New to SW and new to RC!! My 30g build

[PAreefer40]

Hello all. Blair here. New to SW community and new to RC!!! I've been in the aquarium hobby for or a decent amount of time. I currently also have a 120g FW.

This is my 30g build. Currently it's a FOWLR but I may been going to Reef soon, since the more and more I look and do research, the more and more I want to go that route.

This setup has been up and running for almost 2 months now. Only stocking is 2 extreme misbar clowns. Very interesting fish!!! The second night I had them, I thought they were dead since they were laying on the sand and barely moving. Come to find out they are just sleeping.

I have 27lbs of LR, almost 40lbs of live sand.
2 maxi-jet power heads, one in circulation mode.
And a SunSun 404B canister filter for the time being, as originally I didn't want to do a sump. (This is probably changing as I'm going to attempt a DIY sump with a 10-15g tank and use the BeanAnimal setup)

I will also be getting a 90g tank this week or next, which I'm going to end up making a reef tank and eventually use this 30g as a sump, or I may just get another 30-40g tank for a DIY sump.

Current parameters are as follows
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate is 20ppm

 

[PAreefer40]

Here are my clowns. I believe I'm starting to get a diatom bloom here. (Bottom left corner)

 

[PAreefer40]

Here is a better picture.

 

[pyithar]

welcome to the forum! the fish look so cute. yes, diatom on the sandbed. good luck

 

[PAreefer40]

welcome to the forum! the fish look so cute. yes, diatom on the sandbed. good luck

Thanks!!!!

 

[gone fishin]

Howdy :wave: welcome to RC.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

The link may be of some use to you. It is nothing short of a book with multiple topics. it is at the top of this forum. Good luck

 

[Jason S]

Welcome to RC!

Since you have already witnessed one of the clownfish quirks, I will warn you about another. There may be a time when they start fighting by grabbing each other by the jaw, and flailing violently. After that, you may see one (usually the smaller, but not always) roll to it's side and start twitching like it is having a seizure. This is completely normal The twitching is a sign of submission, and they are simply fighting for dominance where the victor will become the female. With Ocellaris, it is common to even see the twitching without the fighting, but this is still normal behavior. With some like Maroons, the fighting can get pretty violent, and I once had a pair of Ocellaris where both would twitch. I guess I got a couple of pacifists on that one.

I wish someone had told me about this behavior when I got my first pair of True Percs about 20 years ago, haha. I was in a panic.

 

[HeavyWater247]

Welcome. I too came from a 55gal FW setup I had for years with live plants. Currently have a 36gal bowfront with a 20 gal refugium. Tank looks good but that bloom looks like the beginning to some headache down the road. Some stuff you didn't mention that I'll point out that you may want to address.

IMO, I would ditch the filter and invest (if you haven't already) in a good protein skimmer. You also didn't mention what kind of lighting you are using. That will make all the difference in a reef tank. Another thing to consider if you haven't, is buying an RO/DI filter. This is something I wish I would have bought initially when I started my tank.

Have fun on the tank and keep us posted with pics as it develops.

Cheers!

 

[steve2003]

I started with a 55... Patience and addiction!!

 

[jml1149]

You could add a terra cotta pot for them to host in, seems to be clownfish crack

 

[PAreefer40]

Welcome to RC!

Since you have already witnessed one of the clownfish quirks, I will warn you about another. There may be a time when they start fighting by grabbing each other by the jaw, and flailing violently. After that, you may see one (usually the smaller, but not always) roll to it's side and start twitching like it is having a seizure. This is completely normal The twitching is a sign of submission, and they are simply fighting for dominance where the victor will become the female. With Ocellaris, it is common to even see the twitching without the fighting, but this is still normal behavior. With some like Maroons, the fighting can get pretty violent, and I once had a pair of Ocellaris where both would twitch. I guess I got a couple of pacifists on that one.

I wish someone had told me about this behavior when I got my first pair of True Percs about 20 years ago, haha. I was in a panic.

Haha thank you VERY much for that tidbit!!!!

Howdy :wave: welcome to RC.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

The link may be of some use to you. It is nothing short of a book with multiple topics. it is at the top of this forum. Good luck

Thanks!!!!

Welcome. I too came from a 55gal FW setup I had for years with live plants. Currently have a 36gal bowfront with a 20 gal refugium. Tank looks good but that bloom looks like the beginning to some headache down the road. Some stuff you didn't mention that I'll point out that you may want to address.

IMO, I would ditch the filter and invest (if you haven't already) in a good protein skimmer. You also didn't mention what kind of lighting you are using. That will make all the difference in a reef tank. Another thing to consider if you haven't, is buying an RO/DI filter. This is something I wish I would have bought initially when I started my tank.

Have fun on the tank and keep us posted with pics as it develops.

Cheers!

I believe I will be ditching the canister filter. I am getting a 90gal tank next week, so at this point I'm debating if I should waste the time/money building a sump (with protein skimmer) for the 30g, or just cycle the 90 move everything over, and use the 30 as a sump. I will be doing what BeanAnimal did with the 90g.

Lighting, to be honest nothing at the moment, only because it's right in front of a window (I know I know bad idea) but I have a light on the way. Should be here Friday. I got a quad T5HO. And again, to be honest, I went out on a limb and went with Odyssea. If it doesn't work correctly, then I'll be getting a better quality one.

And I do have RO/DI. I actually have BRS 4 stage. I used (well still do) RO/DI water in my FW 120g tank.

 

[PAreefer40]

Here are my parameters from today. From time to time I will be posting parameters as my tank progresses (sorry in advance if it annoys anyone)

SG 1.022
pH 8.0
NH3 0
NO2 0
NO3 40ppm
Ca 21/400ppm
KH 10/179ppm
PO4 .25

Just to confirm, small SG fluctuations (within the tolerable numbers) is acceptable as long as it doesn't get too low or too high, correct?

 

[HeavyWater247]

Haha thank you VERY much for that tidbit!!!!



Thanks!!!!




I believe I will be ditching the canister filter. I am getting a 90gal tank next week, so at this point I'm debating if I should waste the time/money building a sump (with protein skimmer) for the 30g, or just cycle the 90 move everything over, and use the 30 as a sump. I will be doing what BeanAnimal did with the 90g.

Lighting, to be honest nothing at the moment, only because it's right in front of a window (I know I know bad idea) but I have a light on the way. Should be here Friday. I got a quad T5HO. And again, to be honest, I went out on a limb and went with Odyssea. If it doesn't work correctly, then I'll be getting a better quality one.

And I do have RO/DI. I actually have BRS 4 stage. I used (well still do) RO/DI water in my FW 120g tank.

Well if you are getting the 90gal, then I would wait and use the 30 as a sump as you suggested. T5's are awesome....I think I'm gonna use those on my next setup. I love the price savings/low heat output of my LED's but the reef just looks so much better under T5's/MH...IMO. So far, all looks good. Keep it up and enjoy!

 

[pyithar]

Here are my parameters from today. From time to time I will be posting parameters as my tank progresses (sorry in advance if it annoys anyone)

SG 1.022
pH 8.0
NH3 0
NO2 0
NO3 40ppm
Ca 21/400ppm
KH 10/179ppm
PO4 .25

Just to confirm, small SG fluctuations (within the tolerable numbers) is acceptable as long as it doesn't get too low or too high, correct?

yes that's correct. the salinity difference of .001 will be ok. inverts are more sensitive to salinity fluctuations than fish. 1.022 is fine for fowlr but i'd raise it to 1.026 or 1.025 when you start keeping corals.

 

[PAreefer40]

yes that's correct. the salinity difference of .001 will be ok. inverts are more sensitive to salinity fluctuations than fish. 1.022 is fine for fowlr but i'd raise it to 1.026 or 1.025 when you start keeping corals.

With raising it to .025-.026 that wouldn't be a huge change for them (extreme misbar O clowns) if I slowly increase it from .022, correct? And would it be a problem having it at .026 if they suggest to keep it no higher than .024?

 

[pyithar]

With raising it to .025-.026 that wouldn't be a huge change for them (extreme misbar O clowns) if I slowly increase it from .022, correct? And would it be a problem having it at .026 if they suggest to keep it no higher than .024?

you could top off with saltwater instead of ro/di (freshwater) to raise the SG to 1.026 slowly. natural ocean water has an average specific gravity about 1.0264.

 

[nmotz]

With raising it to .025-.026 that wouldn't be a huge change for them (extreme misbar O clowns) if I slowly increase it from .022, correct? And would it be a problem having it at .026 if they suggest to keep it no higher than .024?

Correct, you would make that change slowly, never all at once, but as Pyithar said the salinity of ocean water is just over 1.026 so it's perfectly fine for your fish.

 

[PAreefer40]

Correct, you would make that change slowly, never all at once, but as Pyithar said the salinity of ocean water is just over 1.026 so it's perfectly fine for your fish.

Thank you both!!!!

 

[PAreefer40]

Here are some pics of my tank so far. My quad T5HO is set up and running. Like I said I went out on a limb and went the cheap route and got the Odyssea. So far nothing to note, no increased heat or anything like that. Also I did not take out my canister filter yet. I'm very skeptical of taking it out, I'm so used to having mechanical filtration in FW haha.

 

[jml1149]

Looks great!! I was debating between the aquamana cob and that fixture, but I went with the aquamana. Will be here on Wednesday!