Considering Getting Back In

[Michael66]

Which college will u be attending?

Oklahoma Christian


Also, I've started to clean up some old aquarium stuff to see what will be usable. The 20g Long had a bunch of dirt but I got it cleaned up and will put some water in there to make sure it holds and to get rid of the chemicals.
But one important thing I came across is while cleaning the 55g stand, the center brace wood has decayed and is somewhat crumbling. Now I could replace it and all, but I don't really want to risk my carpentry with 55g of water on second floor of an older house. So, what I'm thinking now is getting a 29gallon stand from Petsmart (have a friend who works there and apparently they aren't opposed to letting them give their friends their 15% discount).

This would also help keep expenses down, until I catch the coral crase again (down the line obviously) so this may work out better. Thoughts?

 

[pwhitby]

i know someone who has a couple of 55g stands...ill ask them if they want to keep them.

 

[Michael66]

20gallon would be cheaper but are they considered hard to keep stable like nanos? Especially a 20 gallon long with more surface area? If so maybe getting a 55g and stand would be worth it

 

[Lytehouse]

20gallon would be cheaper but are they considered hard to keep stable like nanos? Especially a 20 gallon long with more surface area? If so maybe getting a 55g and stand would be worth it

Difficulty/stability are always in the experience of the owner.
That said, the greater water volume tends to be easier on stability.

My experience, I started again a little over a year ago after an accident. I started small thinking I'd be ok for awhile,
but it was no time till I went bigger... and yeah it's about full.

So, as the saying goes, 'go big or go home'

 

[papagimp]

So, as the saying goes, 'go big or go home'

dont' say that anywhere near my 2.5g lol, found it in the garage last night and gunna stick it up again

 

[lauremf2002]

I have a 29 gallon stand that is not even a year old for sale. Also, have a 30g half moon that fits on the stand for sale but there is someone thinking about buying them. Let me know if you are interested and you are welcome to both if he doesnt want them. I should find out in the next couple of days if he wants them and will be breaking down the tank in the next week. As to stability, I have kept a 20 gallon, 37 gallon and this 30 gallon very successfully. With lots of live rock, and good filtration you are pretty safe. I honestly am not real on top of water changes either and still have had good experiences with these "smaller" tanks. I think its a great way to get back in the hobby if your finances are tight. Believe me, I know how that feels. Anyway, the tank and stand are $75 and I have filters and lights too if you need them. Just check the thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2032102

 

[Lytehouse]

I love pico tanks
keep pics going

 

[Michael66]

After looking through more stuff another idea popped into my head. I have a bunch of the largest models of the HOB filters (Emperor I think) and obviously the pads are too old. But I was thinking, I have a fluorescent light that came with my 20g tall (Old tank, sold a while back), so could I use two of them as mini-sumps and put the light over them separately? If I put a pit of cheato (I think that's what it is called, been a while) in one of the HOB and rubble or refegium mud in the other would that be good filtration?

I also discovered I had some decent Koralia (I think is the brand name) powerheads that I'll use for the aquarium.

Also what kind of lighting should I get if I went with the 20 gallon? I don't want too much evaporation and don't think I'll ever get to SPS and clams so I don't want Metal Halides. T5's, VHO's, LED's?

Thanks,
Michael

 

[cjilge]

LED's are nice but expensive to start. I run t5's and leds

 

[Lytehouse]

VHO if you're staying with softies,

T5 if you get into much LPS

 

[papagimp]

.... idea popped into my head. I have a bunch of the largest models of the HOB filters (Emperor I think)...., so could I use two of them as mini-sumps and put the light over them separately?

I've tried this before and honestly dont' think I saw any type of improvement, but i was running a sump in addition. the flow may just be too much for cheato and it's not able to tumble well in the confines of a emporer. I did fill mine with rubble rock at one point, just for the added pods. Again, never saw an increase but wasnt' exactly out everynight taking a pod census or anything. For cheato, I'd say probably won't work well, but wouldnt' hurt to try with a little extra, for rubble rock and minirefuge type, couldn't hurt to try either, would give them a place to live without being eaten for sure. but as I said, only concern I'd really have is the flow being too much for a small space. Maybe someone else had luck or better suggestions doing this.

they do make HOB refugiums and could probably build one easily. The one I have sitting around looks to be an uber simple design that i'm sure could be duplicated with minimal cost. Little acryclic from home depot/lowes, some silcone, couple bulkheads, maxi jet and a little time. just a thought.

 

[Michael66]

I've tried this before and honestly dont' think I saw any type of improvement, but i was running a sump in addition. the flow may just be too much for cheato and it's not able to tumble well in the confines of a emporer. I did fill mine with rubble rock at one point, just for the added pods. Again, never saw an increase but wasnt' exactly out everynight taking a pod census or anything. For cheato, I'd say probably won't work well, but wouldnt' hurt to try with a little extra, for rubble rock and minirefuge type, couldn't hurt to try either, would give them a place to live without being eaten for sure. but as I said, only concern I'd really have is the flow being too much for a small space. Maybe someone else had luck or better suggestions doing this.

they do make HOB refugiums and could probably build one easily. The one I have sitting around looks to be an uber simple design that i'm sure could be duplicated with minimal cost. Little acryclic from home depot/lowes, some silcone, couple bulkheads, maxi jet and a little time. just a thought.

So would you recommend I make/build a refugium? Is it really beneficial? Or should I just get filter stuff and put in my emperors?

I know I'm just going to start with a pair of clownfish and some inverts (I don't know if corals done the line add much to the bioload).

 

[papagimp]

well the emporer with "the filter stuff" is basically just mechanical filtration, unles you use carbon or phosphate remover, or similar in their, which makes it chemical filtration. A refugium on the other hand is a place for all sorts of micro life to thrive without being eaten in the tank as well as place for macro algae to grow/nutrient export. Helps add lot's of pods to a tank and similar stuff Two different idea's both have benefit. Overall, yes a refugium is really beneficial, so much more than an emporer with stadard filter media in it would be IMO. Even more so if you have anything that'll feed on the micro-life, pods, worms, ect. Although I do keep some type of mechanical filtration on my systems for that particulate matter in the water column. I'm hoping this time round I wont' have the issues I did last time with it though, I'm goign to try and keep my hands out of my tank more often and watch feeding more carefully. The downside to having an HOB refugium if you dont' have a sump going is simply lack of space for all the equipment you'd have hangin on the tank but a heater could fit in the refugium most likely and if you built your own, could make it to wear you still had plenty of space for whatever else you needed to hang on the tank. It's definatly worth looking into at the least, if for no other reason than research and expanding your knowledge of the concepts and applications behind them

corals dont' add much to your bioload, nothing really noticeable. The bioload would come from feeding them and excess food getting away from ya. But that's not so bad if you target feed or feed correctly for that matter. The fish is where the majority of your bioload will be coming from. Most other inverts it's just such a small addition I never even take it into account as 'bioload'. But then I've always had smaller tanks (less than 200g-ish) and most the time lightly stocked on corals compared to some of these reeftank guru's around here

fwiw, imma be helping a friend setup a new 27g cube today, he wont' be drilling and doesn't want an hob overflow so no sump on the system, and most likely no refugium. His plans are similar, pair of clownfish and keep it simple. i explained the benefits but also that it's not neccessary to have one. His tank will look great and thrive regardless, we just have to be sure to leave out anything that'll feed specifically on stuff that would reallly make you want to have that refugium. If you can, do it, if not, than no worries.

 

[Michael66]

I'm sure this is getting annoying but since I haven't gotten back in yet, I'm still thinking up ideas about taking the plunge. My dad and I were talking about the whole idea of dumps and refugiums and he came up with the idea of me getting a 50 or 60 gallon breeder and putting a sheet of acrylic towards the back, drill a hole and have a pump inhaling water from the DT section through the hole and filling the sump area up so that it overflows over the sheet back into the DT area. The pluses of this is that it'd be relatively cheap, there'd be a 0% chance of leak due to water trying to be transported into the sump/refugium, and it'd give as much room as needed for sump stuff, skimmers, filters, etc.
Also a plus to this idea is I have metal halide/VHO retrofit kit that was on a 55g hood that I could switch over to the new hood. Also I have a large Coralife Protein Skimmer that hopefully still works and I can use in the larger tank.
Thoughts?

 

[cjilge]

What your talking about is basically the same as a biocube and would work fine, I would place your pump the other dirsction though, water flow over wall and pumped back to the tank, also if your playing with acrylic you can make a small fuge and such. Sounds fun. BTW not annoying, even those that have been in the hobby for years still ping questions off each other, keeps us from making a disaster! lol Good luck and keep us posted on which way your going.

 

[papagimp]

BTW not annoying, even those that have been in the hobby for years still ping questions off each other, keeps us from making a disaster! lol Good luck and keep us posted on which way your going.

Yeah, what cjilge said Keeps the forum active and a lot of us round' these parts like helping each other out. Not annoying in the least. All your doing is brainstorming and researching I have been posting that advice everyday since I decided to rejoin the reefing community.

I've read several times throughout the NTTH forum of peeps wanting to do exactly what you asked about baffling in the DT all biocube style. I haven't seen a tank done that way personally yet but the entire concept sounds awesome. Definitely worth a Tank Build thread if you do it (although we'd all like to see that anyways)

 

[Lytehouse]

I'm sure this is getting annoying but since I haven't gotten back in yet, I'm still thinking up ideas about taking the plunge. My dad and I were talking about the whole idea of dumps and refugiums and he came up with the idea of me getting a 50 or 60 gallon breeder and putting a sheet of acrylic towards the back, drill a hole and have a pump inhaling water from the DT section through the hole and filling the sump area up so that it overflows over the sheet back into the DT area. The pluses of this is that it'd be relatively cheap, there'd be a 0% chance of leak due to water trying to be transported into the sump/refugium, and it'd give as much room as needed for sump stuff, skimmers, filters, etc.
Also a plus to this idea is I have metal halide/VHO retrofit kit that was on a 55g hood that I could switch over to the new hood. Also I have a large Coralife Protein Skimmer that hopefully still works and I can use in the larger tank.
Thoughts?

This idea is currently being used by another Comas member on a 90 gal tank. If you want to contact her about the setup, her name is:

Lauren (lauremf2002

 

[lauremf2002]

You are welcome to come take a look at my setup. The tank actually came with a built in sump, but I have to say, it is very convenient. Im a little disappointed in the room in it though, as I could never find a skimmer that would fit in it. You could easily remedy that with a custom built one.

 

[Lytehouse]

Lauren,
is the false wall for the sump siliconed in?

Could it be removed fairly easily

 

[Michael66]

You are welcome to come take a look at my setup. The tank actually came with a built in sump, but I have to say, it is very convenient. Im a little disappointed in the room in it though, as I could never find a skimmer that would fit in it. You could easily remedy that with a custom built one.

I'll take you up on that, it'd be great to see how it's working in person.