DWOlson's Rebuild of the 50 gal(now 90 gal)

Well, at the request of another member here, I am putting up my tank build. I was originally going to wait until the tank was set up in its entirety before putting my build thread together, but here goes.
The end result will be a 50 gal Rimless starfire display, draining through wall into a 55 gal sump, with a 8 gal frag tank, and a 20 gal ATO.  The 55 gal will have a Very large Fuge, part of the reason for buying the tank.
Equipment list right now is
Radion Light(display)
Apex(full) for control, with  DC8, EB8, BOB, WXM
MP10WES
Tunze and Eheim pump for water movement from tank to tank
Bubble Magnus NAC6 Skimmer
BRS carbon/gfo reactor
BRS dosing pump, running Kalk, separate from the ATO so I can control how much kalk I am putting in the tank.
2 heaters
OK, so on to the pictures:
The first week and a half after the move the tank was set up like this in a 55 gal drum:


The hole in the tank lines up with the one in the wall:

What the hole looks like without the tank in front of it:

Some of the wiring and one pipe running in, I still have to get the rest of them run:

All of the electrical is mounted to the wall inside the fish closet, but I don’t have a picture of that right this second. More to come on that.

As the tank sits right now, it’s only about 70-80% full. I am going to top it off and run the sump that came with the tank for the next few weeks while I wait for the baffles for my sump. I was going to order them yesterday, but my Mom works for a guy who has sheets of plastic, so I am going to try and get them from her, but she doesn’t go in until Wednesday.  I’m putting the skimmer in the sump and running that so I have some sort of filtration until I finish the sump and plumbing.

coming along nicely. keep us posted.

Update:
Called my Mom, the company she works for is going to make me the baffles out of their "scrap" plastic. They should be ready by the end of the week, then I will be back next week to hopefully install them.
So until I get the baffles in, I am running it with the cadlights sump for the time being:

Played with some of the corals and the aquascape:


My heater burned out(the one on the right, look at the coil), so I am working with eheim to get a new one:

Redid the RODI/water change station, although its not pictured, I did cut all the hoses to length. Also, the RO feeds my fridge, hence the tank.

The "fish room"


Also, not pictured. but I connected the 20 gal tank to my ATO, and added the dosing pump.I'll get a picture later. I still need to finish mounting everything to the black board.

Looks good! Are you planning to add sand?

I'm still on the fence. The egg crate will get coraline on it, and the corals will eventually cover it, but I do like the near bare bottom. Also I added a very small yellow tang. From what I've read, I'll be able to keep him a year or year and a half, then the tank will be to small. I've read they are healthier in high flow, so the bare bottom is good for that, since I won't have sand stir up.

why not take the egg crate out then?

What is that black board made of?

sisterlimonpot wrote:why not take the egg crate out then?

What is that black board made of?

I don't want the rock scratching the glass. Also, if I do put sand in there, the egg crate should help keep the sand more .... um... not showing glass. Liking for the right word.

The board is just partical board that's sealed up. Water/humidity shouldn't be an issue, my cadlights stand is made the same way and is fine.

If I do run into problems, I'll replace the board.

The reason why I asked is because it looks laminated. Is it just painted black?

I don't think its laminated I think its a thicker coat of paint. I'll have to look though.

Def the egg crate looks outta place

So I am finally getting around to updating my build. After I got the 50 nearly all set up, my wife gave me the green light to buy a bigger tank, partly because she wanted at least one tang and that was a no go in a 50 gal.
Upgraded my RO to a dual membrane setup:

On which I am pulling nearly 90PSI!!

First I moved the 50 over(drained about half the water first)


Filled the First half of the tank with saltwater from my mixing barrel

Then moved everything over after it was filled up(the process of filling it up, then running it by itself was also in there)


The fish closet went something like this:
Empty 55 gal tank, and some of the equipment mounted on a board, which was mounted on the wall:

Add some plumbing:

And the skimmer, reactor, and dosing pumps:

A picture of the skimmer(my Christmas present) while I had it on the 50(waiting to set up the 90 at the time)

And of course my helper checking out the local fish store:

Here is a few pictures of stuff when I first got it. It was delayed a day because the shipper crushed the box, bursting a plastic bag, leaking saltwater. So the pilot didn’t want to fly with a leaking box:




Frogspawn:
Arrived(September 8th)

Now:

Hammer and Duncan:
Arrived(September 8th)

Now:


Arrived:

Now:

Here is a current picture of one of the other corals in my tank

As it sits right now.
90 Main plumbed through the wall to a 55 gal DIY sump. 4 BRS dosers, only one used right now(Kalk), DIY ATO through APEX, 2 Radions-2: Gen 1’s-One with the TIR wide angle lens, 3 MP10WES, Eheim 1260(1262 volute on the shelf) throttled back for sending water to the fuge and ractor, Eheim Return pump, 2- 100w eheim heaters, Aquamaxx Cone 2 skimmer, 2 fish-Clown and a Blue Chromis, and 20 gal ATO reservoir with a direct line from the RODI-with an electrically controlled valve and mechanical valve as failsafes.
Plans/Stuff yet to do:
I have an EB4 on the way, and will start vodka dosing, and 2 part dosing. I am going to switch out the volute on my eheim and make it into a 1262, and drive my reactor, return, and fuge. I am thinking about replacing it all together with a DC pump instead. I am also going to order a cleanup crew for the new tank.
Eventually I will also buy a neck cleaner for the skimmer and buy window tint for the back wall(as I didn’t paint the tank) I didn’t paint the tank because the wife said it was fine with a clear background, then later said she wanted it blacked out. I have heard of using tint before, so I am going to go down that road. I only have to pull the back wall mp 10 off. I also need to program my apex for the solenoid on the ATO. It will be programmed to come on once a week for just enough time to fill the ato reservoir. This should prevent it from overfilling if the mechanical float valve breaks. I also intend to put a electronic float switch in the ato reservoir to cut power to the solenoid. Maybe also one to signal its empty. Also kicking around putting one in the skimmer lid so I know if it is overfull. Well that’s it for now. I will put up more pictures down the road.

So recap, went from the 50(apartment) to the barrel to the 50 to the 90 in about 4 Months. I am ready to stop moving tanks!!!

You're going to outgrow that 90 in 4 months and be ready to upgrade to 120.

Seriously though how do you like the wide angle lenses?

I like the wide angle lens. I am going to have to order a set for my other radion. They look more like t5's with a little shimmer rather than traditional LED's though(which I like). I was going to buy a 120 or 125 originally, but Jen wanted a tank no longer than 5 feet and no deeper than 18", with a taller tank preferred. I contemplated a 110, but they aren't very easy to come by. I am pretty happy with the tank size though. I really did want a 120, but if my wife is going to be more happy with this, I am fine with it.