k4ndyk1ng Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 I went out to get a few more pieces of rocks yesterday when I went to the LFS to pick up a bucket of salt. I almost completely filled the DT last night, but ran out of water before I can top it off and fill the sump. So I made another 30 gallons or so water overnight, I should be able to fill everything when I get home this afternoon. I could have bought another Brute to store more water earlier on, but I felt like it would probably just sit there after the tank had it's initial filling, so I'm just doing it slowly. The tank was almost clear when I checked this morning, rinsing the sand beforehand helped a lot I think. Will take a proper FTS when everything is running tonight! Think I have to go find some Dr. Tim one and only to start the cycle rather than seeding it with one of my live rock from the biocube, hopefully one of the LFS has it, I have to call around to see. I might just go and grab it lunch time. If it doesn't you can easily get it online and you need ammonia or a small fish to feed the bacteria Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Looking good!! Thankfully (?) I live in an apartment or I'd have probably upgraded right away too! Link to comment
Chungy Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 If it doesn't you can easily get it online and you need ammonia or a small fish to feed the bacteria I have a bottle of ammonia used previously for cycling my spec V. If I can't find it locally, I will just seed it with one of my live rocks, just thought the Dr. Tim stuffs would speed it up by providing more bacteria needed to start the nitrogen cycle. Looking good!! Thankfully (?) I live in an apartment or I'd have probably upgraded right away too! Lol thanks! You are right, we were in a condo before now, all the equipment for this build made it to the new house the same weekend we moved it. Wanting to upgrade had a lot to do with the final choice of the new place we were gonna get. Link to comment
k4ndyk1ng Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 It doesn't just speed it up it makes it almost instant, there is a mrsaltwatertank video on it Link to comment
Chungy Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 LFS all out of Dr. Tim's, but they do have Seachem "stability", guess i will try that. Link to comment
k4ndyk1ng Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 LFS all out of Dr. Tim's, but they do have Seachem "stability", guess i will try that. Sad nvm, anything may work, just to speed it up Link to comment
CrazyEyes Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 I like the Nay pic personally. Not a big fan of that big rock on the left side. Link to comment
Chungy Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 I like the Nay pic personally. Not a big fan of that big rock on the left side. Agreed. I have since picked up a couple more pieces of dry rock to make the left side a little more closer to the 3/5 rule, looks little bit more visually appealing, well I think... Will post some pics later today when I add the remaining water and have the water running. I will probably leave the skimmer and reactors off until cycle completed since I have nothing to preserve in the tank. Link to comment
xiaoxiy Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Nay scape all the way! But as mentioned before, you'll want to get a better small rock. Link to comment
Chungy Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 Here is the FTS as of this morning. Still crappy phone pic...couldn't find the battery and charger for my dslr... I couldn't find my bottle of ammonia last night, will have to stop by Ace Hardware after work today. Will make the video of sound of the drain today as promised. Link to comment
hey Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 i dig the red light, my taste in tank accessories and furniture lately has been on the very bright side, IE julian sprungs bright red tank stand. Link to comment
k4ndyk1ng Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 i dig the red light, my taste in tank accessories and furniture lately has been on the very bright side, IE julian sprungs bright red tank stand. I love that tank, especially how it is on acrylic Link to comment
Chungy Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 i dig the red light, my taste in tank accessories and furniture lately has been on the very bright side, IE julian sprungs bright red tank stand. I had to look it up, it is a sweet setup. In my case, I'm just a hardcore fan for Manchester United. Link to comment
Chungy Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 yes please a video would be nice! Im debating either that set up you got, or Mame. which cost a bit and maintenance can be doodoo, but its just sooo cllleeaannn. and for my 22 gal the turn over should be good. Here is the video, sound of the drain to sump without overflow. You almost can only hear it if you are really close to it, but on the downside the flow is reduced to the very minimum, my ball valve is barely open, any more flow will cause a gurgling noise. So think twice before you go this route, I would definitely go with some type of overflow. Link to comment
Chungy Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 Haven't had much update since the tank is cycling slowly. I dosed 4ppm of ammonia to start the cycle, then added Bacter7 with the suggested dose on the label. After 2 days with no signs of nitrite or drop of ammonia, I added a piece of LR from my other tank to seed it, 2 more days later I started to notice a slight increase in nitrite indicating the cycle has officially started. I always use one of those ammonia patch to monitor the ammonia while cycling, I won't check the water parameters again until the patch indicating normal level of ammonia. At the rate this is going, I think it will be at least another 2 weeks before it is ready. I replaced the 1260 with a Eheim compact 3000, the 1260 was humming way too much for my taste. I tried various methods to try to silence it but no luck. The new pump is awesome, I can barely notice any noise with the door closed, no annoying hum neither unless I put my head in the sump area. Probably going to use the 1260 to transport water between the Brute and the saltwater mixing bucket. Link to comment
Justind823 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Clean tank - looks great. Love that NanoBox! Link to comment
Chungy Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 Clean tank - looks great. Love that NanoBox! Thank you, sir! I dosed another 2ppm yesterday, woke up this morning and the ammonia patch is showing normal level of ammonia (0ppm), I'll do some tests later to see if all of it has been converted to nitrate, getting there! Link to comment
jaysauce Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Hows the tank doing? Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Nice build. Following. Link to comment
Chungy Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 Sorry for the lack of updates. Endured a couple of re-orgs at work, have been super busy since transitioning from a SDET to a Dev at work. Alot has happened since couple months ago. The tank was infested with ichs just before I went on Christmas vacation back to the Virgin Islands (all my family is there, lived there for 15+ years since I was little). Took me 1 whole week to trap the fishes without doing major construction around the rocks, only 4 out of 8 fishes made it. But those who made it are still in the hospital tank, I think the main tank has been fishless for more than 8 weeks. I dosed copper and the 4 fishes recovered nicely. So I still have my female Snowflake, azure damsel, yellow clown goby, and red dragonet. Added a bunch of SPS, small frags of Zoas, ricordea, candy cane... The SPS has been browning since I don't feed the tank anymore, and I'm struggling a little bit with the Nano box setting to set the perfect intensity without a par meter. I am gonna take some pics later this weekend! Link to comment
Chungy Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Update! Got me a 6x24" dimmable Sunpower fixture, made a new hanger for it, ignore the extra long screws and bunch of frags I have on the sand bed. In the process of setting up a frag tank to host all those frags I have on the sand bed. I am probably going to use my spec V for now with the nano box tide that I had until I have time to build a stand for a 20L + 20L sump. I switched to T5s to see if it yields better color, definitely missing that shimmer though. Link to comment
k4ndyk1ng Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 What bulbs are you running in the fixture? Link to comment
Chungy Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 What bulbs are you running in the fixture? I bought the fixture from someone in RC, it came with these bulbs: back ATI Blue+ ATI Blue+ ATI Purple+ ATI AquaBlue ATI Blue+ ATI Blue+ front I'm thinking of getting a Coral+ in place of the AquaBlue Special, might have to get a couple more bulbs to try different combo. Only wish LFS would sell ATI bulbs. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.