My 30g Finnex w/ Fuge

[bluebastion]

from an evap perspective, i add water am and pm. total for the week is somewhere around 4g (so, let's say a bit less than a quart each add. i'm gonna need to think about this when i hit the road again for business (next week), because my wife wil be feeding and topping off. hmm......better write all this stuff down and give her a checklist .

 

Hey, nice tank. BTW the JBJ ATO works great and is relatively cheap. Have not had any problems yet with it... and fits great in the back "sump" area.

[Toshas79]

nice tank

[ReefInChicago]

nice tank

 

thanks. i've been lazy over the past few weeks and haven't posted any pics. only a couple updates:

 

one of the zoa frags fell (ok, was likely pushed by a snail) into the middle of the rockwork. haven't seen it for a couple weeks.

 

added a small crocea 3 weeks ago. seems to be doing well.

 

added 3 small frags from the drs yesterday (green apple monti, indigo digitata, and what they call 'hodag monti). all are very small.

 

all corals/fish doing well. i'll try to post a pic when i do water changes tomorrow (i only clean glass 1x per week since it doesn't get too dirty, but the camera seems to pick up the algae no matter how much is on it).

 

oh, and i got my finnex skimmer fix. no directions whatsoever, and to be honest, i have no idea what to do with it. however, i also don't have any microbubbles any more, so i'm not too worried about it.

 

matt

[ReefInChicago]

thanks. i've been lazy over the past few weeks and haven't posted any pics. only a couple updates:

 

one of the zoa frags fell (ok, was likely pushed by a snail) into the middle of the rockwork. haven't seen it for a couple weeks.

 

added a small crocea 3 weeks ago. seems to be doing well.

 

added 3 small frags from the drs yesterday (green apple monti, indigo digitata, and what they call 'hodag monti). all are very small.

 

all corals/fish doing well. i'll try to post a pic when i do water changes tomorrow (i only clean glass 1x per week since it doesn't get too dirty, but the camera seems to pick up the algae no matter how much is on it).

 

oh, and i got my finnex skimmer fix. no directions whatsoever, and to be honest, i have no idea what to do with it. however, i also don't have any microbubbles any more, so i'm not too worried about it.

 

matt

 

quick update:

 

2 of the 3 frags are totally bleached and perhaps dead. all three were partially bleached when they arrived, but the indigo has done well and is coloring nicely, while the other 2 are looking bad.

 

i'm having a red slime bloom, and i think i'm going to need to enhance the cuc, which was sized at 25g anyway.

 

phix, if you read this, have you thought of additional flow? i've got a couple dead spots which are really apparent, and am considering adding a small ph for flow. thoughts?

 

that's it......i'll post some pics when i get past the cyano.

 

matt

[Cshradr7]

i've thought about adding another pump to mine. what i've kind of thought of is utilizing the space under the refugium and then drilling right there also and having it plumed under my sand to the front of the tank, kind of like they do on the cadlights 25g tank...but i won't use white pvc haha

[Phixion]

hey Matt, I've considered a small MiniJet pump, maybe a 606 or 404, both are adjustable for cross flow. Right now I have pretty good flow in the tank using the nozzle that came with my MJ900 I had in my Aquapod. I want to get a Y-locline with spray nozzles for the return delivery though. But for now, the nozzle i have works and it breaks up the surface scum real well at ALL corners of the tank. The GHA I had growing on the back wall of my tank I picked off a bunch when I did my last W/C 2 weeks ago and the rest has since died and receeded, so that's good! No cyano has grown in the past week and a half so that's also good. I'm still going to try out a Hydor-Flo soon and see how that fairs for me.

 

I still have a very small amount of bubbles with my skimmer, I too got the fix kit of course. I'm only using the air-intake silencer tube however and it seems to get me a good foamy skimmate. I haven't used the other sponge tray thing, but it basically hangs off the divider between the skimmer and pump chambers... Mine came perimative directions to install it, did your's?

 

I also can't remember your lighting you got with your tank, the T5Ho or the HQI option? I have the T5's and recently bought a pair of SLS TEK individual clip-in reflectors for my daylights, definitely made a differance!!

 

For your dead spots you have in the tank, where are they at and how is the return back into your tank?

[NYPRODJ]

HYDOR flo works great... I noticed that u put the side braces on the stand backwards

[Phixion]

HYDOR flo works great... I noticed that u put the side braces on the stand backwards

 

You refering to me or ReefInChicago?

[ReefInChicago]

hey Matt, I've considered a small MiniJet pump, maybe a 606 or 404, both are adjustable for cross flow. Right now I have pretty good flow in the tank using the nozzle that came with my MJ900 I had in my Aquapod. I want to get a Y-locline with spray nozzles for the return delivery though. But for now, the nozzle i have works and it breaks up the surface scum real well at ALL corners of the tank. The GHA I had growing on the back wall of my tank I picked off a bunch when I did my last W/C 2 weeks ago and the rest has since died and receeded, so that's good! No cyano has grown in the past week and a half so that's also good. I'm still going to try out a Hydor-Flo soon and see how that fairs for me.

 

I still have a very small amount of bubbles with my skimmer, I too got the fix kit of course. I'm only using the air-intake silencer tube however and it seems to get me a good foamy skimmate. I haven't used the other sponge tray thing, but it basically hangs off the divider between the skimmer and pump chambers... Mine came perimative directions to install it, did your's?

 

I also can't remember your lighting you got with your tank, the T5Ho or the HQI option? I have the T5's and recently bought a pair of SLS TEK individual clip-in reflectors for my daylights, definitely made a differance!!

 

For your dead spots you have in the tank, where are they at and how is the return back into your tank?

 

lots of stuff to reply to!

 

i just bought the smallest seio pump (with the variable direction flow) and when it arrives i'm going to try it out. the dead areas are on the back tank directly to the left of the fuge outflow and front/center low. i guess i'm to blame for the latter; i set the rock up with the idea of putting a torch, bubble and hammer there and i wanted less flow. problem is that there's not ANY flow, so i'm seeing some cyano growth on the substrate. i'll see what happens with the ph when it arrives. my plan is to make most of the tank return flow through the fuge when i get the ph installed.

 

no, the skimmer retro came with no instructions at all. i get good dark skimmate, but it's also very liquid......i'm wondering if the silencer would help?

 

i have the t5's. do you have a link to the teks? the lighting seems fine for me now but if you see a big difference i think they'd help.

 

one last thing.......all my tank parms are perfect EXCEPT alk. i'm getting readings of abt 400 for calcium (need to step that up a bit), no phospates, nitrates or nitrates. but, the alk reading has been at 12.5 - 13 in each of the two tests i've done. from what i've read, that's high. my other two tanks are between 9 and 10.5, i do 10% water changes each week, and i can't figure out why the alk would be so high in this tank. any thoughts?

 

edit: oh, and one last thing......i'm growing chaeto so fast that i'm pruning a handful every week during water changes. anyone in the chicago burb area need some?

[Phixion]

Wow, my cheato isn't growning nearly as fast or really too much at all. I only turn on the flow to the fuge a couple times a week for about a day, and I put the fuge light on about 4-5 hours a day which probably isn't nearly enough.

 

Here's the link to the TEK reflectors I got.

[ReefInChicago]

Wow, my cheato isn't growning nearly as fast or really too much at all. I only turn on the flow to the fuge a couple times a week for about a day, and I put the fuge light on about 4-5 hours a day which probably isn't nearly enough.

 

Here's the link to the TEK reflectors I got.

 

i have abt. half flow through the fuge and half into the tank. if i turn the flow all the way up in the tank it forces overflow onto the front pane.......plus, of course, there's no circulation in the fuge. i'd actually like to get a bit more through the fuge if i could just to keep the scum off the top. the fuge light goes on/turns off with the actinics (on 7 am, off 7 pm or thereabouts if i'm sleeping in). i prune it back to softball size once a week (a nice-sized handful). i also have a feeling that's a big reason that there's no phosphates in the tank. i've got a couple bubble algaes, but very little to no gha.

 

thanks for the link to the teks. i'll take a look.....drs foster and smith have icecap reflectors for t5's, too.

 

i wish my tank looked as 'full' as yours......i've been holding back from adding much of anything, just to let everything settle in. i kinda wanted to see how things would grow out. i'm bummed about the frags i bought that died......may have to visit a lfs this weekend to pick up a couple other frags of low light sps. on the good side, the xenia colonies i bought on a 2" piece of rock have now 'migrated'......one to a rock in front of the frag rock, the other to the back wall. they've also grown substantially. my gsp are also growing up the back of the tank. it'll be a few months, but i'll probably have some xenia/gsp wars on the back wall!

 

thanks,

 

matt

[Phixion]

I'd say 85% of my livestock was actually from my AP12g before i got the Finnex and transfered it all over. The rest (new blue zoa colony, clam, other misc. zoa frags and my hammer frags) are what I've added since. Some people say my Finnex is almost stocked too full, lol! But anywho, I'll try running my fuge light perhaps all day with my daylights and see how that fares for the chaeto. As for reflectors, the TEKs are about as narrow of ones you'll fit in. They are "2 wide where the Ice-Caps are "2.5 wide. To give you example how wide they are (the TEKs) I can barely fit the actinic bulb between the 2 reflectors, and they almost completely block out the lunar LEDs unfortunately. A solution I can see would be moving the outer most actinic to the middle so that the daylights are both on the outside, and actinics on the inside. This way it's probably better actinic light distrobution and the lunar lights will be 100% functional like stock.

[ReefInChicago]

I'd say 85% of my livestock was actually from my AP12g before i got the Finnex and transfered it all over. The rest (new blue zoa colony, clam, other misc. zoa frags and my hammer frags) are what I've added since. Some people say my Finnex is almost stocked too full, lol! But anywho, I'll try running my fuge light perhaps all day with my daylights and see how that fares for the chaeto. As for reflectors, the TEKs are about as narrow of ones you'll fit in. They are "2 wide where the Ice-Caps are "2.5 wide. To give you example how wide they are (the TEKs) I can barely fit the actinic bulb between the 2 reflectors, and they almost completely block out the lunar LEDs unfortunately. A solution I can see would be moving the outer most actinic to the middle so that the daylights are both on the outside, and actinics on the inside. This way it's probably better actinic light distrobution and the lunar lights will be 100% functional like stock.

 

otoh, the annoying thing abt this fixture is that you have the actinics and the lunars on the same switch. i've been considering putting a timer in, which would kinda force the issue over whether i even USE the lunars.

 

i'll probably order some of the teks.

 

thanks!

 

matt

[Phixion]

No prob!! I considered modding the fixture to put the LEDs on their own power for night time. then I just ordered an R2 moonlight, so I guess problem solved, lol!! I should dissconect them completely now... One thing of note though, it might just be my fixture, but after putting in the reflectors I had to putz around with the fixture and bulbs a little because intially turning the light back on was tripping my portable wall plug-in GFCI unit. I'm not sure if there's a short in the fixture itself (it's fine right now though) or if the reflector is pushing into something, but it's ok now. I believe it was a problem on the actinic circuit.

[ReefInChicago]

finally, some updates and an updated fts.

 

updates:

 

two of the three sps's i ordered in the middle of winter arrived dead and stayed dead. the third (indigo monti) is doing well.

 

my 6g nc crashed. the pump died, and though i tried to add a ph to make give flow while i found another submersible pump, it didn't work. this got me to finally do what my wife wanted me to: order a larger tank to consolidate. i got the cadlights 25, and i'll be starting another thread on it.

 

here's the updated fts of the 30g finnex, though (if i can get my new photobucket account to work!):

 

 

edit: oh, and three new inhabitants that have emerged over the past couple months: 2 aiptasia, which i'm trying to remove with joe's, and what i THINK is a small abalone (oval shell abt. 3/4" long) that i haven't seen in a couple weeks, but spotted a couple times in mid-march.

[streetfrog]

is this tank still up and running? i'm thinking of getting this same tank. just checking to see if people still have there tanks still up and running. would you still recommend this tank? any updated pics?

[Phixion]

Mine is still up and running, and running nicely at that! I'd still highly recommend this tank if you want an All-In-One solution.