Newb_reefer1 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Hello all, I am almost at the point of starting up a 50g starfire rimless cube as an sps tank. I am still in the process of buying all my equipment, however I will be getting my tank within the next few days and figured I might as well start the build thread a little early ! List of the items in my build below ! tank - 50g starfire rimless cube w/ center overflow stand -cad lights equipment - bubble Magnus curve 7 skimmer - JBJ ATO - AA custom 3 chamber sump - 2 BRS media reactors, GFO & Carbon w/ maxi jet 900/1200 - 250w MH fixture w/ 14k bulb ( don't remember ) livestock - 50lbs dry key largo macro rock - 45lbs of Fiji pink live sand - not sure on my stocking plans for fish yet but I'm thinking a designer pair of clowns, trio of cromis/anthias, some type of tang, and maybe one or two other small fish depends.... I plan on getting the tank this weekend finding some sand then start setting it up ! This tank is going to be set up as an sps reef ! Keep in mind this is my first attempt keeping sps.... Gonna need some help from some of the seasoned reefers along my build and all advice is appreciated ! Here's a few Pics to keep everyone entertained until I get the tank and update the build ! Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 19, 2013 Author Share Posted July 19, 2013 Stay tuned for a pic update this weekend to show the rest of the equipment, tank, stand, sump and lighting ! brainstorming aqua scraping ideas right now, ill post up some pics of the scapes I make, but for now here's a pic of my selection Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Got the tank and the rest of my equipment in today ? huge picture update, enjoy Equipment group pic : Tank: Stand: Sump: Bubble Magnus curve 7: this skimmer is huge ! J.B.J ATO: MH light: Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Here's the tank in its final placement Cleaning the coraline off the overflow Lets get sandy !! 45lbs of Fiji pink: Link to comment
FishBrawler Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Looks like I will be following this! Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 So yesterday the tank arrived and I was really excited ! I got the tank and stand into place and put in the sand I had, but now comes the real fun ! Getting everything into the sump, I had a problem with the skimmer it was too big to fit in the chamber So after a good 10 mins of trying to get it to fit I came to the conclusion id need to remove the baffle for it to fit, I looked at the sump to make sure I wouldnt mess with the integrity of the sump where I wanted to remove the baffle and I was good to go. I then cut the left vertical & horizontal baffles to make room for the skimmer, and it turned out good. After getting the baffles taken out and putting the skimmer in its place I started to fill up the sump with the rest of my equipment the overflow side I decided to have a filter sock, then both my reactors. 1 GFO/ 1 Carbon, it was a fairly tight squeeze but I made sure to leave enough room for the pumps to get water and not get clogged up. Carbon is at the top GFO at the bottom... Probobly should put them the other way since I need to change out carbon more often..... Well see. Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 After I got my equipment in, I decided to do the plumbing. This is my first time ever using a sump and I didn't really know how to plumb it or anything.... But I think I did pretty good, right is the overflow and the left is the return. Here's what my sump looks like with the skimmer, return pump, reactors inside of it. I still need to add my ATO & refugium but I'll save that for another day. Next up was hanging the MH. This was a pain in the ass because the original owner wrapped the cords around the tank mount making it pretty much impossible to get it all behind the tank and onto the mount right, even after I mounted the light it's still bugging me because it leans to the right and I don't know how to fix it :'( Link to comment
ihatesears18 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 with your skimmer in your return section you might end up with a crazy amount of micro bubbles in your display Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 with your skimmer in your return section you might end up with a crazy amount of micro bubbles in your display Hmm didn't even cross my mind. I can always make a bubble trap I have 2 left over pieces of glass that were from the original baffles and if I were to cut the bigger one in half I could make 2 bubble traps with a total of 3 pieces to eliminate the micro bubbles, if I get micro bubbles ill do that. Thanks for the heads up aquascaping time ! Ill post a pic of my final result Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 Aquascaping is done ! I tried to make a lot of open space for coral placement and growth, let me know if you guys would change or add anything to it. Only thing to do now is get the tank wet ! Link to comment
Lalani Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Love that scape, its going to work really well for you! Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 25, 2013 Author Share Posted July 25, 2013 Love that scape, its going to work really well for you! Thanks I really like how it ended up cant wait to see it stocked and watch the corals grow Link to comment
tennis20 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Where'd you get the rock from? Link to comment
Egginis Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 The aqua scape is great. Really like the multiple levels and upper/lower caves. Looks like a pretty extensive equipment setup. Looking forward to seeing how it comes together. Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 25, 2013 Author Share Posted July 25, 2013 Where'd you get the rock from?I got it from another reefer who bought it from http://www.marcorocks.com/50poundboxkeylargorockfreeshippinginthecontinentalus.aspx & http://www.marcorocks.com/keylargoshelf.aspx, I bought 50lbs of the key largo, and 20ish of the key largo shelf. I put about 35-40lbs of the key largo & 15-20lbs of the key largo shelf rock. The aqua scape is great. Really like the multiple levels and upper/lower caves. Looks like a pretty extensive equipment setup. Looking forward to seeing how it comes together. Thanks I thought the multi tiered shelfs were a must have to place and allow my sps to get maximum water flow and light to get the best color and growth I could get. Ill take a pic of the under/inside of the rock work, I made lots of caves and overpasses to keep my fish happy & healthy and to let water flow all throughout the rock work so I wouldn't get any dead spots. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 the #### is up with your wall? Link to comment
frags Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 looks nice!!! make sure you wait for your rodi! Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 25, 2013 Author Share Posted July 25, 2013 looks nice!!! make sure you wait for your rodi! I was thinking about getting a whole new RO/DI for just my tank but I didn't really want to spend 150ish.... So instead I got a TDS meter and tested the water coming out from my houses RO units water and it read 5, which is close enough to 0 for me to not spend the 150$ on a new unit. However before I put the water into my tank I'm going to test it for phosphates and nitrates, if it turns out that I need the RO/DI unit ill get one but if RO only water comes out good on the tests then ill just use that and use the money I would have spent on the RO/DI to get some livestock. Oh and I have a brand new bottle of prime from seachem that I will be treating all the water going into the tank with Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 the #### is up with your wall? What's wrong with it ? Link to comment
justin carnecchia Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Sweet set up, I'm enjoying seeing this come together. Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 Sweet set up, I'm enjoying seeing this come together. As am I ! Picking up some salt today when I get home it's on !!! I have 15g of water waiting so I'm gonna mix that up put it in the tank then wait and full up my jugs again with RO water treat it with the prime then get mix it with salt, I'll repeat that a few times until I have all the water to fill up my tank ! Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted August 3, 2013 Author Share Posted August 3, 2013 Well sorry for not updating the build process, I've been really busy lately. I'm going to see pacific rim right now but I've got my water and salt waiting at home when I get back ! I will be filling the tank when I get home so stay tuned !! Link to comment
Newb_reefer1 Posted August 3, 2013 Author Share Posted August 3, 2013 For the salt mix I picked up 2 50g jugs of kent marine reef salt Measuring out the salt for 5g of water. Only have 3 5g jugs so I will be repeating this process a lot until I fill up the whole tank Tank is wet !!! First 5g headed into the tank via maxijet 900 3/4 the way filled Link to comment
Egginis Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Looking good! Keep the updates coming. Link to comment
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