34 Gallon System

regionreef219 · Aug 5, 2021

Hello All,

New here but have gained lots of information over the past 3 months until I started getting my setup together. Wanted to create a log to help track my success and hopefully very few failures. I am in Northwest Indiana (Porter County) if anyone is local. Only places I know for SW fish/corals are the Petco, The Ark and Pet Haven. Here we go.

I couldn't find a stand that would hold a 30 gallon and support a 10 gallon underneath so I made my own. Glad 2x4s have began going down in price in my area and luckily I had some nice 3/4" oak sheets from a previous project. I sealed the inside all white and stained/sealed the outside oak sheets so it matched my entertainment center. I will be adding doors as my cats are already taking interest in the sump area.

I drilled my own tank for 2, 1" pipe openings for the main drain and emergency and 1, 3/4" pipe opening for the return. Was really nervous doing this in my garage but after about 40 minutes I had each hole drilled, about 10 minutes on each hole. I don't have a proper overflow with surface skimming but I think Ill be fine with the elbows coming out of the bulkheads. At first I couldn't stop the gurgling sound as I don't have a large height difference between the main drain and emergency drain. I put a small glass dish over the main drain and it effectivly lowered the water entrance and now it is silent. I will need to get something more permanent in the tank sometime soon.

I cut glass sheets to make my own sump baffles to 2 distinct chambers, 1 for the filter sock and skimmer and 1 for heater/return pump. In the future I could add some egg crate to block off the return pump if I want to add something else to the sump, space gets used up quickly.

I didn't take pictures along the way but I did just get the tank filled with water Tuesday (August 3rd, 2021) yesterday and began cycling with just flake fish food. I have a pretty busy august and September so no fish until middle of September, Plan to add a few flakes every day to help feed the cycle. Currently testing with API test strips but do have salifert tests on the way.

Right now I have the return pump going, 150W heater, corallife 65 skimmer (not running yet), and a basic 200 micron filtersock on the return. I have a few media bags I will throw in the sump if I need to have extra media for anything. Right now all I have is activated carbon but only because I used a bunch in my freshwater days. I do have a MP10 wavemaker arriving today so I am excited to see what this expensive thing can do. 40 lbs of pink fiji live sand and 35 lbs of dry rock. I will be getting some more rock to add to the sump and maybe display.

I have not picked out a light yet, I think the AI prime 16HD would suffice, but might go with the hydra 32HD to limit shading and allow me to have wider range of corals.

The only fish I know I will be getting is a pair of Clowns. I am still searching corals but don't plan on getting any corals until the clowns seem happy.

Thanks for reading and any questions/comments let me know.

P-Dub · Aug 5, 2021

Looking good!

Jivatma · Aug 5, 2021

Howdy fellow Hoosier! Wabash Valley region here!

regionreef219 · Aug 11, 2021

Thanks! After a week of adding small bits of food I have finally started to see nitrites and nitrates increase. Just using old API test strips to get ride of them. I recevied the basic salifert 6 pack reef tests and will start testing with those this weekend to see how the numbers compare to the api test strips.

regionreef219 · Aug 31, 2021

So I ended up getting the Hydra 32HD. Seems to be a good fit for my tank and will allow me to grow any corals that I want in the future (didn't want the light to be a limiter). I also added a strip light to the sump area so I have some lighting down there.

I wanted to do the hanging route for the light to keep the top of the tank looking clean but thought anything online was expensive. I ended up using the 3d printer to make a bracket to easily utilize the mounting holes in the hydra with a simple S hook. Ended up costing me 6 dollars, not including the 3D printer which my work ate that cost.

Ill be at Bonnaroo for the next week so once I return it will be time for some clown fish. Ill do one last round of water testing and adjust accordingly.

Anyone ever have salt that contained nitrates? RODI water test at 0, but once I mix salt I get a reading in the 10-25 range. All Salifert tests. Until I realized this, my DT water was maxing out nitrates. Now everything is slowly going down. I am hopeful once I get fish and some algea going nitrate will stabilize in a more reasonable range.

Thanks for looking!

regionreef219 · Sep 9, 2021

Well I added 2 Clown fish and everything was going good for about 3 days. I noticed I was starting to get some diatoms in my sand so on my way home from work yesterday I got 2 turbo snails, 2 nassarius snails, and 2 blue leg hermit crabs. They did do a quick job of the diatoms I had in the first 3 hours of being in the tank.

Bad news, one of my clown fish got sucked into my MP10 and did not make it. It came with the anemone guard but I did not use it since I never read about small fish getting sucked in, read plenty about anemones getting sucked in. Tough lesson but the guard is on now.

I think the fish was only dead for up to 6 hours in the tank so hopefully no ill effects to the water quality.

regionreef219 · Sep 30, 2021

Tank is going well currently all parameters are in check but Nitrate is staying in the 25-40 range based on results from a Salifert test and NYOS tests. My alkalinity is right around 7 (salifert) which is odd because everyone says IO reef crystals always mix to a higher value. It might be an error on my part but I think I am doing and reading the titration properly based on instructions and internet videos.

Anywho I just added a small zoa frag (3 heads) and a GSP frag. Depending how these go will decide if I try to raise my alk or just keep it how it is and assume I am testing wrong. Currently the tank has a watchman goby (cant find a pistol shrimp in my area currently) and a couple snails and blue leg hermit crabs. Plus the clown fish which are going good. Gonna do my best to avoid other corals as my plan is to get an anenome and I dont want it to take out a entire tank of coral while it finds its spot in my tank.

I might try vodka dosing to see if I can get my Nitrates down but my tank is still only 2 months old so I kind of want to wait before trying that. So far everything seems happy in the tank. If I find my alk is actually at 7, baking soda will be slowly mixed into my water change water (5g a week) to slowly bring it up to a value around 8.

regionreef219 · Oct 6, 2021

Just noticed what I think to be copepods on my tank glass. I never seeded the tank with them but I did recently add 2 corals (dipped in bayer for 10 minutes). Maybe they came from that or the live sand I started with and just took this long for the population to develop (Fiji Live pink sand).

Parameters are good except nitrates are constantly testing in the 40-50 range. Trying to use water changes to lower, might try vodka dosing in the next week or so. Once I can get this controlled in the 10ppm range I will be getting a bubble tip anemone. One of the snails I added had coraline on his shell. It looks to be growing more on his shell and I think I have a few spots on my back glass that its starting to grow.

Tank is trending the right way for 2 months old it seems, just have to get nitrates in check.

regionreef219 · Oct 21, 2021

So I ended up getting a new protein skimmer. Went from the coralife 65 to auquamaxx HOB 1.5. The coralife would produce next to no skimmate and only develop gunk on the neck of the cup. With the new auquamaxx, I am getting much better skimmate. Its been 2 weeks but I am finally getting my nutrients down. I am going to aim for 5-10 nitrate and try and hold it there by adjusting dark the skimmate is. Results seems very promising so far.

I also added what I think is a type of mushroom coral. Pretty cool reds/greens/blue dots. I have had my Zoa with 3 heads now for 3 weeks and it looks to be opening up quite well. It is developing specs of color I havent noticed before so I think that is a good sign. Still no extra heads yet, looking forward to when I start getting the 4th head. The specs of coralline on my back wall are getting bigger very slowly, still nothing on the rocks other then diatom algea.

Once I am confident I can hold nitrate at 5-10 ppm for a few weeks, a bubble tip anenome will be purchased. Things appear to be going well still.

regionreef219 · Nov 17, 2021

Had a bad case of either diatom algae or dinos. Leaning towards dinos as I am getting bubbles along with longer strands of algae (this was 2 weeks ago).

Since then I have increased temp of my tank (from 77 to 82), added UV light, and I filter water through a 5 micron sock 2x a week to try and remove the algae from the rocks. I noticed my phosphate was undetectable (salifert). I started adding neophos and since then I test daily and have been keeping phosphate in the <0.05 range. Nitrates are still at 25-40 ppm. I have done alot to the tank and it seems to me that the algae is improving but not sure if its the aggressive cleaning, uv, increased nutrients or increase in temp that is improving the situation. Either way I am happy they are improving. I want to lower my temp back to 77° and remove the UV light but will do that in a slow process to see if the algae comes back quicker.

I had a pistol shrimp that paired with my ymg but after 1.5 weeks the shrimp lost his large claw, then hid for an additional 2 weeks before I discovered he was dead. Not sure if it was the higher nitrates or if I had dinos and that killed him (read that some dinos have toxins bad for inverts or anything that eats the dinos). I think it is the dino as I also lost a snail that I have had for about 2 months about the same time at the peak of my algae outbreak.

regionreef219 · Dec 6, 2021

Ever since I got my phosphates ups, the brown algae (maybe dinos) has been growing much slower. I do roughly 25% water changes each week. During the water change I scrub most rocks to clean up the little algea that did grow over the week. Between water changes I get my nitrates down to below 10 but by the time of the next water change they are back up in the 25-30 range.

I try to feed less but the fish dont look as Full as they should so feeding might be part of the nitrate problem. Skimmer produces a wet skim that I empty 2x a week.

regionreef219 · Jan 6, 2022

I have had good luck with weekly water changes keeping nitrates 10-25 range. I have been adding phosphate until I got blue readings using salifert. Now that I know how that blue develops I have a better idea what to look for and when I need to add phosphates.

I am starting to get green algae and the brown algae is still growing but seems to be slowing since I noticed this green algae. I am hopeful once I keep phosphates/nitrates in low and consistent levels, my algae issues will slowly go away. Tank is officially 5 months old so I am hopeful this should help with algae issues as well. Wasn't until 4.8 months in that I started to notice green algae. It either just took time or was a result of me adding neophos till I got phosphate readings.

Regardless I hope as this tank "matures" that my algea will balance out and not be an issue.

regionreef219 · Jan 14, 2022

Just noticed spots of corallign algae in my tank. Pretty obvious on the white rock I started with. I have other rock that was painted purple/pink and I am sure its there too just harder to notice. Just over 5 months to get corralign. I have had snails with it on their shells since a month in and most of the frags had a little as well. Good to finally see it spreading without having to buy the bottled stuff.

My brown algae problem (dinos I think) is still present and really ruining my nice white sand. I am thinking about dosing H2O2 as some people say this works nicely but would like to avoid it if I can.

regionreef219 · Jan 26, 2022

I did the quick paper towel test with dinos. Collected in a cup, shook for 30 seconds, and then filtered into clear clean cup. After about an hour I did not get the algae hairs to reform. Makes me think my problem is cynobacteria instead of dinos. The algae doesn't look any better in the morning compared to right before lights out so I just assumed dinos.

Anywho, I am about to try chemiclean tomorrow so the 48 hour treatment period matches up with my usual water change. Since I finally have a hold on nitrates and phosphates in the proper ranges, I hope this chemiclean works as a reset and i can be algae free.

I am having a tough time reading salifert phosphate test, but once I started really dosing neophos I noticed specs of coraligne algae and my 1 sps frag looks better then ever. The sps frag might turn into my indicator of high/low nutrients and if I need to add more neophos. Nitrates have always tested 10-20 (salifert) based on when I did my last water change.

Lets hope for good luck. I did recently add some more snails since I am starting to get green algae now (also matched up once I started adding neophos). I also added a cleaner shrimp. Next thing I get is a BTA once I get this algae under control.

Current tank: 2 clowns, 1 royal gamma, 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 pistol shrimp (hangs out with YMG at the same cave most of the time but haven't paired like I have seen in other tanks), 1 cleaner shrimp, 4 blue hermits, about 6 snails of different types.

regionreef219 · Mar 11, 2022

Well the Chemiclean worked and all my cynobacteria went away. Its been a couple weeks now and it is still coming back. I have been keeping my nitrates under 20 ppm and my phosphate is just enough to get a reading on salifert (the blue color is just barely there, even when I do the extra sensitivity version of test).

Any tips for the cyano would be nice but I have been trying to keep my water parameters constant. I cant keep nicrates under 10 unless it is right after a water change. Any less food into the tank and not all my fish get food. I use only frozen food currently.

I did add a Red bubble tip on saturday and it looks much better in my tank then it did the LFS. The tank the bta was in at the LFS did not have a good light so it was stretched out. Once in my tank the bubbles looked way better once it was settled in. We will see how this progresses. I did notice a crab hidden on the rock once it was in my DT. I think its an emerald crab but not 100% sure. I will keep it as long as it does not bother the few corals I have.

regionreef219 · Sep 7, 2022

Been a little bit since my last update. Tank is officially over a year old. For the most part its going good. I do get alot of brown algea I have to scrape off rocks once a week or before guests come over. I realized my nitrates are in the 40-50ppm range before a water change. If I do weekly changes I can stay in the 10ppm range.

That was too much water too often, I decided to add a refugium light to my sump and added chaeto (9/4/22). I will give it 2 weeks to see if a notice any sudden changes. Hopefully it helps keep my nitrates from raising too high between water changes. I will update in the next month or so if I see any noticeable changes or nitrates start to lower.

Any questions just ask!

regionreef219 · Mar 20, 2024

Been a while since I updated this thread. Tank is still running. About a year ago my heater malfunctioned and the tank warmed up into the mid 90s. Lost everything but a clown fish, royal gamma, a couple snails and hermit crabs. Lost all my anemones except for a rock flower that seems to be doing good.

Tank was getting pretty dirty due to neglect but now it is turning around as I have been taking much better care over the last couple weeks. I will update in again soon about the newly added fish.

Gumbies R Us · Mar 21, 2024

Sorry that happened with your heater, but glad to see your tank has been recovering nicely!

regionreef219 · Apr 3, 2024

Took quite a bit of water changes but finally got my nitrates down to <15ppm. Seem to be stable between water changes. But am hoping that I can get them a little lower. Haven't been checking phosphate but it was really blue (Salifert) before I started getting control of everything. I should test again but I assume its in a low range and will be very light blue.

I have added some zoas, green star polyp and a candy anemone. Hope to see these grow in the next few weeks as I have been on top of everything at the moment. Coralign algae is starting to show up on my white rocks which is promising. If these corals show signs of growth I would like to add 1 or 2 more fish before starting to buy other coral.

My sand constantly gets the rust colored sand quickly after water changes/vacuuming. Not sure why as my water is testing at 0 TDS before mixing salt. Could be my high nitrates but not sure. If my water is testing at 0 TDS, would checking for silicates still be worthwhile? I have the BRS 5 stage system so I am assuming my water is truely 0 TDS.