My 30g breeder mixed reef

aquarius77 · Oct 25, 2007

Well I just ripped down this tank:

It was a 20g high, pretty cool tank! I kept it as a softie tank but softies werent challenging me anymore so i built another tank to house hard corals. As time went on i grew tired of two systems needing constant care so i gave the LFS a bunch of my SPS frags and whatnot that i had made and i decided i was going to combine the tanks into one mixed reef.

This is the current tank some months back It is a 30g breeder with a 55g sump:

its sump:

I want to set the tank up as a display so i made a new overflow strainer to raise the water level and i started clearing out stuff i did not want/need. The main thing that was driving me crazy was all the frags, i took care of that today.

I then started to take coral coverd rocks out of the 20 and move them over to the 30 wich quickly ran out of room. I had to sump some things for today but ill get it all worked out when i aquascape the tank.

The 30 is BB has 2x 175w 14k hammies on it, lots of flow and a coralife super skimmer. I have a whole bunch of rock and i also have a DSB in the sump with massive ammounts of chaeto. I keep parameters by manual dosing but i also drip kalkwasser as well.

I would like to keep all 4 panes of glass clean so i have decided i want an island type of aquascape, not stacked too high, that wraps around and leaves the center of the tank open as well.

I am sitting here wet from this project so i figured this was a good time to start my tank thread and hopefully get some insight from you all along the way. Nothing is set in stone, i appreciate all input, if im doing something stupid or you have a better idea, tell me.

I have added the seaclone skimmer off the softie tank along side the coralife skimmer im already running. neither is a good skimmer but its what i have to work with for now. I want to take the 20g display tank and add it to the system as a fuge. I was thinking i would set it on the floor next to my sump and have the sump overflow into the 20g fuge and then have the fuge pump back into the sump. I am thinking of using a 150w hqi fixture over the fuge so i can grow huge chaeto. I am thinking ill leave the fuge bare bottom with rubble and rock and powerheads blowing everywhere to keep the fuge clean. I want my detrius to settle in one portion of my sump so i can easily vac it out and i plan to accomplish that with HUGE flow everywhere else in the system.

I smell like coral and vinegar and im tired so ill leave it at that tonight.

Any thoughts? What say you....

Kigs! · Oct 25, 2007

you did a great job with the upgrade! i like how everything looks so nice and neat. is there a reason why the water level is so low?

aquarius77 · Oct 25, 2007

That pic is old, its not near as neat looking right now. I will take pics of my progress tomorrow and from now on.

The water level was low because i was after light penatration, i have since lowed the lights and raised the water level, the tank is full as of yesterday. I made a new overflow strainer that raised the level to full.

aquarius77 · Oct 25, 2007

Here are some pics taken today. I moved everything last night so im kinda suprised to see it all open already today.

I have a 55g half full of rock so i should be able to do just about any scape im after. What do you all think?

anomie · Oct 25, 2007

I think it looks pretty darn good.

What about a horse shoe type of aquascape? Taller in the back and tapering off towards the front....

aquarius77 · Oct 25, 2007

Thanks for the kind words.

Thats what i was thinking, i want to leave the middle of the tank open, i also want to leave the sides and rear of the tank with a few inches so i can clean the glass and maybe put lower light corals aorund the perimeter. I dont want it piled high so i can keep good water movement. I think horseshoe best says it!

I think my only issue right now is that i have more rock with coral on it than i want in the tank when im finished, i dont want to frag corals off the rocks but i might have too.
It prolly looks like i have way to many maxi jets, id like to hide a few with the rocks if possible, but still keep them effective. I have a hydor korilla 1 i can incorperate into the tank if needed but i run a wave maker so it would have to be on all the time... I have 4 1200 maxis 4 900s and 1 600. I am going to have a tough time getting flow where i need it and not getting it where i dont want it but my softies came out of a very high flow tank so they should be used to it. I am thinking of putting a 1200 on the floor of the tank blowing under the rocks to keep the mess stirred up so i can remove it.

aquarius77 · Oct 25, 2007

I just went in the tank room and found my dottyback dried up and stuck to the floor. Im thinking my sixline harassed him into jumping. I added the sixline last night and this morning the dottyback was testing the sixline and trying to punk it out, my sixline is no punk. The dottyback was beautiful but it had a bad tude. I have only had the fish a short time so im not heartbroken but i still dont like losing my animals. That is the second fish i lost since i started this hobby, both were jumpers.

aquarius77 · Oct 30, 2007

I plumbed the fuge onto the tank today, i hung the light for it and i moved a bunch of rock around in the sump. I dont like playing around in the sump because i keep a lion down there and he scares mewhen he gets spooked.
I will take some pics tonight and post them. All i have left to do now is get some aquamend epoxy arrange the tank, i cant wait!

shivametimbas · Nov 15, 2007

what size light was on the 20g at the top? if its the 150, makes me wonder if i should raise my light...but the 175's are pretty low, so... the tanks look good, cant wait to see the new scaping. looks like ya got some nice corals

aquarius77 · Nov 19, 2007

Well i did it finally. I aquascaped the tank today! I dont have any pics though. I have not seen it with the lights on because i worked on it till late in the evening and by the time i was done they were off. I think it will look sharp, but im going to want your honest opinions.

I ordered new bulbs last week and hopefully they are in by the weekend. I went through hello lights and got the aqualine ab 10k (par monsters) and im skeered im gonna roach my corals because these hammies are spent and werent that spectacular new. I need to find something to put in between the tank and the lights for a few weeks, but i dont think eggcrate is the answer. Im pretty sure it would melt because my lights are pretty close to the top of the tank and cant be raised.
I promise some pics soon.

Shiva,
The light on the 20 was a 150w. When i had the Current bulb in there it was much lower, when i got the Giessemann Megachrome bulb in there i had to raise it way way up, the bulb is insanely powerfull. I had my lights higher on the 30 for some time but it just was not cutting it for the sps im trying to keep. I tried to aquascape my softies around the hotspots with these par monsters comming, we will see how everything fares.
Ty for the kind words.

aquarius77 · Nov 19, 2007

Looks like i have some broken links to my pics up top?, I cant find the photos that were there so i will take some new ones and get them up!

aquarius77 · Nov 20, 2007

Here are the pics i took today, none turned out worth a crap but i was rushed for time.

Right side shot.

aquarius77 · Nov 20, 2007

Left Front

Right Front

Honestly how does it look and what do you think it will look like once it grows in?

aquarius77 · Nov 20, 2007

Here are some closer shots.

aquarius77 · Nov 20, 2007

Here is the sump and fuge area. the fuge got turned into a makeshift frag tank yesterday, i have a few more small frags to mount and then the rest i guess ill be trading sometime down the road when they mature.

Half the sump, other half is solid chaeto rock and a dsb.

The fuge.

revhtree · Nov 20, 2007

Kevin it looks great man! It's very clean and your corals are beautiful!

fishes2889 · Nov 20, 2007

Awesome stuff!!

It will look(as if it didnt already look awesome) great once grown in!

aquarius77 · Nov 20, 2007

Thanks Rev, i have seen pretty much everything i have look better. With the moves and changes everything has been through recently alot of stuff lost its sparkle. I cant wait for the new bulbs, My colored sticks are lookin like brown sticks. I jumped up the bioload with more fish so i could have more availble food for my colored sticks and i think now i need more light. I loved the look of the hammie 14 k new but they have always been weak.

aquarius77 · Nov 20, 2007

Thanks fish! I still have not recieved the corallimorph from RS but i did get the one from a fellow reefer and its NICE. Im light acclimating it in the fuge right now but i plan to hide it in the back of the tank within the next week, its doing really well. I will see if i cant get some pics over the next few days.