37g AGA startup.... lots of pic's

[fishman805]

I started up two tanks at the same time... I "restarted" my 12g NC ( another thread ) and a 37g AGA..... I had some issues with the LR that I'd ordered from liveaquaria ( which they went above and beyond to make right ) and was sharing pictures of that in my 12g nano thread and thought: Heck, I'm hijacking my own thread here...lol" So I figured I'd start another thread on the 37g.

This mini reef will be running totally "natural" meaning LR and livesand will be it's ONLY filtration... totally "bio".... Powerheads will and are being used for water movement... And the CPR HOB fuge will suppliment the system .... The tank has been running for a little over a week now and the lighting is the only thing that has not been finalized... ( only using one 20watt actinic bulb )

I'll fix that when I get more cash.. The first set of pic's are with the "original" LR that came from LA.....

Now some of the refugium

The next pic's are what it looks like "today" with the new LR ( 45lbs of Premium Figi... plus some of the original LR that was already in it... approx. another 10lbs )... Also, I have supplimented the flow using two Pwrsweep 228's ( 270gph each) and I moved the MJ600 so that it's blowing along the back wall behind the LR... You'll also noticed that I added a heater to the fuge and also how much growth I've gotten in just one week from the Cheato that's in there... plus some LR also....

And there you have it.... I'll keep you all posted as to the progress.... Have to let it break in for a while....


Thanks for looking and feel free to comment....

Bob

 

[dymaxiun]

Good start!

Looks like you've done your research!

 

[fishman805]

Good start!

Looks like you've done your research!

Thanks for the comment..... Yes, well, I've learned quite a bit since my first reef setup ( 150g .. which is really "now" doing well )that I started in Feb. ( adding stuff too fast (+) inexperience (=) disaster...:lol: ) and intensively surfing this forum ( 1100+ posts since I joined ) so I'm really starting to get "comfortable" with the whole "reef" thing.... :lol: But I am also wise to the fact that just as soon as you get confortable, things can and will change to humble you.....

I figured that my 30+ years of FW would "help" me and that SW would not "really" be that much different.... SHOOT... was I in for a rude awakening... I'm still wondering to myself why would you start up two more tanks when you're already devoting most of your free time to maintaining the first one..??? :lol: OH WELL.... passion for the hobby and just a touch of insanity ( my wife would argue the latter point ) .... But "I" and "we'll" just have to wait and see just how much I've truely learned here......


Bob

 

[fishman805]

Took some readings for the first time: Ammonia = 0 and nitrates = 0 ... Ready for the cleanup crew ( right now just a slight diatom bloom ).... Will start adding the cleaners next week... Slow and steady.. Also need to upgrade the lighting ( still )... No new pics ( same as above post )

Bob

 

[fishman805]

New updates ( no pics until a little later ) .....

The Coralite fixture is due in tomorrow ( 130watt model ) and my aquascaping is going to change a bit... Rather than the "typical" wall of LR, I've decided on raising the rock to the sides and creating a "clear" area in the middle....

I will be posting pics soon


Bob

 

[Mike75]

Looks good so far, can't wait to see the new aquascaping.

What size Aquafuge is that? and will you be running a skimmer? With a Remora Pro hanging on the back of my 37, I could only fit the smallest of the Aquafuges.

 

[dymaxiun]

Can't wait to see the new pics...

 

[fishman805]

Well here we go ... as promised, I've gotten the new lighting up and also rearranged the LR to create an open valley or open space for fish to roam... The tank is very bare right now and will have to run for a little while for the new lighting to liven up the LR... I am purposely taking my time with this so that I have no "expensive" crashes.....

Bob

 

[fishman805]

Looks good so far, can't wait to see the new aquascaping.

What size Aquafuge is that? and will you be running a skimmer? With a Remora Pro hanging on the back of my 37, I could only fit the smallest of the Aquafuges.

Sorry for getting back to you late..... The HOB fuge I'm using is the "large" model... 24" in length and I'm also trying to figure out how I'm going to add the protien skimmer... I'm thinking of using one of the new Coralife skimmers and hanging it on the tank ...If I slide the fuge to one side it should open up 6" of space to add the skimmer in it's HOB configuration... I'll have to wait and see.... right now I still have to get the clean up crew in the tank... Also, I'd like to add that the fuge is really looking nasty... I've got tons of micro algae growing in there but so far the main display is looking pretty much pristeen... The new lighting may change that though so I'll be watching and posting it's progress...


Bob

 

[fishman805]

Bump

 

[fishman805]

Well a month and a half has gone by since the last updates on the tank..... Long story short, it did not go very well.... I had put in some cleanup crew and 5 yellow tail damsels.... I ended up with several dead snails ( and healthy hermits...lol ) and only lost one of the damsels but the tank did not hold up very well.... I'm attributing it to bad water movement and lack of filtration capacity... So I decided to move all the livestock to my 150gal and start over....

The "power-sweep" power heads in a word aren't worth crap... They would generally quit oscilating and I got tired of pulling snails out of the intakes.... I removed all of the LR and cooked it for a couple of weeks in total darkness to kill off as much of the algae that had taken it over and also to clean it off better than I had the first go around....

Now for the "new" and "improved" attempt...

I've cleaned the SB and moved all the sand forward and left the back area bare where the LR is sitting and put a MJ600 behind the rock shooting up the back of the tank with the stainer at a 90deg. angle to the output....

I installed a Fluval 404 canister filter with a surface skimmer attachment to take care of surface scum ( that was present last go around )... The HOB fuge remains intact and will contain more cleanup crew to keep it looking good and control micro-algae...

Lighting remains the same at 130watt PC's and I've added 2 MJ1200's with Hydor deflectors for more and better distributed water movement... All and all I figure that I've got about 1500gal/hour of flow in the tank..

I've decided to make this a FOWLR tank and will be looking to add dwarf lions and perhaps a jawfish ( since the SB in the front and sides is now much deeper )... I also aquascaped with ease of maintenance in mind keeping the LR in the center rather than touching the glass in the front or sides.... I've still got to top off the tank with water so no pics yet.. But they will be comming soon enough....

Bob

 

[Fishfreak218]

How do you like your 37g. i am thinking of getting one...is there any problems with it??

 

[fishman805]

How do you like your 37g. i am thinking of getting one...is there any problems with it??

No problems..... Just a deeper 29gal... I like the extra volume without more space...

Bob

 

[fishman805]

Here's how it looks today after the makeover..... It's now going to have to go through the cycle again......

Bob

 

[pimp2daizzo]

nice job do u have a surface skimmer?

 

[fishman805]

You can see it in the 1st and 4th pictures..... And thanks.

The 5th picture is showing how it's "bare bottom" under the LR and there is a powerhead behind the rock pushing water up to the top of the tank so that I'm hoping to limit the amount of dutritus accumulation....


Bob

 

[kamla]

nice tank .. any updates/.....

 

[fishman805]

No updates as of yet.... I've purposly left the tank empty but for a few snails and hermit or two in the HOB Fuge so that it will cycle in very nice without all the headaches of algae blooms and all.... I'm also only using the actinic PC's to boost coraline growth... I will post some updated pics later... But for now the tank is doing much better this time around then before.....


Bob

 

[fishman805]

Well finally some updates.... Alot has been added since the last posting.... My finger leather was getting abused in the 150gal tank by my hippo tang so I moved it to this tank .. I also have added a polyp colony ( again from the 150gal ) which I thought would do better in the 37gal.... My family and I went up to Ohio for the holidays and while there I stopped by a place called Byerlys Aquarium ( great place ) I used to go there all the time when I lived in Ohio and was glad to see that they are still in business ... Their coral prices were very reasonable so I picked up three new pieces for the tank... ( a colt coral.... GSP ... and some shrooms ).. Here they are with the other two from the 150:

Bob

 

[pimp2daizzo]

where do u get the surface skimmer at?????