Apexlaxfrog Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Hello all! Wanted to start my build thread since I'm currently playing the waiting game while things settle down. I've condensed most of my actual build components into the spoiler below. Nifty function! I plan to use it for a lot of my (future) photo dumps. Much more to come as time permits... I hope to be updating this build frequently... Thanks for looking! Wes - aka Frog June 1st - Setup a standard 10 gallon with ~20# live rock. In college, I had one nano and one pico reef. Both of which were torn down a couple years in. But I couldn't find a taker for my live rock during de-construction (livestock was easily re-homed). So... the rock went into a 5 gallon bucket with some SW. No heater, no pump, no light... just SW and tucked into the closet... it sat... for about 5 years! Needless to say, the rock was questionable at best. Started with testing the water, and after 5 years: Ammonia: 0 Nitrites: 0 Nitrates: 160+ So, I went ahead and setup my little 10 gallon (obviously with clean SW) so that I could at least prepare things like plumbing, lighting, ATO... set an old 2 x 9-watt 50/50 canopy on it and a small powerhead for a little flow. Left it like that until... June 8th - After 2 variations, I finally assembled and installed my DIY siphon overflow. Siphoned the overflow into a 5 gallon bucket with some LR rubble, heater, carbon, filter floss... woohoo, now my total system volume is over 10 gallons! lol Also, good to note that the water change increased the ammonia briefly (to ~0.25) but then fell back to 0 overnight. Nitrites have never been detectable, but nitrates are (~40). Seems like my bio-filter is happy I will admit, I wasn't a huge fan of the siphon overflow. Every morning I'd find myself springing up out of bed and bolting downstairs to answer that persistent question: Did it flood yet?! I was lucky in that it never did in my short time using it. I even tested the power outage scenario and never had an issue re-starting siphon. June 14th - Received my MakersLED components from LEDGroupBuy (Thanks LGB and Ben for getting me squared away!). After a little hiccup with a blown fuse, I was able to run my 2 channels: I'm running my CREE/3-UP LED's on the 1000mA driver and the Bridgelux/OCW LED's on a 700 mA driver that's dimmed down to ~60%. Bent locally sourced steel tubing to hang my fancy new light and I'm in business! June 15th - 21st - Saw a large bloom of diatomaceous growth at first. A few manual removals via 2 small water changes (10-15%) and it started clearing up... Was replaced with some limited green algal growths, mainly bubble algae and green glass panes. LFS trip on 6/21/14 brought home 2 each: nassarius, cerith, red leg hermit crab and 1 emerald crab. (6/21/14) Nothing fun to look at yet... but the handful of new LR that I picked up at the LFS should help seed the fun bugs June 23rd - Found a clearance 29gal. at the LFS for $25 and couldn't resist forcing it under my little stand lol. Scored and snapped some glass, siliconed a weir and baffle (9 inches tall) to make 3 chambers. Quick and super cheap sump! Will look to upgrade in the future, but works great for now. (I know alot of people don't like LR rubble... and I know this isn't the typical layout of a sump... but my plan is to have a display refugium in the front chamber so I'll want lower flow than my turnover rate would allow.) July 3rd - I received my rimless, 20x20x20 Solana superbrite from Marine Depot (thanks Marine Depot!). Since MD liked this, I'd better toss them a free plug: They had great customer service regarding my one and only issue. Shipping was very quick and very well packaged! Of course I was so excited that I had to sketch out my bulkheads ASAP Some other new goodies: GFCI, phosban, STC-1000 thermostat, a pair of 80mm fans, Tom's aqualifter, and a "2014" Jebao wp-10 (can adjust classic wave mode ) Some more goodies: My return pump is the Taam Rio+ 1100. Flow seems great and the pump is insanely quiet! Plus, a couple of new (more reliable/precise) test kits. I still use the API nitrates and ammonia... my opinion is that they are close enough seeing as NH3 should be 0 and NO3 is tolerable (nowadays, possibly, encouraged for some softies?) to a degree. ---------------------------------------ORIGINAL POST ABOVE--------------------------------------- Recent Rants: -If you work at McDonald's and you're asking for $15/hr, you should go back to school... you obviously don't know how inflation works. Nano-Reef-Related Recent Rants: -It's looking like I'll need to use this section to collate my (future) FTSs. Still in the middle of moving my tank from my old stand to my new DIY stand. NOT an easy/fun task. But will get a current FTS up ASAP(ractical). -I'll go ahead and apologize for the superfluous use of these buttons. They're just too darn nifty... plus (i think) it helps keep Photobucket happier... Current FTS (current FTS image to go here soon) FTS archive below: nothing to see yet still editting/arranging/uploading pics Link to comment
BattleAthletics Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Hey hey welcome to the Solana club! Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Nice title! Looking forward to more. to Nano-Reef! Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Thank you gents! I envy both of your tanks/builds... wish I could budget a vortech right now but the very next thing I need to get is an RO/DI kit. Thinkin I'll be making a BRS buy soon! The constant urge to stock and outfit my tank is hard to resist, but I'm trying to buy/build over time. But to get things up-to-date, the next day: July 4th - In the AM, I cut and glued my DIY coast to coast overflow (no teeth). I used some small 0.5"x1" acrylic blocks for a little reinforcement. Enjoyed the sun while I drank my liquid courage and used my garden hose to keep things wet while I drilled the 4 45mm holes. My previous experiences (several yrs ago) drilling the thin petstore tanks weren't particularly flawless so I might have drank too much courage lol. A couple of careless scratches later and all four were drilled. Fortunately the scratches were hidden by the bulkhead. Next I slapped on a Bean overflow that I had rigged up (and painted) in anticipation weeks earlier: (7/4/14) (7/9/14) - ignore the floatswitches hanging on the sump... in the middle of rigging up my ATO Link to comment
BattleAthletics Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 You could of cut the bulkheads to make them shorter! That part that extends out is really out, May put some strain on the bulkheads. Don't envy my build, envy Mr. Microscope's build, it's amazing! Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 You could of cut the bulkheads to make them shorter! That part that extends out is really out, May put some strain on the bulkheads. Haha, yeah... I thought long and hard about it... But I decided not to. Main reason: it's a cube in a corner lol I have a ton of space behind the tank. And to mitigate strain on the glass, I've clamped the plumbing to the back of my stand. Also, the picture above of the overflow is dry fitted. Once glued and assembled, the space between the bulkhead and the 1x1.5 (slipxslip adapter) is actually almost gone Can't wait to finish up my ATO and el-cheapo thermostat! Latest additions: (zoas, palys, GSPs) Still working on getting this darn dinosaur dslr (Olympus E-1) to take acceptable images. It WAS a really expensive camera lol but it ain't now! All the images I've taken are very blue... I can't get my white balance/exposure just right. Of course, I know part of the issue is my portrait lens but I don't have it in my budget to buy a macro lens Guess we'll just have to settle on cell pics for now! 7/11/14 - Yesterday, I began my battle with, what I believe to be, zoa eating nudis if you look closely at image above... just south of the trio of green polyps on the left-most side, you may be able to discern a small, spiraled egg case rushed out to the LFS and grabbed some Salifert FWE... pulled the frag, dipped it in my first FWE treatment (at triple strength) last night and will follow-up with a second treatment 72-hours later (Sunday eve). Manually removed two seperate egg masses and now I'm just hoping for the best :fingers crossed: Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 8/1/14 - Received my new SpectraPure MaxCap RODI system! Time to gather some storage tank(s) and PVC parts for building a water change/ mixing station... Link to comment
Curry02 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Great build so far. Those are awesome lights! Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 Thanks! The lights are quite nice... but very intense! I have to run Ch1/Ch2 at 33/25%, respectively, to not burn my lil softies because the lights are very close. Hoping to build a taller/better light stand very soon (still on the fence for hanging it). Just picked up a hammer and acro frag today, we'll see if it's acceptable soon Link to comment
BattleAthletics Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 8/1/14 - Received my new SpectraPure MaxCap RODI system! Time to gather some storage tank(s) and PVC parts for building a water change/ mixing station... How do you plan to do your water changing/mixing station? Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 Gotta situate my feed and drain lines first. That was the hardest part... where do I put it? Couldn't bear to place it outside/garage for fear of temp. fluctuations, so no garden hose... don't have room under my kitchen sink... decided to put it in a small recess just outside of my downstairs half-bathroom. Convenient plumbing location plus my garage lies on the other side of the wall for, possibly, my future mixing station. Working on a cheap and easy 2x4 platform to set a large Brute can on. Aiming for a height (16") that I can fit my 5gal carboys underneath and gravity fill. 1" bulkhead drilled at the bottom with a ball valve for a spigot. This'll just be for me RO/DI... eventually I'll attach a similar Brute with a hard plumbed closed-loop and pump for mixing saltwater in large batches. not a large space (only 30" across), but much more useful than the toilet paper rack that was there Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 Picked these two colonies up yesterday: acro SPS (Stylo?) hammer Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 just finished flushing the sediment filter and carbon block, and reading 0 TDS... filling up some carboys before I start filling the big reservoir. Works out nice 'cause now I can calibrate flow/fill rates. 14 min/gal at 58 psi, 3.3:1 ratio atm. Soon I'll tee it out pre-DI so I can fill drinking water containers too. Even made sure to allocate some TP space, so nothing lost! Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 Had to snap a pic as my new hammer was quite happy yesterday! Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 15, 2014 Author Share Posted August 15, 2014 Just saw this article on Google's attempts to map the reefs. Must say, it looks quite interesting! To bad their camera doesn't stand a chance fitting in my tank lol Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 15, 2014 Author Share Posted August 15, 2014 First attempt(s) @ editing RAW: Euphyllia sp. (had been calling it, and purchased it, as an E. paraancora but I'm a lil unhappy about the lack of... anchors! lol z's purchased the Acro SPS above cause it had great PE @ the LFS... PE didn't take long once acclimated (below... although the photo below was taken just 2 hrs after placement in-tank) Post #12 has an image with better PE, but poorer pic quality Thanks for looking! Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 15, 2014 Author Share Posted August 15, 2014 New tank/sump stand build: Obviously still a W(ork) I(n) P(rogress)... but a sturdy start. Wish I had done the corners differently, but I'll eventually rig up something to hide those ugly 2x4 end grains Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 DIY stand progression photos: My garage stays cluttered Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 Looks like I'm not destined to keep zoas I successfully battled Zoa Eating Nudibranchs, but now I'm sliding down the Zoa Ebola (pox) hill... 9/6/14 UPDATE: This post will eventually contain my observations regarding the decimation of my zoa colony. Initially thought it was zoa pox... but seeing as that's difficult to diagnose with certainty... coupled with the fact that I observed numerous, LARGE, amphipods chowing down on the polyps, I decided to forego "diagnosing" the ailment and, instead, treated them symptomatically. Symptoms? -Polyps closed at night and wouldn't open back up @ sunrise. -Small dots/spots on the closed polyps. -Once a polyp closed, it remained closed and proceeded to swiftly melt away (within 48 hours). -Amphipods galore! Presumably eating the "dying" polyps. 8/12/14 - prior to Zoa issues 8/20/14 yes, yes... poor pic quality The red circles outline some 'pox-like' bumps that are now affecting polyps that were doing fantastic last week. This whole frag was literally covered in polyps, but as you can see (in the green circle) a fair amount have melted away over the past 4 days. Large, granddaddy, pods have moved into the frag crevices and are gnawing away at the weakened polyps (see below pic) 8/22/14 Taking this opportunity to EXPERIMENT! hehe so I'm posting the above image as a 'before' shot for comparison. 8/28/14 UPDATE: Z.Pox experiment details: Seeing as I'd lost over half of the zoa frag pictured above in less then a week, I wanted to attempt a rescue by dipping the frag in Tetra Fungus Guard. The active ingredients are very similar to Furan-2 and with the hit-or-miss efficacy I've read regarding Furan-2, I felt I could afford to branch out and attempt something different. Fungus guard: nitrofurazone, furazolidone, potassium dichromate Furan-2: nitrofurazone, furazolidone 1. So (8/22, PM) I mixed up a gallon of new SW, split it into two buckets. Dropped a Tetra Fungus Guard tablet into one bath and allowed the other to remain 'clean'. 2. Waited 10 minutes (with some swishing) to allow the medication to dissolve and then dunked my zoas for 15 minutes (again with some swishing). Pods didn't like the meds too much, a bunch flew out... the dozen zoa heads that were open prior to the bath didn't seem to stress at all during the dip. 3. Rinsed my frag in my clean SW and back into the tank in a high flow, low light area. 4. Changed GAC to remove any med. residues and 5. waited 2 days. The rate of decline prior to the dip was 2-5 heads/day. They simply quit opening and slowly receded into nothingness. The 2 days following the dip yielded ZERO decline. The same 12 heads that were open before dipping were still opening 48 hours post-dip. 6. 72 hours after the first dip (on 8/25, PM) I noticed that 2 new heads were miffed. So, I repeated steps 1-5 above. This time only 10 heads were 'happy'. 7. Again, the dip seemed to have greatly mitigated the recession of polyps; however, they weren't recovering by any means. I still have 10 heads open (as of 8/27, AM)... but extrapolating the decline of my polyps prior to intervention shows that I would have lost the entire colony by today. So, to me, that's a positive result! I aim to continue treatment of these polyps until they've wasted away or I've saved them. In the future, I'll likely attempt this test again but with a higher dosage rate. If only I could find the amount of active ingredients in these tabs I'd be able to quantify/correlate the medicinal parameters versus clinical results. 9/8/14 Looking much better almost 2 weeks post-treatment! Wish I had a pic handy to show how bad they were at their worst (I might, but i'll have to dig through a lot of files) but the pic below has a 50% INCREASE in open polyps. Prior to treament, I had 12 heads open... the pic below has 18 heads open and still recovering! If ANYONE has/knows amounts of active ingredients in Tetra Fungus Guard, post here or PM pleeeaasse!! Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 SPS (need to ID) FTS Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 DIY stand progress: building in two pieces to be assembled/leveled in its final resting position (to help mitigate weight/girth during installation). Stand portion Stand portion on left (right-side view) and tank pedestal assy on the right. Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Stand is looking nice- I like the Stars on the side and the darker stain-nice touch! Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 Stand is looking nice- I like the Stars on the side and the darker stain-nice touch! Thanks!!! I'm trying to make a stand that'll incorporate with the furniture it'll be near. I really like your setup Sk8n, the colors, PE, and growth on your SPSs are fantastic! I'd be happy with half the success you're having! Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Thanks!!! I'm trying to make a stand that'll incorporate with the furniture it'll be near. I really like your setup Sk8n, the colors, PE, and growth on your SPSs are fantastic! I'd be happy with half the success you're having! Thank you- appreciate it- I am big on water changes! 5 gallons a week Link to comment
Apexlaxfrog Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 More on stand progress: first coat of polyurethane on, soon it'll be a sanding battle... not pictured, but working on magnetic doors for the pedestal side. That way I won't waste space and can store a bunch of supplies out of sight. and whipped up a quick, hang-able for now, frag rack. Framed using black acrylic and teflon fasteners so I can easily change dimensions, or fab up a magnetic bracket 'upgrade' soon 9/6/14After some 320 grit SiC sanding, a 2nd clear coat, 400 grit SiC sand, 3rd clear coat, 600 grit SiC sand, and a final 4th clear coat I called it quits. I feel quite confident that this finish will repel spills for a long time to come. Anyway, with that done, I started moving the completed stand into position. It was hell getting all components dis-assembled and ready to move. But 2-days later I could finally sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor! Yes, the pic is bad. I was in a rush and only had my cell handy. Will update soon with better images. Still not completed though...remaining to do (install): ATOThermostatGAC and GFO reactorsDIY fuge (hoping to make a display fuge with colorful macro... and possibly, much later, Hippocampus sp. DIY full-spectrum LED fuge light Link to comment
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