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36 gallon reef tank.

Reefs

By Reefs,
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Reefs Starfish

Reefs

Finally I got this tank runing, I am new to the saltwater hobby so if you have any suggestions, or if you think I am doing something wrong please let me know.

The tank is 36 gallon acrylic bowfront by SeaClear.

Lighting: Coralife 1 x 31 watt 6700 K and 1 x 31 watt actinic. 10 hours on.

Heating: 100 watt marineland heater.

Filtration: one internal whisper filter, and two mini elite power heads.

About 30 lbs live rock and 15 lbs fine grain sand.

- 10% weekly water change.

 

Corals:

- Zoas, green star polyps, mushrooms, green montipora, pulsing xenia, and other soft corals.

 

Inverts:

- Cleaner shrimp, emerald crab, algae eating snails, hermit crabs, bumblebee snail, peppermint shrimp.

 

Fish:

1 maroon clown fish, 1 yellow tail damsel fish, 2 yellow clown gobies.

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Reefs Starfish

Reefs

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Sounds like you have you need. Any pics? Depending on how old the tank is, I wouldn't add anymore fish.

The tank is an upgrade from 20 gallon long aquarium, I moved everything to the 36 gallon. here is couple pictures (sorry for the low qualitty) while the tank in progress, I 'll post more pictures of the final set up when I have chance.

post-2632635-129004699915_thumb.jpg

post-2632635-129004701805_thumb.jpg

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trockafella Oracle Reefer

trockafella

(edited)

Fill it up to the edge with water.... Why do you have it so low?

 

 

 

+1... I was confused at first.. I thought maybe it was a saltwater terrarium.. Definitely needs to be filled up.. But I think it looks very nice.. Some stronger lighting would be a good upgrad, those palys are reaching for the light, and all the way full of water there gonna need it.. Just my $.02

Edited by trockafella
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Reefs Starfish

Reefs

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So I need to fill it up and upgrade the lights, do I need to just replace the light bulbs with other high watts bulbs or I need a new fixture?

The light bulbs I got now are T5 and 28'' long.

Here is some pictures I took this morning.

post-2632635-129009568182_thumb.jpg

post-2632635-129009569892_thumb.jpg

post-2632635-129009572236_thumb.jpg

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trockafella Oracle Reefer

trockafella

I would recommend a 4 bulb t5 unit. And yes, fill it up.. I would also say your filtration is a minimum, something a little bigger would help. It looks like the tank has a eurobrace on it. There isnt a way to hang anything on the back edge of the tank is there..?

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Jon Lazar Oracle Reefer

Jon Lazar

If you're going to upgrade the lights, you should consider waiting until the old bulbs are worn out and need replacment anyway. That will also give you time to fine tune your lighting upgrade plan.

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Incredible Corals Oracle Reefer

Incredible Corals

You don't need to upgrade the lights if enjoy the types of corals you have already.

 

If I were you I would would fill it all the way. Ditch the whisper filter, add more live rock and let it grow and do it's thing. With more live rock and doing 10% weekly water changes you shouldn't need any mechanical filtration.

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Reefs Starfish

Reefs

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I would recommend a 4 bulb t5 unit. And yes, fill it up.. I would also say your filtration is a minimum, something a little bigger would help. It looks like the tank has a eurobrace on it. There isnt a way to hang anything on the back edge of the tank is there..?

This is how the tank looks like from top, I don't know if that is eurobrace. and yes I can hang some equipments on the back side.

post-2632635-129037463793_thumb.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
Reefs Starfish

Reefs

  • Author

Just bought CPR hang on back refugium, while trying to see how its going to fit, I noticed that the back of my aquarium is bowed in the center( now we can call it bowfront and back tank)..I was trying to fill it all the up when adding the refugium but now I am really concerned.

Is it normal for acrylic tanks to be like that? what should I do?

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gwweber Grandmaster Reefer

gwweber

can u post a pic? perhaps a brace of some sort could go side to side in the back?

 

 

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Reefs Starfish

Reefs

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Here is a picture with ruler in the back to give you an idea. one thing to add is the bow location is where the heater used to be, is it possible that the heater caused it?

post-2632635-129305206241_thumb.jpg

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BowieReefer84 Oracle Reefer

BowieReefer84

My opinion... better safe than sorry. You have much more money INSIDE the tank than the value of the tank itself. I would go get a new tank, or even pick one up on here. I think there are quite a few listed for cheap. Not saying it will break now, or even in the future. I am just OCD.

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gwweber Grandmaster Reefer

gwweber

That looks like its just stress, if it was my tank i would see about getting a brace to run from side to side

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Der ABT Oracle Reefer

Der ABT

(edited)

how thick is the acrylic? i know my sump baffles used to bow alot before i got some thicker acrylic. they never let go but definately bowed id say even a little more then yours is now.

one thing you could try is to take out some water(like half of the tank into some buckets so you can put it back right afterward) and if it gets less of a bow then its from the stress/weight of water, if it doesnt change i would bet the heater did it.

 

if it doesnt move and the heater did it i would not worry about it and just relish in the new space (haha) or buy a 300deep tank (sorry i always wanted a huge tank)

Edited by Der ABT
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Reefs Starfish

Reefs

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The acrylic is 1/4'', I thought about draining some water and see what happen.. my other option is to switch this tank with 40 gallon breeder freshwater Riparium that I have.

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Origami Neptune Reefer

Origami

1/4" acrylic is pretty thin and flexible. My guess is that it's not related to the heater (water in the tank would have protected the acrylic) but is normal flexing of the acrylic under water pressure. Since the manufacturer made the tank with 1/4" acrylic, I figure that it's probably designed to hold it. It just won't do it without bowing apparently.

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Reefs Starfish

Reefs

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(edited)

It turned out it was just stress from water pressure as mentioned above.. fingers crossed though.

I removed the internal filter and added CPR hang on back refugium, I supported the bottom of the refugium with wood so it will not add any pressure on the aquarium, I had to do some modifications to make it fit because I have limited space on the top brace.

At this time the aquarium is going through New Tank Syndrome, I got some algae growth.

Edited by Reefs
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Reefs Starfish

Reefs

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looking good, youll need a bigger tank in no time haha.

what camera you taking the pics with , i though there would be some more blue from the new LED.

Tell me about it, I started with 5 gallon trying to breed brackish snails/shrimp larvae and here I am with clownfish, Zoa's and what not.

The camera I am using is Kodak M341, but I still have the T5 fixture I haven't get any LED lights yet.

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