Swagger87's New 55 Gallon

just for future reference, with a decent blade you can cut plexi on any table saw with no problems.

 

Yeah I know, and if we had a table saw I woulda used it, no questions asked! Lol.

I finally got my skimmer up and running. Got two new o-rings for it and now she's a-purrin like a kitten.
LOOK MA! No more LEAKS!!!

 

The skimmer seems to be doing pretty good. I also fixed the lights and got some legs for it and its looking pretty decent. I also got a couple more pounds of LR and threw in there today.
I'm pretty happy with the progress so far. ;D
I saw a shell inside the new big rock (top middle rock) Im not sure whether it was a snail or a hermit...or if it was even alive...but I'm going to keep an eye on it to see if I have a little hitchhiker.

 

I got my new power heads today! I got a Koralia 1 and 2.
Where should I put them?

 

Regarding powerhead placement, it is really more of an art than a science. Putting them on opposite sides would probably be a good start. Two things you want to look for would be 1) surface agitation and 2) dead zones. You want the surface of the water in your tank to be constantly moving, or else you might develop a 'film' of organics that will block gas exchange between the air and the water. That said, pointing one of the powerheads at the surface of the water would be a good idea. You don't want the PH to be breaking the water so much that you are splashing water over the sides of your tank, just enough so you see movement on the surface.

As for dead zones. . .well, you don't want any. If you've got space between your rocks and your back wall, the water might not be moving much back there. You could try pointing the other PH towards the back of the tank (or any other place you can find where water might not be moving much). The reasoning behind eliminating dead zones is due to the large amounts of algae and other detritus that will collect in these 'dead zones'. The Kordalias (sp?) are great powerheads (I have two myself) that allow quite a bit of freedom of movement, and you can try pointing them in different directions to find the best set up for your tank.

Also, have you thought about throwing a background on the tank?

Otherwise, you tank is looking great...take it slow, and good luck..

 

I've got my return pump that moves the top of the water, along with my HOB skimmer and over flow.
I want one of the PHs to hit behind my rocks, but Im not sure which one I should use. I thought about using the K1 on the side with the return pump hitting the front of the glass and the K2 to hit behind the rocks but Im still wondering.
I was thinking of making the background a dark blue. Dark enough to add depth and to make my corals and fish pop, but not too dark to make it look dismal.

 

Sounds good. Just play around with the powerheads a bit and you'll figure it out no problem.

 

Thanks. I'll do that right after lunch.

 

looking good there Swagger 87

+1 on Bigdaddyreefer's comments on Power head placement
you have to fine tune the positioning probably a few times as things change as you add more live stock

Steve

 

Guitarman, I have to respectfully disagree with you here. I know many people who have used "play sand" in their tanks with no diatome issues at all. As a matter of fact, glass has silica silicone has silica. Since I'm to lazy to google it right now, I will tell you that there are many articles on the web where people have put the silica theory to the test. Another thing is this, sand doesn't buffer your water at all. Aragonite sand has to be at a ph below 7 to start it's buffering process. If we run our tanks at a ph of 8.2-8.4 this should never happen. Otherwise, people with barebottom tanks would never ever have success in this hobby.