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[Biocube 29] RedStang's Build Thread


RedStang

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Ok, I have enough equipment and am close enough to getting started to warrant a build thread!

 

Equipment:

BC29 with stock lights RapidLED retrofit kit!

Media basket(need to order) with chemipure elite and purigen - Installed!

RODI(need to order) - Purchased!

Hydor Koralia 425 Make that an MP10!

Hydor Pico 12oo(Haven't decided if I'll use this as the return pump or not) - Used as return pump

Visi-therm heater(freebie)

D-D H2Ocean Pro+ salt Have switched to Reef Crystals

API test kit(Will switch to better one post cycle but got it for $10)

Refractometer

26lbs Dry rock(will seed with some live rock from LFS) - LR purchased and used

I'll be using black sand as the substrate - Ended up going with a fine white from caribsea

Apex Jr ordered, delivered, installed, and hella more money spent on upgrading!

 

LED's will be in my future as will a RKL and probably a Vortech MP10. Hopefully those projects will be done by Christmas. Way before Christmas :lol:

 

The plan is to start the cycle either right before we leave for vacation in July or right when we get back.

Cycle started June 6. Ammonia and Nitrites at zero after one week

 

Pics:

Rockscape

web.jpg?ver=13088796270001

Fish

web.jpg?ver=13115181130001

FTS as of 7/26/11 with crappy iPhone camera

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FTS as of 8/14/11. Again with the ol' iPhone

web.jpg?ver=13133441850001

 

Planned stocking list:

CUC

2 Ocellaris clowns, may sub a B&W for one of them

Yellow Watchman Goby and possibly a shrimp to pair with it

Springerii Dottyback

Six-line wrasse(for the wife)

 

Actual stocking list:

CUC 6-20-11

2 false percs 7-23-11

Yellow watchman goby 8-15-11

Tailspot blenny 8-15-11

Sixline wrasse 9/23/11

Cleaner shrimp 11/25/11

 

Corals:

Mint Green Play's

Kenya tree

Montipora Cap

Mint Chocolate Play's

Red acan

Blasto's

Zoa's

Green bird's nest

Blue ricordia

Green and Purple Hammer

Frogspawn

 

Hardware:

LED lights

DIY fish saver

inTank media basket

2x50w heater

Apex Jr aquarium controller w/VDM, PM1, and additional EB8

Koralia Evolution 425gph Vortech MP10es

Coralife 50gpd RODI unit

Hydor Pico Evolution 1200

Salt used is now reef crystals

 

 

I am completely new to this so constructive criticism is welcome!

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37 views and no comments1? C'mon guys, and gals, I'd like a little feedback. Even negative :D.

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redstang !! can be difficult on here to get advice and comments sometimes :(

 

i like your rocksape...lots of little nooks and caves, suggestion would be prepare for corals you buy to come on little rocks often and leave spaces for these as well unless your going to poxy things otherwise all your eat caves end up covered by coral plug rocks

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BowieReefer84

Sounds like a good plan to me. How sturdy is that stand? 29 gallons of water = 232lbs. Rock is heavier, and the tank itself has some weight to it. You are prob close to 250-275lbs when all done, maybe more.

 

Can't tell from the photo if it is hardwood or particle. Seems there is a lack of lateral support... I am ocd.

 

Add the sixline last, and the clowns second to last.

 

Buy some bulk filter floss material to put at the top of the media rack, and replace it weekly (or more) to help filter out the large particles.

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Coastie5685

Redstang.

 

I'm not a fan of the aquascape man. When you look down at the tank. Are there many places for corals??

 

I like the rock as much along the back wall and away from side and front glass as possible to allow for cleaning, swim space, and plenty of room to place corals.

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redstang !! can be difficult on here to get advice and comments sometimes :(

 

i like your rocksape...lots of little nooks and caves, suggestion would be prepare for corals you buy to come on little rocks often and leave spaces for these as well unless your going to poxy things otherwise all your eat caves end up covered by coral plug rocks

I've noticed that. Why I resorted to begging :lol: Good points on the coral. I've rearranged the rock. Pics below.

 

Sounds like a good plan to me. How sturdy is that stand? 29 gallons of water = 232lbs. Rock is heavier, and the tank itself has some weight to it. You are prob close to 250-275lbs when all done, maybe more.

 

Can't tell from the photo if it is hardwood or particle. Seems there is a lack of lateral support... I am ocd.

 

Add the sixline last, and the clowns second to last.

 

Buy some bulk filter floss material to put at the top of the media rack, and replace it weekly (or more) to help filter out the large particles.

 

The stand is solid wood. I tested it at ~350lbs. Filter floss is already bought :).

 

Redstang.

 

I'm not a fan of the aquascape man. When you look down at the tank. Are there many places for corals??

 

I like the rock as much along the back wall and away from side and front glass as possible to allow for cleaning, swim space, and plenty of room to place corals.

 

Point taken. I will still buy some LR from a LFS. I won't place rock directly against the back wall as I wish to keep it clean but I have moved it as far back as I can. There's plenty of room for cleaning. Here's some pics of alternate scapes.

 

Top of original scape:

web.jpg?ver=13062708420002

 

Front of alternate 1:

web.jpg?ver=13062708150001

 

Top of alternate 1:

web.jpg?ver=13062707870001

 

Front of alternate 2:

web.jpg?ver=13062711850001

 

Top of alternate 2:

web.jpg?ver=13062712090001

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I like alternate 2 but like the shelf you have going on in 3 try and incorporate that into 2 and it will look sick

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I like alternate 2 but like the shelf you have going on in 3 try and incorporate that into 2 and it will look sick

That's what 3 is. Just moved the shelf up and pinned it under a couple other rocks.

Thinking I like that one best for now.

 

Thanks for the feed back everyone! It is truly appreciated!

 

Jason

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Knocked out the false bottoms of chamber one and two. Should of done this before I cleaned the tank as there's a bunch of gunk down there. Tempted to just poor some vinegar on it.....

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Another question. The Hydor Pico shows much promise as a return pump as it has good flow with low power usage. The trade off is a terribly low head. So what's the harm in raising the pump's level in chamber 3? With all of the mods don't most people keep the back of the BC's filled pretty high anyway? This would reduce the head of the pump giving it more flow.

 

Am I crazy?

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Coastie5685
Another question. The Hydor Pico shows much promise as a return pump as it has good flow with low power usage. The trade off is a terribly low head. So what's the harm in raising the pump's level in chamber 3? With all of the mods don't most people keep the back of the BC's filled pretty high anyway? This would reduce the head of the pump giving it more flow.

 

Am I crazy?

 

 

whatever works best for you man.. i would raise the pump level if you can. everyone keeps chamber 3 high anyways. i find that it reduces the sound of the water flowing into chamber 2 as well ( when chamber 3 is high )

 

 

BTW alternative number 1 the first pictures you posted. MUCH BETTER. bravo

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i also have the pico 1200 and it seems like the oem pump in my bc14 makes more pressure than the pico.

 

I plan on raising the height of the pump a good bit which should resolve the issue. Really surprised nobody else has tried this yet. I realize the evap water affects the level in chamber three but an ATO will resolve that.

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I plan on raising the height of the pump a good bit which should resolve the issue. Really surprised nobody else has tried this yet. I realize the evap water affects the level in chamber three but an ATO will resolve that.

 

 

if you raise the pump up say 6" what kind of effect would it have on head pressure?

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if you raise the pump up say 6" what kind of effect would it have on head pressure?

 

It's been way too long for me to remember the calculations to see what the flow rate difference will be. It would cut nearly 25% off its max pump head though. If pumping up 18" seriously curtailed its output then moving it up 6 should help considerably.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, wasn't planning on starting my cycle until the end of June or beginning of July. Unfortunately, a LFS is closing its doors and it so happened that they were only a few miles from me.

 

Picked up a 50gpd RODI unit for $75. 5lbs LR to go with my 26lbs DR for $22.50 and 40lbs of black sand for $15.

 

Tanks about halfway full this morning with salinity at 1.022 so I put the LR in with a powerhead to keep flow moving and I'll fill it up the rest of the way this afternoon/evening! Pics to come tonight!

 

I just may have saved enough to buy a RKL at the end of the month. We'll see. Need to make sure no unexpected expeneses come up first.

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i personally like alternate 2 best. i have too much rock in my bc29 and am going to have to remove some to make room for more corals in the future. raising the return pump is also a good idea. looks like youv'e done your research. good luck to you and can't wait to see pics when you get it going.

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just remmeber that the only head pressure youll need to overcome is the vertical distance between the height of the water in chamber 3, to the bulkhead exiting the chamber. So if you keep the water level high, say, right underneath or at the filter floss tray in the media basket, then your only going up another 6 inches to spill over.

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Finally started the cycle last night. Got the tank filled halfway and threw the live rock in rather than keep it in a bucket. Filled it up the rest of the way tonight! The shells in the pic are empty and came with the sand I bought.

 

Only mods so far was to upgrade the return pump and add a Koralia Nano 425gph for flow.

 

So very happy to finally be kicking this thing off! Thanks to everyone here for all of the advice!

 

Here's the pic!

web.jpg?ver=13075060340001

 

 

I have a couple smaller pieces of rock to plug up the back some if folks think it needs it. Otherwise I like all the place fish have to swim through. There are more tunnels than what the picture shows.

 

 

Below is FWIW:

Salinity is at 1.022

pH is 7.8

Ammonia was .25

Nitrite was 0

Nitrate was 10

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i like the scape but i think the rock front top left should be moved to lower rear left as to flow better on the eye (smaller to bigger left to right would look cool) tho i imagine its supporting the middle shelf? just my two cents based on my own overcrowded scape which i currently regret

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i like the scape but i think the rock front top left should be moved to lower rear left as to flow better on the eye (smaller to bigger left to right would look cool) tho i imagine its supporting the middle shelf? just my two cents based on my own overcrowded scape which i currently regret

 

Yeah, thought about that myself but it is supporting the shelf and there really isn't room for it. I left the back VERY open for flow purposes. My main problem is that the dry rock I bought, while being some gorgeous pieces IMO, are freaking huge. I had to take one completely out as it was just too big. Hmmm, maybe I could just move that piece to the back center....

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dont pair the goby with the pistol shrimp. that defeats the purpose of the goby. i had a goby and made that mistake... now he doesnt clean my sand anymore. and also, the shrimp will dig tunnels through your sand and he knocked my rock down once. and once he makes those tunnels, your goby wont leave them... just my experience

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dont pair the goby with the pistol shrimp. that defeats the purpose of the goby. i had a goby and made that mistake... now he doesnt clean my sand anymore. and also, the shrimp will dig tunnels through your sand and he knocked my rock down once. and once he makes those tunnels, your goby wont leave them... just my experience

 

I may just get a cleaner shrimp. Not too worried about the rocks falling over from tunnels as they are securely on the bottom glass but with only 29gal I guess there's no use putting in a fish you never see!

 

We'll see. I'm still not completely set on any fish except the clowns. I'd consider a Mandarin that was proven to eat prepared foods but those seem to be few and far between. Anyway it would be the last fish added so no use worrying about it now. Clowns will be first. Thanks for looking!

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