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31g Acrylic AIO


coachfraley

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I thought I should finally set up a thread for my tank, although it is about 10 months old now. I bought this tank from a local acrylic builder and then I combined the livestock from a 12g and a 16g that I had up and running. The tank has a 22g display, and a 9g sump. The dimensions are 24Lx19.5Wx16T. It is 1/2" acrylic with 1/2" euro-bracing on the display portion of the tank.

Equipment:
Current Nova Extreme 4x24watt HO T5 Lighting
2 MJ 1200's (return and chiller)
2 Koralia Nanos
Visatherm 100 watt heater
Tunze 9002 skimmer
DIY fuge light with 15watt 6500k bulb
Red Sea Max Stand
JBJ 1/10hp chiller

Livestock:
Pair of O. Clowns
Royal Gramma
Orange Backed Fairy Wrasse
Pair of Skunk Shrimp
CUC (3 turbos, astrea, 2 nerites, nano conches, emerald crab, collection of hermits)

Corals:
9 kinds of zoas, 2 kinds of digitata, 4 monti's, blue mille, green slimer, rics, yumas, candycane.

Tank at day of purchase (front & rear):
31gfront.jpg
31grear.jpg

Here is a FTS from last week. You will notice I don't have much corraline algae, due to a variety of asterinas that mow it down faster than it grows. I know some people would be happy, but I miss the bright purple rockwork :mellow:
31gupdate17.jpg

Couple of random shots:
newwrasse.jpg
niceclown.jpg
yturfwar.jpg

Thanks for stopping in for a look!

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Hey! I recognize that tank! Itsa berry nice! I actually just picked one up yesterday as a temp holding tank for stuff! Any advice on it?

 

Hey UH,

 

I actually set up a thread about a week ago on SCNRS that listed the slight mods that I had done to the tank (I was hoping that other owners of the club tank would chime in, but nobody has). I run it pretty much stock:

 

Rear Chamber Setup:

Ch1- skimmer, mj1200 to chiller

Ch2- LR, return from chiller, chaeto, overhead lighted by 15watt cf 6500k bulb

Ch3- phosphate pad (over baffle), heater, carbon bag, mj1200 return pump

 

Fuge Light: 2.5 minibow hood, cut and slotted to lock into place (a little ghetto, but works great):

31gfugelight.jpg

 

I also modified the intake by using 5/8" black tubing to block up some of the intake slots. This helps the water to cascade into the first chamber (skimming the surface). Here is a shot of the intake from the inside:

 

31gintake.jpg

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very nice tank i saw your thread on mp's you should get one for sure your soft and sps corals will love it and you will be amazed at the random flow this thing puts out. Great tank!

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Oh my, what a GORGEOUS tank, I don't how I've missed it up til now!

Just beautiful.

 

I'm curious, what's your T5 bulb combo?

Do the pics accurately reflect the colors under this light?

The colors look beautiful, I certainly like the effect.

 

I just got my Vortech MP20 today, and due to my kids being a major handful I didn't have much time to observe it's effect on my tank.

But what I see, I like.

I currently have mine set on the Reef Crest mode with the maximum power being 50%. I think this thing could handle a 30g tank with ease, mebbe even a 40 depending on how you had it set up.

It's strong.

I have mine on a 20L tank and the only other circulation in there is from a Nano-Remora skimmer with a MJ900 on it.

I could give you a better opinion tomorrow after more observation, but from what I've seen so far, it would be great for your tank.

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coachfraley
I'm curious, what's your T5 bulb combo?

Do the pics accurately reflect the colors under this light?

The colors look beautiful, I certainly like the effect.

 

I just got my Vortech MP20 today, and due to my kids being a major handful I didn't have much time to observe it's effect on my tank.

But what I see, I like.

 

The bulb combo for the picture was 1xcurrent usa 10,000k, 1xcurrent usa actinic, 1x geissman actinic white, 1x geissman actinic plus.

 

The colors in the picture are representative. The only thing I adjust in photoshop is the contrast. I have since changed out my geissman bulbs with a ATI blue plus and a KZ fiji purple. The blue plus are AWESOME bulbs. I am going to get another one as soon as the current bulb ages a bit more.

 

I am going to try to get the mp20 this week. I am really looking forward to seeing how it effects my tank.

 

Great tank! I love the ghetto mini-bow fuge light! thats a great idea

 

Lol, thanks. I just wish the color of the hood was different. If I could find an old black hood somewhere, it would look much cooler. :D

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Thank you Coach!

 

Pump up the flow! I had a 40 on my 39 Cad and the corals loved it! Reef Crest mode. A 20 puts out about 2,000 gph so it should be fine for a 30 or a 20. The only thing is that if you have sand you need to move the unit around so you don't dig holes. You will get sand dunes but it looks kind of natural.

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coachfraley

Got the vortech!!!! This thing is WAY too cool. Obviously a HUGE improvement in flow, considering all I had was the return and 2 koralia nanos. This picture was taken an hour after the install, and there is still a ton of particulate matter flying around. It looks like a just did a turkey basting in the tank.

I have it set at reef crest, roughly 50%. We'll see how the corals look tomorrow.

Thanks for looking in!

vortech.jpg

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It will be interesting to see how your corals look tomorrow after the lights come in.

I mean in reference to the addition of the Vortech.

Congrats!

I had mine set on Reef Crest at 50% yesterday, but I ended up dialing it up to about 65% today.

Did you get the MP20 or MP40?

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coachfraley
It will be interesting to see how your corals look tomorrow after the lights come in.

I mean in reference to the addition of the Vortech.

Congrats!

I had mine set on Reef Crest at 50% yesterday, but I ended up dialing it up to about 65% today.

Did you get the MP20 or MP40?

 

Thanks!

 

I got the 20.

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If its the 20 then go full power over the span of a couple of days to give your corals time to get used to it and for you to figure out the best placement (height level wise) to keep the sand from getting divoted too badly. Your corals will thank you for it.

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coachfraley
If its the 20 then go full power over the span of a couple of days to give your corals time to get used to it and for you to figure out the best placement (height level wise) to keep the sand from getting divoted too badly. Your corals will thank you for it.

 

Yes, I am going to take it slow. I might not even go with 100% in the end. I will probably just work it up to about 75%.

 

Yes Phixion, it is one of John's tanks. I haven't seen him around the forums at all...is he still making tanks?

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coachfraley

Not too much has changed. I did a ton of clean up work this weekend. I took all the rock out of the rear chambers and blew it off, then vacuumed the gunk out of the bottom. I also disconnected my chiller so that I could clean all of the gunk out of it as well. I think I am going to run hot water through it for a while, and then run a few gallons of SW before I re-attach it again.

 

Here are some shots I took today:

 

I nice shot of my female clown:

mgandclown.jpg

 

Here are some comparison shots:

My montipora confusa, a month ago:

confusa1.jpg

 

Today:

confusa2.jpg

 

Sunset monti. a month ago

sunsetmonti1.jpg

 

Today:

sunset1.jpg

 

Thanks for looking in!!!

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Yes Phixion, it is one of John's tanks. I haven't seen him around the forums at all...is he still making tanks?

 

I dunno, I miss John... :tears:

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