My First Attempt 33g

[Reef_surfer]

Hi Everyone bare with me i have about 2-3 weeks worth of writing...(hope it doesnt get boring)

so i decided i wanted to start a SW tank and thought i should research it after much days of endless reading i thought i should seek some advice.

i went out on the city to all the pet stores in my city in an attempt to find out what i can, when i ran into an old friend who was buying some feeder fish and we got talking about SW setups and found out he recently converted his SW back to freshwater and had some live rock kicking around he said i could have all of it.

so off i went to his house later that day and low and behold he had an est. 50lbs of mixed rock (thought it was a pretty sweet deal) and the same night i found an ad for a 33g fish tank for 20$ so there was my initial set up

the next day i went to Bayside corals and purchased all the essentials for cycling a tank. salt, Sieo 1500 Pump, and all the test kits i could possible get my hands on

[Reef_surfer]

when i got home i found myself scaping my tank for about 3 hours!! (who knew it could be so much fun) then my first mistake... putting the sand right out of the bag without giving it a proper rinse.

put the tank in the proper place and starting filling with water, after realizing what i did had to empty the whole tank... being new at this i didnt think about the rinsing untill half full. finally had the tank set up after the proper rinse. started the filter system my brother gave me.

four days after the cycling started i began looking for a protien skimmer.. agian found a deal i couldnt possibly give up. A guy was taking down his salt water tank the next week so i gave him a call and for 140$ i got a Coralife Super Skimmer, 20lbs of live rock, and about 15lbs of live sand plus a tomato clown yellow tail demsal and a false percula... i didnt know if only having my tank cycled for two weeks was enough but i thought they were hardy.

did regular testing and everything is looking great. ammonia levels .1 nitrate was 20 ppm and ph is about 7.9-8.2

[Reef_surfer]

so yesterday i did some regular testing agian and figured i could start the cleanup process (a lil early).Im sitting around the 3 week mark so i went to the LSF and bought a couple hermit crabs and a black tall sea urchin.

when i got home i acclimated them for little over an hour in a bowl with a heater and drip system ( bought it at wal-mart for 4$, an airline and two way valve). Becuase im a little anal about not harming the lil critters i did one more water test to make sure it was still ok. I emptied the bowl of the water and let the crabs go to work on the algea


when i acclimated the fish i did the same drip system for about 4 hours. didnt quite know if there was a maxium amount of time that there had to be but i had a heater in the bucket to get the right temp as the tank. i let the water double in size and emptied half and let it double agian. (reason why it took so long)

ever since just been doing top ups with tap water and PRIME water conditioner. not sure if i want to run an RO/DI system with such a small tank

[BlueAbyss]

You could go to Superstore or something and get RO from there, though it would be pertinent to test that water before using (just in case)... Saskatoon's water isn't all that great and you may see some chemistry issues down the road. The chemical makeup of river water changes greatly during the year (heavy load of organics in spring and such) and that translates to changing chemistry for your tank through the year also, if you're using tap water.

Of course, if you're going for a FOWLR, this shouldn't be much of an issue (though the organics could still turn into algae). EDIT: Just read in your other thread that you are planning on a reef... I'm sure there are a number of people out there using tap water in their reefs, but I personally wouldn't chance it... corals are too expensive :haha:

[Reef_surfer]

[QUOTE=BlueAbyss;457772]Saskatoon's water isn't all that great and you may see some chemistry issues down the road. The chemical makeup of river water changes greatly during the year (heavy load of organics in spring and such) and that translates to changing chemistry for your tank through the year also, if you're using tap water.QUOTE]

yeah i heard that from a couple different people. they said to just keep testing and use prime. i am eventually going to change to RO water as i heard the LFS sells if cheap

[ElGuappo]

i used tap water on my 34 g reef and all was fine for a while but after a while i developed serious cyno issue. (red film algae) couldnt get rid of it til i started using ro

[Reef_surfer]

i had just went to Superstore today and found the water i was looking for, now i guess ill start useing RO/DI Water hopefully going to costco to look for a setup

[Reef_surfer]

hey guys i finally tooks pics today...
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/30g%20Reef%20tank/DSC02928.jpg
weird shelf that the tank just fits on
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/30g%20Reef%20tank/DSC02929.jpg
my coralife super skimmer 65 protein skimmer got a super good deal
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/30g%20Reef%20tank/DSC02919.jpg
my sieo 650 pump and final setup little algea problem trying to fix
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/30g%20Reef%20tank/DSC02920.jpg

[no_bs]

Looking good. Are the fish in there?

[Reef_surfer]

yeah they hide in the back you can see the yellow tail damsel simming about

[Reef_surfer]

well time for a bit of an update. so i recently went to superstore and startting buying RO water and a seperate bin for doing my water changes. also bought a sieo 650 Pump for stirring the water up and hopfully tonight i will be doing a little bit different scaping as im acquiring new liverock for the DT and the other stuff will be going into the bin with some sand.

i also am waiting on a package from the bus (my new MH lighting) the greyhound bus said it should be in tonight. im still pondering on how to make a bracket to hang the lighting as i cannot hang it from the city hopfully i can come up with somthing in the next few days as im heading out on vacation and would like it to be set before i leave.

i should have more pictures up tonight if i can get the lighting assembled and the scaping done

[Myka]

Great start you got going! Some good deals you have managed to snap up too. :D

Becuase im a little anal about not harming the lil critters i did one more water test to make sure it was still ok.

This is a bit hypocritical when you added your fish before the cycle was over. Ammonia burns the fishes' lungs, and causes irreparable damage. You shouldn't have added any fish or cleanup crew until both ammonia and nitrite were at 0. The advice is a little late, but now you know for next time. ;)

You may want to re-home the urchin as your tank is too new and too small to provide enough food for it. It will slowly starve to death.

[Reef_surfer]

so i figured i would give you guys some pictures and a bit of an update. i had my MH lighting just sitting on my tank while i decided on how to build my stand for it, since i cannot hang it from the ceiling. here is a few pictures of the completed light stand.
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1300.jpg

i built the stand with a 9"x9" base then i welded a piece of strut bar 30" high and used 3/4" square tubing for the light bracket. i welded all the peices myself and bolted the light to the Strut bracket. (i used this to adjust the hight of the light)
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1299.jpg
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1298.jpg

[Reef_surfer]

so i finally had the tank ready for corals, after some research and help from the LFS (was in there for over an hour) came home with these.
i purchased a green star polyp, Candycane coral, florida ricorda corals and an unknown coral i found on the liverock. i figured he wouldnt live in the tub i had made for curing live rock so i acclimated him into the tank right away
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1305-1.jpg
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1302.jpg
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1313.jpg
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1291.jpg
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1288.jpg
this is the unknown coral maybe someone can help me out with it
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1315.jpg
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1314.jpg
here is a couple FTS
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1324.jpg
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1301.jpg
these are the false percula and the sebae clownfish
http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/IMG_1310.jpg

[Skimmerking]

Buds the tank is looking great the MH light really has made your tank POP well done serious man. Here is something that you could try. What about getting the larger hang on the back filter I think its the Aqua clear 500 that was the old one. Take off the skimmer so you have alot more room on the back and it will free up some more spare room and take the HANG-ON and convert it to a refugium with some live sand and some Cheato and use that to export that excess nutrients and with a small tank like that. I would just use good old fashion Water changes to take away any crap that builds up in the tnak 2-3 gal per week is huge on asmall tank like that.
Just my opinion. keep up the great work.:mrgreen:

[bignose]

Sounds like you have a good start.

http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq140/snowryder42/30g%20Reef%20tank/DSC02929.jpg
Looks like a perfect spot for a bigger cube tank!!:biggrin:

[leducreef]

just my "opinion" but i would rase that light up a few inches i think you will find that you tank will get to warm with the light that low

[Reef_surfer]

just my "opinion" but i would rase that light up a few inches i think you will find that you tank will get to warm with the light that low

well thats what i thought and i have been keeping an eye on it and the temp has yet to change. was one of my first concerns but thats why i built it with and adjustable bracket :idea:

[Reef_surfer]

Sounds like you have a good start.


Looks like a perfect spot for a bigger cube tank!!:biggrin:


yeah i thought of that but nowhere to put the refg or sump... thats why i haven't gone bigger and everything you see is hang-on equipment.

i was going to ask if you need to have the sump lower than the tank. bc i do have space behind to put a refug or sump

[Reef_surfer]

What about getting the larger hang on the back filter I think its the Aqua clear 500 that was the old one. Take off the skimmer so you have alot more room on the back and it will free up some more spare room and take the HANG-ON and convert it to a refugium with some live sand and some Cheato and use that to export that excess nutrients and with a small tank like that. I would just use good old fashion Water changes to take away any crap that builds up in the tnak 2-3 gal per week is huge on asmall tank like that.
Just my opinion. keep up the great work.:mrgreen:

did you mean convert the aqua clear 500 into a refug? if so is there and DIY information that i could try. I've seen that done on 3 gal pico cube tanks but would that be enough for a 33g tank?

also thanks everyone for the comments it is coming along slow

[Marlin65]

It's hard to tell from your picture but they look like hydroids (not a good thing)
Did this come on the rock or did you buy this?

[Reef_surfer]

It's hard to tell from your picture but they look like hydroids (not a good thing)
Did this come on the rock or did you buy this?

i bought the rock but it is one coral not a bunch its bright green on the inside and purple over the rest of the body. he moved last night so i can get a better picture of him