50 gallon LPS & Zoa Reef

[Myka]

Now that the weather is warmer I have begun the building process for the new 50 gallon tank I picked up. I currently have a 90 gallon mixed reef that I am splitting into two tanks. I am removing all the LPS from the 90 gallon tank and putting them into the new 50 gallon, plus all the Zoas and Palys that are in a 10 gallon "temporary" tank from the 20 gallon Atasuki tank I tore down in November.

The new 50 gallon tank will have a Herbie overflow installed with gate valve, and a drilled return. I am using an Ocean Runner 2500 return pump, and a SWC 120 Cone skimmer. I'm going to see how the tank runs with just a Hagen Glo 2x36 watt T5s fixture, but I may need to replace with a 4x36 watt fixture. The tank measures 36x18x18".

The stand is glued and screwed 2x4s. The stand is sheeted in 3/8" sanded plywood. The vertical edges are joined with 45 degree edges. I still have to cut the front out, use that piece for the back of the stand to partially enclose the back of the stand, and install the doors. The doors will be 3/4" sanded plywood. All the plywood edges will be finished with iron on Birch edging. I'm aiming for a nice clean look with straight lines. There is a sheet of 1/2" dense styrofoam between the stand and the tank. I'm not sure if I'm going to make a canopy or not...will see how it looks after I get it set up.

The stand will be painted green to match the living room walls. Color is General Paint CL-1933M Worn Soul. The idea is to have the stand blend into the wall so it looks less obtrusive in our small living room. I am going to spend some time doing a high quality finish. Sand it with 180 grit to start, primer, sand with 220 grit, paint, sand with 220 grit, paint, sand with 220 grit, satin finish water-based polyurethane, very light sanding with 320 grit, and a second polyurethane coat . If I am careful and do a good job this will give the stand a cabinet-grade finish.

The sump is a 15 gallon tank. Glass is ordered for the sump, will be ready next week . It will be pretty basic. Room for a filter sock on the overflow pipe, skimmer chamber, a few baffles, and a return chamber.

[Myka]

Framing:



Sheeted:



Front cut out. I originally planned to use that cut out piece as a partial backing for the stand (you can see it laying in place) to help keep the wall behind clean of salt spray on the occasion the skimmer may overflow or such, but I couldn't get it to look the way I wanted to, so I ditched out on the idea. Although I'm now revisiting that idea with a new installation plan.



Doors I planned to span the full width of the stand, but I couldn't find hinges that would mount on a parallel surface, so standard doors (boo on that):




"Primer" on. Technically, it is just flat paint that is two shades darker than the finished color that I happened to have sitting around. Free primer? Sure why not.




Here's the second coat (first coat of right color). The camera didn't pull the color right though, it's not this yellow. First coat inside the stand is white outdoor gloss plaint.

[gregzz4]

Too bad about the hinges. Stand is lookin' nice
What made you go with a 15g sump?

[JohnnyReeftank]

Lookin good so far....actually pretty similar to my own setup. Just a heads up, I've got 4x39w HaganGlo's over my 35g and I've had some nice growth on my LPS/Zoa tank so you might want to go with 4 lights on a 50g.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Too bad about the hinges. Stand is lookin' nice
What made you go with a 15g sump?

If I ever do find appropriate hinges it wouldn't be difficult to replace the doors. That's why I just went ahead and kept going. I can revisit later if I can find hinges.

Regarding the sump, a 15 gallon tank fits in the stand nicely, has plenty of room for the skimmer and return chamber, isn't too tall to be awkward. I'm not sure what you mean, maybe if you added a "rather than ____" to the end of the question I could answer it better? Or maybe I did.

Originally Posted by JohnnyReeftank

Lookin good so far....actually pretty similar to my own setup. Just a heads up, I've got 4x39w HaganGlo's over my 35g and I've had some nice growth on my LPS/Zoa tank so you might want to go with 4 lights on a 50g.

Yeah, this I know. I'm going to just use 2 bulbs for now because I want to see how it does out of interest. I might need 4 bulbs just to span the 18" width though.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Myka

Yeah, this I know. I'm going to just use 2 bulbs for now because I want to see how it does out of interest. I might need 4 bulbs just to span the 18" width though.

FWIW, I ran my 77 Hagen on a dual lamp Hagen GLO 48" T5HO fixture for at least it's first year. Had a mushroom pop up on a piece of LR that I had no idea was in there under that light. I think I had one 10000K & one Actinic in the fixture.

Might be a good opportunity to consider a LED fixture. It it's going to be a dedicated soft coral system, you could get away with fewer (or lower power) LEDs than on an SPS reef. I recently finished a LED DIY and it's been running over my tank for a week. Really like it. Lower power usage, dimmable, plenty of colour options. Prices are coming down & there are more plug & play standard bulb options these days, so a DIY could be as simple as having four to six standard light sockets with PAR38 bulbs or a low voltage MR16 bulb solution. You'll certainly have time to play around with ideas while running the 36" Hagen GLO.

[Myka]

Yeah, LEDs are a consideration too. I'm still not sold on LEDs, although I would like to try them out myself and come to my own conclusions. I really wanted to put an AI Sol on my 20-gallon Atasuki tank, it would have fit the tank really well. I'm sure I would need two AI Sols on the 50-gallon though, and all of a sudden a $400 experiment is almost a grand. Kinda stiff for an experiment I think! If I could get a good deal on a used pair I might still consider it because then if I don't like them I could sell them onto someone else without a big loss. I would like to buy a fixture rather than DIY simply because forming an opinion on a DIY version would possibly be unfair for the LEDs. I like the PAR38 bulbs on nano tanks, but they have such a bad spotlight effect that I would not consider them for the 50-gallon tank.

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Painting is done on the exterior of the stand. I'm a bit disappointed in the quality of the finish since I had to brush it instead of spraying it. I'm going to have to buy a new sprayer to paint my other stand (that's a different thread to come hehe). It has also been really difficult to get rid of the wood grain on the plywood. I ended up having to float a coat of filler over the entire thing to get the grain out. Maybe MDF would have been a better option. Hard to say...MDF is gross, but the finish would have been smoother. Well sealed, MDF could be a good option. I still have to paint the bottom of the stand to seal out any moisture in case of a wet carpet accident (ugh). The inside of the stand still needs one more coat too. I should have saltwater and rock in it by Sunday afternoon. Yippee! I've been working on the stand for 5 weeks already simply because our garage doesn't have heat so I'm limited to weekend days with nice weather. I did the painting in my kitchen though...

[Skimmerking]

Hey mindy nice build what about edging in piano hinge and have it hidden or tack on a piece of wood to where the hinge is going and that would allow for the hinge base to attach. I hope this make sense

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by Myka

Or maybe I did.

Yup, you did. I figured you'd not want something too tight to work with. But ...
Have you looked at a 20 long? 30-1/4 x 12-1/2 x 12-3/4
Probably a little tight to slide in, but you wouldn't have to re-order glass if your 15g is 24-1/4 x 12-1/2 x 12-3/4.
It would still give you room to externally hang reactors on an end.
Looking forward to more pics

[Myka]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Yup, you did. I figured you'd not want something too tight to work with. But ...Have you looked at a 20 long?

Well you see...I also have six 15 gallon tanks in the garage. I don't think I've seen a 20L in any of the shops around here. I could take a peek at Petsmart this weekend. I am a bit worried that 15 gallons will be too cramped, and I might not have enough room for the back flow from the return line when the pump is shut off. I have to measure it up.

Originally Posted by Skimmer King

Hey mindy nice build what about edging in piano hinge and have it hidden or tack on a piece of wood to where the hinge is going and that would allow for the hinge base to attach. I hope this make sense

Yeah, that makes sense. I like this idea, and it's a good one actually. I don't think I would use a piano hinge though because they tend to rust real easy. This does give me some new ideas though. Thanks!