Finally! 34g cube!

MrHarvard said:
Man you have done a great job over hauling a used tank. Looks really clean and shows what taking your time and doing it right gets you. I know the last guy mentioned it buy i would seriously think about moving that ballast. I can tell you first hand that even when your careful and go slow cleaning a rimless tank always results in water going over the sides. If you really want it there you could buy a med. Size Tupperware (one that is a bit larger than the ballast and cut it in half length wise. Then unscrew the ballast and put the Tupperware lid under the ballast before reattaching it to the stand. Then simply snap the Tupperware back to the lid over the ballast. This should keep the top of the ballast covered and the bottom half would be hanging out the bottom where u cut the Tupperware in half. That should keep you dry and still allow enough airflow to the ballast. You could even paint the tupperware if you wanted to make it look clean. Just a thought hopefully it made sense. Regardless great job on the build keep the pics/updates coming.
Click to expand...

I tried the tupperware idea but couldn't get it to look good. I did move the ballast - tucked it under the stand. You can barely see it there.

Also, the slim cooling fan the tank came with will be getting overhauled too. It'll be pointed at the sump and controlled by an RKL. The 2x80mm fans in this thing weren't the quietest, so I ordered two Stealth fans to replace the originals with. The unit comes apart quite easily. If anyone wants pictures of the process LMK.

 
Salted, sanded, and lit. LR and skimmer this week. I ordered a SCA-301 - hopefully it works ok in the shallow sump (4" water depth) I'll be running. I'll eventually squeeze a topoff reservoir in the corner to the left of the stand.

 
Any fish suggestions? Non-jumpers. I'm leaning towards a tail-spot blenny, possum wrasse, maybe a pair of Ocellaris, and possibly something else. Anyone have a favorite goby?
 
zachfishman said:
Any fish suggestions? Non-jumpers. I'm leaning towards a tail-spot blenny, possum wrasse, maybe a pair of Ocellaris, and possibly something else. Anyone have a favorite goby?
Click to expand...

Looking real nice man. I can't wait to see some fish and corals in it. I have heard that the firecracker goby would be a good fit for your size tank. They don't grow to large and I don't think they are jumpers. I may be wrong.

This is their species page. Good luck man!

http://www.fish-species.org.uk/aquarium-fish/36-firecracker-goby.htm
 
I love the simplicity of the GH overflow box as well as the plumbing. Mine is running all over the place. I would love to check this out in person once setup with rock and all.

I took notes about your choices in 150 watt MH DE. Did you end up changing the bulb again? I run a phoenix and love the blue but haven't really exposed myself to different kelvins in person.

Oh also, if say you ever need something you can't find at your many LFS, let me know in a pm or something and I can search around my area. since I consider you a neighbor. :wave:

I really want to be a part of the club, but feel that I'm to far to participate in meetings. Kind of sounded like a creepy stranger trying to go to your house.
 
Your setup looks great!

I ran your same exact lighting setup for many years. When I swapped out to the galaxy ballast from the original ballast, it was a huge difference in brightness with both the Phoenix and radium bulb. IMO, that radium bulb is much stronger then the Phoenix, and I yielded excellent color and growth. At first it was very dark blue, but eventually burnt into a bright crisp white color. This is also going back about 3-4 years, and I've heard the radium DE bulbs have changed formula due to mercury regulations coming into the usa. Anyways, good luck with your setup!
 
tilo said:
I love the simplicity of the GH overflow box as well as the plumbing. Mine is running all over the place. I would love to check this out in person once setup with rock and all.

I took notes about your choices in 150 watt MH DE. Did you end up changing the bulb again? I run a phoenix and love the blue but haven't really exposed myself to different kelvins in person.

Oh also, if say you ever need something you can't find at your many LFS, let me know in a pm or something and I can search around my area. since I consider you a neighbor. :wave:

I really want to be a part of the club, but feel that I'm to far to participate in meetings. Kind of sounded like a creepy stranger trying to go to your house.
Click to expand...

I'm hosting the December meeting, come on by! I'll be sure to have at least a few fish and frags in there by then!
 
Rock is in. Mostly dry rock but I have a seeder piece in there from another reef.

@tilo I ended up with an Ushio 14K, it's a beautiful white light. The color in the pics below is pretty accurate. The Radium was nice too (the other end of my white to blue spectrum preference), but too blue for the wife. A lot of people like the Phoenix but it's way too blue for me. There are other bulbs that might've worked (XM 15K, Iris 14K, Aqualine 16K, Hamilton 14K, Reeflux...) but I couldn't try them all.

Front:


Side:
 
Thank you for the invitation, might take that up. :bounce1:

Being my first time running any halide I really didn't know where to go so I was directed to the phoenix by a friend, but I really like the crisp white that the ushio is putting out there. Does it keep that crisp look for the most part? or does it dull a little after the break in?

Tank is looking great, great idea with the extending arm kind of wrapping in the front. I can already imagine the coral growing, and the killer side shot you will have once all the corals start to take off. :beer:
 
tilo said:
Thank you for the invitation, might take that up. :bounce1:

Being my first time running any halide I really didn't know where to go so I was directed to the phoenix by a friend, but I really like the crisp white that the ushio is putting out there. Does it keep that crisp look for the most part? or does it dull a little after the break in?

Tank is looking great, great idea with the extending arm kind of wrapping in the front. I can already imagine the coral growing, and the killer side shot you will have once all the corals start to take off. :beer:
Click to expand...

I haven't run the bulb that long yet (only ~50hrs). I saw in one thread somewhere that the Ushio 14K gets a little bluer after 150hrs or so, we'll see. I like it as is, but wouldn't mind if it became "15K."
 
The first few fish and frags are in, and the green algae wave is beginning to subside.




Flurry clowns from ProAquatix!




Magicians from KCsnook! Already budding!




My favorite new fish - tail spot blenny. and some purple hornets that are still getting used to the tank:




Obligatory sump shot:

 
If I said this wasn't the first thread I ran to when I decided on a 34g Solana I'd be lying. I love this thing. Following.
 
The acro frag at the top is supposedly an "Incredible Hulk," although instead of a purple base with green polyps, it has a greenish base with purple polyps... "Reverse Incredible Hulk"?

The small acro frag mid-way up is a "Shades of Fall" - and is already growing!

I don't anticipate doing too much SPS, but I at least want to add a rainbow Montipora, a nice Millepora, and maybe a blue Acro of some kind.
 
I love the "Ghetto" sump. This was my original plan before I got the new stand. Great job on the build. It looks like you have the same skimmer I have. Is it the SCA301? If so, what depth of water do you have it on? It looks like less than 6", but I may be wrong.
 
Webmanny said:
I love the "Ghetto" sump. This was my original plan before I got the new stand. Great job on the build. It looks like you have the same skimmer I have. Is it the SCA301? If so, what depth of water do you have it on? It looks like less than 6", but I may be wrong.
Click to expand...

Maybe a custom sump is due down the line, but not before a Kessil or second MP10.:dance: It actually took a little searching to find a container big enough (that still fit) that wouldn't overflow when power cuts out.

Yes it's a SCA301 running in ~4" of water. It runs fine, but I had to wedge a bubble catch (aka filter sponge) on the output. Since the water level is so shallow, the output tee that is designed to separate out microbubbles does not function as designed.
 
Hey man, if it does the job, the fish and corals don't care how it looks.

Thanks for the feedback on the skimmer. I have my skimmer running on about 8" right now, but I feel that my skimmate is too wet. I'm going to build a little stand out of leftover acrylic to raise it a bit and see if that improves.
 
Webmanny said:
Hey man, if it does the job, the fish and corals don't care how it looks.

Thanks for the feedback on the skimmer. I have my skimmer running on about 8" right now, but I feel that my skimmate is too wet. I'm going to build a little stand out of leftover acrylic to raise it a bit and see if that improves.
Click to expand...

When I was researching skimmers, a lot of people had the SCA-301 in ~6" water depth. Great little skimmer.
 
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