Pumpkin’s 30g Conversion Tank

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

Tank wet October 2020 using live rock from my 20g, biomax from my 20g and live sand.

 

Inhabitants:

Black Ice Clownfish Pair 

Midas Blenny

Banggai Cardinal

Royal Gramma

Yellow Watchman Goby

Emerald Crab

Halloween Hermit

Cerith Snails

Nassarius Snails 

Fuzzy Mushrooms

Blue Mushroom

Red Mushroom

Iron Man Mushroom

 

Equipment:

Aqua One 110 litre / 30g tank w/ stand.

Viparspectra 165w

Interpret CF2 cascade filter

Tunze Turbelle 6015 wave maker 

Aqua One 150w heater
 

Intended livestock: 

More Hermits/Snails as the need arises.

1 Shrimp (fire or skunk cleaner)

1 BTA of some sort

 

Intentions:

Semi-Easy going BTA tank with soft coral and possible frags from my 20g.

 

FTS (Nov 2020):

 

 

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

Little update. Still not “wet” but near enough dry.
 

Bad news is I think the Fluval is dead. For some reason, I’ve put it (empty) in water and vinegar to clean it and I’m not getting any power to the pump. I’m going to dissemble the impeller etc see if it just needs a deep clean but if not, I might get a small internal just to house the biomax from my 20g. 
 

For some tech, I’ve chosen the Koralia 3200 for a wavemaker as the 1600 on my 20g isn’t all that powerful (the return pump is too powerful on that one though so it’s mostly just to move the surface water) but it’s quiet and reliable. So I think 3200 in a 30g as the main water mover, with the internal filter as back up/surface movement to start then possibly replaced with another 3200 if needed. 
 

Fish I think I’ve just about settled on the “community” option of a clown pair, a royal gramma, a banggai cardinal and either a blenny or a goby of some sort. I’ll probably get another cleaner shrimp and emerald crab. Smattering of hermits and snails. Easy coral; Xenia, GSP, maybe some softies. All depends on the lighting. It seems very bright now that the tank is empty. 
 

 

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

After 24 hours soaking in white spirit vingear mix, then 12 hours in clean water, I’ve got the Fluval pump working again . It clicked fir a while but seems to be over that now. So that should help the cycle along if I have that running with the biomax from the 20g. 
 

In terms of rock scape, I think I’m going to try to find the exact branch that I have (swap out the new for the old in the 20g), something similar as the tall piece in my 20g as it is hollow and one big cave (ideally would move that but my blenny won’t leave it for love or money), then some barnacle shells for another cave system (I didn’t know they were a thing until after I set up my 20g so I’d like them as I have more room in my 30g. I’d also like a bridge of some sort but we’ll see. There’s also a (artificial) rock on eBaby that looks like a mushroom and I’d like to have that too if I can fit it. 
 

In terms of coral, I’m thinking about moving my Zoas over when it’s settled as they aren’t happy in my 20g anyway so who knows, they might like this tank better.

 

And for fish, there are two clowns I’ve caught wind of that need rehoming so I might get them. I’m also considering swapping out a fish for a springeri damsel if I can find one and possibly swapping the goby for a tail spot or Midas blenny. Mostly because I can always get a smaller tank for the goby in the future. 
 

I’ll update again after Saturday, when I’ve bought the basic set up for this tank and scoped the prices/current stock at LFS.

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

Tank is officially wet. I ran out of time today to finish the job and get everything I want but I have the foundations. I’ve got one new rock (eco reef, same as 20g), one old rock from the 20g and one barnacle cluster. I like the shape of the new rock but I think I went far too conservative for size (had to be less than 45cm x 20cm to get through the lid) so it looks tiny. But hey ho, I can add to it I’m sure. 
 

Couldn’t get a replacement branch so as soon as I feel the other rock is mature, I’ll pull it and put it back. Probably a few months. 
 

Same sand, Red Sea live sand. Clouded up a treat so I can’t see a thing right now. 
 

Only 40 litres of water because I ran out of time to do a second trip. It will have to wait until Tuesday now, where I’ll do one trip for 40l and another for the remaining and for leftover for WC. 
 

I got some prices on fish and think I made a choice on clowns. I couldn’t find either blenny but I’m sure I’ve seen Midas ones before if not the tail spot. No watchman gobies which was strange, only one beat up looking gramma. Got a price on the puffer and the cardinal. Still making choices. 
 

In a horse before cart move, I also got a pulsing Xenia frag as there was a fair sized one on a rock going cheap. It’s currently in my 20g but I intend to move it over and perhaps make an island of it when the tank is stable. 
 

Sort of mix between annoyed that today was rushed and annoyed that I have to work two days before I can do anything more to it. And annoyed that I didn’t get more rock. And annoyed that by Thursday there may be another lockdown so I might not be able to get everything in time depending on if they stop letting people in the shop again. 
 

ETA: due to probable impending lockdown I’ve bid on two bits of live rock on eBay. Not what I planned but only one LFS stock the eco reef and last time there was a lock down, they only sold water/meds/essentials so, I’ve took the plunge. I also bought a zoa garden rock with space for five frags, I’ve got three in the 20g that aren’t happy there so I’m going to give them a go in the 30g who knows.

 

Feel a bit better now. 

Have a white cloudy and a blue cloudy shot of the tank;

 

 

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

Oops wrong thread, that was bound to happen.

 

So this morning before work I re-scaped a little and evened the sand bed out so all is cloudy again. 
 

What with lockdown faff at work, I might have to work Tuesday so I’m super annoyed now. My hope was to have this tank be as smooth a cross over (live rock, live sand, seeded biomax) but I really don’t want the live rock to die before I can get the rest in (it’s wet, but no water movement, tho heater is now in but no ammonia source). I may chuck in a snail from my 20g and some nori for it if I can’t finish the cross over by Tuesday. 

 

[debbeach13]

Some times life interferes with our reefing plans. So frustrating. 

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

It really is, I know most people wouldn’t say it’s essential but it’s a living ecosystem, you really can’t ask it to pause for a month or two.

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

I’ve been outbid on one rock but still highest on the other one, so I think I’ll look for something in the LFS tomorrow just to add height.
 

Still cloudy but signs of a landscape in there and even better... signs of life! Some of my MANY pods in my 20g hitched a ride on the live rock. Two big ones and a handful of babies. 
 

I might do a few tests for fun in a minute, see if they’re making ammonia. At least until I can catch a snail...

Plan is to put a snail, some nori and some prime in there until Tuesday then move the cycled biomax over with the first fish so that if I do have to pause this, I at least won’t lose my cycle.

 

 

ETA: did some tests out of curiosity. 
Salinity - 1.025

PH - 7.6 (slightly concerned as this is as low as my test reads so it could be lower - checked with my freshwater one and a colour conversion chart, it’s registering 7.8 on that so I’m not going to panic yet.)

KH - 11

Ammonia - 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate - 2

That looks vaguely positive but hard to tell as I don’t 100% have an ammonia source right now (just pods and coralline). 

 

I’ve managed to submerge the filter (just) and set it going as the water was starting to suffer from the lack of movement/oxygen exchange.

[farkwar]

Seems pretty tall for a reef tank

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

58 minutes ago, farkwar said:

Seems pretty tall for a reef tank

Yeah it’s my old freshwater tank. I’m starting with easy coral, see how that goes and maybe upgrade the light later down the line.

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

First fish put into QT today. They are a pair of Black Ice Clowns. They’re QT’d even tho the there isn’t anything in the tank simply because apparently they were “bickering” quite a bit before I bought them so... if they fight, I’ll keep one and sell the other. They’ve been fine since they were bagged and then QT’d but I want to keep an eye on them and be able to easily separate them as needed. 
 

 

 

ETA: so far so good, he’s been glued to her side and she’s chill about it. Given his size (smaller than the other tanks male) I’m thinking it may have been the usual pushing about to establish dominance. I’ve studied him and no ripped fins, no marks on him and he certainly isn’t scared of her so I think I’m going to move them into the tank over night, let them settle. 
 

Everything is now moved over. Live rock, bio max and some bacteria balls for good measure. I’ve also put a polishing pad in to try and clear the sand so if I get a bloom, I’ll actually be able to tell. 
 

Testing again now and had 0, 0, 2 again (but ph up to 8.0) which is expected as there wasn’t a whole lot of ammonia from 1 snail and a bunch of pods. I’ll test again tomorrow to see what the clowns add. Thinking I’ll get some snails and hermits when the uglies arrive and leave fish until after lockdown. 

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

So clowns have been in a little over 24hrs and are mostly settled. Last night they were ok with lights off, tonight not so much. The female is running laps around the tank. I remember my other two clowns going through this phase and they did calm down eventually so I’m not too worried. The weird thing is, if I come to the glass, she’ll settle straight away. I’ve never seen that before, my other clowns normally get more hyped up if anything when they see me (because me = food to them I guess). — after watching her wind down while typing this out, I think she’s just looking for somewhere to sleep, she keeps coming back to the same spot. 
 

Anyways back to the update - Male is eating readily, both pellets and frozen brine shrimp. Female just pellets so far and not with the usual clownfish gluttony, just ate a couple. I’ll try again in the morning.

 

As far as the fighting that the LFS guy “warned” me about. I’m not 110% sure that he didn’t see usual clownfish behaviour and got worried because they’re expensive ones. So far, everything I’ve witnessed has been run of the mill female dominance displays and he has been submitting hard and fast which she accepts and twitches back at him. These spats last 10 seconds at most and the rest of the time he is glued to her side. When he does wander, she will notice he’s gone and go and find him. It’s nothing my other pair didn’t do when he was the size of this male. 
 

I’ll update again in the morning. Here’s a (very reflective) picture I took this morning: 

 

 

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

Pleased to report both female and male are pellets this morning and mysis this evening. 
 

I borrowed a hermit from the 20g to help me tidy up what they miss, as they are a bit slow on the uptake. 
 

I didn’t come home to check on them today (got to trust them sooner or later) but the male still doesn’t show any signs of stress or damage. All seems well between them.

 

Photos from this morning;

 

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

1 week wet test results:

 

salinity: 1.025

Ph 7.8

ammonia 0

nitrite 0

nitrate 2

 

Holding steady with twice daily feeding.

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

I won the auction on the live rock and after a quick dip and inspection, it’s in the tank.
 

Two additions today; a Tunze turbelle 6015 (475gph) wave maker and a Midas Blenny. He’s dived straight into a hole in the new rock but he sticks his head out every now and then.

 

 

[debbeach13]

Glad every thing is going well in here. I like that new rock.

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

54 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Glad every thing is going well in here. I like that new rock.

Thanks Deb, I love it too - bargain at £10 as well. It’s such a neat little piece, it has an internal cave and a little cave on the outside as well possibly for a coral later down the line. 
 

Downside is the Fluval pump is making noises again so I’ve ordered a little HOB that doesn’t actually hang on the back. A sucker backed cascade type to ensure oxygenation. But I have to limp on with the Fluval and the wave maker until it arrives. 
 

But yes, I’m so glad the cycle carried over and it’s holding. It’s almost like magic. 

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

Forgot to post a FTS of the tank with the new rock so here it is;

 

 

[mitten_reef]

 

What's up with the rock in the middle, turn it right side up please....amazing branch rock, you could put one acro on each fingertip, lol.

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

21 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

 

What's up with the rock in the middle, turn it right side up please....amazing branch rock, you could put one acro on each fingertip, lol.

It might not be to your taste but it’s the scape that suits me. If you want some of the same branch rock to do your idea, it’s called eco-reef and it’s made by TMC. It’s available on their website. 
 

I’m sure you know the basic needs of SPS but they wouldn’t do well in a low light, low tech system like this one. Perhaps it wasn’t meant as serious advice but maybe check if a tank can sustain the coral you’re recommending before you tell people to put it in there. There’s no point in killing several coral just for the sake of someone else’s aesthetics.

[mitten_reef]

3 minutes ago, UpsideDownPumpkin said:

It might not be to your taste but it’s the scape that suits me. If you want some of the same branch rock to do your idea, it’s called eco-reef and it’s made by TMC. It’s available on their website. 
 

I’m sure you know the basic needs of SPS but they wouldn’t do well in a low light, low tech system like this one. Perhaps it wasn’t meant as serious advice but maybe check if a tank can sustain the coral you’re recommending before you tell people to put it in there. There’s no point in killing several coral just for the sake of someone else’s aesthetics.

nope, wasn't a serious recommendation at all.  mostly intrigued by the shape of the rock, so thought I would comment about it.  

 

That's a solid position to be in, grow what you like and what your tank can keep.  Reef on 👍

[farkwar]

I have a little digi frag

 

Looks like a little hand flipping the bird

 

I almost killed it, it broke off plug and flowed under a rock.  Got it out yesterday.  I think it will make it

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

1 minute ago, mitten_reef said:

nope, wasn't a serious recommendation at all.  mostly intrigued by the shape of the rock, so thought I would comment about it.  

 

That's a solid position to be in, grow what you like and what your tank can keep.  Reef on 👍

It’s a converted freshwater (I started in tropical) and rather than scrap the tank or keep it freshwater, I decided to do a low tech marine set up. As a result it’s a tall tank with a weak light (will upgrade eventually if I can find a light that fits - it’s euro braced) so I’m hoping to move over some low light corals that shrink away from the LED on my Red Sea. Mostly mushrooms, Zoas and some Xenia for movement. 
 

I just try to think... there was a time when I first started that if someone said to me “acros would look great on that”, I might have taken it at face value and done it. And killed a bunch of coral for no real reason. Between that and what LFS tell people, it’s hard enough working out what’s what when you don’t know yourself and rely on what you read. 

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

9 minutes ago, farkwar said:

I have a little digi frag

 

Looks like a little hand flipping the bird

 

I almost killed it, it broke off plug and flowed under a rock.  Got it out yesterday.  I think it will make it

In my other tank, I have a stylophora that I was sure was dead, chucked it down the back to give the crabs something to play with. A few months later and I dig it out looking for rock and it looks like it’s growing back 🤷🏻‍♀️
 

But you won’t catch me trying SPS again in either of my tanks now, one is high nutrient and the other (this one) is low light/low tech. I’d feel bad buying coral knowing it would probably die.

[UpsideDownPumpkin]

Migration! It’s not much but coralline is spreading onto the new rock! GHA is also growing so I really will have to up my CUC. I can’t really avoid algae in this one, my lighting options are very white or very blue. Might look at moving my Xenia over soon. 
 

It’s been a while now and I just wanted to mention, my clown pair are getting on like a house on fire. They don’t have anything to host right now (I’m considering an anemone for this tank) but they rarely bicker. I don’t know what the dude in the shop saw but they’ve been a model couple since I’ve had them 🤷🏻‍♀️