# 30 Gallon Reef



## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

I've had a 10 gallon reef tank at work for 18 months now but have gotten tired of lugging RODI water every day so I decided to start another tank and home and transfer the 10 gallon over. I've also never done a build log before so bear with me.

Here's a photo of the tank:










Since taking the photo I've decided to move the tank to another wall. More to come soon.

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## y4zhuang (Oct 2, 2013)

Did you pick this up from JB's shop? Was mine previously, excited to see what you do with it


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

I did  he mentioned the tank had been passed around a few times.


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## jabeuy (Jun 4, 2014)

Nice! You cleaned it up well haha!
Did you repaint the stand? Looks shiny


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

jabeuy said:


> Nice! You cleaned it up well haha!
> Did you repaint the stand? Looks shiny


I didn't retouch the stand yet. Overall it was fairly good. The tank just took a couple razor blades to clean up.


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

So here's the rock scape that I have so far. I'm going to be bringing over corals and rock from the 10 gallon tank so it'll fill in a little bit.










Top down


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Nice tank but no sump?


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

altcharacter said:


> Nice tank but no sump?


There's a 10 gallon in the bottom of the stand that I might run as an open sump. For now I'll just be running the tank with an existing HOB that has chemi-pure and phosguard in it.


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

Tank is now flooded. Just waiting on extension cords to arrive to properly wire everything up. Still planning the logistics of transferring tanks.


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

Tank is flooded, couple of pieces of live rock have been added and a temporary light is on it. Will be transferring a larger piece of live rock with GSP over tomorrow to continue cycling.

Have to get used to evaporation and water changes on a brand new tank all over again.


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## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

Nice setup how many gallons...


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

Rookie2013 said:


> Nice setup how many gallons...
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


30 Gallons.


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## mensa (Nov 25, 2015)

how big is this hob filter your gonna use


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

mensa said:


> how big is this hob filter your gonna use


I have a Marineland Penguin 150 that I use to hold phosguard that I'll probably use. I mainly use it to judge how much water to top up (whenever it starts making noise) and provide a place for phosguard and other stuff.


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## mensa (Nov 25, 2015)

is that going to be a good amount of filtration?
I have been led to believe that the requirements for saltwater are 3 times more than fresh
so while that filter that is fine for 30 gal of freshwater it would only be good for 10 gal of saltwater 
do I have this wrong because im thinking of going up to a ac150 in my 30 gal build
but if I don't have to ive got a ac50 ready to go


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

mensa said:


> is that going to be a good amount of filtration?
> I have been led to believe that the requirements for saltwater are 3 times more than fresh
> so while that filter that is fine for 30 gal of freshwater it would only be good for 10 gal of saltwater
> do I have this wrong because im thinking of going up to a ac150 in my 30 gal build
> but if I don't have to ive got a ac50 ready to go


Bio filtration is done entirely through rocks/sand. The HOB is purely used for chemical filtration (phosguard and carbon) and potentially a little mechanical filtration so it doesn't need to be that strong.

I also don't care about it pushing water because I've got 2 850gph powerheads on either side.


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## mensa (Nov 25, 2015)

fair enough
sounds like I can transfer my ac50 from my 20 to my 30 gal build
good news
thanks


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

So it's been a while since I've updated this. I've just been waiting on the cycle. Last night I DIY'd a simple cover. Just made out of egg crate. Glued little pieces of egg crate to the sides to make sure it'd stay on. It's flush with the top so it looks pretty slick when looking at the tank head on.










I'll be hanging the light today or tomorrow and I'm transferring the old tank tomorrow.


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

I would instead go with the window frame plus clear mesh it will look less obstructive from all angles plus allow for better light penetration


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## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

Yes I agree with Kamal. It gives a nice clean look. You can check my Fragtank build thread if u want to. I have used the window framing and the mesh. Total cost $15 bucks.


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## silent1mezzo (Jun 24, 2014)

For now I'm going to stick with the egg crate. When viewing the the tank head on it's not overly noticeable and I can route my cables through it to the back. 

I do like the clean look of the mesh top so I may do that in the future.


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## SarahSuth (Apr 21, 2014)

I also think using the kit from Home Depot would look great with the mesh. I made one two months ago and love it. Really makes the tank look slick. Just cut the width a bit shorter to accommodate the HOB


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## DrBlueThumb (Feb 18, 2012)

Nice set up. very nice.


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