bps7772000 Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 As of 2/28/11 here she is... Founded May 1st 2009 EQUIPMENT: 12 gallon Cadlights tank (open top) Sunpod 70watt Metal Halide (14k bulb) Stock pump upgraded to Maxi-Jet 600 Koralia Nano in main display Visi-Therm 150 watt heater AquaC Remora HOB skimmer Mighty Mite RO/DI (currently just using distilled) Refractometer Reef Crystals Salt Turkey Baster FILTRATION: Filter floss (replaced twice a week) Chemipure Elite ~12 pounds live rock CORAL: Favia Brain Coral Hammer coral Devils Finger Leather Misc. Zoas Misc. Mushrooms Kenya Tree Ricordea LIVESTOCK: Tank-raised True Percula Clown Orange spotted Goby *added 2/25/11* MISC SNAILS ~4 NASASSARIUS SNAILS 2 SMALL BLUE LEGGED HERMITS 1 SCARLET RED HERMIT (CURRENTLY MIA) 2 strange hitchhiker snails BACK TO THE FUTURE ----> Hello all, (great site) I have been lurking a while in the shadows ready to pounce and start up a small tank with live rock and potentially corals down the road. I have had a salt water and freshwater tanks in the past. After looking for a while bouncing back between generic-glass/biocube/nano cube/C.A.D., I thought I had my heart set on the biocube 14. I decided to buy online and wanted an open-top tank. I finally settled on the CAD 12. An LFS had a 9 gallon CAD for $229, and I liked it but wanted a touch more room. I agree with trying to support local businesses, but I am not well off. So after comparing prices, I ordered my 12 gallon CAD from Underwaterecosystems.com last weekend. The fit and finish is high quality. The glass feels very sturdy and the edges have a smooth texture. The back sump area chambers have a quality look while looking custom if that makes sense. I take the plastic off of the outer glass and give the cube a quick wipe down with paper towels dipped in some distilled water. Included in the chambers are two filter floss pieces, some bio-balls and the pump in chamber 3. I got the in-tank black plastic background (choice of blue or black). Honestly, I was totally torn and decided to just take what I was given. I'm happy that they sent black-decide for your self... Here are a couple pictures with the lights on. Lights look bright and look good.... Link to comment
plainrt Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Nice start.love them tanks and wish i got a cad 12 instead of my biocube when started. Welcome to N.r Link to comment
fastandsneaky Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 AWESOME BUY!!! great start too. Link to comment
bps7772000 Posted May 3, 2009 Author Share Posted May 3, 2009 I picked up some live aragonite sand, a large bag of instant ocean and a coralife digital thermometer. I layed the sand bed. I ran my RO/DI line from the sink to the CAD. I filled the tank up and added some salt. I spent about an hour "aqua-scaping". Man that is tough and I am pretty picky so I kept having to change it. I am now happy with the look, but I only used about 80 percent of my Live Rock. I would estimate 14-15 pounds in the tank now including the rubble I threw in chamber 1. I don't want the tank to crammed with rock. I only used maybe a third of the aragonite and the bed is a little more than 1" deep. Link to comment
scottyreef Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Welcome to the CADlights Club partner. it looks like you have a great start Link to comment
racechase Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 sweet tank man its gonna look great Link to comment
prand Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 sweet tank man its gonna look great Looks Great! Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Just a friendly warning. Those T5s aren't T5 HOs. They really don't have the punch most T5s have. Still good for softies and possibly LPS. Link to comment
Cam barr Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 great shots of the tank! very detailed... looking forward to seeing your progress Link to comment
bps7772000 Posted May 3, 2009 Author Share Posted May 3, 2009 The inside of the tank is a bit cloudy still, and I did only a half-assed effort of wiping the inside glass down before the taking photos. I bought an API salt water test kit today and one half unit of chemipure for $40 bucks. I will be getting the reef testing stuff eventually but wanted something quick so I could start watching my key perameters for cycling. I am still waiting on the friggin' heater so the water is cold. Temp - 71.7 F Salinity - 1.0215 (averaged from 3 tests) Ammonia - 1.0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 0 PH - 7.8 - 7.9 (a bit low eh?) Link to comment
Carinya Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 Looks like an awesome start. Good job. Link to comment
bps7772000 Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 Day 4 cycling...Tank is crystal clear Temp - 74.8 (still waiting on the friggin' heater ) Salinity - 1.0255 Ammonia - 1 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 10 PH - 7.8 I figured I would see nitrites before nitrates. Not sure what's going on there... Link to comment
Smee! Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 You're only 6 days behind me on cycling, I'm starting to get some algae, and a few bubble algae. Loving the rockwork. What are you planning on keeping in it? staying with the stock light? Link to comment
bps7772000 Posted May 6, 2009 Author Share Posted May 6, 2009 You're only 6 days behind me on cycling, I'm starting to get some algae, and a few bubble algae. Loving the rockwork. What are you planning on keeping in it? staying with the stock light? I don't know for sure yet. I think to start after the cycle, I will get a clean up crew. I really like hermit crabs also. I am thinking either a small clown or damsel ultimately but I want to understock this thing to keep it low maintenance and healthy. Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Hello all, (great site) Congratulations on making the purchase. Having had one of these 12g's running for 10 months I can add a few pointers...bearing in mind that there are many ways/methods to a successful reef tank. For now it appears the 4 clear plastic screws which I guess are supposed to tighten horizontally to the top of the tank aren't long enough so the canopy is not secured. Same problem here. Simple fix is to get a hold of some clear 1/4" acrylic and cut small rectangular pieces to fit between the glass and the lighting's outer clear plastic support lip... There are two 10000k lights and 2 Actinic (I think) lights. One problem is I'm wondering how to set them both on my light timer so the actinic lights can come on while the 10000k's turn off without doing this manually? There are two manual on/off switches, but only one power cord? Please comment. Lights look bright and look good.... Yes, 10K and Actinic (note that the 10K are regular, not 'HO', even thought they are stamped as such). I suppose that you could tinker with the wiring to create two separate lines for each, but I opted to run the system 'as is' so all lights come on for 8 hrs./day. A couple of rough plans/ideas - input appreciated -Remove bio-balls and replace with live rock rubble (which chamber?) -Place my heater in chamber 1 I think -Should I use Chaeto/chemipure/carbon? (also any ideas to set up the chambers appreciated) -Potential refugium in chamber 2 (what would this include? 6500k light?) * I have live rock rubble (~1-1/2" chunks) in the middle compartment (no Bio-balls). * I put the primary heater in chamber #1 and the backup heater (set a few degrees lower) in the middle chamber. * Chemipure used for just a few days every month or so. * Other than the pump and a backup thermometer (and the items listed above), no other items in the sump/refugium. Link to comment
Cam barr Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Nano sapiens- your tank is coming along nicely! Great Update Shots! Cam Barr- Link to comment
bps7772000 Posted May 6, 2009 Author Share Posted May 6, 2009 Nano sapiens- your tank is coming along nicely! Great Update Shots! Cam Barr- How dare he hijack my thread with his beautiful pics. Steal my thunder much!? Ha ha. Just kidding and thanks for the answers that I have been seeking Nano Sapiens. I am glad that you are using stock equipment and getting good use out of it. Upgrading is fun, but I just can't turn this hobby into a money pit. Link to comment
Smee! Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 My mad MS Paint skillz Because of your avatar picture, I read all your posts in her voice in my head. Nano sent me a PM last night regarding having my heater in the last chamber, thought I'd share. "One thing I noticed from your pics is that it appears your heater is in the last chamber. If true, you might want to relocate it to the first or middle chambers. Reason being is if the overflow accidentally becomes blocked, a certain level of water will always reside in thosefirst tow chambers, but in the last chamber the pump will pump out most of the water leaving your heater more exposed to air and possible shattering." Link to comment
bps7772000 Posted May 7, 2009 Author Share Posted May 7, 2009 Day 6 Cycling Temp - 76.6 (heater popped into chamber 2 per Nano Sapiens advice - still heating up) Salinity - 1.0265 (the Deep 6 hydro is a real POS! Wildly fluctuating readings unless you tap the S@(*# out of it) EDIT - Just ordered a refractometer Ammonia - 1 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 20 PH - 8.2 Anyone know what is going on with the cycle here? Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 How dare he hijack my thread with his beautiful pics. Steal my thunder much!? Ha ha. Just kidding and thanks for the answers that I have been seeking Nano Sapiens. I am glad that you are using stock equipment and getting good use out of it. Upgrading is fun, but I just can't turn this hobby into a money pit. Just thought I'd throw in a pic or two to show what was possible to keep in a stock 12g system, but in hindsight I guess it was a wee bit cheeky I downgraded from a 50g that was costing a bit more to maintain than I liked. The beauty of the 12g with stock equipment is that it uses much less power and is much cheaper to maintain with just weekly small water changes Link to comment
bps7772000 Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 Day 8 cycling Temp - 78 Sal. - 1.0235 (refractometer on the way) Amm. - .25 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 30 PH - 8.2 I noticed some algae bloom so I think that means I'm nearing end of cycle. When ammonia is at 0 I should do a water change to remove nitrates right? Time to plan a CUC..I'm thinking to start 2-3 small hermits, 3-4 snails and a shrimp (peppermint or the one I really want - Cleaner shrimp ahhhhh 29 bucks at LFS) Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Day 8 cycling Temp - 78 Sal. - 1.0235 (refractometer on the way) Amm. - .25 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 30 PH - 8.2 I noticed some algae bloom so I think that means I'm nearing end of cycle. When ammonia is at 0 I should do a water change to remove nitrates right? Correct. Suggest a 50% water change to help reduce accumulated nitrates. Time to plan a CUC..I'm thinking to start 2-3 small hermits, 3-4 snails and a shrimp (peppermint or the one I really want - Cleaner shrimp ahhhhh 29 bucks at LFS) CUC sounds good to start. I started off with (2) blue-legged hermits and (3) black-foot Trochus. As the months went by I lost one of the older Trochus. I did not need to replace it as a large number of hitch-hicker tiny white snails, small limpets and the resident Pods have filled in. With a mature tank without fish and a moderate bio-load the hermits and Trochus may not even be necessary. The hermits tend to walk over and pick on everything (corals aren't too happy about that!) and larger snails tend to 'bulldoze' in such a small tank. I've had to remount numerous frags because of their activity. As these guys age and die I won't be replacing them. If you can find some small Columbelid (aka 'Dove Snails') and/or Stomatella snails I'd highly recommend them instead of Astrea or Trochus for a nano tank. Many people consider cleaner shrimp too much trouble in a small reef tank. I find my Fire Shrimp to be fairly manageable, but I definitely would think twice about a Skunk Cleaner as they are very bold in obtaining food by ripping it out of LPS corals mouths. I've never had luck with Peppermints surviving for long, but they seem to be shy like the Fire Shrimps, so may not be too bad(?). One trick I use is to feed the Fire Shrimp mini-pellets before I feed anything else. The little bugger gets so preoccupied that I can then feed the corals properly. Link to comment
bps7772000 Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 Correct. Suggest a 50% water change to help reduce accumulated nitrates. Really, that much? larger snails tend to 'bulldoze' in such a small tank. I've had to remount numerous frags because of their activity. I guess I should use aquamend on my top LR piece. It can be wobbled back and forth just a bit with some force. I figured nothing small would be able to manipulate it. Stomatella snails I'd highly recommend them instead of Astrea or Trochus for a nano tank. I'll see if any LFS have those and do some reading on them. Many people consider cleaner shrimp too much trouble in a small reef tank. I find my Fire Shrimp to be fairly manageable, but I definitely would think twice about a Skunk Cleaner Thanks for your help Nano. I am in process of copying a version of your petco water topoff bottle mod. Link to comment
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