steelerfan's 30 Gallon Breeder Journal/Build

[steelerfan67]

hi greech,

the game plan was to let the tank finishing the cycle which i thought going in would be mid april.

after the ammonia/nitrite was gone, that's when i was going to add my CUC and a ball of cheato from reefcleaners.

figure then with no ammonia/nitrite i could give the pods a month to establish, then was going to add a cleaner shrimp a couple weeks later.

at same time as adding cleaner shrimp i was going to set up the QT tank and cycle it and get it ready for when i see a nice hardy/peacefull fish come up and give it a try.

when that is finished i think the 8 week period time frame from leaving shrimp/CUC will be done, so if any ich came in on that it would be clear.

i know a lot of people have to rush to get something in the tank, but to be honest it isn't killing me just going slow.

granted i would like to get a CUC in there, but i am fine just getting the routine of checking sg, topping off/taking temp morning/night and getting a system down.

now about my srew up of ordering only a 2 bulb t5 light

would you recomend your lighting?

 

[greech]

Didn't mean to rush you. Good that you have a plan and patience!

If I was buying a light fixture today for my breeder it would be a 6 bulb ATI sunpower or power module. I wouldn't even think twice about it. I would still use a LED supplement like the panorama and may add another. I would also suspend it above the tank so the fixture was not directly on the tank. Depending on how high I could get away with hanging it and still keep SPS I may even consider a 6 bulb 24". This is the advantage of having shallow tanks like ours.

 

[steelerfan67]

Didn't mean to rush you. Good that you have a plan and patience!

If I was buying a light fixture today for my breeder it would be a 6 bulb ATI sunpower or power module. I wouldn't even think twice about it. I would still use a LED supplement like the panorama and may add another. I would also suspend it above the tank so the fixture was not directly on the tank. Depending on how high I could get away with hanging it and still keep SPS I may even consider a 6 bulb 24". This is the advantage of having shallow tanks like ours.

no, no offense taken

that is way too much for me to spend right now to be honest with you, especially since the sps doesn't even visually excite me too much.

am liking the lps quite a bit lately though, but even at that since i plan on the dwarf angel i am gonna have to see how the little bugger pans out.

not gonna spend big cash on a meal for the little guy.

my main issue with the 2 is the width of the tank.

color wise it is fine, just need more of it.

i saw the sundial with 1 cord and fan, 4 bulb on big al's for like 290.

i am taking it that is the 1 you have?

i take it you aren't that thrilled with it?

i could go another 2 bulb aquatic light but either unit has a fan and i don't know if that is a huge dis advantage?

it would also add 1 more cord to plug in. not a big deal but would prefer 1 cord for all 4 bulbs.

other than that the aquatic life does have a 1 cord 4 bulb with moon lite and fan for cooling for around 340.

don't know if the 340 aquatic life is better than the 290 sundial.

again, i know the 1 you stated is the cream of the crop. just can't dish that out especially if there a change i can't even keep corals cause of the fish.

 

[steelerfan67]

the wife's camera is hers for a reason. the settings are greek to me.

hope to learn to get a good pic, but tank is almost all clear, aside from the dust storm at times. hope it slimes up soon as i have a few bald spots.

 

[greech]

Tank looks really good. Completely understood and it's too much for me too but one day

No I like my sundial a lot. I have had really good growth and the 4 bulb gives me some color choice. The reflectors are not individual but rather a larger reflector that is bent around each bulb individually. The one cord, built in timers and moonlights are REALLY nice. The price is hard to beat too. I have not had any performance issues and the fixture is well built IMO.

The only negatives I have are:
1. Somewhat loud fans (can be replaced with quieter computer fans which is on my list)
2. No way to really hang it over the tank due to the curved top.

The other option might be a LED strip or two to supplement the 2 T5's you have. Two panorama modules like mine would be $200. You could do a 14K (white and blue) and a 453nm (blue actinic) or 2x453nm's if you want a bluer tank. You may or may not get a bit more PAR out of a 4 bulb T5 but as shallow as your tank is you really don't need much for LPS and softies. My SPS have taken off since I added my panorama.

 

[the wizard]

the wife's camera is hers for a reason. the settings are greek to me.

hope to learn to get a good pic, but tank is almost all clear, aside from the dust storm at times. hope it slimes up soon as i have a few bald spots.

View attachment 169086

I know what you mean, I have been trying to learn how to use Kashta's camera for a while now but still can't get a good tank shot. I can barely get a decent pic of the dog lol.

I really like your rock work. Having a rectangular tank does have advantages over the bio cube. I couldn't have gotten a reef up with a regular tank for what I invested in the bio cube though.

 

[steelerfan67]

Tank looks really good. Completely understood and it's too much for me too but one day

No I like my sundial a lot. I have had really good growth and the 4 bulb gives me some color choice. The reflectors are not individual but rather a larger reflector that is bent around each bulb individually. The one cord, built in timers and moonlights are REALLY nice. The price is hard to beat too. I have not had any performance issues and the fixture is well built IMO.

The only negatives I have are:
1. Somewhat loud fans (can be replaced with quieter computer fans which is on my list)
2. No way to really hang it over the tank due to the curved top.

The other option might be a LED strip or two to supplement the 2 T5's you have. Two panorama modules like mine would be $200. You could do a 14K (white and blue) and a 453nm (blue actinic) or 2x453nm's if you want a bluer tank. You may or may not get a bit more PAR out of a 4 bulb T5 but as shallow as your tank is you really don't need much for LPS and softies. My SPS have taken off since I added my panorama.

thanks greech,

i think i may bite the bullet now and just get the sundial and chalk it up to a learning experience.

the color choice is what i am missing with the 2 bulb and think i could get a lot more pop of colors having the 4 bulb.

i think the fan should add more life to the fixture as well, as i think the 1 i have now would run hot.

thanks again for your help friend.

 

[steelerfan67]

I know what you mean, I have been trying to learn how to use Kashta's camera for a while now but still can't get a good tank shot. I can barely get a decent pic of the dog lol.

I really like your rock work. Having a rectangular tank does have advantages over the bio cube. I couldn't have gotten a reef up with a regular tank for what I invested in the bio cube though.

thanks wizard,

i know i have a lot more rock in there than most would like, but i think the fish will like the area and it does leave enough swimming room and a little bit for the handfull of corals i want to try.

yes, i am horrible with technology.

i had the LFS pushint the bio 29 pretty hard on me, but having to have a dwarf angel, i wantedd to give it a bigger blueprint to swim and although only 30 gallons when i compared it to the bio 29, it looks like he will have a lot more than a gallon difference.

i do like the cubes but think this is better for what i want.

 

[steelerfan67]

so i just got this tv stand for 30 bucks that supports 95 pounds. (the wife is thrilled)

heres the hi tech QT system:

i have the following:
10 gallon tank
1 50 watt jager heater
1 maxi jet 900 (230 GPH)
seachem ammonia alert tag
thermometer
couple of pvc pipes

my game plan was to use the ceramic rings from my AC110 and just keep them in the tank on the bottom and cycle that way with a 1/2 shrimp.

i was hoping the flow from the maxi 900 would be enough so that the ceramic rings would get the bacteria.

is this an option?

also, if i had to run copper, would just leaving a bag of carbon or polyfilter in tank be good enough to get rid of the meds?

thanks for any advice.

 

[greech]

Good QT. A single pack of rings will help but you will still need to do fairly frequent WC's. While you want to be careful with overfeeding you still want to make sure the fish eats well. You will want to siphon out the crud on the bottom anyway. Get some thin tubing (bigger than airline tubing though) for this and you can reduce the amount of water and give you time to siphon. I would also add a bottle of Amquel to your list as a just in case.