Latest and greatest: 30g build

reefkeeperZ

Member
OK I've given up hope on getting my old account back, so I'm just going to run with this one.

The build, equipment and intent:
30g tank, 250w DE metal halide w/14k Pheonix bulb, 20 long sump, 125 coralife super skimmer and fuge.

The intent is for this to be an 80% SPS 20% LPS tank, roughly. I have done a ton of fully mixed reefs in the past and I wanted to do something a little different for a change, due to the size restrictions and water quality concerns it will have minimal fish in it. We are looking at a livestock list of probably a couple bengai cardinals, some shrimps (peppermint and fire), bi color blenny, sixline wrasse (I will never have a tank that doesnt have one) and sea stars.

the tank is now up and running, (the sump has yet to be put inline) I set up a smaller tank a while back and cycled a bunch of sand (about 3 months ago) and some rock with nothing predatory in it to allow any microfauna a chance to flourish. I then purchased a fairly small amount of already cured live rock an brought it home submerged so there would be no die off. added new clean sand then added the cycled sand and mixed it through out to maximize contact for bacterial spreading to minimize cycle time.

I am waiting on my bulb until next Saturday when I attend a frag swap, I probably wont bring home any corals just yet, but I want to get a look at what the locals currently have out there. I'm going to be super picky with this tanks coral selection, (doesn't mean it has to be rare, just means it has to be something I absolutely want none of the "Hey its cheap I'll buy it" stuff with this tank.

And you guys know me I will absolutely load tons of pictures, I have to paint the back of the tank before I take photos, there is a window directly behind the tank so it looks like crap right now. be patient.
 

reefkeeperZ

Member
front view (sump not hooked up, back of tank not painted, just fitting stuff)


side view 30g hob overflow, into 20 long. dumping at the intake for the skimmer. still have to work out the fuge in the sump.
 

reefkeeperZ

Member
OK washed and prepped the sand for the fuge, I know my sump style is a little unconventional, still. I hate baffles they limit what you can do with your sump far too much in my experience. 2 3 inch deep tupperware containers are my sand holding areas. I will probably add a wall of plastic mesh around the pick ups for the skimmer and return pump to keep algaes from plugging them.

 

reefkeeperZ

Member
the hob filter on the tank is temporary i'm just using it to grab particles for now and circulate water until I get the sump inline.
 

reefkeeperZ

Member
Firing up the skimmer, yes the picture is sideways photobucket can't rotate it for some reason. going to let this break in so less micro bubbles are coming out the effluent tube before kicking the sump in.
 

reefkeeperZ

Member
and for those that are curious once I get it all debugged the powerstrips behind the sump will be getting relocated to under the stand it just easier to do everything from above for now.
 

reefkeeperZ

Member
Gotta say from past experience, and the last half hour of frigging with the skimmer the coralife SS has got to be one of the most finicky touchy irritating skimmers ever to tune. they skim great once you get em dialed in but damn they are too susceptible to any changes messing with em.

reliable though i've had this bad boy over 9 years
 

reefkeeperZ

Member
Sump has been inline and running for a couple days now. Been a bit under the weather so I haven't done much with the tank but feed it and keep it topped off.
 

reefkeeperZ

Member
Just ordered a new bulb. 14k so we shall see how good the color is I decided to try an off brand for giggles. I was going to run the pheonix bulb but I'm not above a little experimentation, the reviews were decent on it but we shall see. should have it by friday
 

reefkeeperZ

Member
hmm tracking my package (light bulb) says it should be delivered by 8pm tomorrow, some how I don't think they deliver that late. most likely be friday, thursday would be nice though.
 

reefkeeperZ

Member
Gotta dig around today and find some sort of light for my sump/fuge. and decide if I want blue or black back on the tank so I'm not looking through the tank.
 

eric b 125

Active Member
I have always done black backgrounds. I think it looks cleaner. As far as the fuge light goes- my buddy had great success with a cheap Odyssea LED fixture on his fuge...he got much better growth out of his macro with that light than I ever did with a gooseneck light. I use one of these cheapo lights on my fuge now and I'm very happy with how my macro is growing so far.
 

reefkeeperZ

Member
ok so the pic is crappy but I went black. I used a piece of firestone roofing rubber as a hanging background that way I can remove it easily and its durable as well as providing a small amount of sound/heat insulation to the tank

 

reefkeeperZ

Member
put a dome light over the fuge area with a specimen container with a little cheato in it. once the clump grows large enough I will enlarge the cheato area. no pics of this because its boring and nearly impossible to photograph now with the back adn dome light in the way.
 

reefkeeperZ

Member
Grabbed one more rock today small but covered in foriminiferans. maybe they will spread maybe not. we'll see also has some heavy bleached out coraline on it not sure if any of that will come back or not or what color it was. we'll see.
 
Top