you gotta give us more than that. What are the specs? What are your plans for the tank?

Not much right now, I'm at college and wasn't going to setup a tank but couldn't pass up the deal. I actually wanted the two 1" Sea Swirls and a couple other parts for the 150 gallon tank I have back at home that hasn't been setup yet (the livestock, corals and equipment in my 29/40g setup will be transferred to the 150g).

So for now this tank is just going to be FOWLR, I know it's a shame but I can't really afford to do reef stuff right now (well and I don't need two reef setups lol). The closed loop pump is a Little Giant 3-MDQX-SC but I haven't had it on because it blows the sand around and well... it's not really necessary at the moment.

As for filtration I have a cup and a half of granulated activated carbon in a filter sock between the bubble trap in the sump. I'm hoping water changes combined with a light bio load will be sufficient right now, I really don't want to buy another skimmer/any more equipment that isn't going to be used on the 150g. I am looking to buy more live rock as my budget permits, as it will all make its way into the 150g. It's a little difficult because this will all need to be moved 275 miles come next May :-/

So plans... keep things simple and not put a lot of money into it for now. I'd like to build a hood for it and will put a couple 24" T-5's I have in (two 24" 10,000 daylights and two 24" 460nm actinics), but it is difficult to do at college. It's kind of a shame, last year I wanted nothing more than to build a 48" wide reef ready setup but couldn't do it, this one practically fell in my lap and is the perfect setup IMHO but my priority is the 150g

I had a 10 gallon setup here with the live rock you see in the 55g and one clown but he didn't seem very happy so I decided to set up the 55g. Then I found some small clowns at the LFS and added them. So far they all seem to be doing well, I'm hoping they all rank up properly and do not start fighting. If one of my RBTA at home splits I might bring it over, although I don't think this tank would be ideal for it (lighting and water quality) so it's not likely but I'll decide later.

I'd really like to get some more fish but since I don't really have the filtration to keep up and I can't really devote a lot of time to the hobby right now I think I'm just going to stick with the three clowns :-/

I ordered a 300 watt heater, Mag Drive 12 return pump, and a few other odds and ends for the tank. Right now the 50 watt I have is on 24/7 and barely able to keep the tank at 76*. Right now I have a Maxijet 1200 as the return pump, it's moving rather slow lol.

My sister came to visit and brought me some of my 24" T-5's from home so I put them on the tank, unfortunately I asked for two 10,000 and two 460nm actinics, but only got one daylight and three actinics so the "purple"ish light is from the hood of my 10 gallon tank. I actually think it looks cool in person but in the pics the light looks kinda messed up



oh, also ordered a mag float, I've been kinda busy and need to clean the inside of the tank a little towards the top.

And I'm happy to report the three clowns are getting along fine! I've been watching them closely for aggression but have not witnessed any so far.

lol. This out to be good. MJ1200 to a MAG 12. You know they are not the same... right? 4x the power and a much higher head.

Where are your returns? I say returns because 1200GPH out of 3/4inch pvc is a powerful blast. Most likely you are in the process of building a return system? If so may I recommend a spray bar!

Yeah, the overflow and return system was designed to accommodate the flow of a MD12, the MJ1200 is a temporary fix so I could get some water moving through the sump to help the water clear up when I first setup the tank. The corner overflow has a 1" bulk head and a 3/4" bulk head, right now the 3/4" is plugged but I can unplug it if I need more flow. Those feed into a 1-1/2" pipe to the sump.

The MJ1200 is hooked up to a 1/2" NPT lock line piece which goes to a 6' section of 1/2" ID 5/8" OD vinyl tubing up to the tank (used what I had laying around). The actual return line is 3/4" sch 40 which goes to the 3/4" lock line on the left side of the tank. If it is too much pressure I can open the chiller feed valve or add a Y connector to the lock line, or build a spray bar as you suggested.

I ordered a MD7 for my 29g thinking it would be enough and wish I ordered a MD9.5. I have taken into account the MD12 is more efficient (less head loss) than the MD7 in the first 5'. I also plan on using the MD12 as a feed line to my protein skimmer so ~750gph should be seen at the return.

ah ok. was going to say 3/4 returns is must for the 12. I own the 9.5 as a return for my 125g. Was debating going to a 12 but am saving for a ocean runner ( much more energy efficient) 950gpd through the sump is plently

I was thinking about going with an Eheim 1262 but I picked up the MD12 for $105 new where the 1262 is $170. Since I'm not sure if I'll continue to have this tank in a year I chose the extra flow over the efficiency, since I'll most likely use it as a utility pump or something when I move back home. I looked at the Ocean Runner pumps, they look like they'll keep the power bill down, nice!

I bought a Current-USA Fission Recirculating Skimmer #8105, I'm hoping it will perform decently. I don't expect it to be a Euro-reef but it cost about 1/4 as much lol.

So I finally had some time and started to build a hood for the tank




this is what I've designed




Also the skimmer arrived, I had to modify it a little to get it under the stand (I got really lucky on this one lol)

I definitely need to get more live rock for the tank. Aside from that I have a few new fish

This is what the tank looked like a few weeks ago, unfortunately I haven't had time to really enjoy the tank here at school plus I mainly set it up because I had everything but didn't really have an interest because I had my reef setup.



So over christmas break I'm taking the tank home and putting the remaining liverock and fish in my 150 gallon reef. I took the puffer home during thanksgiving and gave him to my dad. I wanted to put him in the reef but he had really big eyes for the few hermits I have in this 55g and I wanted to keep my reef clean up crew intact.

He looks soo tiny in his new home, the other fish dwarf him but he has tons of room to grow (96"x24"30" eek, this picture only shows about 1/3 of the tank). Everyone loves him, my dad gets a kick out of how I've conditioned him to the eye dropper for food. I have a lot of fun with him because he follows me as I walk around the tank lol. If he is at the far side near the overflow and if he sees me on the opposite side he swims over as fast as he can, it's awesome.

sorry to bring up this dead thread, but where did you get the stand? or did you build it?