(07/08 Showpiece Fish) OMW's - 33 LONG - Custom AIO, mixed reef

[MrNanoReef]

 

 

Not to hijack but exactly what i thought I to do. thanks for the reassurance. Will deff be in touch during the process.

 

Can't Wait!!

Not at all, i'm sure that's nothing new but most people still have no idea how to do it properly.

The only other suggestions I would give are to make the cut on the silicone tube so that the hole is pretty small and go easy on how much silicone you put down. The first time I tried resealing a tank I used way too much....what a mess that was.

+1 Use as little silicone as possible but still be able to get a good seal, you can actually feel if you have enough or not.

[olemanwinter]

All-In-One DESIGN and FILTRATION

 

The AIO I commissioned to have built by OceanBox Designs was a 3 chamber insert. This is working well, but could be improved upon somewhat if I did it over again. I'll explain why in a moment.

 

 

As you can see, I'm currently using a filter pad, activated carbon, a small bag of Seachim Matrix bio material, skimmer, and return pump. On the whole, I think I crammed a lot into a small space with not much room to spare However, there are still areas where I think I wasted space and a little more area would have yielded a lot more flexibility.

 

If I had made the return pump chamber longer I could have also used the portion above the pump to place a small HOB reactor for GFO. As it stands now, if I end up needing to use GRO down the line I will move the Matrix under the skimmer in the 2nd chamber and place bagged GFO without a reactor in the first chamber where it was. I could have also placed my heater in the 3rd chamber with the reactor and pump.

 

I may still be able to find a heater small enough to place in that chamber, but haven't yet.

 

It's not really an oversight on my part as much as a change in my plans. I originally thought I would run this tank very lightly stocked and had no plans to use GFO. It was going to be a species tank. Now that it's a general mixed-reef I'll probably over stock.

 

 

Any tips on installing the AIO insert? Looks like yours blends in seamlessly. Thanks.

 

INSTALLATION

 

The biggest challenge for installing this insert involves the thick silicone you will find on the seams of glass tanks. This may not be an issue with an acrylic tank or a very small tank. However, on my rather large nano there was a lot of thick silicone on the edges.

Since this is a separate installation after the tank construction, unlike most AIOs, it's not going to fit seamlessly. The existing silicone will cause it to sit 'offset' from the bottom.

 

*NOTE* Before you begin, depending on how tightly you made your design, you may need to saw off some of the brace (unless using rimless tank). I used a rimmed tank and with such a small footprint I had to take a hacksaw and remove some of the frame to accommodate my equipment. You can see the result here. Pretty ugly if you are looking for it, but it's never really in view when looking at the tank.

 

 

STEP 1: Position the insert in the tank and measure the gap between the insert and the glass bottom. Find or make some platform to hold up the insert during curing for the next step.

 

STEP 2: The most important part of the silicone job will be to place a large bead under any baffle that is supposed to direct flow upward. The gap caused by the original tank silicone will allow flow under the baffle and mess up your water level in the chambers.

 

Did I skip this step and have to go back and correct it. Yes I did.

 

My take on this. Put blue painter tape around your seam, drop the silicone in, wipe up with your finger, immediately remove the tape, guaranteed clean silicone line every time. Repeat for the other seams, you don't even need to seal off the inside baffle if the unit is flushed to the glass.

 

STEP 3: This is also what I did. I used the tape around the seems. Held the insert in place resting on the platform and applied what silicone I felt was necessary. I used my slightly damp finger to press uniformly into the corner and wipe up almost all of it, leaving very little behind.

 

*NOTE* Remember that this will have no actual pressure on it. Unlike the tank glass holding in the water, this might not even technically need silicone at all. The insert itself braces against the back of the tank and the substrate (unless you run bare bottom) will provide pressure from the other direction. I used very little silicone.

 

STEP 4: After it's cured. slide out the platform and silicone the bottom to close that gap.

 

Repeat for the other seams, you don't even need to seal off the inside baffle if the unit is flushed to the glass.

 

That was my conclusion as well, however just make sure to silicone under the baffles.

 

I am about to set up a 22 long with and AIO from Oceanbox and I'm psyched! Can you post up some close-ups of it in the tank?

 

Here are a couple more:

 

 

 

 

You can also see here that I decided not to paint the section of the side behind the AIO. I decided that I liked the idea of having a view of that first chamber to see if any debris is accumulating, easily view the water level, how dirty the pad is, and if any snails have made it through the overflow. (Dwarf Cerith have proven small enough twice already)

 

One of the downsides of this whole design is that you can't do the usual "acrylic shelves" that look so nice instead of a basket. You have to either rig up (as I did) or hire someone to build one ($$).

 

I need to get a quote on a basket from Oceanbox. I think he owes me a couple bucks anyway, which might make it a little easier to afford

 

most people still have no idea how to do it properly.

Including me, but in the end i think I managed. I'm very pleased with how it's all coming together!

[olemanwinter]

Just a little update for my lonely thread.

 

With very few fish, the tank continues to be invert heaven. The amount of pods running around is truly disgusting. lol They don't even hide during the daylight hours. After dark it looks like some infestation. But my fish will be fat and happy when I get them.

 

Last night at lights out I was able to count 16 fairly large serpent starfish. No telling how many are in the system.

 

Here are 3 visible across a few inches. I could have sworn there was a 4th one in the picture when I took it, but I can't find it.

 

 

Cleaner shrimp has a new suit of armor

 

And here are some bad, kinda blurry macro shots. I still haven't bothered to go to the garage and hunt around for my tripod.

 

[metrokat]

How is the little claw-less crab doing? Hopefully he will gain back the claws with the next moult.

I saw my blue knuckle hermit crab rip off his own legs and somehow both claws for no reason. I even had a witness to it. Sometimes critters are possessed. Or Aliens.

[Legot]

I have a 33L too! How hard was it to find yours?

[olemanwinter]

How is the little claw-less crab doing?

 

Not well. I think I updated, but he then lost 2 more legs to a smaller RFA and I watched him haul @ss across the tank where he sat and died on top of a favia. I think maybe I've somehow conditioned my RFAs to think anything that touches them is food because of how often I fed them meaty stuff. :-/

 

I wont be trying an anemone crab again in this tank.

[olemanwinter]

I have a 33L too! How hard was it to find yours?

 

Not hard. When I bought mine there was standard glass versions available from Amazon for about $100 or so. I wanted Starphire and got my custom made from glasscages. Lead time was about 7 weeks I think.

[ajmckay]

Sweet tank - liking the dimensions and the starphire - someday I want to try out a starphire tank. Either that or acrylic but I think I would get annoyed if acrylic scratched... The custom AIO insert is great, and the skimmer nestles in just right. I see what you mean about it being a little bit larger though. I sort of did the same thing with my overflow box - made it really tiny and as a result it's difficult to get the plumbing parts in there.

 

Really diggin' the RFAs - how long have you had those for?

 

Do you run an ATO?

 

Overall I like the tank though - from the coral selection to the livestock choices it seems like a strong mixed reef. Are you planning to re-order your failed order?

[olemanwinter]

Sweet tank

Thanks. I appreciate the interest.

 

liking the dimensions and the starphire - someday I want to try out a starphire tank.

I'm really torn about the starphire. It scratches very easily. It already looks like what I expected it to look like after 2 years...in 2 months :-/

 

I've reached the conclusion that I can't clean with anything hard at all, no matter how careful I am. It really scratches absurdly easy.

 

So, that means you have to clean CONSTANTLY to avoid any hard algae forming on the glass. Coralline algae and calcium deposits both show up pretty fast and become a real PIA to scrape off.

 

My wife says she can't really see the scratches, but I feel like I've already ruined the tank the first time I tried to get rid of the coralline build up. The soft green algae is really no problem (and very light growth).

 

Now if I get something hard on the inside glass I just stick my whole arm inside with a old credit card. It's the only thing I've found that will actually remove the coralline without scratching the glass.

 

I think I'm going to keep doing starphire because the clarity is amazing, but it's a royal PIA so plan ahead for that.

 

The custom AIO insert is great, and the skimmer nestles in just right. I see what you mean about it being a little bit larger though. I sort of did the same thing with my overflow box - made it really tiny and as a result it's difficult to get the plumbing parts in there.

 

Trying to make use of that small area above the return pump I'm going to buy this upflow scrubber when my fish stocking increases. I hope the scrubber plus the skimmer will compensate for the lack of GFO even I do stock heavily in the end.

 

I'm going to be trying to add some gorgonians to the tank, so I'll need to keep the nuisance algae low in the display. I usually don't mind a bit of hair algae. I hope my Rainford's Goby will be fine with this plan. I may have to harvest hair algae out of the scrubber just to put back in the display for him. LOL

 

Really diggin' the RFAs - how long have you had those for?

 

Do you run an ATO?

 

I've had the RFA's since the 3rd week or so. I cycled very fast and ordered them with my CUC from KP Aquatics. They are all super easy to care for and quite a bit larger than average I think. The white one is a monster. He scares me. About rips the turkey baster from my hand if he gets a tentacle on it.

 

I don't run an ATO. I run a TO, no auto. lol

 

The tank is in my office where I spent pretty much all my time so I've always got eyes on the tank.

 

I set up a simple and cheap Top-Off Kalk reservoir like described here and it works great. I use a little valve to set the drip rate to as close to the evaporation rate as I can (which varies based on the AC use) and just refill as I think about it.

 

lately though I've stopped using Kalk and started dosing 2 part. My Ph is way low. Everything else is in check, and I've read that in cases where everything else is good a lower PH is okay as long as it's not swinging wildly, but I still don't like it. So I'm using 2 part to try to get things where I want them and then I'll go back to maintaining with Kalk and just 2 part as necessary.

 

 

Overall I like the tank though - from the coral selection to the livestock choices it seems like a strong mixed reef. Are you planning to re-order your failed order?

 

Thanks again. I've tried to plan everything out in advance but I bought 2 chalices on an impulse the other day and I have no idea where to put them. I wish I hadn't bought them. They are fine corals but didn't really fit my plan.

 

I (knock on wood) have 2 big orders coming in this week. KP Aquatics gorgonians and 1 fish come tomorrow (knock on wood). My replacement order with Bluezoo should arrive on Thursday (knock on wood) with a few changes.

 

I'm more than a little nervous about it all actually. I had bad enough luck BEFORE the entire US was covered in snow.

[teenyreef]

Nice looking tank! I don't think I've seen a 33L before - the dimensions are really cool. Love the pictures!

 

For a really small heater, I've been very happy with my Finnex titanium. The temperature controller is outside the tank, and it's very compact and short. I have the 50w, which is only 5 1/2" long. I think the 100 watt is about 6 1/2" long. But I don't know if you'd need something larger, or if the bigger ones would fit.

 

Here's a link on Amazon in case you're interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Finnex-Electronic-Controller-Aquarium-20-Gallon/dp/B002YJW58K

And the link to the dimensions:

http://www.finnex.net/index.php/hma-series/?___store=default

[Legot]

 

Not hard. When I bought mine there was standard glass versions available from Amazon for about $100 or so. I wanted Starphire and got my custom made from glasscages. Lead time was about 7 weeks I think.

Wow, it took me a month to find anyone who could even get one shipped out here, glasscages couldn't even get me one! I had to go through a mediocre LFS where they managed to find an Aqueon one.

 

It's too bad about the starfire scratching. That's really weird since the iron content in glass really doesn't effect hardness much if at all. Could you just be noticing it more because you're looking for it?

[olemanwinter]

Wow, it took me a month to find anyone who could even get one shipped out here, glasscages couldn't even get me one! I had to go through a mediocre LFS where they managed to find an Aqueon one.

 

It's too bad about the starfire scratching. That's really weird since the iron content in glass really doesn't effect hardness much if at all. Could you just be noticing it more because you're looking for it?

 

Glasscages couldn't get you one? I had to drive about an hour to meet the truck to pick mine up, and wait about 7 weeks for it to be made, but I think they go everywhere.

 

Do you have a tank thread for your 33long on this site or another? I'd love to see it.

 

It definitely scratches easier. If you google "starphire scratch" I'm sure you will find this to be the consensus. I wish I was just noticing it more. Every time I look at my tank I want to cry and I'm a grown man. lol

 

Actually, in truth...the scratches are so bad...I'm already thinking about the day when I turn this into a big frag tank and replace it.

 

This was my first starphire tank and I just didn't realize how extremely fragile they were. I was reading the other day about a guy who watched a snail somehow pull a grain of sand across the glass and scratch his starphire tank.

Nice looking tank! I don't think I've seen a 33L before - the dimensions are really cool. Love the pictures!

 

For a really small heater, I've been very happy with my Finnex titanium. The temperature controller is outside the tank, and it's very compact and short. I have the 50w, which is only 5 1/2" long. I think the 100 watt is about 6 1/2" long. But I don't know if you'd need something larger, or if the bigger ones would fit.

 

Here's a link on Amazon in case you're interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Finnex-Electronic-Controller-Aquarium-20-Gallon/dp/B002YJW58K

And the link to the dimensions:

http://www.finnex.net/index.php/hma-series/?___store=default

 

That's actually the model I already have. And I like everything about it, except that it doesn't fit. The 100 watt is still a little underrated. I went with the 150 and it doesn't fit. Oh well. I'm going to put an upflow algae scrubber in the chamber where the heater was going to go and leave the heater out in the display.

[markalot]

I was regretting not getting starfire until I read this. I've already put a small scratch in the front of my 150 using standard glass. Good grief!

[vlangel]

O wow, I did not know that about starfire glass either. I always thought someday I woulf fork out the $ for that. I have scratched my tank in a few places as well so I don't think starfire is in my future now. Thanks for the heads up!

[olemanwinter]

I was regretting not getting starfire until I read this. I've already put a small scratch in the front of my 150 using standard glass. Good grief!

Good grief is right.

 

O wow, I did not know that about starfire glass either. I always thought someday I woulf fork out the $ for that. I have scratched my tank in a few places as well so I don't think starfire is in my future now. Thanks for the heads up!

I still like Starphire, I just wasn't prepared for it's fragile nature.

 

If you are careful from the start I think it would be okay. If I had bought an acrylic tank I would have known in advance that scratching it was so easy and I would have been more careful and I'd probably be looking at less scratches today.

 

I've also heard that not all starphire glass is created equal. Maybe by going with a cheaper manufacturer (glasscages) I somehow got inferior glass. I have no idea.

 

But I think if I had started out doing what I'm doing now...(cleaning with a soft sponge-type scrubber daily or every other day and only using a credit card for deposits) I would be in better shape.

 

Oh well, live and learn.

 

In related news (being an idiot), I just had a frag out of my tank working on it and a pod so huge crawled onto my finger I about threw the coral across the house!

[teenyreef]

Good grief is right.

 

I still like Starphire, I just wasn't prepared for it's fragile nature.

 

If you are careful from the start I think it would be okay. If I had bought an acrylic tank I would have known in advance that scratching it was so easy and I would have been more careful and I'd probably be looking at less scratches today.

 

I've also heard that not all starphire glass is created equal. Maybe by going with a cheaper manufacturer (glasscages) I somehow got inferior glass. I have no idea.

 

But I think if I had started out doing what I'm doing now...(cleaning with a soft sponge-type scrubber daily or every other day and only using a credit card for deposits) I would be in better shape.

 

Oh well, live and learn.

 

In related news (being an idiot), I just had a frag out of my tank working on it and a pod so huge crawled onto my finger I about threw the coral across the house!

I've had that happen too!

 

My 4g tank is Starfire and I've never taken any special precautions. It's never scratched, but I could just be lucky. I usually use a TLF nanomag to clean the glass, and I'm careful not to pick up any sand or rocks with it when I clean. Learned that lesson with my acrylic tank. But I have used a razor blade every once in a while with no problem.

[olemanwinter]

But I have used a razor blade every once in a while with no problem.

 

Maybe I should have used an actual razor blade and dispose them frequently instead of using one of the "blade tools" made for aquariums.

 

I think the problem is that the blades are actually less stiff than a real razor blade and so unless they remove the hard deposit on the first pass...I think maybe it's actually bending over it and makes the edges dig slightly into the glass. I don't know.

 

I'll expirament with a real razor blade on this tank before I get another one. Whatever I do, I'll have a plan before I get another one!

[olemanwinter]

olemanwinter VS old man winter.

 

Bluezoo called to say they delayed my shipment indefinitely due to weather.

 

Thankfully my KPAquatics order came in mostly healthy. I've got to move things around into their proper place and then update.

 

Got a little Cherub Pygmy Angelfish that took a nip on my brain coral 30 seconds after I put him in the tank. lol

[Legot]

 

Glasscages couldn't get you one? I had to drive about an hour to meet the truck to pick mine up, and wait about 7 weeks for it to be made, but I think they go everywhere.

 

Do you have a tank thread for your 33long on this site or another? I'd love to see it.

The lead time for glasscages was 14 weeks+a truck shipping charge, and I would have had to drive out somewhere to pick it up. Not worth it for what's essentially a standard tank.

 

I don't have a thread yet, but I'll get on that!

[olemanwinter]

I don't have a thread yet, but I'll get on that!

 

Great. Just don't make it better than mine.

[olemanwinter]

Small Update with my phone camera.

 

Among other things, my little chromis got a buddy and a gorgeous showpiece Orange Back Fairy Wrasse.

[teenyreef]

That fairy wrasse is beautiful!

[Lizzie1324]

That wrasse is gorgeous! I didnt even know they made 33 longs. Mine is a 20, and my parents have talked about wanting one a little bigger at their new place. I was thinking 40 breeder, but this is definitely in the running! Great dimensions. Awesome looking tank!

[olemanwinter]

Well, I'm sorry to say the fairy wrasse didn't make it. He sure was beautiful.

 

He wouldn't eat. I'm not sure I've ever seen a fish less interested in eating and that includes Leopard Wrasses, Mandarins and Copperband Butterflyfish. I tried to get him to eat LRS fish frenzy, premium flake and pellet, and even live brine. He wouldn't even eat live brine. He was also extremely sluggish acting. He never acted right. He had no visible signs of any problem.

 

I'm inclined to think it was due to either poor collection or internal parasites. I started treating him with Prazi, but he didn't improve

 

So, not sure what showpiece fish I will get in the end. I don't think I'll buy any new fish for a while. Maybe pick up a harem of flashers if I see them come up on Diver's Den (which I haven't noticed in a while).

 

Other strange news includes the loss of a leather coral. First leather coral I've ever lost in any tank. I moved it from one side of the tank to the other and kind of wedged it in between a couple of things and thought nothing about it. These things are usually like weeds in my tank. Well, I noticed tonight he was melting. I pulled it out and it was PUTRID. No idea really what happened because another leather 8 inches away is doing great. Oh well.

 

Other livestock doing well. Crappy cell phone picture update:

Pistol shrimp and High-Fin Goby set up shop on the side of the tank. Barely visible from the front, but thankfully they set up on the side that faces my desk. Guess I have to start cleaning that glass now. Thanks a lot guys.

 

These guys are strange friends. Always tooling around together. They are so close to each other they look like spawning clownfish half the time. I've been watching close for aggression but haven't seen any. They are just buddies I guess.

 

 

 

[markalot]

Tailspot Blennys are awesome, my favorite fish by far.