60 Gallon Reef Build

[adrianreece]

I am in the process of sourcing equipment to upgrade my 60 gallon FOWLR tank to include a sump. This thread is to keep track of my progress. I have had my tank set up for a few years now with three green spotted puffers and a few corals. I am moving from Brookings, SD to Fairfax, VA in a few weeks and I thought that during the move would be a great time to upgrade my stand and add a sump. I really enjoyed having the puffers for the last couple years, but it has been frustrating that I can't have any inverts for a cleaning crew, and the puffers can't be kept with any other fish (mine have been quite aggressive). I reluctantly decided to give them to a local reef shop so that I don't have to go through the hassle of moving them 22 hours away. This will also give myself time to break the tank down to drill it for an overflow/return without having to rush to set things up and get the fish back in there.

Equipment List for the new setup:
Marineland 60 Gallon Display
Glass-Holes 700gph Overflow
Glass-Holes 3/4" return with loc line
Aqueon 20 Gallon Long Sump
Lifeguard Quiet one pro 2200 return pump
Jebao WP-25 wave pump
Hydor Nano powerhead
Bubble Magus Curve 5
BRS Dual reactor (carbon, GFO) powered by MJ1200
200w heater
100w heater
Hydor smart ATO
Current USA Marine Orbit LED 48"

Keeping a saltwater tank has been quite the learning experience for me and I am excited for the new setup. It will be soo much cleaner than the way it is now, being able to put all the equipment in the sump. I am hoping to have a mixed reef once things are moved to Virginia and up and going again.

Here is a picture of my tank from a few months ago and a couple pictures of the new stand with sump that I am building.

[FLreefDad]

Any updates on this and how it's going?

[NCReefDude]

I just set up a 50g, and I just relocated back to NC from the Vienna/Fairfax area. That's a busy place!

[adrianreece]

It has been a busy couple of weeks, but after many trips to the hardware store, it is up and running. It took some time to figure out how to reduce the bubbles in the sump and minimize noise, but it is finally running quietly thanks to some foam panels. I used egg crate to make a lid for the overflow section of the sump so any remaining bubbles do not create an abundance of salt creep. The tank has been running for about a week now and I am impatiently waiting for the cycle to finish. Here are some of the pictures I took along the way.

[adrianreece]

Thanks to Seachem Stability, my tank is stable and ready for fish. I found a great local fishstore and picked up a couple Ocellaris clowns. They are very small now and relatively the same size, so i'm not sure which one will turn out to be the female. I was impressed with the guy at the fish store because he asked me quite a few questions about my setup before letting me take the fish home. I have heard about this before from other peoples experiences, but had never actually witnessed it for myself. Another big bonus, was that the store quarantines all of its fish for a minimum of three weeks. I will be coming back there when it is time for my next fish, in about a month or so.

[LuizW13]

Looks great!

[adrianreece]

It has been a long time since my last update, and there are many additions!

Fish:
ocellaris clown pair
yellow watchman goby/pistol shrimp
McCoskers wrasse
Kole tang

Corals:
Green Star polyps
trumpet coral
meteor shower cyphastria
Jason Fox Orange annihilation paly
Jason Fox Atomic sunrise zoa
Jason Fox avatar chalice
purple tip hammer x2
acan colony
lobo coral
kenya tree
pulsing xenia
Green Pocillopora