My hex tank adventure into the saltwater.

[hex_reef_guy]

So I have been reading threads on here for about two to three months to help answer questions on the do-it-yourself and just basic setup requirements for a nano reef tank. From what I have found through my months of reading is that once someone answers a question it brings up another and there is at least 3 others people who will argue that there is a better way. So with my hands thrown in the air I said "Whatever, this is going to be an adventure and I think its best I just learn as I go as to what works best for me." So here is my story....so far.

 

[Smitty]

A lot of this hobby is trial and error, that most of us have been thru, and try to forward that information to someone else going thru the same thing...but at the end of the day, it's pretty much opinions and rule of thumbs. :)

 

[hex_reef_guy]

The tank

I picked up this tank from my friend about two years ago and it has been sitting in a storage the entire time. In the past I have had a 55 gallon tall which had been set up as a cichlid tank, an angel tank, freshwater community tank.....a lot of different freshwater setups. Ive have always wanted to do a saltwater tank but felt I did not have the knowledge nor funds to do it. I had curbed the 55 gallon and it was gone in an hour and when my friend moved out he gave me this tank. Fast forward two years and now I am ready.

 

[Smitty]

Nice tank...it has lots of potential. Because of the height of the tank, if you decide to do a reef, you'll need either mh's or leds to reach the bottom. If fish only, you could do t-5's, for nice color combinations.

 

[hex_reef_guy]

A mini sump

Awhile ago I jumped on the forum to ask opinions of a mini sump, 5 gallon to be exact and didn't get a lot of input but decided to try it anyway. I should mention that I absolutely HATE paying full price for anything so I usually scour craigslist and ebay until I find a "good enough" deal. From now on I will keep a running total of the cost of my setup. Im kind of curious because I haven't added it up yet myself. I might decide to sell a kidney on ebay by the end of this all. who knows? So here is my situation: small stand, want to keep it clean looking, on a budget. Heres what I came up with.

A 5.5 gallon glass aquarium that came with hood and light for $15 on craigslist. Sort of disappointed I but a used one with the hood when I could have bought a new one without hood, being that i ended up not using the light anyway. Oh well. Picked up a 14x20 sheet of glass from home depot, cut, and glued it in with silicone to creat a bubble trap, main, and return. Not pretty but holds water like it should. Here is the fit in the stand. Near perfect.

Tank: $0
Stand: $0
Hood: $0
Sump: $22

Total: $22

 

[hex_reef_guy]

Back to Home Depot!

After lots of research on overflow box and u tubes and blah blah blah...I had to drill this tank. I purchased an overflow on eBay that came with 1 inch bulkheads, pre-glued to 1 inch t joints, and the drill bit for $50, seemed reasonable to me. I felt confident that I would have the right size everything and it would all be there. Dont have any pics of me drilling the tank, but man was that nerve racking. I picked up $17 worth of 1/2 and 1 inch pvc, fittings to complete my overflow drain and return. I had plans to just paint the back of the tank black but ended up getting a surround from the pet store for $8. I hate the blue on the back so i might end up painting it yet as long as its out of sight I dont care. Heres what it looks like.

The H.O.T. Magnum is something I had left over from a previous tank, I was thinking about using as a polisher after water changes.

I picked up a media filter sock as well to catch big chunks that overflow to the sump. That was like $5?

Tank: $0
Stand: $0
Hood: $0
Sump: $22
Overflow: $50
PVC parts: $17
Surround: $8
Filter sock $5

Total: $102

 

[Smitty]

So far everything looks...especially the amount paid so far. :mrgreen: I also really like the sump, a small sump is better than no sump, and it fits perfectly. You're making great progress.

 

[hex_reef_guy]

Lighting with LED

Being cheap, I looked at lighting as something I want to be cheaper in the long run so I decided that led was going to be the way to go. less energy to run them, last a long time, dont produce a lot of excess heat. I think I found a great alternative. The marineland reef capable led 18-24 inch light. They retail for $179 however I picked one up off of ebay for $96, $106 shipped. I do like the option to switch to day or lunar. Here what it looks like. Its super slim and barely noticeable on my tank which I like a lot.

Tank: $0
Stand: $0
Hood: $0
Sump: $22
Overflow: $50
PVC parts: $17
Surround: $8
Filter sock $5
LED light $106

Total: $208

 

[hex_reef_guy]

Time to go to work. I will continue this photo journey later tonight. Thank in advance to any input you guys have.

 

[Smitty]

That light shall do the trick with soft corals and some lower light lps's too.

 

[ErinCahir]

Looking great so far!

 

[little_fish]

Looks good!

One thing you will need to keep in mind with the hex tanks is that because they are so skinny, it will really limit your options on fish. Very few fish use vertical space, most need lots of swimming room horizontally.

 

[Samhain]

Great looking tank so far. The Marineland LEDs have been great for me. I have a 50 gallon long, so the overall depth is much shallower than your tank, but I have Zoas, Acans, a Favia, and a Duncan, and all are very happy under the ML LEDs. As a matter of fact, the lights are almost too bright for the Duncan! I've had to move him down away from the lights and almost into the shadows. I wouldn't go crazy with SPS, clams, or nems, but softies and LPS should be fine as long as you're careful about placement within the tank.

 

[hex_reef_guy]

Sump and skimmer

I didnt know much about return pumps or circulation requirements but I was told by a couple lfs that it should cycle 3 times an hour and others said 10 times an hour. um....ok? So one place recommended an Aqueon 2500 which they were selling for $69.99 As with anything I wanted to research. 485 gph, 5 foot head height so more like 260-380 pgh. 35 gallon tank so....about 7-8 times my tank is cycled an hour? Seemed ok to me. Shopped ebay and got it for $25 dollars new. With the 5/8 tubing barb i was able to go 5/8 tubing( 10 inch small section of a 25 foot gravel cleaner i dont use anymore) to 1/2 inch pvc. This would make pulling the pump out easier if it fails and needs to be replaced.
Now for protein skimmer. Again I was told different things. "With a tank that small you just need to do frequent water changes, no skimmer needed." " you need this $350 skimmer right here if you are running a sump." "Hang on back skimmers are great!" So I decided that A: yes, I am going to run a skimmer even if my tank is considered "small" B: I am not paying 350 dollars for a piece of equipment that would fit in my small sump anyway. C: I have a hex tank that wont hide anything if hung on the sides so HOT is out of question. I hate the Magnum HOT I have but because its is on the side thats in the corner I cant see it so I will stay on for weekly polishing. So I ended up purchasing an aquaticlife mini internal skimmer for the biocube tanks brand new on ebay yet again for $36. Research shows good ratings and its small enough to fit IN my sump. It rated for a 30 gallon tank, maybe I should have something bigger but I am going on the notion that I was told that I wouldnt need one at all more than once so what the hell! Heres what it looks like.

I should mention that I went to Home Depot and purchase a small sheet of lexan to build a cover for sump. $6

Tank: $0
Stand: $0
Hood: $0
Sump: $22
Overflow: $50
PVC parts: $17
Surround: $8
Filter sock $5
LED light $106
Return pump $25
Tubing $0
Skimmer $36
Lexan $6

Total: $275

 

[Smitty]

That's an awesome looking sump setup...and your still doing well on pricing I see. :)

 

[Smitty]

What is that black stuff in the middle of your sump?

 

[hex_reef_guy]

I forgot to mention that with the heating situation I already have two heaters, one of which I am using, a bit larger than I want, probably switching them out for two smaller heaters down the road. My goal was to keep the small space a a tank as least cluttered as possible. I may consider an inline heater, or a small one in the sump and a second in the tank, but for now I rocking the larger one at the expense of it being obvious.


Tank: $0
Stand: $0
Hood: $0
Sump: $22
Overflow: $50
PVC parts: $17
Surround: $8
Filter sock $5
LED light $106
Return pump $25
Tubing $0
Skimmer $36
Lexan $6
Heater $0

Total: $275

 

[hex_reef_guy]

That would be some substrate that I got from a purchase of live rock and livestock on craigers. So basically what happened was I was trying to bargain my way into some mature liverock from dudes who were tearing down their saltwater tanks and selling locally on craigslist. I visited a lot of scary homes to see what they had and walked away alive from all of them, thank goodness, but they had a lot of algea growing on them, they obviously were done with saltwater and let their tanks go, I passed. Finally, I found a guy who was trying to sell his entire setup whose stuff looked really good, even in a craigslist ad picture. I contacted him, he actually wanted to keep his tank and stand but thought it would be easier to selling it all and start over and buy a new tank and start a planted tank. I came along and bought all of his livestock. about 30-35 lbs of live rock, 2 turbo snails, 3 hermit crabs, a hammer that was just starting to split and another hammer that was still closed up, some other coral I have no idea, a 2.5 inch tomato clown, his substrate, and all of his water for $120. I picked up eight 5 gallon pales, loaded it all into my car and had it set up and running in my tank with in 2 hours. Heres what it looked like day one.

The hammers and I dont know what

The tomato know named Murray

A blurry lunar light pic

 

[hex_reef_guy]

Heres a better one taken a couple days later. you can see the hammer is well on its way to splitting now. there are two merits, one crawling on the coral. the other hammer is in the back still closed up.

 

[hex_reef_guy]

At this point my tank has been up and running now for 13 days and here is the two hammers. I thought the one had died but you can see its still trying to do something there.

All three of them

Even saw this starfish looking thing for about 20 seconds, long enough to grab the camera for a quick shot. Know what this?