First Reef - 30 Gallon Long
- Nano Build
- Thread starter JonoB
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BoBoBREWSKI
Active Member
Ha ha! I've been dropping hints to my wife about going bigger also.
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JonoB
Active Member
Time for another update!
I've had a few little projects with the tank here and there. I like to "tinker" with things, so I will never really stop working on stuff as long as my free time allows me to. Speaking of free time....my wife and I had our child, a beautiful little girl, on August 9th. My tank got a little neglected that week or week and a half, so I have a ton of cyano now, but I'm slowly beating it back down. The great thing about an infant is that they pretty much only eat, sleep, and use the bathroom. I can't really feed her....so other than changing diapers and making sure momma is well fed, I get a little time to mess around with my tank. I know that will change soon, so I'm doing it while I can! Ha!
The biggest change is that I got rid of the MH fixture and bought 2 AI Prime HD's. The MH were great but they were hot and killing our electrical bill. I'm thinking about selling them but I have no idea what they are worth. The primes are awesome. I am saving to get one more, just for better coverage, but man the corals are loving them. I'm running the BRS percentages and everything seems to be doing great. I'm too lazy to look back on past posts, so I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I have some new corals as well. I added a xenia, some different zoas (green ones and some scrambled eggs), a birds nest, starburst mdntipora, bicolor war coral, and a coral that a local member on here graciously gifted me (as well as the scrambled eggs). I don't remember how to spell it but I think its something like plastoitweoingjklang;sfkdjals;gjd. (I'll find the thread in a bit and find the real name). The colors of everything are really popping with the new lights, and I've seen better extension on some corals as well. I mounted the lights to a floating shelf so we can put some pictures or plants above the tank (or food, turkey basters, refractometers, test kits.....lol)
The only creatures I've lost are two snails, and I suspect the hermit crab is to blame. Everything else seems to be healthy, and all the fish are back in the tank after being in a hospital tank for a while.
I wasn't happy with the inside of my tank stand. It was jumbled at messy, and I like things to be sleek, or at least somewhat neat. I changed out my 5 gallon bucket that I used for the ATO with a rimless 5 gallon tank I had laying around from a previous freshwater build. I cut some wood, painted some stuff, re mounted the power strip, and built a shelf for my non existent controllers. My next plan is to save up for an Apex or something similar. I added in some LED tape I had left over (I was using it for blue/moon lighting with my MH). I think it turned out pretty good! Still have a few little things to do like painting and fixing a piece of wood I split (whoops).
Here are some pictures of the new lights and a before and after of the underneath.
I've had a few little projects with the tank here and there. I like to "tinker" with things, so I will never really stop working on stuff as long as my free time allows me to. Speaking of free time....my wife and I had our child, a beautiful little girl, on August 9th. My tank got a little neglected that week or week and a half, so I have a ton of cyano now, but I'm slowly beating it back down. The great thing about an infant is that they pretty much only eat, sleep, and use the bathroom. I can't really feed her....so other than changing diapers and making sure momma is well fed, I get a little time to mess around with my tank. I know that will change soon, so I'm doing it while I can! Ha!
The biggest change is that I got rid of the MH fixture and bought 2 AI Prime HD's. The MH were great but they were hot and killing our electrical bill. I'm thinking about selling them but I have no idea what they are worth. The primes are awesome. I am saving to get one more, just for better coverage, but man the corals are loving them. I'm running the BRS percentages and everything seems to be doing great. I'm too lazy to look back on past posts, so I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I have some new corals as well. I added a xenia, some different zoas (green ones and some scrambled eggs), a birds nest, starburst mdntipora, bicolor war coral, and a coral that a local member on here graciously gifted me (as well as the scrambled eggs). I don't remember how to spell it but I think its something like plastoitweoingjklang;sfkdjals;gjd. (I'll find the thread in a bit and find the real name). The colors of everything are really popping with the new lights, and I've seen better extension on some corals as well. I mounted the lights to a floating shelf so we can put some pictures or plants above the tank (or food, turkey basters, refractometers, test kits.....lol)
The only creatures I've lost are two snails, and I suspect the hermit crab is to blame. Everything else seems to be healthy, and all the fish are back in the tank after being in a hospital tank for a while.
I wasn't happy with the inside of my tank stand. It was jumbled at messy, and I like things to be sleek, or at least somewhat neat. I changed out my 5 gallon bucket that I used for the ATO with a rimless 5 gallon tank I had laying around from a previous freshwater build. I cut some wood, painted some stuff, re mounted the power strip, and built a shelf for my non existent controllers. My next plan is to save up for an Apex or something similar. I added in some LED tape I had left over (I was using it for blue/moon lighting with my MH). I think it turned out pretty good! Still have a few little things to do like painting and fixing a piece of wood I split (whoops).
Here are some pictures of the new lights and a before and after of the underneath.
NY_Caveman
likes words, fish and arbitrary statistics
Time for another update!
I've had a few little projects with the tank here and there. I like to "tinker" with things, so I will never really stop working on stuff as long as my free time allows me to. Speaking of free time....my wife and I had our child, a beautiful little girl, on August 9th. My tank got a little neglected that week or week and a half, so I have a ton of cyano now, but I'm slowly beating it back down. The great thing about an infant is that they pretty much only eat, sleep, and use the bathroom. I can't really feed her....so other than changing diapers and making sure momma is well fed, I get a little time to mess around with my tank. I know that will change soon, so I'm doing it while I can! Ha!
The biggest change is that I got rid of the MH fixture and bought 2 AI Prime HD's. The MH were great but they were hot and killing our electrical bill. I'm thinking about selling them but I have no idea what they are worth. The primes are awesome. I am saving to get one more, just for better coverage, but man the corals are loving them. I'm running the BRS percentages and everything seems to be doing great. I'm too lazy to look back on past posts, so I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I have some new corals as well. I added a xenia, some different zoas (green ones and some scrambled eggs), a birds nest, starburst mdntipora, bicolor war coral, and a coral that a local member on here graciously gifted me (as well as the scrambled eggs). I don't remember how to spell it but I think its something like plastoitweoingjklang;sfkdjals;gjd. (I'll find the thread in a bit and find the real name). The colors of everything are really popping with the new lights, and I've seen better extension on some corals as well. I mounted the lights to a floating shelf so we can put some pictures or plants above the tank (or food, turkey basters, refractometers, test kits.....lol)
The only creatures I've lost are two snails, and I suspect the hermit crab is to blame. Everything else seems to be healthy, and all the fish are back in the tank after being in a hospital tank for a while.
I wasn't happy with the inside of my tank stand. It was jumbled at messy, and I like things to be sleek, or at least somewhat neat. I changed out my 5 gallon bucket that I used for the ATO with a rimless 5 gallon tank I had laying around from a previous freshwater build. I cut some wood, painted some stuff, re mounted the power strip, and built a shelf for my non existent controllers. My next plan is to save up for an Apex or something similar. I added in some LED tape I had left over (I was using it for blue/moon lighting with my MH). I think it turned out pretty good! Still have a few little things to do like painting and fixing a piece of wood I split (whoops).
Here are some pictures of the new lights and a before and after of the underneath.
Congratulations on the baby girl!
OP
OP
JonoB
Active Member
Update:
So the cyano all magically disappeared. I think it had something to do with feeding my fish and coral more, believe it or not. I researched it some and read a lot about the imbalance of nitrates and phosphates in the tank causing cyano, and it wasn't always have too much of them. The tank is looking great now, everything is happy. I'm ready to get some more $$$ in order to fill the rock up with some more coral, for sure.
So the cyano all magically disappeared. I think it had something to do with feeding my fish and coral more, believe it or not. I researched it some and read a lot about the imbalance of nitrates and phosphates in the tank causing cyano, and it wasn't always have too much of them. The tank is looking great now, everything is happy. I'm ready to get some more $$$ in order to fill the rock up with some more coral, for sure.
OP
OP
JonoB
Active Member
Was looking into getting one more Prime just to even out the light and shadowing some, and found a Hydra 26 HD for super cheap, so I bought that. I feel like it will be way too much light, but also figured I could sell it and get another Prime plus something else. I couldn't pass up that good of a deal. Still contemplating powerheads, looking at all of them. Probably will really just depend on what I find at a good deal.
Took some pictures, so figured I'd upload them here. Have a really hard time getting a good looking full tank shot since it's so wide and I'm just using my iPhone.
Used Snapseed to edit out some blue, so if they look edited, it's because they are.
Mostly wanted to upload a FTS and see what you guys think I should look into for my next corals, and where you would place them in my tank.
Also wanted to show my D.A. Hermit Crab's new favorite perch
ALSO MY D.A. Clownfish ate a glob of super glue and hat it stuck in it's mouth for a while, as you can see in the picture I included. It finally fell out, but was a little bit of a scare.
Took some pictures, so figured I'd upload them here. Have a really hard time getting a good looking full tank shot since it's so wide and I'm just using my iPhone.
Used Snapseed to edit out some blue, so if they look edited, it's because they are.
Mostly wanted to upload a FTS and see what you guys think I should look into for my next corals, and where you would place them in my tank.
Also wanted to show my D.A. Hermit Crab's new favorite perch
ALSO MY D.A. Clownfish ate a glob of super glue and hat it stuck in it's mouth for a while, as you can see in the picture I included. It finally fell out, but was a little bit of a scare.
Coming on a treat really nice love the zoasWas looking into getting one more Prime just to even out the light and shadowing some, and found a Hydra 26 HD for super cheap, so I bought that. I feel like it will be way too much light, but also figured I could sell it and get another Prime plus something else. I couldn't pass up that good of a deal. Still contemplating powerheads, looking at all of them. Probably will really just depend on what I find at a good deal.
Took some pictures, so figured I'd upload them here. Have a really hard time getting a good looking full tank shot since it's so wide and I'm just using my iPhone.
Used Snapseed to edit out some blue, so if they look edited, it's because they are.
Mostly wanted to upload a FTS and see what you guys think I should look into for my next corals, and where you would place them in my tank.
Also wanted to show my D.A. Hermit Crab's new favorite perch
ALSO MY D.A. Clownfish ate a glob of super glue and hat it stuck in it's mouth for a while, as you can see in the picture I included. It finally fell out, but was a little bit of a scare.
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JonoB
Active Member
Well, I posted this in another thread but figured I should update my thread here.
Woke up on Saturday, was cleaning the tank and noticed some water dripping. Cleaned it up, and more came out, ran my towel down the corner where it was coming from and it started gushing out. I quickly grabbed some buckets and siphoned out the water, got the live rock and coral in two buckets and the fish in another. Ran to the store, bought a big rubbermaid and put everything in that with the heater and power heads.
Everything is still in the tub, seems to be going well. Ironically, my hammer coral looks better than it ever has
Wife and I have had some unexpected expenses lately so we both came to agreement that I can get another tank but it's going to be some time before I can buy it. I have the 20H from when I quarantined my fish. I spent the morning cleaning it really well, and am going to fill it and run carbon for a while. I'll move what I can into that so I can at least see and enjoy my corals and fish (and monitor them better). Probably still too small for ALL my fish (maybe, what do you think?) but I can at least get all the coral in there and maybe the clowns. I'll leave whatever live rock and fish that don't fit in the 20 in the rubbermaid until I can get a new tank.
It was a really big bummer, and I hate that it happened, but I'll try to make something good out of it. I like the idea of having a sump on my tank, so now I can get a drilled tank I suppose. I also really liked the shape I had but it seems that that is going to be harder to find, so I may go with something new. We will see!
Woke up on Saturday, was cleaning the tank and noticed some water dripping. Cleaned it up, and more came out, ran my towel down the corner where it was coming from and it started gushing out. I quickly grabbed some buckets and siphoned out the water, got the live rock and coral in two buckets and the fish in another. Ran to the store, bought a big rubbermaid and put everything in that with the heater and power heads.
Everything is still in the tub, seems to be going well. Ironically, my hammer coral looks better than it ever has
Wife and I have had some unexpected expenses lately so we both came to agreement that I can get another tank but it's going to be some time before I can buy it. I have the 20H from when I quarantined my fish. I spent the morning cleaning it really well, and am going to fill it and run carbon for a while. I'll move what I can into that so I can at least see and enjoy my corals and fish (and monitor them better). Probably still too small for ALL my fish (maybe, what do you think?) but I can at least get all the coral in there and maybe the clowns. I'll leave whatever live rock and fish that don't fit in the 20 in the rubbermaid until I can get a new tank.
It was a really big bummer, and I hate that it happened, but I'll try to make something good out of it. I like the idea of having a sump on my tank, so now I can get a drilled tank I suppose. I also really liked the shape I had but it seems that that is going to be harder to find, so I may go with something new. We will see!
Fudsey
Jack of all trades, Master of none ;-)
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Agreed...
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JonoB
Active Member
Well, I haven't updated in a long time. Our 5 month old daughter takes priority over everything, and hunting season takes up most of my "extra" free time when I'm not with her 
.
I still have everything in the 20H tank. My wife randomly brought up the idea of getting a bigger tank so maybe that will happen soon. I'm going to be posting a new thread with some questions on that. Everything seems to be doing fine, although my firefish and green clown goby disappeared so that was sad. Not sure what happened, maybe there just wasn't enough space in the tank. Here are some pictures of the tank as it is now. I pretty much am looking at getting something that will fit on the stand I have now, which leaves me with a 55 gallon I suppose. Seem easy enough to find for cheap, but don't know if that's really what I want. Anyway, enjoy the out of focus pictures !
. I still have everything in the 20H tank. My wife randomly brought up the idea of getting a bigger tank so maybe that will happen soon. I'm going to be posting a new thread with some questions on that. Everything seems to be doing fine, although my firefish and green clown goby disappeared so that was sad. Not sure what happened, maybe there just wasn't enough space in the tank. Here are some pictures of the tank as it is now. I pretty much am looking at getting something that will fit on the stand I have now, which leaves me with a 55 gallon I suppose. Seem easy enough to find for cheap, but don't know if that's really what I want. Anyway, enjoy the out of focus pictures
! 
vector824
Active Member
I haven't updated in a while either. Just read your post from October! That REALLY sucks, so sorry to hear that happened! Backup baby tank looks great though. Maybe I'll get around to updating my thread.... tomorrow?
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JonoB
Active Member
Here is an update, mostly for myself for future reference:
The expiration dates on API test solution actually mean something I bought my first tank used and the guy gave me a bunch of tests. I honestly didn't even notice until recently that they have been expired for a long time. Fast forward to yesterday, our local reef shop recently renovated so I wanted to go check it out. Wife and I were looking at some different things, and I mentioned how nice it would be to have the Hanna digital testers for everything, since it would make checking easier. I started looking at some fish and look up and she was checking out with the calcium, alk, and a digital salinity testers. Happy early birthday to me! I'm starting to think she is as into this hobby as I am
Got back home and my levels were wayyyyyyy different than what I thought before. Good news is that I can now fix that and my coral should do even better!
We also got a tuxedo urchin but he didn't make it I don't really know why, he was moving around all evening and night and even this morning but just saw my nassarius snail munching on his guts. I really liked it, I may try again another time.
The expiration dates on API test solution actually mean something
I bought my first tank used and the guy gave me a bunch of tests. I honestly didn't even notice until recently that they have been expired for a long time. Fast forward to yesterday, our local reef shop recently renovated so I wanted to go check it out. Wife and I were looking at some different things, and I mentioned how nice it would be to have the Hanna digital testers for everything, since it would make checking easier. I started looking at some fish and look up and she was checking out with the calcium, alk, and a digital salinity testers. Happy early birthday to me! I'm starting to think she is as into this hobby as I am Got back home and my levels were wayyyyyyy different than what I thought before. Good news is that I can now fix that and my coral should do even better!
We also got a tuxedo urchin but he didn't make it
I don't really know why, he was moving around all evening and night and even this morning but just saw my nassarius snail munching on his guts. I really liked it, I may try again another time.
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