Josh's 30 gal Reef

[jCoffin]

I jumped back into reefing about 5 months ago after a long hiatus. After 5 years a lot has changed in the game but the love has stayed the same. I've been doing a lot of reading on R2R and other forums and finding a happy mix between new methods and the way I was taught from the old school.
What's in the tank-
2" deep sand bed (1/2" pea stone below 1 1/2" aragonite)
20+ lbs mix live rock and a hunk of real-reef for a nice shelf piece
100w heater
65gal HOB filter running charcoal
75gal cheap skimmer (modified)

Odyssea 4x24w t5ho timed w/lunar (modified)
-10000k,18000k, 22000k and 420nm
Livestock
Oc. Clown and Oc. Ext Misbar
Long nose Puffer (I know, I know)
Green Serpent Star
Gold Coral Banded Shrimp
Peppermint Shrimp
Dozen Blue Legs
Half dozen Astrea
Half dozen Margarita
Few Nassarius
Asst Zoas (rasta, eagle eye, dragon eye, unknown)
Palys (unknown)
Starburst polyps
Kenya tree
Green tip frogspawn
Xenia
Acan
Monti
And I'm sure I missed a couple

 

[Diamond1]

Looking good. I like the cave under the shelf.

 

[jCoffin]

Looking good. I like the cave under the shelf.

Thanks! I just rearranged this morning so some of the corals are still angry but they'll get over it lol. The fish have been doing laps and coming out of the cave. Pretty cool to watch.

 

[EW_Fish]

Looking good. I like the cave under the shelf.

I was thinking the same thing Very nice

 

[Longnose Hawkfish]

That cave is awesome! Nice tank!

 

[jCoffin]

I was thinking the same thing Very nice

Thanks!

 

[jCoffin]

That cave is awesome! Nice tank!

Thanks it kinda happened by accident. I wanted the long shelf facing forward for the acan to take over and after the shake test I stepped back and have it a "hm alright!" Lol

 

[Diamond1]

What kind of lights are you running?

 

[jCoffin]

It's the fixture everyone tells you to stay away from but I'm pretty handy with electrical stuff so I improved the wiring a little. It's an Odyssea 24" 4x24w T5HO with a timer (2/2/led) and lunars that I'm going to replace with some strip LEDs from Pep Boys (I'll update a pic once I finish, point of sale tonight)
The tubes are
Odyssea 10000k (getting replaced with something better soon)
WavePoint Reef Wave
True Lumen Actinic 420nm
Geisemann Actinic+
I'm getting ready to ditch the geisemann because it's getting black caps after only 3 months in the fixture but prob go with ATIs equivalent.

 

[jCoffin]

My iPhone pics make it look way bluer than it really is in person. It really almost looks like 3 50/50 and an actinic... Best way to describe it. But it's still not blue enough for me lol and my actinic set is going darker with a kz Fiji purple or equivalent. I would have replaced all the tubes with better but I've only been running this fixture for 4 months and didn't think I'd have the need to yet lol. The reef gods have been kind to me on this go round.

 

[Diamond1]

Cool I just bought it's little brother for my 10 gallon (the 20 inch fixture). It has 2 actinics and 2 10ks but it doesnt have the timer. Hoping that will work for now till I get some better ATI bulbs. I want to go with a Coral plus, an Aquablue special and 2 blue plus bulbs.

 

[jCoffin]

Nice. I wouldn't worry about problems with it if you keep the creep out of the vents and fans. Ati makes really nice lamps. I was just talked into the geisemann again and replaced the 10000k with the actinic plus and wow. I may not even go for the Fiji purple now. Colors are popping like it's in HD lol.

 

[vlangel]

I love the cave! I'm sure your fish do too. I'm glad you discussed the bulbs you are using. I know I am not getting the colors I should get. It seems like everyone with T5s who are getting their corals to pop are using ATI bulbs. I'm gonna have to try those.

 

[EW_Fish]

Yeah the only thing with those fixtures is the ballast go out. I would go all ATI bulbs when you get the money.

 

[jCoffin]

If the ballast does go out it's a pretty simple swap. And changing the tubes isn't a bad idea. I cycled the tank with the ones it came with and slowly started playing with colors from different mfg until I landed with this mix. There are a few decent brands and I still believe you get what you pay for but I'd stick with ATI, KZ, WP. I'm still not 100% on geisemann but I'm giving them another go.

 

[jCoffin]

i was taking a shot of a Halloween hermit that snuck in with some margarita snails and thought it was nice enough to share

 

[vlangel]

Our creatures do the most fascinating things. I guess that's why we love our aquariums so much.

 

[jCoffin]

Our creatures do the most fascinating things. I guess that's why we love our aquariums so much.

Absolutely! He seems to knock everything that isn't glued down over so I'm on a mission with the super glue lol. Good opportunity to frag some palys that have been spreading like wildfire.

 

[vlangel]

I should have glued some of my corals down but instead just banished Hermit the Horrible to the sump!