32 AIO Build

[316Reef]

Been out of the hobby for about 15 years. In the past had a 110 and 40 breeder then kids came along and didnt have time to properly maintain them. Kids are grown now so diving back in.

Wanted to start simplistic so i picked up an innovative marine 32 AIO locally to get started. My plan is a couple of fish and mostly soft corals.

The tank came with a brand new controllable return pump, titanium heater and a nano skimmer. Tank was relatively cheap as the front glass has a bit of a haze to it however i wasn't concerned as i know i'll more than likely be upgrading in the near future. Tried several methods to clear it up, maybe about 50% better than it was when i purchased.

For lighting i went with 2 AI Prime 16HDs. A bit overkill however a single would have been a bit weak at the outer edges. With 2 i can run them at 50% and can be used in my future upgrade.

No stand so i purchased a stand on wayfair that said it was rated for 660lbs which turned out to be an epic failure. There wasn't much support running across the front so when i added water it bowed about 1/2-1". Decided to just build a stand out of some 2x4s and plywood.

Substrate is 20lbs of Caribe Sea aragonite. Rock is 20lbs of dry Mr Coralline Rock. Setup a 75GPD 5 stage RODI system. Did the aquascape outside of the tank and used putty to hold it together. Tank was filled on July 1st.

I decided on a fishes cycle using Dr Tim's One & Only and Ammonium Chloride. I followed the directions included and it took about 3 weeks or so to cycle. I let it run an additional week testing the water just to make sure.

Yesterday i made my first livestock purchase which consisted of 2 Onyx Percula Clowns and a Citron Goby.

So far everyone is doing well. Haven't started up the skimmer yet but will be figuring it out this week.

 

[Peace River]

Welcome back to the hobby and congratulations on the new adventure!

 

[316Reef]

Few updates this week. I used my 3D printer to print some light shields for the AI Primes. Got the skimmer setup in an empty chamber, trying to get it dialed in.

Also made a door for the stand. Not the prettiest but she’ll do

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Few updates this week. I used my 3D printer to print some light shields for the AI Primes. Got the skimmer setup in an empty chamber, trying to get it dialed in.

Also made a door for the stand. Not the prettiest but she’ll do

Nice looking light shade!

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome back, looks great!

 

[316Reef]

Met up with the gentleman I purchased the tank from yesterday. He has quite a bit of frags for sale so I pickup up some softies.

Misc zoanthid frags (he wasn’t sure of the names of these two)

And some Charmander Zoanthids

I also seem to have gotten the protein skimmer dialed in as is starting to produce a slight amount of skimmate.

 

[316Reef]

Visited World Wide Corals in Orlando today for the first time and i could've spent the entire day (and paycheck) there just looking at their displays, absolutely stunning.

Came home with some Firecracker Clove Polyps, Blue Angel Zoanthids and a small cleanup crew of astrea snails and blue legged hermits.

 

[316Reef]

Up until now the only flow in the tank was from the return pump. There is a lock line with split nozzles.

I figured i would need more flow so i decided to pickup an AI Nero 3 wave maker. I placed its on the front of the right panel about 1/3 of the way down. I did a lot of searching through the forums on the appropriate settings for the size of the tank. I know it's basically trial and error but here is what i settled on:

12am to 6am - Constant Speed 20%
6am to 9am - Random Speed, 25-75%, Med Variance
9am to 7:45pm - Pulse, 60% Max, On Time 750ms Off Time 1s 250ms (663gph to 1460gph per Mobius)
7:45pm to 12am - Random Speed, 30-50%, Med Variance

I took the lock lines and pointed them up to promote extra surface agitation. Any input, suggestions, comments on this schedule and flow rates?

Since they weren't open in my last post, here's a few pics of the newest additions:

Firecracker Clove Polyps

Blue Angel Zoanthids

 

[316Reef]

Quick update. The flow seems to be working out well for the tank, may continue to tinker with the settings but no one seems unhappy about it.

Had to go down to St Pete yesterday so i stopped in to A&R Aquariums in Bay Pines and picked up some new additions:

Green Mushroom:

unknown Red Zoanthids:

Any my very first Duncan:

I also added a Royal Gramma but he's been shy and hasn't come out of hiding just yet.

Overall tank shot:

 

[316Reef]

Sadly the Royal Gramma didnt make it. Saw him in various places within the rock the past 2 days but woke up this morning and he was laying in the substrate.

Tested the water and other than a small rise in ammonia from 0 to .2 (possibly from the gramma) everything is on par and everyone else seems to be doing fine.

Will do a water change this evening for good measure.

 

[316Reef]

Not much new to report, the skimmer has been pulling out some nasty stuff and my parameters are all within check. The clove polyps seems to be growing as i see 3 new heads forming. Took advantage of some labor day sales so have some new frags being delivered Friday, will update once everyone is in!

 

[316Reef]

Woke up this morning and my Citron Goby was dead. Was in the tank for just over a month. The LFS i purchased it from said that they can nuke a tank if left dead for long. Not knowing exactly when he passed i did a 20% water change as a precaution. An hour later i tested the parameters:

Salinity: 1.027 (need to slowly lower)
PH: Couldn't match up to color on chart, assuming 7.6 (down from 8.0)
Nitrate: 5 (down from 20)
Ammonia: 0.2 (up from 0)
Alk: 7

Not sure what caused the death, he looked healthy when he was out (always hiding in rocks). Only things that have changed recently is i switched salt from instant ocean to reef crystals due to availability and i replaced my sock filter a few days ago. Will keep an eye on things and perhaps do another water change in next day or so, have a shipment of corals coming in tomorrow.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Woke up this morning and my Citron Goby was dead. Was in the tank for just over a month. The LFS i purchased it from said that they can nuke a tank if left dead for long. Not knowing exactly when he passed i did a 20% water change as a precaution. An hour later i tested the parameters:

Salinity: 1.027 (need to slowly lower)
PH: Couldn't match up to color on chart, assuming 7.6 (down from 8.0)
Nitrate: 5 (down from 20)
Ammonia: 0.2 (up from 0)
Alk: 7

Not sure what caused the death, he looked healthy when he was out (always hiding in rocks). Only things that have changed recently is i switched salt from instant ocean to reef crystals due to availability and i replaced my sock filter a few days ago. Will keep an eye on things and perhaps do another water change in next day or so, have a shipment of corals coming in tomorrow.

So sorry about your goby passing! You could make a thread about its passing and see if the fish medics can help you out

 

[316Reef]

New Coral Friday!!! Took advantage of Labor Day Deals at Hellfire Frags and received my shipment this morning. Everyone has been acclimated, dipped, transferred from frag plugs to rubble and placed in the tank:

Toxic Splatter Branching Hammer:

Midnight Lotus Mixed Zoas:

Gator Bait Favia:

Alien Heart Favia:

 

[316Reef]

Haven't updated this thread in a while but everything is doing great. My Duncan has formed 2 new heads. Since my last post i've added the following:

Toadstool Leather
Golden Hammer
Neon Green Acro Frag
Green Mandarin Goby

Just picked up a 120 gallon tank (build thread here) so ill be focusing on getting that up and running then moving everything over.

 

[316Reef]

The cleanup crew has eliminated nearly 80% of the ulva algae since being added and noticed the other day that some red algae started to appear. I picked up a phosphate test kit (API was only kit LFS had) and looks like it's reading 1.

I have used water strictly from my RO/DI system in this tank. The DI Resin appeared to be half spent and im still reading 0 TDS. I tested the water directly from the RO and it was picking up phosphates there as well so from what i read the resin should be replaced.

I ordered some replacement and will test once i get it swapped out.

 

[316Reef]

Got the DI resin replaced, not reading any phosphates on the product water so i started doing daily 4-5 gallon water changes. Replaced about 10 gallons so far and algae seems to be at bay. Going to do a few more changes and i believe everything will be all set.