# Jiinx's 33 G mini reef tank!



## Jiinx (Apr 5, 2012)

Hi all!
I am so excited to start my own 33 G mini reef! Getting rock and lights from sig really instigated and made me able to get going with it.

I spent the better part of last night cleaning my previous freshwater 33 G tank. Cleaned the walls, took out the substrate..hosed the tank down and the canister. Whew, so much work.

We arranged the rock and flooded the tank last night.  We also mounted the lights, which we have to centre.

There is a lot of "dirt" floating at the top..but since we don't have a protein skimmer or any of the fancy stuff that usually goes with a salt water, we're not sure if that's normal. Can I use my external fluval canister is some way? I thought I had an ingenious idea that I could put chaeto in my canister filter. lol! Anyways, after some research I realized that was not going to work.

So here I am..taking it slow and steady.

Eventually I just want two clowns, two gobies, some anemonies, shrimps, crabs...


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

Oo welcome to the dark side. Youll love it here we have bacon  

Great start  tank looks great can't wait to see what will go in first


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

Thats a fluval studio right? I would recommend you install an overflow in the back corner as I believe it comes predrilled right? The stand also has enough space for a decent sized sump. 

Do it now and you will be glad you did


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## explor3r (Mar 14, 2010)

Welcome to the salty side you are about to have the ride of your life
I would suggest to drill your tank as well is not as hard as it seems


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

explor3r said:


> Welcome to the salty side you are about to have the ride of your life
> I would suggest to drill your tank as well is not as hard as it seems


This tank already come predrilled through the base in the back left corner ...lucky person right


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## Jiinx (Apr 5, 2012)

Thanks for the comments everyone! Yes, it is drilled..but I am not doing a sump. Just doing 5 g water changes for now and see how it goes. I'm not in any rush! And I'm definitely not ready for corals. Just fishes and clams for now. And very small feelings every Two days to keep the water as clean as possible..


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*hey*

welcome to the dark side muahhahhahahaha....
I think 2 months before u are upgrading to a bigger tank .......lol
cheers and sit down ,hang on and most of all go slow and enjoy the ride ..
cheers 
tom


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Jiinx said:


> Th Just fishes and clams for now. A.


I hope you did not mean these. It is to early . Fishes also must be compatible in the tank. Tocatch fish later could be very difficult or even impossible without removing the rocks

http://aquarium-fish.liveaquaria.co...rineinverts&isort=score&method=and&ts=results

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm

use Live Aquaria to read about fishes which you are going to buy and have a look on the chart above. It is not exact, but could be used as references

Good luck and we are always ready to help, but just in case register there also

http://www.reefcentral.com/

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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

What Greg said,
If you aren't ready for coral then you are definitely not ready for clams...but this is my opinion.

Research is your friend!

If you don't want to run a sump I suggest putting a HOB refuge with some cheato and possibly some sort of filter like a sponge or filter floss. Although you need to clean and change that floss atleast once a week!!! Look up AquaClear mods for refuge and also the mod for the surface skimmer. This should help get rid of all that junk on the top.

Lastly, the one thing new people fail to do is generate surface aggitation. Make sure one of your powerheads is atleast generating some type of movement on the top to help out with gas exchange and also to break up that surface scum.

Edit:

Just looked at your pic of the tank and the surface of the water is so still you can see a reflection of the rest of the tank!!!


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## Jiinx (Apr 5, 2012)

Tom - lol, thanks. Freshwater is still my favourite  Everyone's convinced that I'm going my 79 g into a saltie..

Greg, thanks so much for the links. I'll use the chart and I'll research my fishes before going to SUM  (I went there for the first time the other day and OOohed and Aaahhed at everything).
No, I'm not getting anything for awhile. I rushed way too much with freshwater and made so many costly mistakes. I'm trying to not be so impulsive this time around.

Thank you, Alt! I hadn't thought of an HOB - mostly because I don't want to take away from the sleekness and beauty of the tank by hanging things off the back. I'm guessing chaeto is quite useful though. Can I put some INto the tank? Is that a silly question? 

Surface agitation..yes, even with fw we need it so there is proper gas exchange. My filter isn't priming on this tank or that would be another source of flow..(I'm using the filter right now as a way to increase flow in the tank than anything else).

Are fishes bothered by flow?
thank you!


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*hey*

I still have my freshwater tank jinx and love it , but to be honest I have slowed down on it ... but still amazed when we sit down and eat dinner in front of It 
I believe each tank has its highs and lows 
cheers and good luck 
tom


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Flow is what a tank needs


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

new corals/frags, fishes? updates?

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## Jiinx (Apr 5, 2012)

No frags or corals. I'm afraid it's bore city with my tank. 

I have a small skimmer in the back and a powerful hydor for flow. No HOB just yet with chaeto..will look into that when I get some time. I moved all the rocks to the back of the tank and tried to create "steps" for future corals or frags  

Just two clowns. My husband saw them at SUM, and they were on sale, and he really wanted them. I wanted to wait for designer clowns. I have these sweet little guys now.

I also got a cleaner shrimp. I think I'll get one thing a month. My next purchase will be an anemone. My hubby wants a frog spawn but I want I want to wait for something else...

My salinity has been bang on. I have to check my nitrates and see what that's at. I've been doing 5 G water changes every week and top offs with distilled water.

Thanks for asking, Greg!


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Perfect. How high is the light? It looks very high. do not hang it more than 8-10"

Cleaner shrimp is nice but is useless as tank cleaner. You will need real cleaning crew to clean waste after fishes and feeding.
Get few Trochus Snail (ask for ones with the black foot) and Nassarius Snail,

Crabs looks nice, but they will eat your snails at they grow

I personally, would paint back of the tank black. It will hide equipment hanging in the tank

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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

Looking good and +1 what Sig said light looks too high


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

Just caught up  What are the odds that we got into SW at the same time...although you started running yours much earlier  Looking forward to seeing a lot more of your updates !


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## Norman (Feb 13, 2011)

The planted tanks are lovely, but it's my 30G mini reef that has me mesmerized... Be patient and it will come!


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