thedon986 Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Hi N-R, I have been a long time member but have never created an aquarium thread to document my progress. My first set up was a BC29 which was a big learning experience for me. I had a lot of problems with that set up and also learned a lot. My current set up is my third saltwater aquarium and am very happy with Mr. Aqua aquariums. Current Setup Specs: - Mr. Aqua 22L - OceanBox Custom AIO Insert (amazing product) - 2x AI Prime - MP10wQD - MP10es - Reeflink - Tunze Osmolator - MAME Skimmer - BRS Reef Saver rock - Fiji Pink sand Livestock: - Wide range mix of zoas, LPS and a few SPS - Ocellaris Clown pair - Tailspot Blenny - Yellow Watchman Goby & Tiger Pistol Shrimp - Possibly a Sixline Wrasse in the future? Or a similar open-water swimmer/cruiser My two past setups: Current Setup Pics: New frags from local club meeting yesterday: Left side: Right side: I welcome any feedback about the rockscape and coral placement. I am not 100% happy with how everything looks. I should probably lay off new frags for a while a find places for everything, but that's easier said than done. 8 Quote Link to comment
thedon986 Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 Welcome! I've been following your new setup. Coming along great! Quote Link to comment
thedon986 Posted February 28, 2016 Author Share Posted February 28, 2016 Getting a little more organized and getting coral off the sand. Still have a few pieces to move. Getting some cyano on the sand right now so bumping up the MP10 some. I'm not getting good tank-wide flow with the MP10. The Eheim return from the AIO is so focused it leaves a lot of dead spots on the right side. Looking into another MP10 and reeflink for some real control. The MAME Skimmer is doing a decent job, it never did much in my last setup but the volume made it much easier to keep pristine water quality. Pretty happy with what it's pulling out in the setup but will still rely on 4-6g water changes a week for keeping the water quality up. Took some top down shots last week during a water change. Best part of shallow tanks. 1 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Your tank is looking great! Quote Link to comment
Dylan.N Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Awesome! I'm starting up a Mr. Aqua 22L as well. It got delivered today but FedEx destroyed it 1 Quote Link to comment
thedon986 Posted March 12, 2016 Author Share Posted March 12, 2016 Thank guys! Still getting some diatoms on the sand bed. Did a short black out but that didn't help, so I'm just gonna let it do its thing for a while. I have a tiny quarter sized rbta in there that I've been feeding a few times a week. It's really starting to grow quickly. Definitley love the size of this tank and the Oceanbox AIO is great. I had some problems with my MP10 ramping up and down and changing the water level in the return and triggering the ATO. Have a couple of overflow incidents so I switched to a Tunze 3155 and it has worked much better. 2 Quote Link to comment
jc2014 Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 What were you using as an ATO prior to the Tunze? Just curious. Quote Link to comment
thedon986 Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 I was using a Hydor Smart Level but the level was changing too much in the return and it kept setting the alarm off. Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Gorgeous tank, thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment
Cove Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Holy.. love this set up! Quote Link to comment
TLowrider Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 This is my 22 long , has been set up for about 2 months Also have a sump with it and 2 AI Primes as well having a lot of fun with it Quote Link to comment
thedon986 Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 Thanks! Very happy with how this tank is progressing. I recently picked up a Reeflink and then a second MP10w, so I put the RF module in my QD and programmed it on EcoSmart Live. Loving the ability to really program the pump. I have it running Reefcrest in the morning, Tidal Swell mid-day, Reefcrest and the NTM in the evening. I may adjust in the future but am excited to be able to change the modes throughout the day. I have the second MP10 on the right hand side running at the lowest setting on Reefcrest. Overkill? For sure, but no more dead spots in there that's for sure. Looking good, TLowrider! Sometimes I wish I had a sump on this one but the storage space below the tank is sorely needed. Do you have a picture that shows the drain/return a little better? 1 Quote Link to comment
TLowrider Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Here it is, I have an eshopps sump/nano refugium, which I have 3 different kinds of macro algae, tunze protein skimmer Eshopps overflow box. Huge difference in water clarity when I set up the sump. what are you running your AI Primes at ? Quote Link to comment
Houdini Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Spare no expense I say. Great job. Love the Mame skimmer, are you pleased with the results it delivers? Quote Link to comment
thedon986 Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 Here it is, I have an eshopps sump/nano refugium, which I have 3 different kinds of macro algae, tunze protein skimmer Eshopps overflow box. Huge difference in water clarity when I set up the sump. what are you running your AI Primes at ? That sump looks good, that is one I am considering for the future. I have the blues, UV, and violet peaking at 75% and the rest at 25% at 4pm. It's a little blue for my taste but haven't gotten around to adjusting it. Lights on at 11am and out at 10pm. I can email you my settings if you want to take a peek, just shoot me your email. Spare no expense I say. Great job. Love the Mame skimmer, are you pleased with the results it delivers? Thanks! When I set up the BC29 I was on a college budget so not having to cut corners now has been really nice. I have been very pleased with the results from the MAME. I probably wouldn't use it on a tank any bigger though. I pulls a dark tea skimmate that I used to get when I had an AquaticLife 115 on my BC29. Quote Link to comment
thedon986 Posted March 14, 2016 Author Share Posted March 14, 2016 Updated FTS from today and some other pics. I'm going to try to use a DSLR from here on out. Starting to learn how to use it better now. 3 Quote Link to comment
thedon986 Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 It's been a while since my last update. I have been having some of the usual new tank growing pains. I have some cyano that refuses to go away. It's not very bad but bad enough to be annoying. I have been keeping up with water changes and siphoning it out. Don't let the new FTS fool you, this was after the blackout and some sand vacuuming. It looks like I'm about to be bare bottom on the right half of the tank. I also had some RTN on my forest fire digi after a blackout for three days. Don't know what caused it? I broke it up into pieces and tossed the parts where flesh was falling away and it seems to have saved it. The caulerpa is really starting to take off so that's really cool. Love how it is growing in. New FTS 6 Quote Link to comment
superbluetang Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Nice setup. I like the zoas! Quote Link to comment
thedon986 Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 Nice setup. I like the zoas! Good looking tank! Thanks! The middle rock has some pretty invasive and fast growing palys on it. In person they look like seafoam. That's most of what you see on the middle rock. They don't seem to be choking out my other zoas but they are definitely gobbling up the free real estate quickly. I am starting to get some territorial clashes from the corals in there which is frustrating but that's part of everything growing in. The green cap in the middle has turned out to be more encrusting than plating and has almost smothered my Sunny D palys and is slowly killing my Sunset Monti. On the right, the Bird of Paradise is battling the green Stylo. I'm just going to let things play out and see who wins. Quote Link to comment
rickztahone Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Following. I have this exact same tank and been wanting to get ideas. I've never had a SW tank and am doing as much research as possible to combat the cyano/algae issues that many seem to face. From my research I have found that many say to wait for a mature tank to add different kinds of corals, especially nems. How do you bypass this? Quote Link to comment
thedon986 Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 I transferred what I have now from a tank that was a little over a year old, so I didn't have that issue. If you start with very good live rock your tank may mature much faster. I started with dry rock and it took forever for coraline to start growing and the tank prior to this one didn't settle in to autopilot till about 8 months. What I would say for a quickly maturing tank: - Good live rock - Good skimmer - Good maintenance After that your tank should mature very quickly. Maybe after 6 months start looking to add more difficult corals. Cyano can be a real pain to get rid of. I'm close to ordering some Chemiclean but going to give it another week or so. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rural Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 On the right, the Bird of Paradise is battling the green Stylo. I'm just going to let things play out and see who wins. my money is on the stylo Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.