Tigahboy's 35g Project

[Justind823]

Your tank was one of the best when I first got into this hobby! I remember looking at your tank for inspiration 👍

 

I used to live in LA but I've since moved up north. Where are you getting the tank built - local in SoCal?

 

Definitely looking forward to this one

[Tigahboy]

2 minutes ago, Justind823 said:

Your tank was one of the best when I first got into this hobby! I remember looking at your tank for inspiration 👍

 

I used to live in LA but I've since moved up north. Where are you getting the tank built - local in SoCal?

 

Definitely looking forward to this one

Thanks!  I'm from the bay originally, so I still go up to visit family and friends regularly.

 

Visio/Advance Aqua is making my starphire tank (ordered my 35g through Advance Aqua/Clear for Life previously). Ordered through Age of Aquarium in Signal Hill.  Honestly, kind of nervous about how it will all turn out b/c they (LFS and/or Manufacturer) wouldn't  budge on my request to make the overflow box smaller despite my opinion that there was plenty of space.  Got really anxious too when the LFS called me to ask if the tank would have clear or black silicone when I wrote "CLEAR SILICONE" pretty prominently on my design.  There were also a lot of delays, etc. 

 

So I'm wondering now if I should've just gone AIO route or just added an overflow myself to an existing stock rimless tank b/c this build is becoming a major PITA.  LOL. 

 

OK, I'll stop ranting now. :)

[Tigahboy]

Still don't feel ready to start a new build thread without a display tank yet, so I'll post random stuff here for the time being.

 

Interesting to see that the hobby has shifted away from actual live rock.  Visited a lot of LFSs and couldn't find any.  My go-to previously was Vanuatu, but I think the shift towards more eco friendly options is a good thing (though I am interested to see what differences may result [if any] from the use of the eco friendly stuff in my tank).

 

So ended up buying 33lb of Real Reef LR today despite not having a tank yet.  Put them all in a food safe Brute bin with a heater and powerhead while I anxiously await my tank to be finished (best case scenario -- next week).  The shapes of the Real Reef rock were OK, but didn't have the variety in shapes that you would see with real LR.  But I think I can still work with the pieces I got.  The Real Reef tonga branches look like chicken feet tho, so I stayed away from those.

 

 

 

 

 

Also will be working on a water changing station tomorrow since I might as well get that all up and running before the tank arrives.  Lots to do!  

[Travis]

I can tell you from experience, be ready for new tank syndrome for at least 6 months to a year. The uglies seem to last MUCH longer than when using real LR. I understand the eco friendliness of using man made rock but there’s just no way of getting the same level of biodiversity that LR offered. 

 

My best advise would be to use a good bacteria in a bottle like Fritz zyme 9 and to add in a bunch of different pods from Algae Barn. Then feed those pods phyto plankton to keep their population alive. There’s nothing for them to eat off of man made rock until it gets really matured with sponge growth and fish poop. 😂

 

These new reefers just don’t know how easy it was to setup a tank with “uncured” live rock. No need to add anything more than heated saltwater and flow. The rock did the rest. 

[Tigahboy]

3 minutes ago, Travis said:

I can tell you from experience, be ready for new tank syndrome for at least 6 months to a year. The uglies seem to last MUCH longer than when using real LR. I understand the eco friendliness of using man made rock but there’s just no way of getting the same level of biodiversity that LR offered. 

 

My best advise would be to use a good bacteria in a bottle like Fritz zyme 9 and to add in a bunch of different pods from Algae Barn. Then feed those pods phyto plankton to keep their population alive. There’s nothing for them to eat off of man made rock until it gets really matured with sponge growth and fish poop. 😂

 

These new reefers just don’t know how easy it was to setup a tank with “uncured” live rock. No need to add anything more than heated saltwater and flow. The rock did the rest. 

😑 That's what I feared.  Thanks for the tips!

[Justind823]

I used Real Reef Rock with my current tank. I was happy to go the eco friendly route as well and for the most part I've only bought aquacultured critters so I'm trying my best to keep it sustainable. What I did experience with the rock that I've never dealt with before was a week or so of bacterial slime buildup a few weeks after setting up the tank. (I had mine in a bucket for about a month before that) I had the two clowns by then and I had to run a bubbler to make sure there was enough oxygen in the water for them as this stringy goop was everywhere. I bought a UV sterilizer to help it along but by the time I got it running the bacterial bloom was going away on it's own. Other than that, for me I wouldn't say I had the new tank syndrome last any longer than what I'm used to. 

 

It is easier to work with! Breaking it with a hammer to create nice shapes is easier than actual rock - so there's that

 

I'm interested to check out this water changing station. Mine has always just been my kitchen counter 😆

[Tigahboy]

8 minutes ago, Justind823 said:

I used Real Reef Rock with my current tank. I was happy to go the eco friendly route as well and for the most part I've only bought aquacultured critters so I'm trying my best to keep it sustainable. What I did experience with the rock that I've never dealt with before was a week or so of bacterial slime buildup a few weeks after setting up the tank. (I had mine in a bucket for about a month before that) I had the two clowns by then and I had to run a bubbler to make sure there was enough oxygen in the water for them as this stringy goop was everywhere. I bought a UV sterilizer to help it along but by the time I got it running the bacterial bloom was going away on it's own. Other than that, for me I wouldn't say I had the new tank syndrome last any longer than what I'm used to. 

 

It is easier to work with! Breaking it with a hammer to create nice shapes is easier than actual rock - so there's that

 

I'm interested to check out this water changing station. Mine has always just been my kitchen counter 😆

Good to know!  If I can actually get the water changing station done today, I'll post some pictures.  But no promises bc it's hard to get anything done with a toddler about. Haha. 

[Christopher Marks]

Curing your rock, that's an exciting first step!

 

I haven't had any trouble with the real reef rock that I've used in my pico reef, it's been running since December. It is admittedly a small sample set 😄. I used Caribsea fiji pink Arag-alive live sand as well when I set it up. I miss the days of stunning pacific reef rock full of life, but so far this has been a lot easier to get going with, and no pests.

 

[Tigahboy]

4 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

Curing your rock, that's an exciting first step!

 

I haven't had any trouble with the real reef rock that I've used in my pico reef, it's been running since December. It is admittedly a small sample set 😄. I used Caribsea fiji pink Arag-alive live sand as well when I set it up. I miss the days of stunning pacific reef rock full of life, but so far this has been a lot easier to get going with, and no pests.

 

Glad to hear you've had good results.  I'll probably use the Fiji pink as well (used the same on my last setup).  🙂

[Tigahboy]

Welp, didn't have time to finish everything I wanted to do this weekend (and couldn't find everything that I needed at the store), but here is the beginnings of my water station for my nano reef tank. RODI filter will feed water to the food safe 14g Brute container directly below which will gravity feed the container below that.  The top container will store FW and the bottom will store SW (with powerhead and heater).  Each container will have a float valve to stop flow once filled and will have a separate spigot (i.e., ball valve + elbow).  Bonus that I can store my tank stuff on the shelves. Will try to actually plumb everything this week. Bought the durable shelf at Costco for super cheap.  

 

[Travis]

Man, if I had a something like that I'd do water changes more often 🤣

[Christopher Marks]

That will pay off big time @Tigahboy, nice! We’re you inspired by @KuruptPixel‘s water change station?

[Tigahboy]

4 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

That will pay off big time @Tigahboy, nice! We’re you inspired by @KuruptPixel‘s water change station?

Yup!  Read his write-up on it here on N-R.  Going to be using his design with some adjustments.  Many thanks to @KuruptPixel for posting it.  🙏

[teenyreef]

Wow, I'm really excited to see this! This was such a beautiful tank. And I'm interested to see what you do with the new tank because you'll have a fresh perspective coming back to the hobby after such a long break.

 

Plus I'm especially interested because I've got a UNS 60U sitting in my office waiting to get set up, and I'm trying to figure out overflows and sumps and stuff, so I've been looking at lots of 20g builds.

 

[Tigahboy]

2 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

Wow, I'm really excited to see this! This was such a beautiful tank. And I'm interested to see what you do with the new tank because you'll have a fresh perspective coming back to the hobby after such a long break.

 

Plus I'm especially interested because I've got a UNS 60U sitting in my office waiting to get set up, and I'm trying to figure out overflows and sumps and stuff, so I've been looking at lots of 20g builds.

 

Thanks!  Excited to be back.

 

Honestly, my overflow is gonna suck.  LOL.  I went back and forth with a lot of different options in my head and ended up with practicality/reliability over aesthetics (something that I tend to do more now in my old age).  It's just going to be a standard, ugly black box (running herbie style drains), but should be very reliable, silent, and effective at surface skimming.  There were a number of ways that I could've made the box smaller (i.e., had more plumbing come out from the side of the tank instead of from the bottom of the tank), but I didn't want to see plumbing outside of the tank either.  Still not sure if I made the right call though but I'm gonna have to live with it now.  :)

 

For a UNS 60U, assuming you want to have an actual overflow to a sump, to keep that tank looking super clean and uncluttered on the inside, I would assume you would be doing either (i) the eshopps external overflow route (tiny box with a herbie style drain - the quietest option), or (ii) external drain(s) hanging off the side directly (maybe durso -- louder option).  I guess you could do a herbie under option (ii) as well, but a little trickier.  I considered both as well.  

[teenyreef]

Just now, Tigahboy said:

Thanks!  Excited to be back.

 

Honestly, my overflow is gonna suck.  LOL.  I went back and forth with a lot of different options in my head and ended up with practicality/reliability over aesthetics (something that I tend to do more now in my old age).  It's just going to be a standard, ugly black box (running herbie style drains), but should be very reliable, silent, and effective at surface skimming.  There were a number of ways that I could've made the box smaller (i.e., had more plumbing come out from the side of the tank instead of from the bottom of the tank), but I didn't want to see plumbing outside of the tank either.  Still not sure if I made the right call though but I'm gonna have to live with it now.  🙂

 

For a UNS 60U, assuming you want to have an actual overflow to a sump, to keep that tank looking super clean and uncluttered on the inside, I would assume you would be doing either (i) the eshopps external overflow route (tiny box with a herbie style drain - the quietest option), or (ii) external drain(s) hanging off the side directly (maybe durso -- louder option).  I guess you could do a herbie under option (ii) as well, but a little trickier.  I considered both as well.  

Thanks - those are pretty much the options I'm considering, even down to specifically using the eshopps 😄

I also thought about lilly pipes. Very pretty and minimalist but a pain in the patootie to clean plus they'll break eventually. I do worry about the possiblity of overflow with an external overflow box. As of now, I'm thinking I'll use frosted glass paint on the back to obscure the plumbing, and drill the tank for the smallest eshopps overflow (Eclipse S), which has a herbie overflow. 

I did the frosted glass paint on my 30g frag tank and I've been really happy with the look. It doesn't like like it's painted at all, and under bluish light it looks more like there just isn't a back on the tank at all.

[Tigahboy]

7 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

Thanks - those are pretty much the options I'm considering, even down to specifically using the eshopps 😄

I also thought about lilly pipes. Very pretty and minimalist but a pain in the patootie to clean plus they'll break eventually. I do worry about the possiblity of overflow with an external overflow box. As of now, I'm thinking I'll use frosted glass paint on the back to obscure the plumbing, and drill the tank for the smallest eshopps overflow (Eclipse S), which has a herbie overflow. 

I did the frosted glass paint on my 30g frag tank and I've been really happy with the look. It doesn't like like it's painted at all, and under bluish light it looks more like there just isn't a back on the tank at all.

Seems like a good number of people use the eshopps without any issues, so solid choice.  Frosted glass paint would be awesome to conceal the plumbing.  It looks great on your frag tank btw!

[Justind823]

The Eclipse S is a great overflow,  works very well for my current setup - nice and quiet. 

 

That new water change station looks great @Tigahboy! Nice and organized,  looking forward to seeing the finished product. 

[Tigahboy]

Plumbing for the water station is done!  

 

 

[Tigahboy]

Quick vid:

 

 

[Travis]

Yeh. I really need something like this. Good job!!!

[Tigahboy]

I mentioned this in my pico contest thread, but my custom 20g project is dead now.  Had some issues with the LFS that I was working with for the tank and stand, so I cancelled that order and got a refund.  So starting all over in my planning now.  

 

I've pretty much focused all my efforts on my pico now.  Really digging it so far, so thinking about just going with a larger version of it (i.e., a larger UNS tank) instead of a full on custom tank.  Need to figure out stand though for the UNS.  

[Cesar]

Oh WOW! Tigahboy (Tigahman) is back. I had about 90% of your corals in my 20g at one time, lol. I have been out of this game for quite some time. I can't remember when was the last time I had anything fish/coral related. I went into a totally different hobby. Ball Pythons. But I'm starting to get the Saltwater itch now that I see Tigah is back. 

[Tigahboy]

2 minutes ago, Cesar said:

Oh WOW! Tigahboy (Tigahman) is back. I had about 90% of your corals in my 20g at one time, lol. I have been out of this game for quite some time. I can't remember when was the last time I had anything fish/coral related. I went into a totally different hobby. Ball Pythons. But I'm starting to get the Saltwater itch now that I see Tigah is back. 

CESAR!!!  Long time, man!  Really great to hear from you.  Hope you have been well. 

 

Time to get back in.  :)

[Cesar]

All is well man. I will be following this thread to see your project. Awesome