55 Gallon Reef Tank build

[JohnnyDanger]

Welcome to my 55 gallon build!!

This system will include:

-55 gallon display tank
-20 gallon long sump (DIY)
-Full DIY stand and canopy
-Aqua Illumination Sol x2
-SWC Xtreme 120 Protein Skimmer
-Mag Drive 5 return pump @ 500 GPH
-Tunze Turbelle Nano Stream 6015 Powerhead x2
-Eshopps PF-800 HOB Overflow Box

Total price of all the above plus materials to make the stand and sump come out to 1,369$.. I've bought 100% of the system online spending hours shopping around to find the best deals. Everything is new in the box.

This is my first saltwater tank so I'm using information I've found online and also a lot of helpful tips from very experienced friends that are in this hobby. Until I can afford the Aqua Illumination Sols, I will be using a crappy Marineland 36'' Reef Capable fixture. It should be enough to get the tank cycled and ready to sustain corals. I will be updating this thread as much as I can. Please enjoy and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. I've been eating and breathing this stuff for the last few months and I love talking about it. Anyways, here we go!!

 

[spongeycrab]

This is going to be a nice set-up.

 

[JohnnyDanger]

The Tanks

I was looking on Craigslist for an aquarium I could use for a sump when my girlfriend came in the room with a flyer from Petco advertising a sale on fish aquariums. They were selling then for 1$ per gallon so I got in my truck and bought new 55 and 20 gallon long aquariums. Total price, 75$..


So I'm already ahead as far as money goes. I got the tanks home and I measured out the soon to be sump. I then went to home depot and bought 2 sheets on 1/4'' thick acrylic and a tube of GE Silicone 1, total price 38$. I made the baffles 11 6/8'' x 9'' and they fit perfectly. This was my first time using silicone so don't hate on the mess!


I tried making slots in the baffles with a router but I couldn't make them clean so I just used a drill and made holes that will work fine.


The first stage of my sump in 8.5'' long, the second stage is 14'' long and the final stage is 5'' long. I took the sump outside and tested it and everything worked fine, no leaks or bowing of the baffles. I highly recommend using the 1/4'' thick acrylic. Now that I have my sump ready, I can move to step 2, building a stand!! My good friend was also nice enough to give me his Marineland 36'' Reef capable fixture that I will be using just to set up the tank and cycle it.




Tonight I will start measuring and cutting wood for my stand. I'll update my build thread as soon as I can.. Thanks for following along and don't hesitate to ask any questions!!

 

[slwedge71]

Should be and interesting build

 

[little_fish]

Looks really great!!!

A word of caution though, a few people have had issues with the GE type 1 silicone, but others have not. It seems that if you wait 14 days before adding water, the issues were resolved. That allows it to totally cure, and what ever was causing the tanks to crash to fully leave the cured silicone

 

[JohnnyDanger]

I'm not setting up the tank for another month or two.. Thanks for the heads up though!

 

[JohnnyDanger]

The Stand

I went to the fish store with my dad and he took one look at the stands and said "No way!! We're making our own stand!" We decided to build a stand with dimensions that would support my 55 but also a 75, 90, and even a 100 gallon knowing that in the near future I will want to upgrade.. I'm telling you this thing is way overkill!! This stand could hold a 300 gallon tank no problem!! We made it deeper than we needed to so the bigger tanks would fit. We also made it higher than normal stands so the display tank is more towards our eye level (We're kind of a tall family). Making the stand taller also gave us alot more room inside where the sump will be.. We made it 38 inches tall and 20 inches deep with a support down the middle for a 55/75 gallon application. The 100 gallon application will rest on the rear 2x6.. We used 2x4's on the sides and 2x6's long ways down the front and back for legs to support the weight of the tank.. We used furniture grade plywood on the top to set the tank on with 3 supports underneath.. We also used the same plywood on the floor of the stand to set the sump and whatever else on.. We have to add 2x4's for trim along the top and bottom and we're in the process of making the doors now but here are a few shots of what we have so far..



Tank on the stand next to my dad.. He's 6'3..


Sump inside the stand..


Good shot of the meat holding everything up..


Cross members that will support the weight of the tanks..


Crazy thick furniture grade plywood that the tank will sit on..


Stand with the first coat of sealer applied as it sits now.. Still have to add the doors and 2x4's on the top and bottom for trim..


Thanks for following my build thread and feel free to ask any questions!!

 

[Kelz88]

Making your own stand ftw, i wouldnt trust those overpriced fiberboard stands long term anyways.

Stand looks great, just make sure you seal the inside too.

 

[cvcdrk]

That's a great looking stand!
Are you going to use a high-gloss top coat on the stain? I always think that looks better in a nice house.

Your tank is going to be really nice. Are you going to drill the tank or have a HOB overflow?

 

[JohnnyDanger]

Making your own stand ftw, i wouldnt trust those overpriced fiberboard stands long term anyways.

Exactly what we were thinking!! I'd rather not have my fish swimming around on the tile.. Plus it gave us something to do for a couple days :D.. And yes we will be applying a high gloss coat since most of the furniture in our house has that type of finish..

 

[little_fish]

Looks good!

 

[JohnnyDanger]

Stand Complete!!

Okay guys.. So I finally completed work on my stand, got it set up in the room and put the tank on it to make sure all is right in the world.. Here's how the whole setup looks!!







It looks small in these pictures but when your in the room it fills it up a lot more then it seems.. The tank looks huge against that wall and fits between the windows perfectly. I have Bahama shutters on the outside of those windows and they're open right now.. I'm sure most of you looking at the pictures thought about how the sunlight seeping through would effect things in the tank.. Well not to worry! Once I have water moving through there I'll go outside and close those shutters up so no sunlight gets in my system.. But as far as building the stand, everything went perfectly except the doors. I've never tried to make a set of doors and being my first try at it, they didn't come out exactly how I wanted them to.. The left side is a little crooked.. But once I have more motivation I plan on buying some unfinished doors from Lowes or The Home Depot and putting them on there.. For now these will do because I'm tired of playing with this stand..

Thanks for following my build thread and please feel free to ask me any questions..:Cheers:

 

[little_fish]

Looks great!! And the sunshine thing IMO is waaay overplayed. I think people have other issues and are blaming it on the sunlight. I wouldnt worry a thing about the windows and shutters

 

[JohnnyDanger]

Some Goodies


So today I went to my local fish store where I have some store credit and found these two guys on sale..



They're Hydor Koralia power head/wave makers rated at 550 GPH a piece.. I think two of them will be great in my 55 gallon setup!! I also ordered a few other goodies today online as well!!

Overflow Box S 600 GPH Aquarium Sump Wet Dry Pre-Filter 1" Bulkhead Coral Reef | eBay

Danner Mag-Drive Supreme 5 500 GPH Water Pump | eBay

I ordered that tubeless overflow box for 45$ and the Mag Drive for 70$.. I figure if I don't like that overflow since it's a no name, I'll just replace it.. 45$ is no biggie.. It looks like a nice box though and hopefully I wont have any trouble with it.. The Mag Drive 5 will be pushing around 350 GPH I figure with how high I will be pushing water.. I also purchased 3 filter socks from the store today as well.. So once I get all my parts in, I can add some sand and live rock and I'll start my cycle.. I'm so excited to get some water flowing here I can't wait!!

Thanks for following my build and thread please feel free to ask any questions!!

 

[little_fish]

Very cool! You are going to want some more flow though. What you have there will only get you to a turn over of 26x per hour and you really want to get closer to 40.

 

[moncapitane]

I have been told to get two of the 1050 from Hydor to help with the flow. I concur with little_fish.

 

[JohnnyDanger]

Oh wow I didn't realize I needed THAT much flow.. And here I thought I was going a bit overkill with 2x 550's haha.. Thanks for the advice!

 

[nickerber]

I have a 55 gal tank and had 2 550s. They did not have nearly enough flow.... I added a Vortec MP40w on one side and put the 2 550s on the other side. still not enough flow... so i put a marineland 900 and a 550 on one side... perfect. :)

 

[JohnnyDanger]

Yea man thanks for the information.. I brought back the 550's today and bought two 750's from an online store today along with a Mag Drive 7.. Total price, 133$ shipped.. I paid 127$ for just the two 550's at my local fish shop.. I'd much rather spend the money locally to support the shop, but you can't say no to those savings of going online..

 

[nickerber]

I feel guilty too... but my budget can't handle the LFS sometimes.