Setting up my 50 Gallon...

[Arie]

Hello all,

Just trying to throw out some ideas and see what advice people have to offer. I'm setting up my first SW tank in 50 gallons. I have a 25 gallon as well that I'd like to use along with this as a fuge (though I'm not exactly sure of how to do this either ).

I'm building a stand (also read as "having my guy friends build me a stand while I bring them beer and pizza") out of 4x4's... yes, I know it's over kill, but the idea of mopping up my floor and poor little creatures kills me.

The long term goal is to have a pair of seahorse in it along with a cleanup crew. My first question is: I've done a bit of research and have been told that SH prefer a horizontal space instead of long. I don't have that... will this be an issue?

My immediate goal is to set up the display in a totally gratifying way with hitch spots, LR and LS. I'd like to convince myself that I can be satisfied with that for atleast 6 more months while I research ponies a bit more.

I know that seahorse are very delicate (though I've heard arguments) and that they need a totally regulated tank. I'd like to provide those things with out jumping head first. Any suggestions?

I've read and looked at some of the various tanks on here, and several have caught my eye. Absolutely amazing what some of you have done. I can only hope my tank is as sucessful!

Thanks ahead of time
-Arie

 

[ChrisRD]

Hi Arie and :welcome: to a fellow upstate New Yorker... :wink:

I'm no seahorse expert, but I've helped setup a couple of seahorse tanks for other people. They were both relatively tall tanks which, as I understand it, is preferred. As with other species, the size of the tank required will depend on the species. I believe dwarf varieties can be kept in small tanks with no problems.

A 4X4 stand is going to be WAY overkill for a tank that size. Standard 2X4 lumber will be much more than adequate, cheaper and easier to work with. To give you some perspective, I built my last stand for a 180 out of 2X4s. :wink:

For a setup like this I think a refugium is a good idea to provide a steady supply of live food for the horses. They can be trained to eat frozen mysis too. I helped a friend build a little DIY feeder to help with this. I might have pics somewhere...

As I recall, captive bread horses are readily available, and as with most species, tend to be preferred over wild caught whenever there is a choice.

Here's a site devoted to this topic that should be helpful: http://www.seahorse.org/

HTH

 

[Arie]

Hi Chris -

Thanks for your help and suggestions... If I do the SH tank, I'm seriously condering setting up a feeding station. I was thinking of using a decorative shell from a hobby store, scrubbing it with a blank tooth brush and then boiling it and letting it sit in the tank LONG before I add the SH. To get the food (most likely frozen mysis for the most part) to the station, what I think I'm going to do is use a basic tube long enough to go from the shell to the top of the tank so I can let the mysis sink slowly.

I was almost positive that 4x4's were over kill, but I'm so freaking paranoid about collapse it's not even funny. Due to a sudden and totally unexpected remodel on my bathroom, I'm going to have atleast a month (if not longer) before I'm even going to get to that point. I know that I want to plan it out so it's pleasing to look at though. I'd hate to settle for something and end up changing it later.

What type of tank do you have? I'd love to see/read about it

-Arie

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.p ... t=seahorse

You can check out this thread for starters.

As far as the stand. 2x4 are sufficient for a 50 gallon. 4x4's is a bit overkill and it will take up valuable space inside the stand that would house the sump/refugium.

and welcome to reefs

 

[shavo]

excellent point, you will lose the room to house the sump under the tank with 4X4's unless you have another design in mind

 

[Arie]

Okay, so I'll rethink the 4x4 idea since I've been told it's huge overkill. BUT! If I end up with a disaster on my floor by going with 2x4's I swear I'll stalk you both until you agree to come help me clean up the mess.

I'm going to be working on ideas today and tossing some measurements around (of the tank of course :wink: ) and come up with a rough idea of what I want. When I come up with something, I'll post it here and get your opinions of what will work and what won't. Might take me a while though, as I'm not too handy. Heh.

-Arie

 

[ChrisRD]

LOL - the 2X4s will be more than enough. I promise to come over and help cleanup if they're not. :wink:

The feeding station you have planned sounds very much like what we put in my friend's tank. I'll see if I can find some pics...

My current setup is a simple FOWLR (fish-only with live rock) but it's not finished yet as some family issues have come up lately. I need to get back on it and finish it up.

Build thread:
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.p ... hlight=180

HTH

 

[Arie]

I will totally hold you to that promise, I hope you know.

I'm on my way to take measurements of both tanks and figure outwhat to do with them and how high to build the stand. I'm pretty tall, and since I want enough room under the display to bumble around, a higher stand shouldn't be an issue (should it?)

Also, I was looking at canopys... purchased and DIY... I'd have the tanks set up in a room with a drop ceiling.... for the most part I've seen everything hanging. Is a drop ceiling strong enough for this? Maybe I'll just replace the one drop ceiling panel with sheet rock panel with 2x4 bracing. I do love my 2x4's eh?

-Arie

 

[ChrisRD]

No problem on the promise - I own a shop vac... :wink:

I usually build my stands a bit taller than typical factory stands to give me more room underneath for equipment (tall skimmer, etc.). One thing to consider with tall tanks sitting on tall stands, however, it can be difficult or impossible to reach the bottom without some help. I'm nearly 6' tall and I have to get on a chair to reach some areas of the bottom of my 180 (24" high) sitting on a 36" tall stand. Personally, for the added room underneath, it's an inconvenience I feel is worth it.

As for the lighting, if hanging it is not convenient (and it doesn't sound like it is), I'd go with the canopy or, if you plan to run open-top, just get a light fixture that has legs/brackets so it can sit directly on the tank.

HTH

 

[cindre2000]

If you go to your LFS you will notice that most of the prefab stands are 1x4, AND particle board!

The only issue with a higher stand is you need a more powerful pump to pump that extra distance, you could, however, build a shelf into the stand to support the sump higher up, thus giving you less head pressure and creating a nifty little storage space underneath.

As for canopies- you either hang your lights pendant style, you set them directly on the tank, or you retrofit them into a wood canopy (made from 1x4's, not 2x4's or 4x4's- remember the canopy only needs to support itself and the lights). You can go to the Members Tanks section to see different stands and canopies to get ideas.

 

[shavo]

there are rails and stuff behind the drop ceiling and probabbly wood studs, I have a drop cieling and a 72" fixture hanging from it but the wire goes through the drop cieling and is mounted on wood studs above it. look up there and see what it is. I wouldn't hang a light from those drop ceiling panels.

 

[Arie]

Not much to update on...

Went out and bought plastic cutting boards to set up the fuge today. To my dismay they only had clear boards and really super flimsy white board. I figure after a while with all of my creepers and critters down there it won't matter much what color I started with (or will it?)

Also bought silicone for once I put the boards in place. Is this the best idea for trying to attach the board? Thought that it was mainly for water resistance, though I could be wrong.

-Arie

 

[ChrisRD]

Are you using the cutting board to make partitions in a glass tank?
What type of silicone did you buy?

 

[Arie]

I'm planning on using the cuttingboards to make the partitions in the tank. I bought GE Bathroom and General Water Use silicone.... BUT I've decided that I'm going to look at a few more ideas for a fuge before I go ahead and start cutting things.

(I'm pretty sure I need something different to hold together the partitions anyway?)

 

[mr_X]

i bought cutting boards from walmart to use on my sump as well. mine happen to be plenty strong though. they are over 1/2 inch thick. are they the ones you have? mine don't bow at all.
i used a marine grade caulk to fasten mine to the glass. it happened to be white, so it matched the boards well :wink:
i am not sure if you can find this easily, but just make sure your caulk isn't the kind that is mold and mildew resistant. there are chemicals in that type that aren't good for a reeftank IMO.

 

[Ef3s]

IDD with Mr X. I would be weary using regular or shower caulk/silicone would find one made specifically for Aquariums...

More sure it wouldn't be leeching chems into tank..

 

[ChrisRD]

I would expect the bathroom silicone to have the mildew inhibitors as mentioned above. I've always used the GE Window & Door Type I stuff - never any problems.

 

[Arie]

I'll definantly have to look into it. I didn't even think of that to be honest.

I did have a nice day at the LFS though. (shockingly) I went in and explained to one of the guys working there what I was trying to do. He seemed to notice that I was just fumbling around and looking at all of the reef and fish and sneaking a peak behind the tanks.

He was cool enough to actually sneak me into their basements and show me that they do a fuge the same way. Some of their tanks are actually divided using acrylic cuttingboards, I **** you not. Granted, some of them had really nice and shiney things with bells and whistles, but he said that the simpler they were, the better they worked (which of course put a smile on my tank)

He also told me that when I was ready he'd give me some LS with LR debris to get me started. He was totally psyched when I told him I was aiming for a DIY type of thing and said that he'd bring pictures of his tanks to show me for the next time I was in.

For the stand - he said that he'd gone to homedepot and bought one of their kitchen islands when they were on clearance and got a 7 ft with fake marble slab for about 50 dollars. Never thought of it before, but I'd still like to have a go at it myself first.

As far as livestock goes - I've spotted a fish that I absolutely adore. It was a leopard box fish! Now I have more reading to do, but does anyone have one? What are some pros/cons to this particular fish?

Also - Was considering a pondmaster pump, any thoughts?

-Arie

 

[cindre2000]

If by pondmaster you are talking about a Danner Mag Drive then they are decent pumps (though they lose head quickly).

 

[Arie]

So, my delays are actually not by my doing at this point. My mother decided to stand on a chair in the kitchen and stretch to reach something on the top shelf of a cabinet.

In the process of doing so she fell of the chair and managed to rip open a 6 inch gash in her leg down to the last 1/2 of the muscle. (And no, I didn't look or take pictures... sorry)

So - There had been a delay in everything, but she's home now and scheduled for surgery soon. Until then I have a little play time.




I used the cuttingboards that I had previously purchased only to try and drill a hole in one and have it snap. Waaaay to brittle. Back to walfart I went and I bought three of the smaller (just incase I mess up) soft cutting boards and a new drill bit. I'm planning on cutting those to size and drilling them tomorrow at some point.

I also managed to find aquarium silicone there, which was a bit surprising. I think that the way I'm going to go about setting them in there is to clip a notch in the plastic around the top large enough to slip the dividers though and silicone them in after they're all set to go.

I still haven't settled on a pump though. The LFS guy suggested pondmaster brand, but for a 700GPH they were 129.00 . Is this reasonable? Is there a better pump for the buck?

I'll try and take pics of my progress tomorrow. Thanks again guys