Small good reef tank

[Anonymous]

While I have a Biocube 29 that I am trying to make reef it is not practical IMO with all the equipment needed to run a reef tank properly. The sump area is too small.

I am looking for ideas for a small style reef tank that I can setup in my living room. The smallest reef-ready tank is a 58 Oceanic. While it is a good tank (had one) I want something a little smaller. The tank will need a nice looking canopy (to keep little hands and flying objects out of the tank) and a nice stand that can hold ALL reef equipment to support the tank. I do not want to use a HOB overflow since they WILL stop and break siphon. I do not know how to drill a tank so I am looking for a manufactured tank. I also have to keep power consumption down since I dont allot of electric available for the tank. The circuit is shared with a TV , DVD, cable box, lights, and whatever might be plugged in in the room. I am not upgrading the electric in the house either(too much $$).

Any ideas on a great design? Equipment from lighting to skimmer?

I have heaters, Ranco dual stage temp controller, Litremeter III, Korilla 1, mag 5.

 

[Len]

The need for an integrated canopy slims down the choices a bit. How about the RedSea Max?

 

[Anonymous]

I dont think there is much a difference. They both have small sump areas

 

[Len]

Yeah, but all the ones with hoods have sump areas.

 

[Anonymous]

I dont have to have a molded hood. I just need a nice setup with a hood to keep wandering hands out and flying objects (toys) out.

 

[Ben1]

You could always just use someone cheap like glass cages to make you a small tank. FWIW I dont know what limitations you are having wih the biocube. My son has a JBJ 29 HQI and does just fine. I changed the skimmer to a HOB and can push a maxijet in the back and plumb in a GAC/GFO filter. Heater fits in there and I use a over the top pvc tube to plumb the chiller, with an in-line external pump running it. Dont need much more then that.

In any case if you are set on a new tank, stand, hood, a 40 long would be neat. Or a small cube like this http://www.myreefcreations.com/20-Cube- ... 35-gallons

 

[bfessler]

Oceanic has a new line of Nano aquariums out that are pretty slick. We saw the first production tank at Reef Fest in Salt Lake City last month. The best thing about the tank is the glass lid. Instead of a slam shut top like most biocubes this unit has a solid glass top with vents at the corners for gas exchange and a 150 watt HQI clip on pendant light. The glass top keeps heat out as well as flying toys and jumping fish inside. The tank had a nice contemporary design and was one of the favorite tanks at the show. While the sump area isn't much bigger than most Nano's if you plan things right you can grow most anything in such a tank.

Here's a Picture of my JBJ 28 G CFL. This tank is 8 months and SPS are thriving. I started adding SPS about 3 months ago and have seen good growth on the Monti's, Millipora, and Birds Nest as well as the LPS Zoas, leather and softies.

 

[Anonymous]

I want everything hidden since its in my living room and I need to keep it away from the kids. I have a Sapphire skimmer that takes up most of the room in the sump area. The skimmer is OK at best. NO where to really plumb in a filter for GAC, GFO or similar unless its hanging outside the tank. The heat factor in this tank is a problem.

I have thought about adding 2 Vortech MP10's to see if that will help but dont want to waste anymore money on this tank.

 

[Ben1]

Sure I understand that. I am not the neatest person and can live with the reef crap everywhere. In the 29 I just have the two return pumps from the back chamber and 2 mini koralias and do fine. The returns I changed from the stock parts to maxijet 1200's. But my sons tank cant live with out a chiller which has always been a pain.

If they werent so darn expensive I'd recommend the elos all in ones, they look awesome.

 

[Anonymous]

Any pics of that new Oceanic?

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

Ugh - got home and the tank is a mess. algae all over now. Time to trash the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Came home algae now as well. That is probably from blasting the LR.

 

[bfessler]

Hi Chip,

Here is the only pic of the Oceanic I could find.

 

[bfessler]

Rob

After looking at your Nano It looks like the corals are doing well and the aquascaping looks nice. This tank is not unsaveable. The only real issue I see is the algae/bacteria problems you seem to be having. If you are interested in improving the look of the tank and removing or relocating the power heads so that the display is more appealing I'm sure many of the members here can help. To get a better idea of whats going on in the tank we would need to know as much detail about it as possible. A complete set of water parameters, The stock list including the clean up crew, frequency of water changes, that sort of thing. We have been helping people with much worse problems than exist in that tank at our local club and I have seen many restored to beautiful tanks with just a few changes.

 

[Anonymous]

Rob

After looking at your Nano It looks like the corals are doing well and the aquascaping looks nice. This tank is not unsaveable. The only real issue I see is the algae/bacteria problems you seem to be having. If you are interested in improving the look of the tank and removing or relocating the power heads so that the display is more appealing I'm sure many of the members here can help. To get a better idea of whats going on in the tank we would need to know as much detail about it as possible. A complete set of water parameters, The stock list including the clean up crew, frequency of water changes, that sort of thing. We have been helping people with much worse problems than exist in that tank at our local club and I have seen many restored to beautiful tanks with just a few changes.

The powerheads were just moved to get more flow. IMO there is not enough flow and a 29G tank should not have 4 powerheads in it.

A MP10 may work but that is still flow in only one direction and would be in plain sight let alone $200 more into this tank.

There are ~6 astrea snails,

Last water test a few weeks ago.
PH 8.2
Sal 1.025
Temp 77
Amon, Nitrite, Nitrate - 0

Water changes were 5G every other week.
IO salt
RO/DI water with 0 TDS

The skimmer hardly pulls anything out. I changed the return pump to a maxijet 1200.

Light upgrade to 4 x 36W PC. In the summer when the house was 70 degrees the tank did hit 85 degrees and that could have started this mess. No where to run fans on this tank either. Maybe a chiller nut no where to put it and/or have enough electric to run one.

 

[bfessler]

I totally agree that a 29 gallon Tank should not require 4 power heads for adequate flow. At Reef Fest last month one of the speakers talked about flow and getting more flow form less power heads. Essentially he showed that you can get great flow by positioning your power heads so that they create a gire effect. The gire can be either horizontal or vertical. As flow starts moving in the direction of the gire it's momentum is increased by the powerheads pointing in the same direction. The random current is created as the water hits the rock and other obstacles in the tank. I put this into action in my tank by pointing both returns, which are about 1" from the surface, slightly upward toward the surface. This had 2 benefits, 1 it agitated the surface water for better gas exchange and started my gire moving across the top of the tank, down the front and back. I noticed an almost immediate increase in flow as opposed to the downward and crossing position I had them in before.

Your biocube is a little different than my Nano because the intake to the filter section is on the right while the return pump is on the left. I would try putting a single powerhead on the back wall about 1/2 way down just right of center and pointing the output toward the surface and to the right. On the return from the filter section point the return line slightly up at the surface and straight ahead. You may have to play with it a little to get your gire going with the most momentum. This will greatly improve the flow and you can get rid of 2 of the power heads in the display.

Next I would recommend increasing your cleanup crew. I would recommend increasing your snails from the 6 astria snails you already have to 30 with a mixture of Cerith, Nerite and Astria snails. This will give you a good mix of snails that will work on glass rock and sand. Additionally I would add 10 to 15 Red Legged Hermit Crabs (Clibanarius Digueti) These guys do a great job of eating the hair algae and cyanobacteria. Once the algae and cyanobacteria are cleaned up you can reduce the number of crabs but I like to maintain 1 snail per gallon in my cleanup crew.

Something else I would do but is totally optional is arrange the rock so that you have at least 2" between the glass and the LR. This will make cleaning the glass much easier and promote flow in the gire.

Your lighting should be sufficient. I am assuming it is half actinic and half 10,000K or higher. While cleaning up the algae you might cut back on the time the lights are on then increase it as the tank clears.

Water parameters look good. I would decrease the water change frequency. Frequent water changes actually feed the algae. I would recommend a 10 to 20% change monthly instead of biweekly.

A skimmer is a personal option in a tank this small. I personally don't use a skimmer and just run carbon that I change monthly. If your skimmer isn't doing a good job and you still want to run one the Eruo-reef Nano skimmers do a great job http://www.globeaqua.com/skimmers_euroreef.html

Lastly I would cut back the feeding of the tank by 1/2. You didn't mention how much you feed the tank but excess food will promote the growth of both algae and cyanobacteria. Try these suggestions and I think you will see a huge improvement in the tank in a short time. There may be other things that need to be addressed but see how the tank responds to these items first.

 

[Anonymous]

I feed a pinky nail size piece of frozen Rod's food every other day. Nothing else to the tank.

I have cut the lights back to 6 hours about 2 months ago.

There are only 2 fish in the tank. The cyano now has taken out a small acan colony, ricordea, some zoas and a Trachyphyllia (brain).

My thoughts were if I keep this tank I will have to remove all the coral and fish and give them away somewhere. Let it recycle for a few months with no lights. Add allot more flow - possibly 2 Vortech MP10's ($200 each is steep) and if the tank does not recover than that's another $400 wasted along with the cost of buying all new corals. Plus the fact of 2 large pumps on the side of a small tank it will make it look like Mickey Mouse.

I think the main problem with the skimmer in the BC29 is that in the center chamber the water level is not constant. It fluctuates with the evaporation. Auto top off may help this but again the BC 29 is too small to have all this equipment in it.

If I got a new tank I would get the base of it running then transfer what I got to it. I can not go too big to the power restriction I have.

I am trying to find a LFS that will take the corals/fish since I do not know any local reefers if I decide to dump this tank to let it recycle. I am too aggravated to look at the tank.

 

[bfessler]

Hi Rob,

It sounds like you've made up your mind that this tank is not for you. I still think it can be a saved with very little cost by adding a much larger clean up crew and addressing some of the issues above. I have seen many tanks turned around with bigger problems then yours. That said if the tank just doesn't fit the location or have the appearance you desire and you want something you can add a sump and additional equipment to then you are probably better off replacing it with something you would like better. In the meantime If you can't trade your corals to a LFS and don't have any other hobbyists near by I would still recommend that you beef up the clean up crew just to get a handle on the algae and Cyno. I might also suggest an Emerald Crab to the mix. I have one in each of my tanks and they do a great job of cleaning up bubble and hair algae. The cost of the suggestions above are minimal and by taking care of the problem while you are planning the new tank you will not be moving any of the existing issues to the new setup. You could even double the number of snails I suggested to clean up the algae even quicker.

Good luck on whatever course of action you choose to take.

Burt