin]

I can see how that looks a little precarious, but the overflow weir and return line are adjusted to the same depth, so siphon break or no, in the event of losing the return pump, the top inch of DT water would still have to drain to the sump either way. I did test it by pulling the plug, and the sump filled to within a couple gallons of overflowing, so there is that as a safety net.

I have two worst case scenarios. 1st, would be if the overflow became clogged. In that case, the return pump would quickly empty the return chamber, run dry and burn up, which is prefferable IMO to a flood. There is not enough water in the return chamber to overflow the DT by design. 2nd, would be if my top off float switch somehow jammed open flowing up to 6 extra gallons into the system. Since it's connected with just 1/4" tubing running through a valve set to drip, it would take quite a while for it to completely empty. As long as I'm not away from the house, I'm would notice the level rising long before it could ever become a disaster. Here's to no disasters!

[Parrothead]

Sounds like you got it all covered,