Have_A_Beer Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Hi everyone! I'm excited to finally post my new tank build on this thread. I've been a long time lurker of the forum but now finally have a chance to post some awesome content. A bit of background: I started in the reef hobby around 2 years ago, when I decided to build a 10 gallon reef tank. Everyone warns you that a small tank is the hardest to start with... and they're right. The smaller the tank, the wider parameter swings you get and the harder it is to maintain overall. But I figured that if I could succeed at the small scale, I would be prepared for when I eventually would upgrade. I believe that I was right, I definitely have learned a lot over the last 2 years (with the help of countless forum posts). But the small tank caused me many headaches and wasted some of my money. Here's a full tank shot of my current tank: I'm not super proud of it right now, there are times where it has looked better. I've basically just been stalling with it for a while because I knew I was going to upgrade soon. Stock List: - Ocellaris Clownfish - Blue/Green Chromis - About 5 or 6 hermit crabs - 2 peppermint shrimp - Various snails Corals: - Frogspawn - Christmas favia - Hammer (x2) - Zoanthids (x2) - Acans - Trumpet - Acropora i think? - Stylophora or maybe birdsnest? not sure So anyway, enough about the old tank. I debated for a long time about my new tank and finally just decided to save some money and buy a 29 gallon tank off Craigslist. Mostly because I'm not sure exactly how long I will be living in my current location, and didn't want to get too invested in a large or expensive tank. Found a great deal on a tank & stand combo and now I'm rolling with it. I'm starting this tank right away, so join along with this post for the journey! Link to comment
Pinner Reef Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Nice, I started with a 10g too waaay back in 06'. They are good learning tanks so long as you can keep up with the curve. Looks like you did good for yourself tho. to the board. Excited to see the new system go up. Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 Thanks for the welcome! Ok, let's get this thread started. Starting off right away with some pictures, because everyone loves pictures. Here's the first thing I bought for the new tank: Need to begin the new tank with quality water. I bought the SpectraPure 90GPD refurbished RO/DI unit, taking the advice of multiple forums. My first impression of the unit is that it is way slower than I expected! Probably can attribute some of that to the relatively low pressure I'm pushing through it.. right now it runs at about 30 psi. A booster pump may be in my future. Not exactly sure what my in/out TDS is yet, but I have a meter on the way so I should know soon. Here's the new tank: It's a standard 29 gallon long. Like I mentioned in the first post, I got a good deal on craigslist for the tank & stand combo and I am very pleased with it. The tank even came with the back already painted (hooray!). I have already visually checked the silicone and filled it with water, and everything looks good. I've already got some rocks on order from ReefCleaners, and will be picking some sand up soon as well. It will be wet real soon... Are you as excited as I am?? Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Things are moving quickly! My dry rock from ReefCleaners arrived in the mail, and I've already begun to mess around with the aquascape. I'm going to try very hard to get the aquascape right this time around, as I never was quite able to succeed with it in my 10 gallon tank. Armed with the knowledge from articles like this one http://fish-etc.com/aquascaping-main/on-the-rocks-how-to-build-a-saltwater-reefscape and this one http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2217633 I have created a few different ideas: In general, I like the look of a big rock/stack on one side, small(er) rock on the other side, and some space in the middle. I also like the idea of "rock bleachers" like the 'On the Rocks' article talks about. My favorite arrangement from what I've tried so far turned out this way: Let me know what you think! I am totally open to suggestions & rearranging it to look better. Link to comment
Pinner Reef Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Please consider this constructive criticism: I like the placement of the left rock island. The right side could use a little more character... kinda looks like just a pile of rocks. Maybe play around with the pieces so that they are locked into each other a little more? Dunno if that helps or just infuriates you. Just my .02 Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Definitely helps. Like i said, suggestions welcome. You mean eliminate the gaps in the right side, right? So that it looks more like one solid piece? Link to comment
Pinner Reef Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 ya, that's exactly what I meant. Sorry, long explanation made things more confusing. Lol Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Rearranging these in a meaningful way and fitting them together is really hard! How's this look? Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Love the left island- looks very unusual yet natural. Maybe send the left island back and bring the right island forward a bit for some contrast? Looks great Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Thank you! I appreciate the advice and have taken it to heart: Top-down shot: I'm liking this arrangement a lot. Might be going forward with it. Link to comment
Pinner Reef Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 looks much better to me too. Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Stopped by the LFS today and picked up some sand. Decided to go with dry argonite and just seed it with some of the sand from my 10 gallon tank. Here's what I picked up: After rinsing it out a few times... into the tank it goes! I realy like the grain size of this sand. Its bigger than the stuff in my old tank, and I'm thinking that will make it easier to clean. Up next.... water! Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 21, 2015 Author Share Posted August 21, 2015 New goodies from Amazon! Here's what I got: TDS Meter Jebao RW-4 Wavemaker Eheim Jager Heater Hoping all of this quality equipment will contribute to a quality system! Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 Just installed my TDS meter onto the RO/Di unit. It is reading as follows: In: 146 Out: 0 According to that graph, my water is on the low side of average. Glad I was able to confirm that the RO/DI unit was working and that I am getting a solid 0 as the output. Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 Let there be water! Filled a couple 5 gallon buckets with RO/DI water and into the tank it goes: Thankfully the water stayed pretty clear thanks to washing out the sand beforehand. I also used a plate to catch the water, hoping to stir up the sand as little as possible. Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 I've also finalized my rock scape: Turned out a little different than the original plan, but this is just how it worked out and I actually really like it! Now I am just waiting for the epoxy to dry, then they will be added to the tank. Thoughts so far on the project? Criticisms? Recommendations? Link to comment
Addinali Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I've also finalized my rock scape: Turned out a little different than the original plan, but this is just how it worked out and I actually really like it! Now I am just waiting for the epoxy to dry, then they will be added to the tank. Thoughts so far on the project? Criticisms? Recommendations? I like it and thanks to your user name I am now drinking a beer Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 Ta-da! Sand, water, rocks, powerhead and heater are all in. Don't mind the light on top, it is only a temporary one. And now the waiting game begins. A couple of questions though: 1. How much sand do I need from my old tank to seed the new sand? 2. Should I put a piece of live rock from my old tank into the new tank to speed up the cycle? (I don't want any bad hitchhikers to come along with it.) 3. Is this enough to start the cycle? Or should I add some food / mysis to kick it off? Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Some food to kick it off. If you're LR is clean and pest free sure, but you could also cycle with dry rock and sand. Might take longer though! I feel like you lost some of the depth (front/ back) when you put the rocks in- both islands are in the middle? Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 I agree. Although I think a bit of that can be attributed to the camera. Here's a top-down view after some SLIGHT adjustments: Wanted to make sure that I left enough room between the rock & glass for cleaning purposes. Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 Reviving this thread for a sec to provide some updates. I've started a new tank so I figured I would provide some closure with this tank before starting a new thread. Here's the tank about 2 weeks into the cycle: I ended up adding a piece of live rock from my old tank to hopefully speed up the cycle and to add coralline algae faster. Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 One month later... Once the tank had cycled, I transferred all of my livestock from my old 10 gallon tank to the 29 gallon. Also added the HOB skimmer from the old tank and set up the new light. The light is a Radion XR30w Pro. Found one for a crazy good price on ebay, otherwise I probably wouldn't have bought such an expensive light. But this thing is incredible. Fully controllable and amazing color. If you are debating getting one, go for it, it won't disappoint. Link to comment
Have_A_Beer Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 Once the old 10g had been cleared out, I decided to use it as a sump. Got some glass cut at Lowes and siliconed 3 baffles in place. The water test went well, and the baffles stayed in place and didn't leak. Link to comment
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