Jon's 60g

[pgtanks]

looks good so far, like the tank size and your goals are solid

[IanWR]

Looks like you are on the right track for a smooth restart. Maybe you could reconsider your first new livestock addition, that may not completely fit into your low maintenance goal. Sure is cute though.

As for ordering live rock, I wouldn't bother. If you need/want more rock, just order some base. I see that Eli has a nice selection of shelf and pukani. I would also get new sand. You don't want your nice new stable setup marred with unwanted algae.

Keep us posted with the progress.

- Ian

[FishyFishy!]

As for s cheaper efficient skimmer, you might want to look into a bubble magus. Maybe a curve 5 or 7. They are good, cheap, efficient skimmers. I have had 2 curve 7's, and they worked great.

As for the fuge, I see a couple options without having to modify too much:

You could add a glass or acrylic baffle on one side of the sump and connect it with your return pump to make the fuge. Simple and affordable. Just a piece of glass or acrylic and some silicone.

You could purchase a hang on fuge like a CPR. Or even modify an aquaclear 100 into a hang on fuge. If you look up "aquaclear fuge mod" you'll see a bunch. I have used many of these and they work fantastic.

Or you could stick with your current design, and use a 2.5 or 5 gallon smaller tank and place it within the sump. Then feed it with a pump or from your overflow. It would simply overflow back into the sump. Might look a little better than a bucket, and hold more volume due to the square shape.

Tagging along to see your progress!

[Leah]

Didn't know things actually bred in a tank.

[FishyFishy!]

Originally Posted by Leah

Didn't know things actually bred in a tank.

Are you drunk?

Oh yeah....ditch the old sand...that sounds like trouble and a lot of extra work.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Originally Posted by FishyFishy!

Are you drunk?

Oh yeah....ditch the old sand...that sounds like trouble and a lot of extra work.

I think she was joking about the last pic with the Baby in the tank.

[jon.smolders]

Yeah I think I'm leaning toward ordering some dry rock from fijireefrock.com. Probably 25 lbs of pukani and 20 of Tonga shelf. You guys are probably right about getting new sand. I forgot I had already cleaned that sand a while ago.. and it smells ok now but who knows if it would leach anything back into the tank. Ill pick up a few bags of new stuff. Better safe then sorry.

I really like the vertex omega 130, but ill definitely check out that curve 7 too.

[ReEf BoSs]

Originally Posted by FishyFishy!

As for s cheaper efficient skimmer, you might want to look into a bubble magus. Maybe a curve 5 or 7. They are good, cheap, efficient skimmers. I have had 2 curve 7's, and they worked great.

As for the fuge, I see a couple options without having to modify too much:

You could add a glass or acrylic baffle on one side of the sump and connect it with your return pump to make the fuge. Simple and affordable. Just a piece of glass or acrylic and some silicone.

You could purchase a hang on fuge like a CPR. Or even modify an aquaclear 100 into a hang on fuge. If you look up "aquaclear fuge mod" you'll see a bunch. I have used many of these and they work fantastic.

Or you could stick with your current design, and use a 2.5 or 5 gallon smaller tank and place it within the sump. Then feed it with a pump or from your overflow. It would simply overflow back into the sump. Might look a little better than a bucket, and hold more volume due to the square shape.

Tagging along to see your progress!

I agree i have a curve 5, they are worth the money.love the smaller foot print too.

[jon.smolders]

Originally Posted by ReEf BoSs

I agree i have a curve 5, they are worth the money.love the smaller foot print too.

Yeah, I think I'm leaning more towards the curve 5 now... especially now that the Vertex Omega 130 has jumped in price by $30. Somehow in my mind that extra bit pushed it into the "expensive, high end skimmer" category, lol. The $160 difference could be my first few fish or frags too!

But yeah, after reading some reviews, the curve 5 looks like the way to go. How do you find the noise level? What water depth do you run it at? I had my glass cut for my sump so that my skimmer section would have a water level of 8" so I hope that's not an issue. I have heard that some people run them lower than the recommended 9-11" water level.

[Doug]

Good work on the stand. Love it