monkiboy's tank thread

M

monkiboy

Reefing newb
hi -

my name is marco. i'm from the washington, dc area. i wanted a place i could update with status and keep log of the changes made to my tank for reference and what new things i have planned. hopefully, at some point i can help another newb out.

i've had my 46 gallon bow-front tank for about two years now. it's been a FOWLR setup for a while but i'd really like to get into reefing.

i have a small setup, a 46 gallon bow front tank.

the front:
WP_001835-1.jpg


the back:
WP_001837.jpg


my clown that hosts my feeding clip most of the day and all night:
WP_001834-1.jpg


my goals are to have a nice tank with more inverts and to start reefing with some hardy corals to get started once my new setup is complete and well established.

here are some more pics:
my shrimpie guy:
WP_000739-1.jpg


one of my crabs:
WP_000144-1.jpg


after learning a bit over the last few weeks i learned i was doing everything wrong. i don't have enough flow, i'm using incorrect filtration, i don't have enough lighting, i have a fish that needs to be in a much larger tank (blue hippo tang), substrate is just harboring gunk, etc.

so i have set out to get my tank up and running in tip top shape and will update accordingly here.

any other info needed, please ask. i'm here to learn and eager to hear all your suggestions to make the tank better!

thanks!
 
made a few purchases in my attempt to right a few wrongs i've had with my tank...

- picked up two hydor koralia evolution 1050 pumps (1050gph). drs foster & smith have a terrific sale going on right now with free shipping that beats even ebay pricing!

lg-72196-53194-fish.jpg


folks can't telling me the tank should be turned over at least 40x so figure with the two pumps alone, i got enough i can play with and i can aim them accordingly to not be too much flow in my tank.

- picked up some new lighting. i know it's highly debated and some folks really aren't into it but i find that most have not tried it and i got it for an amazing price. i also talked to a few folks that have had great luck with it. i picked up the marineland reef-ready led setup 36-48".

$(KGrHqEOKogE1z5-hlzqBNghC5!syw~~_1.JPG


- lastly, i bought a magdrive 9.5 pump for my new algae scrubber return

Danner%20Supreme%20Mag%20Drive.jpg
 
I think you'll end up being very happy with the leds, I know I love mine and my corals sure seem to as well!
You're right, people who bash it haven't tried it and, I'll add, obviously haven't seen beeguiles tank!
 
I think that light is fine for most corals, but anyone who wants to get into the SPS corals isnt going to find much success with them.
 
i don't have any room on the sides of my tank for a OTS HOB overflow so i made one of pvc to test and then will paint. it is 1" diameter and should flow about 375gph. this will go to my algae scrubber and then the mag drive pump will return it back to my tank.

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bye-bye canister filter (fluval 350)...

WP_001967.jpg


are there any neat uses i can make for the fluval 350? i could try selling it but i dont know how much luck i'll have. maybe just run charcoal through it and keep it installed? is it worth it?

at the moment, this is what under my tank looks like in the hidden cabinet:

WP_001969.jpg


i have my black trash can (finally found something i use that fit in my depth requirements), it is 4.7g so it should be more than sufficient, i think. the pvc overflow pipe will come down the side of the tank and point horizontally over the black trash with the return pump inside going back to the tank.
 
SarahSmile said:
I think you'll end up being very happy with the leds, I know I love mine and my corals sure seem to as well!
You're right, people who bash it haven't tried it and, I'll add, obviously haven't seen beeguiles tank!
Click to expand...

make sure to post up in her new thread about them so we have a log of all those with them and the success or no-success with them and under what use.

little_fish said:
I think that light is fine for most corals, but anyone who wants to get into the SPS corals isnt going to find much success with them.
Click to expand...

ok, thanks. i am going to start off with the "easier" corals to keep - whatever that may be.

any suggestions for five or so great beginner corals once i get the new setup going and well balanced?

do most people start with frags or do most just do that because it is cheaper and under optimal conditions, they'll grow? why do people put the frags on egg crates and some on their live rock? is it for presentation purposes or to keep them away from predators when they are frags on egg crate?

thanks!
 
I have a lot of beginner corals but here's my list of what I have.

Zoas
Palys
Ricordia
Kenya trees, these will grow like a weed
Xenia, these also grow rapidly
Green star polyps, also grow fast but add a lot of color and glow tremendously
Hammer coral
Frogspawn
Candy cane coral
Green nepthea
Maxi mini Anemone
Rose bubble tip Anemone

I think that's all I have. Those are all good easy corals. Also more could be duncans, acans, maybe a torch coral. Basically any soft coral and lps. Sps I'm not 100 percent on yet bc I haven't tried any but I'm planning to pick up a frag on Saturday.

I think people get frags bc it is cheaper and its nice to see them grow in your tank. I don't really like when they are on frag plugs bc they are ugly but usually they grow pretty fast the cover it up. Thanks for thr thread shoutout Also.

And sarah thanks for the compliment :)
 
Hey! I knew I saw your tank before lol. Your the newb from Washington dc with pictures thread, lol. Just realized that.
 
sarah, brittany, and nano* thanks for the tips on some intro corals for my tank when things finally get set up.

i forgot to mention that i also picked up some aragonite from MarcoRocks (he has good prices, we share a name, and everyone here seems to like him, what could go wrong?!, haha) as many told me my substrate was no good. i have sand and then about an inch of crushed coral which apparently is just housing bad stuff.

i'm going to take a forum member's advice and slowly start removing it and try to avoid a cycle and a rock slide.

i got a 20lb bag of fine aragonite:
Bahama-aragonite-1-640x.jpg


i got everything on it's way and i'm really excited. going to prep and paint my overflow tonight and work on the slit for algae scrubber and getting the material for the algae to grow on and hopefully by week's end i got this thing running!
 
so i really want to do things right this go 'round with the substrate.

i started taking some of the substrate out over the last couple days and have noticed that jeez louise i have a lot of crushed coral, about an inch+ or so and not nearly as much sand as i thought maybe a 1/4", if that.

my live rock aquascape is taking up a majority of my tank in the center and navigating around it to remove what i can of the existing substrate is quite difficult.

would it be too catastrophic to the fish, if i removed them, put them in a 29g with water from the existing tank, and removed my live rock from my DT so that i could remove all the substrate?

unfortunately, when i first set the tank up years ago, i put my substrate down and my LR on top of it.

i would then be able to remove it all, and put aragonite in, and do a new aquascape that i am kind of excited to design. let it cycle and when levels are good, then bring my three fish, star, shrimp, and snails back in.

is this feasible? what is the best way to accomplish what i would want to do? is it best to just remove what i can and place the aragonite on top? i feel like that would only worsen the situation.

thanks for your help!


oh, i used krylon fuzion to paint my PVC overflow. how long do i have to wait before it "cures" or is reef safe?
 
Last edited:
That would be fine to do! I would just make sure the rock stays wet and warm, and i dont think you would have a long cycle. Just make sure that you have water on hand and test the tank the fish will be in every day and do a WC if the ammonia or nitrites start to appear.
 
little_fish said:
That would be fine to do! I would just make sure the rock stays wet and warm, and i dont think you would have a long cycle. Just make sure that you have water on hand and test the tank the fish will be in every day and do a WC if the ammonia or nitrites start to appear.
Click to expand...

oh thanks for reading and replying. great news, thanks!

i figure i fill the 29 gallon up with water from the DT i still have about 10g or so for the LR in a separate container of some sort. can i place a towel over the top of it all with the ends in the water from the DT to keep it all moist, or maybe newspaper?
 
Yes deff keep that live rock wet. Slow cycles suck lol the live rock will deff speed it up. Have fun taking all that crushed coral out!
 

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