First Time Build

[Planeden]

@esacjack: thanks. i have seen that one and read some mixed reviews on it. but that will be the one i go with if i get an RODI system here. With the size of my system, I am not thinking that water cost will be a major factor. i am guessing i will use between 5 and 10 gallons a week.

@patrick: ok, i will add a carbon filter somewhere in the system. cheap and easy insurance. i have read some of your postings on the inorganic/organic bit. can good phosphate eaters live in 1" DT sand or is that fixed by stirring, vacuuming, etc.

@anyone: i read somewhere that you should not vacuum the substrate in a reef tank because you will pull out all the good little inverts living there. but i seem to have found more places that recommend vacuuming portions (1/5 - 1/4) of your sand bed monthly, rotating through the whole tank.

thanks

[subsea]

With respect to sand bed detrivores, I recommend snails that reproduce like Drawf Florida Cerith.

[victoly]

I vacuum small segments occasionally (quarterly maybe?)

[subsea]

I vacuum small segments occasionally (quarterly maybe?)

While I do vacuum occasionally if required, I lightly stir sand bed frequently to feed corals and filter feeders. Patrick

[Planeden]

Thanks guys. You're awesome.

Also, I think I figured some things out about mud last night.

I think I'm going to delay starting my tank for a little while. I seem to have a lot of decisions left to be made, which all sort of influence each other. And, I have a big project coming up that will probably eat into my research time, but give me money to buy rock and things. I just want to get as much as I can right. or how I will want it, I guess since there isn't really a "right" way. but I want to make sure substrate matches livestock and whatnot, so I need more of an idea about that so I that, etc.

I'm not disappointed because I think it will pay off down the road.

[subsea]

Dennis,

You cannot research too much. After reading John Tullock's book "The Natural Aquarium" , choice of livestock determines everything else about system design. Decide on a compatable biotheme, then design system around that biotheme. In one of the links that I provided, Emulate Nature, the author grouped zones of the reef as different biothemes.

In the low maintenance lagoons that I keep, I purposely keep easy inexpensive livestock. I have too many tanks to keep high maintenance livestock.

Patrick

[Planeden]

I did read the biotheme article but I have not looked to see where the livestock we are looking at lives. I am afraid we may have some that live in different areas. I'm not sure that we are going to do a biotheme the first time out.

I do agree with the easy species though. In our freshwater tanks we still keep mostly beginner fish. We are simpletons, no, that not it...simple folk and think plenty of the hearty species are fun and pretty. So, we still do simple community tanks.

[Planeden]

Does anyone know of a source that will list species that live in specific biothemes. I have had no luck with google. I have been having luck searching individual fish, but thought there may be a list.

So far it seems that three of our strongly desired fish (watchman goby, jaw fish, and clowns) live on the back reef slope. So, we may set up that biotheme.

I still have more species research to see if we can manage a watchman goby and a jaw fish in our 36" x 18" tank. Size may work, but not sure about our substrate plan. It seems that we may need to set two areas of 3" deep substrat far enough apart to avoid squabbles, but that may be hard with our aesthetic desires.

[+KimP]

What a great question. I'm curious about the biothemes too as I plan my build.

[Planeden]

What a great question. I'm curious about the biothemes too as I plan my build.

Which area are you thinking about?

[Planeden]

Kim, I found thid so far, but it is specifically for the Caribbean. http://www.tfhmagazine.com/saltwater-reef/feature-articles/a-caribbean-sea-biotope-aquarium.htm

Also http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-species/saltwater-profiles/ this site discuss where fish live. Search for the fish you want and read the profile.

Surely here's more, but I'm on break.

[JamesL]

If you intent to go the jawfish route, you will need to be sure to design the tank layout for them. They need fine-ish deep sand bed to burrow. And since they burrow, you need to may sure all of your rockwork is touching the bottom of your tank (best way is to put the rocks in first, then add sand around them), else you will have avalanches. Jawfish also will use small shells and rubble to help build their tunnels. The jawfish I have had in the past woudl take a shell and cover their whole at night They do shift sand around a lot, so any sand dwelling corals (like plates) could get buried. There was a great video on the web showing a sand fight between a clown and the jawfish ... needless to say, the jawfish had the upper hand.

The above is not to dissuade you on jawfish... they are great fish, and very personable, always hovering around their hole and working on it. When my two damsels finally go to the big tank in the sky, I might get another one... but as it is, they would bully it too much.

[Planeden]

Thanks James, I am using the shell lid and sand spitting to convince the committee how cool they are. How deep is the substrate and about how large is his territory.

I will be sure to put the rock directly on the glass. Regardless of whether I get a burrower now, or not. Leave future stocking options open.

[+Capt. Obvious]

I see you have a union on your return pump...I assume this is for ability to remove and service as necessary...but I don't see a ball valve anywhere, how will you prevent water from dumping out if you need to remove the pump ...or am I just not seeing it?

[Planeden]

I see you have a union on your return pump...I assume this is for ability to remove and service as necessary...but I don't see a ball valve anywhere, how will you prevent water from dumping out if you need to remove the pump ...or am I just not seeing it?

yeah, it's not pictured. There is a shop vac that i use to suck the water out of the sump and then i can pull the pump out. . i'm not sure i would have room to put a valve on the sump side. It's a pretty tight fit. And I already flooded...i mean i learnd that a valve on the tank side would not allow me to remove any aspect of the pump without the shop vac, other than to top end of the flexible hose at the overflow.

[Planeden]

Preliminary Stocking List for your conisderation. All are subject to negotionation (even "must haves" if there is a major conflict or concern). Since we are beginners, I do plan on sticking to the 1/2" per gallon rule of thumb. I do not know anything about over filtration techniques to break the rules yet. So, we are looking at about 20" of fish, maybe 25" because of the sump.

We are looking at species that are peaceful. Territorial i think is ok, hoping that they will work that out on their own. provided we can offer enough territory for everyone.

Must Haves

Clown fish (singleton or pair)

Watchman Goby and pistol shrimp (seems I must have a "pet with a pet") to please the girlfriend

Display Macro Algea

Strongly Desired

Pom Pom Crab

Pearly something Jawfish (may conflict with goby, but i am losing that battle)

Others

3 blue green chromis (at 9" of fish, this will take almost half our rule of thumb "1/2 inch per gallon")

Orchid Dotty Back

Undetermined Blenny

Royal Gramma

CUC - to include snails, brittle stars, hermits, and crabs. i know hermits and crabs can be problematic, but i really like watching them.

Eventually we would like to add an anenome for the clowns. perhaps a BTA or a condy.

Corals - I have no clue. There are so many pretty ones, that I think we will just pick ones based on care level dummy and tank requirements. Basically, we will design the corals around the tank and not design the tank around the corals. Likely steering clear of SPS for care level dummy and tank design reasons. So mostly soft, leather, and perhaps some LPS.

[+brian.srock]

The only problems I hear with Jawfish is their major jumpers. There are a couple people that have them in there tank and what they did was add barnacles around a PVC pipe or just glued sand or rocks to the pipe to give it a home. Sometimes it's hit or miss though if they'll use it. Check out Aaarrrggg's Build http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/19737-aaarrrgggs-144g-half-circle/

As for Hermits I would highly recommend getting Peppermint shrimps. You can take a trip to the coast and pick a couple up yourself if your in that area or we have members that make trips all the time that post for a rehoming fee. Hermits will just kill a snail that's upside down for their shells.

[+Capt. Obvious]

You can build a screentop with BRS mesh...I think someone is selling some in the for sale section for $5...I have the side rails and slpine you can just have...you would only need to get the corners from the hardware store of your choosing

[Planeden]

great link brian, thanks. aaarggg sounds hilarious, i am going to have to read that whole thing. in addition to her condo she has links to others. so should be planty of information. it is a stunning tank, too.

i am on the fence about peppermints. so many people seem to have problems with them killing things. but, i'll look into it.

capt., kim has even offered to help me build a screen canopy, but i'm afraid she may ask me to babysit to repay her. i was also sitting in petco the other day and saw that they have a reptile cage that happens to be the dimensions of my tank. i may check out the screen top for that, but i am a little afraid that it may be too dense and block too much light.

regardless, the screen canopy sounds like a good option. even if people will judge me for breaking up the lines of the rimless tank. a jawfish sounds totally worth any shade you guys can throw .

[Niko's Reef]

Yay! I'm glad to see your build thread started. A couple things popped out at me first. One thing is the rodi waste issue. I have mine hooked up to the washing machine and it's mounted on the wall next to it. I just run the "waste"water into the washer and use it to do laundry. No waste.

The other thing is a cover. I have plenty of screen top materials to make a cover. I have the clear mesh from brs. I can make you one really quick if you don't want to diy. It's very easy! The only thing is you have a rimless tank so you'd need tabs siliconed in the corners for a lid to rest on. It'll mess up the rimless look a little. Something to think about if you want to keep fish that tend to jump. I don't know anything about making a glass top for a rimless tank.

I haven't started running my RODI unit yet; but I have mine setup the same way, and was thinking the same thing.

[Planeden]

Today I have moved back to thinking about powerheads. I have decided not to go with the Jebao WP25s. Too many unanswered questions for my liking. I have gone back to the suggestions people provided in my powerhead thread.

I am thining about trying to get 15 - 20X flow from the powerheads and depending on whose calculation I go with I either get 300 GPH or 600 GPH out of the return pump (Eheim 1262 rising about 3.5 to 4 ft). 40g tank so 600 - 800 GPH.

Here is a little sketch of my thoughts. Due to the viewing area, I would like to leave the powerheads on the walls they are shown on, but the angle is just a random guess for me. There is also a little play I can do with the return pump nozzles, but I am guessing you know that. I may or may not go with a secondary powerhead. As always, input is greatly appreciated.

So, I am considering the Tunze 6045 with a variable flow rate of 400 - 1175 GPH. I like the idea of the variable flow rate and that it can be hooked up to a wave generator if I ever decide I want to go that route. I haven't figured out whether the wave generator is required to vary the flow or if it comes with something to do that.

Another option is the JBJ Nano Oceanstream which comes with two 500 GPH powerheads and a controller. Individually the powerheads may be a little small, but if you combine the two of them it is a strong flow rate. But I think that depends on whether the two tend to run at the same time or opposite each other. The next size up is about 1500 GPH, which sounds overkillish to me.

Or I may just go with a Karillia or two and replace them if i ever want a wave maker.

[victoly]

I think your flow plan is well thought out. If it were me, I'd go tunze, but budgets and me don't get along :)/

[+KimP]

I'd go with the tunze as well. I just got one of mine out of the box and in the tank a few days ago. It's much smaller than I expected, silent, and very powerful! I'm really happy with the purchase.

[Planeden]

Thanks. Can I control the Flow rate without the wave controller (or apex, or some other purchase?). Just pull it out of the box, set the flow rate and turn it on?

[+KimP]

There's a pin in the little box that's between the pump and the outlet, if that makes sense. You can change out the pins and each pin gives a different flow. Or you get the controller that's an extra cost, or use something like apex.