d0lph1n Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 One day, looking for vinyl records at Goodwill, I found a 40 gal. corner tank & stand for $50, so I had to buy it without having any idea what to do with it. At that time, I was very happy with my 20 gal. planted tank. It crossed my mind to upgrade it to a bigger tank but my friend suggested to build a reef tank instead. I was scared to try it, especially because I didn't have any experience and knowledge about saltwater. Thanks to the online forums and articles, especially after reading GobyInPeace's profile, I got more confident and few weeks later, here I am... Start date: Feb. 13, 2011 Photo update: Dec 1, 2011 Tank: 40 gal. glass tank (used) Light: Aquamedic Oceanlight HQI 1x250watt (used) MH bulb: XDE 20000K (used) USHIO 14000K (new) Heater: Eheim Jager 125w 200watt Filter: Eheim 2212 Aquaball Eheim 3e 2076 on Bio Stream function (used) Filter media: 6L Seachem Matrix & 1 coarse pad (pre-filter) Powerhead: 2 x Tunze 6045, Hydor Evolution 750 Liverock: 50-60lbs Fiji live rock Sand: 40lbs Tropic Eden Aragavive (10lbs live) Salt: Tropic Marine Pro (during cycling) and Tropic Bio-Actif (after cycling) Salinity: 1024-1025 by Sybon HD Refractometer FG100sa Temp: 79F by Sybon Digital Submersible Thermometer Alkalinity: 4-5 meq/L by Seachem Multitest pH: 8.1-8.2 by Seachem Multitest Calcium: 400-450ppm by Salifert Sump/Refugium/Skimmer: Hydor Slim Skim AquaC Remora Ro/Di: SpectraPure MaxCap RO/DI 90 Macro algae: Chaeto (in-tank, behind rocks) Corals Red Sea Pulsing identified as Pom-Pom Xenia White Pulsing identified as ORA Silver Xenia "Blue" Xenia Emerald Cyphastrea Sun Polyps Branching Green Hammer Coral (Apple) Green Hammer Coral Christmas Tree Worms with Coral (host) Orange Ricordea True Superman Montipora ORA Screaming Green Birdsnest Purple Haze Montipora Open Brain Coral Invertebrates 19 x Trochus Snail 4 x Nassarius Snail 3 x Tonga Fighting Conch Snail 1 x Commensal Shrimp (my 1st hitchhiker, identified ) 2 x Cleaner Shrimp 1 x Tuxedo Urchin 2 x Emerlad Crab 1 x Pom-Pom Crab 1 x Blue Linckia Starfish Fish 2 x Amphiprion Percula / True Percula Clown (pair) 1 x Paracheilinus Lineopunctatus / Dot-and-Dash Flasher Wrasse (identified) 1 x Paracheilinus Mccoskeri / McCosker's Flasher Wrasse Photos by: iPhone 3GS & Nikon D40 ============================================== A little history: 1. Used 40g glass tank & stand, from Goodwill for $50 2. Tested for leaks 3. Removed the top rim 4. Tested again for leaks 5. Got 60lbs of Fiji live rock 6. 1st take of the rock arrangement: 7. Added 40lbs of sand: 8. After 1 week of cycling, under the 20K XDE light. pH: 8.1 / Salinity: 1025 / Alkalinity 4-5 Link to comment
Amanda Marie Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Wow... That's an awesome find. I'm totally jealous. lol. Loving the setup, rock looks great! Link to comment
Rehype Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Looks great love the scape. Link to comment
bananahands Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Doubt that will hold without the top rim. But it does look good. Good luck! Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 Wow... That's an awesome find. I'm totally jealous. lol. Loving the setup, rock looks great! Don't be jealous. I'm spending too much money Doubt that will hold without the top rim. But it does look good. Good luck! It's holding ok. I hope you are wrong Thx Looks great love the scape. Your tank looks much better. Thank you Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 9. Few days ago, I added a Xenia sp. (from vidid aquariums) It was too much shadow in my tank, so I've rearranged the rocks. Most of the rocks are full of diatoms. I can see some bubble algae too. Thank you all for helping me identify it. Today, I got: 3 x Emerald crab 10 x Turban Snails 1 x Pom-Pom crab 1 portion of Macro algae (Chaeto) Pics here. Link to comment
reef-luva Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Doubt that will hold without the top rim. The "trim" on a glass aquariums has little to do with the strength of the seams. You will notice that the trim is also attached together at the corners and is rarely if ever one whole piece to actually give any real strength to the sides. The trim is primarily used for 1) decoration and 2) to hold the glass top on. A good friend of mine worked at a tank manufacturing company here in LA and I used to get all my tanks through him, I did a tour once, cool stuff. Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 The "trim" on a glass aquariums has little to do with the strength of the seams.You will notice that the trim is also attached together at the corners and is rarely if ever one whole piece to actually give any real strength to the sides. The trim is primarily used for 1) decoration and 2) to hold the glass top on. A good friend of mine worked at a tank manufacturing company here in LA and I used to get all my tanks through him, I did a tour once, cool stuff. Thank you for letting me know. I didn't have the guts to remove the lower rim, trim:)...my bad. I removed the top rim on my 20 gal freshwater. But the reef tank is twice as big and especially twice as high. Hope for the best. Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 Cool lookin tank Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm looking fwd to improving it. The 20000k XDE is too colorful for me. The 8000K lamp I got from ebay is 'weird': too much light & heat & fatiguing for the eye. I've been looking for a bulb replacement maybe an USHIO 14000k...but $100 for a light bulb, come on. Also, I'd like to add some blue LED lamps or I'll put some Cree Royal Blue LEDs inside the MH case. Link to comment
gutterguy Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Scape looks awsome. I keep hearing how corners are so hard to scape but you and 24nano have no problems. Watch that xenia, in six months it may overtake the tank. good luck gg Link to comment
reef-luva Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 The last tank I took the top trim off, I secured it with a 'lil extra silicone... ....just to be sure.... I think it's funny when people think rimless tanks are something new....hahaha We used to build our own tanks in the mid-eighties and didn't have trim...... Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Scape looks awsome. I keep hearing how corners are so hard to scape but you and 24nano have no problems. Watch that xenia, in six months it may overtake the tank. good luck gg Thank you, I appreciate it. I'm watching Xenia everyday. It's a beautiful thing. I don't mind if it's taking over the tank The last tank I took the top trim off,I secured it with a 'lil extra silicone... ....just to be sure.... I think it's funny when people think rimless tanks are something new....hahaha We used to build our own tanks in the mid-eighties and didn't have trim...... and the silicones these days should be better. Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 My first hitchhiker. It looks like a Commensal shrimp: Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 The tank's cycle is almost complete. The water's parameters are looking good. The diatoms are less and less visible. Also, the cleaning crew is doing a great job except one small area of a live rock where few types of green and brow algae are starting to grow. I'm trying to identify them. The chaeto algae is looking healthy. The 20000k light bulb looks whiter in real life. However, imo, it's too much purple. This is the "wild rock": Ohh, I've almost forgot..I can see Coraline forming on most of the rocks, a very nice surprise. In the beginning, It was a bright white and few days later it started to change its color into green or purple. Link to comment
mygolfisslow Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 looks good. i used to rock the corner bow never thought to take the rim off, that looks hot. Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 looks good. i used to rock the corner bow never thought to take the rim off, that looks hot. Thank you. I appreciate it. Your tank looks good too. You put a lot of work into it. Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 New additions: 1 x White Xenia 1 x Blue Xenia 1 x Tuxedo Urchin 10 x Trochus Snail 30h before and after adding them. Pretty amazing, isn'it? Before: 30h after: Link to comment
Byrdman Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Tanks looking good. I would take it slow and make sure you are comfortable dosing and reading test kits. The biggest mistake new people make is going to fast and being impatient. Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 Tanks looking good. I would take it slow and make sure you are comfortable dosing and reading test kits. The biggest mistake new people make is going to fast and being impatient. Thanks for your advice. I dosed, so far, only Iodine but I got concerned after reading about the Iodine overdose. So, I've stopped dosing it until I have a test kit. Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 Yesterday i did the first water change. Everybody seems happy so far, especially the Urchin. In the morning, the water was looking great, very clear. There are still some diatoms on glass and rocks but it's nothing compared what it was before. The CuC will take care of it. Link to comment
Coastie Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 I like your scape! Looks great! Link to comment
d0lph1n Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 Looking good. I appreciate your comments, especially coming from you. I like your scape! Looks great! Great. Thanks. I'm doing my best. I see that you like rimless too. Nice work Link to comment
Coastie Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Removed my completely irrelevant post. Link to comment
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