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TimDanger's CADlights 39g Pro


timdanger

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now the skimmer motor is all i hear

 

Odd that your skimmer pump is noisy. Mine is near silent, the only noise from my sump area is the return pump, a noise I wish I could eliminate. I put a sound proof acoustic rubber mat under the sump but it didn't help much.

 

Is your return pump noisy?

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Odd that your skimmer pump is noisy. Mine is near silent, the only noise from my sump area is the return pump, a noise I wish I could eliminate. I put a sound proof acoustic rubber mat under the sump but it didn't help much.

 

Is your return pump noisy?

 

my return pump is not nearly as noisy as my skimmer pump. i think my skimmer pump is noisy because it's just sort of sitting on the bottom of the sump, and there are no rubber feet/suction cups/whatever to dampen that noise. you guys don't get that? :unsure:

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my return pump is not nearly as noisy as my skimmer pump. i think my skimmer pump is noisy because it's just sort of sitting on the bottom of the sump, and there are no rubber feet/suction cups/whatever to dampen that noise. you guys don't get that? :unsure:

Hrmm...put some non-leaching rubber under there then.

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Hrmm...put some non-leaching rubber under there then.

 

i didn't realize rubber leached. D:

 

any cheap suggestions?

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Is your skimmer pump making contact with the bottom of the sump? Does the fitting that comes out of the pump and goes into the skimmer body fit really loosely? If so, you might try wrapping some teflon tape around the fitting and then insert it back into the skimmer body. This might help keep it tighter and off the bottom of the sump slightly.

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Is your skimmer pump making contact with the bottom of the sump? Does the fitting that comes out of the pump and goes into the skimmer body fit really loosely? If so, you might try wrapping some teflon tape around the fitting and then insert it back into the skimmer body. This might help keep it tighter and off the bottom of the sump slightly.

 

ya, the pump is contacting the surface of the sump. and, because it was fitting loosely into the skimmer assembly, i did use some teflon tape to make the fitting a little tighter. do you think actually suspending the pump from the skimmer so that it's not contacting is the way to go, then? i had sort of thought about that, but hadn't moved forward with trying it out yet. it does make sense, though.

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I had huge vibration problems with my mag drive 9.5. I bought a slice of natural rubber and slide it under the pump. Now super quiet.

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I had huge vibration problems with my mag drive 9.5. I bought a slice of natural rubber and slide it under the pump. Now super quiet.

Bam, there you go. That was exact;y what I was suggesting.

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markbelowh2o
mkregs/rizakaniza: re bioballs, that's what i was saying before -- i just am not sold on the concept of "bio-balls = evil." i do understand the theory of "bioballs = higher nitrates," (and i took the bio-balls aout of my biocube 8, just like the next guy)... but i am no longer entirely sold on the train of thought that you must remove bioballs. here is my current theory on bio-balls:

 

1) you're getting an engineered product designed to maximize surface area for beneficial bacteria populations. this is good.

2) i am going to have plenty of LR in both the display tank and the fuge chamber of the sump to provide biological filtration.

3) bio-balls in the sump are easy to remove and rinse out in water change water as part of routine maintenance, thus removing the evil trapped detritus that causes the nitrates.

4) LR rubble is just as likely as bioballs to attract/trap detritus (and thus raise your nitrates), but the shapes are not as efficient for the cultivation of the bacteria, and would be harder to rinse.

5) i see bioballs being used all over the place in big/professional displays. they are packaged by eddie with the aquarium. if they are so awful, why are they so prevalent?

and, perhaps most importantly, 6) i've already got the bio-balls, so i feel like i have nothing to lose giving them a shot.

 

First time posting here so hello!

 

It's been many years since I have been involved with reef tanks but I do feel that bio-balls are absolutely evil from past experience. I was involved in reef aquariums when live rock first started to take off and skimmers were starting to get popular. The problem we and everyone else discovered with bio-balls in reef tanks was like you already pointed out is how much they are detritus traps.

 

You are right that live rock and various places in a tank can also become detritus traps but the huge difference here is two fold. First, the advantage of live rock is that is has an anaerobic zones that support the bacteria that break nitrates into nitrogen. That with frequent water changes is what keeps the nitrates low enough for us to keep the cool corals in the first place. So here the problem with Bio-balls is while they are great at hosting the bacteria that breaks nitrite into nitrate they cant do much to help out with the nitrates since they have no way to support anaerobic bacteria. So yeah a tanks with a huge bio load that needs to convert a lot of nitrites to nitrates well see an advantage to bio-balls as they are engineered for it. Generally this is going to be the fish only or fish and life rock only tank since these tank inhabitants can tolerate nitrate compared to a reef tank.

 

The second advantage of live rock is they can also harbor the cool little critters that shift through detritus or even eat it out right, this greatly helps to keep those little pockets of doom from forming in the first place. Maybe finding a way to keep a bunch of tiny brittle stars with your Bio-balls would help :)

 

Of course the best way to handle detritus is to not let it accumulate anywhere. If it stays suspended in the water it will eventually be removed by the protein skimmer. Hence high flow tanks with no dead spots and a good protein skimmer.

 

Personally, I think anything that can act as a trap for detritus needs to be carefully considered. From past experience trying to clean bio-balls all the time sucks! When I get me a 39g Pro (Such an awesome tank) I'll skip the bio-balls and even the filter floss if I can find other ways to reduce those annoying little bubbles.

 

Not saying you cant have a good reef tank with Bio-balls but it sure does add a lot of work for minimal (if any) gains.

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You are right that live rock and various places in a tank can also become detritus traps but the huge difference here is two fold. First, the advantage of live rock is that is has an anaerobic zones that support the bacteria that break nitrates into nitrogen. That with frequent water changes is what keeps the nitrates low enough for us to keep the cool corals in the first place. So here the problem with Bio-balls is while they are great at hosting the bacteria that breaks nitrite into nitrate they cant do much to help out with the nitrates since they have no way to support anaerobic bacteria. So yeah a tanks with a huge bio load that needs to convert a lot of nitrites to nitrates well see an advantage to bio-balls as they are engineered for it. Generally this is going to be the fish only or fish and life rock only tank since these tank inhabitants can tolerate nitrate compared to a reef tank.

 

The second advantage of live rock is they can also harbor the cool little critters that shift through detritus or even eat it out right, this greatly helps to keep those little pockets of doom from forming in the first place. Maybe finding a way to keep a bunch of tiny brittle stars with your Bio-balls would help :)

 

first, :welcome:

 

second, thanks for the input. what you're saying makes a lot of sense. i guess it may be difficult for critters to inhabit bioballs. i will give this some more thought and research and decide what to do. :huh:

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pre-update update:

 

1, picked up live sand and Tom thermometer from pawtasticpets.com (lady who works there drove to meet me -- very good prices, service there -- i recommend them).

 

2, picked up some great live rock, Britewell's 2-part calcium/alkalinity dosing solution from Reef Chief in Virginia Beach -- fantastic experience, unbeatable price on good live rock (i paid 1.99/lb for some not-half-bad-looking fiji, and a good price for some premium pieces as well) -- they also had some nice looking corals, fish, dry goods for great prices. i will definitely be going back there when it comes time to stock! first-rate operation. owner, Jeff, was awesome to work with. anyone in the area owes it to themselves to make the drive out there.

 

3, relocated tank to it's final destination in the bedroom. filled her up, did some cloudy-water aquascaping, and we are officially rolling, ladies and gentlemen! omgomgomg

 

4, first night sleeping with the tank in the room took a little bit of getting used to. i am going to be working on that.

 

5, found a piece of rubber that i double-layered and put beneath my sump -- works very well at reducing noise. :lockdown:

 

6, not currently using a heater. the temperature started at a lowish 74 (which is what it was from transporting the LR back home (hoping there wasn't too much die-off :unsure: -- it was probably at about 74 overnight). the temperature has gotten up to about 78 or so as of this morning. i'm hoping to see it at around 81 when i go home for lunch. we'll see how it goes. fingerscrossed

 

i took a lot of pics of the setup process, so i'll upload them either this afternoon or tonight. :happydance:

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markbelowh2o

Have you thought about how you are going to hide the containers that hold your dosing stuff? I've been struggling with that one. I was thinking about getting some of those skinny 1.5 gallon jugs placed against the tank stand and covering them with a wicker basket with holes in the back to let the hoses through. Id love to see what you come up with. Trying to find ideas to steal from people :)

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PICTURE TIME!!!! omgomgomg

 

ROCKS, BABY

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and, my showpiece for the front of the tank:

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moving on to the setup...

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sister-in-law comes down for the weekend, gets stuck pouring the water. HA!

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sumpin'

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i make my first appearance (on the right)

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my DSB (about 4.75" deep -- about as deep as i could get)

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milky goodness!

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doors on!

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TADA! (rock scape is gonna change a bit -- i put this together while not being able to see)

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Actinics only

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close-up FTS, actinics only

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NEAT HITCHHIKERS!

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maybe a hitchhiker, maybe a skeleton -- still kind of neat.

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Have you thought about how you are going to hide the containers that hold your dosing stuff? I've been struggling with that one. I was thinking about getting some of those skinny 1.5 gallon jugs placed against the tank stand and covering them with a wicker basket with holes in the back to let the hoses through. Id love to see what you come up with. Trying to find ideas to steal from people :)

 

I personally haven't quite figured out how that's all going to look. my wife and i are thinking about replacing bedroom furniture in the near future, so i think that any plans we have for hiding equipment are on hold for now. we talked about running hoses through the wall and just storing any dosing equipment in the closet (which is on the other side of that wall, approximately.

 

however, incorporating your idea with the wicker basket, an easier and perhaps more useful/decorative solution might be: find a standard 5-shelf/tall bookshelf. buy one or several of those milkcrate-sized storage baskets from Target or something (e.g. this set of 3). Then, cut the holes out of the back of the basket for the hoses, and cut holes in the back of the bookshelves through which to pass the hoses. make sure to leave plenty of slack hose so you can pull the baskets of the shelf to refill. run the hoses down to the floor to the tank (maybe under the carpet, maybe through the wall, maybe through a piece of conduit). what do you think?

 

or, if that seems too complex, what about this trunk?

 

Tank looks good. The CAD lights tanks are sharp. Glad to see a fellow Richmond reefer on here as well.

 

thanks dan. FYI, went to Reef Chief this past weekend, and it really was an excellent store with the best prices i've seen in this area by far. i recommend them if you haven't been there.

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Came home from work at lunch to find that enough water had evaporated (with the lights off all day today) since sunday evening to where I had to make an emergency volume increase (i had no top-off RO/DI water and no remaining salt water from my initial fill).

 

I did this by filling about 3/4 of a gallon-sized ziplock bag with tap watet, sealing it up, and dropping it in the display. my lights were already off for the day (knowing that my water level was a little lower than i wanted), but if anyone else does this, i'd make sure that the lights stay off so that the plastic bag doesn't melt into the water.

 

hopefully this buys me enough time to where i can run down to the LFS and pick up some RO/DI top-off water!

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Personally, I think anything that can act as a trap for detritus needs to be carefully considered. From past experience trying to clean bio-balls all the time sucks! When I get me a 39g Pro (Such an awesome tank) I'll skip the bio-balls and even the filter floss if I can find other ways to reduce those annoying little bubbles.

 

Not saying you cant have a good reef tank with Bio-balls but it sure does add a lot of work for minimal (if any) gains.

 

well, i thought about it, and i had a conversation with the guy at my LFS... and based on that, i have decided to remove the bioballs in favor of some LR rubble. making that substitution tonight.

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Came home from work at lunch to find that enough water had evaporated (with the lights off all day today) since sunday evening to where I had to make an emergency volume increase (i had no top-off RO/DI water and no remaining salt water from my initial fill).

 

I did this by filling about 3/4 of a gallon-sized ziplock bag with tap watet, sealing it up, and dropping it in the display. my lights were already off for the day (knowing that my water level was a little lower than i wanted), but if anyone else does this, i'd make sure that the lights stay off so that the plastic bag doesn't melt into the water.

 

hopefully this buys me enough time to where i can run down to the LFS and pick up some RO/DI top-off water!

 

Don't they have one of those RO/DI water refill places near you? Sometimes they have them set up in front of/inside of grocery stores.

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Don't they have one of those RO/DI water refill places near you? Sometimes they have them set up in front of/inside of grocery stores.

 

distilled water would also work fine but sounds like he made it to the LFS to get more.

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Don't they have one of those RO/DI water refill places near you? Sometimes they have them set up in front of/inside of grocery stores.

 

hm.. never heard of/seen this before. i might look into it, although i'm generally pretty happy with going to the LFS (it gives me an excuse to go look at corals/fish!). ;)

 

 

distilled water would also work fine but sounds like he made it to the LFS to get more.

 

i did. B) the plastic bag worked well, too.

 

 

 

 

NOW TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO ABOUT THESE MICROBUBBLES........ :rant:

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So, I put a DSB in the refugium chamber of my sump. I feel like I haven't seen anyone else using a DSB there. I am a little concerned with the small-ish surface area and the fact that I understand that DSBs are less useful toward edges(? i think i read this on wetwebmedia.com, but there's so much information there that I can't remember).

 

Also, as I've said, this tank is in my bedroom, and it is still rather loud at night. I'm using the stock durso drain with a piece of airline tubing in it, which has mostly silenced the gurgling. I then put a piece of foam at the overflow to cut out most of the "waterfall." however, i'm still getting a fair amount of sound from the drain's outlet and from the stock return pump. i figure the return pump just is what it is (and I could replace it if I wanted something quieter), but what about the drain outlet? my thought has been to get a piece of PVC and stick it on the end of the tube to act like a "Y splitter" for the water to kind of diffuse the current (and thus cut the sound). Has anyone else had success with this? other suggestions?

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new pics/test results:

 

set up the tank 5 days ago (as of last night), so i thought i'd start testing to see how i was doing on the cycle and report on some of my numbers:

 

my salinity started around 1.021, and i wanted to get that a little higher, so i've been topping off with salt water to help raise it slowly. salinity is now about 1.0225. will continue topping off with salt water until i get to about 1.023-1.024 (read: until i run out of salt water). ;)

 

my temperature has been running pretty high, bouncing around between 81.2 when i get up and 82.4 before i go to bed, according to my Tom's digital thermometer. i haven't verified this with another thermometer though, so it's possible that this thermometer is running high (though by the feel of the water, it's probably about right). as of right now, it looks like i certainly don't need a heater. we'll see if that changes as the weather gets colder, but for now, i'm good to go.

 

anyway, on to the good stuff! after 5 days, my parameters (test kit used in parentheses):

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ammonia (API): undetected/0ppm :lockdown:

nitrite (API): undetected/0ppm :lockdown:

nitrate: did not test

pH (API): 8.2

calcium (red sea): 325ppm :eek:

alkalinity (tetra): 7dKH

magnesium: did not test

phosphate: did not test

 

based my alk/calcium being low, i started dosing my 2-part (Brightwell Reef Code Part-A and Part-B ). dosed 15ml part A to 10ml part B. my goal for calcium is 450ppm and 8dKH for alk.

 

but, as far as my ammonia/nitrites being undetectable after 5 days, i'm guessing my cured/well transported live rock + some water from established aquarium has done the trick. i'll test again in a couple of days (including a nitrate test) to make sure, but i'm optimistic that this will be a short cycle and that i'll be able to migrate over some fish from my 8g sooner than later. :lol:

 

came upon the makings of a big diatom outbreak as of yesterday. along with that, however, i saw a couple of aiptasia popping out of a few pieces of my LR. <_< oh well. +1 peppermint shrimp to the stocking list! :ninja:

 

and now, some pictures:

 

new LR rubble in the sump, replacing bioballs

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a couple close-ups of my rocks... this might turn into some nice-looking corraline! maybe even some orange? we'll see!

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check out these hitchhikers and diatoms!

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my FTS from 9/2 (pre-diatom):

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HAY STOP PAYING ATTENTION TO THAT STUPID FISH TANK AND GIVE ME CHEEZBURGER.

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