Finally decided on a tank!

[shift_9k]

Well after much talk, and help from you guys in an other thread I posted, ive finally mustered up the courage and finances *thumbsups to start my tank. The tank looks absolutly stunning in person. Its a 54 gallon corner bow. Going to get it some time next week, since they didnt have it in stock. So in the mean time im converting my 10 gallon to a nano/QT/copepod holder. Thats no huge task, i'll get pics of that up as i get started tomorrow.

My concern is the flow in the corner tank. I have to order my powerheads asap, so they can come in on time. So what should I go with for the 10g and how should the placement be on the corner. I made a picture to show the shape. I can figure the 10g out i guess.

Thanks again guys!

 

[shift_9k]

The red area is a divider in tank through which water moves around. You guys think it would be ok to put my heater in there? And im so confused about the aquascape since its an odd shape.

 

[CoolWaters]

your should put a nice PVC pipe with holes and shoot a high flow powerhead through it can act as a deflector delivering even flow through out your tank without any dead spots...*taking in a deep breath*

LOL

a heatering will be great!!!

personally i dont like corner tanks because u cant see wats behind the tank. but on the plus it saves you room. and its certainly different!

 

[JeLeAk]

wait is the tank drilled?

i say put two power head/water pumps in the red area facing the two corners, but not quite that seems like it would be a good efficient use of the bow front for water movement

 

[Balance]

aquascape possibilities: put some tall slim LR in the very back against the overflow. then make some islands in the rest of the tank, smaller ones in front, medium in the middle.

nice tank btw, cant wait to see a pic. i almost bought one this shape a few years back

 

[Lotus]

Congrats on ordering the tank, they're awesome looking. We were eyeing a half-round tank the other day

You could go for the "peak" type aquascape in there, wide at the bottom, forming a single peak near the back. The Paletta book has some nice rockscaping ideas.

If you can, get some powerheads with dispersed flow: Tunze, Seio or Hydor Koralia. They'll help with the odd angles in the tank. They're also more able to be angled. I recently got the Koralias, and they're really easy to angle in whichever position you need.

 

[shift_9k]

So would something like this work? Also i need a place to put a Aqua-c remora.......... since the tank is not drilled.


big problem... heres what i drew up so far.

 

[shift_9k]

I was thinking of two 800 series Seios, that should be ok right, along with the remora?

 

[Lorna]

the power head placement could leave a huge dead spot in the middle of your live rock formation, the water would circle in there like a whirlpool. You don't want to create any eddies. Though not estheically pleasing, I think I would be tempted to put them on the outside corners blowing toward each other to create random currents. Also that rock set up is going to cause problems with an eddie in the middle......I think I would lean more towards Lotus' idea of a pillar formation with small islands on each side with bridges

 

[1979camaro]

You could always get a third powerhead and place it in the middle of the enclosed area. As far as the SEIO 820s, I would bump it up to the 1100s if you are only going to use two. In my opinion, without a return from a sump you are going to want the extra flow.

The skimmer placement is going to be a tricky one as you don't want to tuck it back so far that it is not accessible, but you don't want it right in front either. Maybe midway down one of the sides...

 

[Balance]

a power head on one of the straight tank walls, blowing across the other currents would help as well. eliminate the dead spot and make for more random currents

 

[Lorna]

I think that you will just have to play with it....until you get it right.....

 

[shift_9k]

Ok well today I went to the LFS to get started on my nano project thats going hand in hand with the bigger tank mentioned above. So went to the store, checked on my order, and picked up some..

Aragonite Sand - sugar grain

Red Sea Salt mix

Hydrometer

Tap water conditioner (til i get my RO unit installed)

5lbs of Live Rock, and placed an order for another 50lb since the manager was giving me a cut at 50lbs @ 4.99 a pound.


With the bare minimum ready we went to work on the tank. We mixed the salt in a 5g bucket. Using a clean blender. I can honestly say it worked pretty damn good.

 

[shift_9k]

It took a lot of mixing and adding and taking out to get the salinity right..... shouldnt have had beer while doing this...... So we get it right move the water to the tank. And started rinsing the sand. After the sand had rinsed, we added the sand and checked on the salinity every 30 mins.... we were anxious.

Once the salinity was constant we added in the live rock. Here is what it looks like right now. I know the outside of the tank looks a little dirty, i'll get on that as soon as i finish cleaning the rest of the mess we made.

 

[shift_9k]

Now my question, right now there is no powerhead in the tank. I just have the filter running without the cartridge. I was thinking of goin back to the store to pick up a little powerhead. Should I keep the filter running while the sand settles or should i do the opposite and add the power head?

 

[Panther28]

Now my question, right now there is no powerhead in the tank. I just have the filter running without the cartridge. I was thinking of goin back to the store to pick up a little powerhead. Should I keep the filter running while the sand settles or should i do the opposite and add the power head?

leave the filter running you could even add the foam for now. It will help clear up the tank faster. Once it clears up then you can go get a powerhead a good one so later you don't regret the impulse buy. Let everything settle down and figure out what kind of powerhead you require. if you have an old poweread with sponge you could add that for now so it clears up faster. Trust me I know! I have a lot of extra stuff just sitting in the corner of my room cuz of impulse buys(4 cheap power heads, etc).

 

[chella21279]

Here's a closer pic of your tank. Great choice, awesome tank!! Good luck.