30 Gallon Reef Log

[Lotstolearn]

So, I am new to this forum and have found that most here are very helpful and there is a ton of useful info. I have been keeping salt water for about 2 years now and finally decided to take the plunge with starting a smaller reef tank. The material for the 30 gallon came from the 65 gallon FOWLR tank that I have had set up for 2 years. The only thing in that tank besides fish and LR was a lonely shroom. I plan on leaving this tank as is with just the clown for probably another month or two to get as stable as possible before introducing anything else.

Current set up:
30 gallon tank
2x96 watt PC one 12k and one 420 actinic
about 40 pounds of established LR
4" Oolite sand bed of which 1/2 came from established tank
2 power heads of which I cannot get positioned without creating a sandstorm
Looking to get a HOB protien skimmer about the same time I get the corals.

The water is currently at 1.025 and at about 80*. I let it run for about 3 weeks watching the parameters and once they all leveled out and stabilized I introduced a clown fish which has only been in there now for 3 days.

As far as fish are concerned I am looking at the follow:
Goby and shrimp pair
Fire fish or Royal Gamma
An assorted clean up crew
The clown I already have
That will be it for that.


Corals:
Pulsing Xenia
Frogspawn
Shrooms
GSP
Trumpet
Maybee a few colony polyps

I will get some pics on here as soon as I get a few taken and figure out how to do the whole pic in post thing.

I am open to ideas that anyone has on corals as well as fish. I have learned to keep the water pretty stable, but do not have a lot of time for feeding specific corals besides supplementing with weekly 10% water changes and maybe adding elements if needed at that time.


Thank you all in advance and hopefully this log may help someone else out down the road.

[Lotstolearn]

A little update. Having the clown in there for a bit now has definitly caused a cycle and encouraged a little algea growth on the rocks. Looks as though the clean up crew will be going in before I thought. I had to go out of town for a few days, but as soon as I get back there will be some snails added for sure.

I have also been looking into metal halide lighting a lot as I am worried that the 192 watts of PC lighting I have currently have wont be enough for the 30 gal. in the long run. I would hate to be limited as to what I can get coral wise because of lighting. With both lights on the tank is awefully bright now, but it seems that the general concensus is that metal halide or T5ho is needed a lot of times. Now I just have to figure out how to do this without hurting the wallet too much.


Hope you are all having a good weekend. Again, any suggestions are appreciated.


Clint

[Lotstolearn]

So, I have the cleanup crew in now and they hard at work and doing well at it. I have figured the best placement for circulation and have gotten through the sand storm. The 23rd I added a firefish also. He's a funny little fellow that at first spent his time hiding if I was around. He's starting to get used to me now though and is ready for the food I bring with me. Luckily his hiding spot still allows him to be visible. I had to go to Miami for business and a colleague from there gave me a few frags free of charge. I am not sure that the tank is ready for them, but I figured if things went south I can trade them in at the LFS for dry goods or something.


I have done a total of two water changes that were about 20% each. The water seems to be pretty stable.


Stock now
1 Clown
1 Firefish
2.5" Dia. Xenia
15 polyps of Zoa's that are pink center with bluesh purple around the center and bright green outer ring. Which have already grown three new heads in a matter of a week.
2 heads of the branching type frog spawn. One of which I plan on trading with someone for some cool shrooms.

I am pretty much done for a while with the tank. I did not plan on moving nearly this fast with it, but the chance for the free coral could not be passed up.
My camera is crap. The pics are horrible from it. As soon as I can get some decent pics I will post them up.


Have a great day everyone!

[MOB1224]

What are your params running at right now? Be careful with the mh light it can heat your water up and u might end up having to get a chiller. The t5 lights don't have near the temp as the mh but you won't get that cool shimmer with the t5 either.

[Lotstolearn]

Water Para. are still looking good except the nitrates are hanging around 15 pmm. I added a refugium today that holds about 18 gallons of water. I was also able to add a skimmer that I had laying around too which is pulling some nasty stuff out for how new the tank is. I was looking to put some macro algae in there for extra nutrient export.

Corals seems to be doing well. The Zoa's are growing almost ridiculously fast, the xenia is doing the same, and the frog spawn seems to be doing pretty well.

The fish seem to be doing well also. The clown is your regular goofy clown and the firefish has really opened up and is all over the place instead of hiding in his cave all the time.

So, now I just plan on letting it age some and let everything run for 6 months or so to stabilize. As always any input or ideas at all from the folks with experience are welcome especially recommendations for water movement as the maxi junk power heads I have now are just too direct of flow.

I still have not gotten the MH lighting. I may be bartering a set up for some vehicle maintenance so we'll see how that goes.



Happy New year to all.

[Lotstolearn]

New update. The skimmer has been working its but off. I have had to clean it weekly though to keep it performing properly. I was worried about the amount of evaporation that is happening, almost feeling as though there was a leak somewhere. After reading up on it though with the tank and sump not covered I guess 3/4 gallon a day is fairly normal. The temperature is staying pretty stable with a 2 deg. drop overnight. I am looking for a Koralia nano for help with the water movement and hoping to get that today. The corals all seem to be very happy with no supplements being used besides a 5 gallon water change bi-weekly. The xenia has doubled in size, the zoa's have got 8 new heads, and the frog spawn really seems to stretch out good every day. My water parameters stay pretty good too with my Nitrates staying just a little high. I am hoping that once I can find some macro algae for the sump that it will help with this. I know that the tank is still stabilizing itself also. The clown fish seems to be doing well and is certainly a good eater. I have always been a light feeder and this little guy is always ready. The fire fish some how figured out how to jump through the egg crate I had on top of the tank to his demise.

So, at this point I am pretty happy with the progress I have made. Have to admit though I have been searching the local classifieds for a bigger tank. I am pretty handy and am also seriously considering making my own as I really like the larger cubes. I figure I will give this tank a year or so and if all goes well I will be making the plunge.

Hope you are all having a good weekend!

Clint