# New 32 gallon reef tank



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

Hello everyone, 

I wanted to share some of our excitement. 

The details:
32 Gallon custom made reef tank. Dims are 20W x 30L x 12H
Maxi-Jet 1200
Penguin 120 filter (temporary)
25 LBS of aragonite sand (graciously donated by Altcharacter)
119 1W LED light (from immafool)
Skimmer- purchasing tonight (Big Als)
Heater- purchasing tonight (Big Als)
Frags- purchasing tonight (Kooka)

We started our journey with a 6.6 gallon Fluvul edge with upgraded lighting and here we are.

I hope you like it.

**More pictures coming soon****

Thanks,
Mike


----------



## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*hey*

Awesome start.... welcome to the salt side and look fwd to following your
Build.is the tank drilled.what kind of skimmer are u going to purchase.u may want to ask a few opinions on skimmer before u buy.lots of diff opinions but could also help u from 
Purchasing something that is not a good make or too finiky.I used a deltec mce 600 hob with no issues and am currently useing a vertex 100-in with no issues at all.
Cheers and good luch
Tom


----------



## Kweli (Jun 2, 2010)

I really like your rock work.. if i could redo mine, it would be a simpler style like yours


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

The skimmer is a weirpro internal skimmer. Big als has it on sale for 34.99
Worth it?


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

Kweli. The rock formation has yet to be finally set up. With us still cycling it out I literally just placed them in the front to use the nutrients (origianally from our micro)
We have a few more pieces of liverock but they are still in the micro- they have coral attached. I will update the pic this weekend when we create the middle cave.


----------



## explor3r (Mar 14, 2010)

MPreston said:


> The skimmer is a weirpro internal skimmer. Big als has it on sale for 34.99
> Worth it?


Very nice start I like your tank dimensions, I would not waste my money on skimmers like that you are better with weekly water changes and save your money for a good skimmer that Im sure you will use when u upgrade


----------



## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

MPreston said:


> The skimmer is a weirpro internal skimmer. Big als has it on sale for 34.99
> Worth it?


Don't spend $35 on a skimmer. A quality skimmer costs several orders of magnitude more than that. Your tank will thank you.


----------



## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

NO worries guys He's taking my Aquaticlife 115 skimmer and the heater I have tomorrow morning. I use to run that skimmer on my 20g holding tank and I would clean it out every couple of days. Really good little skimmer for the price and size.

Really liking that tank!


----------



## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

altcharacter said:


> NO worries guys He's taking my Aquaticlife 115 skimmer and the heater I have tomorrow morning. I use to run that skimmer on my 20g holding tank and I would clean it out every couple of days. Really good little skimmer for the price and size.
> 
> Really liking that tank!


this is very good one with very good reviews

*100% free webcam site! | Awesome chicks and it is absolutely free! | Watch free live sex cam - easy as 1-2-3*


----------



## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Yeah man like I said I loved it for the size and it's pretty quiet. Perfect for what they're doing


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*Diy weekend!*

Busy weekend but its ALL DONE! 
Lots of pictures of projects.
As always, opinions/comments encouraged. 
Enjoy- I know I did.


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*Overview*

A quick pictorial of the purchases of the weekend.


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*Making a Penguin 150 into a refugium*

Step by step- Simple but AWESOME!


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*LED mod for filter*

Old LED strip, plastic cover, glue gun and some electrical tape


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*Plumbing*

I took a Maxi Jet 1200, approx $10 in hardware and I created simple but effective center flow


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*Lighting*

Ceiling hanging kit, 119 1W 2 tone LED fixture- blue and white light (care of immafool). 2 basic clip on lights w/ red and yellow bulb.
I REALLY like the lighting on this tank, hope you feel the same


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*The finished product*

Aquaticlife 115 skimmer and heater (care of altcharacter)
Reef build/placement (care of the wife)

More pictures to come- corals (Still have a week or so to cycle completely)

< AMAZING frags (care of Kooka) + my own stash >


----------



## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

Very original tank, like the refugium/filter. Is that Aquaticlife skimmer releasing microbubbles? I had one and I ended up getting rid of it.


----------



## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

Cool tank! Pretty neat night lights with the little Fluo compacts ! Good idea! Prob look more like the moon lighting than blue night lights. 

What about getting little screw in LED lights that go on a dimmer! You can prob rig up some sort of dimmer and have the lights dim on. Go bright than dim down. Moon cycle! Might be able to rig. Up a dimmer from ecoxotic or something. 

Cool tank! Have fun! 


Sent from my iPhone with auto correct. Can't you tell?


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

Kooka said:


> Very original tank, like the refugium/filter. Is that Aquaticlife skimmer releasing microbubbles? I had one and I ended up getting rid of it.


Thanks kooka, we love the tank.
Im digging the refugium/filter too. As simple as it is, it seems to work. Hell, it couldnt get much worse that what the filter actually came with.

The skimmer *is* releasing microbubbles, I don't mind them. 
Im actually impressed by the quality and size.


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

aquaman1 said:


> Cool tank! Pretty neat night lights with the little Fluo compacts ! Good idea! Prob look more like the moon lighting than blue night lights.
> 
> Thnx.
> We still have a few things on the wishlist-quality timers and dimmers for the 3 lights (LED fixture included) is high on the list


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

aquaman1 said:


> Cool tank! Pretty neat night lights with the little Fluo compacts ! Good idea! Prob look more like the moon lighting than blue night lights.
> 
> Thnx.
> We still have a few things on the wishlist-quality timers and dimmers for the 3 lights (LED fixture included) is high on the list


----------



## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

You might not mind the bubbles now, but they will eventually drive you up the wall, not to mention they will end up aggravating your corals and fish. I don't want to scare you, but I'm just speaking from experience here. They say those skimmers have a "break-in" period where the bubbles eventually subside, which they do, but as soon as you put your hands in the tank, add a supplement or even feed, the bubbles start up again.


----------



## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

Look up the ecoxotic. I love my lights and will be getting the light control. It even has a "forecast day" mode and because in reality it's not sunny everyday. Plus, with a few cloudy days a week might help control algae . 

Again, that's some creative and reasonably priced ideas which I'm a big fan have! Keep up the cool ideas  


Sent from my iPhone with auto correct. Can't you tell?


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*Sump*

OK, YOU BROKE ME- I will be creating a sump.
The tank "donated to science" will be our 6.6 gallon Fluvul chi
Tank dims are 10x10x17
Items to go in the tank
Skimmer- dims 5x5x12 (clearance added to dims)
Heater
Live rock/refugium
Return pump- dims 3x3x3

Should I put the air stone in?

I have been looking at simple sump ideas but wanted to ask for suggestions on the size of the baffles and what type of baffle clearance we will need for a successful sump.

Thanks guys- have a good day


----------



## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

Hey. I don't have a sump because mine is all I one. But I'm guessing a mini version of that sump would work. And what's te air stone for? 


Sent from my iPhone with auto correct. Can't you tell?


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*air stone*

I was thinking of putting the air stone in the first chamber- the water intake chamber from the main tank. Use it to mix up the water before it goes to the skimmer but sumps are new to me. I have the stone and the air pump but nothing to do with it- I thought I could put it to use
Thoughts?


----------



## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

I'm sure someone will chime in that knows better but I'm assuming the skimmer will provide all the necessary air/water exchange. I know on my pump it has an air inlet to have a air/water ratio that is adjustable. But with a in sump pump pushing the skimmer the air might shorten the life of the pump. Plus, like my co2 injection in my planted tank unless the air is being dissolved it will just escape through the surface when the bubble rise. 

With water falling down and being forces through an open air sump I'm guessing that will suffice for air exchange. If you want I've seen people put mangrove and certain algae in the sumps to help with nutrients uptake. If you place a power head on the tank and stir up the surface that should create enough exchange as well. 

Who knows. Maybe an air stone in the sump would keep PH levels a little more stable??? Co2 will Lower PH pretty quickly. I created more surface agitation in my tank and my ph went up . 


Sent from my iPhone with auto correct. Can't you tell?


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Here you go:

http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html

Based on your sump dimensions, I think you will only be able to fit 2 chambers. http://www.melevsreef.com/sump.html


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*sump*

Thanks George. I took a quick look at the attachment and its perfect. 
I actually will be selling the 6.6 Fluval and will be picking up a proper 10 gallon. Walmart has them on for like $13. 
For what I am selling the tank for I can pickup the 10 gallon, plexi glass and all of the needed supplies- sounds good to me.


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*We have sprung a leak*

We took a weekend to go to Montreal, after a snow storm, 9 hours on a bus we come to10 gallons of water of our floor :/ 
We sprung a leak, not too sure how but one of the seals started to leak. Thank god nothing happened (electrical ) and we had a cycled rescue tank to toss all of the corals in now we reseal and start again.
I will be adding a corner overflow and a gfo unit.

Anyone know where I can find a corner overflow?
Sig, who was your guy?


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*RIP 32 (at least for now)*

Last night we were going to reseal the tank, we cleaned it up and prep'd it but upon closer look, the bottom panel is cracked- thus the reason for the leak.

I called around to a few places and the best fit seems to be a 40 breeder.

We plan on fixing it eventually but for now, we must lay to rest the custom 32 gallon.


----------



## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I think Tom G has a 40B for sale


----------



## Kweli (Jun 2, 2010)

Aw man, that was short lived = (

This is your opportunity to get a drilled tank with sump now = )


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

No doubt! Bummer that it cracked but what can you do? I'll revisit the project in the spring.

I want to sump the 40 gallon but we dont have anywhere to put the tank, out of the way.
Not only would I have to convince the wife to drill our brand new tank, but mod up her side serving table/ wine rack. 

Be it that we have to replace the bottom pane on the 32 anyway,I can easily sump that tank.
Gives me an excuse to set up another tank


----------



## MPreston (Nov 11, 2013)

*40 breeder*

It's alive!

The 40 is up and running. Everything is humming along perfectly.


----------

