CryptoNautical
Active Member
Well this is my first post on R2R. I've been on for a bit but I'd like to share my journey.
So I started with a 30 bow front.
I started with dry rock and live sand. I've kept many reef tanks before but this is where we'll begin.
This was about 3 months in, the cycle was complete and from here it was smooth sailing. Well so far I have
2 Ai prime 16s,
with a 75gallon HOB filter
a tunze ATO system.
And 2 Hygger mini DC power heads
As Time went on the tank developed and then all of a sudden
This algea came and it just kept going. Eating practically the hole tank. The ugly faze began.
The first thing I did was try to identify it. I feared it was diatoms but you can see it was algea.
Sadly I don't have many photos after the huge algea spike. My test looked good but the algea just kept coming back relentlessly. I got to the point where I was scrubbing portions of the rock work to help my cleanup crew get in there and help out. But it was only temporary.
This is what spurred me to look for methods to help me tackle this issue. The skimmer was working okay but I wanted a refugium and I was going to get a HOB refugium but at that point I made up my mind and decided to get a bigger tank and a sump. And now the adventure really begins.
I settled with a 40 gallon breeder and a 20 gallon long for my sump. Now I was sick of the HOB stuff so I decided to drill the tank. Which I've never done before.
I used aquarium safe silicone to install the baffles in the 20 and then went onto the next step of drilling. I practiced drilling some glass holes with the Homedepot "glass cutting" drill bit which was a huge bust. I cracked every single hole. So I ordered from BRS and got the real deal.
As yall can see it was a mess. I completely destroyed this 10 gallon just trying. And after the BRS bit. I got a perfect hole on the side lol.
I used my RODI system to keep constant water flow across the drill bit.
On to the 40
The main thing I immediately notice with
the 40 was the much thicker glass than the 10 making glass drilling so much easier. Just had to be patient and let the drill do the work.
The holes were drilled and the bulkheads were in. I planned on using a 1in tubing for overflow and a 3/4 for the return. This later changed to 3/4 return and the same return. The 1in was just a little too large for my liking.
Now it's on to the Freshwater test.
So far so good. Everything is going to plan. After multiple trips to Homedepot for plumbing. This was about 3 1/2 weeks in from the decision of moving to the 40gal.
I hooked up the sump and moved the tank inside. Now it's time to start the transition. I filled the 40 and sump to about 80% full of fresh and mixed the salt directly into tank to match my 30 gallon and matched the temp. It was time.
After a stressful 4 hours of cleaning rock transporting corals and moving sand we come to the finished product of 4 weeks
It's not perfect or completely done but I'm proud of my work. My refugium starter is on order. My ATO is in and I've had it running for about 5 days now. Im glad I settled for upgrading to the 40gal, this'll give my clownfish plenty of space and more stability for the tank.
I hope yall enjoyed my work and I can't wait to read about yalls experience.
So I started with a 30 bow front.
I started with dry rock and live sand. I've kept many reef tanks before but this is where we'll begin.
This was about 3 months in, the cycle was complete and from here it was smooth sailing. Well so far I have
2 Ai prime 16s,
with a 75gallon HOB filter
a tunze ATO system.
And 2 Hygger mini DC power heads
As Time went on the tank developed and then all of a sudden
This algea came and it just kept going. Eating practically the hole tank. The ugly faze began.
The first thing I did was try to identify it. I feared it was diatoms but you can see it was algea.
Sadly I don't have many photos after the huge algea spike. My test looked good but the algea just kept coming back relentlessly. I got to the point where I was scrubbing portions of the rock work to help my cleanup crew get in there and help out. But it was only temporary.
This is what spurred me to look for methods to help me tackle this issue. The skimmer was working okay but I wanted a refugium and I was going to get a HOB refugium but at that point I made up my mind and decided to get a bigger tank and a sump. And now the adventure really begins.
I settled with a 40 gallon breeder and a 20 gallon long for my sump. Now I was sick of the HOB stuff so I decided to drill the tank. Which I've never done before.
I used aquarium safe silicone to install the baffles in the 20 and then went onto the next step of drilling. I practiced drilling some glass holes with the Homedepot "glass cutting" drill bit which was a huge bust. I cracked every single hole. So I ordered from BRS and got the real deal.
As yall can see it was a mess. I completely destroyed this 10 gallon just trying. And after the BRS bit. I got a perfect hole on the side lol.
I used my RODI system to keep constant water flow across the drill bit.
On to the 40
The main thing I immediately notice with
the 40 was the much thicker glass than the 10 making glass drilling so much easier. Just had to be patient and let the drill do the work.
The holes were drilled and the bulkheads were in. I planned on using a 1in tubing for overflow and a 3/4 for the return. This later changed to 3/4 return and the same return. The 1in was just a little too large for my liking.
Now it's on to the Freshwater test.
So far so good. Everything is going to plan. After multiple trips to Homedepot for plumbing. This was about 3 1/2 weeks in from the decision of moving to the 40gal.
I hooked up the sump and moved the tank inside. Now it's time to start the transition. I filled the 40 and sump to about 80% full of fresh and mixed the salt directly into tank to match my 30 gallon and matched the temp. It was time.
After a stressful 4 hours of cleaning rock transporting corals and moving sand we come to the finished product of 4 weeks
It's not perfect or completely done but I'm proud of my work. My refugium starter is on order. My ATO is in and I've had it running for about 5 days now. Im glad I settled for upgrading to the 40gal, this'll give my clownfish plenty of space and more stability for the tank.
I hope yall enjoyed my work and I can't wait to read about yalls experience.
