mdannyg's 33.5 gallon

[mdannyg]

Hi all, I finally got my first saltwater tank started this weekend after months of planning, reading and saving! This site has been a huge help with so many awesome tanks and ideas.

*Updated Full tank shot, October 2016:*


I'm using one of the Mr. Aqua 33.5 gallon rimless tanks which I'm really happy with. It's about 25" x 18" x 18". I built a stand for it in October using some ideas I found from various sites. I couldn't resist painting it gray, ADA style.




I also decided to go with Evil's Par 38 bulbs. I had planned on T5s but these seem like a much better deal in the long run. And they're really sexy . I'm using two, one 12k and the other 20k, both with 80 degree optics. I mounted them with Office Depot swing arm lamps.

I'm also running a 10 gallon sump, no skimmer yet but planning on a Bubble Magus. I'm using a clear Lifereef hob nano overflow and one of the ADA glass outflow pipes for the outflow. Obviously I have my cleaning work cut out for me as far as trying to keep it all clear.

The live rock is Marshall Islands from Coral Corral in Oldsmar, FL. I love the shapes and I don't think I could have done a bad aquascape with this rock if I tried.



(messing around in daylight with a small florescent light in the back like i've seen some of the planted tank folks do)


(need to get a glass scraper)



Thanks for checking it out!

[KPclown]

Really nice tank, very clean looking and contemporary. I like your aquascaping too, is it Liverock or Dryrock? What do you plan to use for filtration and flow? Do you have a stock list yet?

[mdannyg]

thanks! it's live rock. i'm using an mp10 for flow. the return pump for the sump a hydor seltz L30. i just have some extra live rock and sand in the refugium area of the sump now, but i'll add some chaeto and a protein skimmer after the cycling or when i start adding corals.

 

stock list plan at the moment is just to keep corals limited to a few i really like, and not overloading it. i love ricordea so i'll definitely start out with that. i'd like to try keeping things with blues and greens mostly too, with a few random colors here and there, but generally keeping a color scheme. which may either look good or boring... we'll see.

 

fish wise i'm thinking maybe a couple firefish and a dwarf angel.

 

way down the road i'd love to try a tube anemone...

[urbaneks]

I love your tank! Wish I would have gone rimless.

[urbaneks]

When you get a chance post some pics of your sump. I'd like to see how you have that setup.

[mdannyg]

thank you! i guess i should take some pictures of the sump, although i was hesitant because it looks so ugly. it was my fist attempt at silicon and baffles and it's crazy. its basically just a return section in the middle with the fuge and skimmer on either side. i have the drain with a tee connection going into the two sides and a ball valve on the skimmer side. i'm using vinyl flexible tubing. the return area only holds about a gallon incase the siphon breaks.

[r3dph03n1x]

Darn sexy rock there!

 

 

Post pics of the sump for sure.

[Surfzup2k4]

I am keeping my eyes on this. Looks sweet

 

 

How happy are you with the silicone job on the tank?

[mdannyg]

How happy are you with the silicone job on the tank?

 

i'm happy with it, but i have never owned or even seen an ADA tank in real life so i can't really compare it to anything except my 10 gallon Aqueon, heh. it's obviously much, much better than that.

 

i have read other people say they think the silicon on Mr. Aquas could be a bit better.

[mdannyg]

Ok, here's the sump, don't laugh too hard. And yes as you can see by the different colors I actually used so much that i ran out of silicone at one point and had to buy more.

 

 

I should probably move that rock rubble in the bubble tower (on the right side) so it's a little more compacted so there isn't that big open space. or should i not use live rock rubble in there at all to avoid nitrates? and should i use those filter pads or not? I'll eventually be putting chemi pure or carbon in there. The protein skimmer will just fit behind that. And i'll be putting in a fuge light when I get some chaeto.

[mdannyg]

this has been up for about two weeks now, no huge updates but i am excited to be getting some diatoms.

 

 

i'm planning on adding my clean up crew next weekend. i haven't really had a cycle since the rock was cured which is nice. never had any ammonia or nitrites. nitrates are becoming ever so slightly visible.

[mdannyg]

I got my initial clean up crew today. I'm starting with 10 trochus, 10 astrea snails, and 5 scarlet hermits. I also got some chaeto for the fuge. I'll probably add some cerith and nassarius eventually.

 

I also discovered how to adjust my camera's white balance, so I had some more fun with that. these pictures are a bit more true to life, but it's definitely more blue in real life.

 

[pismo_reefer]

ART.

[Giga]

ART.

 

 

 

+1

[mdannyg]

Thanks!

[Billdemart]

Yeah I wish I could scape like that.

[violinist]

Love the scape and the tank itself is smooth as hell.

[mdannyg]

i wonder what this star thing is on this crab's shell..

 

[mdannyg]

I'm kind of perplexed. about 5 of my trochus snails have been upside down and when i right them they don't do anything. or if they do move again they just fall back over. i actually watched one struggle to stay on the live rock and the weight of the shell pulled him over, like the snail was too weak. they were fine for over a week up until yesterday. i never had to right any upside down snails until now. some have retreated almost completely in their shell. my hermit crabs and astreas seem fine. (though really my hermits don't move quite as much as they did, but they're getting around) my parameters have all been stable.

 

tonights tests were:

salinity 1.024

Alk 7.84 dkh

Calcium 460

PH 8.3

Nitrates between 0 and 5 ppm

 

i am using a hydrometer so i suppose it could be one of those horror stories where someone goes out and buys a refractometer and finds their salinity is actually some crazy number, but i'd think everything would be acting weird, not just the trochus snails. could they have already starved to death? i'm still seeing die-off on the rock that i think they could eat but i've never had any algae other than diatoms.

 

any thoughts are appreciated!

[mdannyg]

so i got my Bubble Magus protein skimmer in the mail yesterday and installed it last night. i'm pretty happy with it so far. I ran it in a vinegar water bath for an hour and then rinsed it in ro/di water. it has been running in my sump for about 18 hours and has produced some tan colored water. i'm still not sure how i should have it adjusted. as you can see in this attached picture, i have the foam/bubbles not going quite to the top of the tube. should it be? i'd be afraid to have them come up any further since thats how much water it overflowed into the collection cup in less than a day.

 

 

and my snail situation is still the same...

[mdannyg]

I've finally added my first corals.

 

Some ricordea:

 

 

 

 

I also added some zoas. These ones look pretty bad. The first week they were pretty much closed, so right now i'm just happy they're finally opening. I hope they color up as well. I'm not sure if the problem was the shipping or something with the way I dipped them.

 

 

So today I got some more zoas at my lfs and these seem great.

 

 

 

 

And today I added these three firefish from the quarantine tank. They seem to be having fun with the flow from the Vortech.

 

 

updated full tank shot:

 

[Tigahboy]

Nice and clean. Good start!

[mdannyg]

Nice and clean. Good start!

 

thanks! your tank is one of my favorites on here.

[quickfinger]

yeah looks great

[OClownsandNanos]

Very lovely rock and rockscape - what'd you use to secure the rock to make the ledge? Awesome start! And don't usually care for them, but like your trio of firefish. How do they interact? I do really like your new green zoas too. Hopefully the other ones will open for you.