my 55 gallon is going salty!

Oh my, whatever shall I do?!? The 55 gallon in my office is headed down the path to the dark side!

Before:


Middle brace on the top frame was broken, so the first order of business once it was empty and clean was to replace that.

Old frame off:


New frame on, back painted black, eggcrate cut to fit inside bottom:


As of yesterday, plumbing was complete, tank filled with tapwater to test overflow & return for leaks and functionality. So far, so good!

DIY pvc overflow,using sched. 40, painted black. Cut intake pipe to adjust height, you can see a coupler in place (not glued) prior to painting:


And here's the return:


Sump is a 30 gallon modified for sump use...flow is skimmer section->refugium/return section. Stand was gutted, originally to lower the floor to better accomodate the sump. While I was at it, I reinforced with 2x4's and replaced the surface on which the display would sit with 3/4" ply.

Sump:


That's all for now!

 

looks good so far, keep it up

 

Very nice...

Going to have tank to be proud of...

Keep us posted on progress.

We love seeing new tanks going up.

8)

 

very nice. Could I get the instructions on the DIY overflow and sump? Please?

 

Looks good so far. What's the eggcrate on the bottom of the tank for?

 

Absolutely! Simply follow these links:

http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/nice-cheap-diy-overflow-29396.html

diy overflow - Monster Fish Keepers

That will be the mounting surface for the base rock. I've already got half of it from Marco Rocks, and expect to receive the other half within the next few weeks.

Since I took the pic, I decided to divide the eggcrate into two halves (L & R side of tank). I'll attach half the rock to each half of the sectioned eggcrate, and simply lower both completely 'scaped section into the tank seperately.

 

Hey, it looks like your off to a great start. What future plans do you have for the tank? BTW I made the same kind of overflow!

antonym, check out my tank thread and you can see the overflow that is basically the same.

 

As you may have seen in my sig, I plan on dual 250W metal halide fixtures. I will build the canopy myself similar in design to the one I built for my 29 gallon at home (see my thread here), but adapted to the dimensions of this 55 gallon. The biggest difference will be 2 hinged lids vs. 1 on the 29, and 2 front covers vs. 1 on the 29. I'd like the coral species in both tanks to be as varied as possible...fish will be somewhat of an afterthought (only have one clown in the 29, probably only going to add 1 or 2 more of differing species), though I'd like something(s) visually stimulating.

 

Looking good!

 

Hey....we want to see pics of progress...

Expect some big-time "karma" points out there when you show us tank with fish in it!!!!

;D