Bcarl's 17 gallon Rimless Reef Build

bcarl77 · Jul 15, 2017

Now for the fun update. This tank got WETTTTTTTTT!!!!! I pulled the rocks and did some scaping last night. The rest of the weekend will be setting up equipment and getting my aquarium cabinet organized. That being said I still am planning on going to the LFS to buy a small amount of liverock that I will treat with CoralRx to try to get the biodiversity going more than just some Dr. Tims Bacteria. I am not crazy about the scape especially on the left hand side. I will see what kind of rocks I can find today that might help.

Dominat0r · Jul 16, 2017

This is very similar to my setup, looks fantastic. I love the filter on the side there. Gives you plenty of room in the back. Whats the dimensions of this tank?

Your planted tank looks great too, I think I have seen in on the plantedtanks forum if I am not mistaken.

bcarl77 · Jul 16, 2017

Dominat0r said:
This is very similar to my setup, looks fantastic. I love the filter on the side there. Gives you plenty of room in the back. Whats the dimensions of this tank?

Your planted tank looks great too, I think I have seen in on the plantedtanks forum if I am not mistaken.

Thank you! I believe it is 24 X 12 X15. A little narrow that what I would like on a reef but I can make it work. I frequented The Planted Tank quite a bit under a similar username. I am pretty excited to make a splash on this side of the hobby.

bcarl77 · Jul 16, 2017

Been a busy tankin' weekend. I made a trip to the LFS and got some Red Dragon macro algae, and a few small pieces of live rock with coralline to hopefully seed my tank. The water is still a bit cloudy but slowly seems to be clearing up. Most likely due to the live bacteria supplement is my guess. I also got my DIY ATO going. I will detail this more later on. As for now, I will let it cycle and get comfortable with maintaining the new equipment and salt parameters. I hope to add a few corals here in a few weeks.

Dominat0r · Jul 16, 2017

Did you go with a smaller impeller to slow the flow down? Just a piece of foam for mechanical filtration? I saw the mods to turn your AQ into a mini fuge, looks like a pretty easy project. I might pick up another AQ to try this out.

Whats your plans for lighting? Inside? on top? Run on different cycle or with your tank lights?

Very very cool man, this gives me inspiration to try this.

Dominat0r · Jul 16, 2017

bcarl77 said:
Thank you! I believe it is 24 X 12 X15. A little narrow that what I would like on a reef but I can make it work. I frequented The Planted Tank quite a bit under a similar username. I am pretty excited to make a splash on this side of the hobby.

Very close to mine indeed, 24x12x16. What tank is it if you don't mind me asking? I can't make out the logo on the upper right.

bcarl77 · Jul 16, 2017

The tank is an Aquamaxx rimless tank from Marine Depot. The plan for this tank was to sell all the planted tank stuff I had to fund the reef items. I am going to get a 90 gallon red sea at some point and I didn't want to waste money on equipment I could use there.

For lighting I have a Hydra 26 HD. Its on a mounting arm 12 inches above water level. This gives a bit of light to the HOB refugium.

As for the Aqua clear I added a small square for poly filter pad maybe 2in X 2in square. Since its only a 20 I did not make any mods to the impeller. My macro algae isn't getting stirred up too much. I also have a bag of chemipure blue elite as well.

Dominat0r · Jul 16, 2017

Ah, I thought it was a 30. I really like that tank, will have to look that up and keep it in mind for my next upgrade. I have had really good results with my AQ50 for a very very long time. I never thought of making it a fuge till recently when I found a youtube video on it, can't wait to see the results.

bcarl77 · Jul 18, 2017

Quick update, tank is doing well. I tested nitrite, nitrate all came back 0. Cloudiness has disappeared. I do not have an ammonia test so the bacteria may not have processed the nitrite/nitrate yet or the macro algae utilized it. I put a little more food in there to keep it going. I will test for phosphate later this week.

Dominat0r · Jul 18, 2017

Off to a good start man, you got it filled a couple of days ago right?

bcarl77 · Jul 24, 2017

A few updates. Tank is running pretty well. My macro algae has some die off around the edges so I attached one of my old low power plant lights to the edge of the HOB to help give it some more light. Die back is either from the lack of light or nitrate/phosphate.

On another note.... Got the first corals! Nothing to crazy just some Zoas, a mushroom, GSP and xenia. We will see how they do. I am thinking of feeding reef roids, or reef energy. Any thoughts appreciated.

Dominat0r · Jul 24, 2017

I was wondering how it was going to get enough light to grow. Maybe a magnetic light to go on the side as well? I was also thinking that some reflective tape or something on the outside of the filter to maybe direct some more light to the other side?

bcarl77 · Jul 24, 2017

I was hoping the main tank light would reach it but that's doesn't seem to be the case. Running the small clip on light should help it along. Ran a full set of water parameters:
pH 7.8
KH 11.7
Ca 470
Mg 1500
N 0
P 0.16
Salinity 1.026

bcarl77 · Jul 30, 2017

Quick update: The corals are looking pretty good. The tank is still getting cloudy and the skimmer is going nuts. Not sure if its the way I am mixing the saltwater. Or the bacteria supplement.

bcarl77 · Aug 2, 2017

Alright, for anyone following along I need some newbie help. I am still dealing with the cloudy water, params are: pH: 7.8, Nitrate/Nitrite/Ammonia: 0, Phosphate:0. I fed some Reef Roids again last night (fed about every other day). I had a perfectly healthy GSP last night. Today it looks dead? All other corals look okay, just some brown film on the rocks.

Is something amiss in the tank? Is this coral dead or just closed?

bcarl77 · Aug 29, 2017

Tank is completely clear! Never thought I'd be so excited over clear water!!! Picked up a frogspawn frag, ricordia, and candy cane coral. Only thing right now is the low pH, hanging around 7.8. Do I need to bring it up??