Back in with a 54 corner after 10 years

[Brewers best]

10 years ago I left the hobby with a 90 reef that had crashed and decided to move across the US of A. Fast forward. I now have two kids and my oldest (4) has discovered Nemo. He asked every time we go the LFS to look at Nemo. We currently have a 20 freshwater tank. So I get the bright idea to have him tell mom we need a Nemo. After considering options with our house set up, I chose a corner tank. In Mid March just when we idea of quarantine was upcoming, I find a deal on a used 54 gallon reef with almost everything. Thinking it would drop into my life and cycle with fish by May. Well, in this hobby it never goes as planned. I get the tank it is full of sand and the sump is full of rock and nasty water. To top it off the person built a custom stand to put a corner on a flat wall, the stand was half circle shaped. I neglected to get a pic of the stand when agreeing to buy and that really wasn’t a deal breaker...I was hooked again and excited. I deconstructed the stand and start to rebuild. I also began to clean the tank and bleach the rock. With quarantine and working in healthcare it is now May and I am still working on the stand. I will post more as we go but I am starting this thread in July and cycling the tank now. I will have lead up to current situation posts.

 

[Brewers best]

May 4. The stand is rebuilt, sanded (outside only, wasn’t wasting my time). I still need to build doors to keep the kids out of the tank. Also the 20 gallon handmade sump that came with the tank wasn’t fitting. Hello Fuji cube. Also still cleaning the tank. What can I say my life is busy.

 

[Brewers best]

May 22. Aquascaping with my son. He though it was a lot of fun.

 

[Brewers best]

May 29. Stand is done! Stained, doors and hardware. Tank is also being leak tested.

 

[Brewers best]

June 11 sump setup...that was a lot of paper peeling.

 

[fishguy242]

hi welcome to the reef going to love it here!!
lots of fun/info/fun/help/fun....
nice ,love it,great work on stand
best time to get your badge for this build thread..following

 

[Brewers best]

June 25. Rocks, sand and water are in. I put 2/3 RODI in the tank and mixed the first batch in the tank. Then added the rock and sand after a debate over egg crate. (15 years ago that was recommended to me). I opted to not use the egg crate. Was I filled the tank the bulkhead started to leak. I must have cracked it or damaged the gasket seal moving the tank into the house. I was unable to stop the leak and instead of using a bandaid fix of silicon I ordered new bulkheads. Now the other issue is accessing the bulkheads. The holes drilled in the top were just large enough to fit the pipes through. So I don’t want to drain the tank, try to explain that to my wife. I also can’t saw the holes with the tank on top. So I decided to drill holes around the bottom so I can control the depth and knock the wood out. I just finished that tonight, July 1. During the seemingly forever to get a bulkhead, I began to cycle the tank. Dr Tim’s let’s do this. Bulkhead will be here tomorrow, so I have a project once everyone goes to bed.

 

[fishguy242]

"HAPPY 4TH OF JULY" weekend yeah!!! ,bummer on bulk,i was hanging expecting a pic,patience .lol,enjoy, be waiting

 

[Brewers best]

@fishguy242 Thanks. It has been a lot of fun getting back in. My son loves doing the water tests with me and telling me when the heater is on in the tank. This site has already been a huge help.

 

[fishguy242]

our future reefers in the making,love it!

 

[johnsonkobe24]

Nice rebuild of the stand. Amazing work done!

 

[Brewers best]

lunchtime cycling tests. Ammonia 0.25 and nitrite between 0.25 and 0.5. Still waiting on bulkhead. Temporary powerhead and heater in tank along with mp10 for cycling until the bulk head is fixed.

 

[Brewers best]

No new real updates. Posting to win the Red Sea tank. Got the bulkhead. Requires more work on the stand to access the area. Sent the last few days camping on Mt Hood. Still cycling.

 

[Brewers best]

Finally able to clear A large enough area under the tank stand top to access the bulkhead. Swapped it out and going to run a leak test in a little while. Hard to do it all at once with the kids running around. Will have to update the sump plumbing also. But the tank is cycling so we are on the way.

 

[Brewers best]

Bulkhead passed the leak test. Sump area replumbed as I had to make modifications due to new bulkhead setup. Awaiting new batch of water to get to proper salinity to fill the system to full capacity and run the sump.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Welcome back!!!

 

[Brewers best]

System is up and fully running. Dialing in the skimmer, don’t really have a need for it yet. Going to look at fish Friday, I have a specific list so we will see how that goes.

 

[Brewers best]

Fun update time! We got our first two fish. We will get a tank shot once they are acclimated.

 

[Brewers best]

Very tiny in the back center.

 

[Brewers best]

Fish are doing great, eating well. Got a Tunez Osmolator, just need to find a reservoir that fits under the tank.