My 37 gallon saltwater reef aquarium tank, sump, and equipment

[roizamann9]

awesome

[jauld]

@roizamann9 Thanks ;)

[mmancano]

Hello i have the same tank as you and i want to get corals. what light are you using my tank is 30x12x24 or what would you recommend

[thumpco]

How long did your tank to cycle?

[jauld]

@thumpco Took about 2 weeks to fully cycle, but no livestock was added until the 30 day mark...just to be safe ;)

[thumpco]

@jauld Dang its already been 3 weeks with mine. I feel like I am doing something wrong.

[jauld]

@thumpco Some tanks take longer than others. I have seen tanks take over 1 months to fully cycle. You should first see a jump in ammonia, then nitrite, then nitrate. If your nitrates are high right now, your tank may have already cycled. If so your ready for a water change. Did you do anything to help "seed" the tank to jump start the cycle?

[thumpco]

@jauld How big a water change? Last time I checked my nitrites it was in the caution area, haven't checked since. No I did nothing to seed the tank.

[jauld]

@thumpco If your nitrites are not at 0, your cycle is not over. Give it some time. Once nitrite levels decrease to 0 and nitrate levels increase really high, your cycle is over. At that point you want to do a big water change...Ideal chem levels are: Nitrate - less than .2ppm, Nitrate - less than .2ppm, ammonia - less than .1ppm, phosphate - less than .003ppm, salinity 1.026, pH 7.9 - 8.4, temp 76-83.

[thumpco]

@jauld Thank you so much!

[MrJcampbell8118]

Haha! I saw your sump and thought those looked similar! I got mine at the same place! how are they working out for you? Any breaks? I haven't built my sump yet.

[jauld]

@MrJcampbell8118 No breaks, and they go high up too so it adds about 10-12 gallons of water volume on the 15 gal sump. I had it set up for a while and had no problems at all, and only cost like $25 total to make. I have the build of it on my website (reef info > filtration and cycling > refugium bio filtration) link is in the description. Good luck with your build!

[MrJcampbell8118]

Where did you get your glass for your baffles? Do you remember how thick it is?

[jauld]

@MrJcampbell8118

I purchased the baffles at Home Depot. I believe they are 1/8 inch thick. They have pre-cut glass panels that are 12 inches across.

[sdakjln]

alge in the sump is bad because it harms the rest of the tank by bringing alge to the top tank and the alge evetualy grows up top

[villegas1995]

what kind of light are you running for the mangroves

[jauld]

@villegas1995 Its just a CFL 100 watt equivalent light bulb from home depot. 5500k color temp. I bought bulbs and the fixture to hold them for like $8 total

[jauld]

@reefmos I have it hooked up so the refugium light is on when the aquarium lights are off. This helps keep pH stable. The schedule is as follows. 4pm - 11pm aquarium lights on, 11pm - 4pm fuge light on.

[callmebigpapa]

I like the mangrove part of the sump better than the main aquarium but i am a "planted tank" kinda guy

[reefnoob]

37 reefs are rare, I have one too. Like to get ideas from others. Do you have problems with O2/CO2 exchange due to the depth of the tank? What are you running for flow? Your midas blenny absolutly rocks!!

[jauld]

@reefnoob Running 2 koralia 2's for flow hooked up to my acjr. Works perfect for this set up. Also have a RIO 1700 for the closed loop which adds more flow. Not problems with o2/co2 exchange

[fishtanksandkoiponds]

looks great but its so loud! is it that loud in person?

[jauld]

The fan on the sunpod is pretty loud yes, but everything else is quiet. What little noise does come from the sump is almost completely muted when the stand doors are closed. The tank is in my room, right next to my bed.

[fishtanksandkoiponds]

glad to hear! loos great! question- how good are the mangroves doing to reduce nutrients? are they worth the hassle? and can they grow out of the sand bed?

[jauld]

thank you. The mangroves actually grow quite fast. Ill take a pic of what they look like today and link it here when Im on my lunch break. I think they do an alright job of nutrient export. The only reason I have them is because I was having trouble getting cheato to grow. i think its recommended to have at least 1 per 2 gallons of the system so they are less efficient. I do weekly water changes and also have a reactor + skimmer for additional export so its hard to tell their impact.

[fishtanksandkoiponds]

thanks! and i have crazy chaeto growth! wana trade some? hahahahahah. i wanna try mangroves along with the chaeto and see how that goes... chaetos doin great but my posphates are a little high so i wanna try mangroves...

[jauld]

you may want to try putting some phosphate sponge in your system. You don't need a reactor, you can just put it in those bags in a high flow area. I would recommend ROWAphos or phosban as they both work well for me.

[fishtanksandkoiponds]

cool, ill wait a lil to see if they even out as it is a new tank and if they dont ill get some...