New 55g need advice (may contain dumb questions :)

[jhanda]

So I've just inherited a 55g tank from a friend. I need some advice on setting this thing up. I've had freshwater tanks off and on, but this will be my first attempt at salt. I have an old 20g long tank that I'd like to use as a sump/refugium but the 55 isn't drilled. What are my options here?

He's giving me a canister filter too, is this of any use to me?

I installed an RO system this morning mainly for drinking water, but I plan to tee it off and get a DI canister so I'll have an RO/DI tap for tank water as well.

Oh, I've just ordered a bunch of stuff to do some DIY LED lighting, not sure if this was the best idea or not but it sounded like fun.

I'm reading all I can on this site but I think I could use some input on what skimmer to buy, and if the sump is doable, sump design and plumbing.

Justin

[Goldfisher]

i too would be interested in this as i have a 55gal tank i would like to convert into a marine aquarium

[tkeracer619]

some 55g are tempered all the way around and cannot be drilled.

put an lcd screen inside the tank and look at the screen with polarized sunglasses through the glass. Rotate the screen or your head. If you see black lines its tempered and cannot be drilled. If its clear your good to drill it.

Drilling is easy. Check out youtube for some videos on how to do it.

Canister filters are not the most useful but come in handy in a pinch if you need to run a lot of carbon.

[iwishtofish]

Welcome, both of you, to Reef Central!

I'd start by reading the stickies at the top of this forum. Tons of questions will be answered in one fell swoop. Don't let that stop you from asking questions for which you want elaboration, or questions at all, for that matter! That's why this site is here. Everyone is really anxious to get going right away, but spend a LOT of time doing research. It's an expensive hobby, the animals are delicate, and mistakes made are often avoidable and sometimes hard to undo.

If you obtain any tanks/equipment that were previously used, and you want to keep invertebrates (corals, shrimp, crabs, worms, clams, etc), it's a good idea to reject any that were used with copper-based medications. Copper is the number one nemesis of invertebrates, and any residue on equipment could have an adverse effect on keeping a healthy reef.

I'd avoid the canister filter. It would likely trap a lot of waste, and require constant cleaning. Filtration can be obtained through live rock (biofilter), and other mechanical devices such as protein skimmers and media reactors.

[Triton_Z]

I would agree I would shelf the canister filter for running emergency carbon and not run on a regular basis, unless you clean it frequently (which most of us neglect to do :uhoh2:).

Most of your setup depends on what you intend to keep. If this is your first saltwater setup, I would recommend a mixed setup of fish and lps and/or soft corals or a Fish Only with Live Rock (FOWLR).

If you're working on a budget, going sumpless can save a lot. You can use a HOB skimmer or internal skimmer with a hang on power filter like a marineland biowheel filter (I usually omit the biowheels). I've had a small 29 gallon reef running this way for 2+ years. It's low key and I keep some easy SPS (caps), Acans, and Zooas. The live rock and sand take care of the biological filtration and the skimmer keeps the organics down. You lose flexibility and future expansion, but reduce a lot of headaches and cost. I'm currently thinking of moving this tank over to an old 80 gallon due to it's getting too crowded from growth.

If a sump is needed, plumbing down and back up is required.

You have a few choices on plumbing down to your sump: Drilled overflows or hang on the back overflow boxes. I've ran both in the past and having a drilled overflow is the way to go IMO and IME. HOB overflows work, but due to the fuss and noise, I would recommend against them. If you can't drill, Lifereef makes a very nice box.

There's a lot of choices for drilled setups, but if you are leery of cutting glass (it's easy, but patience is the key), you'll have to find someone to help or go back to the HOB setups. As tkeracer suggested, you have to be sure the panel you are drilling is NOT tempered. A lot of larger tanks (55+) have tempered glass bottoms and a few are clearly marked. Do you know the manufacturer of your tank?

There's a TON of information already here on reef central. Search around and welcome to the hobby :wave: . Tell us more about what you would like to keep in your new tank.

[jhanda]

Good to know about the tempered glass. I'll find out the tank manufacturer, I don't have the tank yet, my friend is still in the process of moving his stuff out of it and into his new setup.

I'd really like to run a sump and fuge, if anything, just to get experience with them.

I'm on a budget, but I'm also not in a rush to get it going. Even though I'm really excited about it, I'd rather get the right stuff than cheap out just to get it going a few weeks sooner or whatever.

As far as contents, I'm more interested in stuff like corals, anemonaes, etc than fish. I always kinda wanted a jellyfish. a clown in an anemonae would be cool, although it sounds like its not easy to pull off from what I've been reading. Are there any little tiny fish that would swim in schools? That would be neat as well.

[rogermccray]

You can do a clown/anemone combo if you have good enough lights and you let the tank mature enough before you put the anemone in. Or you can get a frogspawn, a clownfish will host in a frogspawn (disclaimer: not all clownfish will find the frogspawn or the anemone to host in it)

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk

[TjwBlake]

To be honest... I wouldn't even consider a jelly anytime soon... I believe they require some majorly unique requirements and are not for beginners..

I agree with roger in terms of the clown combos as long as you take the needed steps to ensure the nem's health. and they look very very cool once they are paired up.

their are a tonne of great corals to choose from, I love the zoantids for their ability to create some wonderfully colorful gardens and are easier to keep.

I don't know if your tank is big enough to hold schooling fish but someone else will probably have more insight into that

[Sk8r]

Jellyfish require a completely round tank and a big support system. Note the setups at the Monterrey Bay and Seattle Aquariums.

I run a 54 g. You can see what my system is in my sig line. It's a good coral tank, not so great for fish-only unless you stick to gobies and blennies.

[jhanda]

OK so jellyfish are out =)

I picked up a cheap eshopps psk-150 skimmer, it's probably not the best but for $100 it should do the job right?

Would it be reasonable to take my 20g long and insert baffles to make a setup like http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/f/sump_f.html ?

[Triton_Z]

Yes, putting baffles in glass aquariums is very common and easy to do. Marc's website is a great resource and you should spend some time there doing your research. I do not have any first hand experience with the psk-150, but maybe some others can chime in.

I would avoid the jellys.

[Mussin]

I would agree I would shelf the canister filter for running emergency carbon and not run on a regular basis, unless you clean it frequently (which most of us neglect to do :uhoh2:).

Most of your setup depends on what you intend to keep. If this is your first saltwater setup, I would recommend a mixed setup of fish and lps and/or soft corals or a Fish Only with Live Rock (FOWLR).

If you're working on a budget, going sumpless can save a lot. You can use a HOB skimmer or internal skimmer with a hang on power filter like a marineland biowheel filter (I usually omit the biowheels). I've had a small 29 gallon reef running this way for 2+ years. It's low key and I keep some easy SPS (caps), Acans, and Zooas. The live rock and sand take care of the biological filtration and the skimmer keeps the organics down. You lose flexibility and future expansion, but reduce a lot of headaches and cost. I'm currently thinking of moving this tank over to an old 80 gallon due to it's getting too crowded from growth.

If a sump is needed, plumbing down and back up is required.

You have a few choices on plumbing down to your sump: Drilled overflows or hang on the back overflow boxes. I've ran both in the past and having a drilled overflow is the way to go IMO and IME. HOB overflows work, but due to the fuss and noise, I would recommend against them. If you can't drill, Lifereef makes a very nice box.

There's a lot of choices for drilled setups, but if you are leery of cutting glass (it's easy, but patience is the key), you'll have to find someone to help or go back to the HOB setups. As tkeracer suggested, you have to be sure the panel you are drilling is NOT tempered. A lot of larger tanks (55+) have tempered glass bottoms and a few are clearly marked. Do you know the manufacturer of your tank?

There's a TON of information already here on reef central. Search around and welcome to the hobby :wave: . Tell us more about what you would like to keep in your new tank.

Great Info.. Thanks from a newbie as well..

[LegitFish]

the mini-G skimmer would be great for that size tank. Also, instead of drilling the tank, have you considered using an overflow box?

[jhanda]

I ended up buying a 75g setup off craigsglist. I got a really good deal. its drilled and has a 30g or so sump. I got TONS of accessories with it. Is there anyway I can safely clean off the lime deposits from the powerheads etc?

[iwishtofish]

I ended up buying a 75g setup off craigsglist. I got a really good deal. its drilled and has a 30g or so sump. I got TONS of accessories with it. Is there anyway I can safely clean off the lime deposits from the powerheads etc?

75g tanks are much easier to work with than 55g tanks - congrats on the good deal!

Just use distilled white vinegar cut with a little water to soak/scrub off the coralline algae, etc.

[jhanda]

I'm thinking some of this stuff had to have come from other tanks. sorry the files are kinda big. I don't even know what some of this is.

http://shitbox.shoemoney.com/~justin/IMG_1224.JPG
http://shitbox.shoemoney.com/~justin/IMG_1225.JPG
http://shitbox.shoemoney.com/~justin/IMG_1226.JPGhttp://shitbox.shoemoney.com/~justin/IMG_1227.JPGhttp://shitbox.shoemoney.com/~justin/IMG_1228.JPGhttp://shitbox.shoemoney.com/~justin/IMG_1229.JPGhttp://shitbox.shoemoney.com/~justin/IMG_1230.JPGhttp://shitbox.shoemoney.com/~justin/IMG_1232.JPGhttp://shitbox.shoemoney.com/~justin/IMG_1233.JPGhttp://shitbox.shoemoney.com/~justin/IMG_1234.JPG

[zhewitt04]

Those lights VHO (very high output) It looks to be in good shape and that blue box is the ballest that runs the lights. These are good lights, I would change the bulbs and you should be good to go.

[jhanda]

I had just ordered everything for a DIY LED setup before I found this tank. I may just resell the VHO's. Looks like I have 2 skimmers, i can't find any markings on the on but i think it may be an ASM G2.

[iwishtofish]

Nice haul! I think you may have to buy some new U-brackets for those Tunze powerheads (if that is what they are) - once the U-bracket comes out of the magnetic mount, it can't be put back on. I learned this the hard way, by trying to move my installed Tunze by pulling on the powerhead inside the tank, instead of just holding the magnets only inside and out.

Was this a reef tank before breakdown, or a fish-only? It's always good to know whether or not the equipment might have been exposed to coppr-based meds.

[jhanda]

Yeah i've went through everything and I'm missing the magnet mounts. one of the tunze pumps is dead too. =(

Anyways I'm working on my sump, does anyone know how high I should set the water level for my skimmer? I think its an ASM G2 is 12" too deep?

[iwishtofish]

Yeah i've went through everything and I'm missing the magnet mounts. one of the tunze pumps is dead too. =(

Anyways I'm working on my sump, does anyone know how high I should set the water level for my skimmer? I think its an ASM G2 is 12" too deep?

If you have the room overhead, it doesn't really matter. You can always elevate the skimmer on an eggcrate/pvc stand, if needed.

If nobody can answer your specific question, you could try going to the manufacturers website and looking for a users guide. They usually give a depth range for running their skimmer.

[jhanda]

yeah, their website doesn't work I was looking for a manual last night.

[rogermccray]

I have the same information and have been searching around for an answer, so far I have heard 7-8" from one person that has the same skimmer.

[Dean Stell]

I just started a 55 gallon and am finding it to be really not that hard for all the belly aching I'd heard in the past. Granted, I'm not doing anything that complex right now: live rock, clowns, a few invertebrates and now some soft coral. But, what I've enjoyed is that I've been able to add bits of equipment and livestock on a little by little basis.

[jhanda]

I may just have to cut some teeth to lower the water level in the sump if its too high. I haven't been able to find any manuals or anything online.

[iwishtofish]

I may just have to cut some teeth to lower the water level in the sump if its too high. I haven't been able to find any manuals or anything online.

What if you want to use a different skimmer someday? How many inches from the bottom glass of the sump to the ceiling of the stand?

[jhanda]

Hmm theres quite a bit of room, I'm at work now can't measure. It's an Oceanic 75 gal stand, maybe I can find dimensions online.

I have 12" of water though, 4 inches seems like alot to prop it up. Maybe lower it 2 inches and prop it up 2?

[iwishtofish]

Maybe so! Here's the skimmer stand I made (not my invention, really):

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb113/bjdoyle64/skimmer_stand01.jpg

And, just for the heck of it, the return pump stand:

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb113/bjdoyle64/pump_pad_done02.jpg

I have beads of silicone under the pump stand, to cut vibration transfer to the glass.

And both in place:

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb113/bjdoyle64/almost05.jpg

[jhanda]

I like it, I'll do something similar depending on the height I have avail.

[jhanda]

Well looks like I would have room to raise the skimmer up 4" if I need to. Here's what I did. (picture attached)

I filled the system up with freshwater tonight to make sure everything works.. Looks like it does except the overflow drain is super noisy... =( any tips on this?

[jhanda]

I got my tank all filled up and running now. Picked up a piece of live rock and some live sand from the LFS. I guess I need to pickup a shrimp or something from the grocery store to get my cycle started? =D

Do I need to be running my skimmer right now or should I leave it off til the tank cycles? Also plants for my fuge? Do I add those now or wait?

[iwishtofish]

I got my tank all filled up and running now. Picked up a piece of live rock and some live sand from the LFS. I guess I need to pickup a shrimp or something from the grocery store to get my cycle started? =D

Do I need to be running my skimmer right now or should I leave it off til the tank cycles? Also plants for my fuge? Do I add those now or wait?

Yeah, a big chunk of shrimp wouldn't hurt, although a big ammonia spike might harm some critters that might be hiding in your live rock. The only other option I see, however, is to add critters super slowly to build upon the bacteria in your small amount of live rock. Shrimp would speed up the process. It might be a while before you see a considerable ammonia spike.

I'd leave the skimmer running. It won't pull ammonia out of the water, anyway, and will provide oxygen to the tank.

[jhanda]

do i need to buy alot more live rock?

[rogermccray]

You need about 100 pounds of live rock, depending on what kind of aquascape you are looking for. You also have to keep in mind that more rock equals more filtration.

[jhanda]

Oh, I have tons of rock but it was all dry. I got a whole bunch of stuff from someone else but it's been torn down awhile. So I have enough rock that I couldn't even put it all in the tank, I just went and got a rock from the LFS to put in with all the dry stuff...

[jhanda]

Here's what I have so far. Heaters are borrowed from a friend temp until my order shows up. All the rock was dry except for 1 piece..



http://shitbox.shoemoney.com/~justin/tank-01.jpg

[SCWilliams28092]

Your setup looks good so far. I hope to have my 60 up soon. Drilling later today and plumbing tomm.

[jhanda]

Update

Been running just over 2 weeks with saltwater now. Params this morning were:
Ammonia .25
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 10
SG 1.024

I've went through a large diatom outbreak that seems to be subsiding a bit now. I think cyano is showing up now.. red splotches. some green stuff starting to grow now too. I got a few more pieces of live rock to seed my rock that a local reefer gave me from his tank. There were a few corals attached and one hermit hitchhiked in too. Seeing pods all over my glass yesterday for the first time too. My skimmer has been pulling out a TON of brown/black crap that stinks up my whole house =\

Should I be looking for a clean up crew pretty soon or do I still have a long ways to go?

[TjwBlake]

no CUC till the ammonia and nitrite are gone if im not mistaken

[jhanda]

Update:

Ammonia and Nitrite are gone. got my diy leds done, got an Apex controller, working on the programming now. Also built a saltwater mixing station and ran pex lines to/from the tank for water changes.

[jhanda]

Here's where not to put your tank.. hmm worst glare ever? =\
http://reef.cheesypoofs.org/glare.jpg

[Utah Fatman]

It's looking pretty good. I'm not far behind you with my 55 gallon. I've been setting at around .25 ammonia and high nitrates for about 10 days. Still waiting for it to all settle down. Let us know what you stock it with.

K