Nanomaniac Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Well I decided to set up a 55 gallon FOWLR using a spare 55 gallon I had in my garage. The tank will be a FOWLR to begin with, but in the future I will upgrade the lighting and turn the tank into a reef tank. Shall we begin? Epuipment 55 gallon All-Glass tank(48"Lx13"Wx20"H) Wood stand Aquaclear 110 Remora protein skimmer 3 Maxijet 1200's Current satellite 2x65watt Power Compact light system 1 100watt All-Glass heater 30lbs of base rock from hirocks.com 5lbs of live rock 40lbs of white sand Livestock Fish 1-2 False Perculas 3 Blue/Green Reef Chromis 1 Royal Gramma 1 Sixe Line Wrasse or 1 Carpenters Flasher Wrasse 1 Blenny, but not sure which one yet Inverts 1 Skunk Cleaner shrimp Margarita snails, Nassarius snails, and Hermits Empty tank on stand I have already ordered the Filter, Skimmer, Powerheads, and the Light that should be here in the next few days. Well that is it. All comments and suggestions are always welcomed. Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Sounds like a good plan! Ever consider drilling your tank? Even if you are doing FOWLR adding a sump will increase your water volume and keep more fish in your display. Also, once it is set-up you may wish you did it when you had a chance. At least thats what somebody told me You also might want to add some more live rock to your display - maybe bump it up to 50lbs rock total? Because 55's are so narrow and tall, you may want to consider using some sort of pvc skeleton or acrylic support structure. That way you can have a useable sandbed in the front. Keep the pics coming! Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 3, 2006 Author Share Posted January 3, 2006 Ever consider drilling your tank? Even if you are doing FOWLR adding a sump will increase your water volume and keep more fish in your display. Also, once it is set-up you may wish you did it when you had a chance. At least thats what somebody told me Well I don't have the right equipment, and I don't have any experience drilling glass, so I didn't want fo crack the glass. You also might want to add some more live rock to your display - maybe bump it up to 50lbs rock total? Because 55's are so narrow and tall, you may want to consider using some sort of pvc skeleton or acrylic support structure. That way you can have a useable sandbed in the front. Well at first I was going to set this tank up as a FO, but then I thought why not add some live rock, so I was just going to add about 5lbs on top of the 30lbs of base rock, but I may add more live rock. Here is a picture of the tank with the black background on it. Link to comment
Llamaguy Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 if you want to drill it, get a diamond coated etching/engraving dremil tool bit for under $10 at lowes. I used this on a new 10g and it worked like a charm. Not the prettiest hole, but that is my poor artistic ability. All you have to do it keep going around in circles until it pokes through. As long as it isn't tempered you should be able to, just buy a cheap tank (10g >$10) and practice. And if you do it right, you can still use the small tank as a sump. Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Hey Nanomaniac, Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread w/ a tank drilling discussion, but it really is a simple thing to do. I used some diamond coated hole saw bits from e-bay and a cordless drill. Worked like a charm. If you happen to live in my neighborhood (Irvine, CA) I would be more than happy to help.. One more thing, and please forgive me if I am being critical. You may want to consider ditching the black background and painting the back with Krylon Fusion paint (product placement). It is really simple to do and eliminates problems with the background (like water and salt creep getting between the background and the tank). I have some extra paint laying around, so I can help you with that too. Your tank looks like its off to a great start! Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 3, 2006 Author Share Posted January 3, 2006 Hey NaughtyCashew, How much did you pay for the diamond coated hole saw bits? Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 3, 2006 Author Share Posted January 3, 2006 is this the drill bit I need? http://cgi.ebay.com/45mm-Diamond-coated-dr...bayphotohosting Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Yeah, those are the ones I used. There is also an excellent thread on Reef Central about how to drill them. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...threadid=603816 Good Luck! Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 3, 2006 Author Share Posted January 3, 2006 One more thing, and please forgive me if I am being critical. You may want to consider ditching the black background and painting the back with Krylon Fusion paint (product placement). It is really simple to do and eliminates problems with the background (like water and salt creep getting between the background and the tank). I have some extra paint laying around, so I can help you with that too. Yeah I painted the back of my 2.5 gallon using Krylon Fusion paint. Attaching the background on the 55 gallon took awhile, and it looks okay but I know it will look better painted, so I will probably go ahead and paint the back. Your not hijacking my thread your trying to help and give your opinions. When I first decided to set up this tank up it was just going to be a FO with no live rock and the tank was going to be mainly just to keep fish, so I am going to go with my original plan using a Remora skimmer and a Aquaclear 110 as my filtration. Also if you want to drive up to Minnesota to help me drill a tank sometime then feel free to. Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 4, 2006 Author Share Posted January 4, 2006 I painted the back of the tank today which looks alot better than the background. I also received the Remora and three Maxijets today. The light, filter, and last Maxijet should be delivered tomorrow. Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 6, 2006 Author Share Posted January 6, 2006 Update: I picked up all the RO water, filled the tank, turned on all the equipment, and added the salt. I will add the sand once the salt is all dissolved. I'll post pictures tomorrow. Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 Pictures Added the water and the salt Water started to clear up Side shot Added the sand Moonlights The powerheads are creating great flow throughout the tank and the light makes the tank nice and bright. I will post a better full tank shot once the water is completely clear. Link to comment
Bill Gibbs Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 I'm taking notes because I too have a spare 55 (except it's sitting on my bedroom floor) How many coats of Fusion did it take? I didn't realize it could adhere to glass. I used it on an acrylic 50g once and that worked well (which is now sitting behind my couch) Bill Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 10, 2006 Author Share Posted January 10, 2006 How many coats of Fusion did it take? About seven coats. If you have anymore questions just ask. Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 14, 2006 Author Share Posted January 14, 2006 I ordered 30lbs of base rock from Hirocks that should be here sometime next week. I also added 2lbs of live rock to the tank. I will post more pictures next week. Link to comment
NaughtyCashew Posted January 15, 2006 Share Posted January 15, 2006 Glad you decided to paint the back! That looks like a nice setup. Post some pics once you get the live rock in.. Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 15, 2006 Author Share Posted January 15, 2006 Here is a new full tank shot. Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 17, 2006 Author Share Posted January 17, 2006 Update: The protein skimmer is starting to skim and isn't producing as many micro bubbles as before. The base rock should be here in the next few days. I will take pictures once the rock is delivered. Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted January 22, 2006 Author Share Posted January 22, 2006 The base rock is scheduled for delivery on the 26th. Link to comment
zeuss zoso Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 how long did it take for your water to clear up after you added sand? i just put sand and lr in my 60g and it has been 24 hours and it is still pretty cloudy, i think when i poured the sand it screwed it up..any suggestions.. thanks Link to comment
flick Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 This is going to be a G R E A T tank nanomaniac! One question....how do u like ur satellite? I am thinking om going to get the 30" model for my future 29gallon....with one fan, two 65w bulbs, and one lunar light...all for only $171.20 SHIPPED!!!....AMAZING EH???..lol thx Flick Link to comment
flick Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 ps- I LOVE your tank...btw i think a nice royal blue background would make it stand out even more!...and would accent your future fish and corals brilliant hues... Flick Link to comment
Nanomaniac Posted February 6, 2006 Author Share Posted February 6, 2006 how long did it take for your water to clear up after you added sand?i just put sand and lr in my 60g and it has been 24 hours and it is still pretty cloudy, i think when i poured the sand it screwed it up..any suggestions.. thanks About a day. I rinsed the sand in a 5g bucket before I put the sand in the tank. This is going to be a G R E A T tank nanomaniac! One question....how do u like ur satellite? I am thinking om going to get the 30" model for my future 29gallon....with one fan, two 65w bulbs, and one lunar light...all for only $171.20 SHIPPED!!!....AMAZING EH???..lol thx Flick I'm pretty happy with it. Great quality, fixture looks great, and I love the white moonlights. Link to comment
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