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.
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.
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