25 gallon reef
 

okay, well since im doing this, might as well make a journal for it.

okay, so i am making a 29 gallon reef tank with a 20 gallon sump/refugium. just as a heads up, this thread will probably go quite slow as i am only 13 so it is hard to get money for everything i need all at one time, i am working on getting a job though, so who knows.

so anyway, so far all i have is a 29 gallon with a dark blue painted on backround, a hagen GLO series T5HO lighting setup with one atinic bulb and one spectrum, and also an Eshops overflow box.

my main coral idea is softies. like zoanthus, leather finger coral, mushrooms, ect.

my next step is probably making my stand. so look for that coming soon

a pic of the tank as is(without overflow box)

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...azy101/069.jpg

stand
 

well today i got started on the stand with my dad. srry, didnt get any pics.
my dad isnt exactly the bets person with a circular saw, but he pretty good, so we will ahve to see how it turns out

well im almost done the stand. i stained it today but i dont like the stain color, its too light, so i will get something darker.

sorry, i didnt get any pics of building, me and my dad were working to hard to take pics:wink:

well keep it up and us posted. i started with a 20G, got to start somewhere, keep it simple to start dont spend to much money, cause it can add up fast. cant wait to see it with some water in it.

thanx for the comment :)

yeah, im not gonna go like total money overload on this, but i still want to have some good equipment as i suspect this tank will be set up for atleast 3 years

o, my stocking plan is:
fish
-1 atlantic pygmy angel
-1 randalls goby
-1 undecided. im thinking of a firefish. anyone got any suggestions
reef
(this is just rough)
-lots of zoas
-star polyps
-mushrooms
-ricordea(sp?)
-chili coral
anyone have any suggestions for basicaly low lighting but good looking beginer corals?
CUC/inverts
(also rough)
-scarlet cleaner shrimp
-6-10 hermits
-10-15 snails(not sure what kind)

crap
 

ok, well i stained it the right color but i guess i just needed a teeny bit more of a wait for varnish, so theres some light spots on the doors:(.. hopefully it wont look too bad...

Anymore pics? :lol:

Sounds like u got it all planned out tho.. I am gonna be starting a 23G SPS Dominated Nano here shortly.. Depending on your lighting, you may be able to have a few SPS high up in the tank..

i'll try to get some pics monday
dont think so. its only a 2x24 watt T5HO, not very high. i prefer LPS anyways, even though there are some cool SPS.

ok, so stocking list is change to this
fish
-1 atlantic pygmy angel
-2 misbarred black occelaris
-1 goby. still not sure what kind

if i cant get misbared occ. ill get normal.

also does anyone have an suggestions on the goby? i like the yashia and the randalls goby. i also like gobies that sift sand in here mouths, but most of them get too big for my tank.
im going to red coral tomorow for my first time so maybe i will get some inspiration there

yellow head sleeper goby. are nice

i think a yellow headed sleeper goby would need a bigger tank. i really like the yashias so i will look into them more

iLove my yellow watchman goby in my 29 gallon sifts sand and is interesting to watch with the pistol shrimp

pics!
 

okay, so finaly stand pics.
i just realised last night that i am stupid and miss calculated my sump/stand size. im thinking it will end up in the consiquence of having to get a custom sump made. anywho, heres the pics:

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/001-2.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/006-1.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...azy101/008.jpg

so i order my custom sump today,
from elite aquatics.
shud be bout 2 weeks says colby, so i will keep you guys updated

oh, and just a lil note, when i was at elite today they had a magnificent frogspawn that was almost see through.
shud be snatched up pretty quick

got sump?
 

SUMP!

i got it this weekend and its awesome.
good quality too.
and it fits like a glove

(its backwards in these pics)
pics:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/003-8.jpg

in stand:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/007-4.jpg

hangs out the back on a wood block for easy plumbing:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...y101/010-3.jpg

that all for now

Wont be long now bud. You getting excited yet?

lol, ive been exited since december.

but yes, very exited indeed. i cant wait to make my big order form J&L. it'll be my last purchase for one item over 150 bucks basicaly(other than LR )


EDIT: ordered refractomer, skimmer, and an aqualift pump from J&L tonite. can't wait to get it

okay so everything arrived in mint condition and it all looks great.

thats the good news.

the bad news is that im kinda thinking my overflowbox was a waste of money.
from what i've heard getting the tank drilled would be a way better option. now i just gotta call riverfrotn and ask if my tank is tempered or not because i bought it from there and it didnt say...

EDIT:i just called and they said it probably isn't, but they have no way to tell. so right now im thinkign about just getting an AGA and not risking it.
stupid mistakes= money in this hobby i guess

OH, and i did a really bad paint job, what's the best way to get the paint off?

The bottom panel might be tempered, but fairly good odds that the viewing panels aren't... I'd try drilling before you go buy another tank..

Paint thinner/remover should work for the paint...

personaly i would rather just go get an AGA and not risk it, mostly because thats just the way i am, and also because the one i bought isnt in the best shape either, so i'd rather just start from scratch

now i gotta decide if i want my backround dark blue or black. any suggestions?

Just an opinion, but I seem to like a black background on the photos of tanks I've seen. The coral-reef backing that comes on rolls in the LFS can look good too, if the tank has enough interesting things to look at that draw the eye away from the bright colours in the background.

This is just an opinion, however. I'm leaving my tank clear when I set it up, but that's just because part of it sticks out past the wall that it will sit against.

Ro
 

hehehe, great news.

So mommy decided its too much of a hassle to buy water jugs for drinking,
so guess who got a brand new 3 stage RO filter professionally installed today:twised:

it seems like a good enough unit, and we got it plumbed so that the bad water just goes back into our system,
so green point for me :lol:

its under our kitchen sink with a 5 gallon canister thing
and it has one of those R/O taps, so its 1 less floor to go up with :biggrin:

question time:
ok, so i was thinking i could just make enough buckets of R/O water to last the month and then make it saltwater on water change day. would i need to keep the RO water aerated?

Definitely keep it aerated if you plan to keep it in pails for a month.

ok, then i think i might just get a brute for the basement and put a big ol koralia in it.


o, and also, what size PVC do you think i should plumb with? i was thinking 1"

also, what size hole would i need drilled for that and what size bulkhead?

bump..

o,and just a little sneek peek, i might be getting a RK2 controller for christmas :biggrin:

that would put me back a little, but hey, if your gonna start something, why not start it right?:lol:

oh, and does anyone know the dimensions of the RK2 (just the controller part itself, not the cables or power block ect)

AAAARGH!!!!

stupid bell mobile is trying to charge me 270 bucks for texts i didn't send :mad:

this is gonna set me back quite a bit

damn you bell!

:snipersm::2gunfire: bell

I have enough for my RK2 and a pinpoint ph probe for it!
will get ordered very soon
pics when it arives

seems like you're moving along quickly, which is good.

Are you looking at drilling it yourself or getting someone else to do it? I'd imagine if you talk to bow valley or the like you can just say what size bulkheads you want and they'll drill to fit. For my smaller tanks I usually go with 1.5" drain and a 1" return line...you could go herbie system too now that I think of it...

yeah, im am going with the herbie. i guess if im getting it drilled by experienced...drillers they should know

for sure. I'd still go with 1.5" drains and 1" returns. Since your thinking of LPS/sofites, you'd only really NEED two returns...cross them with lock-line or the like in the tank.

yeah, im planning on doing exactly what you said. for the return it will be 1 hole drilled and then a Y of loc-line into more loc-line

if you're going to be drilling you might as well drill for 2 returns...the less lockline I see in a tank the better...then you can direct each return to a specific area in the tank

1" Bulk head for 1" pipiing.. Drills bit cut slightly larger than the specified bulkheads in my experience... Done about 10-11 holes in my time

i dont really want to do 2, just because of the way i want my flow to go. my koralia will be on a JBJ ocean pulse and be on the opposite side of the loc-line, so it'll be sort of a mini wave maker

well in that case! LOL Look forward to getting pics

haha. i look forward to having updates to take pics of.

argh
 

i change my mind way too much.

so i decided i dont want my aqua-C skimmer anymore because its not as good quality than what i could have from other skimmers approximately the same price.

So i've decided i want to get a vertex skimmer. only problem is i designed my sump to hold an aqua-C urchin(only a 6.5"x14" space). so what i would have to do is remove a baffle, and move my bubble trap over. also make my return pump exteernal (which i kinda wanted to do anyways.

pros-
-great german skimmer
-bigger fuge
-external return pump

cons-
-it kinda sucks to have to take out a baffle and a bubble trap
-lots of work and hard to do IMO

if anyone has ever removed baffles, please tell me how difficult it was. it would be super appreciated.

Two steps forward, one step back:neutral:

Update!
 

ok, so update time:

things that are new:

-I'm going skimmer less baby! atleast for now :)

-im going to have 2 return holes like randi siad earleir on in this thread (for a cleaner look)

-I'm removing 1 baffle from my sump and getting it drilled so i can have a big fuge like i want :)

-RK2's seem impossible to come by now, so i think i'll get the RKL

Finaly found a tank i want my tank to look like! (link below)

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=1

i'm thinking about changin my 'scape idea to more like that tank^^^

Thats bout all for now. oh, and all you people who are lucky enough to be able to get all these awesome frags of zoas lately..

im gonna be askin for a frag eventually! :P

Have you seen her bio-cube?( DeMartini).....simply amazing. So any eta on the water for this bad boy?

no i haven't seen that bio-cube.

my estimated time for water is about the end of april. I've been planning for that time for a while, and now that it's getting closer..

IM FREAKIN EXITED!

o yeah, my list of stuff to get:
-bucket of salt
-aquarium controller
-1 AGA (29 gallon)
-return pump
-tank ad sump drilled
-saltwater storage unit (one of those rubber maid garbage cans with a koralia in it :P)
-heater
-like 6 5gallon buckets

okay, so here's a picture of the way i want to plumb my system. please tell me if you see/know a better way to do it:
(p.s., the random box on the floor is the return pump, and the T like thing is one of those one's that make waves sorta)
EDIT: i think i might just use a regular T. anyone think the SCWD squid would be better?

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/h...1/plumbing.jpg