30 Gallons of the Pacific

[AABatteries]

I've tentatively decided that I'm going to upgrade my 10 gallon to a 30 gallon long. It probably won't be until the end of this month before the tank is started. But, I plan to build the stand and gather equipment in the coming weeks.

Equipment:
30 gallon long aquarium
- Current USA Orbit Marine LED 36"-48"
- Koralia K1 (400gph)
- Koralia Nano (425gph)
10 gallon sump
- Mag Drive 3 (200gph-300gph depending on plumbing and stand height)
- WavePoint 6 inch (8W) LED fuge light
- Tunze 9004/Hydor Skimmer (65 gal)/Aqua C Urchin (depending on which I can get the best deal on when I go to buy)

Stock:
Ocellaris Clownfish - 2
Lawnmower Blenny - 1
Orange stripe or yellow watchman Goby - 1
Pistol shrimp - 1
Peppermint shrimp - 1
Hermits - 3
Turbo snail - 1
Nassarius snail - 3
Cerith snail - 3
Astrea snail - 3
Tiger conch - 1
Blue/green Chromis - 3 or 5 (maybe, but probably because of sump and skimmer)
Bubble Tip Anemone - 1 (if the clowns don't want to host any coral)

Coral:
Ricordea mushrooms
Zoanthids
Green star polyps
Xenia
Acans
Frogspawn/Hammer/Torch (whichever is cheapest)

[Boundava]

Another SW tank setup to follow! I'm subscribed. thumbs2:

[Jwfish13]

Looks good, maybe up the hermits a little and add another turbo.

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[Silbar]

That's so exciting!! Upgrading to a 30G will give you so many more options in the future. Good luck and I will be following along.

[AABatteries]

Decided to kill some time and model out the frame of the stand.

I also put some thought into the plumbing and what not; made sure I understood everything I needed.

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[BluewaterBoof]

Sounds fun! I'm jealous haha

What 3D rendering software are you using? Just curious as I've been using Blender for years as a hobby.

[AABatteries]

Sounds fun! I'm jealous haha

What 3D rendering software are you using? Just curious as I've been using Blender for years as a hobby.

That was done with Solidworks. Not a huge fan of Solidworks but I have it for free, so not complaining. NX is my favorite I've used.

[Jwfish13]

Have you tried sketchups I have worked with it some, looks about the same.

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[AABatteries]

For free Sketchup is great. It's just nice to have the engineering tools that Solidworks offers.

[BluewaterBoof]

Have you tried sketchups I have worked with it some, looks about the same.

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No I only use Blender. From what I've heard, Sketchups is geared more towards architectural tasks. I like playing with the free form modeling and simulations of Blender. It had a huge learning curve, and I'm not sure I want to spend that kind of time learning new software haha I tried learning Photoshop so that I could start working on my own textures and I was just kind of lost. After that, I swore I'd only work in Blender, which I'm still constantly trying to learn new things.

[Jwfish13]

Lol I hear ya on photo shop, I have fiddled with it but that's about it

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[AABatteries]

Snagged a gently used Tunze 9004 for a decent price on eBay last night. Finally breathed some life back into this build.

[Jwfish13]

Congrats

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[AABatteries]

Decided to make a little more progress on this. My other hobbies came to a close for the year. Currently waiting on the light to show up. Went with the 36"-48" Current Orbit Marine LED. I hope to make the stand sometime in the next week or two. The plan is to have this tank set up before the year is over.

[AABatteries]

Inherited a Mag Drive 12! We used to have a solar water heater, and it was using the pump to get water from the basement through the system outside. We just recently disassembled the holding tank that held the pump, so now it's mine to use. Won't need a second powerhead and now there's gonna be some serious flow. Turnover rate will be about 35x for the whole tank and sump.

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[mermaidwannabe]

On the wooden stand, may I suggest building a sturdy center support piece into it rather than leaving it open in the center, and then build a solid top onto it. I don't trust those open-topped stands where the edges of the tank are resting (precariously, in my opinion) on only the outer rim with nothing in the middle.

When I purchased the stand for my 65-gallon freshwater, it came open like that, and I had my BIL build in a strong center support, and then close it off with a thick and sturdy top piece and finish it with a piece of laminate. I just think it's safer that way. There's no way my tank can fall through an open top. The extra piece in the center helps support the weight of the filled tank in the middle, so it can't bow downward and break. For me, that center support is added insurance.

This might just be little more than a peace-of-mind thing, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

[AABatteries]

Been a good minute since I've made any progress on this, but I'm about to get things back underway.

I've got the Mag 7 to replace the Mag 12 I have, gotta get the Mag 12 sold still to help fund the tank.

Just ordered some of the specialty plumbing pieces for the sump set up, as well as acrylic sheet to make the overflow box. Gonna 3D print the teeth for the top.

Later this week, I plan on tearing down the 30 long that is the donor tank for this project. I also want to get to the hardware store to get the more basic plumbing pieces and lumber for the stand. Also need to pick up an extra 10 gallon to turn into the sump, as my spare one I had got broken.

After all my pieces parts are gathered, I'll get the baffles for the sump cut and the 30 drilled. Then it's game time.

[AABatteries]

Got some goodies today!

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[Boundava]

Yay goodies...now what are they? lol

[angelcraze2]

Lol, there are so many things already discussed on this thread I have no idea about. It's interesting to watch you set up a SW tank, since I know 0 about it and it looks like there are so many builds. Love it!

[Boundava]

Ditto :yeahthat:

[mac]

I am subscribed and watching this AA

[Marty.h]

35x turnover rate through the sump is far to much in my own opinion you need to give it enough time in the sump for equipment to work ect 10x turnover would be a better figure :)

Flow in DT can be stepped up with powerheads

[AABatteries]

Yay goodies...now what are they? lol

The two gray pieces with the red handles are true union ball valves. The large one is 1 inch and the small is 1/2 inch. The 1 inch will be on the main drain pipe going into the sump, the 1/2 inch will be on the return pipe. They are for controlling the flow rate, or stopping the flow if I ever need to. A gate valve is another popular choice, just because of the easier adjustment but I couldn't justify spending the extra money. Controlling the flow is important for the "Herbie" style overflow I am going with to keep the sound to the minimum. The Herbie style is based on creating an artificial siphon by matching the flow rate of water coming into the sump to that going out of the sump.

The two larger black pieces are 1 inch bulkheads for the two drain pipes. They are what creates a water tight seal where you drill the tank for the pipes. The smaller black piece in the baggie is a 1/2 inch bulkhead for the the return pipe coming back into the tank.

The last the black pieces are loc line parts. They are the last pieces of the return line. The piece in the top left is an adapter that allows me to go from 1/2 inch pvc to the loc line style. The nozzle is, well, exactly what is sounds like.


35x turnover rate through the sump is far to much in my own opinion you need to give it enough time in the sump for equipment to work ect 10x turnover would be a better figure :)

Flow in DT can be stepped up with powerheads

Exactly why I decided to downsize to a Mag 7, cuts the flow going through the sump in half. With that said, I also decided I will just get a second Koralia for flow in the DT.

[waylon101]

I'm so excited to see a SW Thread again. Once my Planted tank gets where I want it I'm going back to Salt! thumbs2::koolaid: (lol I didn't know we had cool aid man as an option)

[AABatteries]

LFS was having a really good sale on live rock today, so I took advantage of it. Should get me close to all the live rock I'll need after I use what I have already.

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[AABatteries]

Got the new Koralia today. Holy crap! This thing is half the size of my ancient Koralia 1 and puts out more flow than it. Amazing how technology, even in a powerhead, advances.

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[AABatteries]

Another new toy came today! Decided to get myself a proper skimmer for this build.

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[AmazonJoe]

Ohhhhhh pretty! How much did that run you?

If your so inclined pweeeze explain/document your installation and tweaking to get the water level just right it will help me and others in the future thanks in advance lol

[AABatteries]

Ohhhhhh pretty! How much did that run you?

If your so inclined pweeeze explain/document your installation and tweaking to get the water level just right it will help me and others in the future thanks in advance lol

Only $95. Was listed for $100 and got $5 off. The model is like probably like 6 or 7 years old, and this particular unit is like 4 years old itself. It's almost identical to their newer NAC3.5, this one is the NAC3+. And that new one can be picked up for $150-$180.

I will do my best to document the process! It's gonna be a learning experience for sure, and probably take all my patience xD

[AmazonJoe]

Haha yea kinda why I'll learn from your application first before I'll have to set one up personally :P

[mac]

That is one thing I have noticed about setting up a reef tank. If you shop around take your time all the parts come together very cheaply.
As for the change in technoligy its like a never ending battle.

[AABatteries]

Resurrecting this thing from the dead. In the process of breaking down the existing tank, finally. Financial situation should be in order to allow me to go forward with this by the end of the month. Really don't have that much stuff to buy as far as the build itself goes: baffle material, plumbing pipe, and stand material.

[mac]

The joys for awaiting marine supplies