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Chucktown 20H


divecj5

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After 18 months of fun and excitement with my mixed reef BC29, I am planning on starting over from scratch with a 20H. Well, not completely from scratch since I'm keeping the majority of my SPS. You can check out the 41 page tank saga here. The main reason that I am taking down the BC and starting fresh with new sand and rock is that the Neomeris that started off cute and cuddly green algae has slowly taken over the tank and I no longer enjoy spending an hour or two each week tweezing off each stem. Plus, this is a hobby and should be enjoyable :)

 

So, after some consideration between either going with a 15 gallon AGA or a 20H, I have decided to go with the 20H just for the extra water volume and the height, of course. Since I have the majority of the equipment already this shouldn't be too long of a process. I am planning on starting with base rock from Marco Rocks or somewhere else and seeding it with a really nice small piece of live rock. This should make the cycle longer but I would rather do this than risk getting another pest. I have now had a 55 gallon that was taken over by vermitids and now a tank taken over by Neomeris. This just seems like the best option.

 

Here are my plans for the tank:

 

Equipment

  • 20H AGA
  • Base rock from Marco Rocks
  • Arag-alive sand (pretty shallow sand bed)
  • Either a Tunze 6025 (I have two now) OR a Vortech MP20
  • 24" Aquatinics TX5 fixture (already have)

 

Fish

  • 2 false percs that I've had for almost 3 years now
  • Purple firefish from BC29

 

Coral

  • ORA Oregon Tort
  • Blue Stag
  • Bali Green Slimer
  • Orange Cap
  • Green cap w/blue polyps
  • Green pocillopora

 

Any thoughts...suggestions, etc. I am planning on setting up a AC 110 as a fuge with Chaeto but that will probably come after the tank cycles and settles in.

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Not a whole lot to report. I just bought some replacement filters for the RO/DI that I have and 15 pounds of Fiji Eco Rox from Bulk Reef Supply. Everything should be here I'm thinking by the end of the week.

 

Looking forward to getting this up and running.

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Hey Adam - I'm glad to hear you've got the new tank started. I can't wait to see the progress. I know the pest algae took away from the enjoyment of your tank so I'm glad to see you start over and get back into the fun part! Let me know what I can do to help.

 

I'm suppose to get my external pump today for the Litermeter III so hopefully I'll have my two-part solution fully automated by the end of the week!

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Hey Karen - thanks for stopping by the new thread. It is definitely a little bare right now plus I'm used to having a thread with 40+ pages :) I'm sure it will get there at some point.

 

I'm really excited to get back into it as well with a new setup. I think I will like the simplicity of the 20H. To start off with I will probably have the heater in the tank with the hopes of snagging a used AC 110 and using that as a refugium (chaeto) and a place for the heater.

 

It looks like my order from Bulk Reef Supply will be here Thursday. I'm interested to see how the base rock looks and what sort of shapes are included. I am going to spend a lot more time from the start trying to setup my scape instead of trying to do it once coral and all the inhabitants are in there.

 

Let me know what I can do to help.

 

Once I have everything up and ready to start cycling, I might see if you have a small piece of live rock that I can use to jump start the cycle and see the rest of the rock. I'm still not sure how I'm going to cycle the tank since I only have the one set of lights that are currently on the 29. I'll have to try and come up with something.

 

I'm suppose to get my external pump today for the Litermeter III so hopefully I'll have my two-part solution fully automated by the end of the week!

 

Sounds like an early Christmas for you :) That is going to be awesome once you get that setup and going. Your tank is amazing as it is now and will be growing like crazy once automated.

 

 

I will make sure take some pictures once I get the tank (tomorrow), once I spray it with spraypaint, and once I get my rock in. The thread is pretty boring otherwise.

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Glad you've stumbled upon my thread. I'm going to be ordering my MP20 hopefully this afternoon through the NR group buy with StanD. Big savings in the cost and free shipping to boot. I will probably sell my Tunze 6025s once I take the BC down.

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Probably $100 for each since they are only about 6 months old. It might be another month before I sell them though since I have to wait for the new tank to cycle. Let me know if you're interested and I'll put you at the top of the list.

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oh ya....bc29's, and 10g's were everwhere for a lil while....now its all picotope's and 20H's...

 

 

*bad pun alert*

 

 

it comes in waves...:D

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I'm sure someone has a spare light they will let you use to get your new tank cycled. Just post a request - you can always return it once the BC29 is taken down. I've got a spare rock with your name on it and some rubble as well. That will help with the seeding process...

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I'm sure someone has a spare light they will let you use to get your new tank cycled. Just post a request - you can always return it once the BC29 is taken down. I've got a spare rock with your name on it and some rubble as well. That will help with the seeding process...

 

It's worth a shot to post on the Charleston Reefers page but not sure how many people I will have offering for me to use their light...just can't picture it :) I might just end up swapping the light on the 29 back and forth for a while til things cycle.

 

Seems like a stupid question, but can the tank be cycled with just 1-2 hours of light a day? It's been so long since I've cycled a tank that I might have to brush up on the process again :huh:

 

Looks like my Vortech MP20 should be here either Friday or Saturday. If I can get the sand, paint the tank, and buy a heater in time, this might be up and going this weekend :)

 

I will post up some pics of the goodies when they come in and the paint process. Might be like watching paint dry here on the thread with things just starting.

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Can't wait to see the new tank!

 

It is funny how you see diffrent sized tanks come and go..I also want to upgrade to a 20H later on :)

 

 

Maria

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Thanks for stopping by the thread Maria. Hopefully I will have some pictures of the setup over the next couple of days. Then the waiting will start for the cycle.

 

Fun and nerve racking starting another tank from scratch. This will be my third tank so I'm hoping I have all of the kinks worked out. I've learned along the way that it's better to shoot and get the more expensive equipment than go cheap and end up replacing it down the road.

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Going to pick up the tank today and my rock and filters are "out for delivery." Hopefully I will have this thing up and running later this weekend.

 

Question: Any suggestions on a decent heater for the tank? I plan to have it in tank submerged in the back until i get an AC 110. I was thinking the a 75w Stealth would cut the mustard but wanted to see what others thought.

 

Pics to come tomorrow.

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Adam,

 

Hey man how are things going....congrats on starting a new tank....i have been thinking about getting another one going. It's always exciting starting a new tank up....i have been helping my girlfriends brother with his 55 gal tank...basically living vicariously through his tank...getting ready to introduce him into the world of the fuge. Anyway the light i got from you is doing great....hoping someone buys me a new bulb for Christmas otherwise i gotta get one. I have been horribly lazy with pics but hopefully i can get some new ones up after a good cleaning...cant wait to see the new progression, Good Luck!!

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Adam,

 

Hey man how are things going....congrats on starting a new tank....i have been thinking about getting another one going. It's always exciting starting a new tank up....i have been helping my girlfriends brother with his 55 gal tank...basically living vicariously through his tank...getting ready to introduce him into the world of the fuge. Anyway the light i got from you is doing great....hoping someone buys me a new bulb for Christmas otherwise i gotta get one. I have been horribly lazy with pics but hopefully i can get some new ones up after a good cleaning...cant wait to see the new progression, Good Luck!!

 

Glad to hear that things are going well with the light that I sold you and the tank overall. I was wondering the other day how things were going with your slice of the reef.

 

On other news, I received my shipment from Bulk Reef Supply and I couldn't be happier with the dry Fiji EcoRox that I ended up getting from them. You can see below, but it definitely looks like more than 15 pounds since the rock is for one dry and two it is nice and porous. Should make it nice and easy to come up with a nice scape considering I'm only working with 5 large rocks. I was contemplating breaking them up a little with a hammer but I think I might try something different with this tank and keep the rocks larger. On my previous tanks, I always just had one or two large rocks and then I would build it up with smaller pieces that didn't really fit together.

 

Anyway, here are some pics of the rock and some ideas that I built in a couple of minutes. I should be getting the tank today along with some live sand and heater, possibly get the vortech today or tomorrow and hopefully get this thing cycling on Sunday or Monday. I also got some new filters for my RO/DI but that's pretty boring. I am still looking for an explanation on how to change out the DI resin since I have a refillable cartridge.

 

Rocks all lined up

_MG_9251.jpg

 

One Idea - two islands

_MG_9253.jpg

 

Left

_MG_9256.jpg

 

Right

_MG_9255.jpg

 

Down the line

_MG_9254.jpg

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Very nice rock! I hope the Moai is going in this tank too

 

I bought a small Moai for my 10g :ninja:

 

can't wait for the the pix!

 

M

 

The more I look at the rock the more I like it and the options that I have with it. Should be able to come up with something decent looking.

 

I have the Moai sitting on my back porch keeping watch over the backyard :D I will leave it up to him whether he wants to be included or not.

 

 

Really nice rock! I love 20H reefs - that's what I started out with. :) What are you planning for cal/alk dosing? Will you be adding a skimmer?

 

Thanks. As far as dosing, I will continue to dose two part like I've been doing with my BC29. Eventually I would like to set something up to automate the process but daily dosing 8ml of a two part solution hasn't been too bad.

 

As for the skimmer, I am planning on going skimmerless for the time being. I would like to set up an AC 110 as a fuge so I will have some Chaeto in there and I can also move the heater in there at some point. If I do get a skimmer, I was thinking about saving up for the Deltec MC 300. I have had the Tunze 9002 and I never really got that great of skimmate. It would just come and go.

 

I got the tank today and put a couple of coats of nice Krylon Fusion blue on the back. This is the color that I had on my 55 gallon and I definitely missed it with the BioCube. Hope to get the Vortech tomorrow and get this thing up and running on Sunday. Keeping fingers crossed that USPS will bring it tomorrow.

 

-Adam

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Got the Vortech in today, filled the tank up with fresh water, and toyed with it for at least 45 minutes....all I can say is it's a spectacular piece of technology. All of the different modes are awesome and the wave action is awesome looking. Can't wait to fill it up with saltwater and see how it works with coral and fish in there. Should be stunning.

 

Hope to have it setup and going tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

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No dice on setting it up today. Had to go and get another stand for the tank so that took a while of shopping around for something that would fit and also hold the weight. Should look good on it's new stand though.

 

Hopefully I will be able to start mixing up water tonight and start the filling process tomorrow. Can't wait!!!

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