John's New Tank Diary.......

coolguy818

coolguy818

Member
Ok everyone here knows me as Coolguy818, I have been tinkering with a 29g for the past 5 months......
Well on an impulse buy, due to the impulse being a free tank, I was pretty much forced into an upgrade...
And here it is:
Tank
70g - 36"length, 21" width, 24" height
60lbs of Beautiful LR + 45lbs of LR (from old tank)
30lbs of LS + 40lbs LS (from old tank)
2 Maxi Jet 1200 (from old tank)
Jager 100w Heater
Filtration
30g Sump/Fuge
20lbs LS
800 GPH Overflow
800 GPH Return Pump
Cheato Algea
Coralife Super Skimmer 65 (from old tank)
Lighting (Retrofit)
2x175w MH SE 14k (1 from old tank)
2x39 T5 HO 1 is 6700k and the other 18k
Total wattage: 428w = 6.11 watts per gallon
I am experiencing a cycle start, poor CUC. They got dropped in with the tank exchange. I salvaged whatever I could.
I will be aquascaping tmrw morning...... Too tired.
Well tell me what you think..... First is a before and then an after....




 
coolguy818

coolguy818

Member
How many and what type of fish can I have in a tank this size?
It will be a mixed reef.
Tangs? Angels? Wrasses? Anthias?
Tell me please
 
puffer32

puffer32

Active Member
Nice upgrade. I would say all the fish you mentioned except the tang would be fine in that size. Make sure the angel is a dwarf, and wrasses are reef safe. You could probly do about 8 fish, but it really depends on the sizes of the fish.
 
coolguy818

coolguy818

Member
Thanks Puffer....
So I can't put any tangs into this tank, at all? Not even if they are small?
Like 1-2 inches?
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
You cant put any tangs in a 36" tank. A small one would be fine, but soon you would need a bigger tank for him.
I have a 65gal and its 36"
I have 6 fish and eventually will add a 7th, some sort of blenny.
Now I have 2 clowns, blue-green chromis, banghai cardinal, blackcap basslet, and a flame angel. Having issues with the flame picking at sps, so he may be traded back.
 
coolguy818

coolguy818

Member
I got a different problem now. During the transfer I had to leave the corals and fish in the old 29g.
From the debris the tank spit up when I pulled out the rocks and sand. I have lost my Pygmy Angel, CBS and Cleaner shrimp. The Main DT has a total cycle starting.
So i moved the entire livestock into 2 five gallon buckets with some freshly made Saltwater.....
How long will the Corals last in the buckets, with no light?
 
coolguy818

coolguy818

Member
Ok so call me crazy, on the advice of my LFS I upgraded my upgrade. From a single chamber overflow to a dual chamber overflow.
Now I got 2 sumps............

We drilled a 1 inch hole in each to connect them.... The small one is a 15g and the big one is a 30g....
The big one will be a Refuge, and the little one will be a sump.
2 returns rated at a total of 1000gph.......
The overflow is rated for 1000gph........
Fun times....
And this is happening right now in real time.......
 
coolguy818

coolguy818

Member
Here is an update we setup the entire system last night.... Dual overflow going to dual sumps, which gives me a total volume of 118 gallons.
The overflow box is rated for 1000gph
So what we did was seperate the overflow box to go to 2 seperate sump setups. Which are connected through the return area.
With both sumps on and both pumps working..... thats about 1000gph up flow
Next thing will be to add a calcium reactor, UV Sterilizer, Phosgard, Chiller....
The Crack addiction continues.
I've included some pictures of the setup.... Please Comment.




 
azfishgal

azfishgal

Active Member
Great looking tank. I like the two sump idea.
I agree with the others, no Tang, but the other fish listed above will do well. I think your corals will be ok for a few days without light, but keep a powerhead going if you have one to use. Look forward to seeing this tank grow.
 
azfishgal

azfishgal

Active Member
Originally Posted by Coolguy818
yay a comment.......... the boards are slow during the summer?
Yes, they are. Everyone is out enjoying the weather, except those of us that live in very hot climates.
We come out during the winter.
 
hammerhed7

hammerhed7

Active Member
looking good
, I like the idea of the dual sump, I am considering doing a similar set up for one of my tanks, I am interested to see how it works out for you.
 
coolguy818

coolguy818

Member
Originally Posted by Hammerhed7
looking good
, I like the idea of the dual sump, I am considering doing a similar set up for one of my tanks, I am interested to see how it works out for you.
As of right now its working well. The trick is to have flow from the Overflow Box.
And right now its keeping up.
 
coolguy818

coolguy818

Member
Well here is an update. I took 15 gallons from my LFS out of his 3 year old Reef Tank. Did a water change. He said it would be good to get some matured water into the tank.
Water Test shows
Temp: 81.5
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phosphates: 0ppm
Calcium: 400
dKH: 9
Magnesium: 1420
Specific Gravity: 1.023
We added another 15lbs of LR making a total of 125lbs of LR which equals 1.78lbs per gallon.
So here are some updated pics of the tank going through a brown algea bloom. With the Aquascaping done. Enjoy
And please comment.............


 
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