dubsmcfly Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 obviously this is my tank thread . Around a year ago i had a 30 breeder which was my way to relax and enjoy the sea. I live in upstate NY and go to Siena a small private college. I had an apartment with 3 others but recently moved out due to no heat in my room, no where to park (especially in the winter where i was afraid of getting tickets or my car hit by plows) and the worst the kitchen was disgusting with mice... bad roomies. I am back in with my mom and have decided to keep a 5.5g and i think of it as my new start...If you were following my other thread thank you for all your support and ideas. If you are new...i hope you enjoy List of supplies 5.5 aquia aquarium- $15 2 nano powerheads- $20 36 watt Coralife pc light- $50 50 watt heater - $0 from old 10g tank Acrylic- $16 Live sand- $8 Live Rock- $55 Thermometer- $8 Powerstrip/wavemaker- $30 LED- $20 Filter supplys- appx- $20 more to come....- Andrew Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 some pictures of the tank so far i still need to paint the back, sides as well as 2 inches on the front corners to cover the fuges. FTS: Top Down: Check out the water movement!!!! This is in the kitchen right now just to test the water but it will be in my room, i have to build my stand tomorrow. Link to comment
klarion Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Good Luck! Pic number 2 is cool. Is it of the salt mix diluting in water? Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Good Luck! Pic number 2 is cool. Is it of the salt mix diluting in water? Its just the surface agitation, its just freshwater to test the flow and for leaks! I see where you got confused because the lights on the side of the tank, it was for lighting. I forgot to add this tank will mostly be soft corals, with maybe 1 or 2 lps. Maybe a pair of gbg cause dianes are gerrrreaaatttttt! Link to comment
Sandeep Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Excellent variation dubsmcfly over the single refugium/sump concept. The tank certainly has plenty of room to support two. It will be interesting to see how you scape the tank & what you put in those refugiums/sumps. How tight a fit is it to get those pumps out for cleaning in your design? I've created a reference link to your tank from my growing 5.5g refugium thread so folks can check out your tank. Link to comment
NAL Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 That looks cool. Is that too much waterflow? I like the idea though, but how are you going to get those pumps out like someone else said? Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 the pumps are a pretty tight fit, i take out the attachment to get it out but its not too big of a deal. if the flow is too much i can adjust it with the gate valve. On one side i am going to put rubble and cheato on the other side, some filter media i am not sure yet though. Thanks for the link, your tank had some inspiration on mine. I am going to paint tonight or tom and work on the stand as well. Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 That's pretty neat. I'd like to see the stand. Can't wait to see the stand. I'll be following along! Link to comment
da1001 Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 That is an awesome setup, I have been wanting to try it too just because the 5.5 gallon tanks has a nice look to it. Hopefully you have some LR laying around so we can get some more cool pics. Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 da1001- i just went out today and picked up some lr slim pickings i bought one piece of 4 punds for like 36 bucks...8.50 a pound here in ny. Im mixing the water and warming it up. everything wil be in soon and ill take a pic. mathias999us- so i cut the wood for my stand and i wanted to tuck it in the corner but im a little worried about how stable it would be on its own. usually i would attach it to the wall but the mom doesnt want any holes in the wall....ill have to find a stand to use but its great your following along, sorry the owrks not as good as yours hahaha Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 Hey dub - Cool, post some pics of your stand. You'r worried that your stand is too tall and skinny to stand on its own without being anchored to the wall? If that's the case, one possibility is that you could use like 5 or 10 of those 3M Command Adhesive things just to anchor it to the wall at the top. I recently hung some stuff around the house with those, and they're DARN strong, and they don't leave any permanent holes in the wall at all. Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 set everything up, i need to go back next week once they get more lr in for another small piece because this one isnt doing it for me.... hahah hope you enjoy, and yes it is a ghetto stand, i think i could take out the two wood supports but i am just being cautious. close up of rock, lots of macro and the stand....bootleg i wasnt sure about painting the back because i never new if i would movethe tank so im going to get a black background Link to comment
c est ma Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Great start! Full of potential. And hey, I'd be thrilled if I could build a stand like that... Looks like you've got Halimeda, maybe some Caulerpa of some sort (?) and is that tall thing one of those so-called shaving-brush plants? Whatever, it looks like interesting rock! --Diane Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 That's cool. I really like the symetrical black masking on either side of the tank, and the double-sump idea is really slick! Perfect way to get a lot of flow, and also increase your space for sump equipment. What's that thing on the left side of the rocks sticking up, that looks kinda like a club or something? Did you end up anchoring that to the wall? Link to comment
spanko Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 What a great idea the two sumps is. Looking good. Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 Diane- I wish i could too! hahaha its from my old computer desk that doesn't fit in my room anymore, but i might use it anyway cause it doesn't look half bad except for the extra supports. I will most likely replace them with PVC painted black or silver to bring it all together. As for the macros, no idea hahaha my lfs lr usually comes packed with the stuff, when i had my first 10 gal it had dragons breath on it which was awesome but grew like crazy! i guess thats a good thing hahha. I also saw flame head gobys at my lfs yesterday and they were sweet! a little pricey though 39.99. Mathias- The flow is great!!... maybe a little to much as of right now, i might kick it down a notch so the corners stop losing the sand. This stand is pretty stable the one i was going to build fit the tank perfectly so thats why i was nervous, but im starting to like this one. As for the thing sticking up on the rock, some sort of macro algae, hopefully some good critters came on this rock. Spanko- Thanks, i did this because i did not want any dead spots in the tank which will save me alto of time and hassle later. As for updates the tank is running on the hot side as of right now, at 80 with lights off so i turned down the heater more. Wednesday i will got back to the lfs to see new rock. Right now in both my chambers i have just straight up filter to collect debris, anybody suggest anything else or switch it out everyotherday? Thanks for looking! When should i check my water params as well? i was thinking i would be adding a new rock wen so its not even worth it besides the ph. Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Hmm, what's the temp with lights-on? I bet you're going to need a fan and an ATO... especially when the summer comes. I love tanks that have macro in the display like that - I think it contrasts very nice with coral. Good job! Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 so last night i realized that there was no surface skimming going on, so today i had to empty half the tank then cut some acrylic and glue it in order to fix this updates wen with new rock. i also fixed the temperature problem and tank stays at 78 with lights on and off... also when i was emptying the tank saw some pods flying around in the sump. Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 so i went out and bout another 2 punds of rock and as i was doing so the girl said it was cured already i wanted uncured hahaha but i am still going to let it sit for 3 weeks because there still has to be some die off. here is the new rock once again with lots of macros Anybody know what the heck this is hahaha? i like the look alot better now, more filled in and more astetic. still need to turn the flow down a little i think. Saw a GBG at the lfs today so small and so cool, cant wait!-Andrew Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Hey dub, Lookin' good. You sure do have a mit fulla macro in there! What did you do to fix the temp problem? Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 adjust the heater hahahaha the settings on it were incorrect easy fix! but i do want a small fan for summer sbut they are pretty pricy just for a fan. Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I got my fans for $4.99 each at Northern Tools, and just cut up a power adapter from something else (wall-wart?) for the power supply. Easy. Just find one between 6-12VDC output, current/amperage doesn't matter for this. Any computer parts store should have waffle/pancake fans like this for cheap. It will increase evap though, so that's when the ATO is really handy. You can DIY an electric ATO for less than $20.... Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 so i tested my water today because the lfs told me that the lr was cured... these are my readings ph-8.0 ammonia-2.5 nitrate-2.5 nitrite-0.1 alk- 1.7-2.8 normal Link to comment
mathias999us Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I think you basically go through a cycle no matter what. Stuff still dies on the rock when you transport it from the LFS to home, and arrange it, etc. I think the only exception to this is if you have rock in an established tank in your home or nearby, and you quickly transfer it, you sometimes can skate by without a cycle. Looks like you're still early on in your cycle with high ammonia still. Link to comment
dubsmcfly Posted January 13, 2008 Author Share Posted January 13, 2008 both my pumps stopped working sooooooo thats good... dont really know what to do at the moment... Link to comment
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