New to hobby build
 

Hey everyone. Calvin here. Location: NE Calgary

Always wanted to get started with a marine tank. I've had freshwater tanks in the past but was never happy with them. Possibly due to the fact that I've always wanted colors and I could never get that with the selection of freshwater fish out there.

So I picked up a 23 gallon cube tank from a good friend of mine. He started his marine adventure with it many years ago and has moved on to a much larger setup.

He also gave me a chunk of algae from one of his collection tanks to help things get started. Currently running 2x 50w heaters, a hanging filter that I had been given some time ago, and a Koralia 425 gph circulation pump.

Got premixed water from big al's here in calgary, and roughly 13 lbs of dry rock from Concept.

Will be letting the tank run as is for the next couple of weeks. Still missing the lid for the tank but will be dealing with that soon. Also need to pickup a light before I can run any coral.

Will try to keep this updated as I continue through the setup.

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Welcome to the hobby!!! This forum has some great people with excellent experience

While the cheato is great to have, I would suggest find a good chunk of healthy clean live rock to get that tank seeded.

I was thinking about grabbing some, but I don't want to add a lot of rock to the tank. We've got 13 lbs in there right now, though a small chunk wouldn't be too bad.

I work out of town and am home every other weekend, so the plan was for my girlfriend to keep topping up water level while I was away, and then it should, theoretically, be ready for cleanup crew when I come home again.

welcome to Canreef Calvin! Proteus is right about the live rock, it will bring you some unexpected life to the tank. Also make sure you get a light on the chaeto so it doesn't die. Take it slow and enjoy!

A light is in the plans for the near future. Just can't afford it at the moment. We will be heading back for a couple more gallons of salt water from Big Al's today. I'll take a look and see if they have a small chunk of live rock there we could pickup.

The rock is what will help you take care of nutrients. I always aimed for 1lb per gallon. But each to there own!

Make sure you check the sg of the water from big als. I've heard stories of it being out of walk.. Not to mention expensive

Haven't found it too expensive. $0.99/gal if you have a container of your own. They sell a five gallon bucket or jug for $13.99. But you can obviously reuse the container too.


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A normal lamp would help keep the chaeto alive for now. As is it will start breaking up into 100s of little pieces. I have had this happen down the road when I put light on tank chaeto was growing outta the rocks everywhere.

I may have misunderstood, but when the water evaporates from the tank, just replace it with fresh water, preferably reverse osmosis, (RO) not the salt water from Big Als.
Evaporation will be less when you find a lid for the tank.
For now, until you buy a light, you could place a desk lamp or clip on by your tank with a cheap "daylight" compact florescent bulb from Home Depot. Maybe 25W. This should keep your cheato growing.

I think I may have a small lamp I could use for the time being. Thanks.

hillegom, I still need to finish filling the tank with salt water as it is a couple gallons short. We will be replacing the evaporated water with fresh ro water.


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Picked up a fairly inexpensive led light at Pisces today. Came with the daylight white and has room for two more led bars. Also has the moonlight blue spot.

Filled the tank up the rest of the way with salt water from big als. Also added three smaller pieces of live rock and a bit more sand to the bottom.

Once the cloudiness settles down a bit I'll post another picture.


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Cool! Patiently waiting for pics.

As promised. Pictures. Tank is still a little cloudy, and I can see with the light that the algae has already started to break apart. Live rock pieces are placed near the front to keep balance (it has to look good otherwise my girlfriend won't like it).

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Hey Calvin, looking good so far!
May I ask what the black stuff on the substrate is? did you mix in some black sand?

I did. there is a 20lb bag of white sand, and a 5lb bag of black. picked the black up today to add in a bit of contrast.

oh cool, different style. Usually people go either or but it'll be neat.
The moss ball reminds me of fresh water setups with those moss balls haha

One quick shot of the moon glow accents now that it is dark enough to show. Definitely shows just how murky the water actually is. Hopefully it will settle out soon.

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Cleared up a fair bit over night. Hopefully my girlfriend will be able to send me some updated pictures over the next couple weeks while I am out of town.

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Welcome aboard

Your water will clear up over time the more rock the faster it will clear up

If you don't have a RODI system you can use the water you get from the grocery store nothing wrong with it will keep you going until you can afford stuff

Take your time never rush rushing will lead you down a path you don't want to go be patient in this hobby that is the hardest thing in the world to do

Never ever be afraid to ask questions not asking questions is a bad thing to do

If your strapped for cash browse the Buy and sell here on canreef you can pick up some really good equipment relatively cheap most of us started like you buying what we can afford and upgrading at a later date

Lastly have fun and enjoy the hobby

Thanks Dearth.

As I may have already said, and I can't remember, the tank will sit like this with my girlfriend topping up the water level for the next two weeks. I'll do a small water change and pull out the remaining cheatle, then add in some cleanup crew. Let them work on getting things ready and then next time I come home we can look at adding in some fish and maybe a couple corals.

Welcome to the addiction!!!
If you need a little more rock I will have some available in the coming weeks

Awesome. Thanks tinman


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Another day, a whole lot clearer

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Nice!

I would like to swap the two 50w heaters for a single and change out for a better filter in the near future if anyone has any suggestions or pieces they'd like out of their spare parts box.


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About the heaters, you should check this thread out:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...d.php?t=112426

If everything starts to look messy, find a used sump here and put all filtration/mechanical devices in it, under the tank in the cabinet.
You could start with just a small used tank, and put in some baffles.

Well, I do have a 10 gallon tank that is acting as my current extras bin. I would like to look at building a small stand/cabinet to store things in. that could be integrated into the whole thing I suppose. Would I have to drill holes in the current tank for piping?

A shot of the blue. I love it!

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You could drill your current tank, if it does not have starfire glass. Or you could go over the top.
I'm sure there are more ways, but I have not done this, so hopefully someone else will chime in.

[quote=hillegom;937530]You could drill your current tank, if it does not have starfire glass.


Do you mean tempered glass?

Well I would definitely prefer to not drill the glass at all. The thought of that makes me rather nervous.


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Hi Calvin, welcome to Canreef!

Looks like you are making a good start! If you are wanting to add a sump without drilling I would recommend an overflow like this: http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/of...300GPH%29.html
Pretty reliable old-school technology right there. I used one on a freshwater tank once, back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
Or you may just want to continue to hang your equipment off the back for now. You can always spray the back glass with some Krylon paint: http://www.krylon.com/ to make it less unsightly.
In regards to a new heater, I would recommend an Eheim Jager. A staple in the hobby for years. People also seem to have a lot of success with the good old Aquaclear filters.
Keep the updates and pictures coming!

[quote=patpare;937544]yes, tempered glass. Thank you
Kind of in a fog at that time lol

You can always get a sump, in my opinion now is too late to drill holes in your tank,as wardog say those cpr are great I use one on my 65. They use an aqualifter to work, my only issue was when we were away I lost power and the aqualifter stopped working so for a couple of days the tank had no flow that's why now I recommend to people reef ready tanks.... But if you decide to go with the hob overflow I reccomend you to have an extra aqualifter just in case , they are cheap anyways

+1 on the Cpr overflow. I use one on my 75g and I use to turn off my return pump during each feeding n just plug it I. And the cpr will always auto siphon. Mybe after like 200x it will lose siphon once and I just use a the aqualifter to siphon it again or U can even suck it lol.

Question though. is there any point in using something like that on this little 23 gallon tank?

It's not required but it does make life easier for you even though there is more to setup

Well if u want a sump to hide all the equipment , yes u need an overflow in ur case hob is the better choice because the tank is already running....or you can keep everything as it is and paint the back is a good choice also... It's all up to you

This seems to be similar. would it work?

http://www.bigalspets.ca/proflex-han...w-box-220.html

Yeah that's a kind same idea, I'm not familiar with those one , but for the amount of money is better for you to go with cpr, because are 1 piece acrylic , but that just my preference