Mikejrice 30g *Finished*

The Tank:

For this project I decided to go with a 30 gallon that is built to be longer (36”) than typical nano packages. As with most set-ups it included an internal overflow leading to a small compartment where a skimmer could be added, wet/dry filtration and return chamber with included pump.

I set it up with white sand and about 20lbs. of live rock in the display. I filled the skimmer compartment with additional live rock to add bio-filtration. I put a metal halide fixture on that features a 250 watt double ended HQI and two 96 watt PC bulbs.



Refugium:

The mods first on the list were simple ones to get the tank up to par for an increased bio-load. I began by sealing off the underpass going from the wet/dry compartment into the return chamber. This forces the water to flow over the baffle into the return chamber. In the former wet/dry compartment (now refugium) I put more live rock about 4” of sand and chaeto macro algae. The light I am running on the tank is wide enough that one of the PC bulbs puts light directly on the refugium. I also put a couple of mangroves and liverock in the skimmer compartment to help increase bio-filtration.



Lighting:

As with most nano set-ups, I received this tank with minimal PC lighting. In order to achieve my goal of keeping any coral I decided to upgrade to metal halide lighting. I chose a 36” fixture that sits on legs. It has one 250 watt double ended HQI MH and two 96 watt PC bulbs. The PC bulb at the rear of the tank hangs directly over the fuge, so I am running a 6700k bulb for good macro growth. The front bulb is an actinic to give my corals that extra glow. I decided to go with a 20k halide also to give my corals more “pop”.

Flow:

Flow is one of the hardest considerations when setting up a tank for all coral types, and a much needed upgrade when looking to transition a stock nano to keeping SPS. SPS needs intense high flow while most LPS and softies needs some relief from that intense flow. To keep both in the tank, I needed something that could give bursts of high flow to keep SPS happy while still giving some lulls of lower flow to keep LPS extended. I decided to go with an Ecotech MP10. It has several custom modes which provide very random flow ranging from 70x turnover of the tank down to 20x turnover. I also added Ecotech's battery backup system for insurance. It will run the MP10 for 72 hours with no power.

Expanding the possibilities:

To this point I had only worked on expending the system within the space given by the stock nano tank, but with the itch for a skimmer and more space for bio-filtration I was left with one choice. I needed to add a sump.

The sump tank:

For the sump tank I decided to go with a 20 gallon long with custom baffles installed. I set it up so that flow runs into a large skimmer compartment, through a bubble trap, through two fuges and than into the return chamber. I used some simple glass baffles cut by the home improvement store and 100% silicon to glue them in place. This not only added about 15 gallons of water to my total system volume, but added much needed space to continue my upgrades.



Sump fuge:

The new fuge space is run by a dual compact florescent light totaling about 60 watts. Because neither of the bulbs hang over the display on this one I am running the light 24 hours. In both of these fuges I have a lot more live rock, deep sand beds and chaeto macro algae.

Protein skimmer:

For skimmer selection I was lucky enough to have a monster skimmer provided by SWCskimmers.com. They set me up with a Xtreme Mini S cone protein skimmer. This skimmer is rated loosely for about 200 gallons, but I believe it could do MUCH more.



UV Sterilizer:

After a few battles with cyano algae, I decided to install a high flow UV filter in the sump to help kill off algae spores before they can infest. I went with a simple and economical model from one of the big pet supply chain stores. Since installing it I can definitely see a major difference in algae growth.

Auto Top Off (ATO):

By the time I made it to this step my bio-filtration was strong enough that I was easily feeding 3 cubes of frozen per/day with no nitrates or algae outbreaks. The last thing that was bothering me about this tank was it’s lack of automation. Topping off, adding chemicals and feeding every day gets to be a chore, so I decided it was time to install an ATO. I picked up a simple float valve and am using a spare bucket that sits on the sump as a reservoir. I now add frozen food cubes and all chemicals directly to the STO reservoir which means everything is dripped over a long period. This keeps salinity and all other levels stable 24 hours a day as well as adds food to the system at a constant rate.

The population booms!:

At this point the growth rate of my corals really started to give me some pay back on all the hard work. Acroporas are growing at about 1” per/month and the heads of my LPS are replicating at what seems to be about once per/week! I have also been adding more corals to the population at a very fast rate at this point and my calcium levels are starting to reflect that. It seems every week I’m having to up calcium dosing, so it’s time to add a solution.

The denitrifier:

Once again SWCskimmers.com to the rescue. This time they set me up with a sulfur denitrifier. I wanted to set this unit up mostly for the benefit of buffering and some added calcium, so I filled it with crushed coral and got it running. The intake to the unit is in the skimmer compartment of the main tank and the output goes directly to my skimmer intake. This will make sure to re oxygenate the water as it comes back into the system.

Completed system:

At this point, I consider the system complete. There is so much filtration that I can’t seem to get any nitrate readings no matter how much nutrients I add into the system and the coral growth is going nuts.



Final Equipment List:
30 gallon aqrylic tank with rear refugium section
Ecotech MP10 pump
Ecotech battery backup
36” metal halide fixture
20 gallon long sump
SWC Xtreme Mini S cone protein skimmer
UV filter
200 watt heater
Rio 600gph return pump
60 watts of PC lighting for refugium
SWC sulfur denitrifier
Float valve auto top off

 

wow that is awesome. That is exactly how i hope for my tank to end up, taken over by coral very nice

 

wow very beautiful.

 

Most of it is still not even covering the frag plugs. I cant wait tell it takes over the tank.

My goal was a different type of coral every two to three inches on the rock. I think I exceeded that by a lot.

 

haha looks like you did. Maybe i'll have that same goal. I love the look of a ton of coral

 

Me too and thats why Im stuck with the small tanks for now. With the cost it was to get the coral this dense in a 30 gallon I dont know how people do it with 100+ gallon tanks.

 

It looks great! Nice work. I'm gonna steal an idea from your pics, the egg crate with the mangroves coming through, that's perfect for my tilting mangroves.

 

Steal away. I cant rave enough about mangroves. I havent done a water change in over a year, dont run a skimmer, am overstocked and my nitrates still sit at 0.

 

yea, i'm the same way. I'm barely able to afford the 46 and have no idea how people do the bigger tanks. Your tank is really making me itch to get corals, but i must wait

 

Awesome looking tank. But won't the scribbled rabbitfish quickly outgrow a 30 gallon tank?