First marine tank build (New pics/changes Feb 3rd)

Mr.nintendo · #1 09-23-2009, 07:24 PM

Hey everyone!

I'm somewhat new to the boards, spent much time using this account or my friends to research all your wonderful builds and begin to take on my own. Needless to say without the knowledge of here and a few friends I could have made off a lot worse :P

I waited a while till the situation was good and I was prep'd to start the build and things fell into place awesomely. I went into aquariums west the day after my birthday in July and they were changing their stock display tanks and selling them off cheap!

For $125.00 I got a pre-drilled 33g tank with CPR aquatics Bakpak II protein skimmer and 20g Sump ( all with pumps )

Also purchased a Stealth heater, Koralina powerhead, Aquaclear 40 powerhead ( for salt mixing and water changes ) and all new power bars/ fluval hosing and hardware

Current FTS:

Mr.nintendo · #2 09-23-2009, 07:34 PM

After cleaning/ scrubbing all the equipment and making sure there was no old salt build up or dirt from moving and set-up I made sure the tank was level and ran all the hosing and power cables.
I started initially with the sump pump running and let the water cycle the tank for a few days, then removed the water that had been running through the system to make sure there was no let over buildup in any of the equipment. Then re-filled everything, tested to make sure over-flo wasn't an issue and again let it cycle for a few days before getting rock/ starting my cycle.

I added 35 pounds of LR , did a few scrubs on it to get some of the dead matter off and let it sit. There was a small ammonium spike initially but within 5-6 days it was non-exsistent. Followed by a slight Nitrite spike but it as well only lasted 2 three days. Been using a Sera aqua-test box but had a firned bring another kit ovet to make sure everything was going good. within a week an a half the cycle seemed to be stable and I introduced a few little blue legs to see some movement in the tank

( even if its slow movement )

The Codfather · #3 09-23-2009, 07:50 PM

Welcome to the most expensive hobby known to man. Good score on the equipment, just a small hint, as i am sure you will hear several times, take it slow. Other than that, welcome. I am sure you have several questions, ask away. There is a pile of people on this site that give very good advise.

Mr.nintendo · #4 09-23-2009, 07:52 PM

My plan for the tank since it's my first is for the most part is stronger easier things to maintain and take care of. I decided to add after 3 weeks roughly? a small Pulsating Xenia and a few more blue legs ( 6 total )

I want stuff in the tank with a lot of movement, so for the most part I plan on leathers and other long branched species that have a good flow in the current of the tank. I picked up a 2 bulb GLO T5 Fluorescent lighting system and stuck an 18,00k 39w and a 39w Actinic bulb in to start and most likely will double this up if I do decide on some more heavy light required species.

Also had a meltdown of the motor on my protein skimmer

Went to J&L and they had the exact replacement ( RIO+ 600 )
One thing I did notice right away is it worked wayyyyy better, although it was spitting micro bubbles back into my tank. I rigged up a quick deflection sheild the forces the bubbles back towards the rear of the tank and they dont even get an inch into the water.

Mr.nintendo · #5 09-23-2009, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Codfather

Welcome to the most expensive hobby known to man. Good score on the equipment, just a small hint, as i am sure you will hear several times, take it slow. Other than that, welcome. I am sure you have several questions, ask away. There is a pile of people on this site that give very good advise.

These posts are over the course of what is now 2 months, I wont be adding anymore life to the tank for another week or two, and again a few weeks after that. I know "technically" they say the tank is cycled after three or four days at 0/0 but the real cycle takes a few months

Mr.nintendo · #6 09-23-2009, 07:56 PM

Also the hose return from the sump is temporary, I will be rigging up a more solid system in the future but for now it does the trick. Isn't pretty but it works

I also have 40 pounds of live sand added to the mix, that's the substrate and use a digital temp meter not the little "LCD" hagen temp readout stuck to the front of the tank

Mr.nintendo · #7 09-23-2009, 08:05 PM

One thing I am looking for is suggestion as to what to keep in the aquarium. Originally I planned for only inverts and flowy hardy species like xenia and leathers but I'm starting to consider adding a few fish.

I know damsels are pretty much as bulletproof as saltwater fish come, but also was thinking about a few clowns. It is only a 33 so I can't really do to many fish but would love for the few fish I add to have some good character and mesh well with the environment.

Also what typs of LPS/ LSC would work well together and have the strongest visual appeal well still being easy to maintain?

Boomboy · #8 09-23-2009, 10:29 PM

great start man, yeah you quickly want to upgrade alot of things, lighting for example, if you dont want to spend alot of money but want great lighting go with t5's dont waste your money on PC's they are doubled up bulbs( thats what they look like) quick question why not run the skimmer in the sump since you have one, cleans up the main display you can always run a longer hose on the pump if you need it to go lower.

when i first started i really like frogspawn and torch corals and even candy canes, even now and pulsing xenias are great too to watch. as time goes on your going to find very cool looking corals that are interesting to watch when you feed them ex. plate coral.

for fish i love clown fish i know mostly everyone has one but its for a reason they have a personality and nice colour. in smaller tanks you want to try and find fish that dont swim to much into each others zones, just different sections of the tank. and dont get to many, if fact wait on the fish if you can and just put corals into it. give it time so the tank can balance.

keep asking question no question is wrong. and they are lots of opinions on different things so in the end your going to have to research and make up your own mind once in a while. a good site to for smaller tanks is nano-reef.com great place to learn lots.

Dez · #9 09-23-2009, 10:38 PM

Great start and welcome to the board. One suggestion that I might make is to add a pvc elbow to your overflow, or if your adventurous build a small overflow box. This way you can raise the water level of your tank so that you don't see a waterline. I think that it is most people's preference not to see a water line in the tank. This way you also get a little bit more water volume in the tank.

Keep asking questions, this hobby is always a learning experience.

Mr.nintendo · #10 09-23-2009, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dez

Great start and welcome to the board. One suggestion that I might make is to add a pvc elbow to your overflow, or if your adventurous build a small overflow box. This way you can raise the water level of your tank so that you don't see a waterline. I think that it is most people's preference not to see a water line in the tank. This way you also get a little bit more water volume in the tank.

Keep asking questions, this hobby is always a learning experience.

I was looking into an over-flo, also looking into either a new skimmer or modifying this one so it can fit the sump. I'm also considering setting up a 20gal refigium. The main pump running from my sump has an adjustable T-valve attached, before it was running two tanks, figured it would be easy enough to have a second smaller tank just for that purpose.