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Becact's Zeovit SPS Cadlights 39g Sig


becact

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I built a suspension system for my ATI fixture today. I built it from 3/4" EMT conduit, which I bent right in the store at Home Depot. I went through 5 pipes before getting some good bends (I paid for them all, obviously!) :)

 

Here are the materials for the project:

 

10222009-1.jpg

 

The top and bottom panel of the stand are at different depths. Also, they are different widths. So I had to use a single sided strap at the bottom and a double sided strap up top. Also, I had to project the bottom strap out from the wood (I used washers). The purpose of the bottom strap is not to hold the bar up, per se, it is to keep it from pivoting around the single structural strap up top. If the bottom single sided strap were not there, the weight of the light would cause a moment which would tend to rotate the bars around the double sided straps up top:

 

(Top of the stand is on the left:)

 

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A photo of the single sided bottom strap:

 

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And both bars installed:

 

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I installed the fixture with the included cable suspension kit. Tada!

 

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The bars are so high so that I can raise the light for tank maintenance. I may shorten them, though. I also need to crimp something onto the ends of the extra lengths of cables hanging out of the sides.

 

Also, I got my Euro-Reef skimmer (you can see it peeking out in the photos), as well as my zeovit stuff, sand, brightwell salt, etc. I should get the Sapphire nano reactor today.

 

I gave the rocks an acid bath, so they are like new (no trapped phosphates). I am starting with dead sand as well to leave any nutrients behind.

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nice work.

 

i do feel like you have some room to shorten your suspension assembly, though. ;) it looks like 10ft. tall in the picture!

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Yeah, they are 7 ft tall right now. With the light all the way up I have 22" of clearance from the tank to the bottom of the light. So if I took a foot off, for example, I would only have 10" of clearance! I'm not sure it's worth it to take 6" or so off...

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Yeah, they are 7 ft tall right now. With the light all the way up I have 22" of clearance from the tank to the bottom of the light. So if I took a foot off, for example, I would only have 10" of clearance! I'm not sure it's worth it to take 6" or so off...

 

wow, really? it looks like you've got at least 3' of space where you could raise the light. if you're only going to be able to take 6" off of it, i probably wouldn't bother, either.

 

are you planning on painting it?

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I took Tim's advice and removed 8" from the bottom of the bars (pics are a little fuzzy).

 

Down position:

 

10222009-7.jpg

 

All the way up:

 

10222009-8.jpg

 

I think that should be enough room, but if I went any lower I'd have to stoop down to see under the light when looking into the tank. I don't plan on painting it; I think the silver color matches the silver of the light and cables nicely. I did wipe them down with steel wool to get the printed info and any residue off of them. I also will probably add caps to the ends of the pipes when I can find some!

 

Rehype: I stole your ER skimmer idea so you are welcome to steal mine ;)

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I took Tim's advice and removed 8" from the bottom of the bars (pics are a little fuzzy).

 

Down position:

 

10222009-7.jpg

 

All the way up:

 

10222009-8.jpg

 

I think that looks good! and, it looks like you've still got a good amount of room underneath.

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Thanks!

 

I am filling my buckets with RO right now, but the pressure in my apartment is a little low, so it is taking forever! Not sure I want to pony up $100 for a booster pump at the moment

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Got the tank filled. I used my acid washed 100% dead rock, and one really nice piece of live rock to help seed some coraline. The seed piece is cool, because it has both purple and green coraline, and is solid branch rock, so it was easy to inspect for nuisance algae, aptasia, or hitchhikers.

 

I also set up my nano reactor with the zeovit stones, and did my first dosing today. 5ml zeobak and 10ml zeostart. I am currently breaking in my euro-reef skimmer as well.

 

The equipment itself is all dead silent, which I am thrilled about. The ATI fixture, the skimmer, the reactor, and the return pump are all silent. I have a temporary maxijet 1200 in there right now and that is the noisiest piece of equipement. The Cad tank itself it a little noisy from the overflow slots, but I think once some bio film grows on the vents it will quiet down a bit. Otherwise I may have to come up with something to soften the waterfall sound. Water level is to the top of the fuge chamber.

 

I did my rockscape. I was careful to be sure the rocks had a solid base for the jawfish. I may come in with some epoxy later to secure everything a bit better, but it is pretty sturdy. My goals were to have plenty of sandbed showing (about half the tank), plenty of overhangs for shade for low light corals, and plenty of protrusions and flat areas for frag mounting.

 

Pics make it very hard to capture the three dimensional aspect of the rockscape, it looks a lot better in person!

 

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And how my chambers are situated. You can see the nano reactor in the leftmost chamber:

 

10242009-1.jpg

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10252009-1.jpg

 

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I played around in Photoshop to try to get the color more life-like, but failed! In these photos the only bulbs on are an ATI blue plus and a UV super actinic. The four bulbs I am running right now are two blue plus, a UV super actinic, and an ATI Aquablue special. It makes a light just a tad more blue than my phoenix 14k bulbs from the 90g. I also have a KZ Fiji purple I might throw in there. Maybe replace the actinic with it? I need to play around to see what I like :)

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I am now running two blue plus bulbs, one UV super actinic, and one KZ fiji purple. Replacing the Aquablue with the Fiji added some nice color. Before, everything was a little too blue, kind of a "sickly" pale blue. The KZ bulb made it more of an intense and deep blue, though the difference is very subtle. I was worried the tank would look purple with two purple bulbs, but that is not the case at all. The blue plus bulbs greatly overpower the other two.

 

Also, I am reading 1.0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 0 nitrate, 7.8 pH. This is the first time I have ever seen the Ammonia test over 0, lol, so I am excited to actually follow a cycle along. I have always used fully cured rocks before so have never had a cycle. pH always starts low for me on a new tank and gradually increases, so I'm not too worried about that.

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I made a custom top today. I got some 1/4" clear mesh material from out very own "acroholic", and the framing materials at home depot. The front curved portion was a biatch to get right, and it still isn't perfect, but it's going to have to do.

 

The mesh is the perfect size. My jawfish will not be able to get through, and they are very much large enough to fan cool the water and get the light through.

 

Again, my camera fails at capturing colors correctly. The tank is not as blue as these pics portray.

 

What do you all think?

 

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Also, I moved the zeo reactor to the fuge chamber (a compartment after the skimmer) on the advice of the folks at zeovit.com.

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hmmm... i like your mesh better than mine! do you have any mesh left (or do you have the contact info for the guy you got the mesh from)? also, how much was it? i'm worried that heat has become a real issue for me. i'm up to 83.5F in my tank. ):

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Thanks guys! It is not perfect, I might make another one and really take my time with it when I get some free time, just to see if I could make it better.

 

Tim: I got it from a guy with the username "acroholic". Just do a search for his name, or look in the hardware classifieds. It was about $10 for two pieces shipped. I only used one so have one to spare in case this one gets damaged somehow. Let me know if you need any tips if you build one :)

 

84 would be a little too hot for for my comfort as well. Is that the temp you are getting with evaporative fans running? Perhaps it is time for a chiller...

 

Luckily, I am hovering around 81F with no cooling fans (in a 76F apartment). I ordered a Reefkeeper lite and Azoo twin cooling fans (supposed to be quieter than the stock cadlights fan). Surprisingly, the ATI fixture adds virtually no heat. I am also hoping that when I swap out the temporary Koralia 4 in there now for my Vortech the heat will drop even further because the Vortech has an external motor. So the only heat sources in my tank will be the return pump, skimmer pump, and the tiny little reactor pump. I would like to keep the fan use to a minimum to conserve ATO water, hence the reefkeeper purchase.

 

There is so much I still want to get! Twin dosing pumps for my two part and an SL2 module for the RKL, which would let me monitor salinity and pH, are at the top of my list. Maybe when I break down and sell my old tank I will splurge, depending on how much I can get out of it!

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hay, saw you were looking at Nimble Nanos yesterday. Just on Monday, Jerome sold me a larger "custom" one that he had made for use on our thicker 8mm cad glass. I'll post pics when it comes in.

 

Also, Rehype had said that a regular Super Nimble works well on our thicker glass, too.

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hay, saw you were looking at Nimble Nanos yesterday. Just on Monday, Jerome sold me a larger "custom" one that he had made for use on our thicker 8mm cad glass. I'll post pics when it comes in.

 

Also, Rehype had said that a regular Super Nimble works well on our thicker glass, too.

 

Is it any thinner than a mag float? By that, I mean is it easier to clean in the curved corners up front on our tanks?

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Is it any thinner than a mag float? By that, I mean is it easier to clean in the curved corners up front on our tanks?

 

I'll let you know when it gets here!

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Ammonia is now dropping; it is at 0.5ppm, while nitrites are on the rise at 1.0ppm, and nitrates are about 5-10ppm, so I guess the cycle is progressing nicely!

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Sweet....it will be right before any time at all....I'm watching this one....

 

Can't wait to see some Acroporae Poppin in that tank!!!!

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Ammonia is already at 0 here at day 8 of the cycle. I am impressed at how quickly the zeovit system is cycling my tank. Remember I started with completely dead rock with one seed rock. Usually dead rock tanks take several weeks to cycle.

 

I do notice some cyano on the rocks, which I have read can come up with bacterial driven systems. I think the correct procedure to combat this is to lower carbon dosing, but I asked the zeovit experts for advice and am awaiting their reply.

 

Also, here is a pic of a few days' skimmate from the euro-reef skimmer:

 

11012009-1.jpg

 

Pretty amazing, when you consider that not only is the skimmer not broken in yet, but there is also no life in the tank! I guess it is pulling some left over organic residue on the rocks from the acid baths.

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Nitrites are now 0! I have a big day today. I need to adjust Ca, Alk, and Mg to proper levels, and transfer all my corals and some snails from the 90g to the new tank. By the way, the 90g is across town, so I'll be doing a lot of driving back and forth. Actually, I already have been, since I need to go over there every other day to top off the ATO reservoir and add two part.

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