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Coral Vue Hydros

NRF's NC 12DX


Needreefunds

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Ok, after a year or so of talking myself out of trying this, I couldn't hold out any longer. Got back on this site to soak up all I could before starting. So I first set up the tank and ran with fresh water for a couple days to test for leaks. Decided to upgrade pump in chamber three to MJ900 with a hydorflo. Installed a bulkhead fitting in chamber one and retrofit stock pump there with a section of locline and the stock duckbill tip. I cut down a piece of the foam sponge into three pcs. Will run with a piece of sponge topped with floss sitting on the bulkhead fitting just below the return in chamber one for now.

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I wanted some sort of splash shield for the back of the stand so I could mount the ballast and timers and stuff back there. Also not knowing what type of fuge lamp I would wind up with maybe I could use a shelf. I found an new old stock Plexiglas door at work and decided to use this. Cut to shape of tank and let overhang in the back. Countersunk two screws to hold in place.

 

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While at lowes hunting for a lamp to use for tank maint. and also for the makings of a fuge light I found this in the clearance bin. It should serve as both. Cheesy, maybe, but It should work I hope. (Not bad for five bucks?)

 

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Mounted ballast and timer/powerstrip on backof (tiny/almost useless stand)

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cut back for fuge... (hope your all not bored already !)

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And there you go from the front not so bad ??

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Ok, Ok mixed up reef crystals and let run and get up to temp. Was able to get l/r the next day from lfs. Got home to realize I suck at rock scape-ing. Wound up with this... l/r stadium???

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so guys thats pretty much how we sit up to now. Tank was "born" on Super Sunday. After one day sg--1.025. Ammonia--.25 temp---79.5 'trites and trates zip at this point. Suggestions as to how often I should test?? I was thinking every other day??

 

Well thanks for checking it out. Any input good bad or ugly is greatly appreciated. Will be begging for your help along the way. I'll try not to be too much of a PITA but I cant promise :) Why is my post so HUGE LOOKIN ?? sorry :o

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WOO!!! very nice!

 

as for your post being HUGE... i've seen bigger. LOL

 

wow all these all-in-one systems being setup. kinda makes me want one. lol

 

Tim

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the best part about aquascaping is that you really cant do it wrong. if you like how it looks, then you did a good job. any plans to upgrade your lighting? ya i cant wait to see all the other new all in one setups start to mature. cant wait to get ideas

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WOO!!! very nice!

 

as for your post being HUGE... i've seen bigger. LOL

 

wow all these all-in-one systems being setup. kinda makes me want one. lol

 

Tim

Thanx supahtim !! My huge post turned out looking ok. But looked really big when I previewed it. ( Im also a forum posting newbie )

 

 

I disagree with you. I don't think you suck at aquascaping, I like it. Can't wait to see it with corals. :)

Well thank you Mephix. Yea I can't wait either, (but I will !!!). If I learned anything through all the research, dont rush it, right??

 

the best part about aquascaping is that you really cant do it wrong. if you like how it looks, then you did a good job. any plans to upgrade your lighting? ya i cant wait to see all the other new all in one setups start to mature. cant wait to get ideas

Hey kev24k, hows your 'cube doin? Funny you should ask. I've been checking out the diy 3.24 upgrade kit from nannotuners. I see others have kept really unbelievable looking tanks with the stock DX lighting, but a little more couldnt hurt could it ??? Are you happy with yours??

 

Off to a good start. You did your hwk.

kingcuong thanks for checking it out. As far as homework, it never stops. If I'm not staring at a tank, I'm glued to this laptop.

 

 

well time to check parameters. Be back on later I'm sure. Hey is anyone else like addicted to N-R.com ???? Is there a cure?

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Alright, time for a quick update. Strange, but not much happening. Water is pretty clear. Have been testing params, cleaning l/r with baster and changing floss and stuff. I see what I think are vermetid gastropods feeding like crazy off of one or the rocks near the back of the tank. Kinda cool to watch actually. I keep testing to watch a cycle that doesn't seem to want to start :angry::huh:

I see tiny patches of possibly gha an have some diatoms i believe.

Todays params-

s.g.- 1.025

temp-80.2

ph-8.2

amm 0-.25

nitrites-0

nitrates-0

I"ll be ordering new test kits today. Why won't the cycle start?? Did I miss it?? I've never had any tank that didn't cycle, although I've never used l/r either.

I think the ammonia reading was slightly higher the first day, but no sign of trites or trates after that. I'll see what happens this week, and will retest with new kits.

Is it possible the l/r was sooo cured that i had no die off? No die off=no ammonia

no ammonia=no start of cycle?? Maybe jump start with a chunk of frozen plankton or something?? Input need input :bowdown: Thanks all.. I'm goin back to check out all your tanks!!

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Hey all, Quick update from noobville. Received new test kits yesterday and ran new tests. Same results. Everything looks great. Life is everywhere. Worms of all sorts. Different looking types of gha in patches all over. Some bright green others darker, more like moss color. Little flea looking critters all over the glass and sand. Added cuc-- two tiny blue legs, one little red leg, three astrea, three cerith and three nassarius snails added. Ceriths and two nass disappeared into the sand right away. The other nass decided to take a lap around the entire perimeter, stopped almost right where he started and then snuggled down as well. Astreas cleared a wide path already as I'm typing this. Also have sprigs of grape caulerpa all over one of the rocks. Not sure how much bio the cuc will add but I will continue testing every other day for awhile. Also added a tiny pc of something from my other tank because I could not help myself. In my own defense, it did break off all by itself and it looked to be the perfect size for my cube. thanks ( oh boy ,gonna get flammed fur sure.) Holding fast for now-boy cuc is munching away.... ok couple pics before the flames start-

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Kenya tree??? BTW algae around tree is GONE already !

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Grape caulerpa ??

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Hey kev24k, hows your 'cube doin? Funny you should ask. I've been checking out the diy 3.24 upgrade kit from nannotuners. I see others have kept really unbelievable looking tanks with the stock DX lighting, but a little more couldnt hurt could it ??? Are you happy with yours??

 

The tank is doing great. Crazy amounts of pods, growth, and the additions to the cuc have just about taken care of the algae. The 3.24 upgrade is good. I went with 2 50/50's and an actinic. Its not too blue at all. Its a nice crisp color. Heat isnt an issue at all. I would get quieter fans tho. Im thinking about replacing them with much quieter ones because they do make quite a bit of noise imo.

But then again youre right. There are some pretty amazing tanks with stock lighting. I think its just about providing a better environment for your corals. Ive read it will also help prevent them from browning

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Hey all, Quick update from noobville. Received new test kits yesterday and ran new tests. Same results. Everything looks great. Life is everywhere. Worms of all sorts. Different looking types of gha in patches all over. Some bright green others darker, more like moss color. Little flea looking critters all over the glass and sand. Added cuc-- two tiny blue legs, one little red leg, three astrea, three cerith and three nassarius snails added. Ceriths and two nass disappeared into the sand right away. The other nass decided to take a lap around the entire perimeter, stopped almost right where he started and then snuggled down as well. Astreas cleared a wide path already as I'm typing this. Also have sprigs of grape caulerpa all over one of the rocks. Not sure how much bio the cuc will add but I will continue testing every other day for awhile. Also added a tiny pc of something from my other tank because I could not help myself. In my own defense, it did break off all by itself and it looked to be the perfect size for my cube. thanks ( oh boy ,gonna get flammed fur sure.) Holding fast for now-boy cuc is munching away.... ok couple pics before the flames start-

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Kenya tree??? BTW algae around tree is GONE already !

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Grape caulerpa ??

 

Nice to see that you have some life in there now! It looks great! Just wait til' the brown algae attacks, it sucks but will make it look like someone burnt everything! Mine is finally showing signs of breaking. I also wanted to let you know, I have read somewhere that a skimmer does just as much for your tank as the chaeto fug, I would go with the sapphire skimmer though. Just my .02 it still looks great and best of luck!

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Hey guys, Thanks for checking up on me!! Sad morning. Found one of my blue legs has killed my new red leg and moved into his shell. I swear he's sporting his new digs right in front of the tank and looking up at me like- "check it baby". I guess its my own fault , forgot to add any empty shells to this new tank. Or perhaps it may have happened anyway. As far as the lighting upgrade, after talking to Chris at NC I may just go with th3 4.24 upgrade and do one hood mod rather than looking for more later. No rush here though, plenty of time for that. As far as the fuge or skim debate. Its fuge for now and the wheels are turning to have both. Its been done before. Otherwise all is well for now. Just did all tests again. Ph 8.2. s.g.- 1.o25- amm/trite/trates all zero.

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Are you mod'in your tank to keep more corals? You know that my factory light in my DX is alot more powerful than any Pet Store that I have visited. My frogspawn was acting up on me and I moved it lower in the tank and the light was so much that it didnt want to come out...I would do the mod if I had to regular 12 NC but if you got the DX you should be ok, with a light mod it might make your temps raise and then you would have to buy a cooler as well or more fans.

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Hello all - Just a little update. So far so good. While cruising through my favorite lfs, I just happened to notice that there were some tiny frags in the $14 frag basket. So a few just happened to come home with me. ( two shrooms /two zoos)

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Today's tests- temp. 81.3..s.g.1.025..amm/trites/trates all zero. Clean up crew is awesome. Very happy with my little box of obsession so far. thanks to all for following along. And I still cant stop staring at this tank. I'm starting to wonder if I may need professional help......

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Get those Zoas away from the shrooms or you will have no zoas. The shrooms tend to kill the zoas. Well mine always have.

Well, before I could relocate the shroom, He, well,relocated himself to the other side of this rock. Thank you Juanhunglo69 !. Just so I don't make the same mistake in the future, how close is too close?? (Man, I keep reading and reading , but still feel like I don't know diddly. ) I really appreciate the advice.

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Needreefunds

Hey everyone !! Thank you all for checking up on me. Well, due to the cold snap here in the northeast the frags I had purchased from fellow NR members are not happily swaying in the flow of my cube. :( What can you do? Not too much going on except I did install my lighting upgrade yesterday. Decided to go with the 3.24 kit from Nanocustoms. I went with the actinic bulb. Tank doesn't really look brighter, but I really like the crisp blue look and the sharpness of color of all the corals. ( yup, all 5 frags :lol::D ). I also installed the moonlight fix which is nice. so if I add one more timer I can do the dusk/ dawn lighting thing with the actinic. The upgrade came with new fans and the tank temps have actually gone down about 2 deg. Downside is the new fans are loud though. That's about it. Will try to get some pics up soon.

 

Blacktone-- Thank you I do appreciate the support.

 

Kev24k- Hey, My zoas pretty much opened right away. One night after I had gotten them I super glued the larger frag to some rubble and they were unhappy for the rest of the night. But opened up the next morning. Are you having trouble with your new ones ??

 

Gerber77- Hello!- GOOD question. I have been struggling with this one since before I even got the cube! And ya know- I'm really considering going fish-less. But that's not set in stone at this point.

 

Wolv2377--Hey wolvie--I know I been slackin' After this post I'll try to get a couple pics.

 

Oh wait--I lied--It's 7 frags. The one shroom that was damaged has become three shrooms!! And the main on has almost repaired itself ( also has a hitchhiker macro off this rock possibly Halimeda??). OK I'll go struggle with that dang Kodak Z760 :rolleyes:

Thanks again everyone!

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Needreefunds

OK before I try to load these pics, let me just say that after re-reading my last post again I neglected to add a little info. The corals I ordered didn't die, they have not been shipped yet! I know, I kind of left you hanging there, sorry. Pics-

A shot with the new lighting--3.24

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And one with the stock 2.24 lighting

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and some of splitting 'shrooms

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See the one little piece back left in the hole? and the other just broke off and dropped. Also do you guys think thats Halimeda growing next to the shroom??

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And just for giggles-a pic of my Marcorocks order for my other project-my established 46g bow front is in need of a make over. I started to cycle these in a rubbermaid in my den/living/fish room. After the first day, getting home from work and walking into the house.....well..now the rock is out in the shed!! P-U- :o

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Thanks again guys- Have a good week..Will post pics when my new guys arrive and open. Take care.

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Kev24k- Hey, My zoas pretty much opened right away. One night after I had gotten them I super glued the larger frag to some rubble and they were unhappy for the rest of the night. But opened up the next morning. Are you having trouble with your new ones ??

 

Yeah. My new ones arent opening. Its been 5 days since they've been in the tank. Right now my lights are off, and 2 of them are slightly open. This is an improvement since last night only 1 was barely open. I'm hoping the big water change I did yesterday will help. That, and more flow.

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Hey Need...Glad to see things are coming along for you. I got to update my thread soon as well with full tank pics. Check it out later and the tank is looking NICE!

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Needreefunds

Some ( lousy ) shots of some new additions. Otherwise all is pretty stable thus far. I got a few from Dickie52 a couple weeks ago, Allow me to say he was great to deal with and he took good care of me. Now let me say my photographic skills are pretty poor, so they don't represent how awesome the color is on all of these. ( So don't hold this against Dickie or El Chupa!!). Also got three from El Chupacabra. Also just awesome. Another good guy to deal with. Packaging from both guys was excellent. Would buy from either again, no question. OK back to the cube. Aside from the constant grape caulerpa struggle, no real trouble so far. I feel this is due to, well, a huge amount of luck!! And the fact that I am fish less at this point. If I did add anything I was thinking a six line and perhaps a shrimp/goby combo. But that would be it. Please let me know what you think. Thanks everyone- take it easy and try to have a great week. As promised, some crappy pics of some awesome looking stuff,

 

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Those ^ were from dickie52. Much nicer than my photo (lack of ) skills can

relate. Now some from El Chupacabra very nice ( If I say so myself )--

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FTS

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Thanks for looking and I promise to work on my photo skills! Take care.

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