bluebastion's 20g SPS M-Tank (glass)

[bluebastion]

I am a little reluctant to actually do a thread on this tank since I personally am lazy at taking pics and uploading them to a web host. However, this tank has given me such an awesome experience so far, I wanted to spread the love to you guys.... hoping others will realize how great of a tank the GLASS version is. 99.9 percent of the threads on M-tanks have been on the acrylic versions.... and the ones that are about the glass ones have been short lived. My objective here is to show my personal experience with this tank, and also show the functionality of this relatively new tank.

 

If you are considering a new tank that is designed to be an all-in-one, please don't leave this one out of the potential choices.... especially since it's Finnex (a proven brand to trust).

 

 

 

Here is some eye candy of my tank thus far:

 

 

 

I used Arag-Alive Pink Bimini "Live" sand... which I do have a question about. What's the pink pieces from? As you can see in this pic, the sand came with a very few pieces of rubble. One seems to be covered with pink... this can't be coraline, can it? I would tend to think it would die off because of the packaging. But then again, maybe even dead coraline can retain it's color?

 

Back chambers: 1st chamber(top compartment in pic) is where the skimmer is meant to go... I am waiting however to use it at the advice of Ken from Finnex. He says it's best to wait at least a month after the tank cycles, otherwise too much excess nutrients will be taken out of the water. So as of right now, the first chamber has the heater only. 2nd chamber has the U elbow for the RO water return from my ATO. Next is the ground rod, then the float switch (ATO)... thermometer probe, and lastly the cord to the 300+ GPH return pump.

 

My JBJ ATO is configured to use both float switches it came with. The mode I am utilizing is the recommended configuration. One switch in the "sump" area will set the RO return pump (in RO Rubbermaid Resevoir) to on when the minimum point is reached, until the float switch is high enough to switch the power to the pump off. The second float switch acts a redundant back up. It does not allow the power to the pump to be turned on when the water in the RO Resevoir reaches a minimum level as well.... even if the minimum is reached in the "sump".

 

Lastly, my tank shot again. As you can see, the sides and back of the chambers are clear glass. To me, it makes it easier to do what needs to be done in the already cramped spaces for all-in-one chambers.

 

I'll be updating this thread as soon as there is something worth updating for. Right now I have an order of 25 lbs. of Marshall Live Rock from Premium Aquatics processing for arrival on Wednesday. The order also includes 3lbs. of LR rubble for the 2nd chamber.... and 2 lbs. of real live sand to seed my Arag-Alive sand. So look for an update mid-week.

 

Right now, sooo tired. Thanks for reading....

 

Oh yeah, stocking plans so far as fish goes:

 

Flame Angel

Blue Spotted Jawfish

Helfrichi

[VDub90]

Looks really good so far. Lot's of options. I like your fish choice.

[pet_doc]

nice tank!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. christmas in july lol.

[bluebastion]

Thanks guys. It's really an awesome tank, and I am excited to get this thing cycled. Especially since the blue spotted jawfish has been stocked frequently around here. Must be the season or something....

 

nice tank!

p.s. christmas in july lol.

 

As for my avatar... sorry that was a gill thing back last xmas... you know what I'm talking about cause you had one. Anyways,... maybe if I sport it long enough it will be back in fashion.

[Fishfreak218]

p.s. christmas in july lol.

so.... theres nothing wrong with keeping the spirit year 'round

[RayWhisperer]

Looks great Blue!

 

I'm pretty sure the pink in the sand is crushed shells.

[bluebastion]

Hmmm... in a very unexpected move, I was just told by beyondx4 that the GLASS finnex 20 has been discontinued. A little odd since it has been out for less than a year. (Limited Editions?) Anyway, he also added that they may replace it with a 22 gallon version soon... with right angle corners. Interesting.... Anyone have any additional information on this move?

 

 

As for updates:

 

I received my marshall live rock today from Premium Aquatics. The box arrived somewhat wet on one side. When I opened it up, there was a styrofoam cooler that lined the box, and a mini freezer gel pack... that was needless to say, already melted and luke warm in this swealtering heat wave. Everything was still damp with wet newspaper and looked colorful. Awesome shapes and formations in all the rocks I received. I have not, however, noticed any hitch-hikers yet... and the rock has been in for at least 6 hours now. I did scoop up a couple dead pods floating on top of the water in my tank shortly after putting the rocks in. Hopefully, beneficial life forms survived the trip and will soon populate the tank. This would be my first experience with shipped LR, so I'm not used to the lack of immediate animation in my Live Rock. Is this normal for shipped rock?

 

Here's the box's condition upon arrival (I had opened the top already):

 

Here are the contents of the box upon opening:

 

My first and pretty much only attempt to aquascape this tank has come out perfect for me. I have no plans to change it. Please enjoy the following pictures.

 

FTS

 

From left side of tank

 

From right side of tank

 

Close up

 

In addition to the 25lbs. of Marshall LR... I also ordered 2 lbs. of live sand to seed my Arag-Alive sand... (which I'm wondering if the sand actually made it "alive" through the heat)... and I also purchased 3 lbs. of LR rubble for the fuge. Here's a picture of chamber two with about half of the rubble in it. I decided to only use the big pieces since it would be a pain to get to the pump if I had used the small pieces too. I used the bottom rain tray as a platform to sit above the pump... gotta love those rain trays.

 

 

Last and final shot for this update. Hope you guys like.

[KrustyKrab]

Looks good, great looking tank.

[Cesar]

Niiiice looking rock man. You can see some nice colors in that. I can see this tank is going to be awesome. Can't wait to see this tank develop some more.

[colinadam]

Very nice tank.

 

I also got PA's Marshall Island Live Rock and it did not have a ton of life on it.

I got a hitchiker crab (black and white striped) and some "barnaccle" growth along with some cool macro (which got out of control so I picked it off).

 

I think you trade off by getting the cool structure of the Marshall Island with a lack of cool critters.

 

Give it time and you will see something.

 

Or when you order your cleanup crew from them (I love their cleanup crews, baha hermits, Nassarius & Cernith snails are all great) you should order some "grunge" they sell. I know someone who ordered some from them for his fuge and loved it.

 

Keep up the good work

[beyondx4]

Looks like an awesome base for a beautiful nano-reef. With this cool structure, I wouldn't be too worried about the lack to creatures...that'll come.

 

About the discontinuation of the glass M-Tank, the information came from Premium Aquatics, which I'm not sure exactly why, because it seems to be such a nice setup (high quality 6mm thick glass, good nano-reef tank dimensions, built-in skimmer/fuge, and excellent price). Unless they've got something much better coming along the way, this would be a perfect first nano tank. I think the problem with M-Tanks is that not too many people know about their existence (especially the glass version) and the distinct advantages it has over the more mainstream Aquapods or NanoCubes. In any case, I will wait up to see what is going on with the upcoming version of the M-Tank and will make it my first nano-reef tank.

[MiNiReFeRx]

beautiful tank i plan on geting one

[ealshabaan]

do you use the standerd light which come with the m-tank in in your tank??

[bluebastion]

I am currently using the PC fixture it came with. I do have an AquaMedic MH pendant though... I might use it for this tank if I decide to go the way of SPS. The only deterrent for going SPS is flow. This setup has a 340 + gph pump but I'm not sure if it's one directional output puts out enough for SPS to thrive. I also don't really want to have another powerhead inside the display. So I may just go softies, even though I'm kinda sick of them.

[VDub90]

I am currently using the PC fixture it came with. I do have an AquaMedic MH pendant though... I might use it for this tank if I decide to go the way of SPS. The only deterrent for going SPS is flow. This setup has a 340 + gph pump but I'm not sure if it's one directional output puts out enough for SPS to thrive. I also don't really want to have another powerhead inside the display. So I may just go softies, even though I'm kinda sick of them.

 

 

For my acrylic M-tank, I just ordered a hydor flow. I'll let you know how it goes when mounted on the one return.

[Izzue]

For my acrylic M-tank, I just ordered a hydor flow. I'll let you know how it goes when mounted on the one return.

 

VDUB...good luck with the hydor flow...but let me recommend you to oversize your return pump. Espically if you not happy with hf.

You notice in Blues tank the waterline does not go to the top...hence the overflow is not at it max so it can be pushed by upgrading return pump.

0.02

Izzue

[ealshabaan]

how many lbs of LR and LS do you use?? and what is the deepth of your sand??

 

** you may note that i ask some strange question, because i will get one soon but with the build in fug from nanocustoms.com... so you are the leader

[zachxlutz]

From what I can tell, the tank probably has one bag of sand, so 20-25 lbs of sand, and he wrote up there that he put in 25 lbs of LR and 3 lbs of LR rubble.

 

Read.

[reefernanoman]

are you using a skimmer

[bluebastion]

VDUB...good luck with the hydor flow...but let me recommend you to oversize your return pump. Espically if you not happy with hf.

You notice in Blues tank the waterline does not go to the top...hence the overflow is not at it max so it can be pushed by upgrading return pump.

0.02

Izzue

 

Yeah, it's funny because the pump the tank comes with is permanently set at a certain flow. It even says not to tamper with the setting because it is set at it's optimal adjustment. I was wondering why the water line was so low in the display. Oh well, I can live with it. I can't however live with any stray water splashing out of the tank, so I don't mind the buffer room (in case of some freak accident).

 

 

Thanks Izzue for clearing that up though.

 

how many lbs of LR and LS do you use?? and what is the deepth of your sand??

 

** you may note that i ask some strange question, because i will get one soon but with the build in fug from nanocustoms.com... so you are the leader

 

 

Just like Zach had said, 25lbs. of Marshall LR from PA. The rubble is actually only in the fuge chamber... and I only used about 1/2 of it. I noticed when I got past half the bag of rubble, there was alot of sludge/die off at the bottom of the bag. Decided that I didn't want to use the rubble covered in that stuff....

 

As for the sand I did only use one bag of Arag-Live Sand (Bimini Pink)... and also ordered 2 lbs. of Florida live sand from PA as well. Not sure if it really made a difference... (please forgive the reitteration)... but the heat during the shipment probably killed most of the pods/worms in the sand and live rock.

[travisurfer]

How did I miss this thread? That is the best looking not yet stocked all-in-one tank i have seen. I wouldnt do the flame angel in a 20g though imo.

[bluebastion]

are you using a skimmer

 

 

No, not yet. Like stated above, I am following the advice of Ken from Finnex. He said that in his experience, he believes that for a new tank you should wait at least 1 month after the cycle to use a protein skimmer. His theory is that the benificial entities that would normally be allowed to cultivate in a tank without a skimmer, will populate the tank to it's fullest extent. Using a skimmer on a brand new setup prematurely will cause a slowing down or even halt of producing the benificial life forms (bacteria and others).... first because the food source is being limited (nitrites/ates etc.) and also the larvae/plankton that would otherwise mature is being removed from the tank. So do I have a skimmer in use now? No. Will I have one? Definitely. On that note...

 

 

I have a question on the AquaC Remora. Which one should I order? I am actually leaning towards the full blown original (not the nano). But looking at PA, I do get confused on which one to get. I am guessing this is the correct item, right?

 

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...gory_Code=AquaC

 

I just want to make sure it is. For some reason, the word "HOT" is in the item description and it somewhat throws me off as well. I am thinking it stands for Hang Over Tank.... even though I am more accustomed to the acronym HOB. Anyways, please fill me in on this skimmer. I decided not to play with the one my tank came with because I have read how finicky it is just to get it right. I just want plug and play.

[NorCalTRD]

That is the correct Remora. Go for it.

 

Along the same lines as the question above... Would a AquaC Urchin fit in the back area of the tank? The urchin states a footprint of 6x3. the back area is 4" right? If it will fit, is this a good or a bad idea? Why or why not?

 

Thanks,

Jordan

[bluebastion]

Along the same lines as the question above... Would a AquaC Urchin fit in the back area of the tank? The urchin states a footprint of 6x3. the back area is 4" right? If it will fit, is this a good or a bad idea? Why or why not?

 

Thanks,

Jordan

 

 

The first chamber (area for skimmer) is about 6"x3.6" usable space. It can be calculated easily as longer, but the lip corner somewhat hinders anything from being hung evenly... so that is why I say 6" in length, instead of 8"+.

 

EDIT: After you mentioned this other option (Urchin), I found a few deterents. It can only be used effectively in 12" of water or less.... otherwise its elevation must be adjusted (my preference is not to deal with that). The first chamber is more than 12" water level wise, and it can not be changed. Second, the footprint may only be 3" in width... but I think the description is talking about the "black box" itself. Not the piping that protrudes in the pics. So even though I very much so appreciate this suggestion.... which I seriously considered after you mentioning it. I think it's not the best option for this tank... if it even is an option (due to maybe a lack of room).

 

Looks like I'll be getting the AquaRemoraC w/ MaxiJet 1200. I will enjoy the extra room in chamber one as well (i.e. heater room).

[bluebastion]

Somewhat of an update. I moved my 150 MH AquaMedic pendant from my pico to my nano. Looks good, and the shimmering effect is just awesome. I'll have to get a new MH DE bulb soon though since it's about a year mark now with this XM 20k bulb. Any suggestions on a different bulb, and why? I'm curious as to what the Phoenix 14k would look like, although I have been satisfied with the XM 20k's performance... (it is a little dark though). I'm 95% sure that I'm going toward the SPS way now... so what I'm going for is both great growth and color.

 

Also, I need to get more flow. The amount in the tank now is plenty for softies, but I'm sure it's only OK for SPS. I am projecting that I'll only need to add one more PH or output for an optimal SPS system. My ideal mod would be to acquire the same plumbing pieces to add a matching output close to the surface skimmer. Anyone out there that is familiar with the M-Tank plumbing pieces know where to purchase the plumbing seperately? I'm not familiar with aquarium plumbing, but I know that I haven't seen this kind of plumbing on any reefing store site. Anyway, once I get the matching plumbing, I'll set a new pump at the bottom of chamber one (the same chamber I'm reserving for the AquaC remora). That's the plan anyway. Anyone have some suggestions or refrences? Thanks in advance.

 

I'll update a pic of my tank with the MH pendant soon.