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RollaJase's 30G Custom Cube - Tank Torn Down


RollaJase

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I got a phone call from a friend Wednesday last week saying this local guy who had started a small business selling frags was shutting down and selling everything off real cheap, the only catch was I had to be there in 30mins (going across town) and I could only pay cash. Needless to say I made it there in time and scored some great deals.

 

New zoas:

http://img13.imageshack.us/i/p1050182c.jpg/'>p1050182c.jpg

 

Some SPS frags:

http://img845.imageshack.us/i/p1050183y.jpg/'>p1050183y.jpg

This little guy looks a lot nicer in person.

http://img19.imageshack.us/i/p1050185v.jpg/'>p1050185v.jpg

My favorite.

http://img594.imageshack.us/i/p1050186c.jpg/'>p1050186c.jpg

http://img707.imageshack.us/i/p1050190b.jpg/'>p1050190b.jpg

http://img820.imageshack.us/i/p1050192mz.jpg/'>p1050192mz.jpg

http://img201.imageshack.us/i/p1050193z.jpg/'>p1050193z.jpg

 

http://img705.imageshack.us/i/p1050191n.jpg/'>p1050191n.jpg

The torch coral was a great buy, got him for $10 cos he isn't that colorful and there had been some minor die off. He has a fluro green mouth though and I think he looks awesome :D.

 

It's kind of a sad story really. The business owner got into some financial trouble because his wife was leaving him and had a panic attack and was hospitalized. One of his friends was looking after the shop but with no money to pay the bills or maintain the frags he was selling up what he could and closing down. The poor guy couldn't even afford salt for water changes. All the SPS frags I got had been in dirty water for 3 weeks (I was told), it was a gamble picking them up but all look to be doing fine and all their polyps are open. I got some nice zoas and the torch was exactly what I was looking for. All up I paid $50 for all those corals and got a bag of around 20 snails and sea slugs for free, that really helped with my algae problem haha.

 

In other news I woke up this morning to see one of my clown fish (the one the anemone is hosting) has a raised red lump to the right of his mouth (not on the gills). I have a feeling its from the anemone as he was harassing it this morning to open up while I was installing the light, it could of even happened last night some time. I'm going to keep an eye on it over the next few days and see if it gets any worse, it it does I will have to put him in a quarantine tank and try some anti bacterial.

 

I also finally got my water tested for TDS, I was quite surprised. My filtered rain water coming from the tap in the kitchen sink sits between 38-39 TDS, I was expecting much higher. It turns out that dad (being in the irrigation industry) has a fairly complex filtration system between the tank and the house making the water from our taps pretty clean. The water would actually be even better off if it didn't have to come through 20 year old copper piping. I was contemplating a RODI unit (which dad objects to) but considering the water is pretty clean I'm going to stay away from one and go with a phosphate media reactor instead.

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Took a look at my clown this morning and the lump is still there but a lot smaller and it's not red anymore which is a good thing. I still suspect the anemone but hopefully the clown knows not to do that again haha.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had a few aiptasia pop up and start to spread a bit so I got myself a small Aiptasia RX kit for about $12, did the trick. Easy to use and killed them off in about 10-15mins which was nice. Went with this over Aiptasia X mainly because it was cheaper and from what I could tell was essentially the same thing.

 

My light extension arms still haven't come in yet which is a pain. My green acro and the larger of the two birdsnests started to lose colour and bleach out a little. I believe this is due to too much light so I have moved them into a less bright area and they seems to be recovering slowly. Once those arms come in I can raise my PAR bulbs a little bit and hopefully get a nicer spread and keep all the corals happy. Everything seems to be going well and one of my 2 red mushrooms has 3 new heads growing out from under the mother shroom.

 

I have been having an issue with a bit of surface scum on the surface of my water for a while now and am going to design a custom skimmer box for my display drain to take care of this. This is something I really want to get done before I re-plumb my stand and sump.

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Tank looks nice man like the new corals :)

Thanks, I am really happy with them and the majority of them seem to be settling in nicely.

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I have been monitoring the SPS frags since I added them to my tank as I was not sure how they would cope under PAR38 bulbs and due to the poor quality tank they came from. Everything is looking great with the exception of the birdsnests and the green acro frag. The larger of the birdsnests has almost completely bleached and the smaller one has slightly bleached tips. I have a feeling this is due to the lighting being too intense on the poor things while I have been waiting on my light extenders (which have arrived) and the poor conditions of the tank they came from. I am hoping that now with the light a little higher and less intense that they should bounce back. The green acro frag has shown some signs of receeding/bleaching around the base but on the other hand has shown signs of new growth (the white tip is colouring back to the colour of the main body). Since raising the light the colour around the base is starting to come back a little and I will continue to keep an eye on it. The other frags seem to be doing really well though. The fuzzy green coral (no idea of the name) had a bit of damage and receding on one of its branches when I got it and that has started to heal itself.

 

A few new goodies came in today as well. My new ATO float valve, my 200 micron filter socks with holder and my refractometer all arrived. Hopefully over the next week I can plan to pull my sump out and re-plumb the stand to make it a little easier to work with. I then need to make the decision whether to upgrade my skimmer or not as its not performing how I would like but then again the sump water level has hardly been steady as of late.

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Well the larger birdsnest was deteriorating fast so that one came out of the tank, the smaller one isn't far behind. I moved the green acro and it seems to be recovering, needed more flow. Everything else is doing great.

 

Well it's my birthday next Sunday and on a recent trip to the LFS to pick up some salt my brother told me he was going to buy me a fish for my birthday. I really wanted a 6-line wrasse but they were all out and wouldn't be getting in any for a while. After talking to the owner he recommended a few other things, most of which I wasn't interested in until he showed me this little guy:

http://img543.imageshack.us/i/p1050219p.jpg/'>p1050219p.jpg

http://img46.imageshack.us/i/p1050216m.jpg/'>p1050216m.jpg

A Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse. He acclimatised well, has coloured up nicely and is very very active which is nice. Better yet he was a lot cheaper then a 6-line coming in at $35. I do know that these guys are recommended to have at least a 50g tank and after asking the owner of the LFS about this he said I shouldn't be worried as long as there are no other wrasses in my tank which there aren't and I have no intention of adding any more. He also said they are much less aggressive and wont harass shrimp like the 6-liners are known to. He has been in since yesterday so i'll snap some more pics when he sits still long enough :D.

 

I also redid my ATO. I had always had issues with my original one and I think it all came down to having too large a diameter tubing and too small a float. I ordered a kit online (amongst other things) for $20 and its really something I should have done a long time ago.

This is what came with the kit:

http://img19.imageshack.us/i/p1050202x.jpg/'>p1050202x.jpg

Pretty much covers all bases and even comes with a compression 'T' so you can plumb it directly to an RO unit.

 

Looks much better then my original attempt:

http://img199.imageshack.us/i/p1050203.JPG/'>p1050203.JPG

 

And some shots of the installation:

http://img221.imageshack.us/i/p1050207s.jpg/'>p1050207s.jpg

http://img14.imageshack.us/i/p1050208l.jpg/'>p1050208l.jpg

http://img46.imageshack.us/i/p1050209l.jpg/'>p1050209l.jpg

http://img28.imageshack.us/i/p1050210c.jpg/'>p1050210c.jpg

 

All in and working like a charm :D:

http://img4.imageshack.us/i/p1050213py.jpg/'>p1050213py.jpg

 

I now have everything I need to re-plumb my stand so next week the sump is coming out, new hoses and valves are going in and the sump is getting some TLC. Expect another update and a new FTS by the end of next week.

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Well today I ripped my sump apart and re-plumbed the whole thing. Started at about 10am and finished at about 3pm.

This is what I started with:

p1050093cd.jpg

 

And this is how it turned out:

p1050223kk.jpg

Much cleaner IMO. I completely ripped out the sump and the shelf, plumbed new lines and screwed them out of the way onto the walls of the stand (a little noisier then the original design) I ended up replacing all the water in the sump with a fresh batch also (about 20L of water) as it was full of detritus and smelt horrible.

 

I made a DSB in the fuge:

p1050228e.jpg

 

Added a filter sock to the drain:

p1050227.jpg

 

Cut an easy access slot for the skimmer:

p1050229zo.jpg

 

Tweaked my ATO with some right angle barbs to make plumbing neater:

p1050230ku.jpg

 

And got myself a new skimmer (Macro Aqua M-30):

p1050222o.jpg

I picked this skimmer up yesterday and did have a few issues with it. Number 1, it is a b***h to prime. Number 2, there was a small leak on the inlet (which I fixed). And Number 3 it wont work properly in my sump. I had it running on the display tank perfectly well but it wont work correctly in my sump due to the water level. I believe this skimmer has to rely on a siphon to keep the waterflow up through the skimmer. When placed on my DT both the inlet and outlet and fully submerged so it's not an issue, when used on my sump the inlet is fully submerged but the outlet is out of water. I tried extending the outlet with no luck. So I pretty much dropper $80AUD on a skimmer that doesn't work for me and the seller wont take it back because it works, just not how I want it to. Looks like I might have to bite the bullet and get myself either a Hydor Slim Skim Nano or a Tunze 9002/9004, both of which are between $250-$300AUD shipped here. The only issue I have is the space in my sump, the first chamber holding liverock is very tight, only 9.5cm wide and I have a feeling that neither of these units will work as I want and I really don't want to modify my sump and don't want it in my DT. I guess both the Tunze 9002/9004 and the Slim Skim Nano both look nice enough to have in the DT. Oh well, I'll work something out.

 

Next on the 'to do' list is the surface skimmer. I also need to find out a way to silence my drain pipe, its gurgling a little now and never did before.

 

I did promise a new FTS but after adding the DSB my water is still a little cloudy so I will leave you with this :D.

p1050232z.jpg

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Well even though my new plumbing may be neater, the right angles I added to the drain have made it sound like a washing machine. The way I have attached the tubing to the walls of the cabinet has also caused some additional vibration. The vibration I can live with but the washing machine I can't considering the tank is in my bedroom about 10feet from my head.

 

I am going to try and find some of that flex tubing that they use for washing machine discharge and revise my drain. I will also remove one of the right angle fittings from the return. I want to add a foam mat under the sump also to help cut down additional vibration. The vibration isn't that bad with the cabinet door open but when it's closed its amplified.

 

The water has cleared up a lot now, pretty much crystal clear so I'll try to take a few shots this afternoon. I live on a vineyard and we are picking tomorrow so hopefully I can find the time to rectify the noise before I go to bed tonight.

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Man, your tank is looking awesome. The Ato is pretty freakin awesome. I love float valves for gravity ato's. Nice on the new sump lay out too. Did you figure out the washer machine sound?

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The new set-up in the stand looks really neat and clean! Nice job. Also, that cloudy shot just makes me that much more excited to see it all cleared up. Its looking awesome, even cloudy!

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Man, your tank is looking awesome. The Ato is pretty freakin awesome. I love float valves for gravity ato's. Nice on the new sump lay out too. Did you figure out the washer machine sound?

Thanks man. Yeah I'm really happy with the ATO, does a great job and lasts me a little over a week when completely full. Works much better then my original attempt. I am also very happy with the new sump, makes things much more accessible. I did figure out the noise, I added a few right angle fittings to the drain to make plumbing a little easier and they were creating air pockets that resulted in a churning noise. I am still having issues with it though.

 

The new set-up in the stand looks really neat and clean! Nice job. Also, that cloudy shot just makes me that much more excited to see it all cleared up. Its looking awesome, even cloudy!

Thanks. I do like the cloudy shot, the haze makes it looks kinda mysterious. I'll have a new FTS up next week some time, wont be going near the tank this weekend at all now.

 

 

The sump drain is still giving me grief, I should never have touched it. It was perfect before, couldn't even be heard over my Tunze 6015 but now it sounds like a constant trickle, very annoying. I have given up as of now, going to do some research and see what I can do. It is 10 times better then it was when I re-plumbed it. I ended up going back to using the original tap and original design of the drain but its still a little off. I have tried 3-4 completely new drain lines including the original line and I am getting closer, it will just take some additional time that I don't have right now. It was annoying me so much last night that I ended up sleeping in the guest room. My brother couldn't notice it until I pointed it out and now its annoying him from the next room.

 

My temporary solution is to put my 150W heater in the DT and close both the drain and return valves keeping as much water as I can in the DT. The remaining water in the sump (about 15L now) is being circulated by a 450L/ph pump that I brought for a media reactor and is being heated by a 25W heater that I use for mixing water. This solution at least means I wont be throwing away water because it is going stale and I can at least sleep in my own bed until I can find a solution. I will cycle water from the sump back into the DT and allow the full system to cycle a few times during the day to mix the two water volumes together, I just need to remember to top off the DT everyday. I tell you I was so frustrated I contemplated putting up the entire system for sale.

 

I have also come to a conclusion about my Skimmer issue but more on that next week.

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Big improvement! When the tank clears up, update your OP so you don't scare everyone away with that hair algae :lol:B)

Haha thanks, yeah ill be updating everything properly during the week.

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Well things just keep getting worse for me. I have discovered some digitate hydroids in my tank. I believe they came in on those snails I got with my SPS frags as I have seen some hanging off the snails as well as a few of my rocks. As of yet they don't appear to be irritating my corals so there is no cause for alarm. Since my original cycle I have had hydroids in my tank and they have slowly been dieing off over time as the water quality stabilized so I hope the same thing happens to the digitates.

 

On the sump front I have still not found a solution to the drain noise. I have decided to remove the sump and put the issue behind me. I may end up trying a HOB fuge later down the track but right now I don't see it 100% necessary. I will keep the sump, pump and all the lines etc. so if I change my mind I always have the possibility to connect it up again Removing the sump will also mean I will be able to use a pump and float valve ATO and fit a larger reservoir.

 

Now the skimmer issue. With me getting rid of the sump I have no choice but to go the route of a HOB skimmer or an in tank one. I really like the Hydor Slim Skim and the Tunze 9004 and have found the Tunze at $220AUD shipped and have found a second hand Hydor (hardly used) for a similar price. The only issue I have with these skimmers is clearance. My tank has euro bracing around the edges and down the center of the tank. The front and back bracing is 22mm deep where as the side bracing is 17mm deep. I can not find any information anywhere as to how far off the glass either of these skimmers sit with their magnet mounts. I know the Tunze 9004 comes with 15mm spacers and the cup sits in a bit from the edge of the body so I may be able to get it to fit. How quiet the skimmer operates also plays a big part in the overall decision but there are ways around it. If my chosen skimmer is too loud I'll just put it on a timer so it only runs during the light hours so it will be off while I sleep. I could just end up using the Macro Aqua skimmer that I brought last week but would really like something with surface skimming functionality to help with my surface scum.

 

There is lots for me to think about at the moment but if I can get confirmation of the skimmer clearances by the end of the week then I will be placing an order for a skimmer over the weekend.

 

Well that was enough text for an update, here are those new FTS shots I promised:

p1050236c.jpg

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p1050240a.jpg

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After doing some digging I managed to find a few images that lead me to believe the Tunze 9004 may be the perfect skimmer for me.

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2012Q4/IMG_3265.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img819/4219/tunze7.jpg

 

You can see how the collection cup stops before the rear compartment where the power cable and airline comes out. That means that with the 15mm magnet spacers that Tunze provides there should be ample clearance for the cup to clear the euro bracing. I'll just need to find out exactly how far that gap actually is before I can confirm this. I may also need to lower the water level in my DT slightly to get it to function properly but I don't mind sacrificing 2-3L of water volume to get a functioning skimmer.

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The new FTS looks great! I like that your fish were so out and about for the photos.

 

Sounds like you've got some major changes going on. I don't have a sump on my tank so I can't help on that front. I did have a HOB skimmer for a while, but it didn't seem to be making that much of a difference and it was bulky and had microbubble issues so I ended up removing it. I just run a fuge-modded AC 70 on my tank and that works well for me. Low tech :)

 

Good luck picking a skimmer!

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The new FTS looks great! I like that your fish were so out and about for the photos.

 

Sounds like you've got some major changes going on. I don't have a sump on my tank so I can't help on that front. I did have a HOB skimmer for a while, but it didn't seem to be making that much of a difference and it was bulky and had microbubble issues so I ended up removing it. I just run a fuge-modded AC 70 on my tank and that works well for me. Low tech :)

 

Good luck picking a skimmer!

 

Thanks. The fish tend to be quite sociable. The wrasse is still a little shy but everyone else loves hanging out at the front of the tank waiting for food haha.

 

I have been looking at those AC70 mods recently and have considered making my own HOB fuge which I am liking the idea. The biggest advantage the sump had for me was being able to hid my equipment and would allow me to run a reactor out of sight. The extra water volume was also a bonus but I don't know how much of an advantage an extra ~20L actually gave me anyway. I'm going to leave everything how it is for the moment, it's almost dead silent besides the odd 'popping' sound that water makes when it brakes surface tension. Once I get my new skimmer I will finish disconnecting the sump and plug the bulkheads from the rear. Then I am going to buy a few mechanical float valves and convert my spare 450L/ph pump into a new ATO.

 

I have decided on a skimmer. The Tunze 9004 looks like it's the right skimmer for the job. It will fit in the corner of my tank, surface skim and with the magnet spacer there is about 29mm space between the glass and the collection cup which means it will clear my 22mm deep euro bracing. It is also a quiet skimmer but if I find the water falling noise from the surface skimming too much at night I will be putting it on a timer. I have found the skimmer for about $225 shipped from interstate and will be placing an order by the end of the week. Then I will be seriously looking at a DIY LED upgrade. I just can't stop spending money on this hobby haha.

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Tank looks great, but I am sorry to hear that you are still having skimmer issues... :(

Thank you. Yeah the skimmer issue is a bit annoying. I was going to order my 9004 today but the store I was going to order it through has for some reason taken down all their Tunze products, I hope it's just a glitch. Their pricing was $30 cheaper then anywhere else and their postage was fantastic.

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Well I sent an email to the retailer, they replied within 30mins to say they have removed all Tunze products from their site due to a worldwide shortage of Tunze products. Apparently Tunze have moved factory and no orders have have been shipped for 4 months, they keep advising their Australian supplier that the new stock will be shipped soon but that has been going on for 3 months apparently. So I either have to play the waiting game or find a different skimmer that will suit my needs. I think I'm going to hold out and maybe put the money I had saved for the skimmer into a DIY LED fixture and run skimmer less for the time being. As long as I do my weekly water changes I should be fine.

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Tunze 9004 Ordered, cost me $218AUD shipped which is a pretty good deal. Hopefully I'll have it by the end of next week. I decided to bite the bullet and do a DIY LED kit for this tank also, I figure I am graduating from University tomorrow so I may as well spoil myself haha. Once I get my spectrum sorted I'll get together all the bits and pieces I need.

 

I have also removed the sump, did it yesterday. Once the skimmer comes in I'll plug up the bulkheads. I figure I will still use the return bulkhead as I am planning on still using a media reactor and that can be used as the return from the reactor, keep in nice and neat. I have come up with a neat way to hide the reactor pump in the tank also but more on that later.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well the skimmer hasn't arrived yet, coming from the other side of the country so I hope it arrives this week. I haven't ordered my DIY LED fixture yet or my media reactor because I ran into some unexpected costs. Took my car in for a service because it was due and had developed a noise. Turns out it was a crank bearing so I either pay 5k parts and labour or I trade and upgrade to something newer. So new car it is and I have to order it this week so there goes all my cash for now.

 

Tank wise everything is looking good. My red with yellow polyp SPS has started to encrust onto the rock, the other 2 frags have not done much and I blame the lack of light but they aren't dieing either which is nice. My red mushroom has sprouted 2 new heads that are rapidly growing and two of my blue mushrooms have also reproduced. My zoas are also spreading and my original frag that spent nearly 3 months closed (opened when new zoas went in) is colouring up really well, must have wanted some company.

 

I am really noticing not having a skimmer in the tank though. My sand is getting dirtier and the glass needs cleaning twice weekly rather then once a week so I hope it arrives soon.

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