My 58 gallon

Mike O'Brien · Jan 20, 2014

Here is my tank. It's a 58 gallon Oceanic. Lit by a 250 watt halide with T5's for actinics.

Water movement is from an MP10
Skimming is my old Reef Octopus that still works great.

As you can see the tank is a mess. Last year I lost everything in Nemo so the tank has been sitting for a year on its own so I'm starting to clean it up.

Last year I went through the system and replaced most of the things that were going wrong. Got a new heater and a new pump for my skimmer. I actually had a roof leak above my tank and my pendant fell into the tank so I needed to rewire my halide and reattach the light to the joists this time.

Figured out that my RO membrane is bad so I will be ordering one this week so I can start getting some clean water in there. Once that comes in I can start doing some water changes.

In the next few months I plan to switch to an LED fixture. Been looking at the Reef Radience controllable model. Hopefully by then I'll be ready to get some frags in there !

Zero Nitrates · Jan 20, 2014

Glad you are setting it up again.
I think you will like the LED's.

Mike O'Brien · Jan 20, 2014

Thanks ! I hope so. I'm sure I'm gonna like the fact that they use about half the watts and put off much less heat.

What it used to look like. Wish I could figure out the photobucket thing.

revhtree · Jan 20, 2014

Looking good!

Flameback Pair · Jan 20, 2014

Subscribe.

Mike O'Brien · Jan 22, 2014

Just found out that my RO housing can't be opened so now I have to get a new housing as well. GRRR It's always something !

Mike O'Brien · Jan 31, 2014

Haven't done much to the tank lately. I've been using distilled water for now and it does seem to be helping with the algae. Coralline is starting to grow again so that's a good sign.
Yesterday I stopped at my lfs and picked up a housing for my RO and got some snails and crabs to help clean things up for me. The temptation to buy corals is strong but I have to wait. Bummer. Anyway after checking out his 58 and 90 that are using a single radion on each, I decided to go with a G2 radion. I think it will be worth the extra money and I'm gonna like the look of it more since it's right out in the open. Hopefully I can order that next week. Taxes should be in !

Mike O'Brien · Feb 12, 2014

I ordered a G3 Radion today ! Can't wait for it to come in. Love new toys !!

SeahorseKeeper · Feb 12, 2014

Looking forward to this! :)

Mike O'Brien · Feb 12, 2014

Thanks, me too !
Hopefully the shipped the light today. If so I'll have it Friday, if not it will be next Tuesday.

Last weekend I took the sand out of the tank and adjusted my rock work a bit for better flow. I've had sand since last year and just can't seem to get over how much waste gets trapped in it. My tank has really cleaned up a lot in the past week.

I also got my first frag I there. A green stylo. At least I have something to look at in there now

Mike O'Brien · Feb 18, 2014

Got the Radion going today ! I love it !! My wife was expecting something bigger, but in this case size doesn't matter. LOL.
I'm running the radiant color pattern now at 60% max. I just extended the moonlight period and added a chance of thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Got it set 12" off the water line. Pictures don't come out good through my phone but.

Mike O'Brien · Feb 23, 2014

Here is the graph of my lighting schedule.

Flameback Pair · Mar 2, 2014

Can you post a picture of the sump?

Mike O'Brien · Mar 3, 2014

My sump is too ugly for pictures !

Basically just a 20 gallon tank with a skimmer and a return pump. On the side of that I have a 5 gallon bucket that I use for tipoff with an aqua lifter and a digital timer. No bells and whistles.