30G Shallow Build

[SeaMonkee]

I'm guessing build is not the appropriate word for placing equipment into an acrylic box and plugging it in, but "assembly" sounds odd. After six years away from the hobby I fell into the interest again, and now I feel like a toddler on Christmas morning all over again, it's sad I know...

A member of the forum was kind enough to supply two displays in trade along with stands. I decided to setup the 24x24x12 AIO on its supplied stand and skin a magnetic door for the front at a later time. It's not clear to me whether I will be running LPS or SPS, both categories have stunning coral that is fun to maintain and watch as they grow. Acans, high-end mushrooms and certain sps strains tend to catch my interest more than others, but its up in the air and I'm all for suggestions on lighting and filtration, however limited the space in my system might be at the moment. Here's a few photos of the progress so far:

Prior to anything, I stripped the coralline and left overs from the previous owner's growth. After a bit of research I settled on a 1000 grit wet sand, to 2000 and on to 3000 on both the external and internal rimless panels. Finalized with PlasticX from Meguiar's. At this point I'm unsure of the finish or whether I will break it back down. It had very few scratches, as the previous owner seemed to take great care with it, but I had to see if I couldn't get it pristine prior to filling.

Was unsure on color for the stand, so I ended up just coating it with Rustoleum Ultra oil based latex. 3 coats seemed to leave a great finish. Kicking myself for not painting the inside stark white, given the soon-to-be-skinned door will hide external equipment when installed. (any advice on mounting temp controller, ato cont., etc?)

 

[SeaMonkee]

The blurry woman on the right was kind enough to let me make a mess of the area. Need to replace the fans. I'm all for breaking them down and oiling each bearing but I don't want to risk a synthetic lubricant over the top of the back chambers of the tank leaking past the fans rubber grommet plugs. Any suggestions on quiet brands? Need two small ones as a large with not fit with the gooseneck of the Kessil... :debi:

A not so fantastic blurred pic with it's first fill of fresh saltwater.

I'm not a huge fan of spending a ton of money, in fact I'm downright cheap and proud of it. Low budget reefing was much easier for me years ago, and energy costs ultimately tainted the interest in reefing several years ago for me. Chillers, MH lighting and even the 8 bulb ATI T5 setups really sent me toward the reason to quit all together. But over the recent years the advances I've missed in LED fixtures seems to have reduced my previous concerns. After advice from many local LFS and members here, I settled on a used Kessil A350. It is not the wide version, but I think it will do until I spring for another setup. My fear is bleaching coral, but the spread seems "okay" to me so far given the small foot[print I have. Granted, once I install the 90 degree kit for the gooseneck I'll be able to raise the Kessil a bit higher.

 

[SeaMonkee]

Picked up a single 12lb live rock piece from John at YourReef in Roseville. Love the place, much like a fat kid in a candy store. Hundreds of beautiful pieces and you don't have to lie to your wife about the prices. This one piece is of his Real Reef Rock Generation 4.0 stock. Gotta say I really like the shaping and imprint, but I need more of course to add just under the front corners to start scaping soon. I'm thinking in a week or two I'll add the same, but need to find the right sizes and shapes needed for those overhangs. For now I just wait for it to cycle. Got a chance to reshape the gooseneck for more height, but I think I'll still need the 90 degree adapter. if you have an extra and would like to sell it, please PM me.

I'm looking for suggestions on flow and a few other things. The extra parts bin has three 6025 Tunze Nanostreams, and a motion controller (unsure of which brand, maybe jbj with a dial and two outlets). It seems two mp10's, or someone suggested even a single MP40 but I've heard of noisy 40's at low level flow settings... What would be my best option?

Is Siporax ceramic media an option given it needs a very low flow area for nitrification/denitrification?

My ato is set, but I have the JBJ ato white box kit as an option, the current setup is an unknown closed black box with diy float, but it seems to work great!). I'll post pics as it fills with a bit of color. Suggestions welcomed.

 

[edsimmons]

You know would really take that build to the next level, a free frag rack ;-)

I still have 1 with your name on it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SeaMonkee]

You know would really take that build to the next level, a free frag rack ;-)

I still have 1 with your name on it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm an idiot Ed, completely slipped my thoughts, to the point of where I almost bought two yesterday. PM me your favorite beer and a time to pick up the rack when you're free. Lol. My apologies.

 

[SeaMonkee]

Was hoping there's a solution to light spillage on the back wall behind the tank. Someone suggested black vinyl across the back of the sump panel which I think would work great. Just not too excited about moving the tank.

Second would be the skimmer placement (as in which compartment), and then whether I can run the phos reactor in the middle chamber to minimize view of it on the outside of the panel?

 

[SeaMonkee]

Any reason Flickr is messing up imaging?

 

[SeaMonkee]

Hope this works

 

[Apisto]

Tank looks great! Love those shallow reefs
I would go with 2 MP10s for random circulation and better coverage without blasting specific areas in the main stream of an MP40.
I wonder if you could drop a "2 little fishes" reactor in the back area. They're all plastic and pretty thin. But then you would limit yourself on space for heaters, probes, ato, etc.

Good luck. Looking forward to the continuation of the set-up.

 

[Sleepy22]

you should get one of the innovative marine reactors, they are specifically made for the AIO tanks....I have 2 midsized ones running in my sump for my 40breeder(carbon, gfo)

 

[SeaMonkee]

Apisto, can't thank you enough on the tank, great stand too. (Very glad you decided to upgrade) As far as the tlf reactors, yes, the 150 fits. I have two to plumb but might get away with combining gfo and carbon together without tumbling. Any advice for or against such? I heard the gfo can grind the soft carbon down and dust the tank. At this point I'm trying to figure out the meter/programmer/cable organization and mounting inside for easy access but out of the way from spills etc. Industrial Velcro and some time I guess. Will start on the front panel tomorrow to close off the view. Since the view from Flickr isn't working I'll attach instead. This is the light spillage I'm trying to fix.

 

[Saltwaternooby]

Great Start!!

 

[Apisto]

Apisto, can't thank you enough on the tank, great stand too. (Very glad you decided to upgrade) As far as the tlf reactors, yes, the 150 fits. I have two to plumb but might get away with combining gfo and carbon together without tumbling. Any advice for or against such? I heard the gfo can grind the soft carbon down and dust the tank. At this point I'm trying to figure out the meter/programmer/cable organization and mounting inside for easy access but out of the way from spills etc. Industrial Velcro and some time I guess. Will start on the front panel tomorrow to close off the view. Since the view from Flickr isn't working I'll attach instead. This is the light spillage I'm trying to fix.

I would tend to want to run one passively in a bag and the other in a reactor, but there is certainly no one answer to any reef problem.

 

[TheOtherDB]

Nice tank, SeaMonkee ... love the Yamaha logo for your avatar!

 

[SeaMonkee]

Nice tank, SeaMonkee ... love the Yamaha logo for your avatar!

Ha! My other love is jet skis, mostly two-stroke mosquitoes, but the 4 cycle are gaining on me.

I would tend to want to run one passively in a bag and the other in a reactor, but there is certainly no one answer to any reef problem.

OK, that seems a bit simpler. I'll have to take that advice. Now if I can't figure out how to post pics from Flickr URLs.

 

[SeaMonkee]

Realizing there is not much space to mount Thermo's and ATO hubs on the inside of the stand walls. Picked up a cheap Inkbird 380 and it seems to do quite well once you get through the poor instructions included.

Question on skimmer placement... I have it mounted in the first overflow section, should I run it past the carbon and floss, or before? Seems I'd pick up a lot of crud with it before any floss or sponge block. Running GAC and Biopellets in their own separate media bags until I figure out fitting two Phosban 150's in the center compartment.

Holy gigantic pictures, need advice on making them smaller, I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to forum pic posting. That and the pics look almost hazy...

 

[TigeBell]

Run skimmer and carbon after floss. Skimmer before fuge if you have one is better IMO., But, the floss will remove the bigger items in the water column before the skimmer and carbon picks it up.

Are you running bio-pellets in a bag or did I read that incorrectly?

 

[SeaMonkee]

You read correctly, in a bag until I figure out how to fit the phosban 150 in the middle compartment. Figured they can somewhat populate at least while at the lowest flow area, or is that a bad idea? And thank you for the skimmer tip, I'll have to change that today.

 

[TigeBell]

The bio pellets will need to be placed before the skimmer. The issue you will have with bio pellets in a bag is that they will clump together and you won't get the same effect as them being in a reactor tumbling. However, I think you know the issue and will be taking care of those bio pellets.

 

[SeaMonkee]

The bio pellets will need to be placed before the skimmer. The issue you will have with bio pellets in a bag is that they will clump together and you won't get the same effect as them being in a reactor tumbling. However, I think you know the issue and will be taking care of those bio pellets.

Didn't even think about it, glad you mentioned it. I'll have to get those reactors going tonight. Thank.you! Now I need a reef controller...