Background-

Well for starters this is my first reef tank and in fact my first saltwater tank as well. Im sure it will be a challenge and a learning experience but im willing to take it on. My plan is to build a DIY AIO. I chose to build a AIO because i like the look of a clean and sleek tank, nothen is uglier than seeing heaters,intake tubes,powerheads,cords,etc in your tank!. I wish i would of bought a rimless 10g but due to money and time i bought a 10g aga from wally mart. I cant wait for this contest to start! Goodluck to all and dont start NO DRAMA!! haha



Equipment-

--10g AGA-$10*
--24" Current Usa Nova Extreme T5HO 2x24w-$62
--MJ600-$16
--Jager 50w Heater-$21*
--Loc-line,bulkhead,acrylic,silicone $50*
--live sand-$16*
--Instant ocean salt*
--Koralia Nano-$30
--Live Rock-$28
"Thank You SEALIFE INC"
--Thermometer-$10*


* = not deducted from Budget

Budget Burned-$157

Budget left for Goodies-$193







The Tank-


FTS



























Tell me what you think soo far!
Advice and Comment are welcome!!

upload it to photo bucket and then copy and paste the img code. That way it automatically resizes.

make a photobucket account and then do what JK said
edit- good luck!!

Agreed I hate all the cords and plastic...

Cant wait to see everyones tanks for this contest

NEW PICS!

I like it. That should look good full of SW and stocked up. Good luck with your first SW tank. My first SW was a 10G also so I think you will do great.

Oh snap! I missed the update!! looks awesome dizzle!!
U don't have to charge $10 for the standard 10g

Yes i wished i would of done it with a rimless. i saw the kit you bought after i bought my aga and dont remember seeing them at my LFS..soo siliconed my falsewall in... i went a couple days later and bam they had like 3 stacks of them...

Your shop looks beautiful in the background. Really nice!
Like your tank, too.

Mine is pretty similar, also AIO.

Photos to come tomorrow.

When is the "secret object" published?
Sometime after midnight, right? But EST?

thanks! and ya i actually had to tear my falsewall out and need to resilicone it.

Looking good, thanks for stopping by my thread! This is going to be a tough contest for sure!

Pretty nice looking first tank! Good luck, remember, patience is key... Only bad things happen quickly in saltwater.

It'll be interesting to see your aquascape.
Good Luck!

Nice start. What did you paint the wall with? Fusion?

Yes satin black kryon fusion. stuff works great.

Comment on the aquascape!!

its nothen to exciting but i think it looks ok.

EVIL- will it be worth the switch to leds? I want to build a light were i can pretty much keep anything i want and not be limited on what corals i can have.
thing is i have a 10g also BUT its a AIO...SOOOoo my display tank is only...14" long x 10" wide x 12" Deep

So can you help me pretty please on what i need "how many leds,buckpuks,power supplies,"
i want it dimmable to adjust color, and want to be able to have just actinics or daylights on,"dusk/dawn effect"

thanks!

NEW PICS!

PLEASE comment on the aquascape!

Hey missed the update again
I like the rocks ya got!! caribbean rock is a pain to scape.

10 LEDs (5 cool white, 5 royal blue), no optics, 2 1000mA Buckpucks (3023-D-E-1000P), and a 24v power supply (2.2A minimum) will do the trick.

so i can have only blues or only whites with 1 power supply?

oh and ive seen members use a couple UV leds on there arrays whats the purpose of those?

One power supply can run everything. If you want dawn/dusk effects, you will need one power supply for each driver.

so a power supply runs the drivers, each driver runs 6 leds? sorry im not very knowledgeable in electronics.

What about a couple UV LEDS, or red or green. i want my corals to pop will these help?

Royal blues will make'em pop until they almost explode!

you dont want red, the white/blue 50/50 mix will be perfect.

alrite sweet, then what are the UV ones?? invisible light that does what?

stimulates production of UV blocking pigments that are highly colored. That's the theory anyway.

Hmmm well ill just go with CW and RBs.
How do you like your LEDS yardboy??
Your tank turned out really nice btw! I wasnt to sure about your plan but i saw the tank and was like....WOW! Like the tile Bottom!

Paused for Thanksgiving
For sure Ilike how the LED's color the rock and coral, and the overall look isn't so harsh. What I really want is to have the corals really grow, then I'll be a total convert.
I'm also keeping my fingers crosed on the tile. To me it doesn't look like tile, but there are some spots where the grout line is evident, so hopefuly that will fade with time and growth. It's worked fine for frag plugs so I think it will work here.
Good luck with your setup. Can't wait to see more pics.

Need some help. Im starting to get a algae bloom. im still in the very begging stage of cycling
-ammonia- 8.0+ ppm
-Nitrite-0ppm
-Nitrate-0ppm
im not worried about the brown diatoms, but im starting to get what im pretty sure is green hair algae and its on everything! Ive herd this stuff is bad and want to get it under control before it gets out of control.

any input on what to do?

bump for help?

Information on getting rid of GHA.

sorry dumb neeewb question.
ive read that you cant put a cuc till ammonia and nitrites are 0.

will any snails survive in a tank with really high ammonia?

I wouldn't, and personally I'd do a water change of 50% to get the ammonia down. That high and you'll have a seesaw effect of growth and dieoff that can extend your cycle and delay putting a cuc to work cleaning up. Just make sure the change water is clean. And turn the lights off, IMO.

+1 change some water and turn the lights off

+1

Unless you are getting cured rock from a mature system with little travel and die off, keep the lights off during the cycle. You can magfloat the algae off the glass, leave the stuff on the rock and sand until your cycle completes and the algae biomass stops growing or dies off.

A diverse CUC (red hermit, blue hermit, astrea, nerite, cerith, nassarius, and maybe an emerald crab) will clean up in no time.

thanks everyone!

Will be following your progress. I really like your setup and will being doing something similar for my first tank. I hate the appearance of powerheads and cords and filters just as much as you do. Going to the city tonight to pick up supplies. Will start a thread like this too, contest or not have not decided.

Good luck!!!! Looking great so far!

Where did you happen to pick up your acrylic?
I just drove an hour to the nearest Lowes and they didn't have any. Am I SOL?

Aquascape entry pic



http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=217175

let me take another one really quick.
my water is looking alot more cleaner now. ill post it in a feew

pichers? XD

for the aquascape shots if you did'nt like the one you had PM me a new one

need help...
dont know whats goin on with my cycling
been cycling for about a month with uncured LR
first couple weeks had super high ammonia. did a water change. ammonia slower got lower during 3rd week till it got to almost 0,( between 0-.25), nitrite went up to 0.25 then dropped down to zero in a couple days and now my ammonia is about 0.25-0.50 today. Nitrates have been at 0 whole time.

help?

I always like pictures:



This is typically what should happen. If there is some variation from this in your observation, I'd first question my data. After nitrite appears it means that the bacteria capable of converting ammonia to nitrite have colonized the tank and you should not see any more ammonia. Are you sure you are doing the test right, or that the test kit is not too old and inaccurate?
If you saw nitrite but then it disappeared, where did it go? Should have converted to nitrate, so not seeing any makes me question again if you may not be accurate in your testing. (And understand that I'm not dissing your testing technique. I work as a chemist and I've mistakenly used expired reagents before and gotten bad results, so it can happen.)
I'd suggest taking a sample and getting a "2nd opinion". If the 2nd test yields similar results, I'd suggest just waiting until the bacterial colonies get balanced in the system. For some reason (possibly because the ammonia got too high and killed them) the ammonia oxidizing bacteria are not in sufficient populations to process all the ammonia present. With time they will be.

I did buy a used test kit off of nanoreef. So im guessing thats what set me up for failure..
Ill take my water my LFS i guess and have them double check my water. im not sure the age of the API test kit.

That's good news! The easiest problem to fix, and it likely means nothing weird is going on in your tank. And all a cycle really needs is time, and you're giving it that!
Good luck!

OK! well i got a new salt/reef API test kits. tested my water and everything is 0! yay! so got a good size CUC and there workin hard right now!
thanks yardboy!
Best wishes with your fabulously cool tank!

Great for you!
and thanks from my tank.
Great luck on yours too!

Well now that my tank is completely cycled im very anxious to get my first coral.
have -
4 troncus snails
2 nassarius
1 black margarita
4 hermits

Im trying to be patient.

anyway...how long SHOULD i wait till i get a frag?

looking to get a Zoa or Ric for my first.

Or should i get a fish first?
i need some edjamacated advice