New to reefing, aquapod 24 gallon. some questions. thanks

[JonnyJ]

Ok well I would like to start by saying I had a 72 gal bow FOWLR successfully in the past with a run time of around a year in a half. 0 die off with

a large 5 inch wrasse, 4 inch humma humma, 4 in niger trigger, a kole tang, and a lrg domino damsel, 2 clowns with them hosting an anemone, a juvenile snowflake eel, a banded shrimp

and it was all possible with around 100 lbs of l/r and just doing 5 gallon water changes every two weeks. I believe I just had good luck because the truth is I really don?t feel like I knew what I was really doing. Anyways I had tons of nuisance algae and other unwanted stuff like aiptasia but it worked?..somehow lol?, Well, unfortunately I had to take it down because I moved and here I am now around a year later.

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I purchased a 24 gallon aquapod. I understand smaller tanks can be harder but it?s really the only thing I could fit in the new place.

Anyways the system and some of the upgrades so far.
I added 3 inches of Caribbean ?live? dry sand and 35 lbs of cured live rock, 20 gallons of R/O water mixed with salt from the LFS.

I added a 50 watt heater, upgraded the original pump to a Maxi-jet 1200 & I set up the original pump in the same left chamber area with a U shaped return for additional current and better filtration. I also added a second fan to help with the cooling. So far I have been running the pc whites& actinic for around 8 hrs and the actinic alone for around 4 hours a day until I shut them overnight and just keep the led?s on. The temp seems to be around 79 at night and around 80-81 in the day with both lights on. I think I will add another fan or possibly dremmle out some sort of hole or square so I can get some of the heat to escape.

As for the filtration?. I built a two level frame that I have seen other people do with the white crate for the right side chamber instead of the filter sponge/pad it came with?, the bottom level holds filter floss and on top I put the chemi pure elite which someone suggested [should this be fully submerged or can it be somewhat exposed?] so it basically overflows onto the chemipure then lowers to the filter floss than cross chambers to be pumped back into the tank?.

Ok well this is day 5 and its crystal clear. The 35 or so lbs of rock I added was already in a tank for a long time so its basically cured.. and seems like it has some life starting to show face, I?ve spotted a clam moving, some fire-red looking 1000legger looking worms, a starfish or two and a brown polyp

Some of my questions, I know they are very newbish to a lot of you and I have picked up 3 books and have been reading everyday about starting a reef, im not in any sort of rush but if people can answer some of these questions for me it would be great.

My goal ? I want to have a nice beginner reef, with the hardiest water condition tolerable stuff I can aquire??very easy soft corals, mushrooms etc .that are easy to care for..stuff i would be able to maintain for the next year while learning...i understand this isnt something you learn overnight so this site would be great for me. so I can learn ?then eventually upgrade to a sunpod setup and get into some more advanced stuff..

For fish, I was thinking like maybe a clownfish [they got personality and my girl would love one], a blenny, a jaw fish, or a royal grammar? ?I haven?t really decided yet. I have no intentions on adding more than 2 or 3 fish total..and i would plan on adding them 1 at a time within lengthy periods of time. I also want a shrimp or two. Maybe a coral banded or some other reef safe, and some other inverts running around?snails crabs or whatever I plan on after I do some research to know what will be reef safe. Some advice would be great.

I haven?t added a protein skimmer yet because of all the mixed reviews of which one works the best for a AP.. ?and if the skimmer itself is really needed or not. I was thinking I?ll wait until I upgrade to the halides in a year or so. So I can buy a hang on skimmer that will actually work well since I really don?t know which one will work well or even fit with the closed tank hood setup it comes with that I am using.

Money isn?t a issue for me to be honest I make a great living, just want to slowly add and learn as much as I can

[B]im not in a rush but I have no friends in the hobby and the LFS [animal kingdom] are the same old jerk-off [with the exception of one] I met 5+ years ago -

my questions:

What?s next really , does anyone have any advice for me based on what I wrote? I?m obviously not that knowledgeable on reefing so any input or advice would be great. Keep in mind me using the search function only goes so far on here because 10000?s of posts show up. Some beneficial and most really go off top or hijacked.

[/B]
Salt levels are good and nitrates are 0 as of today, that?s all I have tested tbh.


The addition of a fish or some invertebrates and when?
or like the addition of worms, and all those hitch hicker type stuff, is it necessary? i want to like really make the foundation good.

What test kits should I have for these so called hardy ?easy? corals before I get them and how do the majority of them get fed ? do I have to add any chemicals to the water for these "easy" stuff?

Things I am interested in, easy mushrooms, polyps and anything else u guys think would be easy.

how often should I really do water tests in the reef?

How often should I do a water change and how much is really needed without using a skimmer?

And if I added a skimmer how often and amount would that be?


How often should the filter floss be replaced?

I have been searching a lot on the internet and I?m asking these questions for a reference and It would be great if we could cover some of this stuff. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this and help me! Also if anyone has any time to talk over the phone that would be great also. pms welcomed and appreciated..


i also wanted to know if the way i set up the flow looks good to you guys or should i manuever it a little? ive attached a picture below. third one down.


Thanks,

Jonny

 

[rookie07]

I would get some big round base rock to prop all those rocks up with, more rock means more hiding places and more natural filtration.

Tank should have a small cycle, as all rock/sand was already cycled and alive. I would wait a month or so for start(assuming rock was alive and cycled when you got it). Do some periodic water test and water change(1/week, and 10% water change)
Salifert Test kits.
Most corals can do well from just lighting, PC is not really enough, T5, MH or LED lighting is best(you need to look at pros/cons,ie heat, wattage, energy consumption, and price of each). But all will benefit from food.

You NEED a skimmer with a reef(There are those who say they have succes with reefs w/out skimmer, but its a small percentage)

Weekly water changes and testing until the tank is stable and has been for a few months, then you can stop testing and only do it once in a while. replace/clean filters when clogged/dirty/or on schedule you like, ie 1 week 1 month etc.


Good luck,
DO YOU RESEARCH!

 

[Klewis]

Hello Jonny, welcome to the world of the Aquapod. The only thing I read that was wrong was that you have no friends in the hobby. You have hundreds of friends in the hobby, you just need to say hello. The AP24 is the first reef tank that I set up a few years ago, its a great way to start your addiction.:splitspin I'm not sure if they have changed the rear chambers for the AP24 since I got mine, but I have my right chamber with a chemi-pure elite at the bottom of the chamber blocking the pass-through, I use egg crate to create a cage to hold a bunch of rubble rock for added filtration and then used egg crate on top to create a platform for filter floss. Then I also replaced the stock pump with a maxi-jet 1200 and use a 50w heater. I had to drill the back wall to install a bulkhead for the loc-line return. The older AP24 return nub wouldn't accept the loc-line attachment.

Sorry didn't mean to ramble.
Here are the things that I done and have been successful, when I keep up with it.
1) More rock, when rock scaping make sure your hand can fit between the rock and the acrylic with a credit card to scrap coraline and other algea off the walls.
2) 10% water changes once a week using a good salt and RO/DI water.
3) The PC lights that come with the tank are just fine for what you want to do. I switch from the stock Day light bulb and Dual actinic to 50/50 and Dual actinic, I forgot my logic behind the switch but it works for me.
4) When starting off with mushrooms and soft corals, be warned some can be aggressive in terms of over populating your tank.
5) I removed the stock night LED's and replaced them with a strip of LED's for better night viewing.
6) I have 2 koralia nano's for across from each other in the front of the tank for added flow.

My tank is populated with various Zoanthids, Palys, Toadstool, LPS Candycanes, pulsing xenia, clove polyps, yellow polyps, piece of galaxia, Green star polyps, and a few others that I have no idea what they are but they are doing okay. I have a sixline wrasse and a yellow tale damsle left with some blue legged hermit crabs. I do not recommend these fish for an AP24 to territorial. I had nassi snails and turbo snails untill I added the hermit crabs.

I hope i have been helpful, best of luck.

Keith

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Hey Johnny
That tank looks great. I would switch the location of the chemipure so it is completely submerged and put cheato on top for easy pruning when it grows.

A water change of 5 gallons every 2 weeks is all I ever did with mine and everything was great. Only add chemicals that when you test are needed to bring the water levels up to par. That being said I tested calcium, alkalinity and magnesium before I do a water change every 2 weeks or when things seemed to not be happy in the tank.

When stocking you can have many combos of fish and inverts but I would stay away from the coral banded because they can get very territorial. I had one that chased my clown out of the tank and made her jump then went for my second clown to do the same.

Look in my signature for my old tank thread on my aquapod and read through it. It has alot of the trials and tribulations I went through when setting up a tank. Also as far as skimmers go I have the Tunze doc9002 and It did very well in my aquapod and in my now running solana so that is a good skimmer to look at. The sapphire aquatics skimmer in my biocube is working nicely as well so that it another perfect fit option you can think about. Let me know if there is anything I can help with, I am on during weird hours quite a bit.

Good luck and have lots of fun. That's what this hobby is all about.

 

[JonnyJ]

hey all, thanks for all the advice [keep it coming of coarse]

i actually ordered a InTank Media basket for the tank...

Spent around 55 with shipping - little pricey and not really needed but definitely a custom piece & i don't have the tools to do it myself at home.... but it will be alot better than the makeshift crate setup i have now which is a pain in the ass to really get in and out..

This will allow me to have three different medias - im guessing i would use filter floss chemi and maybe rubble? or do chaeto? i guess ill have atleast a week or two for some input because the guy said he is pretty backed up.

how would u guys set it up?

i had a coral banded in my old tank, everyone in the tank was pretty aggressive all around. he was pretty tough now that i think about it! how does the

Yellow Watchman Goby & pistol shrimp combo.... seems really cool together. anyone have this pair? any input?




ok, heres another issue i am having. i used the old pump and added a black "u" valve for more circulation as stated above. how could i get this to fit in the tank so the hood could close correctly? right now the light case protector is coming in contact with it and its causing it to not be flush.... could i cut into the back without it cracking the whole thing? has anyone done this? could i use a pair of snips to make a nudge for it? hmm maybe file it? anyone have any idea what i could dofor the easiest and best results?

didnt think i was going to do this otherwise i would have done it pre water lol

do they sell a better u shape design i could use? maybe a flatter less round one? if you got a link that would be great, they don't have any at the lfs and was forced to buy a used one....

jonny

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

An exacto knife will cut through it with constant pressure so will a utility knife. Just make sure to use constant pressure and watch your fingers. I drilled my back wall for a dual return.

 

[JonnyJ]

hey thanks for the idea, i slowly notched out a nice round groove with the utility knife, came out perfect! thanks!