36g Bow Front

[Brandon0034]

Ok so I finally got my 36g set up and built a light fixture out of conduit. This will be one of three tanks (135g and 200ish). Just figured I'd post my progress so far on the build. I have a few questions though.

1. I cycled the rock in a trash can for 6 week and ran the tank with the rock now for 3 weeks. I haven't had a diatom bloom yet, is this normal? (Just got the LED's hooked up today, stock fluorescent was on before)

2. If you can see in the picture with the regular fluorescent light, I have thousands of "dust like" floating particles on the surface. I assume this is a mixture of sand and parts of the rock. Any ideas to removing this? I don't have an overflow for surface skimming and a fine net isn't picking it up.
Here:

Other Pics:

 

[heathlindner25]

I would raise the light at least 10 inches off the water ,aim the power head up toward the surface of the water, and get another powerhead for the other side.

 

[Brandon0034]

I would raise the light at least 10 inches off the water ,aim the power head up toward the surface of the water, and get another powerhead for the other side.

Is there actually an advantage to raising the light higher if I have full coverage at this height? And the powerhead is aimed up a little with plenty surface agitation. I don't think the tank could handle another powerhead, I already have 30x turnover per hour and get sand movement plus small whirlpools on the surface.

 

[Brandon0034]

Bump. Any help on the questions?

 

[username in use]

Are you running a canister filter on that thing? That's not ideal for a reef as they are a pain to keep clean all the time and if not cleaned they can cause problems.

As for the stuff on the surface you need a surface skimmer to clean that off. If after reading extensively about sumps and the likes and you still want to go with a canister filter, consider putting a lily pipe on the return. That will help keep the surface clean by sucking the surface film down into the whirlpool it creates.

 

[Brandon0034]

Are you running a canister filter on that thing? That's not ideal for a reef as they are a pain to keep clean all the time and if not cleaned they can cause problems.

As for the stuff on the surface you need a surface skimmer to clean that off. If after reading extensively about sumps and the likes and you still want to go with a canister filter, consider putting a lily pipe on the return. That will help keep the surface clean by sucking the surface film down into the whirlpool it creates.

Yes I am running a canister filter on this just because it is my "trial tank". I already have a 135g I just broke down and will soon be getting a 200ish tank. This will end up being a quarantine tank once those are up and running. I already plan to run sump, skimmer, carbon, gfo, refugium, on the other tanks. I kept this simple because it will eventually be a quarantine.

 

[username in use]

If that is your plans for it, it may make more sense to just run a large hang on back filter. Much easier to keep clean with less maintenance.