MammothReefer
Active member
Figured it's time to start a build thread.
A little background info, I've been reefing for about 8 years now. I started with a 20 gallon tank, got hooked ended up running a half dozen or so tanks, eventually I got tired of maintaining so many systems and consolidated everything into a 500gallon setup. After going non-stop from 20gallons to 500gallons, it was time for a break. Tore down the 500 gallon system and sold it all off about 2 years ago now.
Over the the past 2 years I've had time decide If I want to get back into the hobby, to what level I want to take it, and how I would do it this time around if I could do it all over again.
I've had a few crashes, and a few tanks I deemed successes I'm hoping to take what I've learned from previous tanks, and put it to the test with this setup.
Here is a link to my most recent previous build thread.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=923357
For my other builds, those threads are lost somewhere in the abyss of RC under a different account (Me and RC staff butted heads back during the initial acan craze days haha.)
Before I started looking I had a few requirements I laid out for myself.
Most of the requirements were set based off 2 over arching things that made me leave the hobby in the first place, I won't get to much in to the nitty gritty, but just touch on 2 main points. The first, living in temporary housing and the second recurring costs.
While I have been living in my duplex unit for 5-6 years now, the lot is currently foreclosed on. I don't want to get into any system that would be a nitemare to tear down in the event I'm required to move. Under 100 gallons was a must, and a setup I can move empty without enlisting the aid of others is a huge plus.
Secondly, the recurring costs. Reef tanks aren't cheap. There is an initial investment where corners can be cut sometimes, but in the end what gets you is the recurring cost. The 500g system was costing me 350$+ a month in electric bills alone, 200 gallons of HW salt a month, test kits, replacement parts, ect ect there were months where I was spending 500-600 to maintain the system..and that's before the cost of livestock!. Back then I was ok with that, now I have different goals. So an upkeep of 100$ or less monthly is the cap I gave myself.
I've decided to go back to where it all started for me, with a nano. I was originally looking for a 3x2x2 tank. Which was by far my favorite size of all the tanks I've own, but was also keeping an eye out for something smaller.
On a trip down to San Diego a few months ago, I came across a Solana 34g at a local store down in SD. I've always liked how rimless tanks look, and this system seemed to stick out for some reason they appear larger then they are. Looking back over the tanks I've owned, while I really liked the dimension of my old 3x2x2, outside of larger system once I finally had the bugs worked out nothing was stabler then my 29 gallon sps setup (seen here)
http://www.pbase.com/brahm/image/38581646 - High flow, low species diversity, ato, minimal fish. It was a dose/water change and forget system. The stability of my larger system came with a ton of work. My goal really was to see how far I could push mixed reef. I had a ton of a fish, a ton of corals all different species, and it took a TON of equipment, and effort to keep things happy, but from out of that experience I found I've learned a few things that I hope to apply to this smaller system to make it as rock solid as I can.
So on to the specs, and plans.
The Tank, stand, lighting, skimmer I picked up used from a reefer in San Diego. It was a fair price for a used Solana Starphire setup. While I normally would be a fan of an intank sump. This time around I like the simplicity of it. It allows for minimal equipment and does a good job at hiding what you have.
Tank: 34 Gallong Solana Starphire it's self has a couple little nics, and a small scratch here or there but nothing that will show when full of water.
Stand: Solana , needs re-enforcing imop. I haven't felt many Solana stands but after wadding threw that massive solana thread I see I'm not the only one that feels that way. I'm hoping to stiffen it up over the next couple days.
Lighting Sunpod HQI 150w w/some led night lights, I've never really been a fan of 150w Halides, and may switch to a 250w down the road but will give it ago on this system as it fits in my recurring budget plan, I am also toying with the idea of adding some Leds to the side of the Sunpod unit. I've never been a fan of a single point light source alone without accompanying t5s, or VHOs you end up with very "directional' colours on your corals with a single halide.
Bulb: I believe it's currently 3-4 month old Phoenix 14k, depending on how it performs I may change it to the Radium 20k
Skimmer:, Is the stock Sonana skimmer, I've read good, and I've read bad I'm thinking of giving it a go until I can either come across a used Tunze 9002 or decide that it's not up to par.
Other Equipment: The basics, GFI, grounding probe, refractormeter, The return pump is stock, but I may switch it out with a maxi jet 600 to slow down the flow threw the "sump" chamber.
Caclium, Alk, and Mag: will be maintained via 2 methods. First dosing pumps, controlled via an acJR using 2 part from bulk reef, and secondly via Kalkwasser mixed into the ATO, with a manual stir. Mag will be dosed manually but I may end up getting another doser for it.
ATO: I'll be using a JBJ ATO unit that I had bought and never installed years ago, with a mini-jet 404 to supply the kalk. If it's up to snuff I'll keep it, if not I'll look into a Tunze Oscillator, or may go with another dosing pump and run it threw the AcJr.
Temp: will be controlled by a 200w heater via the AcJr, chiller shouldn't be needed.
Water: RO/DI unit from Air Water & Ice, and for now I'm starting w/Instant Ocean but I may switch back to hW which I had good results with in the past. I'm planning on 5 gallon bi-weekly water changes if I can get away with it, and am prepared to do weekly if needed.
DSB/SSB/Bare bottom/Rockwork: I'm trying something different. I've always like how bare bottom tanks run, but the look of sand. This is going to be an experiment of sorts. I'm currently working on building a foam/rock wall, which I plan to extend all the way across the bottom of the tank giving it a "Reef Shelf" Look. I'm hoping the foam/rock bottom will act in ways like a bare bottom eventually be covered in Coraline and Corals which will allow me to simply blow the detritus around vs having it get captured in the sand bed. Rock will be a mix of Fiji Lace Rock, and maybe some Live rock out of a tear down if I come across anything, but no fresh live rock. I don't want any hitch hikers, nor do I agree with the perceived value of it.
(I will post pictures shortly)
Water movement: With the return pump being scaled down, I decided to go with 2 Tunze 6025s for water movement my goal is to hide them inside my rock work when I build the back wall. I went with the Tunze 6025s over the HK for a couple of reasons. Mainly upgrade ability and size. Since the 6025s-6055 are all the same size if I find I'm not getting enough flow from the 6025s my next step will be to mod them, if that isn't enough I will upgrade to the 6055 which in theory should fit in the same space I set aside for the 6025s in my rock work. I've also had very good experiences with tunze products in the past. Low watt usage and a very low failure rate.
GFO & Carbon: Both have always been a must for me in the past but I will run them as needed in this system. Nothing crazy here just a couple of media bags in the middle chamber.
Live Stock:
Fish: This is the big change for me, in the past I've always gone a bit over board on fish, schools of anthias, schools of chromis, many tangs, ect ect. My goal with this tank is to minimize the bio load by forcing a limitation on the number of fish I can have in the tank to 1. I'll be doing so by having my 1 and only fish inhabitant be a frog fish (starting with a juvenile). I've kept a few in the past, and I used to train them to eat non-live food and sell them. I'm a little worried still about the bio load of a single frog fish, so I may change my mind on this one. Which can open the door to some future stock issues for me.
Corals: Like fish this is another big change for me, in the past the only time I was able to keep a some what species specific tank was when I had many reef tanks. Lets be honest. We are coral crazy and if we see something amazing many of including myself first thought is "OMG SHINY I MUST HAVE IT!" With that I'm really going to strive to limit the number of species in my tank. I'm laying down some hard fast rules. No Anemones, and No Softies, No NPS, and no large or rapid growing sweeping LPS (frogspawn, elegance, bubble corals, ect)
While I won't say this is an SPS only tank, my goal is to really limit the variety of corals on the Genus level. The main focus of the tank will be Montipora, and Acanthaestra my two favorite verity of corals, and the secondly moonlighting Echinopora, and Acropora (with an efflorescence being a must, and a few stags, millis, and "purple things
" being secondary ). I can also see a select few Echinophyllia, that I won't be able to refuse and a War Coral. I may try to save a spot for some Acanthastrea "Like" corals if something stands out, or come across a good deal in the swap section.
Other Inhabitants: Due to the frog fish, I'm limited on what I can add (by design). Which leaves me with clean up crew, and hopefully a couple nice Clams.
So that's pretty much all I got now I'll post pictures, and updates as things progress. I'm looking forward to returning to the hobby, and welcome any input and suggestions.
-B
A little background info, I've been reefing for about 8 years now. I started with a 20 gallon tank, got hooked ended up running a half dozen or so tanks, eventually I got tired of maintaining so many systems and consolidated everything into a 500gallon setup. After going non-stop from 20gallons to 500gallons, it was time for a break. Tore down the 500 gallon system and sold it all off about 2 years ago now.
Over the the past 2 years I've had time decide If I want to get back into the hobby, to what level I want to take it, and how I would do it this time around if I could do it all over again.
I've had a few crashes, and a few tanks I deemed successes I'm hoping to take what I've learned from previous tanks, and put it to the test with this setup.
Here is a link to my most recent previous build thread.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=923357
For my other builds, those threads are lost somewhere in the abyss of RC under a different account (Me and RC staff butted heads back during the initial acan craze days haha.)
Before I started looking I had a few requirements I laid out for myself.
Most of the requirements were set based off 2 over arching things that made me leave the hobby in the first place, I won't get to much in to the nitty gritty, but just touch on 2 main points. The first, living in temporary housing and the second recurring costs.
While I have been living in my duplex unit for 5-6 years now, the lot is currently foreclosed on. I don't want to get into any system that would be a nitemare to tear down in the event I'm required to move. Under 100 gallons was a must, and a setup I can move empty without enlisting the aid of others is a huge plus.
Secondly, the recurring costs. Reef tanks aren't cheap. There is an initial investment where corners can be cut sometimes, but in the end what gets you is the recurring cost. The 500g system was costing me 350$+ a month in electric bills alone, 200 gallons of HW salt a month, test kits, replacement parts, ect ect there were months where I was spending 500-600 to maintain the system..and that's before the cost of livestock!. Back then I was ok with that, now I have different goals. So an upkeep of 100$ or less monthly is the cap I gave myself.
I've decided to go back to where it all started for me, with a nano. I was originally looking for a 3x2x2 tank. Which was by far my favorite size of all the tanks I've own, but was also keeping an eye out for something smaller.
On a trip down to San Diego a few months ago, I came across a Solana 34g at a local store down in SD. I've always liked how rimless tanks look, and this system seemed to stick out for some reason they appear larger then they are. Looking back over the tanks I've owned, while I really liked the dimension of my old 3x2x2, outside of larger system once I finally had the bugs worked out nothing was stabler then my 29 gallon sps setup (seen here)
http://www.pbase.com/brahm/image/38581646 - High flow, low species diversity, ato, minimal fish. It was a dose/water change and forget system. The stability of my larger system came with a ton of work. My goal really was to see how far I could push mixed reef. I had a ton of a fish, a ton of corals all different species, and it took a TON of equipment, and effort to keep things happy, but from out of that experience I found I've learned a few things that I hope to apply to this smaller system to make it as rock solid as I can.
So on to the specs, and plans.
The Tank, stand, lighting, skimmer I picked up used from a reefer in San Diego. It was a fair price for a used Solana Starphire setup. While I normally would be a fan of an intank sump. This time around I like the simplicity of it. It allows for minimal equipment and does a good job at hiding what you have.
Tank: 34 Gallong Solana Starphire it's self has a couple little nics, and a small scratch here or there but nothing that will show when full of water.
Stand: Solana , needs re-enforcing imop. I haven't felt many Solana stands but after wadding threw that massive solana thread I see I'm not the only one that feels that way. I'm hoping to stiffen it up over the next couple days.
Lighting Sunpod HQI 150w w/some led night lights, I've never really been a fan of 150w Halides, and may switch to a 250w down the road but will give it ago on this system as it fits in my recurring budget plan, I am also toying with the idea of adding some Leds to the side of the Sunpod unit. I've never been a fan of a single point light source alone without accompanying t5s, or VHOs you end up with very "directional' colours on your corals with a single halide.
Bulb: I believe it's currently 3-4 month old Phoenix 14k, depending on how it performs I may change it to the Radium 20k
Skimmer:, Is the stock Sonana skimmer, I've read good, and I've read bad I'm thinking of giving it a go until I can either come across a used Tunze 9002 or decide that it's not up to par.
Other Equipment: The basics, GFI, grounding probe, refractormeter, The return pump is stock, but I may switch it out with a maxi jet 600 to slow down the flow threw the "sump" chamber.
Caclium, Alk, and Mag: will be maintained via 2 methods. First dosing pumps, controlled via an acJR using 2 part from bulk reef, and secondly via Kalkwasser mixed into the ATO, with a manual stir. Mag will be dosed manually but I may end up getting another doser for it.
ATO: I'll be using a JBJ ATO unit that I had bought and never installed years ago, with a mini-jet 404 to supply the kalk. If it's up to snuff I'll keep it, if not I'll look into a Tunze Oscillator, or may go with another dosing pump and run it threw the AcJr.
Temp: will be controlled by a 200w heater via the AcJr, chiller shouldn't be needed.
Water: RO/DI unit from Air Water & Ice, and for now I'm starting w/Instant Ocean but I may switch back to hW which I had good results with in the past. I'm planning on 5 gallon bi-weekly water changes if I can get away with it, and am prepared to do weekly if needed.
DSB/SSB/Bare bottom/Rockwork: I'm trying something different. I've always like how bare bottom tanks run, but the look of sand. This is going to be an experiment of sorts. I'm currently working on building a foam/rock wall, which I plan to extend all the way across the bottom of the tank giving it a "Reef Shelf" Look. I'm hoping the foam/rock bottom will act in ways like a bare bottom eventually be covered in Coraline and Corals which will allow me to simply blow the detritus around vs having it get captured in the sand bed. Rock will be a mix of Fiji Lace Rock, and maybe some Live rock out of a tear down if I come across anything, but no fresh live rock. I don't want any hitch hikers, nor do I agree with the perceived value of it.
(I will post pictures shortly)
Water movement: With the return pump being scaled down, I decided to go with 2 Tunze 6025s for water movement my goal is to hide them inside my rock work when I build the back wall. I went with the Tunze 6025s over the HK for a couple of reasons. Mainly upgrade ability and size. Since the 6025s-6055 are all the same size if I find I'm not getting enough flow from the 6025s my next step will be to mod them, if that isn't enough I will upgrade to the 6055 which in theory should fit in the same space I set aside for the 6025s in my rock work. I've also had very good experiences with tunze products in the past. Low watt usage and a very low failure rate.
GFO & Carbon: Both have always been a must for me in the past but I will run them as needed in this system. Nothing crazy here just a couple of media bags in the middle chamber.
Live Stock:
Fish: This is the big change for me, in the past I've always gone a bit over board on fish, schools of anthias, schools of chromis, many tangs, ect ect. My goal with this tank is to minimize the bio load by forcing a limitation on the number of fish I can have in the tank to 1. I'll be doing so by having my 1 and only fish inhabitant be a frog fish (starting with a juvenile). I've kept a few in the past, and I used to train them to eat non-live food and sell them. I'm a little worried still about the bio load of a single frog fish, so I may change my mind on this one. Which can open the door to some future stock issues for me.
Corals: Like fish this is another big change for me, in the past the only time I was able to keep a some what species specific tank was when I had many reef tanks. Lets be honest. We are coral crazy and if we see something amazing many of including myself first thought is "OMG SHINY I MUST HAVE IT!" With that I'm really going to strive to limit the number of species in my tank. I'm laying down some hard fast rules. No Anemones, and No Softies, No NPS, and no large or rapid growing sweeping LPS (frogspawn, elegance, bubble corals, ect)
While I won't say this is an SPS only tank, my goal is to really limit the variety of corals on the Genus level. The main focus of the tank will be Montipora, and Acanthaestra my two favorite verity of corals, and the secondly moonlighting Echinopora, and Acropora (with an efflorescence being a must, and a few stags, millis, and "purple things
" being secondary ). I can also see a select few Echinophyllia, that I won't be able to refuse and a War Coral. I may try to save a spot for some Acanthastrea "Like" corals if something stands out, or come across a good deal in the swap section.Other Inhabitants: Due to the frog fish, I'm limited on what I can add (by design). Which leaves me with clean up crew, and hopefully a couple nice Clams.
So that's pretty much all I got now I'll post pictures, and updates as things progress. I'm looking forward to returning to the hobby, and welcome any input and suggestions.
-B
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