33 Gallon Long "Build" Thread

F

futureeyedoc

New member
So as I was starting my 33 long, you guys were all a ton of help answering questions. I started posting some pics at the time to show what I was working with, and promised a "build thread". Haven't had any time since then to follow up on it so I thought I'd start a build thread here and show it from scratch up until where I'm at now.... kinda the "waiting phase" at this point....

Anyways, here's a full shot of the tank and stand/canopy back when it was empty a few months ago!
 
Ok, so as some of you may know - I got the tank off of some guy up in Muscle Shoals through Fleabay. He or someone he knows worked at a cabinet shop so the stand/canopy is custom made out of actual cherry.

Specifics that it came with originally:

4X54W T5 lighting from catlina with 2 ballasts, has the individual reflectors:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196486lighting_empty.JPG


20g long sump in the bottom of the stand with skimmer and 1200gph return

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196486Skimmer_and_sump_empty.JPG


The sump is divided into 3 sections, with bubble traps at each baffle location....

Also has a catlina 2x24w PC over the other side of the sump and 300watt heater...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196486light_half_of_sump_empty.JPG
 
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196486return_empty.JPG

The old return....

I had to do something about this, it was pushing wayyy to much water in one spot- totally clearing out the sand across from wherever it was pointed.....


I decided to go the hard line/closed system route and split the return from the sump into two...

Installed a ball valve at the pump for flow rate control....

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196486mini-p7.JPG

Hardlined that with 1/2" pvc, and split it into two about 1/2 way up the tank....

Wasn't able to drill the tank anymore at this point, so I went with a series of fittings to make new pvc arms that fit over the back of the tank, and then have about 6" of loc-line with nozzles on each end

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196486mini-p9.JPG

those returns are just below the water level so it stirs up the surface nice...


Already had 2 90' "overflows" , one on either end of the tank...
I added a koralia 2 to each end near the overflows....
That makes 4 specific points of flow throughout the tank....
Something like 2000gph turn-over for a 33long....
Can someone say overkill???
:rollface:
 
So after a lot of work and a couple of months, it was ready to go....
Fast forward to pickuping up a bunch of AWESOME LR from Joey08 (thanks!) and 10-15 lbs from the LFS...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196486mini-p2.JPG


The tank is full of established rock....


Was cycling before that for appoximately 1.5-2 months


-50lbs live sand in 33 long

-40lbs live sand in left section of sump.... running deep sand bed in sump of about 4"



-Trates, trites, phosphates, ammonia, you name it - all been at 0 whenever I've tested...
Gotta love doing things the right way

-live sand and LOTS of it ( 90+lbs for a 33 long (overkill again?))
-ONLY RO water
-ONLY LR from established tanks.... probably 50-60lbs total for my 33 gallong tank


Here's another full tank shot

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196486mini-P1.JPG


excuse the candles up top.... trust me we never light them anywhere near the tank.....
My wife hated the tank at first (go figure? :D ) but now loves it and thinks it looks like a piece of furniture and treats it as so!
 
One of my favorite pics of the tank


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196486mini-P9152987.JPG



I was going to make it a "species" tank... clowns and nems only... but I got so much coral from Joey on the LR as well as from my own NanoCube that I don't know.....
Maybe I'll start off with a BTA or even a small small carpet and some clowns in the middle ( don't freak, my father in law has a 100g for the carpet to move into when its time!)
But if thats the case a lot of the LR is going into the sump and a lot of the coral either off to the sides at least a foot away from the nem or back into my 24g nano cube
 
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196486mini-P9152992.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/196486mini-P9152993.JPG

Speaking of which.... here's a few cruddy pics of the 24g nano cube - featuring a 150W hang on halide - 14k... I've moved stuff around since then, cleaned off the glass - hopefully I can post a few new pics tomorrow... the nano looks sweet.... honestly if you would have told me 2 years ago when I got into SW that I could end up with a tank in 2 years that looked this good, I NEVER would have believed you...!
 
196486full_tank_shot_front_empty.JPG

196486light_half_of_sump_empty.JPG

196486Skimmer_and_sump_empty.JPG

196486lighting_empty.JPG

196486mini-p9.JPG

196486mini-p7.JPG

196486return_empty.JPG
 
196486mini-P9152987.JPG

196486mini-P9152993.JPG

196486mini-P9152992.JPG

If you place a
after the image will show in the post instead of a link.. Or if you go into post reply it has a IMG option that adds the tags. HTH
Will
 
Nice tank and stand! I saw the stand when it was on ebay and thought it was nice then. Did you stain it, iirc it was unfinished wasn't it?
 
no actually I didn't do a single thing to the stand itself.... it came finished like that.... crazy huh?

it came with the lights, tank, sump, skimmer, pumps, sump light, heater, etc... all when I got it on e-bay....
All I added was the koralia's, some plumbing stuff, the black backround for the tank, new bulbs, timer, etc... and live rock/sand

Pretty sure I'll never get a deal that good on a tank again!
 
anyone know the website for the catalina lighting stuff.... it appears one of the two sump pc's just went out.... not a huge deal but I'd like for the macro to grow a lil' quicker
 
likewise, anyone have a small fuge light they'd want to get rid of? it's going over top of a 20 long... either lengthwise or like the present one is now.... I'd prefer that way but open to options...
 
Crud.......
So I finally bought a digital thermometer for this tank so I didn't have to keep moving the one I have from the nano back and forth....
And it's pretty consistantly running at 82-84....
I really though it was more in the 80-83 range....
It's not varrying that much, but that's too high from my experience. This is with the heater turned way down/off....
Any ideas on how to rememdy the situation aside from using a chiller? That's just not an option $ wise right now.
 
Just a small fan blowing for the sump should be enough to lower the temp a couple degrees. Plug it into the same timer as your lights so it comes one during the lighting cycle.
 
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