50 gallon WIP

Well I've finally got my 50 gallon up and going. It's actually had water in it cycling for about a month but I just got my lights wired in the other day. I ordered a TEK T5 retrofit kit with AquaActinics reflectors which are supposed to be some of the best out there, and a couple of UVL bulbs, one white and one super actinic. I mounted the ballast on the back of the canopy and have been monitoring the heat, so far it's gotten hot but not too bad which I suppose is normal for a ballast. I know I need more rock but this project has been on a 'deal-only' basis and I've been biding my time buying this and that for it as I come across awesome deals. I am very satisfied with how it's turned out so far, hopefully now with the lights in we'll get an ugly algae bloom so I can get my clean up crew (hermits and snails etc) and finally have some life in this thing! As it is I've got one lone anemone/coral something or the other with clear bulb-like tips that comes out at night and can be seen clearly with a flashlight...oh yeah, and lots and lots and lots of tiny little copepods everywhere! Good stuff, can't wait to see some coraline growth :)

Anyway, here is the tank and stand before I sanded, stained and modded it for reefing, this was a few months ago (notice the single bulkhead at the bottom):



Had to build up an acrylic box around that bulkhead and then I built a 'Durso' standpipe in there to silence the drain so it didn't sound like a toilet. Lots and lots of stuff on the internet to DIY. I'm a helpless noob so thanks to my buddies and fellow reef-a-holics out there for all the tips.

Here is a recent shot of what it now looks like:



And because I LOVE the blue glowing look and one of the main reasons it's sitting in our living room currently...





For the sump below I've just got a 20 gallon long with a couple of baffles and a huge mess of PVC and a cheap skimmer (Coralife), here's a shot of some of the guts down there:



Anyway, definitely more to come, I think now I will focus on cleaning up some wires and do some power management. Need to buy a reef master test kit, a magfloat and probably need another powerhead to move some water in the display tank a bit more.

-Clay