Returning to the Hobby- 34G Build

[Smoke Inator]

Hey Mike, welcome back...I'm crazy slammed at work so not very active here but I'm about 15 min from you in wake forest...look up the Reef Farm, it's 5 min from me just off 98 north of six forks....grace is awesome and you need to just drop in and see what's growing...I've gotten several things from her...hours are limited but I think sat afternoon is one day they are open


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[wrxreefer823]

Hey Mike, welcome back...I’m crazy slammed at work so not very active here but I’m about 15 min from you in wake forest...look up the Reef Farm, it’s 5 min from me just off 98 north of six forks....grace is awesome and you need to just drop in and see what’s growing...I’ve gotten several things from her...hours are limited but I think sat afternoon is one day they are open


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Thanks! I’ll definitely have to check that out. I was gonna say I’m off Friday but they aren’t open then, I’ll check them out on Saturday if I get a chance. I recently went to check out Fintastic out in Cary, they’re small but have a decent selection of fish and coral at a good price. The Fish Room is a five-ten minute walk from me, so I’ll usually swing by there and see if there’s anything good there. I worked there for a bit so I know the guys pretty well.


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[wrxreefer823]

Returning to the Hobby- 34G Build

More toys! Lol... I found a site that makes after market parts out of acrylic for all in one tanks, InTank, and they had a media basket that's an exact fit for the middle chamber in my tank. I also ordered a foam filter holder for the over flow, it doubles as an overflow silencer and a holder so the filter pad doesn't slide all the way down into the overflow chamber. For the three stage media basket, I opted for a floss pad (fine, medium and coarse I one), followed by rock rubble and lastly a sack of Chemipure Elite. Like I said, the media basket is an exact fit, so I expect some great results as far as filtration is concerned. The site also carries a magnetic 5000K LED refugium light that I could use to light the rock rubble in the middle chamber, but I'm not sure I want to do that yet.

I wasn't planning on getting the Vortech just yet, but just for sh!ts and giggles, I called a local store and they happened to have a MP10QD in stock, and of course I headed right out there to pick it up. This is the second Vortech I've owned, and EcoTech makes a fine product. Currently it's just set at a constant speed, but I'll mess with it tomorrow to get a nice wave pattern going.

The tanks been up for almost two and a half weeks now, and I'm seeing a decent diatom bloom now, so I added three blue legged and three red legged hermits. They made pretty quick work of the rocks. What once was brown is now a nice white again! That'll be the only live stock I add for a few weeks I think. I want to add a couple of clowns, but we're expecting our baby any day now, and I don't want to throw too much in the mix in anticipation of that!

Lastly here's a few pictures [emoji4]

It's kind of tough to tell there, but that's the top of the middle chamber with the floss pad installed into the top of the media basket. The tanks a bit cloudy from messing with things and adding the Chemipure sack, but it should be clear by the morning.

Happy reefing!


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[wrxreefer823]

So I checked on the tank this morning when the lights came on and noticed that the whole wet side assembly of the vortech was slowly spinning on the glass. I put the rubber spacer on and it had the same result. I took it out of the tank and cleaned the glass under it, it stopped for bit but it's back to doing it again. I noticed the impeller has a good amount of play, about 1/8th to 1/4th inch, and the dry side seems pretty hot to the touch during the wave mode. It cools down a bit if it's just set at a constant speed. I put in a request to Ecotech's support, so hopefully they have a solution!


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[zachfishman]

I also got back in with a used Solana. A nice tank, I recommend getting a BRS screen top kit. I lost several fish (even sticking to species that supposedly weren't jumpy) before caving. The top sits nice and flush (with the plastic holder tabs) and doesn't detract from the look at all IMO.

 

[wrxreefer823]

I also got back in with a used Solana. A nice tank, I recommend getting a BRS screen top kit. I lost several fish (even sticking to species that supposedly weren't jumpy) before caving. The top sits nice and flush (with the plastic holder tabs) and doesn't detract from the look at all IMO.

Yeah they're great tanks. This is the second one I've owned. That's a nice looking tank you've got there, at first I was going to ask how you had your Vortechs on the back wall, but I guess yours isn't an all in one like mine (I'd prefer a proper sump, but oh well). I'll have to look into a top eventually. The only fish I've ever had jump out of tanks were clownfish and a powder blue tang.

Long story short, in my 120, something spooked my powder blue, he shot up out of the tank, hit the Radion and ricocheted across the room. Just like that, my $80 fish was toast. But I digress, a top may be in order since I plan on keeping a pair of clowns. I'll just have to see how it'll work since it's an all in one and I have my skimmer and stuff I the back.


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[Chocobo]

Putting the vortechs on the back does look nice. The tank I will be setting up soonish is an all-in-one but I am going to plumb it for a sump and will likely put the vortechs on the back as well. I may have to feed the cords a little funny but I should be able to get them back there.

Your setup is looking good so far . My experience with aiptasia was to get it out of the tank if possible. I ended up having some still and peppermint shrimp took care of them for me.

 

[wrxreefer823]

Returning to the Hobby- 34G Build

Putting the vortechs on the back does look nice. The tank I will be setting up soonish is an all-in-one but I am going to plumb it for a sump and will likely put the vortechs on the back as well. I may have to feed the cords a little funny but I should be able to get them back there.

Your setup is looking good so far . My experience with aiptasia was to get it out of the tank if possible. I ended up having some still and peppermint shrimp took care of them for me.

Firstly, let me say I LOVE your user name!

Now that that's out of the way, yes I like the idea of plumbing in a sump. I didn't want to get TOO involved with this tank, it's more or less something to hold me over until we get into a house and I can get something bigger. I had an mp40 on the rear center of my old 120, with two Jeabos on either side and it made for some great flow!

Thanks for compliment! I found two more aiptasia but I've been too lazy to hit them with aiptasia X. I should get around to doing that. I was going to throw a peppermint shrimp in when I got my hermits, but there wouldn't be a whole lot else for it to eat. At least there's only two aiptasia left (to my knowledge).


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[Chocobo]

My peppermint shrimp would eat flake fish food if I put it in there - so once the aiptasia was gone they didn't starve .

 

[Chocobo]

This was in my first ever reef tank - a 29G. I have a thread on here that shows some of the history of that tank. Not much smaller than the one you're setting up - but it wasn't a marine/reef tank originally so I ended up working with minimal stuff / a HOB skimmer /etc.

 

[wrxreefer823]

Yes that's true, I did get a container of pellets when I picked up my hermits. The tank is very young yet, I'll probably wait a bit to add anything like that.

My first saltwater tank was a 29 high, and oh man was that a disaster. I used HOB marine land filter and a BakPak skimmer. That brings back some kind of painful memories... lol


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[Chocobo]

Yes that's true, I did get a container of pellets when I picked up my hermits. The tank is very young yet, I'll probably wait a bit to add anything like that.

My first saltwater tank was a 29 high, and oh man was that a disaster. I used HOB marine land filter and a BakPak skimmer. That brings back some kind of painful memories... lol


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That's what I ran my 29 on for a long long time. Bak-Pak and a HOB filter. If I were still maintaining it I think it would be doing well still.

Keeping a 29 alive with no sump and no good skimmer is "œfun" .

 

[wrxreefer823]

That's what I ran my 29 on for a long long time. Bak-Pak and a HOB filter. If I were still maintaining it I think it would be doing well still.



Keeping a 29 alive with no sump and no good skimmer is "œfun" .

Oh yeah, I bought a used BakPak at a LFS for 30 bucks, the dude told me it was a really good skimmer (I had no friggin clue, all I wanted was some clownfish). Needless to say, it was useless.


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[Chocobo]

Oh yeah, I bought a used BakPak at a LFS for 30 bucks, the dude told me it was a really good skimmer (I had no friggin clue, all I wanted was some clownfish). Needless to say, it was useless.


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I don't know that I'd say "useless" - I did have to clean the pump/impeller/setup probably once per week to keep it functional but I did get some pretty decent skimmate out of it. I actually am using a Bak-Pak 2 on my 40G Breeder while I wait on my 45G tank to show up at the LFS. Will be drilling the 45G for a sump and using a 'real' skimmer but this works for my back up / curing tank / whatever. It's not perfect but it's better than nothing and I got it cheap.

 

[wrxreefer823]

I don't know that I'd say "useless" - I did have to clean the pump/impeller/setup probably once per week to keep it functional but I did get some pretty decent skimmate out of it. I actually am using a Bak-Pak 2 on my 40G Breeder while I wait on my 45G tank to show up at the LFS. Will be drilling the 45G for a sump and using a 'real' skimmer but this works for my back up / curing tank / whatever. It's not perfect but it's better than nothing and I got it cheap.

I had a first generation, and I could never get it to work correctly. It could be that I didn't have it set up correctly and just didn't know any body. Every "œreal" tank I've had, I've used Reef Octopus. They make a great product. The Eshopps nano skimmer is what I have on my all in one and it's a tight fit, but it works well.


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[wrxreefer823]

So today I got home from work and counted a few more aptasias, two of which are growing on the sand. I decided enough is enough and I took a quick trip down to the LFS and picked up a peppermint shrimp who attacked one of the aiptasias as soon I put him in. I'd say $10 well spent lol

Also, I found what may be some sort of polyp. It has a mouth, but the "œtentacles" are way too short to be an aiptasia. It's between the size of a BB and a pea, and looks KIND of like a zoa. Or it's just an aiptasia and I've got my hopes up. Lol

Here's a picture, it's really hard to tell because it's more or less in a shadow and it's so small, but it's right in the center.

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[2_zoa]

Manjano?

 

[wrxreefer823]

Returning to the Hobby- 34G Build

That's kind of what it looks like actually. I didn't know that was a thing until I Googled it. If that's the case, hopefully I can get that sucker out of there, it doesn't sound much better than aiptasia!

Also, I guess I learned my lesson. Don't buy live rock from THAT store.

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[wrxreefer823]

It's been some time since my last update, and A LOT has happened!!!

Lets get the big news out of the way... I'm now a daddy!!! Our daughter was born last Tuesday, 2-27-18 at 9:50, weighing in at 7lb 13oz and 20 1/4" long. It's been a roller coaster, but being a dad is awesome! Here's a few pics of the little lady

The in laws came into town, they took care of the dog and fed the tank while we were at the hospital for a two days. I'm not exactly sure what they did, but I came home to a cloudy tank covered with hair algae. It could have been something to do with the cycle, but I cleaned it up real good with a water change, and added more clean up crew. A couple of weeks ago I added a pair of clowns, they're doing very well. Eating like champs! I also added an emerald crab, and tried a sand sifting starfish, but unfortunately the Star didn't survive the ride home. The LFS I went to was having a sale, so I picked up a drag of red zoas for 15 bucks, it has 10 heads on it.

I've been going to a LFS right down the street from me for my water/testing needs, I think that needs to stop. There's been a few instances that made me second guess it, but the girl testing my water at 1.036 when I know it's 1.025 was the last straw. I have my own refractometer, but I'll need to invest in a marine/reef test kit and just do it myself. As for the water, I'll just order a Spectrapure 5 stage and be done with it. It'll eventually... EVENTUALLY... pay for itself. Lol

Right now there's about 15 hermits and 15 astrea snails in there. They seem to be doing a great job so that'll probably be it for the clean up crew. I'd love to get a sand dwelling goby for my sandy needs, but I should really get a screen top. It's just a bit more difficult since it's an AIO and has skimmer and ATO hose sticking out of the back.

Lastly, some fishy pictures!

The picture doesn't really do any justice, but the heads are a nice deep red with blue mouths.

Happy reefing!


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