eksblenny's ADA 24x18x18 30G Tank

[eksblenny]

[CURRENT NEWS APRIL 12 2011]

 

Just a new FTS... very little change.

 

 

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[CURRENT NEWS MARCH 12 2011]

 

New FTS for today. Added a second juvenile percula, hope all goes well with the pairing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[OLD NEWS MARCH 5 2011]

 

Wow I haven't updated this thread in forever. Many things have happened since...

 

So I bought a loft condo across the bay and had to move my tank. During the process, unfortunately, I lost most of my SPS corals. However, most of them were still small frags so I wasn't too bummed about it. All of my LPS and softy corals and my big ol' clam survived. I had three fish, orchid dottyback, clownfish, and chromis. As you can see in the pics only the dottyback and clownfish survived.

 

I turned the two rocks on the bottom right so that there was more middle space and less side space. also moved the vortechs to the back wall because they were a serious eyesore. I added a new scoly, yellow torch, and a regular red chalice on the bottom. The rest of the corals are the same. On the top, since I had to recolonize, I populated with some random SPS and zoanthid frags that I received from local reefers.

 

During my last month at the old place I completely neglected the tank and I was overrun with hair algae introduced from one of the frag plugs. It is hard to see in the photo but I am still battling it, although the worst is over.

 

The setup is a little mismatched since I have large sized established corals and carpets on the bottom and teeny frags up top, but I hope that will change as the frags grow out.

 

And finally the new place (you can see the tank on the extreme left):

 

 

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[OLD NEWS NOVEMBER 6 2010]

 

Well my tank has been running for 2.5 months now. 99.99% of the furry algae and green algae is now gone except on the frag rack and a tiny bit at the return.

 

I have added no new corals since before. Some minor changes:

 

(1) I moved the scoly from the back of the tank to the front left

(2) I moved my green litho plate and yellow fungia plate to the back (was bleaching out in the front area)

(3) One of my blue carpet anemones decided to park itself in the back of the tank

 

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[OLD NEWS AUGUST 20 2010]

 

Sorry for the late update. Big news though! I found a great deal on a stellar custom ADA setup by nanoguy (I believe he's on this forum). It is an ADA Starphire 60F (24x18x18) 30g tank with a custom stand, pre-drilled bulkheads, light stand, mesh top, and a few more odds and ends. I could not pass it up.

 

I will be transferring the contents of my Elos Mini to this tank within the next month or two. This means all my coral, my fish, some of the rock, and some of the equipment. I don't think I can handle two tanks. There's quite a bit more real estate given that it's only 10 gallons more. Equipment so far will be as follows:

 

90% Dry Eco Rox Pukani Rock, 10% Seeded Live Rock from my Elos (Marco Rock)

ATI Sunpower 4-Bulb T5 Light

2 x Ecotech Vortech MP10 Pumps (from my Elos)

SWC-120 Extreme Cone Skimmer

Magnavore Carbon Reactor (from my Elos)

2 x Visitherm Stealth Heaters (from my Elos)

Eheim 1250 Return Pump

 

Here are the pics!

 

The new tank next to the soon-to-be-replaced Elos Mini:

 

The rear:

 

The Eco Rox (went through vinegar bath, scrub, bleach bath, several RO/DI baths, and finally saltwater bath with phosphate/carbon bags and skimmer):

 

 

The aquascape:

 

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[PREVIOUS TANK - DISMANTLED]

 

I've had my tank set up since August of 2008. Since then it's been through several renovations.

 

(OLD) FTS (AS OF JUNE 26 2010):

 

 

 

[epicfish]

Is that a huge yuma on the right side?

[eksblenny]

Yes but it is not too big. It measures around 4" when fully stretched out. I bought it at 2.5" or so from RHS. It shoots babies out pretty often. I feed it a ton.

 

Is that a huge yuma on the right side?

[Lalani]

I want your plates.

 

And to NR.com

[nanoreef-R]

 

 

How do you like the your LEDs?

[d'Espresso]

Loving your clean setup bro! you're plates looking good too. i only have one! looking to find some more!

[eksblenny]

I like my LEDs alot. I like animals (got my BA in Environmental Science, with a focus on Marine Ecotoxicology), but probably a bigger reason why I got into this hobby is for the technology. I chose LEDs because they seemed like the next big breakthough. I can say that I have yet to achieve the coloration or growth I have seen with other forms of lighting, but I hope given time I can find the sweet spot for LEDs.

 

How do you like the your LEDs?

[eksblenny]

New photos taken today 6/29.

 

 

You can see the second clam in this topdown pic... I got it about 2 weeks ago.

 

[diggman08]

i wonder how the Elos E-Lite is compared to other brands,, there so expensive

 

tanks looks nice, i like rockscaping

[Tyron]

what optics come on the elos?? im wondering if the optics are the reason for bleaching??

[Zo0k365]

There's a certain balance that makes it look fantastic.

[eksblenny]

The light is a discontinued Solaris i5 LED system. The Elos E-Lite (which I don't use) does not use optics.

 

what optics come on the elos?? im wondering if the optics are the reason for bleaching??

[Rehype]

wow i remember this tank...You did a fantastic job everything looks great!

[DeMartini]

Stunning!!! too clean to be true lol I'm downgrading my tank soon and you've totally inspired me

[eksblenny]

Thanks guys for the compliments!

 

Some updated pictures taken today, 7/2. Not much change.

 

 

 

And a shot of the two MP10s.

 

[eksblenny]

Sorry for the late update. Big news though. I found a great deal on a stellar custom ADA setup by nanoguy (I believe he's on this forum). It is an ADA Starphire 60F (24x18x18) 30g tank with a custom stand, pre-drilled bulkheads, light stand, mesh top, and a few more odds and ends. I could not pass it up.

 

I will be transferring the contents of my Elos Mini to this tank within the next month or two. This means all my coral, my fish, some of the rock, and some of the equipment. I don't think I can handle two tanks. There's quite a bit more real estate given that it's only 10 gallons more. Equipment so far will be as follows:

 

90% Dry Eco Rox Pukani Rock, 10% Seeded Live Rock from my Elos (Marco Rock)

ATI Sunpower 4-Bulb T5 Light

2 x Ecotech Vortech MP10 Pumps (from my Elos)

SWC-120 Extreme Cone Skimmer

Magnavore Carbon Reactor (from my Elos)

2 x Visitherm Stealth Heaters (from my Elos)

 

Here are the pics!

 

The new tank next to the soon-to-be-replaced Elos Mini:

 

The rear:

 

The Eco Rox (went through vinegar bath, scrub, bleach bath, several RO/DI baths, and finally saltwater bath with phosphate/carbon bags and skimmer):

 

The aquascape:

 

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The last pic I will probably ever take of my old tank (2yrs old):

[eksblenny]

Final update on my old tank before it gets transferred to the new tank in the next few tanks.

 

My plate corals have finally regained their color after lowering the LED lights to a meager 15% maximum brightness!

 

 

 

 

 

[xgame2k]

props.

[d'Espresso]

wow, what a great setup and now a bigger and better looking tank. Can't wait to see your transfer tank soon! good luck

[eksblenny]

I finished plumbing the system:

 

 

Here is the sump layout:

 

 

Filtration includes a filter sock (which is controversial but I like filter socks), carbon in a Magnavore reactor, rowaphos in a BRS reactor, and SWC-120 skimmer. There is a Tunze Osmolator topoff, and everything is controlled by an Apex Lite.

 

I failed to realize how many cables there would be!

 

 

So I put all the cables on a little end table that I could move when working on the sump

 

 

[nano_keeper30]

I may be a dumbass but what do you do with the big DI canister in the sump ?

[eksblenny]

I may be a dumbass but what do you do with the big DI canister in the sump ?

 

The DI canister in the sump is a BRS reactor for Rowaphos. I have another magnavore inside the sump that is for carbon.

[eksblenny]

Well my tank has gotten past the diatom stage and is now in the green algae stage. I decided to transfer over my anemone collection. They have already been settled down on a piece of curing EcoRox and haven't moved in the past week so I hope they will remain where they are.

 

Blue Maxi Mini w/ Glass Anemone Shrimp

 

 

 

Blue/Purple Maxi Mini

 

 

Red/Orange Maxi Mini

 

 

Pink/Orange/Red Maxi Mini

 

 

"Purple Rain" BTA Lookalike (I paid $20 for this guy at my local SF LFS) w/ Porcelain Crab

 

 

 

Green Majano w/ Red Tips

 

 

Yellow Maxi Mini

 

Mini Red BTA (hasn't grown in the last 2 years, I feed it alot, it doesn't split either?)

 

[northstar1357]

I got the same anemone as yours, i have had it for 8 months and it has only grown 1 inch LOLZ but my anemone looks really red.

 

Nice tank btw

 

tanging along

[eksblenny]

Thanks Northstar. It was actually red before, but got majorly bleached out by my LEDs. It has taken a looong time to even get this red.

 

For those of you who are wondering what is better ADA or Elos, I have both side by side and in my opinion the Elos tank looks nicer to me. Don't get me wrong, I have the high clarity (low iron) glass on the ADA and the seams are extremely well done. However, looking straight on you can see light travel through the pane and it is sort of distracting. Almost like a white border on a TV (who does that???). The thick Elos black silicone is thicker but that's because the tank uses a thicker glass (Elos Mini 20g vs ADA 24x18x18 30g) but the black color complements well, like a black border on a TV (looks nice! isolates and accentuates the image).

 

Another note, ADA glass is bevelled parallel to the long edge. Elos tank is bevelled parallel to both edges (although the short edge is not perfect). 99% of people won't even notice this, but yet another small attention to detail for Elos.