Genj Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 First let me thank all of the people that have spent their time posting information to this forum for so long. I've been lurking without signing up for a while now. I've learned that patience is the most important aspect of this hobby, followed by proper expectations. I am hoping to become a useful and helpful member myself after a few years! I don't like to talk politics, religion or any inflammatory subject via the internet. I don't troll or flamebait. I might, after getting to know you, type something with sarcasm but only in good fun. I'm here to learn and as I said before, help in the future. Now, let me review where I am now. My 24g AP was purchased a year+ ago and sat in the box until I felt it was right to set up. About 1 month ago that time arrived. My LFS here in Midlothian, VA (ok to mention names?) has been very helpful and they have numerous installations around town that I constantly find it what appears to be good health. Here is what I have purchased so far: 12 lbs of cured live rock from them (tonga they said) 5lbs of sand. 20 gals of their pre-made water. I replaced the stock pump with a MaxiJet 1200 ESU Coralife Digital Thermometer A grounding probe THEO Heater 50W and a few other small items for cleaning. The tank sits on a custom made stand from the LFS that I can't praise enough for it's craftsmanship. At this stage the water is in the tank, along with the live rock and sand. The live rock is setup how I like it, with a few ledges, caves, and tunnels. Water appears clear and has been setup for a week. I haven't had any blooms of algae of any color at all. In the back of the tank is the stock setup. Two sponges, a few bioballs, and a bag of what look like spacers. I'm sure there is a term for these but I have yet to discover what it is. All this being said, I'd like to know what the community feels like I should do next. LFS has told me to bring in a bit of water, as they test for free. If all is good they are claiming that I can go home with just about everything. As I stated above, I'm patient. I do have a decent budget, but I surely don't want to drop $400-500 just to kill it all in a month. Some thoughts rambling around inside my head: Should I replace more stock items? What test kit should I pick up? What the best schedule for CA, I, Mg, testing, filter material cleaning? Additional filtration material? Clean up crew first? Anyone have any thoughts on books from amazon to read? My temps are a bit high I feel at the moment. Tank reaches 84 after 12 hours of light. was 80.4 this AM. (I'm reading my temp from the back of tank) Should I replace the fans? Unfortunately I've been called to a meeting, so I must end this post for the moment! Thanks in advance. Any additional thoughts or suggestions are welcome. Link to comment
Bamboo Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 Remember to take out all sponges, bioballs, and other filter media that comes stock, especially bioballs. Then search the site for what other people are doing for filtration. I'm going to be getting my nanocube soon and I decided to get the filter media basket from InTank and I will stock it with filter floss, chemi pure elite, and purigen. Remember to also get a hydor koralia pump for water circulation. You might want to also get more live rock/live sand 20lbs live sand and 20lbs live rock. For chilling your cube you could get a chiller... but it's a bit expensive, I would upgrade just the fans. Don't add fish or any live stock yet! Read up more too, what I wrote is just the tip of the iceberg. This is a good thread ---> http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=54602 Where I got my media basket filter media and other stuff ---> http://shop.mediabaskets.com By the way, I live in Richmond too, which fishstore did you go to? Link to comment
Genj Posted September 10, 2010 Author Share Posted September 10, 2010 <trimmed for space> By the way, I live in Richmond too, which fishstore did you go to? Thanks for the tips. Going to check out the sites you suggested shortly. I visit Fishworld on Busy Street, which is near courthouse and midlothian tpke. Have you been there? Link to comment
keydiver Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 i second what bamboo said. Some more live rock and live sand would help get rid of ammonia levels. If you ammonia is below .25 ppm, i would say your almost done with the cycle. My tank only took 2 weeks to cycle. As for the test kits, I like the API test kits, you could just get a master kit that has tests for nitrates nitrites, ammonia, ph, and other stuff....it would probably be the cheapest. You could upgrade fans or get the nano chiller, or, later in the future if you want to get better lighting, you could just go open top. I have a 29 gal biocube and when i switched from power compact lighting to metal halides with an open top my temp dropped by 2 degrees. As for stocking the tank, I would keep it to a minimum right now, until you're certain that the tank is fully cycled. You could just get a few inexpensive fish like chromis or damsels if you params look good. You could also get a cleanup crew but its better to get a couple fish first to give the CUC something to eat. Hope this helps Link to comment
catastrophi Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 I wouldn't get any fish at all unless your ammonia is 0. There's no point in stressing the fish. I would personally order a clean up crew before adding fish. Reefcleaners.org is an awesome place to order from. They'll definitely hook you up at a great price. I also hear many people replace the stock return pump with a maxijet900 or 1200 for a little more flow. Link to comment
Bamboo Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Thanks for the tips. Going to check out the sites you suggested shortly. I visit Fishworld on Busy Street, which is near courthouse and midlothian tpke. Have you been there? I heard it was a good store i'll be going to it next week when I get my cube Link to comment
Genj Posted September 11, 2010 Author Share Posted September 11, 2010 I heard it was a good store i'll be going to it next week when I get my cube Talk to Joe, who is the owner. All of the guys there are super nice and knowledgeable, but Joe has been in the SW business for 30 years. Link to comment
Genj Posted September 11, 2010 Author Share Posted September 11, 2010 Took a few shots of the tank as it stands now. last picture includes a hitchhiker that might be a glass anemone? I'm also sure that I'm seeing a few Amphipods in there as well. Link to comment
treygarz Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Going with a stock AP isn't too bad. There are, as with anything, many mods you can do. You've already upgraded the return pump. You can also just run filter floss in the first chamber. That's all I had running for the longest time until I got a tunze skimmer. Once you start getting coral and a bigger bio load, you will want a little more flow. Steady/constant flow provided by a koralia or randomized by a wavemaker. MP10 is the best option for that. You can find them at a decent price these days. Lighting upgrade would was near the top on my list of things to do. So take that into consideration with your coral purchase. But it sounds like you are off to a good start! Link to comment
Genj Posted September 11, 2010 Author Share Posted September 11, 2010 Going with a stock AP isn't too bad. There are, as with anything, many mods you can do. You've already upgraded the return pump. You can also just run filter floss in the first chamber. That's all I had running for the longest time until I got a tunze skimmer. Once you start getting coral and a bigger bio load, you will want a little more flow. Steady/constant flow provided by a koralia or randomized by a wavemaker. MP10 is the best option for that. You can find them at a decent price these days. Lighting upgrade would was near the top on my list of things to do. So take that into consideration with your coral purchase. But it sounds like you are off to a good start! Your setup looks great! The LFS also said that I should be thinking about the koralia. Link to comment
gulfsurfer101 Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 I love the aquapod tanks. I had both 12 and 24 gallon tanks set up and miss them both. I upgraded to a 40br and hated everything about it. I have recently returned to my aio roots with my finnex 30g. I'll be following along to see how this goes. Link to comment
Genj Posted September 12, 2010 Author Share Posted September 12, 2010 Well, I am dealing with some sort of temperature issue. Either my heater is off, or the Coralife digital is reading incorrectly. The heater is coming on when set low, around 75... but the Coralife is reading temps of 80-84 during the day. Using an infrared handheld on the glass of the tank, the temp is reading within .5 degrees of the Coralife. I have no idea if this is a valid method to read the temp.... I use the infrared for cooking and finding poor insulation spots in the house. I've added the CUC and 2 more lbs of cured live rock, but don't want to add anything else before I am confident about what temp the tank actually is. Link to comment
Genj Posted September 12, 2010 Author Share Posted September 12, 2010 Picked up two additional analog thermometers and found that my tank temp is indeed at 83. The heater is having an issue, and I think I'm going to need to upgrade the fans in the AP to exhaust the heat from the lamps faster. I'm really not interested in having an open tank setup for many reasons, so if that doesn't work, anyone have any thoughts on the LED kits for the AP? Also found a little quarter sized starfish, tan in color with specks of black. UPDATE: Fans ordered and should be in at the end of the week. Link to comment
Genj Posted September 14, 2010 Author Share Posted September 14, 2010 opened up the air intake holes and using my dremel, and redirected the air flow across the lamps. Temps backed off only about 0.3. I'm hoping higher CFM fans will do the trick. Needless to say, I'm very disappointed in the design of the Aquapod canopy with it's poor heat control. Link to comment
treygarz Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 yeah heat was/is an issue for me as well (hood and no hood). Replacement fans should help. You can also try opening the feeding hole as well. That should have a slight effect. Where are you located? Here in SC i only run a heater in jan-feb. Otherwise my tank will stay a constant 76-80 depending on the time of day. The fans are a pretty easy install. Hope they work for you! Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Nice! I didn't really read the whole thread, so I apologize in advance. That rockscape is awesome! I really like that arch/bridge. Now, if you plan on keeping more than softies and some LPS, you should really upgrade your lighting. I did that on my 24g and it was def worth it. Link to comment
Genj Posted September 14, 2010 Author Share Posted September 14, 2010 Thanks guys. I've been checking out both of your tank threads and I'm inspired. As for the heat issue, when I was working on the tank, the temps dropped pretty quick as I expected. Unfortunately i'm not in a position to open up the tank right now, as I'd like to keep the appearance of the closed tank maintained. In addition, it keeps small hands from throwing something into the tank or helping a bit too much and doing something that should not be done. I'll probably just make this my tank thread and ask a moderator to move this thread to the proper location. Link to comment
Genj Posted September 15, 2010 Author Share Posted September 15, 2010 Just got finished reading: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php Is there a recommended vendor that sells the test kit that includes Mg, Ca, etc? I'm an amazon junkie but they only sell Instant Ocean's kit which doesn't include everything listed in the link above. I'm using the Jungle Labs Quick Dip 6-in-1 at the moment and nothing more to test my water. In time I do want to add a few corals that can survive under the stock AP lights Thanks! Link to comment
Genj Posted September 15, 2010 Author Share Posted September 15, 2010 I'm assuming my hermit is dying? He keeps turning himself upside down. You can see him in the picture right up front and in the center. Also adding a few new pictures. The final rock layout: A couple of shots with the night LEDs: Link to comment
gulfsurfer101 Posted September 15, 2010 Share Posted September 15, 2010 Nice I forgot how nice the stock moonlighting was on those tanks. Hope you get the temps in order, they can make some very awsome tanks. Link to comment
treygarz Posted September 15, 2010 Share Posted September 15, 2010 well damn... those pictures make me miss the moonlighting of that hood Off to a pretty good start though. Not really sure what the deal is with your crab though. What did you add for a CUC? Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted September 15, 2010 Share Posted September 15, 2010 Get a sunpod, they have moon lights just like that Link to comment
gulfsurfer101 Posted September 15, 2010 Share Posted September 15, 2010 Get a sunpod, they have moon lights just like that One of the best upgrades availible to this tank. You can always get the glass top from current if you didn't want to run open top. Link to comment
Jerfrog Posted September 15, 2010 Share Posted September 15, 2010 tank looks great. I too have an AP14 and love it as an AIO nano. I find that just using a Media Basket with Chemi-pure, Purigen, and a Sponge work very well. Ive been running my tank with that for about 10 months now and everything is great. Link to comment
Genj Posted September 15, 2010 Author Share Posted September 15, 2010 My CUC consists of: 1 Skunk 1 Peppermint (attacked and eaten by the skunk) 1 Emerald Crab 2 Astraea 2 Nerite and the one hermit. I wasn't aware you could get a glass top for this tank, this has me thinking! Which usually leads to spending more money. Also, Jerfrog, where did you get your basket if you don't mind? Mediabaskets.com? Link to comment
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