Regina's 30 Gallon DIY AIO Mixed Reef

[ChuzUThisDay]

Most of the "beginning" information for this build can be found in our intro.

Like the title hints, this is a 30 gallon tank that's had a DIY AIO placed in one end. My wife loves coral frags and watching them grow. I love that we can purchase coral at lower prices this way, plus having my wife enjoy this hobby as much or more than I do is awesome.

This thread is a place for her to show off her tank and give her a reference of where it started. We don't pics of everything available, but we'll drop what we have.

Here's a couple quick shots of the AIO DIY piece:


This is how the original aquascape was setup originally:


The encrusting sponge:


Guessing it's a tunicate/ sea squirt?


The rose coral not long after we found it:




This is how it looks under the LEDs most nights:


Here's a few shots of the zoas:


It's pretty simple at this point. Hopefully we can get some decent pictures up and actually capture shots of everything in the tank. Thanks for looking and encouraging words would be great!

 

[cromag27]

Looks great so far!

 

[cromag27]

Make sure you don't get a lot of sun through those shades. maybe find away to paint the back of the tank or attach a color background somehow.

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

Looks great so far!

Thanks! It's a slow start, but we'd rather go slow and watch it grow.

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

Make sure you don't get a lot of sun through those shades. maybe find away to paint the back of the tank or attach a color background somehow.

Yeah, there was a lot of debate on placement, but this was the only place that would work in the living room. I'm working on a background that will black it out.:)

 

[cromag27]

Exterior walls can heat, so watch the tank temp as well. you don't want it to swing too much.

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

Exterior walls can heat, so watch the tank temp as well. you don't want it to swing too much.

Great advice! Thankfully this tank stays at a constant 78. It's been hot this year... 95+ I don't know how many days this summer. If it hasn't changed these last two months, it won't rise due to the exterior wall. Hopefully we'll see the same results come winter.

 

[revhtree]

Looking good!

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

Thanks. Hopefully we'll have some better pics soon.

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

I have really neglected this thread and haven't updated it at all. We've added several things since the last comments here, but tonight's pictures unfortunately aren't the good kind.

I was given some chaeto the other day to place in the sump area. So this weekend I ordered a light off Amazon to place over it. The light came in tonight and as I went to place it on the tank I realized the false wall for the AIO was collapsing.

This was my biggest fear with using coraplast, but I just had to try it. It is not working for me! If I had doubled it, maybe. If I had added more "chambers" or walls for support, maybe. But the way I did it, no. It's not working and collapsing.

Is it best to just run the tank as normal and place a small hob filter on it along with another power head? Help guys and gals!!!

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

Well, the AIO is no more. The wall and "sump" were taken out last night, the silicone was shaved out, a hob filter was added for now, and new ideas are floating.

A rescape is definitely in the works, but what it will look like is hard to say.

 

[revhtree]

Cool! Any new photos?

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

Cool! Any new photos?

Not yet. Hopefully this evening will be productive though and allow for some pictures.

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

It's not the perfect setup by any means, but it seems everyone is happy today. With the AIO wall out, this is the aquascape we came up with.

Any thoughts on media or rubble in the HOB filter that's running on the tank now? We also have some chaeto in the back left corner tucked away for now. Would it be best to do an egg crate box or just let it stay where it is?

Now that the whole 36" of tank is being used, there's a concern if the 16" SBReefLight will be enough. It has done great so far, but it wasn't having to reach across the whole tank before. We're wanting to build a canopy, so maybe some additional LEDs will be necessary. Thinking something like par38s on each end or a few GU10s perhaps. What would you do in our shoes?

FTS

Left

Right

Center

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

This weekend we met Steve @Steve Dillon at AM and he graciously gave us a couple of zoa frags. While there, my wife's eyes caught several pieces of coral. Jake and Trey did us right on prices and we brought three other coral pieces home as well as the zoas.

This was shortly after getting them in the tank:

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

This is the way they looked last night:

We're hoping the sun coral will continue to come out. We're trying to entice it with some food.