CA2OR Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 I am in Beaverton area and am embark on a new project with a 30g cube tank. I picked up this tank to move to from a 12g nano becuase my anemone keeps splitting and stinging my corals. Long story short....er. I need to build a stand with a hole in bottom for the plumbing to refugium below. I would like stand to support the 30g on top and encase the 12g nano fug I am gonna use. In addition I need to add to the lighting that I have with the canopy. It currently has 48w PC 50\50's and I think I would like to add another 48w of T5's (2white and 2actinic). Is there any issues with using both T5's and PC's? Will 96w be enough lighting to support both hard (Birdsnest, Acro, Monti's) and soft (Zoa's, Xenia, etc) corals? I know next to nothing about this stuff and could really use some help from someone who may be close and would like to join in. Additional support from online will be greatly appreciated and will be kept in mind when it comes to fraging time for my Zoa's, Duncan's, and other corals. So either respond here or email me at stinknut@comcast.net. I would like to do most of the communication here to allow others to follow along or find resources for their own projects. Thank you in advance. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanareef Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 Sent you email. On your lights, I would suggest going to 150w MH's and using the T5's for supplementing actinic. You can choose either SE or DE and make a reflector like this. I would think that you would only need one but I don't know the dimensions of the tank. IMO 96w would not be enough for a 30gal, unless you use a lot of them. Your 30gal is it glass or acrylic? Acrylic would be eaiser to work on but any mods on glass can be done as well. later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 The tank is Acrylic I have current lighting is 4x12w PC 50-50's and I was thinking of adding 4x12w T5's. What about this setup? http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~action~view~idProduct~CU01120~idCategory~FILTFIT54U~category~24in_Units~vendor~~tab~0.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanareef Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Looks nice, but will you have enough room in the hood, or will it be free hanging? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 Well I am unsure at this point. The hood that came with the tank is home made is only has the PC 50-50's. Where do you live WANAREEF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanareef Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Portland, North by Jantzen beach What are the dimensions of the tank? This will dictate the size of the hood, unless you will be hanging them from the wall or ceiling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 I placed a call home to get my wife to measure the tank dimensions. I will need this to workup the stand as well. I have a tentative plan to run a 3 tank system here. The 30 as main display, below that would be a 5g for the skimmer, below that would be my 12g nano for additional filtration\refugium\frag or quarentine tank. Do you think that would work? The reason I asked where you live was to see if maybe I could get you to come by sometime and take a look at what I have and what I plan on trying to do here. I can also post images of progress and materials to assist others in helping me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 OK the measurements on the tank are: 20 inches from front to back 24 inches from side to side 17.5 inches from top to bottom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Don't forget the ATO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 ATO? What's that? Today I just picked up 130w PC lights with 1 dual bulb 10k and 1 dual bulb actinic. With these and the current 48w 50/50's do you think I have enough lighting? I currently have: 2xTrue Perc clownfish 1xManderin Dragonette Goby 1xFire fish 1xSerpant Starfish 1xEmerald Green Starfish 1xSea Hare 1xCleanerShrimp 1xGreen Bubble Tip anemone 1xDuncan with 7 heads 1xHammer Coral with 4 heads 3xPulsing Xenia (pink) 1xBurgandy Xenia approximately 20 stocks 1xSmall Birdsnest Frag Purple mushrooms Lemonade Zoa's Zombie eye Zoa's Watermellon Zoa's Fish eye Zoa's Eagle eye Zoa's couple other zoa's snails and hermit crabs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 ATO = automatic top off how have you been filling fresh water? Do you have some kind of system, or do you just pour in fresh water every now and then? With the system, it detects that your water level is low, so it adds in water. This way, your parameters are always inline and there's no huge swings in salinity. I recommend you get one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanz Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Also, if you ever plan on keeping SPS, you have to step up from PC lighting. BTW, how's your birdnest frag doing? Do you put it all the way at the top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 To be honest I haven't been doing anything. i was just doing my water changes and that was it. Recently I started to add RO water on occasion when I found my salinity was too high. And when I say recently....I just bought my hydrometer like last month. Had this tank for almost 3 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 Yes it is all the way on top. As I said I am only using my 12g Nano with 3x8w T5's. What do you recommend for lighting the 36? I can't afford MH or even new T5's to be honest. Running 170+w off the PC's wont cut it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanareef Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I placed a call home to get my wife to measure the tank dimensions. I will need this to workup the stand as well. I have a tentative plan to run a 3 tank system here. The 30 as main display' date=' below that would be a 5g for the skimmer, below that would be my 12g nano for additional filtration\refugium\frag or quarentine tank. Do you think that would work? The reason I asked where you live was to see if maybe I could get you to come by sometime and take a look at what I have and what I plan on trying to do here. I can also post images of progress and materials to assist others in helping me[/quote'] The stand would have to be kind of tall and wide to get the bottom 2 tanks in. Most guy's just run one sump, the biggest one they can in the stand. What kind of skimmer where you gonna to use? Another way would be to cascade the water from the main tank to the 5g then to the 12g, but then there are chances of flooding. Heres a sketch of my stand that I'll be building, I'll just resize it to your main tank and go from there. Now, the ? is how high do you want the top of the tank to stand/sit? Don't forget the hood for the lights as well, if you will have one. Not sure what time we will be home on Thursday, maybe this weekend? What's the schedule like for you? PM your phone # Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanareef Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Here's a rough sketch of the stand. Just the framing and with the sides and front added it'll be steady Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 I work from 3 to 11p and my days off are wed and thu. I just purchased and should recieve a JBJ 150w MH. I believe it is a clip on but that should suffice right? Thank you for the Sketches there WANAREEF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanareef Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Swing Shift (whistle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 Yes sir...what do you think about the light I just purchased? Will it cut it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 I am starting a new thread in the DIY forum entitled "30g project" Joel from Waves is going to take part in it and I would really like to have you involved as well. Anyone else too....the more advice and input I get the better and easier this turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 Thread started initial images of tank posted showing refugium area and side to side views. More to come Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanareef Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Just incase you need a bigger sump - cheap http://www.reefdiversity.com/DIYPage/DIY_HTML/DIY_SumpRefugeBudget.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 Awsome...thank you for that link. I can use to make a little smaller sump. How big do you think I should go for the 30? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanareef Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 What ever will fit in the bottom of the stand. You could keep that 12g going in another room or ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 yeah I am still trying to figure out what I am gonna do with that. I have a nice stand and all for it. Maybe I post on here after I make the move Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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