Setting up new (used) 54g rr corner tank

[aiaman]

Well this is not a new build but an upgrade to a RR 54g corner tank.
Prior to this I had a freshwater 36g tank I was using with canister filters for SW.
I just finished cleaning up all the spilled water from moving my 36g from my living room down to my computer room, to make way for the 54g tank.
If you never relocated a tank I can tell you that it's not as exciting as starting up a new tank, ugh.
By the time I got done putting all my lr in 5g buckets and moving the tank and then setting it up again it was not at all fun.
I had small submersible heaters in each bucket with small pwrheads waiting to be reinstalled into the relocated tank. I moved all the sand & it was murky to say the least but I had to try and place everything to the best of my vision.
I couldn't leave all the lr in the buckets waiting for the 36g tank's water to clear as that would take a few hours and the water level had to be high enough for the siphon to work. So I trudged on, to my success it all went in just fine. I can say that the lr is not in the final location but is all submerged in the right location for lighting and flow.
The clarity of the water is sparkling and the overall temp is perfect. Now I hope that everybody is still alive come morning as I am sure I stressed them all out, including myself.
I'll keep you all updated as this process happens.
Right now the newer tank is empty in my living room. I have to install the black plastic (I know-don't yell) on the side glass panels and then start filling the sand.
I bought 40 lbs Fiji Pink sand from the lfs and the other 80 lbs is on order for next week.
I have to get the knuckles for the return flow so I can start the process up.
I plan to cycle the tank as usual and wait until I can be assured everything is perfect before I make the transfer.
I am attaching a couple of photos of the new tank.
btw - the light on the new tank is a Nova Extreme
relocated tank

this one is the new empty tank

this one is from the 1st owner when they had it set up

 

[bearwithfish]

oh all very exciting i will follow along on your adventure!!

 

[bonghapster]

Good luck...I did the same with my 54 RR in November.

 

[Turbosnail]

Can't wait to see it all set up.

 

[pillowfish]

Is that a cerianthus on the bottom left? Looks like it's in PVC?

 

[aiaman]

No, that's a duncan. I am trying to force growth onto an adjacent piece of lr instead of forming a ball.
The tube anemone is on the far right

 

[aiaman]

I added egg crate to the bottom to hopefully spread out the load of lr and prevent an avalanche from bottom dwellers in the future

this is the view of the tank in my living-room w/o SW.
Still waiting for an additional 80 lbs of Fiji Pink sand from my lfs

 

[HuuTa]

i love the corner tank.went through the same thing you did.what a pita but glad i broke down and finally did it.

 

[aiaman]

well it's always scary when you fill a new tank
never having a tank and sump the noises are keeping me awake as it's a bit louder than what I had prior
deep sandbed, 100 lbs of Fiji Pink
now the long wait 'till the cycles are done
90% of my lr is sitting in my current tank waiting

1/2 filled

completely filled & no leaks (so far)

the sump (still working on the wiring)

 

[pillowfish]

Looking good!! Post more pics

 

[aiaman]

hopefully there won't be any photo's of my wife beating me when the tank explodes in the livingroom

 

[bearwithfish]

WOOOHOOOOO!! man i love a good build thread! your tank is coming along nicely ...

 

[Bobbofin]

Is that a 15 high sump? I had a 54 corner many years ago. I used a 10 gallon for a sump and I had to notch the bottom trim to fit it.

 

[aiaman]

OK, so it hasn't exploded and my wife is still undecided yet
the old tank is really quiet since just a canister filter and an enclosed top. This new tank sounds like a waterfall and the Mrs may suggest I get a cover. I told her its just like the expensive white noise machine you would buy but this is free, hopefully this will slide for now...

The sand particulate is finally starting to clear up and you can see just how much sand I put in this tank.
I prefer the things that go bump in the night and live in darkened caves as more colorful fish and wanted to make sure they (future) had adequate habitat.
the following is the pic of just that

my sump is doing just fine and my temp filter sock is collecting the particulate just as expected.
I moved my heater to the dt as the heater is 2" taller than the sump level and laying the heater on the diagonal makes it harder to read, so it's in the dt now. I'll get another heater but make sure it can go in the sump as a backup if ever needed.
BTW - the sump is custom size to fit in a triangular cabinet, 18"h x 20"l x 10"w and water depth at max is 10-1/2"

 

[afboundguy]

Edd to help with the noise look up durso's and reverse durso's... If you really want quiet and if there are two holes drilled in the tank bottom (which I'm pretty sure there are) look up the herbie method. You'd have to hard plumb in the return line and make it loop over the back of the tank but it's beyond quiet... Trust me my wife hates any noise whatsoever from my tanks and thought this was quiet which I thought was a miracle

 

[afboundguy]

Here is a little "light" reading on the herbie method if you have time Edd http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=344892

And here is a quick example of my return line on my old 55...

 

[Flame Angel]

hopefully there won't be any photo's of my wife beating me when the tank explodes in the livingroom

Let her know video stands up better in court. I am kidding....

 

[aiaman]

So I figured out the problem with the louder than what I am used to, noise
It was the water returning from the dt to the overflow box.
Not having a setup like this before I wasn't aware of what I was supposed to see or hear and, like everything else trial and error
prevails
I just heard this waterfall sound and thought it was my water flowing into my dt from the sump but if you look at the following photos is shows my water lever in the tank is at the level for the excess flowing into the overflow box and in the 2nd photo the level of the box itself.
You can see that the box level is quite a bit lower than the dt.
So this meant that my pump was returning water faster than the tank could empty.
If I had another return pipe this probably wouldn't be a problem but I had only the one.
So I used my gate valve on my Mag 9.5 pump and turned it at about 60% open.
The sound has lessened and there is just a small sound heard now.
One question, how far can I turn the gate valve down and not cause damage to the pump or is this not recommended?

 

[Reefless me]

So long as you install the valve on the return side of the pump you wont hurt it. Do not install it on the pumps intake.

 

[aiaman]

I actually increased the flow & return again today.
I went to visit another reefer this morning and asked way too many questions.
In the end I found that all I needed to do was pull up on the overflow pipe and it is now up at the level my water is at, silly me.
Now it is real quiet, no humming, no water trickling only the fan noise.
Soon that'll be on a timer as well.

I added a cube of mysis shrimp today and a piece of live-rock to help spike the ammonia