Aqueon 55-Gallon Build (First Tank)

[ajremington68]

- Type of saltwater aquarium: Mixed Reef
- Total Water Volume : 65 Gallons
- Aquarium Age : 7/15/2023
- Aquarium Material : Glass
- Aquarium Dimensions :48x13x21
- Aquarium Overflow/Drain : DIY overflow built out of PVC
- Aquarium Sump : 20-Gal Long
- Sump Water Volume : 10 Gallons
- Aquarium Stand : DIY wood with plywood outside
- Aquarium Controller : No
- Protein Skimmer : Curve 5 Bubble Magus
- Aquarium Reactors : No
- Return Pump : Jerepet 800 GPH DC with controller
- Water Flow and Circulation : 2 Uniclife wave maker 1058 GPH DC with controller
- Aquarium Lighting : 2 Noo-Psyche K7 mini 60W
- Lighting PAR and Goals : low-med (60 sand, 250 top)
- Dosing Equipment Detail : Kamoer X1 Pro 2 (Dosing All For Reef)
- Auto Top Off or ATO :
- Aquarium Heating and Cooling :

Aquarium Water Chemistry and Parameters​

- pH : 8.2
- Specific Gravity : 1.025
- Nitrate : 5
- Phosphate : 0.25
- Calcium : 430
- Alkalinity : 9.3
- Magnesium : 1350
- Salt Brand : Fritz Blue Box
- Trace Element Dosing : All For Reef

Aquarium Natural and Mechanical Filtration​

- Substrate : Carb Sea Fiji Pink
- Live Rock : Off Facebook Market Place
- Nutrient Export : Filter Socks, Protein Skimmer
- Water Changes : 5 Gallons every other week

Aquarium Tank Inhabitants (fish, coral, invert etc.)​

- Fish List : 2 clowns (__,__), Yellow Watchmen Goby, 2 Purple Tangs, Melanarus Wrasse
- Coral List : Zoas, Toadstool Leather, Devils Hand Leather, Alvepora, Gonipora, Rainbow Bubble Tip Anemone, Elegance, Pipe Organ, Hammer, Frogspawn, Octospawn, Torch, Wavy Anthelia, Waving Xenia, Mushrooms, Fungi Plate, Trachyphyllia, Favia, Diji, Birdsnest
- Invert List : Cleaner Shrimp, Astrail Snails, Turbo Snails, Blue and Red Leg Hermits, Emerald Crab
- Livestock Quarantine : 20 Gal Up Always Just In Case

Aquarium Nutrition (fish, coral, invert etc. feeding)​

- Fish Feeding Frequency : 2 Times A Day
- Coral Feeding Frequency : Phyto, AB+ every day Reef Roids once a week
- Fish and Coral Feeding : Phyto, AB+, Reef Roids, Gonipower, Reef nutrition pellets, Green Nori, Frozen (Reef Frenzy, Rods)
- Auto Feeder : No

 

[DrinkinPepsi]

did you already buy the tank? if not get a 75 or a 90. same width and height but more depth to the wall. Dont get stuck with a 12 in deep tank.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Devaji]

did you already buy the tank? if not get a 75 or a 90. same width and height but more depth to the wall. Dont get stuck with a 12 in deep tank.

or even a 40br I love those little tanks.

 

[ajremington68]

did you already buy the tank? if not get a 75 or a 90. same width and height but more depth to the wall. Dont get stuck with a 12 in deep tank.

Hey, dollar late on this, posted this and closed my laptop for a week. However, my tank is built and up and running for 7mo. Now, I WISH I had this at the start. I cannot build rockwork to get height with how slim my tank is, slightly frustrating. Now, it also sounds like the perfect reason to start working on a 100-150gal system if you ask me... Thanks for the advice, hopefully someone new will see this before they start their reefing journey!

 

[Devaji]

Hey, dollar late on this, posted this and closed my laptop for a week. However, my tank is built and up and running for 7mo. Now, I WISH I had this at the start. I cannot build rockwork to get height with how slim my tank is, slightly frustrating. Now, it also sounds like the perfect reason to start working on a 100-150gal system if you ask me... Thanks for the advice, hopefully someone new will see this before they start their reefing journey!

no worries man. we have all been there. on paper the 55 seam nice but once you start to scape it....it's another story.

yes a 100-150 would be nice. I love the Innovative marine tanks.
good luck!

 

[ajremington68]

 

[ajremington68]

no worries man. we have all been there. on paper the 55 seam nice but once you start to scape it....it's another story.

yes a 100-150 would be nice. I love the Innovative marine tanks.
good luck!

Have not done research yet on what tanks, just have general knowledge from videos of tanks like redsea, waterbox, and planet aquarium.
Not sure what one I will pick, but I will probably buy one second hand off the Facebook groups and slowly build it and do all the stuff I wish I had on my 55.

 

[ajremington68]

Just posting here for reminders of things I have done and tried to look back at in the future.

Instead of asking I am trying. Pulling away from buying every coral I see and focusing back on my water parameters. One metric I noticed is my mag and calcium I have to re-elevate about once a month, after doing water changes (5gal a week). The calcium I try to keep is 425 and mag 1400-1500. I make my own RODI water and use Fritz blue box salt. I found fritz from my LFS in the start and just stuck with it, because if it isn't broken then why fix? Now, I believe it to be broken, so I must fix it. I believe that my water changes are causing my mag and calcium to drop over the month. I dose All For Reef, and with that being a general dose I track my ALK twice a week and correct that. However, with some research, I believe Fritz mixes with a low mag and low calcium and alk around 7.5-8. I corrected my mag, calcium, and alk and I am going to not do a water change for a month and track everything weekly and see if I fix my problem. If so then I will either have to change salt, or dose Calcium and Mag to my water before the water change. Does anyone use similar salt and a similar dosing solution and have similar problems?

 

[piranhaman00]

Make new saltwater and test the parameters

 

[ajremington68]

First coralline coming in strong, as well some grown on a 24k lepto that I did not think would every grow or do anything!

Little update tank is doing good parameters are all super stable with no water change for a month Fish are happy frog spawn/hammer is smaller than usual but still happy

 

[ajremington68]

Got a 90gal almost full build for 300 off marketplace, everything is going good should be able to make a good return with cleaning, servicing, muaratic acid cleaning everytbing, and re sealing the tank. Now I see a 215 gal tank on Facebook for 200 and owner says leaks. Wondering if I have what it take to seal it… my father has wanted a monster tank since the start and it could be the perfect way to get a cheap one, but will re sealing the protective silicon be enough or will I have to go deep into the silicon between the panes of glass or acrylic…

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

will re sealing the protective silicon be enough or will I have to go deep into the silicon between the panes of glass or acrylic…

Resealing a tank means removing ALL the silicone from between the panes and redoing it.
The "protective" silicone you refer to does not technically convey any structural advantage or seal.

 

[ajremington68]

Resealing a tank means removing ALL the silicone from between the panes and redoing it.
The "protective" silicone you refer to does not technically convey any structural advantage or seal.

Yes that’s what I found after talking and posting about it. So just cleaned up the protective silicon to make it look nice I should say. But the tank didn’t leak before so no worries with having to seal up a leak