33 Gallon Reef

[Sidius]

Finally after many years of enjoying this hobby, I am taking my first dive into the world of reefkeeping and saltwater aquariums. I've started to build a couple reef tanks in the past but never made it to the point that I was actually ready. Life always seemed to get in the way.

I still need some equipment but I'll post what I have and what I plan to have down the road. The plan at this time is to go sumpless and as simple as possible but I will likely add an ATO, skimmer and a doser at some point. I may not use all the equipment posted, I have most of it hanging around from old freshwater setups or prior reef tank builds I started. I welcome any and all advice or suggestions!

When it comes to livestock, I'm still on the fence and plan to take things very slowly. I've learned that even with my old freshwater tanks, patience and stability are key. Rushing things never ends well... again, I welcome any and all advice or suggestions


So I guess to start I'll post my tank info and current equipment list and go from there...

Current Equipment:
33 gallon tank (36x12x18)
Aqua Medic 36" 4 bulb T5 (undecided on which bulbs I'll go with)
AquaFX Barracuda RO/DI
3 x Acrylic dosing containers that I've had collecting dust for some time
Eheim heater
TLF Reactor (if I need to run carbon/GFO but won't be using it to start)
Aquaclear HOB filter (I don't plan to run this right now but I considered running it filled with rock rubble or MarinePure... or maybe even for a HOB Macro algae container)

Future Equipment:
Smart ATO Micro
Eshopps PSK-75H HOB Skimmer
Bubble Magus BM-T11 Dosing pump
Maxspect Gyre (XF230) or Jebao RW4 (x2)



Coral:
SPS/LPS mixed reef with a focus more on SPS (not a fan of most softies)

Fish (3 or 4 of the following):
Clownfish (Picasso or Da Vinci are favorites)
Firefish
Banggai Cardinal (love these but on the fence)
Mandarin Dragonet (Also on the fence as I know a 33g is a bit small for pod population but these are one of my favorite fish)
Flame Angel (on the fence because I've heard they can pick at corals)




Rocks are a mix of BRS Reef Saver rock and live rock from J&L... they've been cycling in rubbermaids for 2.5 weeks now to try and get as much sand/silt out of them as possible. Keeping an eye on phosphate levels before actually moving them into the tank and adding sand and critters.



I decided to set it up in the garage next to my salt mixing station so I can make a mess and not annoy my wife lol

[Sidius]

Not a whole lot to update right now.. I did a full water change in my rubbermaids last night while dunking and swishing the rocks in buckets of saltwater... It's surprising how much silt/sand comes out of those new dry/reef saver rocks from BRS when I dunk them.. its so cloudy after that I can't see the powerhead in the bottom of the bucket lol (and this is after a month of curing). I also painted the back of the tank black.

I will be picking up some sand tomorrow from J&L and moving the rocks into the tank once I've cleaned the sand a bit. After that, I should be ready for a clean up crew and then maybe my first marine fish!

[Sidius]

I finally have my first reef tank up and running.. I can't possibly convey how amazing this moment is for me lol.. I've been wanting a saltwater tank since I was a teenager and used to stare at a friends dads tank, mesmerized by all the creatures and corals that lived in there. No idea why I stuck with freshwater for so long but nevertheless I have one now

Here's my first attempt at a reef tank aquascape. Please feel free to point out any flaws or issues I might have down the road. I plan to search for an 8 inch long piece of rock to add to the middle as a bridge between the two structures and more surface for corals!



Here's one of the Scarlet hermits saying hello to one of the Blue Legged hermits (lighter shell)

[Dash]

Congrats on the new tank
I sure remember my first moments with my tank - couldn’t believe there were living creatures inside!

I like the scarlet hermits, very well-behaved and hard-working.

[DKoKoMan]

Awesome start! Before you know it you will be amazed at how much your tank has changed.

[Sidius]

Originally Posted by DKoKoMan

Awesome start! Before you know it you will be amazed at how much your tank has changed.

Ya I can't wait to see the changes along the way!!

[Sidius]

Originally Posted by Dash

Congrats on the new tank
I sure remember my first moments with my tank - couldn’t believe there were living creatures inside!

I like the scarlet hermits, very well-behaved and hard-working.

Ya it's been a lot of fun.. I can't wait to get a fire shrimp and a few fish in there.. I'm waiting a couple months before I try to add any corals. I need proper wavemakers and I want to let things mature.

The Scarlet hermits are extra special since my daughters name is Scarlett

[Sidius]

A little update... I added a Eshopps PSK-100H HOB skimmer and so far it's working like a champ.. Installed it late last night and by morning it was already pulling skimmate.

Also, I added my first coral!!
I picked up a couple frags over last weekend from another Canreef member. Pulsing pom pom Xenia and an Orange Rhodactis. Both detached from the glue that was used to attach them to plugs by the second day. The Rhodactis went for a walk about and ended up tucked away in some rocks. I liked where it ended up and it seems happy. The pulsing xenia unfortunately, never took after I reattached it to a rock with fishing line and melted away. I was looking forward to the movement the pulsing xenia provided so I may try another frag down the road. For now I'm just going to let things settle and adjust with the new Skimmer. I was planning on waiting longer to get some corals but couldn't resist trying out some softies.

[Sidius]

Time for another update!

I have added some more clean up crew members so here is my current livestock list.

Fish:
Purple firefish

Invertebrates:
Scarlet Hermits (x3)
Blue legged hermits (x4)
Trochus snails (x5)
Astrea snails (x3)
Spiny star astrea snails (x3)
Cerith snails (x3)
Fighting conch
Orange lip conch

I've noticed a large increase in pods. They were all over my glass until I had to scrape it clean and I've seen them scurrying around on my rocks as well. Also, there's small spots of coraline algae popping up all over my rocks.

A project that I completed and added to the tank last night was converting an old Aquaclear110 into a HOB refugium for chaeto. I've been monitoring my nitrates and they were hovering around 10ppm with only one fish and the inverts listed (feeding Vitalis pellets once daily but a very small amount). I'm planning on adding more fish and possibly more inverts down the road and I'd like to keep the nutrients down closer to 2-5ppm. I'll be posting some pictures but essentially I built a containment device to keep the chaeto from getting into the tank out of egg crate and used some black plastic pieces to build a wall that comes up around the light to prevent it from lighting up the tank when the IM Chaetomax comes on at night. I dialed the flow back a little bit and used an old Aquaclear attachment to skim the surface water instead of pulling water from the lower water column. It's only been running since last night but I had fun building it and used almost entirely old parts laying around in my bins of aquarium stuff that I've collected over the years.

[Sidius]

Question for anyone that might actually be reading this... What do you do regarding moonlights at night?

My T5 fixture has small blue LED's on it's own channel so I've been leaving them on 24/7. The aren't really noticeable during the day but do add a tiny bit of shimmer which is nice. The reading I've done online seems to show that there isn't any effect on corals (even though I don't currently have any) but I would love to hear other more experienced Canreefers opinions on the matter.