55 gallon journal (arent I original???)

[sk8shorty01]

Hey all,
I am new to the SW world. I would love to hear some advice from some of the "expert" (well more so then me haha) SW enthusiasts. I have had two small FW tanks for about 2 years (both nano, one 2g and one 5g) so this is a big difference for me. I bought the tank on Thursday, May 24. The tank is cycling now, although I did buy the tank used which it had been running for a year prior to my owning. Take a look at a few of the pictures of my aquascaping so far and let me know if there is anything obvious that you see that I might need to fix or add to the tank. I will be building a new stand and a custom sump/refuge here shortly so that is already on the mod list. Thanks for any critisim or compliments you might have for my early stages setup.

 

[gr33nday43]

Hello! I believe your tank aquascaping looks just fine. Nice work!

 

[triga22]

Looks great! If that is Crushed Coral get rid of it now. You want sand, the cc will fill up with gunk and cause trates. I had it in my folwr, not good.

 

[rebelprettyboy]

yeah i would get rid of the cc...
and the aquascaping looks pretty good.. are u sure everything is stable? some crabs will climb and knock things over so just make sure... but i like it

 

[sk8shorty01]

Triga- Its not CC, it is live sand, just looks that way I guess because of the quality of the picture. Im not sure why it did that. The sand was also in the tank when I bought it (it was set up for about 2 years) so there are also some pieces of live rock in it (little fragments and such) but overall it is pretty fine stuff.
Rebel- Everything is pretty stable, it all overhangs quite a bit onto the other "post" LR so that holds it pretty well.
Thanks for the comments.

 

[sk8shorty01]

I forgot to mention all the goodies that run this tank on a daily basis:
2 x Emperor 400 Power Filters
1 x Powerhead (unsure of brand)
1 x Power Sweep 212 Powerhead
48" 55w Coral Life Bulb
65 lbs of Live Rock
60 lbs of Live Sand
I was just given a 12g tank from my aunt that will become the sump/refuge here shortly. I am building a new stand and the refuge at the same time, and during the water change I plan on moving the tank onto the stand.

 

[prevwon]

Everything looks good, except for that stand...You really need to start building your new one because that one looks like it is about to give way.

 

[sk8shorty01]

Yeah the guy that owned it before me built the stand out of particle board (not sure why) so that is the first thing on my list. I actually drew up a design on Bentley Architecture and will be getting my cut list all squared away here shortly... Thanks for the input guys!

 

[sk8shorty01]

Anything I should add to the tank that does not have to do with the aquascaping? I have been looking and researching as much as possible. I was thinking about getting the ASM mini G skimmer when I set up the refuge/sump. Does this sound like a good idea or would it be better (for my small setup) to go with a hang on?

 

[jennythebugg]

i love the color on your lr

 

[darthsimon]

My tank

 

[ghettotang]

your tank set up looks good, but the only problem is you should not have set up the tank yet without the new stand because you might have hard time moving. You need to drain the water out, remove the live rock so that is not heavy to carry IMOP. Also I wouldn't add any live stock yet even if the cycle is complete without the new stand because you don't want to stress the live stock when you move the tank.
Again nice tank and all the thing I said is just my own opinion.
Good luck

Jay

 

[sk8shorty01]

Thanks a lot for all of the opinions and I will take them all into consideration. I bought a 60g trash can (brand new from HD) and it is in the process of being washed out. I decided that when I do my water change (25%) I will get as much water out as possible and send it into the garbage can for holding while I move the tank. I do have a damsel in the tank right now as it came with the tank, but I have a few bags I can transfer him to while I move the tank. I know this while stress him out a little bit but now I am kind of stuck doing it this way. I was thinking about the possibility of sticking him in the can as well, would this work? Just wondering as he would only be in there long enough for me to move the tank from stand "A" to stand "B". I have designed the entire thing and will be moving the tank here in the next couple weeks. I plan on getting the wood this weekend so thats a start. Thanks everyone and keep the opinions and advise coming because I could really use it. This is my first SW and I would be lost without you guys, and also without this site!!!!

 

[sk8shorty01]

Originally Posted by GhettoTang
your tank set up looks good, but the only problem is you should not have set up the tank yet without the new stand because you might have hard time moving. You need to drain the water out, remove the live rock so that is not heavy to carry IMOP. Also I wouldn't add any live stock yet even if the cycle is complete without the new stand because you don't want to stress the live stock when you move the tank.
Again nice tank and all the thing I said is just my own opinion.
Good luck

Jay
Also I forgot to mention. When I bought the tank it came with the LR and live sand so if I didnt set the tank up, the rock and sand would have been DEAD rock and sand haha. I bought it used from a private seller about 2 hours from my house so this was my best option at the time. Thanks everyone

 

[sk8shorty01]

I have a few fish in the tank now!! Its turning out really nice. I got 15lbs more of LR and have started to clean up my sand a little bit. There was a lot of pieces of LR in it so I took some of them out. Here is a few pics of my fish. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I know the Tang will not like the 55g tank, he/she is a rescue from someone that had a tank leak and needed to get rid of it ASAP. I have a 110g sitting in my garage that I will be setting up shortly when I get more comfortable working with the SW tanks.

 

[vicegrip]

Like I said think your rock work looks great.
If you feel you are missing somthing try a black background.
looking good,
Vicegrip

 

[sk8shorty01]

Thanks for the kind words. I am trying to figure out exactly how I want my rock set up. I changed it a few times to try and get it to something that I like, but am still without any luck. I did create a cave on the left side but its not quite "perfect". What do you all use to make the back side of your caves? Small LR or large pieces. I have a lot of really small pieces and a few really large pieces but not much in between so that is where I lack. Overall I am enjoying the tank and will continue to change the rocks around every now and then until I get something that I like. I leave them for a couple of weeks each time I change them, that way I dont over-stress the fish in the tank. Is this a good idea or am I just taking an extra precaution? Thanks!