# 30g setup process



## guppyart

*25g setup process*

well I decided to setup a 25g reef tank. the tank was sold to me as a 30g but its a 25 gallon, the garbage can sump is 3g's so its 28g's worth of water.
I am getting 40 pounds of LR from a local reefer tearing down his tank as well as his 2x96w 36" PCs for a deal.
here are pics of the process so far I will post the rest tonight.
































rinsed sand, that stuff takes forever to clean but it looks so good.

















I will post pics of it filled with salt and RO water hopefully tonight.
and to explain the white container at that back, I building that into my refugium so that i put my heater and cheato, in it.
any tips will be great.


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## guppyart

well here are some pics of water adding process really exciting .
















pic of the sand before i stirred it to release the air bubbles








and here it is after adding salt and stirring sand, I washed that sand for ages and it still clouded








currently temp is 78F and PH is 7.8.
I am getting the liverock and light fixture tommorow at 8:30 I am pumped for that


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## fishfingers

Looking good mate, good to see you getting into SW! You'll really enjoy it, it's a great experience setting up your first tank. Have you got any idea of which way you'll be heading with this tank?


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## guppyart

so far the plan is softies to start with, I love zoas and rics.
from there if I upgrade the lights sps is some gorgeous stuff, I am still learning so who knows what will happen.


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## Damon

Rics require lots of light. Tank placement will be limited.


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## guppyart

I guess mushrooms it is then, I will see how the rock works out if there isn't enough space or light I don't want to get them, I want my stuff to thrive not just survive or hold on


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## guppyart

woooooooooooooooooooh LIVEROCK RULES, and so does actinic lighting 
well here are some pics the tank is cloudy cause the power got pointed down while i was placing everything and stirred up the sand .
here are the FTS

















now for what i have so far.
GSP








xenia? I don't know what it is for sure.
















Brown button polyps I think.








Red mushrooms 
















actinic









I have also found 2 green rics or hairy mushrooms I will get pics once the tank clears up.
there is also a couple kenya trees and a small toadstool, still recovering from a frag so hopefully it makes it.


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## Fishboy93

Lookin good, you're beating me lol...


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## fishfingers

Wow nice hitchhikers, you've picked up a bundle! Lets hope they survive the cycle!


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## TheOldSalt

Your pH is only 7.8?


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## Damon

The "xenia" is a close relative of pulsing xenia called anthelia or waving hand xenia.


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## guppyart

TheOldSalt said:


> Your pH is only 7.8?


PH is 8.2 now, I was using RO so it was soft but the sand and salt have buffered it.
I really do hope everything survives the cycle, luckily I was able to keep the rock fully submerged, so die off shouldn't be severe.

thanks damon I didn't want to say either or, oh well I will just have to hope it doesn't take over my tank .
thanks guys I will keep doing updates when I can


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## Damon

It grows like a weed............. I need to frag mine at least 7 times.


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## Bear

lovin' that bear


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## guppyart

well so far so good, zero ammonia-nitrites, and barely detectable nitrates.
Everything is looking awsome, my gsp hasn't opened since I got home but that might be because I added another AC for refugium.
here are some pics I took with a new camera lense.
without atinics,








with actinics


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## Bear

Looking good there! Keep up the good work!


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## guppyart

well I just got back from camp so here is an update.
all my levels seem to be fine and stable, everything has come out, even the dreaded brown algae .
the toadstool frag is starting to grow really rapidly I can't wait for it to be bigger.
here are pics of everything. some of the pics may be a bit blurry I was expirimenting with different shutter speeds.


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## Fishboy93

Nice progress... correct me if I'm wrong but aren't toadstools relatively aggressive/tank take-overers? At least towards defensless softies like the shrooms.


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## guppyart

Fishboy93 said:


> Nice progress... correct me if I'm wrong but aren't toadstools relatively aggressive/tank take-overers? At least towards defensless softies like the shrooms.


yup, its in a far corner on the bottom of the rock. there are some brown button polyps, and some gsp on the otherside of the rock, right now its only about 2" big


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## Bear

I wouldn't worry about the toadstool too much, I don't think you'll have any problems there.

Looks like its time ta get a good cleaning crew


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## Guest

Its looking good Nate! Makes me wanna go out and start a SW tank.  I think I'll just watch the process of yours though...

I'm waiting to see more corals added!


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## guppyart

thanks kristin you should do a SW tank its lots of fun.

tank is doing awsome no nitrates or anything, the GSP is starting to open and the anthelia is doing good which means the water quality is good.
on wensday I am getting some snails and hermits for the algae, I may get some clowns as well, and maybe fingerleather and pusling xenia frags if all goes well.


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## Bear

Lookin' good! Need pics when ya get the new stuff


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## CollegeReefer

I would add your cuc then add fish a week or two after that. You are going to want to play it safe, especially with a smaller tank. Otherwise the tank is looking good. You didn't see much spikes because you used all liverock which really shortens the cycle. I would let the CUC clean up the tank for a week or two and then add the clown. But something to keep in mind is you are going to want to add your passive fish first and then the more aggrisive vish last. Clowns are semi aggresive.


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## guppyart

thanks bear,beki
the CUC will be 25 nassarius snails and 5 hermits. if any thinks I need more just speak up.

CR I will take your advice and hold off on the Clownfish.
The only fish I am thinking is a yellow watchman goby, and 2 black clowns or maybe just plain false percs depending on the price.
so only 3 fish, unless I find a mated pair of gobies so then 4 fish, I am trying to keep a low bioload.

bear I will get pics as soon as stuff is in the tank


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## Fishfirst

only thing I would also suggest would be some astrea snails and a brittle or serpant star.


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## guppyart

wooooooooh just got the start of my clean up crew.
4 margaritta snails,, 5 conch,, 10 hermits


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## CollegeReefer

it is always fun to add livestock to a tank!


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## Bear

WEEEE!

...no corals?


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## guppyart

no coral,, although on sat-sun I plan on getting one of these beauty's.
clove polyps http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u60/bayside_corals/IMG_5850.jpg
and if I can work out times with another reefer,, some cheato,,pulsing xenia and finger leather frags
I can't wait


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## Bear

WOOT!
the future is lookin bright for you young grasshopper 

those clove polyps are gonna look great in ur tank


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## guppyart

Bear said:


> WOOT!
> the future is lookin bright for you young grasshopper
> 
> those clove polyps are gonna look great in ur tank


one word  (ACTINICS) I can't wait to see what it looks like under actinics:shock:


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## taz1989

*nice*

well i think your tank is coming along very well. i was really looking at yours to help me out since i'm starting up my SW tank soon. i just need some info on what i might want to start getting now.


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## Osiris

I may have missed it but how are you doing filteration?


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## guppyart

for Now I am doing an aqua clear 150 as a refugium, I know its small but it will hopefully work until I do a sump.


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## Ice

Looking really good there, guppyart ! Very nice pics ! Love the corals !


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## Fishfirst

For future refrence. Margarita snails are cool water snails... I made this mistake before, and my margaritas lived in my warm water reef tank for years... but some people report them cooking in a tank thats warm.


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## guppyart

thanks ICe,paul.
thanks for the info paul I will remeber that for if mine die, I don't want to be cruel so I won't get anymore, I never did find any info on if they where tropical or cold tanks. thanks for the heads up.
well here are my 2 new purchases
first a green open brain, and a green clove polyps frag.


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## Bear

COOL!

gotta take more pics when they open up all nice and big


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## guppyart

well since I got bored this evening I decided to play with some macro filters on my camera, here is what they produced.


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## Guest

Wow, those pics are amazing Nate. Awesome job!


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## Fishfirst

No problem on the heads up


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## guppyart

thanks katie,, well my anthelia is doing awsome,, no surprise there,, but in the second pic in the bottom right there is an orange matt, from what I can see it looks like xenia,, and the on the left are my green fussy mushrooms if you can tell,, not very easy to take pics of from where they are


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## Bear

orange mat? I don't know if I've ever seen orange xenia. Could u get a clearer pic? Is it encrusting? 

...Full Tank Shot!


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## guppyart

well went to the SW shop yesterday.
I was planning on 2 blue neon or yellow clown gobies but he is almost out of fish,, so he had a ton of coral and well. I went for broke
Got some new zoas.


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## Bear

I'm diggin that colony!

...I see u've still got the skeleton there. Use it for fragging. If you decide to break apart that colony for a few smaller ones glue em onto the skeleton, no use is wasting some good surface area  I would just glue the other straight onto the rock, this way you'll have some more naturally on the rock and you'll be able to keep some down on the sand.


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## harif87

I think i noticed some tiny feather caulerpa popping through on your zoas. I would watch out for that being that theyre known for proliferating like crazy in the aquarium. Make sure to prune em where ever you spot them.


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## Bear

That's true, Ive got some that I have to pick out every once in a while (behind my fiji leather, u can really see it in the nighttime pics). Its ugly and just doesn't quit.


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