My 58 Gallon LPS Dominant Tank

R

Robby2782

I told myself I wouldn't set up another reef until I had my own house.........I guess I ran out of patience! My initial plan was to set up a frag tank for my SPS in my other system, but I decided to utilize the used up space for other high end corals I don't have room for.

So far, I have a RR 58 gallon oceanic,mag 9.5, large PM calcium reactor, CO2 tank, milwaukee ph controller,regulator, and a cheap black stand and bulkhead kit purchased from DNA.

I ordered a C-Breeze Blower, 40 pounds of fiji pink arag alive, tubing for for plumbing, coarse ARM media, and 5 lbs of mineral mud from Marine Depot. I also ordered an SWC 120 Xtreme cone skimmer from TB Aquatics.

Once I have the tank full of water and salt mixed, I'll pick up 50 pounds of Walt Smith Ultra live rock from Rodney.

The only thing I'm contemplating is the type of lighting I'm going to use. My plan is to use 150 watt hqi or 175 watt mogul with 2 t5 HO's to supplement using ATI Blue Plus or the purple. It would be cheaper for me to use a 250 watt since I already have 2 extra ballast's, but I feel that's too much overkill and not necessary for what I'm keeping. I'm still exploring my options but the Hamilton Belize or Hamilton Mogul fixture seems ideal for what I'm looking for.

I'm going to attach pics of what I have so far and update each step I take.
 
I now have 3 separate orders being shipped! I just got through ordering the Digital Aquatics ReefKeeper Lite Controller kit with the monitor, 4 extra plugs, temp probe, and a few other things for $200 at Marine Depot. I was going to order the tsunami at1 and medusa temp controller, but the route is cheaper.
I'm going to see how I like this setup and possibly upgrade my 140 sps. Now I just need a nice lighting system and still can't decide. The only thing I'm sure of is I don't want LED's. They're still too new on the market for my liking.
 
Oh and I need an MP10 also. I think just 1 would be perfect for this set-up. I think this would be a good candidate for short pulse mode.

My other tank has 2 MP40's in reef crest mode on antisync on full blast.
 
Does anyone know what 175 watt mogul bulb is similar in spectrum to a phoenix 250 watt? I don't want 250's and want a 175 watt fixture. I posted on Reef Discussion for input and so far I'm deciding on either Ushio or Bluelife. I get my phoenix bulbs for 45 a piece from SOS lighting in garland. They also carry ushios.
 
Well I went ahead and installed the bulkheads tonight to give myself time for the silicon to dry. I don't know how may people do this, but I silicon the threads and gasket to prevent any leaks.
Tomorrow I will redo the plumbing to the sump using spa flex tubing and 1.25" PVC to thread over the bulkhead. I don't want to downsize the plumbing allowing as much water flow as possible.
 
I install my bulkheads dry, and havent had any issues with salt creep or leaks. If it works for you, then great, but it seems like it would make it difficult to replace if you ever needed to.
 
The hole on the .5" elbow on the third picture prevents the tank from siphoning into the sump if the power goes out. I made the mistake several years ago of not checking this and over flowed my sump.
 
I used to install them dry but I've had them come loose when pulling the pipe out to drain a fish into the sump. I'm over cautious now and replace everything every time I move. Unfortunately I've moved probably 6 times in the last 4 years. That's another thread in itself!
 
I just re plumbed the sump with spa flex. I had to down size from 1.24" to 1" tubing and used a screw on connection to allow for quick disconnect.
The micron bag looks a little makeshift, but I prefer them over the sock. This way all I have to do is rinse out the un-eaten food and detritus weekly before it starts to breakdown in the water column.
 
Well I just got finished pouring in the Coral life salt to mix a 33% full aquarium. I picked up an MP10 and have been filling up the tank as fast as the 50gpd RO unit would let me. Since I'm still healing from my spinal fusion, I'm having to syphon a gallon of water at a time into a pitcher to pour in the tank. So far everything is slowly coming together but I'm disappointed that the wet side of the vortech is louder than usual. I'm not sure why, but hopefully it will quiet down eventually.
 
Why pour into a pitcher? Put a hose on a maxijet and let the maxijet do the work. Or what I do is connect 20 feet of ro/di tubing that goes from my ro/di to my tank. When I am done just roll it up


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- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm not as well equipped unfortunately with a 2 bedroom apt and my jug fills up atop my washing machine. I understand it's being done in almost the least practical way. Thanks for the input.
 
So I accomplished a lot today. My first of three shipments came in today, I got my tank fill up, did a leak test in the overflow, hooked up my mag 9.5, and put my first two 20 pound bags of live sand in!

I'm talking to Marc about building me a 12 gallon kalk/top-off reservoir beside the tank between the dresser. Tomorrow I should have my skimmer and controller.
 
Here is an awesome picture taken with my iPhone 4! I bought my fiancee a Nikon D3100 for Christmas last year......maybe she'll take some coral pics in the future if I'm extra nice. Lol
 
I just wanted to add that my salinity is at 1.025 and I'm using Coralife Salt, and about 5 cups of Oceanic salt since I just ran out. The last salt study I read a couple of years ago seemed to favor Coralife over most of the popular salts except for a few foreign brands I don't know about.
 
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