My 30g Finnex w/ Fuge

[ReefInChicago]

as i'd mentioned before, i ordered the finnex 30g w/ fuge from nanotuners. it actually arrived about 10 days ago, but because of the thanksgiving holiday and some business travel, i couldn't get it set up and running until this week.

 

i'd actually assembled both the tank and stand prior to leaving last week. the tank was actually pretty easy, but the stand was not. the directions were pretty scant, and i ended up having to take it semi-apart midway through the assembly process because i hadn't gotten the right sides up. it took about 2 hours from opening the box to finishing.

 

yesterday i did the leak check and filled with ro/di water from my basement.....it was COLD. i added a thermometer and turned the pump on. today, it's running at 76 degrees. today i turned on the skimmer (more in a sec on that) and added substrate. i went with the indo pacific black/white mix. i'm not planning on having any major burrows created, so i'll put the rock on top.

 

today i ordered 25 lbs of lr and 10 lbs of rubble from pa. i'm hoping it'll arrive tomorrow. i ordered 10 lbs of rubble because i'm planning on modding out my two small cubes to build mini-fuges in them. i'm also plannnig on 'curing' the rubble in the 30g for at least two weeks before adding them and some chaeto to the cubes, along with some small lighting.

 

here's the boring tank/stand shot, with the cloudy water. more as i get the lr set.

 

skimmer question: should the cup be full of water? i've tuned the powerhead so that the water doesn't rise into the discharge cup. i've never used a skimmer before, so any input would be welcomed.

[Deleted User 7]

Looks like a great start!! Where's the fuge? I'll be tracking this one, sounds like it will be a good looking tank. Let me know and we can trade some frags in the future. During the summer I live in Woodstock, Ill and even during the school year, Madison isn't that far away. Good luck!

 

- Eben

[ReefInChicago]

Looks like a great start!! Where's the fuge? I'll be tracking this one, sounds like it will be a good looking tank. Let me know and we can trade some frags in the future. During the summer I live in Woodstock, Ill and even during the school year, Madison isn't that far away. Good luck!

 

- Eben

 

thanks. i'm in lake villa, so not all that far away.

 

the fuge is in the back 1/6 or so of the tank, along with the skimmer. i've added about an inch of ls into the bottom. i'm hoping the lr gets here tomorrow, but i'm also hoping the dust settles (so to speak) so i can see what i'm building!

 

after that, 2 weeks or so of watching rock. hopefully i'll get at least a few interesting hitchikers.

[ReefInChicago]

live rock arrived today.

 

25 lbs was perfect for the size of the tank (i had one piece left over).

 

10 lbs of lr rubble was too much. in the pic below, you can see two stacks of rubble that i'll be adding to my nanocube and aquapod after the cycle completes in this tank.

 

i left a couple openings in the front for sand-placed corals, and hopefully got the rock set so i can add sps frags at the top. i also tried to leave a couple overhangs for 'shrooms.

 

i also put the rock tight to the back wall this time, and am hoping to add a couple gsp frags to grow up the back of the tank.

 

i'm getting a lot of microbubbles from the skimmer, but i think i've read that this is normal during breakin periods.

 

here's a pic (sorry about the reflection).

 

matt

[Deleted User 7]

Looking great!!! Excited to see your cycle underway and from what I can see that is quite a nice scape job you've done there.

[PseudanthiasVentralis]

What tipe of lighting? It looks bright in the first pic.

[ReefInChicago]

What tipe of lighting? It looks bright in the first pic.

 

stock t5ho lighting from finnex. from what i understand, i can put almost anything under it, though i'll be asking for limitations, and if anyone has thoughts on what clams/sps i CAN include - or CAN'T - i'd be obliged.

 

in addition, i read c7's thread on reef central, and i'm having the same issues with microbubbles from the skimmer as everyone (execpt c7) had. from what i've read, they'll go away as the skimmer breaks in.

[Deleted User 7]

They should be gone within two weeks.

[Phixion]

Is this the glass model? Eitherway, it looks great so far!! I'm ordering the 30g glass Finnex M tank in about a month or so.

[ReefInChicago]

Is this the glass model? Eitherway, it looks great so far!! I'm ordering the 30g glass Finnex M tank in about a month or so.

 

yup. sides are glass, the work for the fuge/skimmer is acrylic.

 

i really love the look of this tank. if you get the stand, be prepared for a 'visionary' experience, though. i mean, based on the directions, you gotta 'vision' what you're supposed to do.

 

dr. daggett, thanks. it's not as original as yours (which i really like, too.....more pics?), but i like the tank a lot. i've got the rockwork set up (i'll try to get better pics when i can) so that there are 2 fairly large caves and it's fairly open so there don't seem to be any major dead areas (this is where the microbubbles come in handy.....you can really see circulation flow).

 

gotta go visit sharky's this weekend. i tested the water in the 12g cube of pain today (salifert test kits....i like them) and no ammonia, nitrate, nitrite or phosphate. i'm gonna pick up a couple zoa frags, i think.

 

matt

[kaze_sr]

I really like the design of this tank. I can't wait to see how will turn out.

 

I was also considering ordering one. let us know if you are pleased with it =)

[ReefInChicago]

I really like the design of this tank. I can't wait to see how will turn out.

 

I was also considering ordering one. let us know if you are pleased with it =)

 

you'll be able to SEE if i'm pleased with it if i can keep this journal going.

 

salinity this morning was pretty high: 1.026. i added enough ro/di water to get it back to 1.024, which is where i'm trying to keep it. when i added the lr yesterday, i was at 1.024, so this could mean i'm getting a LOT of evaporation. that'd make sense.....winter, dry house, etc. i'm gonna have to watch this, though. i'm using a refractometer for the tests, which makes life a LOT easier.

 

initial tests this morning:

 

ph: 8.1

nitrates: 2

nitrites: .25

ammonia: .5

 

i'll probably do tests every 2 or 3 days, but i'll be testing salinity every day until i get the hang of topping off, and perhaps see if i need an automated topoff.

 

here's another pic. microbubbles still keep the water cloudy-looking. the rubble in front goes to my other tanks......i took the tape off the back of chambers 1 and 2 of each of them yesterday, but i don't want to add non-cured rubble to the tanks.

 

edit: oh, i also removed about an eighth of a cup of really foul-smelling, yellowish water from the skimmer, which gives me hope that it's actually skimming!

[ReefInChicago]

updated pic. microbubbles becoming less of an issue. topoff IS an issue, though. i added nearly a quart of water before bedtime last night and another this am.

 

cycle seems to be progressing.....ammonia down today, nitrites down, nitrates up.

 

ph: 8.1

nitrates 10

nitrites .1

ammonia .25

[Deleted User 7]

Still no diatom explosion....... just wait. haha. that should be there by the weekend.

[ReefInChicago]

Still no diatom explosion....... just wait. haha. that should be there by the weekend.

 

it's starting.

 

i also added a hydor flo today, btw.

[Deleted User 7]

Brace yourself! The fun has begun!!!

[Cshradr7]

Which way do you have your pump plugged into the skimmer? what we have found is that if the pump is upsidedown, with the intake up rather than down, it makes much much less noise

[ReefInChicago]

Which way do you have your pump plugged into the skimmer? what we have found is that if the pump is upsidedown, with the intake up rather than down, it makes much much less noise

 

intake up. no problem with skimmer noise, just trying to make sure that the bubbles are not overflowing into the cup. i THINK i've got it.

 

my other major issue was with keeping the water levels similar in the back. i also wasn't getting any flow into the 'fuge. this morning i think i've finally got it set right, so i'm getting flow INTO the skimmer, and OUT OF the 'fuge' into the tank.

 

edit: new water parms

 

ph 8.0

ammonia <.25

nitrite <.1

nitrate 25-50

 

new pic. diatoms growing, hydor added. getting the flow balanced between the fuge and the hydor was a challenge.

[Phixion]

I just ordered mine after hearing that it's being discontinued soon. Any tips you want to suggest for when I recieve it? And also how long did it take to ship from the factory since that's how they are shipped. I ordered mine from PremiumAquatics though since the price there is good, and shipping wasn't too bad of a price.

[Asin]

I just ordered mine after hearing that it's being discontinued soon. Any tips you want to suggest for when I recieve it? And also how long did it take to ship from the factory since that's how they are shipped. I ordered mine from PremiumAquatics though since the price there is good, and shipping wasn't too bad of a price.

 

Yeah, how long does it take, I need to have that weekend open when Phix receives it.

[travisurfer]

great tank; especially the aquascape

[ReefInChicago]

I just ordered mine after hearing that it's being discontinued soon. Any tips you want to suggest for when I recieve it? And also how long did it take to ship from the factory since that's how they are shipped. I ordered mine from PremiumAquatics though since the price there is good, and shipping wasn't too bad of a price.

 

phixion: since i live in chicago the tank arrived within two days (finnex's 'factory' is in chicago), and that was standard 7-day ups shipping. the stand, unfortunately, arrived 3 days later.

 

there's a thread over on rc:

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=965109

 

that a poster here used to document the setup process. there's another linked within that thread in which several posters describe their experiences. i thought both were very good reads.

 

it sounds like some tanks come with powerheads installed, others don't (mine were in the boxes). in some cases, the piping assemblies are done, in others they're not (mine were). the biggest thing to look for seems to be cracks.....the don't seem to ship well, and i can understand, after seeing how they're packed now, why finnex is getting out of this biz. mine came in two boxes, bubble wrap between them, bubble wrap around the tank in the inside box.

 

the directions are negligible, and consist of schematics. you're a vet, so you'll be fine, but for me (never having set up a skimmer before) it was kinda hit and miss.

 

the biggest challenge you'll likely have is making sure you've got good flow into the fuge and getting the skimmer tuned, which is to say there's not much to it. you'll also likely need a hydor flo or use another technique to disperse flow.

 

don't know if you bought the stand, but here the directions aren't just difficult, they suck. again, schematics rather than step-by-step and this is a reasonably complex setup. for me, there were two big things:

 

1. make sure that the front and back crossbars are correct side up. i didn't, and had to take the darn thing halfway apart to correct when i was adding the top and bottom.

 

2. use a rubber hammer to drive the dowels, not a metal one. better chance of splitting if you use metal.

 

that's about it.

 

my lr cycle seems to be mostly complete. stats:

 

ph 8.1

ammonia trace (using dip test sticks)

nitrite 0.05

nitrate 10

 

edit: didn't believe the ammonia test, so decided to try another test kit. i just don't trust those sticks. this time, ammonia level turned out to be right around .4.

 

now i gotta find an online source for chaeto and next week i'll start looking for cleanup crews after i get a good start on some hair algae and the ammonia/nitrite levels get to 0. probably end of next week, early the following.

 

two edits: travisurfer, thanks. i spent a lot of time looking at people's setups in this forum. i also think it'll look much better when some corals have been added and the lr rubble is gone. i left a lot of open space in the scape.

 

and, i found my first significant hitch hiker this morning.

 

a $%^&**(( aiptasia.

[Phixion]

Awesome, thank's a bunch on the heads up info. Piecing together the components I don't mind as long as everything I need and is supposed to be included, is actually there lol! I've enver put together a skimmer before either (let alone ever used one) but I'm prettty good when it comes to putting things together, and generally can do so without instructions as long as it's all straight forward. 30g is a big tank size, so I'm sure the cracking issues were plentyful. Of course it's all dependant on how well it's packaged in the first place, but even the best packaging can't always prevent damage if the shock to the pacakge is great enough. Most electronics are packaged to survive even a fall out of the back of a UPS/FedEx truck at say a normal street speed. Glass more than likely wouldn't hold up to that however. But anyways thanks again for the info, and I'll definitely check out the other link.

[ReefInChicago]

well, you don't really have to 'put together' the skimmer.....for me, at least, it came assembled and all i needed to do was add the plumbing. however, as this goes on, i'm seeing a couple things:

 

1. balancing the flow between the fuge and the main tank is tough. if you have substantial flow through the fuge you get very little in the main tank (at least, it feels like very little). this could be the hydor, i suppose, because when i didn't have the hydor attached i had to have the level of the tank fairly low if i pointed the outflow nozzle at the front to get even circulation, otherwise water was overflowing the front. in the long run, i may go to a larger pump for the fuge/tank circulation if i keep the hydor attached.

 

2. i still can't get the water level in the first chamber even with the tank. it's no big deal, i suppose, but the outflow from the skimmer pump seems VERY low. the skimmer's working pretty well, though.....i remove a few tablespoons of smelly nasty green/yellow water every morning.

 

let me know what you find when you get yours set up. maybe i'm doing something wrong, but i followed the schematics and c7's directions pretty closely.

 

other than that, i really like the tank. as you may guess, i'm not much of a diy'er, though i suppose if directions are good i'm fine. so, the all-in-one nature of the tank is appealing to me because i don't have to worry about sumps and major plumbing issues.

 

diatoms are in full bloom on most lr surfaces and are beginning on sides/back of the tank. when i checked water parms this morning:

 

ph: 8.1

nitrite: 0.01 (had to follow the low reading directions on the salifert test)

nitrate: 0.1

ammonia: almost negligble in the instant ocean 15-minute test

 

the ammonia is what bothers me. when i tested with the strip yesterday i got a trace only. then, i used the instant ocean test vial/powders and got substantial readings (.4). today, they're almost nothing again. i'm going to be visiting sharky's later today (picked up some nice rics and a xenia frag friday for the 12g that have both opened nicely) so maybe i'll pick up a salifert ammonia test kit. i REALLY don't want to start adding anything until ammonia levels are zero, having learned the hard way that this is a dumb thing to do.

 

once that happens, i'm going to add a small cleanup crew (snails only, i think....i'm tired of watching the hermits kill snails for their shells) next week sometime, or perhaps the week after. i'm still waffling on which fish to go with. right now, clowns, chromis and a goby are my thoughts.

[Cshradr7]

I'd be interested in seeing how close the instant ocean tests are to the salifert. I have the instant ocean kit and have never tested positive for nitrites or nitrates and ammonia is fairly stable.