My First Attempt At The Salty Side! 55Cm Cube

[Ryandsimmons]

So I have taken the plunge and am trying a project that I have dreamed of for years, my own marine tank.

To start with I have bought an Aquience 550 Cube. A 55cm cube tank, along with a sump.

Tank is:
55x55x55 - 165 litres

Sump is 40x40x40 cm - 60 litres.
Sump is split into three, water enters into one area that is 1/4 of the sump. It flows into a larger section that takes up half the space, then back into another quarter.

Lighting:
I have bought a 150w Metal Halide, An Arcadia that can just sit flat on the top of the tank, it also has two small blue LED lights. HOWEVER I didn't realise when I bought the setup (i picked up light before tank) that the tank has a brace, clear plastic, running across the middle which will obstruct some light.

I have drilled the tank myself. 2 holes, in the back, both 10cm from the top, 10cm from the sides, 30mm holes. I have installed bulkheads in, siliconed them and now have two 2mm pipes running from these holes to the sump.

And that is it so far!

I need to buy a pump next, (I think a Eheim 1000 will do the job) to get water from the sump to the tank. I think I may need to create little weirs as well around the tank holes.

Tank:

Photo029 by Ryan Simmons, on Flickr

Pipes in the back:

Photo030 by Ryan Simmons, on Flickr

Holes I drilled, with bulkheads:

Photo031 by Ryan Simmons, on Flickr

Sump:

Photo032 by Ryan Simmons, on Flickr

 

[sorgan]

i am watching with intrest, any idea what you want to stock?

 

[Ryandsimmons]

To be honest I am not sure. Definitely corals of some sort, and a nice assortment of critters (I love shrimp, crabs etc.) My wife will likely divorce me if I don't at least have clown fish and possibly an anenome though. ;-)

As it stands I am overwhelmed by it all so am doing it step by step. Lighting is sorted, so I am working on plumbing now. I think I will:

Build two small weirs (10cm x 10cm) around the tank holes.
Get a Eheim 1000 return pump. (Will give a 3.5x total tank volume turnover per hour, around 8x sump turnover an hour.)
V3 Protein skimmer.
2 small powerheads in the tank (rather than 1 strong)

After that I will start to look at sump options. I like the sound of a refugium.

 

[seffieuk]

to the salty side - I like the tank, alot watching with interest

Seffie x

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Cheers.

Also I should mention I am doing it all budget and second hand as much as possible.

So far:

Tank plus stand £30
Sump: £40
Drill bit: £20
Pipework: £20
Metal Halide Lighting: £80
Refractometer: £15

I know that once the tank is running my credit card will cry, so until then I am taking it very slow and steady.

 

[bae1994]

Also watching with interest nice tank

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Sorry, just about to place the order for the pump. Just want to check that people agree that a Eheim 1000 will be right for this setup? (Around 10 - 12x sump volume per hour, around 3-4 times tank volume per hour.)

 

[bae1994]

Sounds good to me

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Phew! Ordered it today. Was a bit worried, thanks for easing my doubts!

 

[Ryandsimmons]

So last night I did my wet test. Filled the tank with water, and set the pump up to check the circulation.

To my relief it looks like my drilling was okay, there was no cracking or water pouring out of anywhere. I personally thought it all worked fine, my wife however found that one of the bulkheads, if she pushed her finger against the silicon it came back damp.

Now I ran the tank for an hour and not a drop of water leaked, however if you push on the silicon it releases the slightest bit. I thought about redoing the bulkhead etc, but I am just going to settle for a big load of silicon on both the inside and outside of the bulkhead.

Downflow was also too high, I need to go to B&Q tonight and buy some of those taps that you just place midway along the pipe to restrict flow.

So this weekend I will make my weirs. (Just going to create 2 very small weirs, around 10cm each around each hole. Purely to determine tank water level in case of pump failure.)

If that goes well... Next weekend I may be buying my 2 circulation powerheads and salt water ready for the first Live Rock bargain I see.

Also does anyone know where I can buy cheap perspex / glass panes about 10cm square? I need them to make my weir.

 

[sorgan]

B&q usually have something

 

[Ryandsimmons]

Okay, a quick run to B&Q and I picked up the following.

Firstly a stopcock for one pipe. (I can leave one running full, and just restrict the low on the other.) 5 minutes with a hacksaw on the pipe and voila...


Photo002 by Ryan Simmons, on Flickr

I couldn't find material to make weirs, however I did see these. And thought "even better." Simply attach these to the inside of the bulkheads, a generous dose of silicon and I will have 2 pipes just under the waterline. They are quite wide, so blockage should be easy to avoid, and they should be easy to add a filter to. (My wife's old tights?)


Photo004 by Ryan Simmons, on Flickr

Just Powerheads to buy now and I am ready for the salt water! Time to start keeping an eye out for some bargain live rock.

 

[bae1994]

Perfect looks great

 

[seffieuk]

Perfect looks great

It does doesnt it Bae

Seffie x

 

[Ryandsimmons]

\o/

Looks even better now.

Went to my LFS today and picked up:

2 black, larger 90 degree pipe turn thingies. These fit better around the bulkeads, and obviously the colour looks better. Siliconed them on, and they look okay. (Apart from the silicon is a travesty. As the tank is plumbed I had to put the silicon on from awkward angles. It is extremely messy and uneven, hopefully won't be too obvious when tank is running though.)

Also got:

25kg of Kent Salt - Boy that is heavy to carry!
20kg of 1mm sand
10 kg of live sand.

Live sand is to create a deep sand bed in the sump.

Plan now is to order some powerheads and a heater tomorrow, then as soon as they arrive fill the tank with water. (I can mix the water direct in the tank at least this once, rather than do small salt mixes and have to move across.)

That way the moment I see some cheap live rock I can buy on the spot and place direct into a prepared tank. I think I will use dechlorinated tap water rather than RO water for this initial step. This is because:
A) For a few months it will be FOWLR, which I hear you can get away with no RO
B) I would have to buy 200 litres of RO water which is £40 and bloody heavy to trasport.

However all top up will be RO water, so by the time it comes to looking at corals any tap water left would be very diluted, if any is left at all.

Anyway, shopping list for tomorrow is 2 x powerheads (I would rather have 2 low power than 1 high power in my tank. 1 x heater. (200w?)
1 x Clip on light for sump.