Rob's 36 Gal Bowfront

razorblaze827 · Jun 19, 2014

I came across this contest doing research on cycling my new tank with dry dead rock, as it was perfect timing with my new build. I had a 26 gal a few years ago but my inexperience at the time ultimately lead to a tank crash and its demise. I have just gotten back into the hobby. I now have a 36 gal bowfront. RO Water/Dry Rock/Aragonite substrate was added on 6/9/2014 to begin the cycling with a small pinch of fish food flakes. Currently only have a 200W heater, a 24" LED light fixture with Dual Daytime 8,000K/12,000K white LEDs and Dual Actinic with 445nm/460nm actinic blue LEDs, and a mechanical hang on the back filter for water flow at the moment. Unfortunately my stand cannot accommodate a sump, so I will be ordering a HOB protein skimmer in the near future, along with some new powerheads.

This photo was taken 6/18/2014.

Aquascape design is not final at the moment, I had just stacked them in the tank and waited for the water to clear up last week.

razorblaze827 · Jul 1, 2014

Entry Photo

Entry photo taken 7/1/14

Update log :

6/21/14 -Seeded my tank with a cup full of live sand and a piece of live rock with coralline algae from a friend's established tank,to speed up cycle.

6/27/14- Rearranged aquascape. Hooked up an old Seaclone (I know they suck), but modified it, and currently pulls some skim, but not much of a bioload currently in the tank. Using an old overflow box as a surface skimmer, and positioned other half of it to house some chaeto in the future and defuse micro-bubbles from the skimmer. This is a temporary setup, might be upgrading to better equipment. Added a small cleanup crew of 9 hermit crabs and 4 margarita snails.

7/1/14- Entry photo taken - Diatoms are starting to appear.