54 gallon Corner Tank Feasibility?

RiftPoint · 03/27/2020, 06:55 AM

Hello all,

My wife and I have been maintaining a 30 gallon freshwater tank for the last 5 years and have started toying around with the idea of a second tank. Possibly going with a saltwater.

The tank we're looking into is a 54 gallon corner tank with it's own stand.

I've been beginning to research into what is necessary to get a SW tank up and running and I'm trying to figure out if that tank, in a corner with that stand, is really even feasible for a SW setup. At least initially we would be looking at FOWLR, I'm not sure we want to go right into setting up a full reef tank.

My initial thought had been to set up a canister filter (like we have with our FW) system, but it looks like a sump system with a protein skimmer would be best. Would something like that even fit in the stand under that tank?

Any thoughts or suggestions would very much be appreciated! We're just in the research phase right now and we're either going to do an SW setup correct in that corner tank or we'll just go with another FW setup in it.

Thanks!

Sk8r · 03/29/2020, 08:48 AM

I have that tank BUT with a corner inbuilt downflow: an excellent tank for corals and blenny-goby sized fish. If you have a basement under its placement, 2 1" holes above baseboard or in floor could give you a basement sump, which is the best of all worlds===infinite room for gear. As is, you can fit a 10 gallon sump under it IF you do it before you fill the tank. There is an Urchin skimmer from Aqua C I think it is, not hugely effective but it does work, and it will fit that 10 g sump.

DgenR8 · 03/31/2020, 12:52 AM

RiftPoint · 03/31/2020, 07:59 AM

So in the couple of days it took for this post to get approved I've gone fairly down the rabbit hole and come to some more conclusions:

That stand does not seem like it will allow us to fit a sump into it at all. We will probably just build our own into the corner and then hide it to match the walls around it. This will allow us to get either a sump with a 10" x 20" footprint or even a Eshopps RS-75 Reef Sump or IceCap 15 Reef Sump.

Then we would need to decide if we should go with the reef-ready version of the 54 gallon corner ($650) or get the one with the stand which is typically on sale for around $250 and drill it ourselves or get it drilled and make an overflow weir to match the reef-ready version. Does anyone know whether the reef-ready version has enough drilled holes in it to do a Herbie style overflow setup? I would really like to keep things quiet and safe(er), but the corner we have necessitates that all the plumbing would need to come up through the bottom of the tank... Would overflow be that severe of a concern with this kind of a tank/sump combo?

HumbleFish · 03/31/2020, 11:33 AM

I will first say that an overflow, sump, etc. is always the best way to go. HOWEVER, unless the tank already came predrilled and ready to go... I wouldn't bother with all that on a tank this small. If you can pull the tank away from the wall a little bit you should be able to use a HOB (Hang On Back) filter + HOB protein skimmer. Plus some pumps for circulation. Let your rocks + sand be the primary filtration. I used HOB everything on this 57 gallon (no sump):

Monkeyfish · 03/31/2020, 11:52 AM

If you want to get a sump, check with a local glass works shop and ask how much for them to drill it. BEFORE this, you need to make sure the tank can be drilled as some of the non-drilled tanks use tempered glass (not drillable).

However, I've run 75 and 29 gallon reefs without sumps. Key is doing regular water changes and stocking slowly to allow the system to establish itself. Live rock and either a hang on back skimmer or a couple of Aquaclear filters using GAC and phosban work well. I'd remove any sponges in the filters as they tend to be nitrate farms in the long run.

RiftPoint · 03/31/2020, 12:12 PM

Thanks for the suggestions! I've been trying to figure out the Aqueon tank options, but currently responses seem to be limited.

Fitting the tank into the space is tight, pulling it away from the wall enough probably would be difficult.

RiftPoint · 03/31/2020, 12:14 PM

RiftPoint · 03/31/2020, 12:15 PM

Wow... I apologize for the pretty much 1:1 scale pictures....

callsign4223 · 03/31/2020, 01:44 PM

Like others have said, sumps are a nice to have not a requirement. If you have the equipment already then forego the sump. Sumps give you a place to hide stuff, an extra volume of water to assist in stability, and a good place for auto top offs. I have two tanks at home, a 120 gallon with a 40 gallon sump and a 20 gallon with no sump. I just do a 5 gallon water change on the small one every couple weeks and keep it topped off. It is in as good if not better condition than the larger one.

RiftPoint · 03/31/2020, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by callsign4223

Like others have said, sumps are a nice to have not a requirement. If you have the equipment already then forego the sump. Sumps give you a place to hide stuff, an extra volume of water to assist in stability, and a good place for auto top offs. I have two tanks at home, a 120 gallon with a 40 gallon sump and a 20 gallon with no sump. I just do a 5 gallon water change on the small one every couple weeks and keep it topped off. It is in as good if not better condition than the larger one.

Do you run an internal protein skimmer or HOB equipment on those then as well?

ThRoewer · 03/31/2020, 02:12 PM

I've done HOB filter and skimmer and while it works, I would not recommend it, especially if the tank is in a living area where you want it to look nice.
Ultimately you will want a sump to be able to hide the tech, have a refugium, keep the water level fluctuations away from the display, and a whole host of other reasons.
Since you still have the option, I would suggest to do it right the first time and safe yourself a lot of money and frustration because rather sooner than later you will want a sump. Trust me, I've been there.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

callsign4223 · 03/31/2020, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RiftPoint

Do you run an internal protein skimmer or HOB equipment on those then as well?

I'm only running a heater on mine. Doing a 25% water change every 2 weeks is keeping everything in check for me. I trust in the rock to keep my biological filtration under control. If I start to notice significant amounts of detritus I will clamp a filter sock INSIDE the rim of the tank and use a maxijet to suck it up and through the sock.

EDIT: I am using a jebao powerhead for water movement inside the tank.

RiftPoint · 04/03/2020, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sk8r

I have that tank BUT with a corner inbuilt downflow: an excellent tank for corals and blenny-goby sized fish. If you have a basement under its placement, 2 1" holes above baseboard or in floor could give you a basement sump, which is the best of all worlds===infinite room for gear. As is, you can fit a 10 gallon sump under it IF you do it before you fill the tank. There is an Urchin skimmer from Aqua C I think it is, not hugely effective but it does work, and it will fit that 10 g sump.

Do you have any pictures of your setup? I'm not certain what a corner inbuilt downflow is, could you elaborate on that (I googled it, but didn't find anything right away). We were thinking of a couple of clowns (potentially), a firefish, and maybe a goby. Still at the very preliminary planning stage of researching fish though.

We do have a basement and we did toy around with the idea of that, but I'm not certain we're ready to get quote that serious about, lol. I also toyed around with piping it into the front hall closet that's right next to it but my wife wasn't fully comfortable with that idea.

Misled · 04/04/2020, 08:52 AM

Here's my old one.

The overflow is in the back corner. You can click my blog for more of that tank, but it's gone now.

tidewater · 04/05/2020, 12:59 PM

On the tank see if the bottom is tempered if not it can be drilled. While that tank does not offer much space under it you are not limited to that space. I’ve drilled holes in walls and had sumps in other rooms/closets when basement wasn’t an option.

03/27/2020, 06:55 AM	#1
RiftPoint Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 7	54 gallon Corner Tank Feasibility? Hello all, My wife and I have been maintaining a 30 gallon freshwater tank for the last 5 years and have started toying around with the idea of a second tank. Possibly going with a saltwater. The tank we're looking into is a 54 gallon corner tank with it's own stand. I've been beginning to research into what is necessary to get a SW tank up and running and I'm trying to figure out if that tank, in a corner with that stand, is really even feasible for a SW setup. At least initially we would be looking at FOWLR, I'm not sure we want to go right into setting up a full reef tank. My initial thought had been to set up a canister filter (like we have with our FW) system, but it looks like a sump system with a protein skimmer would be best. Would something like that even fit in the stand under that tank? Any thoughts or suggestions would very much be appreciated! We're just in the research phase right now and we're either going to do an SW setup correct in that corner tank or we'll just go with another FW setup in it. Thanks!

03/29/2020, 08:48 AM	#2
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	I have that tank BUT with a corner inbuilt downflow: an excellent tank for corals and blenny-goby sized fish. If you have a basement under its placement, 2 1" holes above baseboard or in floor could give you a basement sump, which is the best of all worlds===infinite room for gear. As is, you can fit a 10 gallon sump under it IF you do it before you fill the tank. There is an Urchin skimmer from Aqua C I think it is, not hugely effective but it does work, and it will fit that 10 g sump. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

03/31/2020, 12:52 AM	#3
DgenR8 I'm an American and I remember Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Long Island, New York Posts: 43,992	__________________ “I wish there was a way to know that you were IN the good old days, before leaving them.” ~Andy Bernard Regional Manager, Scranton branch Dunder Mifflin Current Tank Info: Unknown slow drip, over 20 years damaged my house and heating system. No more tank.

03/31/2020, 11:52 AM	#6
Monkeyfish Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Long Island (NY) Posts: 4,077	If you want to get a sump, check with a local glass works shop and ask how much for them to drill it. BEFORE this, you need to make sure the tank can be drilled as some of the non-drilled tanks use tempered glass (not drillable). However, I've run 75 and 29 gallon reefs without sumps. Key is doing regular water changes and stocking slowly to allow the system to establish itself. Live rock and either a hang on back skimmer or a couple of Aquaclear filters using GAC and phosban work well. I'd remove any sponges in the filters as they tend to be nitrate farms in the long run. __________________ Eric "One thing that humbles me deeply is to see that human genius has its limits while human stupidity does not." Current Tank Info: Taking a break

03/31/2020, 02:12 PM	#12
ThRoewer Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Fremont, CA Posts: 9,555	I've done HOB filter and skimmer and while it works, I would not recommend it, especially if the tank is in a living area where you want it to look nice. Ultimately you will want a sump to be able to hide the tech, have a refugium, keep the water level fluctuations away from the display, and a whole host of other reasons. Since you still have the option, I would suggest to do it right the first time and safe yourself a lot of money and frustration because rather sooner than later you will want a sump. Trust me, I've been there. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk __________________ Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +...

03/31/2020, 07:59 AM	#4
RiftPoint Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 7	So in the couple of days it took for this post to get approved I've gone fairly down the rabbit hole and come to some more conclusions: That stand does not seem like it will allow us to fit a sump into it at all. We will probably just build our own into the corner and then hide it to match the walls around it. This will allow us to get either a sump with a 10" x 20" footprint or even a Eshopps RS-75 Reef Sump or IceCap 15 Reef Sump. Then we would need to decide if we should go with the reef-ready version of the 54 gallon corner ($650) or get the one with the stand which is typically on sale for around $250 and drill it ourselves or get it drilled and make an overflow weir to match the reef-ready version. Does anyone know whether the reef-ready version has enough drilled holes in it to do a Herbie style overflow setup? I would really like to keep things quiet and safe(er), but the corner we have necessitates that all the plumbing would need to come up through the bottom of the tank... Would overflow be that severe of a concern with this kind of a tank/sump combo?

03/31/2020, 11:33 AM	#5
HumbleFish Moved On Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 4,757	I will first say that an overflow, sump, etc. is always the best way to go. HOWEVER, unless the tank already came predrilled and ready to go... I wouldn't bother with all that on a tank this small. If you can pull the tank away from the wall a little bit you should be able to use a HOB (Hang On Back) filter + HOB protein skimmer. Plus some pumps for circulation. Let your rocks + sand be the primary filtration. I used HOB everything on this 57 gallon (no sump):

03/31/2020, 12:12 PM	#7
RiftPoint Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 7	Thanks for the suggestions! I've been trying to figure out the Aqueon tank options, but currently responses seem to be limited. Fitting the tank into the space is tight, pulling it away from the wall enough probably would be difficult.

03/31/2020, 12:14 PM	#8
RiftPoint Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 7

03/31/2020, 12:15 PM	#9
RiftPoint Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 7	Wow... I apologize for the pretty much 1:1 scale pictures....

03/31/2020, 01:44 PM	#10
callsign4223 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 348	Like others have said, sumps are a nice to have not a requirement. If you have the equipment already then forego the sump. Sumps give you a place to hide stuff, an extra volume of water to assist in stability, and a good place for auto top offs. I have two tanks at home, a 120 gallon with a 40 gallon sump and a 20 gallon with no sump. I just do a 5 gallon water change on the small one every couple weeks and keep it topped off. It is in as good if not better condition than the larger one.

04/04/2020, 08:52 AM	#15
Misled RC Mod Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa Posts: 11,440 Blog Entries: 11	Here's my old one. The overflow is in the back corner. You can click my blog for more of that tank, but it's gone now. __________________ Jesse I'm not saying I'm Batman. I'm just saying nobody has ever seen me and Batman in a room together.

04/05/2020, 12:59 PM	#16
tidewater Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 100	On the tank see if the bottom is tempered if not it can be drilled. While that tank does not offer much space under it you are not limited to that space. I’ve drilled holes in walls and had sumps in other rooms/closets when basement wasn’t an option. __________________ If you only knew how much effort it takes to pretend I care.