OP
OP
It's been a while since I've updated this thread. I've got tons of photos for your viewing pleasures.
Reef Diaries: 56G Reef Savvy
- Build Thread
- Thread starter ReeferEric
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
No idea, that's just how they grow in my tank. The other ones have eyes on the new growth.
Some more pictures:
Daniel@R2R
Living the Reef Life
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2012
- Messages
- 38,516
- Reaction score
- 67,449
- Location
- Fontana, California
- What state or country do you live in
- California
Stunning photos! Can we get a FTS?
joshporksandwich
Zoa addict
Of course not. All he has are tiny frag tanks Rofl!
OP
OP
LOL, JPS is correct! I'm ashamed of my main tank and the frag tank just sucks. I just use a lot of photoshop to try and mask it.
More photos!
OP
OP
I'm bringing this thread back to life soon! This is going to be a fun project, I'm adding another frag tank to the system. I love building projects!!!
OP
OP
It's on now guys! The new tank is coming in... tomorrow. Orginally I wanted to build a custom frag tank (60x30x14) but the cost was too much to justify it.
I ended up settling for a Deep Blue 80 gallon reef ready tank, more so for water volume since th 60 gallon has the same foot print. My stand fabricator will be making the stand this weekend for me.
This tank will be powered by LED only, 2 Radions will be the lifeline. As for filtration, this will also be plumbed into the main system. Replumbing it should be fun, it might be rigged up for the time being as I need more space. This came up pretty quick so I didn't have too much time to think about it.
More info will be posted as they come. Stay tuned!
I ended up settling for a Deep Blue 80 gallon reef ready tank, more so for water volume since th 60 gallon has the same foot print. My stand fabricator will be making the stand this weekend for me.
This tank will be powered by LED only, 2 Radions will be the lifeline. As for filtration, this will also be plumbed into the main system. Replumbing it should be fun, it might be rigged up for the time being as I need more space. This came up pretty quick so I didn't have too much time to think about it.
More info will be posted as they come. Stay tuned!
OP
OP
OP
OP
Here we go, within a matter of days the tank and stand are here. This project won't require so much thinking as its straight forward, I'll get more into the technical stuff later on.
Local builder got the call on Thursday, had it complete by mid day Saturday. Awesome quality work from this guy, he built my first frag tank stand as well.
Quick mock up
Difference between prepping it, sanding the edges vs not. I bought the slightly more expensive wood from Home Depot since it will probably never be replaced.
Securing the wood to the stand. Flushed the screw head so nothing catches when putting on the tank.
Overflows and return clearance check
Krylon black gloss paint for the wood and areas where I don't want to be so obvious.
Board further back with a light coat of black. Upfront it got two coats before I ran out and had to go to walmart to buy another can.
2 additional coats, nice and black. Drying overnight
Local builder got the call on Thursday, had it complete by mid day Saturday. Awesome quality work from this guy, he built my first frag tank stand as well.
Quick mock up
Difference between prepping it, sanding the edges vs not. I bought the slightly more expensive wood from Home Depot since it will probably never be replaced.
Securing the wood to the stand. Flushed the screw head so nothing catches when putting on the tank.
Overflows and return clearance check
Krylon black gloss paint for the wood and areas where I don't want to be so obvious.
Board further back with a light coat of black. Upfront it got two coats before I ran out and had to go to walmart to buy another can.
2 additional coats, nice and black. Drying overnight
OP
OP
It's always fun, I love it.
More updates:
A big mess, this will eventually get cleaned up.
Simple plumbing, like on all my tanks I used the Herbie method to quiet down the tank. The main drain is 1" which is the full siphon and the 3/4" is the emergency drain. Still need to pick up a gate valve for the main drain. Return is a temporary u tube for now. Other options might come up later on.
Starting to fill the tank up
Due to the garage floor and the design to slope towards the garage doors, I had to do a good amount of shimming to the stand to get it leveled.
Another project I'm working on for the girl friend. This should be a fun one.
Man you have all kinds of fun stuff going on. Everything looks great! Wouldnt the 3/4 inch drain not be large enough to handle the load if an emergency did end up happening? Ive never had a herbie so im no expert
Last edited:
OP
OP
The herbie method is one drain being a full siphon and the other one is dry, hence emergency. By the time the emergency drain kicks in I should have already known the main drain is clogged. Also the emergency drain output is mounted higher and has nothing to muffle the drain so it will make noise as it drains and water splashing when it hits the sump.
OP
OP
Thank you! I am no longer running the Hog.5, just the Surf2 which does an awesome job at removal of nutrients along with the skimmer which for the moment is a Bubble Magus Curve 5.
Here's the replacement:
Got this from an R2R member @CoralClark
Last picture of the cube I am setting up for my girlfriend I had laid the tiles inside but not cut to fit the bottom. Here's the finished product:
For the 80 gallon:
For those who wonder what tiles I used
Bad picture of the tanks. The new 80 gallon is suppose to be powered by 2 Radions but I am waiting on the Ecotech RMS to mount the other Radion on it. The cube has one now but I will have to get a third one.
Phosphates are down to a controllable level again
OP
OP
I use to have big problems with being ultra low nutrients being at zero. Then I got them up to .11+ but prefer it to be around .06-.08ppm area. Hopefully with the added water volume this won't be an issue anymore with stability when it comes to phosphates or rather nutrient all together.
