# 55 to 90 gallon Reef Build



## xsputnikx (Feb 5, 2010)

Hey guys I had a old thread on here I was using but from now on im going to use this one for my build as I was more than anything just asking questions in that thread.. 

I got a 55 gallon acrylic that really should only be used as a sump due to scratches but I went ahead and added all my rock from marco's rock, and bout 25 lbs of live rock I got from a friend all I am doing with the 55 gallon right now is basically doing my water cycle and trying to seed my base rock, and clean all the cloudiness from my sand... I didnt think to get a pick before I put my sand in the 55 gallon so you chould see my reef structure I had going on.. 

but im supposed to be picking up a 90 gallon reef ready tank from someone local in a week or 2 and at that time I will be transferring everything over including the water... 

but here is a pic of what I got going on after I added the sand last night









I didnt realize I had to wash the sand before hand... so i got some super cloudiness going on...

I know its only day one but I went ahead and measured my ph its at 8.1 and my nitrate are 0.2

I hooked up my ev180 and mag7 pump today and skimming it and running a bio wheel filter just to try to get rid of the debriet still floatin in the water..

if i wasnt such a cheapo I would just do a water change and call it a day but im just going to let it cure on its own... im not in a hurryor anything so I should be ok


----------



## xsputnikx (Feb 5, 2010)

day 2 to give you guys a update... cloudiness was a little better and skimmer was slap full of super fine sand particles... I went ahead and done a 10% water change so im hopin by tomorrow I will be able to at least see some of the rock again


----------



## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

I have typed a response and hit the delete button 2 times already. Just when you think something is simple some guy who has been doing this forever has mixed feelings on what he'd do. LOL

Ok. Lets see where to start with my thoughts. My entire stream of thought here revolves around that biowheel that you have running. There is no need for the biowheel to help clear the cloudy water, and the biowheel will in fact cause nitrates to elevate to a higher level than necessary in the early stages of this tank. Those are my negative thoughts.

On the flip side, if I understand you correct, all of this is going to be moved to the 90 gallon? This doesn't make sense though, because why would you add sand to the 55 and then plan to move it to the 90? 

Bottom line is this, if the 55 is going to be a permanent aquarium, then you need to take that biowheel off the filter. Don't turn the filter off, just remove the biowheel. Actually, you should place the biowheel into the aquarium to allow it to become coated with bacteria. You can then transfer the entire filter unit and biowheel to a Quarantine tank in a few weeks.

This will work more effectively because the biowheel will become biologically active, but will not have forced flow. It is the forced flow effect (200 gph or so) that runs through that hang on filter that causes the biowheel to aggressively pump nitrate into the aquarium, essentially competing with the skimmer lessening its effectiveness.

Does all of that make any sense at all? I really don't want to hit the delete button again.


----------



## xsputnikx (Feb 5, 2010)

yes it does I didnt think bout this fact... I did a partial water changer and the rest of the sand is now gone and water is clear... basically the reason im doing this is at the time I was going with the 55 and just going to live with that for a while... and so I ordered all my stuff.. then i got a super deal on the 90 that I just cant pass up... after I had already ordered everything and it was on its way.. 

I was just going to set everything asside and wait a few weeks until I got then 90 but... I had a friend get me some live rock and he had to get it out of his tank to make room for some other stuff.. so I figured I could go ahead and start the tank cycle and I added the sand so I could go ahead and get it live as well.. so when I changed over to the new tank it would be ready to go for the most part.. 

I am sure im going to most likely go thru a small cycle due to the fact im adding 35 more gallons of water.. 

the person im getting the 90 gallon from has it setup and established as we speak so shes going to throw in a few things to help me get started.....
I will take your advice and go ahead and remove the bio wheels and put them in the tank. and I will also do some test tonight to see where the water is at


----------



## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Also, be prepared for an ammonia spike when you move the sand. If you had to do it all over again, this would be the step to skip. You will have different bacteria living at different levels of sand height, so when the sand is moved to the 90... you get the idea.


----------



## xsputnikx (Feb 5, 2010)

yes.. I was pretty sure I would have a mini cycle... after I added 40 more gallons of tank capacity... on an update I am starting to get all sorts of intersting lil things growing on my live rock... im at this point trying to research it all I would take a pic but the stuff im talking about is so tiny I would need like a 20 mp camera to get a clear photo of it.... I also ended up doing a 12 gallon nano cube for my girlfriend and she loves it.. hers was a lot easier and quicker to setup


----------

