5.5 Gal with custom overflow/fuge built in.
- Thread starter ray j neal
- Start date
ray j neal
Member
The fuge is built in. The slots in the false wall are the overflow. That's how it gets there and a 102gph PH returns the water.
ray j neal
Member
Today I added one piece of frozen krill to the live rock in order to kick start the cycling process since I don't have any inhabitants in the tank atm. So many views, so little posts..
reef diver
Active Member
Originally Posted by Ray J Neal
Are you suggesting that I will not hold? I couldn't find anything to use other than GLASS silicone. Acrylic silicone wouldn't be any better as I don't have acrylic..what are your thoughts on this working?
Plexiglass IS Acrylic
Are you suggesting that I will not hold? I couldn't find anything to use other than GLASS silicone. Acrylic silicone wouldn't be any better as I don't have acrylic..what are your thoughts on this working?
Plexiglass IS Acrylic
ray j neal
Member
Originally Posted by kclester
very nice....are you planning on selling the coralife lights when you get your new ones. If so im interested in them
No sorry the lights are from my 10G. I only put the light on to get a decent picture. Thanks for checkin it out.
very nice....are you planning on selling the coralife lights when you get your new ones. If so im interested in them
No sorry the lights are from my 10G. I only put the light on to get a decent picture. Thanks for checkin it out.
ray j neal
Member
Originally Posted by Reef Diver
Plexiglass IS Acrylic
Diver, my question was is glass silicone wont bond the two, would acrylic silicone be any different? Part of the setup is glass, part is acrylic...see my point though?
Plexiglass IS Acrylic
Diver, my question was is glass silicone wont bond the two, would acrylic silicone be any different? Part of the setup is glass, part is acrylic...see my point though?
ray j neal
Member
I would like to add a clean-up crew once my trates become present and settle back down. It is my understanding to wait for a full cycle for anything but my LR. As far as the invert crew goes (NO FISH) I am thinking:
Emerald crab
Anenome crab
5+ hermits
Sally Lightfoot - I have one in a 10G reef, but I wonder if it would grow too big for a 5.5 (which has ovbiously been sectioned off).
I appreciate anyones input as I do not have a whole lot of experience with combinding inverts.
-Ray
Emerald crab
Anenome crab
5+ hermits
Sally Lightfoot - I have one in a 10G reef, but I wonder if it would grow too big for a 5.5 (which has ovbiously been sectioned off).
I appreciate anyones input as I do not have a whole lot of experience with combinding inverts.
-Ray
A
azul1994
Guest
Awesome setup, gonna look really great.
ray j neal
Member
I am waiting for the tank to cycle before I begin adding livestock ATM. Ammonia has spiked and settled back down so trates will be coming soon. In the mean time here it is with the ball of chaeto..
coral keeper
Active Member
Its looking good!! Keep up the good work!
ray j neal
Member
Today I added three medium size blue leg hermits, four smaller sized blue leg hermits and a porcelain crab. I will soon be buying an assortment of different size shells and five snails.
coral keeper
Active Member
Can you post a few update shots plz?
ray j neal
Member
Originally Posted by Coral Keeper
Can you post a few update shots plz?
Sure that would be no problem at all. Nothing has changed other than a nice piece of small rock from another tank of mine to kick of the coraline growth. Tank now has a large emerald, an anemone/porcelain crab, 7 hermits, and a turbo snail. I wan't to frag some of the coral from my other tank.
Can you post a few update shots plz?
Sure that would be no problem at all. Nothing has changed other than a nice piece of small rock from another tank of mine to kick of the coraline growth. Tank now has a large emerald, an anemone/porcelain crab, 7 hermits, and a turbo snail. I wan't to frag some of the coral from my other tank.
ray j neal
Member
Here you are RK. I will be placing frags from my other reef into this one when the tank is ready. I would like to know if you are up for doing a little trading possibly. I like some stuff that you have but I don't have a huge variety. I am always open to donations as well!
-Ray
new2salt1
Member
I LOVE D.I.Y. PROJECTS!! WOO HOO!!!
2 Questions:
#1 Why wait for the cycle? Why not use your other tank's water/sand/LR/carbon? Sure, you may have some limited die-off when you add new LR, but any ammonia spike would be limited. The reason I ask is I just started a 3 gal at my office. This is how I did it:
Day 1: I used one gal on new freskly mixed R.O. water, as well as 2 gallons of water from my reef at home, half of the activated carbon that was used in my overflow, a handful of the aragonite substrate, and a small piece of live rock. I also used some brand new live arag and activated carbon.
Day 2: Added 4# of uncured LR.
Day 5: Tested water, Amm 0, Trites 0, Trates - 15. SG was 1.025, even with a small evap. PH at 8.3-8.4.
Day 6: .5 gallon water change, half of which was newly mixed, the other half came from "parent tank."
Day 7: Added one Scarlet Hermit.
The hermit was fine for 3 days, and I have since been out of work for the New Year.
If my readings are ok tomorrow, I am going to add some premium, corraline covered LR, just like you are planning.
So, since it seems like we are thinking a lot alike here, Im just curious why you started with all new water, instead of shortening the cycle? I have always looked at this as a huge benefit of having a "parent tank"; any smaller tanks would require little/no cycle time.
#2 - How in the WORLD did you cut that plexi/acrylic? Most of the people here (Im willing to bet) have never tried to work with this stuff, cause if they HAD, they would have asked. I built a land area for my aquatic turtle that rests on top of a 55 gal (48") tank, and this is the WORST material to work with (in my opinion).
So please share.
Keep up the goods. I will be following this one.
2 Questions:
#1 Why wait for the cycle? Why not use your other tank's water/sand/LR/carbon? Sure, you may have some limited die-off when you add new LR, but any ammonia spike would be limited. The reason I ask is I just started a 3 gal at my office. This is how I did it:
Day 1: I used one gal on new freskly mixed R.O. water, as well as 2 gallons of water from my reef at home, half of the activated carbon that was used in my overflow, a handful of the aragonite substrate, and a small piece of live rock. I also used some brand new live arag and activated carbon.
Day 2: Added 4# of uncured LR.
Day 5: Tested water, Amm 0, Trites 0, Trates - 15. SG was 1.025, even with a small evap. PH at 8.3-8.4.
Day 6: .5 gallon water change, half of which was newly mixed, the other half came from "parent tank."
Day 7: Added one Scarlet Hermit.
The hermit was fine for 3 days, and I have since been out of work for the New Year.
If my readings are ok tomorrow, I am going to add some premium, corraline covered LR, just like you are planning.
So, since it seems like we are thinking a lot alike here, Im just curious why you started with all new water, instead of shortening the cycle? I have always looked at this as a huge benefit of having a "parent tank"; any smaller tanks would require little/no cycle time.
#2 - How in the WORLD did you cut that plexi/acrylic? Most of the people here (Im willing to bet) have never tried to work with this stuff, cause if they HAD, they would have asked. I built a land area for my aquatic turtle that rests on top of a 55 gal (48") tank, and this is the WORST material to work with (in my opinion).
So please share.
Keep up the goods. I will be following this one.
ray j neal
Member
Originally Posted by New2Salt1
I LOVE D.I.Y. PROJECTS!! WOO HOO!!!
2 Questions:
#1 Why wait for the cycle? Why not use your other tank's water/sand/LR/carbon? Sure, you may have some limited die-off when you add new LR, but any ammonia spike would be limited. The reason I ask is I just started a 3 gal at my office. This is how I did it:
Day 1: I used one gal on new freskly mixed R.O. water, as well as 2 gallons of water from my reef at home, half of the activated carbon that was used in my overflow, a handful of the aragonite substrate, and a small piece of live rock. I also used some brand new live arag and activated carbon.
Day 2: Added 4# of uncured LR.
Day 5: Tested water, Amm 0, Trites 0, Trates - 15. SG was 1.025, even with a small evap. PH at 8.3-8.4.
Day 6: .5 gallon water change, half of which was newly mixed, the other half came from "parent tank."
Day 7: Added one Scarlet Hermit.
The hermit was fine for 3 days, and I have since been out of work for the New Year.
If my readings are ok tomorrow, I am going to add some premium, corraline covered LR, just like you are planning.
So, since it seems like we are thinking a lot alike here, Im just curious why you started with all new water, instead of shortening the cycle? I have always looked at this as a huge benefit of having a "parent tank"; any smaller tanks would require little/no cycle time.
#2 - How in the WORLD did you cut that plexi/acrylic? Most of the people here (Im willing to bet) have never tried to work with this stuff, cause if they HAD, they would have asked. I built a land area for my aquatic turtle that rests on top of a 55 gal (48") tank, and this is the WORST material to work with (in my opinion).
So please share.
Keep up the goods. I will be following this one.
1- I didn't use water from my other tanks, however I did use four pounds of LR and a couple cups of substrate. I am still waiting to get a light for this tank so as far as using the water I really am in no rush for the cycle to happen.
2- I wasn't aware people didn't work with plexi/acrylic. As far as I know there have been quite a few (?) who have done something with it at one point. I found it to be quite easy for myself. Measure twice, cut once!
I LOVE D.I.Y. PROJECTS!! WOO HOO!!!
2 Questions:
#1 Why wait for the cycle? Why not use your other tank's water/sand/LR/carbon? Sure, you may have some limited die-off when you add new LR, but any ammonia spike would be limited. The reason I ask is I just started a 3 gal at my office. This is how I did it:
Day 1: I used one gal on new freskly mixed R.O. water, as well as 2 gallons of water from my reef at home, half of the activated carbon that was used in my overflow, a handful of the aragonite substrate, and a small piece of live rock. I also used some brand new live arag and activated carbon.
Day 2: Added 4# of uncured LR.
Day 5: Tested water, Amm 0, Trites 0, Trates - 15. SG was 1.025, even with a small evap. PH at 8.3-8.4.
Day 6: .5 gallon water change, half of which was newly mixed, the other half came from "parent tank."
Day 7: Added one Scarlet Hermit.
The hermit was fine for 3 days, and I have since been out of work for the New Year.
If my readings are ok tomorrow, I am going to add some premium, corraline covered LR, just like you are planning.
So, since it seems like we are thinking a lot alike here, Im just curious why you started with all new water, instead of shortening the cycle? I have always looked at this as a huge benefit of having a "parent tank"; any smaller tanks would require little/no cycle time.
#2 - How in the WORLD did you cut that plexi/acrylic? Most of the people here (Im willing to bet) have never tried to work with this stuff, cause if they HAD, they would have asked. I built a land area for my aquatic turtle that rests on top of a 55 gal (48") tank, and this is the WORST material to work with (in my opinion).
So please share.
Keep up the goods. I will be following this one.
1- I didn't use water from my other tanks, however I did use four pounds of LR and a couple cups of substrate. I am still waiting to get a light for this tank so as far as using the water I really am in no rush for the cycle to happen.
2- I wasn't aware people didn't work with plexi/acrylic. As far as I know there have been quite a few (?) who have done something with it at one point. I found it to be quite easy for myself. Measure twice, cut once!
ray j neal
Member
coral keeper
Active Member
Its looking good!