Stevefromtpsfld's 29 gallon reef build

MP10 install and pics

Tax returns came in and treated myself to a Vortec MP10 wireless!



Spent the extra to get the wireless so I can add a second down the road. But man, does it throw some waves in my 30" wide. I have it installed left side 1/3 down from the top centered front to back. The next two pics show how much of a wave I was getting in nutrient transport mode:


left


right

You can see the abundance of coralline growth on the back and sides of the tank. had to scrape off a spot for the mp10 wet side to sit. Been lots of fun playing with all the settings. Have it on lagoon mode for now. Question: do people put it into night mode before going to bed, or when the lights in the tank shut off, or just let it go in their selected mode?

Love this piece, trying to decide where to mount the controller, thinking underneath my backup digital thermometer:



Got some good tank pics to post, need another reply to add more photos.

 

few extra pics, and a question

I know I've done a bunch of research about pineapple sponges or whatever they are, I just want to make sure I'm not having an invasion. I do have alot sitting on the back and bottom of one of my rocks, including a few decent sized ones. And my single, that I can see, tube worm it nestled right in the middle of them:



and a closeup of the tube worm:



And one other question, I have a bit of red algae that is carpeting part of my sand bed where the current WAS low. That's not an issue anymore with the MP10, but it's still unattractive, but the blue legged hermit in this pic seems to be munching away:



And I bought 3 cerith snails, and I can't find 2 of them, but this one has sat in mostly the same little area, buried in the sand, with just his snorkel sticking up since I bought them on Sunday 5 days ago:



Loving my tank, can't wait to get my clowns this weekend, do a 10 gallon water change, and keep researching LED systems, and keep looking for a cheap 20g to build into a sump/refugium. Werd.

 

The tank is coming along great!

Nothing to worry about with the sponges. They will come and go as your tank matures. My tank is a year old and I've had them numerous times.

The red stuff looks like cyano and that will come and go as well. The blue legs will munch on it and improved flow will also help.

Ceriths like to bury themselves in the sand and come out at night. I wouldn't be too worried about not seeing them. They're likely in the sand bed keeping it stirred up, which is a good thing. I have one that I hadn't seen for a good 4-5 months, and he just popped up out of the sand bed one day (he has an odd shaped shell and is easy to spot). Haven't seen him since.

 

Got my pair of semi-Picasso clowns today. Took a trip to my lfs today through a decent snow storm, and when I walked in and spotted Brendan the owner, he said they had a pair ready to go. Decent sized, according to him they are just out of juvenile stage and one has most likely switched to female or is very close to doing so. They are a beautiful colorful addition to my tank and I couldn't be happier. I'll post some pics in a little while. Need to clean up some water drips on the front panel. I can't post a pics with a dirty tank!

Paid over $100 for the pair, so I really took my time with the acclimatization this time, more so than with the three green chromis. Turned off the lights, put the MP10 into night mode, floated them for a bit while my friend and jammed on the acoustics, then did a nice slow drip with them for another hour. Carefully scooped them out with a small net and released them near the bottom of the tank one at a time. I think they appreciated it because they seem to be doing really well. One of my 2 chromis I have left was acting funny towards one of the clowns for a bit; was funny to watch.

The chromis have their favorite nighttime cave accessible near the back right corner of my aquascaping, and they escaped into in when I flipped the lights off, and one of the clowns was chilling nearby when he first got in. The one chromis kept slowly swimming at him backwards pushing him off with his tail. Nice and delicate, but persistently. Now, about an hour later, I have my small led nightlife on and all 4 fish are roaming around all intermingled with no issues I can see. The chromis seem to like their new tankmates. They better, cause at $5 ea. they wouldn't stay too long if they starting getting too pushy.

Also picked up a second blue led mini strip to daisy chain onto the first for a little extra glow at night. They stay on all day too and add that nice led shimmer I love. And for $1 I grabbed about 8 new empty shells for my blue leg hermits to move into if they feel fit. I saw a few scrapping the other night and one seemed to have outgrown his shell, so some new real estate was in order. Got some cool shells too, can't wait to see them walking by. I think I have 5 hermits, so they have lots of options now. Got a phosphate test kit too the other day, and a small mag float for the right side of the tank I see when I walk in the room. Can't leave pet stores without buying something anymore. Already had a large mag float for the front, but why move it to the side when you can just buy another? Gonna go clean the tank glass and install the second led and take some pics, ill try to upload them tonight.

Werd.

 

Bought my sump/refugium tank today 20g tall 13" deep 24" wide. Gonna hit Home Depot and get some acrylic to build my baffles, gotta order my CPR overflow, return pump, and possibly a new protein skimmer to replace my HOB. Gonna be a few weeks before I get everything, more pics when I do.

Clowns are doing great too.

Werd.

 

If the sump is glass, you should do glass baffles. A glass cutter, sandpaper and some cheap glass may cost you less than a sheet of the Hdepot crappy plexiglass they carry. Or simply have a local glass shop make the pieces.

The silicone for glass doesn't permanently bond to plexiglass\acrylic. I've never seen anything but the really thin plexiglass at my HDepot.
Acrylic sumps are made of cell cast acrylic which is different than plexi.

 

Very true. But, I did get two sheets of 1/4 acrylic today, 18"x24". Hoping to get 4 baffles out of the two sheets. Might need a small one to finish off the design I want. Didn't think about the silicone sealant not curing well to the acrylic. Think I may need to either return the two acrylic sheets, or find something that will bond them to be glass. Thanks fat******* for the intel; more research is needed me thinks.

Werd.

 

Having my lfs Unique Aquaria in Woburn Ma order my CPR overflow box, and a 1250 Eheim return pump. Gotta finish my sump tank this week and hopefully get it operational Sunday. Can't wait.

 

I have had silicone keeping my acrylic baffles in place in my sump for a couple of years now. The key is to not push more than 10X the volume of the sump through it.

 

sump tank complete and new fish pics

Decent update: Finished my sump tank. It's a 20G tall $40 at Petco. Baffles are all 1/4" acrylic bought at Home Depot 2 18"x24" sheets $40 for both. I'll be using a Eheim 1250 hobby pump in the center return, $109 at lfs. Left room in the intake section for a future purchase of an in sump skimmer. For now I am just going to get a size 4 sock for the line in from the soon to have CPR overflow box 300gph, new model with slotted intake, no more mesh thing. . LFS should hopefully have it tomorrow. Been waiting a bit, wanted to finish this on Sunday, but their order was delayed. Tomorrow! Heres a shot of the sump/refugium:



THe baffle on the left is dead straight; the iphone shot makes it look a bit angle or bent. Anyway, thats the refugium area on the far left, 6" wide and 12.5" deep, planning a 6" deep sand bed, bought the bag of sand at lfs this weekend, fine aragonite. I had two long pieces of acrylic left so I cut them down for split top to the sump tank, and I'll cut holes where needed for the sock and intake and return lines. Hopefully this will help cut down on some evaporation. Looking into a ATO soon. When I water tested the sump I used a shopvac to get the water out, 15g shopvac was almost full, so I will be adding about 14g to my overall system, making it 14+25(figuring for rock and sand displacement)=call it an even 40g system. I can get some tangs now! JK of courcse, only small fish in my tank, except for my two Semi-Picasso clowns I got three weeks ago:



Beautiful fish, worth every penny, $60 each. They swim together like this all the time, and have slowly started checking out the caves I've made with the 6 lbs of rock I added this weekend too. Total rocks are about 32-33 lbs I guess. two are buried pretty well in the 3" sandbed. Felt the tank was looking too bare, and the clowns were basically hosting a small magfloat on the right side panel of the tank. They'd come out for feeding, then go chill there, all night too. LFS suggested more rocks and more caves. Voila:



Lot's of caves, 4 or 5 with a couple good ones in the middle they've been exploring. One of the clowns is noticeably bigger, and has a beautiful asymmetrical patterning:



the fish on the right side is pretty much symmetrical on both sides, but the larger guy (girl?) on the left has this pattern in his left side, and this pattern on his right:



Very cool I think. Just a dot of the black and orange left in the wider white stripe on that side. Love these guys, they come right up to the front of the tank with the two green chromis when I get home from work and get the food ready for them, and they all eat very well. They all get along great, and love the MP10 giving them some waves to surf in.

Tanks for looking and comments are always welcome. I'll update again when I get the sump going properly. hoping to add a few beginner soft corals soon, and getting my goby/shrimp pair shortly after that. Thinking Dracula goby. Beautiful and worth the investment.

Werd.