My 55 Gallon Tank Project !!!!!

[bjonesjr1]

Hello fellow reefers, I have decided to start a thread about my 55 gallon tank from start to well, when ever it ends, I guess in this hobby it can go on forever... First of all I bought the tank from a buddy back on the secound week of February with the tank, stand, and a Emporer 400 for $150, Can't beat that so I bought it... It didn't come with any lights, circulation pumps, or anything else, but a bunch of chemicals, test kit, hydrometer, and some various other things. Oh yea a 2" - 3" sand bed in it, so when we moved it to my house we left some water in the bottom of the tank to keep the sand in their wet, didn't want to have any die-off, because I was afraid of how long it might take to cycle if I just drained it compleatly, so thats why I left water in their.

After first setting up the tank and adding RO/DI water from the LFS and turning on the Emporer, their was this brown color to the whole tank, My testing on the water showed this:

PH - 8.0
Nitrites - .30ppm
Nitrates - .50ppm
Ammonia - .50ppm

I think these tests came up this way because
a) their was alot of movement when we moved the tank so the sand in the tank shifted around alot.
b) My buddy used the Bio-wheels on their before I bought the tank and I heard that the Bio-wheels are a Nitrate factory...

So First step in getting my tank on the road to being able to start something with it, I took the Bio-wheels off and replaced the carbon inserts with new ones, Did 5 gallon water changes every other day for 2 weeks, and bought a ZooMed Rotating pump that does 270gph, some people may say that they don't like these pumps but I have had them for almost 2 months now, and they haven't given me any problems, I clean them every month and make sure that everything is working and it does fine haven't had any problems with it yet... Going to buy another one for the other side of the tank, maybe even one for the middle up on the top if I ever aquascape alittle high with LR to give nice flow up their on top. My buddy also gave me some plastic inserts that hold any kind of media that goes in front of the carbon filter inserts, and I bought some stuff on-line...

Here's a picture of what I put in them to go along with my carbon inserts:



Would like to hear other reefers comments on this stuff, the good and the bad please...

My dream list of things to purchase are going to be:

1) Another Emporer 400 to add some more filtration because I am only able to add things that hang on the back because their is no room in my apartment for a sump or anything else except for things that hang on the back of the tank
2) Like I said above another ZooMed pump
3) A skimmer, I'm looking at the Aqua C Remora Pro hang-on most likely the one that I'm going to get but maybe going to be able to afford a Deltec...
4) I might upgrade in lighting depending on what I plan on doing with the tank and what the misses lets me spend... LOL

After about 3 weeks my tank was done cycling I think and my tests showed this of my tank:

PH - 8.2
Nitrites - 0ppm
Nitrates - .20ppm
Ammonia - .0ppm

Here is a picture of my tank before I bought any lighting:



Then I met a robthorn, a guy on here who lives by me and sold me a CustomSeaLife Moonlight fixture that has 2x96w (1) 10,000K Premium-Daylight & (1) Ultra-Actinic with 3 moonlights and the dimensions of 36.25"x8.25"x4.5"

I know, I know the light doesn't go all the way across my tank but I figured out a way to mount it and now it fits perfectly and hey I bought the light for $25... again can't beat that. Thanks again Rob

This is now what my tank looks like,



Now all my water test at this point have been good, this is what I got after 1 month of the tank up and running, (I keep a log)

PH - 8.3
Nitites - 0ppm
Nitrates - .5ppm
Ammonia - 0ppm

So I went to the LFS and I bought 5 Blue Legged hermit crabs, 5 Astraea Turbo snails, 3 Peppermint shrimp, and 3 Damsels... the tank had its diatom algae bloom and the clean up crew did a good job of keeping it under control and now its all gone and haven't had a problem since, I then bought some Worm Culture rock about 5lbs and placed it in the tank, it was fully cured from the LFS and didn't have any problem with my water tests when added to the tank... oh what the life you see in that stuff, for the first few nights I keep on seeing new stuff and one night I saw this feller,



So I ended up takeing him out, because I found out he wasn't a friendly crab and disposed of him the right way by putting him back in the ocean, I live a mile from the beach in florida so that wasn't that hard to do, better than flushing him down the super bowl...

My tank has been up and runnning now for 40 days and I ended up putting a Pink Tip anemone in my tank, here is a picture:



He has been doing fine and has found his home next to some LR and right near the ZooMed pump I think he likes the current... & other than that my tank has been doing fine nothing wrong with anything, and I think I'm going to buy some Live Sand to make my sand bed around 3" - 4" deep. and next purchase on my list before anything else is a skimmer, another Emporer 400, and another ZooMed pump before I add anything else to the tank, don't want my Bio load getting to high, to where my equiptment can't handle it... This is the most recent picture of my tank and the last one tell I get some new stuff to take pictures of, and I will try to keep this thread going to keep a diary of my adventure on my first Saltwater Tank, and thanks to all that have helped with everything, and to all that will help in the future.



Thanks for everything guys... and girls

[No Worries1979]

Just curious, what are the dimensions of your tank? I just got another bedroom tank and I believe it may be the same size. Thanks

[bjonesjr1]

48x12x20 I believe

[Reef_|<eeper]

Nice, keep the pics and diary coming. I love watching tanks come alive!

[bjonesjr1]

I sure will do that, I can't wait tell all my future purchases... I'm going to get all the equiptment out of the way on the 1st. and then maybe more LR on the 15th. of April

Can't wait to see this tank come alive

[Pete1399]

If you need any help you know where to get it!

[bjonesjr1]

Yup I sure do, I've already gotton alot of help from everyone and have tried to help other people out when I can... Does anyone have anything good or bad about the Matrix Biofilter Support Media that I am using in the tank along with carbon inserts ???

[Pete1399]

A lot of the reefers use protein skimmers on there tanks for filtration. Have you looked into this at all?

[bjonesjr1]

Yes I have thought about this long and hard, I'm looking at buying the Aqua C Remora Hang-on for my tank, since all I can do is hang things on since their is no room under my tank... or around it !!!

Here's the skimmer I want, I'm pretty sure

Aqua C Remora Pro hang-on w/ rio 1400 pump

I'm also going to buy this thing to put in the tank to hide the pump, and maybe it will perform alittle bit better with this overflow design..

Here's a look:

Overflow box

Let me know what you think

[bjonesjr1]

Some one above has said if I was going to get into a protein skimmer well here are my two choices:

Aqua C Remora Pro w/ drain fitting and Rio 1400 pump



This one above I believe is using the "Spray Injection System." was wondering what people thought about that ???

And This one also seems to catch my eye its called the

Aqua Medic Turboflotor Hang On



This one above uses the "needle wheel system"
was wondering what people thought would be a better of the two??? Thanks for the input for my decision to buy which one...

[drwonga]

I just got the Aqua C Remora Pro (with the MagDrive 3). I have mine on a 40 gallon and it completely rocks! I added in live rock yesterday, and within 30 seconds, the skimmer was pulling stuff out (and it had been running clean, not pulling anything for a week). I have it with the auto drain thing, and that is a time saver! If it's possible to fall in love with a skimmer...Oh, and the maintenance is real easy, just scrub this one little hole once every month. The magdrive...well, I don't think they ever need maintenance. Good luck!

[bjonesjr1]

I thought about getting the Aqua C Remora with the Rio 1400 pump just to have alittle more flow but I wonder what the pro's & con's are of each pumps, (the rio 1400 and the magdrive 3) ???

Thanks for the input drwonga...

[bjonesjr1]

Does anyone have anything to say about the Pro's & Con's of the two pumps I listed above ??? And also what do you guys think I should go with the,

Spray Injection System or the Needle Wheel System

pictures are above, a couple of post back of the two skimmers that I'm looking at.... Thanks for all the help

[bjonesjr1]

would like to know what my fellow reefers have to say about the (2) skimmers that I choose above, If I should go with the Aqua C Remora Pro hang-on or the Aqua Medic Turboflotor

one is the spray injection system...
& the ones is a needle wheel system...

thanks for the help

[PatMayo]

40 days most likely is not enough time to get the tank stable. Most anemone's take a very stable and aged tank before they will be successful for any length of time.

I personlly would not put one in such a new tank. Ultimatley the anemone will suffer.

I hope it works out of you.

Regards.

Pat

[drwonga]

Personally, I think the MagDrives are the best pumps out there. I don't believe there is any maintenance regarding their normal use. They are quiet, and I have two that haven't failed yet. Unfortunately, I have had a couple Rio's on me fail, so I don't purchase them anymore. Just my experience. (And yes, I did go through the same dilemma you are, to upgrade to a MagDrive...worth it or not?)

[bjonesjr1]

Originally posted by drwonga
Personally, I think the MagDrives are the best pumps out there. I don't believe there is any maintenance regarding their normal use. They are quiet, and I have two that haven't failed yet. Unfortunately, I have had a couple Rio's on me fail, so I don't purchase them anymore. Just my experience. (And yes, I did go through the same dilemma you are, to upgrade to a MagDrive...worth it or not?)

Thanks for the input drwonga... I'm most likely going to get the MagDrive pump with the Aqua C Remore Pro, if I end up getting that skimmer...

But still would like to see if people think,

the "Spray Injection System" works better

or the "Needle Wheel System" is what I should get into...

would like to hear what people's thoughts are on the two systems and what has worked best for them ???

[chip721]

I've run the Remora Pro with a Mag3 and Mag5 pump. If you get the Mag3, you can easily bump it to a Mag5 equivilant with an impeller change for ~ $9. The Remora Pro is a decent skimmer. If you get the Pro model, I suggest getting the collection cup with the external drain option. Pros: Easy setup, operation, and maintenance. Cons: It's a little noisy and I hated having that huge pump dangling in my tank. I didn't use the pre-skimmer box, but have heard good and bad about them. I did have a Mag pump sieze on me once. But it was my fault. I had it sitting in the bottem of my tank, ran it for almost a year and never cleaned it. I've never owned any Rio's so can't speak on them.

[drwonga]

Chip, so you had the Mag seize on you? Right now, I modified the Remora a bit, I am running the tubing from the pump to the input, as the pump right now sits on the bottom of the tank. Did it seize because of the sand? (And how in the world do you clean a Mag anyway-I don't believe they come apart?)
BTW: by placing the pump on the bottom, it's much easier to hide the skimmer-you can't even see it beind my rockwork.

[fio1022]

I run several different mags on my set up.Very reliable but tend to add heat.
To clean all I do is place place in bucket of vinegar and run for an hour or so,hose it off and put it back in service.
Always good to have a back up and or a replacement impeller just in case of failure...

[chip721]

Originally posted by drwonga
Chip, so you had the Mag seize on you? Right now, I modified the Remora a bit, I am running the tubing from the pump to the input, as the pump right now sits on the bottom of the tank. Did it seize because of the sand? (And how in the world do you clean a Mag anyway-I don't believe they come apart?)
BTW: by placing the pump on the bottom, it's much easier to hide the skimmer-you can't even see it beind my rockwork.

Yeah woke up one morning and my Remora Pro was dead silent. I was doing the exact same thing ...pump on the bottem hidden behind some lr. I don't think it was sand, but I wasn't using the sponge pre-filter either. After a year of 400+Ca levels, pretty good coraline growth, and no maintenace it just locked up one day. You can remove the Mags 4 screws, faceplate and impeller. I soaked it in vinegar and it was all good in less than an hour. I agree with Fio too. Since it was for my skimmer at the time, I ordered a backup pump. The black tube on the left side of the pic is 3/4" ID tubing from the Remora Pro going down to the Mag5. Man I hated that dangling pump!

Sorry bjonesjr1. Not trying to steal your thread. But some of this might be of interest when considering skimmers.

[bjonesjr1]

Originally posted by chip721
I've run the Remora Pro with a Mag3 and Mag5 pump. If you get the Mag3, you can easily bump it to a Mag5 equivilant with an impeller change for ~ $9. The Remora Pro is a decent skimmer. If you get the Pro model, I suggest getting the collection cup with the external drain option. Pros: Easy setup, operation, and maintenance. Cons: It's a little noisy and I hated having that huge pump dangling in my tank. I didn't use the pre-skimmer box, but have heard good and bad about them. I did have a Mag pump sieze on me once. But it was my fault. I had it sitting in the bottem of my tank, ran it for almost a year and never cleaned it. I've never owned any Rio's so can't speak on them.

Hey thanks for the input chip721, I appreciate it I'm still going back and forth from the Aqua C Remora Pro & the Other one
The Aqua Medic Turboflotor... Not to sure which one I'm going to get, though leaning towards the Aqua C....

[bjonesjr1]

Originally posted by fio1022
I run several different mags on my set up.Very reliable but tend to add heat.
To clean all I do is place place in bucket of vinegar and run for an hour or so,hose it off and put it back in service.
Always good to have a back up and or a replacement impeller just in case of failure...

Thanks for the clean-up tip, fio1022... will keep this in mind if I do purchase the Aqua C w/ the MagDrive 3, Glad to know that the maintence is alright to handle with...

[bjonesjr1]

Originally posted by chip721
Sorry bjonesjr1. Not trying to steal your thread. But some of this might be of interest when considering skimmers.

Your not stealing my thread chip721, your just helping me make a good diary... thanks for all the input guys, Everything that is added to this thread will eventuly help anyone else looking at this thread... thanks again guys. (chip721, drwonga, & fio)

[Brandon's Reef]

did you think about the Coralife Super Skimmer 65 there not bad for the price and totally killed the remora pro I had.