35gal process and changes

Jschoon

Jschoon

Reefing newb
Here is the beginning of my changes and additions to my 35 gal. The tank has been up for about 2 years or so, but about 9 months ago I moved the tank to paint and had a big die off. All that was left was some polyps a handful of snails and a bunch of algae. I have taken out and scrubbed almost all the rocks and have the following planned for the very near future.
1 - replace crushed coral with sand
2 - replace HOB filter with overflow and add sump
3 - add scrubber to sump
4 - replace old power heads with koralia 1s
5 - add 15 more pounds of LR
6 - paint back of tank black or dark blue

Here is the before pic... Not looking so good...
 

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marine alage-fix will help with the bubble alage. and then get a couple emerald crabs they will eat the bubble alage sometimes
 
Sounds like you got a sound plan for the rebuild.
Cant wait to see it all coming together.
 
Knucklehead -- I am still thinking about a skimmer. I am putting in the scrubber that SantaMonica posted about first. I have everything on hand to build it.
 
its your build, but i highly suggest the skimmer before a scrubber... skimmer is one of the most important pieces of equipment you could have in your arsenal..
 
Wow, that Black stuff looks like it's been fighting you. If it's better now that's great. I'd hate to see what it looked like before. :shock:

Looking forward to seeing your tank come along. Good luck.
 
That was the before.. I have been fighting the bubbles for some time. I tried emeralds and they did not make a dent and ended up dead. I have had no luck with them thus far. Last week I went drastic and pulled out the rocks and scrubbed them. I did a couple a day so as not to put too much shock on the system. Here is where I am now...

As you can see I still have a little to remove but it is getting better.
 

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Forgot to update yesterday. Got my 40 pounds of sand from my LFS for $42. They call if "Fiji Special" and I think it will look great. It is much smaller/finer than the crushed coral. I plan on doing half the tank this week and the rest next. I want to have about 3 days or so between so whatever critters I have have a chance to invade the new sand and so I stir up as little as possble bad stuff.

I also picked up a new 300 gph pump and all the plumbing parts I need.

I have the glass dividers for the sump, but I wonder if it is safe to use. It is glass from an old window. Should I have any concerns using it?

Lastly, I ordered my overflow and should have it this week sometime.

More to come...
 
Major improvement! Your hard work is paying off.

I, personally, would not have a problem using glass from a window. Clean it well with vinegar and water first. I'm not a "window expert" or anything, so maybe someone else will chime in if they are usually coated with something that could harm your tank, because I don't know.
 
That tank looks much better.

As for the glass, just sand the edges so you dont get cut, or use plexi as the baffles.
 
SeaBee said:
That tank looks much better.

As for the glass, just sand the edges so you dont get cut, or use plexi as the baffles.
Click to expand...

I thought about using some plexi. I was concerned that it would not stick to the glass using clear silcone and I would have divider failure. This glass I have is from a window that is about 25 years old. Had just been saving it for that one day when I needed some glass... And my wife says I will never use any of the junk I have in my shop... Ha!

See you all later... Joe
 
Jschoon said:
I thought about using some plexi. I was concerned that it would not stick to the glass using clear silcone and I would have divider failure. This glass I have is from a window that is about 25 years old. Had just been saving it for that one day when I needed some glass... And my wife says I will never use any of the junk I have in my shop... Ha!

See you all later... Joe
Click to expand...


That old glass is prob. just fine, just clean it like Biff said. And I would sand the edge a little so you dont get cut.
 
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