Arce's Reef

[Arce]

I used to have a 55 gallon FOWLR setup but absolutely hated the dimensions so I settled with a small 20 gallon I had laying around. Im planning to turn this 20 gallon into a 40b sometime within the next couple months because I think I went too small and would rather have the 40b.

So heres the break down...

Equipment:
Standard 20 gallon tank
custom diy stand
20lbs sand
25lbs LR
2 hydor 240s and another 250gph wavemaker that I had laying around (don't remember brand)
rapidled diy kit


Coral (LPS/softies):
Torch
frogspawn
toadstool
3 zoa frags, radioactive dragon eye/candy apple/lunar
colony of fire+ice zoas
red/blue mushroom
green ricordia
orange short tentacle plate
3 trumpet frags w/ 4 heads per frag

Fish/inverts:
1 chromis
2 turbos
5 nassarius

and heres some pictures...




and a horrible quality short video...

[video=youtube;WXC-kZy0l9Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXC-kZy0l9Q&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[iTzJu]

Hey man! Welcome! looks good! you did an awesome job with the 20, cant wait to see what you do with a 40! why not go bigger though?

 

[SirFragalot]

LOL...doesn't everyone want to go with a bigger tank than what they have? Looks awesome. Good luck with the upgrade.

 

[Arce]

Hey man! Welcome! looks good! you did an awesome job with the 20, cant wait to see what you do with a 40! why not go bigger though?

Thank you. I would love to go bigger but i still have another year in college so im trying to satisfy my reef urge but stay smaller until i move out to my own place. I think the 40b will give me plenty of room to play while still being reasonably small.

 

[Classklown90]

I got one year left also. 40b is a really nice footprint, its what I have

Sent from my galaxy s4

 

[dan_k]

That looks great!!!!! I think you will be very happy with a 40b keep us up dated on your build and welcome to the club

 

[Arce]

Thanks! Yea i should have gotten the 40b from the start. The footprint is so much better and has so much more room to play with. I have a few things i need to get before i can start thinking of upgrading so it will be a month or so longer.

 

[Arce]

Sitting here bored at work and started thinking about changing to the 40b. Im trying to figure out everything i would need. Obviously the tank and i would do a diy stand. One thing im not sure about is lighting, i have 16 leds on a 6"x10" heatsink with 80 degree lenses, i was already planning on getting about 8 more which would fill up the heat sink but would i need to get a larger heat sink for the 40b? would i just be able to raise the lights higher or change the optics for more spread? Would 24 be enough for LPS/softies and possibly low end sps?

The other thing i was thinking about was the transfer. I would probably buy 25 more lbs of LR or dry which would give me 50lbs but im afraid to spike a cycle and kill everything i have. Would i need to set up a temporary holding tank for my coral while the 40 cycles?

I have a feeling his upgrades going to happen sooner than i thought....

 

[AnthonyJerseyShore]

You would avoid mini cycle if you added the dry rock (I believe). I'd also recommend using different sand. Re-using the sand will almost always start up a mini cycle. Even when you rinse the crap out of it (At least from my own experiences lol).

 

[Arce]

You would avoid mini cycle if you added the dry rock (I believe). I'd also recommend using different sand. Re-using the sand will almost always start up a mini cycle. Even when you rinse the crap out of it (At least from my own experiences lol).

I was thinking the dry rock would be safer also. My tank is still extremely young so im not sure if the sand bed transfer would be that detrimental. I do siphon twice a week so it is also pretty clean. I could be wrong though. Any ideas about the lighting?

 

[AnthonyJerseyShore]

Also, I'd re-use the water from it. And even after siphoning sand, stuff still gets stirred up during the transfer. Unfortunately, I don't know much about LEDs. I'm more of a T5 kinda guy. So, someone with more experience with LEDs would have to chime in here, sorry!

 

[Arce]

Also, I'd re-use the water from it. And even after siphoning sand, stuff still gets stirred up during the transfer. Unfortunately, I don't know much about LEDs. I'm more of a T5 kinda guy. So, someone with more experience with LEDs would have to chime in here, sorry!

I was planning to use the water i already have in the 20. Ok so ill ditch the sand i have now. Yea i barely understand lighting, but thanks for the help!

 

[Hockeynut]

Every one loves the 40b it's a nice size for a small tank. I just got one for a replacement for my son's 20l, what size sump are you thinking of using? Skimmer? I think the other guys are right ditch the sand it's cheap enough. Also think of using Dr Tim's when you make the swap. I really think it will help. Good luck and welcome to the club

 

[Arce]

Every one loves the 40b it's a nice size for a small tank. I just got one for a replacement for my son's 20l, what size sump are you thinking of using? Skimmer? I think the other guys are right ditch the sand it's cheap enough. Also think of using Dr Tim's when you make the swap. I really think it will help. Good luck and welcome to the club

I'm probably going to use the 20 gallon as a sump. I haven't looked into the skimmer yet but I will need one. I've never heard of dr Tim's, is it just like bio-spira? I've heard those bacteria in a bottle things are overrated but could be wrong. Thanks!

 

[Hockeynut]

I know that's highly debated you know snake oil and the lot but I believe dr Tim's Is different, a lot of people me included feel that it really works. It's not a miracle cure or anything like that but it will help if you do create a mini cycle. Check it out on YouTube there is a video about why they say it is different. It is interesting, sorry I don't have the link but you will find it easily. They sell it at trop aquarium on ocean twp. As far as the skimmer I'm looking for one myself for my kids 40b

 

[Arce]

Yea when i started my first tank i used bio-spira but after reading alot over the year ive heard people saying its not really worth it, i cant say whether it really helped or not but it was cheap enough so i can try it, your right though because i figure the few dollars id spend on it would be better than losing all my corals.

Yesterday i almost had a disaster, i was siphoning out some algae since this tanks still young and im going through the "uglies" stage. As i was siphoning my rock work started to topple over and almost crushed my plate and frogspawn. Luckily the rock hit the glass right before landing on the plate but the frogspawn grazed another rock so im hoping it isnt damaged. Ended up relocating some things in my tank but the ordeal took awhile because i was getting so frustrated.

 

[AnthonyJerseyShore]

You are extremely lucky that the rock didn't cause the glass to shatter. That would of been a horrible nightmare. Even if your frogspawn is damaged from it, it will most likely come back as long as it's new spot is okay, and it won't be bothered anymore. When I was re-arranging my tank I dropped my frogspawn back into the tank, and it landed head first on a rock. It didn't come out for about a week or so, and I figured it was a goner. Months later, it's back to full extension, and a new head is starting. So, yeah, you should be fine.

 

[Arce]

You are extremely lucky that the rock didn't cause the glass to shatter. That would of been a horrible nightmare. Even if your frogspawn is damaged from it, it will most likely come back as long as it's new spot is okay, and it won't be bothered anymore. When I was re-arranging my tank I dropped my frogspawn back into the tank, and it landed head first on a rock. It didn't come out for about a week or so, and I figured it was a goner. Months later, it's back to full extension, and a new head is starting. So, yeah, you should be fine.

Yea I was happy it didn't crack the glass haha. Got home from work and took a look at my tank and was extremely surprised to see the frogspawn completely extended, I guess it wasn't injured when the rock hit it. Everything is happy and extended except for my colony of fire and ice zoas. Im not sure whats going on with them, I got them last Friday and for the first couple days they were open and healthy since then they have been closed and not looking good. My params have all been stable, its not the lighting, the flows fine, and I cant see any pests like zoa eating nudis on it. Not sure what to do with them.

 

[dan_k]

As for the zoas I would let them be if they start melting away then I would be worried but they do that sometimes I think your ok

 

[redfishbluefish]

Danger Will Robinson (I know, I’m dating myself)

Dry rock is not safe to simply add to the tank…..it will cycle. There is dead stuff in that rock which will cause a cycle. Now, if you were adding a piece or two, that might be fine, but more than that, you’re playing Russian roulette. That rock first needs to be cured before being adding to the tank.