My 30G SPS Journal

ciaolong · #1 03/09/2006, 11:08 AM

Hey all

after the long 3 week wait i finally got my tank now so i thought i do a journal to keep track of stuff =)
The tank before this was a 4ft tank which become destroyed my wood floors when I went for a trip to Singapore.

This is the damage that was from my last tank the wood floor lifted so we had to remove alot of the wood and redo the whole thing this is about 20% of the damage

Anyway this might delay a few things but itâ€™s always good to plan ahead: P

Here some details on the system

Tank Size: 24Lx18Wx19H (roughly 30G+ ?) with a baffle 6"in (black tinted) This IOS for the system will be used to put the equipment somewhere and also to allow the overflow motion (for surface skimming) so there wont be anymore overflowing onto my wood floors

Stock Wish List: Mostly SPS with zoo at the bottom and maybe a pair of coral gobies

Lighting: 400w 14k BLV on an eballast and moonlight (when I get them)

Skimmer: A Weipro Skimmer (until I get my bubble king or deltec)

Return Pump: Resun 4800lph (will have piping directed to the bottom of the tank)

Water Circulation: a tunze 6060 with a mod cover (giving around 60+ turn over by itself)

Cooling System: house air-con until I get my chiller (teco)

Substrate: Starboard (worried it might be to thin)

Some thoughts on it at the moment would be the starboard whether to silicon in since its look thin (3-4 mm?) or leave it and see for the best ? And the other thing would be the baffle as it kind of see through but if I redo this tank I do in acrylic so I donâ€™t mind it like this for now

I also setting up a propagation system in my garage but this will come later as my other tank was not built on time T.T but here a picture of the one of the finished tanks

ciaolong · #2 03/09/2006, 11:09 AM

Anyway I was reading through the forums and decide to cook my old live rock itâ€™s coming to the 3rd week and I canâ€™t smell it anymore but the weird thing there still stuff growing !!! And living !!!!!!!!
As in the follow picture you can see its using the tunze 6060 for flow and also there are baby snailâ€™s still alive and coralline algae .... (Yes it was in darkness)

before I choose which live rock to cook I decide to do some prescaping and I came up with this I just hope I can remember which rock goes where when I put them into the tank

Anyway that all I can say at the moment until I fix the floor and put water in :P but do give tips or suggestions or comments
(i have a blog on this whole journey too if your like to follow and get better details http://nanisaquarium.blogspot.com/)

But here a picture of my blue zoos in my QT in my room

143gadgets · #3 03/09/2006, 11:25 AM

NIce! How much longer do u plan to cook your rocks? Looks very promising.

ciaolong · #4 03/09/2006, 11:28 AM

i dont really know as you can see there not alot of shed left just abit *points to the blue bucket picture* i think next water delivery i give them a good waste of fresh NSW and the should be ready to go though i kinda confused why there still things alive on the rock haha ... i am pretty sure i read the post right and it say everything would die ? and its coming to the 3rd week thats a long period without light .... i thought i ask some other people who have cooked their rocks had this before ? or is just my rock weird lol

nemofish2217 · #5 03/09/2006, 02:15 PM

400 watts? seems like it might be overdoing things for a 19" tall tank. I would say maybe go with a 250 and that might be a little less intense for your zoos.....

coker98 · #6 03/09/2006, 02:22 PM

the coral gobies will nip at your sps polyps. if it is a big colony it wont matter but smaller colonies might get stressed.

djcool563 · #7 03/09/2006, 02:53 PM

Are you honsetly going to get a deltec or bubble kind for a 30g tank?That seems to be way overdoing it

ciaolong · #8 03/09/2006, 03:05 PM

I have a friend who has zoo under a 400w in 8" of water amd his colours are just amazing and the back prop tank is also using a 400W but i was more worried about over heating than over lighting as zoos doesn't have to be in this system

As for the coral gobies I havent decide whether to get them yet but i have always wanted a pair hehe. I will be getting boxes of sps from my collector so size of acros is no problem.

ciaolong · #9 03/10/2006, 12:42 AM

well looks liked i siliconed the starboard in =) a bit messy bit it will do :P today just going to get my wood for the prop system so i can start the plumbing on that then i sand the floor and seal it so i can move my sps tank in place

drake66 · #10 03/10/2006, 12:57 AM

bubble king for a 30g? thats a bit overkill no?

ciaolong · #11 03/10/2006, 01:03 AM

there is a new model of BK 160 i think is the smallest one
anyway if i ever want to upgrade my tank the skimmer shouldn't be a problem

and you can never overskim :P

drake66 · #12 03/10/2006, 01:14 AM

shoot!, go for a bigger tank then save yourself the upgrade do it right once! thats what I say

ciaolong · #13 03/10/2006, 01:30 AM

haha after my last mis hap i dont think i do a bigger tank for awhile (on wood floor) lol

drake66 · #14 03/10/2006, 01:49 AM

woops! i didnt read that part. I just noticed you're from australia! you guys are close the good stuff! you lucky man!

ciaolong · #15 03/10/2006, 01:56 AM

yeah we lucky in some ways lol
but i wish we could get cheaper prices and better range of sp. but we very limited since all our inverts and corals are collected in australian waters only ! best thing i think is that we dont have red bugs

ciaolong · #16 03/13/2006, 08:07 AM

Hey all
Update pictures: D

I finish part of the floor so I place my tank where it should be

And the water delivery came today I was so excited

The scaping is not the same as I planned but it still nice.
The tunze mod is still being made but I left uncover to which increase the flow and also changes the flow movement.

Here are the pictures and sorry about the mess >

Just to show how bright my room is from outside with the 400w MH and room lights all off.
And my roommate freaked when he arrive back home he though there was an alien in the house

143gadgets · #17 03/13/2006, 10:12 AM

Wow! Looks great!

ciaolong · #18 03/13/2006, 01:22 PM

looks like there still some shreding left in the rocks but its all good

leaving for maybe a week before i add anything cause i need to see if the temp/alk and all those are all inline before adding :P
i also added a pc fan to blow cool air on top of the tank

i am trying to decide out of a bk (new models) or a deltec

anyone know which would be the best
mostly i am looking for good skimmage and quiet operation
and compact

this is my plan for stocking the tank

lps or zoo of the floor maybe a clam
then i am going to mount montis on the back glass and other acros will be on the scape

few things i need to put in is my carbon/purigen and the rowa once it comes.

only problem atm is my pump >> its making some vibration which kinda loud but it temp until i get a ehiem or something to replace it
though i will put some wool below to muff it until it arrives

ciaolong · #19 03/13/2006, 09:59 PM

any suggest on which skimmer i should use ? deltec/bk ???