20 Gallon Long Reef

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A skimmer will prolly do pretty good. Could always add a HOB fuge to add that extra filtration to help with less water changes.

I should have enough space in my filtration chamber to fit a small refugium and the small protein skimmer, which will be my plan. I actually got the skimmer today!

 

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Finally some photos, because progress! Nothing crazy, just laying out the acrylic and cutting it to size. Once the equipment arrives, I can make sure everything fits properly before cutting.

 

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Update: I spent the weekend cutting, gluing, and assembling everything together:

Test fitting the equipment in the yet to be build in tank sump.

Assembling the in-tank sump.

Built a filter media tower.

I hate working with this light diffusor material, but assembly went faster after I used a random orbital sander to help round off the edges.

Test fitting all the equipment one last time

Added a cross brace so I have something to mount controllers on. Right now only the return pump DC controller will be mounted here, but there is space for a Kessil controller, an IceCap 1K gyre, or an Apex.

A peek at the in tank sump.

Waiting for the silicone to cure, and then it is ready for a test run!

 

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Totally for the WWCorals Contest...because I will definitely need to fill this tank up with corals! #reef2reef #worldwidecorals #mywwccontest

 

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Did a little work on the tank, spray painted the side where the filter chamber was visible. Now it is nicely masked out, and looks much cleaner (especially since this side was visible when walking past the tank!). I will also spray over the white PVC return, so it is not so obvious. Hopefully I will test the equipment and filter chamber this Friday!

 

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A little more work this evening, painted the return so it is not so obvious, mounted the MightyJet controller, and filled with test water! The overflow looks like it can handle the flow properly, though I need to double check the return pump section to make sure the flow is adequate and won't run itself dry. I haven't hooked up the skimmer yet, but everything else is functional. Tomorrow I will run a longer test throughout the day and make sure everything works as expected.

Return painted black

MightyJet controller mounted and operational (that number represents how many watts it is drawing)

Filled with just freshwater now, to confirm everything functions

 

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I picked up some dry rock at the LFS, called Real Reef Rock. I've never used dry rock before, so it will be interesting. I rinsed it off quickly when I got back, and checked for any obvious pieces of debris. Then I created a simple template of the tank floor area, and started stacking rocks together. I know I wanted a bommie sort of look, also something that took advantage of the length in a a 20. This is what I settled on, a bommie with a little swim through cave, and an arch. I may flip the arch to make those parts the highlights. Right now waiting for the epoxy to cure a bit before adding everything to the tank.

 

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Added the rock to the tank today! It's starting to look like a reef! I flipped the arch from the other photo, so the taller portions will be more central in the tank. Adequate space around the structures as well for water flow and maintenance.

 

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So I've never really tried dried rock before. Any tips on helping it cycle? I thought I might phantom feed a bit, maybe a few food pellets every few days, and monitor the water chemistry. I'm assuming that's about it, right?

I do plan on adding sand, maybe after the diatom bloom comes and goes. Do you think that might cause a second, smaller cycle?

 

[NY_Caveman]

If it were me, I would let the rock soak in RO/DI for a week and then test the Phosphate level. If it was high I might continue to cure in RO/DI with some flow until it drops. Then you could cycle and ghost feed as you suggest.

Sand should not have a big impact on the cycle.

 

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I it were me, I would let the rock soak in RO/DI for a week and then test the Phosphate level. If it was high I might continue to cure in RO/DI with some flow until it drops. Then you could cycle and ghost feed as you suggest.

Sand should not have a big impact on the cycle.

Thanks for the info! I only gave it a little rinse, and didnt' test phosphates at all! I suppose we'll see if any leeches out now. If I find any phosphates, I'll wait till they drop, before ghost feeding. How long do you think it would take for phosphates to start leeching, if there are any?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Thanks for the info! I only gave it a little rinse, and didnt' test phosphates at all! I suppose we'll see if any leeches out now. If I find any phosphates, I'll wait till they drop, before ghost feeding. How long do you think it would take for phosphates to start leeching, if there are any?

I have never used that type of rock so I am not sure what to expect. My once live dry rock took two months, but was fairly dirty.

 

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I checked today, no phosphates, but I will check again end of the week, and throughout the cycle. I am going to get some of Dr Tim's nitrifying bacteria and ammonia, just to kick start the cycle. I do have a little ammonia in the tank already, so at least the process has started!

 

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Got the Red Sea test kit today for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and KH! Also added some bacteria and ammonia from Dr Tim's. I'm seeing Nitrates now, and Ammonia steady at 2ppm. No phosphates either, so now we play the waiting game!

 

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I added an IceCap 1K gyre, which seems to produce some nice flow. I have it set to slowly ramp up, then reverse.

Here is the controller mounted.

 

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A small cycle update: it was taking quite a long time for the Ammonia to go down, so I added both dry sand and live sand, as well as my ceramic biomedia to the tank. Thankfully, the Ammonia made a significant drop over the last few days, and while Nitrites remain low, I see the spike in Nitrates. Hopefully by the end of this week, the tank will be cycled! I had a small diatom bloom, nothing crazy. I may start running the lights this week as well, and perform a water change around Friday.

As a side note, I added 10lbs of oolite sand, and while it was cloudy for a few days, I do love the grain size! The patterns from the return and gyre are interesting on the sandbed.

 

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A boring update, but an update none-the-less! Today is the first day with the lights on! The Kessil is set to just barely turn on with intensity, and the color is set to as bright white as possible. I still need to get an ATO setup, but with the glass cover on, there is minimal evaporation. I may switch the cover out for the light grid stuff later on. I may also add in some other media, after I perform a water change, probably carbon for now, leaving me one filter chamber to add something else later, maybe ChemiPure.

This weekend I plan to get a few snails into the tank and we’ll see how the next phase of cycling works!

 

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I added my first inhabitants to the tank! I picked up a trochus snail and two very large nassarius snails (They are the largest I have ever seen). I also decided to roll the dice and start adding in corals - a candy cane coral with two heads, one of which is splitting. I was able to successfully feed the coral, and he seems quite happy in the position I placed him at. My light is set to what I figure is roughly 20% intensity. I will leave it there for the time being, as I slowly start adding in more corals over the coming weeks. I also added in activated carbon and the poly fiber pad. I actually placed the poly fiber pad completely over the overflow, so it left me with an extra filter media chamber, which I am sure will be useful somewhere down the line.

 

[chefjpaul]

Excellent job!

 

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Looks like I jumped the gun with the tank cycle. About a week and a half ago, I saw the Nitrites spike, where they sat above the max range of my test kit. Nitrates also pretty high, around 20ppm. Roughly a week later, Ammonia is zero, Nitrites are 0.2ppm and Nitrates actually went down at 10ppm. I am also seeing the diatom bloom.

I am curious where my Nitrates are going. I haven’t installed a refugium just yet. I plan on testing again on Friday to confirm my findings and running one more water change before stocking my first fish.