Brand New 30G Finnex Cube

[RP Beesh]

looking forward to see teh finish product

[Cshradr7]

here's the stand as of now:

 

And here is what i devised for lighting. three timers, one with a splitter so i can run both the main white lights and the quarentine lights at the same time, one for actonics, and one for the refugium light

[Cshradr7]

well heres what i've done with the aquascaping. let me know how you all like it.

[Izzue]

Looks GREAT...nice scape. Gotta love Finnex!!!!

 

Izzue

[Cshradr7]

Thanks a lot Izzue. It took about 4 tries to get the rocks how i liked them. The sandbed is a bit more than i was expecting, but i think it'll be ok. Its about 3 inches now but there is very little right in the middle where most of the LR is. Some sand will probably eventually fill in there i think

[reeefermadness]

looks great! the aquascaping looks good. i love that tank, i cant wait to see your pics as you progress!

 

any pointers on building the stand? do you have any plans, or anything you followed while putting it together? im gonna take the plunge in the next few days. i am pretty limited in terms of tools, i was hoping i could get HD to get everything and i would just put it together, but i dont know if they do that...

[Cshradr7]

Reefermadness - as far as pointers for a stand, dont get frustrated when it isnt perfect, and make sure it sits level. My wood has so many gaps that you can't see on the camera, and i hated it before i finished. I also was planning on having HD do all of my cutting, well actually Lowes because they have a finished project wood. HD cut all of my 2x4's to the lengths that they needed to be. are you putting the same tank on it or a different one? i made my stand deeper than the tank so that i could fit two ten gallon tanks underneath, kind of a last second thought that i decided to go with. i can take some more pictures if you'd like me too.

 

let me know what i can do to help

colin

[reeefermadness]

it was for a 22 cadlights tank.

 

i pussied out, and went to my lfs and ordered the stand in light maple. i get a good discount, so along with saving time, it will be worth it. THanks for all your help though, i really appreciate it.

 

now post up pics of your tank!!!

[Cshradr7]

alright so i'm beginning to notice quite a few hitchhikers on the rocks now. here's a list of what i have found:

-Small little red coral semicircular thing

-4 tiny red feather dusters

-2 tiny green feather dusters

-small worm probably 1 inch long

-a dead baby shrimp maybe 1 cm long, hopefully there are more that are alive

-algae starting to come out of many rocks

 

really nothing major has changed with the tank for a few days. i tested the water wenesday and there were no extreme numbers, all really close to normal

[Cshradr7]

anyone have any advice for a clean up crew? whats the right amount for a tank this size?

[reeefermadness]

15 or so hermits, 10 snails, and get a sea hare if you start to get hair algae. depending on your sand bed, you could also get a sand sifting star/conch,sand sifting goby

[Cshradr7]

yea i'm planning on getting a sand sifting goby along with a shrimp goby. what do you think about this list?

12 hermits - 4 different kinds, 3 of each

15 snails - 3 different kinds, 5 of each]

1 mexican turbo

2 peppermint shimp and will be adding 2 skunk cleaners later

and then maybe a queen conch and or a sea hare

 

my sand bed is about 3-4 inches with quite a bit of open space

[dangeroo2]

i wouldn't add a conch to a 30 gallon tank. not enough area to keep it happy. I would also add the clean up crew a little at a time. no use in overstocking it from the get go and watching them slowly die. Save the effort and the money and add a few snails at a time. i currently have 3 cerith, 1 turbo, and 1 nassarius snail in my 10 gallon and they are keeping up just fine. Just my .02.

[Cshradr7]

thanks for you input dangeroo2.

 

what are peoples experience with the following in their crew:

bumble bee snails

brittle sea star

serpent sea star

dwarf sea hare

orange marked hermit crabs

 

thanks for all of your help

Colin

[Bomberman]

NICE TANK!! im new to reefing but it looks like you got a great system! i wish i had that kind of money to buy a tank! im getting the nano deluxe 12 gallon. i live in minnesota too!!! woo where do you think is the best place that can help me out with my saltwater tank? is world of fish a good place to get LR from and other necesaties?

[Cshradr7]

Whats up Bomberman:

I live just west of wayzata in orono. i have been to world of fish and they have a very nice shop. i decided to purchase all of my stuff online though because i of the significant price difference. Also, just down the road from world of fish is a place called something fishy. this place is completely saltwater and also has a pretty nice store. In terms of live rock, i purchased mine from www.premiumaquatics.com since they are known for the highest quality and customer service. their nano rock is perfect for small tanks. If you live in the western metro, Sea Level is a nice shop in hopkins, formally Aqualand. the guys here are really nice and usually give me a good deal on RO water. Even though we have so many high quality local shops, i'm still planning on purchasing the majority of my stuff online due to price. i've found that some of the online vendors have unmatched quality.

[ReefInChicago]

i just wanted to thank you for all the info on the 30g. mine shipped yesterday from the finnex factory here in the chicago area and should be here today! i also have an ro/di unit on the way. i'll start posting pics as i go through the set up process, and will be using your directions as i get the tank ready to go.

 

thanks again!

[Cshradr7]

I'm glad that i can help reefinchicago. i cant wait to see yours all set up!

[Bomberman]

Sweet!! how much of a price difference is there between online and world of fish? are they expensive? i live close to fridley and i played orono in hockey or i am going to !

[Cshradr7]

Since there is so much competition online, i dont believe world of fish can even compete with price. proven online stores are much larger and have a lot of higher qulity merchadise. if you want to pick out your own rock, then world of fish would probably be the cheapest place around, even though i haven't compared prices, i believe they are the largest and most established. at world of fish, i believe LR is $8.99/lbs, maybe more cant quite remember, so to stock my tank with 30lbs, it'd cost me about $270. from premium aquatics, rock with proven quality costed me $4.49/lb or about $135+$20 shipping so about $155 total. so right there i saved $115, and thats a lot of money for me.

 

by the way, what level are you i hockey.

[Hoobahans]

Bomberman,

The place thats right down the street from WOF, cant quite remeber the name, has a price that goes down the more you buy. It isnt the "livest" rock I have seen, but if you want to hand-pick your pieces...

[Cshradr7]

that is the place that i mentioned earlier where i had pretty good success. the name of it is Something Fishy i believe and it looks small from the outside but is actually quite large. It's all saltwater fish too and the workers that i have spoken with seem to know what they are talking about.

[Cshradr7]

i think that i've basically determined what i'm going to stock in the tank.

2 False percs

1 yasha goby

1 pistol shrimp

2 H. erectus sea horses

and maybe a sand sifting goby or a blenny

 

for the CUC,

3 red leg hermits

3 blue leg hermits

3 scarlet hermits

7 - 10 nassarius snails

7 - 10 astrea snails

7 - 10 cerith snails

1 mexican turbo

2 peppermint shrimp

2 skunk cleaner shrimp

[ReefInChicago]

bumping this to see how it's going.

 

any updates? got mine started w/ the lr today.

[Cshradr7]

well haven't updated this in quite a while so...

 

Updated tank shots, taken today -

 

 

 

 

The new tank that i started about a week ago. 2.5 gallon with coralife 18w light, AC filter with lr rubble and chaeto. used some extra small pieces of lr that were in my 30 gallon display for aquascape.

 

and then here are some random shots that i took.

 

 

 

 

 

and finally, i ordered some corals and other critters yesterday and they'll arrive on saturday. i ordered the following from Pacific East Aqua Culture -

Ultra Crocea Clam

12 Frags for $99 (4 Acros, 4 Zoas, 4 Hard Corals)

WYSIWYG Galaxea Frag

WYSIWYG Frogspawn Frag

WYSIWYG Zoas

Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

 

i'll post some pics of the corals when they arrive on saturday.