Lovemyreef's 55 gallon paradise - Update New addition

I've been on here for a while so I figured it's time to start my build thread. This is my first saltwater tank and with my husbands advice (dsc reef) I've learned a lot to keep my 55 alive and flourishing. The tank has been running for about 7 months with the live rock from our previous 125 so cycling didn't take that long. It's a standard dimension 55 tank with an overflow rated at 800-1000 gph. The return is a blue line aquatics external pump rated at over 1000 gph with a ball valve to dial down the flow. The filtration is a 15 gallon trickle filter modified to a standard sump. Besides the first stage filter and chemipure blue and live rock, there is no other filtration for this tank. I would like a protein skimmer so I see that happening in the near future. Lighting is a current T5-6 bulb fixture with all ATI bulbs. 3 blue plus, 2 actinic and a purple plus is the combination I'm using. There's 2 power heads rated at 600 gph each so there's nice movement in the tank. I have a 2 inch Fiji pink sand bed and a lot of live rock but I'm not sure what it equals in pounds. The bio load is kept low with only 3 small fish and multiple corals that mostly came from dsc's reef tank. Live stock includes a coral beauty angel fish, mimic ebli tang and a leopard wrasse that all get along great. These fish were added months apart. A few turbo snails, a few blue hermits and my red brittle starfish round out my clean up crew. The water changes are done every week with 10 gallons of water from my husbands tank and a new batch of coral pro once a month. Getting close to the year mark and luckily there has been no nuisance algaes to deal with. Coralline algae is popping up and the parameters are consistent with a little 2 part dosing and weekly testing. I'm excited to be on this forum and watching my little reef grow.

 

excellent start, I love the open aquasape and good space for that leopard wrasse to cruise. They are my favs! And get a nice skimmer soon to make all happy. Is that third pic down a brittle star? Very cool tank

 

Thanks zissou. Getting a skimmer is top priority. Yes, it is a brittle star Dsc and I have had him for a few years now. He likes to sit by the overflow to catch food. Dsc hand feeds him and it's fun to watch him bring food to his mouth. The leopard wrasse is a beautiful fish.

 

what is that hellish creature?

 

Are you talking about the 3rd picture down? If so, that's our red brittle star. He is big. Doesn't hide much which is a bonus because we love to watch him.

 

looks huge

 

We got it when it was the size of a half dollar, now the oral disk alone is about the size of 2 half dollars. It's fun to hand feed him.

 

Love the scape i couldnt ever get my 55 to look nice before i had to break it down for a move ended up cracking the tank. :/ reason i wemt with a different tank.