54 gal corner tank & custom stand

[plarabie]

It took a while but...

pretty happy with the results. It's a 54 gal corner tank with built in overflow. I designed & built the stand myself out of ash and 3/4" plywood. Top compartment houses a DYI 175W 5500K MH and 2-55W actinic compact. The bottom houses a 10 gal sump, bio wheel filter, protein skimmer, heater and return pump. I'd like the sump to be bigger to help with micro-bubbles, or if anyone has ideas that would be most welcome.

Phil

:cheers: http://mars.walagata.com/w/plarabie/6316852.JPG

http://mars.walagata.com/w/plarabie/8468752.JPG

http://mars.walagata.com/w/plarabie/8468752.JPG

sorry about the double pic of the sump - I'm learning....here's the canopy.http://mars.walagata.com/w/plarabie/150157947176.JPG

[kadaytar]

I dont have any idea about how you can upgrade the setup but the unit looks very nice. You must be very talented. Congrats very good job

Kadir

[afss]

The only concern i would have with that setup is that it looks to me like there may not be enough room in the sump in case of a power failure. If the power is shut of does the sump have enough volume left to hold what ever drains back from the main tank?

Scott

oops.. just noticed the catch tray under the sump.. if thats its purpose then you should be ok.

Scott

[Michael_Lambert]

Also...

Just wondering about the lighting? How long has the tank been running? Just wondering as a 55k bulb would be kinda Yellowish witch the actinics would take out.. but just wondering if you are having Alage issues?

[afss]

I saw a tank where a guy was running 2 5.5k and one 10 k. You really had to struggle to tell if there was a difference when the actinics were on. Also he had no problems with algae that i could see.

Scott

[plarabie]

Good catch on the sump Scott. As you pointed out, I learned the hard way about what happens when you have a power failure. Joined the wet carpet club one week after everything was set up, THEN figured out that the catch basin would be a good idea. Bought a tupperware container at WalMart for $8 and set the sump in it on top of bricks. It has already saved me wet feet once.

While the tank is new, the rock and guts were transplanted from a 50 gal tank that had been established for years. Even tho, went thorugh a really rough patch with an algae bloom and lost a yellow tang and a clown fish. Now have my tank stabilized and working to keep phophates low. Everyone seems happy now.

The actinics do take the yellow out of the 5500k - cycle the actinics from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm, the MH from 7-10pm. No algae problems.

Spent an hour sitting in front of it yesterday - wow. Watched my cleaner shrimp get into a wrestling match with a small anemone over a piece of shrimp. What a hoot!

BTW, if anyone is interested in the dimensions and plans for the stand give me a shout.

:wave: