swjim's 30 Gallon Finnex

[swjim]

Hi all,

I guess it's about time to start a thread for the 30 gallon Finnex M Tank that I set up back at the start of July. It might take a few posts to get everything fully caught up to present day but I'll go ahead and start from the beginning.

Tank Specs:
Finnex 30 Gallon M Tank 24" x 18" x 17"
DIY Stand

Lighting:
Finnex TL-T2424 6x24 HO T5 fixture w/built in LED moonlight. Unfortunately this fixture does not have individual reflectors but it fell within my budget when I purchased it with the tank. I may eventually build a canopy and retrofit the lights in so that I can add the reflectors but so far it has been working pretty well. I am still using the (3) 10k daylight and (3) actinic bulb combination that it came with but will likely change the bulbs in the near future to try to improve color in the tank. Photoperiod: 11:30am-10:30PM

Finnex 13W power compact refugium light. Photoperiod: 7:30am-9:00pm

Heater:
Jaeger 100w

Filtration:
Finnex protein skimmer (cheap but has worked well enough so far that I haven't felt the need to replace it)
Built in refugium w/chaeto, approx 1" sand and some live rock rubble
Approximately 30-35 lbs base rock seeded with 6lbs of live rock purchased at Aquarium Designs
Approximately 35lbs Carrib-sea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink sand

Circulation:
475gph return pump
(1) Hydor Koralia K2 rated at 600gph @ 4.5w
the Hydor was replaced in November by:
(1) Tunze NanoStream 6045 rated at 1189gph @ 8w

Calcium/Alkalinity Supplementation:
Kalkwasser for topoff
2 Part solution from bulkreefsupply.com, currently dosing 20ML/day

Feeding:
Rod's Food 3-4x/week

Maintenance:
5 gal water change every other week

And now some pics:

#1 Tank after being unpacked
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/338756743_bjtKs-L.jpg

#2 Tank rear - Chamber on right is overflow/skimmer, middle section is refugium, left chamber contains the return pump. The section between the overflow and refugium is for filter floss, carbon, etc. The return pump is T'ed off and has an adjustable valve to regulate flow to the refugium.
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/338761948_vCVYE-L.jpg

#3 My younger boy who is just as excited as I am about getting ready to put water in the tank.
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/338762407_f48em-L.jpg

#4 Nice and cloudy
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/338773080_5zULJ-L.jpg

#5 Now we can see what it looks like
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/338778577_7Lfzd-L.jpg

#6 Actinics only
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/338780101_Nk6A4-L.jpg


Time to take a break, more to come....

[Iplantz]

I have one of these tanks too, but decided to go with a 250w Metal halide and 2x65w Power compact light. Should be ready for coral after I buy a chiller.

[jpond83]

thats nice

[swjim]

Iplantz,

That's great, they're not as common as some of the other nanos but I've been really happy with mine. They're laid out really well, IMO. I hope you're happy with yours as well.

I chose T5 because I have a 135 that isn't currently set up, I took it down when I last moved a little over four years ago. The lighting on the larger tank is MH/VHO. I've always been happy with the MH/VHO combination from a performance perspective but they do take a lot of electricity to run. With this tank I wanted to see if the T5s would work well enough that I might convert the other tank over and save a bit on the power bill. I figured if the T5s didn't work well enough I could always put one of the MHs I have over the tank but so far I've been happy with their performance.

jpond83, thanks!

[swjim]

For the first month I just let the tank cycle and kept an eye on the liverock to see what would emerge. It wasn't long before pods, tubeworms, microstars, bristleworms and stomatella started emerging. The tank went through the normal diatom blooms and hair algae stages. The only things I added during this time were two turbo snails and two Tongan Fighthing Conches.



Here are some pics of the liverock.

#1
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/339668034_bc88D-L.jpg

#2
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/339668288_xjTuk-L.jpg

#3
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/338781805_NKr9F-L.jpg

#4 And one piece my wife picked out had about a dozen zooanthids on it, score!
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/344899696_aQpzL-L.jpg

[blindside]

Good looking tanks, and not as often seen like what's on the market today

[swjim]

August, 2008

After four weeks I added a blue chromis to the tank. This was a major milestone for my kids and their friends who thought it was strange for dad to have a "fishtank" with no fish and only some rocks. I'm sure many of you can relate. :)

After about five weeks the diatoms and hair algae had died back to the point that I felt comfortable adding some corals. Aquarium Designs had some orange monti cap frags so I got a couple of them and a small piece of turbinaria (scroll coral).

#1
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/357047331_rZRjG-L.jpg

#2
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/357047898_8GnKx-L.jpg


A couple of weeks later I picked up this zooanthid/palythoa rock from AD.
#3
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/357048784_pYE3Z-L.jpg

#4 A brain coral
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/357050761_ozjau-L.jpg

#5 A frogspawn
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/398192078_5bT4b-L.jpg

#6 And a candycane
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/357051199_NUi6v-L.jpg

#7 FTS
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/357052690_yw6Gm-L.jpg

[swjim]

Month 3

I added a crocea clam, I thought this would be a good test for the lights. Initially it was placed in the sandbed but it seemed to be gaping so after about a month I moved it up to the top of the rockwork. It seems to be doing fine.

#1
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/434415335_4pCv6-L.jpg

#2 Oct 19, 2008 FTS after moving the clam up in the rockwork
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/398198471_jUTTg-L.jpg

[swjim]

Oct 21

A seller on RC had reduced the price of a nice frag pack so I went ahead and ordered it.

Included were:
Blue Tip Milli (freebie he threw in)
Unknown Blue Acro
Unknown Acro (freebie he threw in)
ORA Blue Tort
Tri Color Acro
ORA Roscoe
Green Hairy Milli
ORA Blue Chips
Brilliant Neon Unknown Acro (Reefer Madness)
Purple Pocillipora
Green Pocillipora
Red Birdsnest
Green Birdsnest
Purple Montipora

#1 From right to left - Blue Tip Milli, Unknown Blue Acro, Unknown Acro
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/399796047_iPSiH-L.jpg

#2 From right to left - ORA Blue Tort, Tri Color Acro, ORA Roscoe, Green Hairy Milli, ORA Blue Chips
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/399798678_TQutF-L.jpg

#3 From right to left - Brilliant Neon Unknown Acro, Purple Pocillipora, Green Pocillipora, Red Birdsnest, Green Birdsnest, (also purple rim green monti cap in rear center)
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/399801922_8AgEp-L.jpg


I needed some additional locations to mount all of these frags so I threw in a couple more pieces of base rock. After doing this I didn't think there was enough circulation in the tank so I replaced the Hydor Koralia 2 (600gph) with a Tunze NanoStream 6045 (1189gph).

[swjim]

Present day, Dec 30, 2008

The only additions since the SPS frag order have been a Royal Gramma Basslet, a peppermint shrimp and an emerald crab.

I added the peppermint shrimp because I have a single aiptasia that I've tried killing twice with kalk paste and four times with boiling water. It withers away and comes back around a week later. So far the shrimp hasn't helped, but I'll continue fighting it as well and eventually one of us will die.

The emerald crab was added because I have started to see some red bubble algae popping up. I've manually removed it where I can but there are some pieces that are hard to get to and I'm hoping he can help keep it under control. I am considering reducing the tank's photoperiod from 12 hours down to 10 and I'm also due to change my RO/DI cartridges.

All of the frags have survived and most shown some growth already, some have increased their branch sizes while others have primarily encrusted their plugs. I'm looking forward to seeing how they progress over the next few months.

One other interesting development is that within the past two months some halimeda began to appear out of one of the original pieces of liverock. It started growing slowly at first but it is really taking off now. I may even have to prune it back soon.

Thanks for looking!

#1 Here is the most recent FTS shot I have, it was taken on Dec 10th
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/434412846_4NMh3-L.jpg

#2 Royal Gramma
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/434418700_xdr9h-L.jpg

#3 Top down
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/441488520_G8JrB-L.jpg

#4 Halimeda
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/441481439_sX9ZZ-L.jpg

[cpreefguy]

Nice! I love Finnex tanks. Ive been debating the 30g for a while, but I love my rimless 22g Finnex.

[swjim]

Thanks Sean! I really am happy with the 30 gallon tank, I just wish I would have bought about six weeks later when they started offering the 4x24 T5 fixture with individual reflectors and 9 moonlights. But there's always going to be something new to buy. :)

[cpreefguy]

I saw that new light fixture too, it looks awesome.
You can always upgrade later on. I cant wait to see what the tank looks like once it's grown in.

[Iplantz]

Very nice! I can't wait to try out my first sps, all I got right now is a ricordea yuma and derasa clam. Im on vacation, and hopefully my algae problem will be gone when I get home, added some purigen and chemipure elite before I left. Tell me home the Finnex T-5s are working on those sps for better or worse.m I ordered the 4x24w fixture with my tank, but decided to use it for a frag tank I had lying around.

[swjim]

So far the T5s are keeping everything alive. Most, if not all, of the SPS have shown at least some growth. I do plan to replace the stock bulbs since the daylight bulbs tend to wash out the colors a bit IMO. I will try to get some updated close up shots later today.

[Mr Cob]

Nice tank, I especially LOVE the refugium light.

[swjim]

Thanks Rob. I agree, they did a nice job with the refugium light. It fits with the look of the tank and the feet are adjustable so that you could use it over different width gaps if you wanted to.

[swjim]

Here are some sample growth pics, as I mentioned earlier most of the growth has been further encrusting of the frag plugs but there has been some growth in some of the branches as well:

#1 Nov 1 - Dec 31
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/409703891_fCGEV-M.jpg http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/446455202_3tNzf-M.jpg

#2 Nov 1 - Dec 31
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/409705484_hbDPJ-M.jpg http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/446446938_xiEzr-M.jpg

#3 November 1 - December 31
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/409704831_LX7XD-M.jpg http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/446443580_X2UvU-M.jpg

#4 November 1 - December 31
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/409706931_5inZH-M.jpg http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/446442010_DCyS4-M.jpg

#5 August 20 - December 31 (I broke this frag in half when cleaning the tank and glued the second piece close to the first sometime in September)
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/357047331_rZRjG-M.jpg http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/446440759_x4io7-M.jpg

#6 November 1 - December 31
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/409697356_7xqgd-M.jpg http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/446464766_aP2a5-M.jpg

#7 July 28 - December 31 And some zoos too...
http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/344899256_V52A2-M.jpg http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/446456399_5ptqn-M.jpg

[jpond83]

lots of growth. what kinda zoas are those?

[swjim]

I'm not sure what the name for the zoas would be, they came in on a piece of liverock. Maybe there is someone else who could ID them?

[Iplantz]

Any updates? Looking for something new to do with my tank.

[Iplantz]

Hows you tank doing with the flow? Mine never worked right with the stock pump. Always too much flow. Any ideas on how to correct?

[swjim]

Sorry for being slow to respond, it was a busy week...

The tank is pretty much just humming along. Here are the updates that I can think of:

- The halimeda is growing really quickly, I really do think I'm going to need to trim it soon.

- One of my acros started to have some rapid tissue loss early this week on one of its branches so I fragged the part off that was dying and have my fingers crossed that the rest will survive.

- The Ora Blue Tort became dislodged, I found it on the sandbed but unfortunately it must have fallen onto the frogspawn and or montipora that are in the bottom middle. It was stung a bit near the top but I think it will recover.

As for the flow, I have the return set to bounce off the front glass around halfway down the tank on the right 1/3 of the tank. The nanostream is pointed so that it hits approximately the same spot. This seems to be a good mix in that it provides circulation to all parts of the tank, there is good surface agitation and it doesn't cause sandstorms.

[cbianco]

I like the tank!

I just ordered a 30 gallon Finnex myself. I got the 6x24 T5 fixture but it has the individual reflectors. I look forward to setting it up.

Question, where did you find the stand? Even if it is not purpose built for aquariums, I would like to know.

Thanks,

Christopher

[swjim]

Christopher,

Thanks! I'm sure you'll like your tank, they're really nice setups. I wish the fixtures with individual reflectors would have been available when I bought mine, I'll be very interested to hear what you think of yours.

I built the stand myself. If you're interested in building a similar one I designed it in Google sketchup before building it and can e-mail you the file. It is mostly made of 3/4" ply joined with pocket screws with some solid board and trim to cover the edges.

Here is a jpg from sketchup:

http://jimpr4photo.smugmug.com/photos/346713478_YGtnk-L.jpg

[cbianco]

Time for a picture update!

Christopher

[swjim]

Hi Christopher,

I'll try to get some new pics this week, work has been very busy since the first of the year and I've fallen behind in both my picture taking and tank maintenance, I'm a couple weeks overdue for a water change and the tank is starting to show it.

I hope your tank is doing well.

Jim

[cbianco]

Hi Christopher,

I'll try to get some new pics this week, work has been very busy since the first of the year and I've fallen behind in both my picture taking and tank maintenance, I'm a couple weeks overdue for a water change and the tank is starting to show it.

I hope your tank is doing well.

Jim

Still gathering items to set up my tank. I did however, get the oppurtunity to leak test it today. It appears that it will hold water. <-Always a good thing.

[blindside]

Let's see All them box anthias I cought for you! I think this is saltwater Jim?

[swjim]

Hi blindside, sorry, but I think you're looking for someone else.

[blindside]

Oh sorry, ha, I met someone that came into river city aquatics and purchased all the box anthias we had. And I thought that I had cought them for you. Sorry!

[swjim]

Feb 11 Update (unfortunately not a good one):

A week ago Monday I went to empty the skimmer cup and when I grabbed the body of the skimmer with my left hand I came into contact with the water and got an electrical shock. It was late and the main lights were already off but I could see that some of the corals didn't look good. I immediately turned everything off, then grabbed my multimeter and started plugging things in one at a time. It turns out the return pump was the culprit, it was putting around 35VAC into the tank. Some of the acros and the purple pocillipora didn't look good but everything else seemed to be alright.

Work was extremely busy last week so I wasn't able to get out and buy a new return pump until Sunday. Since I didn't want to keep the bad pump online I let the tank run with only the nanostream on for circulation. I only fed lightly once, I believe it was on Thursday...

Surprisingly, the fish seem like they're doing fine. Most of the corals seem like they will make it as well, but two of the acros have bleached significantly and I don't think will survive. Other than the two acros the biggest problem is that the small amount of bubble algae that I had in the tank previously has increased dramatically in those few days that the filtration was offline. I did a water change on Sunday and hope that with a few more water changes I can get it back under control.

I have never had a problem with electrical components previously, so I hadn't put a grounding probe on the tank but I am going to order one this week just in case anything else ever goes bad.

[swjim]

Oh sorry, ha, I met someone that came into river city aquatics and purchased all the box anthias we had. And I thought that I had cought them for you. Sorry!

Nope, wasn't me. Maybe I'll come clear you out of some anthias sometime in the future when I get a larger tank back online. :)

[cbianco]

Feb 11 Update (unfortunately not a good one):

A week ago Monday I went to empty the skimmer cup and when I grabbed the body of the skimmer with my left hand I came into contact with the water and got an electrical shock. It was late and the main lights were already off but I could see that some of the corals didn't look good. I immediately turned everything off, then grabbed my multimeter and started plugging things in one at a time. It turns out the return pump was the culprit, it was putting around 35VAC into the tank. Some of the acros and the purple pocillipora didn't look good but everything else seemed to be alright.

Work was extremely busy last week so I wasn't able to get out and buy a new return pump until Sunday. Since I didn't want to keep the bad pump online I let the tank run with only the nanostream on for circulation. I only fed lightly once, I believe it was on Thursday...

Surprisingly, the fish seem like they're doing fine. Most of the corals seem like they will make it as well, but two of the acros have bleached significantly and I don't think will survive. Other than the two acros the biggest problem is that the small amount of bubble algae that I had in the tank previously has increased dramatically in those few days that the filtration was offline. I did a water change on Sunday and hope that with a few more water changes I can get it back under control.

I have never had a problem with electrical components previously, so I hadn't put a grounding probe on the tank but I am going to order one this week just in case anything else ever goes bad.

Was is the stock pump or an aftermarket pump?
How long have you had it?
What did you replace it with?

[swjim]

It was the stock pump, it was around 7 1/2 months old. I replaced it with a Maxijet 1200 which is rated at 295gph which is quite a bit less than the stock pump but I'm not too worried about it since the nanostream is providing plenty of flow.

[swjim]

Hi all,

It's been almost a year since last updating this thread so here goes:

The stray voltage incident with the stock pump seemed to stress the livestock and I ended up losing a few things and eventually had a bad bubble algae battle.

Hardware wise, I was unhappy with the flow from the Maxijet 1200 I initially used to replace the failed pump so I'm now using a Maxijet 1800 utility pump. It was a tight fit in the Finnex return chamber but it's been working great for about 8 months.

I replaced the stock skimmer with a Euroreef Nano. The new skimmer had an aluminum mesh impellar that broke down on me three times, the mesh would flake off and foam production would decrease until it was completely ineffective. These breaks in service didn't help the bubble algae situation.... Euroreef eventually ended up coming out with a new impellar made of resin that I've now had installed for 3-4 months and it's been working great.

The renewed skimmer performance caused the bubble algae to recede but because I was getting so tired of it I decided to do something a bit drastic - I added a small yellow tang. Yes, I know this tank is too small for a tang, so please don't beat me up too bad over it. My intent wasn't to keep the tang in this tank forever, I just needed something more effective than an emerald crab and I thought a Zebrasoma would be the best bet in the BA battle.

Things seem to be back on track, the bubble algae is almost completely gone and the corals are showing growth once again but the colors are quite washed out. I'm due for a bulb replacement which I'm somewhat putting off because I'm really tempted to attempt a DIY LED project. Anyway, that pretty much sums up the ups and downs of the last year for my little tank. Here are a couple pics.

Full Tank Shot
http://jimpr4.com/photos/780469650_VmSY7-XL.jpg

Candy Cane
http://jimpr4.com/photos/776411340_mNAJc-XL.jpg

The Bubble Buster
http://jimpr4.com/photos/776410284_Zz7aT-XL.jpg

Green Pocillipora
http://jimpr4.com/photos/776409095_BwcZj-XL.jpg

Frogspawn
http://jimpr4.com/photos/780472254_LW3Aq-XL.jpg

[Still Learning]

Thanks for the update. That is one fat/healthy yellow tang!!!!