neilanh
Sliced Bread
chase33 said:
Hope you're not holding your breathe. I've been pestering him for weeks to start on that thing.
It starts here - First time reef build log
- Thread starter SparKy697
- Start date
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Hope you're not holding your breathe. I've been pestering him for weeks to start on that thing.
David14259
Aquarium Advice Freak
Impressive as usual Sparky. Really though, more pics!
neilanh
Sliced Bread
Sparky, you're seriously lacking on the updates.
OP
OP
SparKy697
Aquarium Advice Addict
UPDATE:
Being that I'm not entirely sure what is normal progression here I have kind of let things take their course for a while and see what happens.
After a couple of days with water and rocks the diatoms moved in in a big way! I had added 8 dwarf blue legged hermits and a dozen margarita snails to get working on cleaning the place up. I'm sure this tank can support a lot more inverts but in keeping with my take it slow plan we start small. As the diatoms cleared up I'm starting to see some signs of coralline algae as well as some less desirable algae too.
The yellowish hue in this shot is from the lamp I'm using which I don't like and plan on replacing, the diatoms, and my cheap little camera. You get the idea though about the diatoms moving in.
The water quality seems to be improving all the time. For a couple of weeks now I'm seeing 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and after starting with 15-20ppm of nitrate it seems to be falling to an almost undetectable level which is a surprise on such a new tank. Who am I to complain though right?
The next step in this project is the sump. After reading almost every word of melevsreef.com I felt the need to work in acrylics.
The sump was designed to fit the stand I made more than to fit the tank. As it turns out the sump will be running with about 36 gallons of water with plenty of head space to take the runoff from the main tank when the power is off.
Building the sump was fun and a little time consuming. Marc has done such a great job in explaining how he does what he does so that just about anybody can follow along. I doubt I would have even thought about trying this without his site.
From an economic stand point though, I'm not quite sure I would recommend it for the one time sump builder. There is a fair amount of support equipment needed and if you do not have it already, it could be quite costly.
To save you the boring details here, you can take a look at Marc's site for a far better description than I could provide.
Photos of my sump going together:
No Leaks!!! (Happy Dance!)
The sump will sit for a few days with water in it while I work on the auto top off system. I'll provide more documentation of that process and the implementation of the sump in days to come.
Thanks for reading.
Suggestions welcome/needed.
Being that I'm not entirely sure what is normal progression here I have kind of let things take their course for a while and see what happens.
After a couple of days with water and rocks the diatoms moved in in a big way! I had added 8 dwarf blue legged hermits and a dozen margarita snails to get working on cleaning the place up. I'm sure this tank can support a lot more inverts but in keeping with my take it slow plan we start small. As the diatoms cleared up I'm starting to see some signs of coralline algae as well as some less desirable algae too.
The yellowish hue in this shot is from the lamp I'm using which I don't like and plan on replacing, the diatoms, and my cheap little camera. You get the idea though about the diatoms moving in.
The water quality seems to be improving all the time. For a couple of weeks now I'm seeing 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and after starting with 15-20ppm of nitrate it seems to be falling to an almost undetectable level which is a surprise on such a new tank. Who am I to complain though right?
The next step in this project is the sump. After reading almost every word of melevsreef.com I felt the need to work in acrylics.
The sump was designed to fit the stand I made more than to fit the tank. As it turns out the sump will be running with about 36 gallons of water with plenty of head space to take the runoff from the main tank when the power is off.
Building the sump was fun and a little time consuming. Marc has done such a great job in explaining how he does what he does so that just about anybody can follow along. I doubt I would have even thought about trying this without his site.
From an economic stand point though, I'm not quite sure I would recommend it for the one time sump builder. There is a fair amount of support equipment needed and if you do not have it already, it could be quite costly.
To save you the boring details here, you can take a look at Marc's site for a far better description than I could provide.
Photos of my sump going together:
No Leaks!!! (Happy Dance!)
The sump will sit for a few days with water in it while I work on the auto top off system. I'll provide more documentation of that process and the implementation of the sump in days to come.
Thanks for reading.
Suggestions welcome/needed.
neilanh
Sliced Bread
New bulb, new camera, and install the sump. That's my suggestion. And you're right, you need it.
I'll give you 3 days to complete these tasks.
I'll give you 3 days to complete these tasks.
newfound77951
Aquarium Advice Addict
Very nice! It looks fantastic....great work with the plumbing, and that sump looks professional. I am jealous....
So, how much time have you spent just sitting in front of the tank staring at it? When I first set up my SW tank I was amazed at all the stuff on the LR and would literally spend hours looking at it.
So, how much time have you spent just sitting in front of the tank staring at it? When I first set up my SW tank I was amazed at all the stuff on the LR and would literally spend hours looking at it.
OP
OP
SparKy697
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have a chair that lives in front of the tank
I really don't have anything on the lr except for the different kinds of algae. It's still cool to look at though.This afternoon I went down to check things out and found a surprise. I knew I had a couple dead margarita snails that had fallen on their back (seems to be a design flaw). One of them is missing but I found a small shell from one of the hermits in it's place.
It's getting hard to tell who is who these days....
plecoperson
Aquarium Advice Addict
I don't usually look closely at the SW threads, but I have been asking myself "Where's Sparky?!"
AH, I see-he's being all meticulous on the salty side....that sump is insane and the tank looks great.
Now tell us. In 3 years, when other living things go into the tank, what will they be?
AH, I see-he's being all meticulous on the salty side....that sump is insane and the tank looks great.
Now tell us. In 3 years, when other living things go into the tank, what will they be?
OP
OP
SparKy697
Aquarium Advice Addict
LOL, Hello Lisa. How have you been?
I'm really not sure about fish at this point. In fact the fish are almost an after thought. My initial thinking is that I may get a couple clown fish. Not so because of the kids movie as much as the fact that they are tough and to be honest I think it's cool how they seem to look at you. You also got to love how they hook up with an anemone and swim in and out of it.
The corals interest me more than the sw fish. I guess it's my planted fw roots (no pun intended). Being a 29 gallon tank it seems that I'm somewhat limited as to the number of fish that can be happy. The live rock takes up so much space that I'm guessing the water space is closer to 20 gallons than 29.
Don't worry. The FW tanks are still alive and doing well. However they are slightly neglected these days.
I'm really not sure about fish at this point. In fact the fish are almost an after thought. My initial thinking is that I may get a couple clown fish. Not so because of the kids movie as much as the fact that they are tough and to be honest I think it's cool how they seem to look at you. You also got to love how they hook up with an anemone and swim in and out of it.
The corals interest me more than the sw fish. I guess it's my planted fw roots (no pun intended). Being a 29 gallon tank it seems that I'm somewhat limited as to the number of fish that can be happy. The live rock takes up so much space that I'm guessing the water space is closer to 20 gallons than 29.
Don't worry. The FW tanks are still alive and doing well. However they are slightly neglected these days.
Devilishturtles
Aquarium Advice Addict
Awesome sump, and awesome looking tank. Can't wait till you add some corals or fish in there!
Can't wait till you add some corals or fish in there!
neilanh
Sliced Bread
plecoperson said:
HAHAHAHAHAHAH LMAO HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
OP
OP
SparKy697
Aquarium Advice Addict
No living additions to report other than the pods that have showed up on the glass. I'm happy about that.
I do have a few pictures to show of the sump that is kind of installed. Still in a temporary fashion for testing but it's cool to see it working.
I'm waiting on the substrate for the fuge part to arrive so there is no water in that section just yet. I'll provide some detailed photos of the plumbing and automatic top off system in a few days.
At the moment the idea of what the first coral should be is the main focus. It doesn't help that there are like a million options.
I do have a few pictures to show of the sump that is kind of installed. Still in a temporary fashion for testing but it's cool to see it working.
I'm waiting on the substrate for the fuge part to arrive so there is no water in that section just yet. I'll provide some detailed photos of the plumbing and automatic top off system in a few days.
At the moment the idea of what the first coral should be is the main focus. It doesn't help that there are like a million options.
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thought about Miracle Mud? I did that, a 1/2 layer of sand, and rock.
Leathers and mushrooms are a good first IMO. Very hardy.
OP
OP
SparKy697
Aquarium Advice Addict
Update:
The substrate is in the fuge section of the sump. It ranges anywhere from 3-4 inches deep. I'm sure it will take some time for the fuge to mature and start helping. It also need some live rock IMO.
I picked up some cheato on the net. It came with some cool micro stars and tube worms, as well as a number of pods. Unfortunately I did find one Isopod crawling around on the algae. He got sucked up with a syringe and a long tube. Who knows the chances that he was alone? I know, not likely.
Still having some problems with too many bubbles in the sump return section so I made a box to fill with rubble to help break up the bubbles as the water leaves the tank. It seems to be working quite well.
Slits were made in the bottom for water to escape as the bubbles hopefully rise to the top and out instead of entering the water column.
Say hello to the first corals...
The lamp that came with the fixture was supposed to be 15,000K. However it was as yellow as could be and I was not happy with it at all. After doing some research and being tipped off by Neilan, I chose to go with a reeflux lamp. Unfortunately it required me to change ballasts too. Here is the Frankenstein version of my test ballast for the new lamp.
There is no question about which lamp/ballast combo is better. I can't tell you how much better this tank looks with this new lamp. The pictures really do not do it justice. I would not hesitate to go with the reeflux lamp in the future.
There are more pictures if you care to browse Here
The substrate is in the fuge section of the sump. It ranges anywhere from 3-4 inches deep. I'm sure it will take some time for the fuge to mature and start helping. It also need some live rock IMO.
I picked up some cheato on the net. It came with some cool micro stars and tube worms, as well as a number of pods. Unfortunately I did find one Isopod crawling around on the algae. He got sucked up with a syringe and a long tube. Who knows the chances that he was alone? I know, not likely.
Still having some problems with too many bubbles in the sump return section so I made a box to fill with rubble to help break up the bubbles as the water leaves the tank. It seems to be working quite well.
Slits were made in the bottom for water to escape as the bubbles hopefully rise to the top and out instead of entering the water column.
Say hello to the first corals...
The lamp that came with the fixture was supposed to be 15,000K. However it was as yellow as could be and I was not happy with it at all. After doing some research and being tipped off by Neilan, I chose to go with a reeflux lamp. Unfortunately it required me to change ballasts too. Here is the Frankenstein version of my test ballast for the new lamp.
There is no question about which lamp/ballast combo is better. I can't tell you how much better this tank looks with this new lamp. The pictures really do not do it justice. I would not hesitate to go with the reeflux lamp in the future.
There are more pictures if you care to browse Here
Marconis
Aquarium Advice Addict
LOOKS GREAT!!!
Devilishturtles
Aquarium Advice Addict
Wow, looking awesome! Congrats on the coral additions.
OP
OP
SparKy697
Aquarium Advice Addict
I thought this was a tube worm of some sort, but have not been able to identify it as such... Can anybody out there tell me what this guy attached to the glass is? It seems to be growing and I'm wondering if I want it in the fuge or not.
plecoperson
Aquarium Advice Addict
YIKES-How did I miss all this action? Very exciting, and I have no idea what that creature is. Because I have normal fish tanks. Not all fancy-like. Plain. Salt-free.
Congratulations on the foxy corals.
Don't get me started on the "I made it from scratch! How do you like the ballast" stuff. I can barely operate my (store-bought) glass canopies.
Congratulations on the foxy corals.
Don't get me started on the "I made it from scratch! How do you like the ballast" stuff. I can barely operate my (store-bought) glass canopies.
OP
OP
SparKy697
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hey Lisa, you have got to give this salt stuff a shot. It's been lots of fun so far!
Besides, normal is way over rated!
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