34G Mini II

[falcona2552]

Hello Everyone,
It has been a few years since my last tank, and I am really excited and fortunate to have the chance to get back to reef keeping. After looking at a lot of different AIO systems (my old system was a 29G biocube so I am most familiar with them) I will be building off of a 34G Mini II by Cad Lights. I have been scaping some dry rock from Marco Rocks and have ended up with about 25 lbs in a configuration I am finally happy with. The lightning isn't the best where I have them set up so try to visualize the depth that isn't showing up on the pictures attached below.

Would love some feedback on my rocks cape so far, and I will be using the fine grit sand as well for the bottom about 1" deep. One question I have, is how much depth do I need from the surface of the water to the highest point of my rocks?

The 1" dashed line around the border of the paper, which is exact dimensions of space I have to work with in tank (16x30), is to keep all rock off glass and provide a gap all the way around for water flow and to eliminate dead spots as best as I can.

 

[maddmaxx]

honestly you could have the live rock coming out of the water if you wanted it to..so it all depends on how you arrange the rock...

 

[Pife]

What coral do you plan on keeping? I would not build them so high. Give your coral room to grow. How are you holding them together?

 

[falcona2552]

They are all being held together by drilling them and running acrylic rods as deep as I could get them so they are very stable, and then finished off with aqua epoxy which matches the rock color perfectly. I ruined a lot of rocks trying to trim them down because I wanted to keep everything narrow to allow for as many viewing angles as possible and open space in the front for corals

 

[falcona2552]

Final rock scape, decided that in this case a little less is more. I like the negative space created and am excited to put it in tank and start cycling next week!

 

[falcona2552]

Hello everyone, here is a quick update of progress so far. I assembled the stand and the tank and got everything in place.

Once I started placing my rock pieces in the aquarium I decided it was a little too cluttered and went with a less is more approach, I think a rough estimate would be around 20lbs of rock and 20 lbs of sand from Marco Rocks.


Next was water, which I went with "real ocean water" mainly for transportation ease and water clarity, and I started my cycle of nitrifying bacteria. Here is a shot just filling up the display.


Thanks for any help or suggestions in advance, and I will post more pictures once everything fully settles!

 

[falcona2552]

Well after some trial and error and adjustments, my water is starting to settle as the bacteria cycle keeps going along. I had to get a splitter for my return nozzle to direct the flow in two directions because one direction was so strong it was stirring up the sand in my tank considerably. Pictures of course:





I am also having some trouble adjusting the perfect height of my skimmer, I want it to be completely hidden, but the water level in my refugium is too high. Any suggestions how to get the refugium water level lower while still keeping the water level height in the display tank? The refugium water level is about 3 inches lower then the display tank. Again, pictures for reference.





I really really appreciate any feed back, good or bad. Thanks everyone!!!

 

[falcona2552]

Figured out all of the questions I had. Pictures seem to be more popular.

View attachment 286683

 

[falcona2552]

I was able to get about 8 small pieces of live rock from my preferred LFS store with nice red coralline growing on it. Will these pieces, weighing 1-2lbs total, randomly positioned around the display and also in a compartment in the overflow be acceptable to eventually seed all of the dry rock with it assuming the water parameters are maintained to promote its growth?

 

[jmsilhy]

Hey nice tank, I'm following your thread for sure, it's the same one I want to get. Did you get the reef full package with the PLS-50? How did you solve the water level in the fuge issue? And last question, did using ocean water reduce your cycle time?

 

[falcona2552]

Hey sorry for my late response, I haven't checked this that often because I didn't think anyone was reading it. I used real ocean water and have had a few people tell me that it will help with the cycle, but the tank needs to be seeded with a small piece of live rock because the real ocean water is sterile and has no living organisms in it. This is good because it allows you to only introduce the microorganisms you desire. I got the full reef package and yes I am running the PLS-50 Elite nano skimmer. Adjusting the water level took a few attempts of letting the tank run and siphoning the back until the water level adjusts, this will probably take 2-3 attempts to make sure it is perfect. I am buying the Tunzie Nano Auto Top Off this weekend and installing it just to keep the water level consistent. Let me know if you have any more questions!

 

[jmsilhy]

Thanks for the reply! I do have a few questions if you don't mind. First and most important is, how do you like it so far? Is it noisy at all? Do you think the lights will be enough to keep corals, and what kind?

Have you started seeing some growth in your other rocks?

Sorry to be a pain in the neck, I just want to prepare for mine as much as possible and following your advice will be key!

Best regards!!

 

[falcona2552]

Tank Update: I do not have any coraline growth on rocks, but tank is cycling nicely and has already gone through blooms of brown and green algae that my small CUC from reef-cleaners is handling very well. I have one clownfish, a cleaner shrimp, and two blue/green chromis. That is probably it for fish, but maybe a dracula goby down the line... The majority of my coral I will be adding tomorrow when I go to MACNA, which is being held about a mile from my house this year

I decided to get some acrylic and make a small submergible chaeto box, and an even smaller experimental box for growing 5 red mangrove pods as well. I have done my homework on the mangroves, and they are really primarily there as a conversation piece, I am from the gulf coast so its cool to have a small piece of home in the overflow and any tiny filtration benefits are just a bonus if they end up working out. Bad camera phone pictures:



Large box is 4" cube, mangrove box is 1.5"x4"



Any suggestions for corals I should pick up? I am keeping it simple so far with the selection field coming from the following: toadstool mushroom, ricordeas, frogspawn, hammerhead, or some acros. Any suggestions with the current tank lay out as is? Only white lights can be left on for phone photos so tank doesn't look like much here, but really would appreciate suggestions on corals at MACNA tomorrow....

 

[falcona2552]

400 views and not a single coral suggestion?

 

[Zeal0t]

I have one too. Great setup.

 

[Zeal0t]

Loving the scape, BTW.

 

[Reef noob_]

coral:

leather(s): toadstool, finger, devils hand exc...
acans of all kinds
mushrooms kinda a weed but i like em
gsp same as mushrooms
frogspawn
torch
hammer
bubble coral
lots of zoas
exc.... looking fowards to seeing coral in that sucker!

i know im late sorry.....

 

[falcona2552]

Over the weekend I installed my new media tower, an MP10, and my TUNZE nano ATO.

Media tower: Sponges and chemi-pure, the black acrylic strip is a flow director to bring the water through more of the filtration media.





At MACNA I got two hammers, one single head of green toxic and one with two heads of teal/bluish color. One flower pot, some goniopora with neon highlights, a toadstool, and a blue maxima clam. I am really happy with everything and how it all looks placed on the scape.






The only frag that isn't looking awesome is this guy, but he is slowly coming along I think.

 

[kitkat717]

Ahhh! I just found your thread! What a great looking tank! I will follow along and hopefully both of ours will quickly flourish!

Have you tried your little acrylic boxes yet??

 

[falcona2552]

Picture update, this guy is incredible, enjoy: