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Chris' CAD Lights 45g Shallow : Another Re-Scape (Video)


cnseekatz

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Water has cleared up a bit. I'm still not satisfied with the hardscape, but the general idea is for one structure to branch out and pass in front of the other. When it's grown out, I want there to be a little channel/valley between the two. I don't like how the island on the left is so pointy at the top, and the island on the right looks like it was just thrown together. I also want to get a little more depth in the layout. I like foreground/background, and this doesn't really give me that. Any thoughts?

 

I'll need to address those things, but I do love how the branching rock gives me really open and airy structures. There are plenty of holes, caves and pass-throughs on both sides for hiding places and increased water flow.

 

IMG_20141201_121912_505_zps3dbdc732.jpg

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I agree, I like the idea of having a front-to-back display, showing depth of view. Maybe flip-flop it, have the taller structure behind the shorter-elongate one...

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I agree, I like the idea of having a front-to-back display, showing depth of view. Maybe flip-flop it, have the taller structure behind the shorter-elongate one...

 

I think you might be right. I can push the big structure back further, and bring a trailing edge out along the back of the tank, tapering down as it goes to the right.

 

Then I can pull the right piece forward, and let it taper off to the left, in front of the other structure. It'll just need to be a little shorter so that it doesn't block the view.

 

Hard to visualize, but yeah... basically what you said. :)

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I think you might be right. I can push the big structure back further, and bring a trailing edge out along the back of the tank, tapering down as it goes to the right.

 

Then I can pull the right piece forward, and let it taper off to the left, in front of the other structure. It'll just need to be a little shorter so that it doesn't block the view.

 

Hard to visualize, but yeah... basically what you said. :)

Maybe even rotate the left side slightly so that it kinda sits in the corner.

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Kind of an L-Shape that parallels the corner of the tank?

Yeah, I guess you could say that.

 

 

Another option you could try would be to make 3 - 4 smaller islands spread throughout the tank. This is a lot different than what you have, but it always gives a more natural look and provides depth of view. Check out 4x5's tank.

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Thank you sir. How are you liking your Radion setup? I was reading through your thread and thought I felt a disturbance in the force..

 

:lol: So far I really like it. Ill have to wait a month or so before i can comment on coral growth/coloration but so far so good.

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:lol: So far I really like it. Ill have to wait a month or so before i can comment on coral growth/coloration but so far so good.

 

Well, any suggestions you've got on program or acclimation, I'd love to hear them.

 

I've been having a tough time with the Connection Manager. My tank is at work, and the network here has some kind of security protocol which doesn't allow me to get out of "Offline Mode" in the software. So for now, I'm on a very basic sunrise/sunset program, but it ramps up to 100% for most of the daylight hours, and that's just way too much. It's practically it's own UV sterilizer!

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Looking good.

 

I like your ecotech mount, look s so much better than the cacdlights aluminum poles.

 

I need to step up my pluming skilled and hardline the sump, looks nice and clean.

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I know that I should expect a fair amount of algae/bacteria to come and go as the tank cycles, but we're all so sensitive to it, that any algae makes us uncomfortable.

 

I've still got a fair amount of reddish brown stuff on the sand, which I assume is diatoms. I understand that they're pretty standard during the Ammonia --> Nitrite phase, and the Nitrite --> Nitrate phase.

 

I'm starting to see a bunch of little green bushes popping up now, which would seem to be an indicator of increased Nitrates in the tank. To me this would indicate the final stages of a cycle. It seems pretty quick to me, so I tested my water.

 

Ammonia and Nitrite are not registering. Nitrate is registering, but fairly low, somewhere between 10-20 ppm (it's hard to say with the API test kits). I would expect that to be higher after a cycle. I think I'll let it go another week or so, and see what happens.

 

Cycle-Green_zps471f7070.jpg

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Quick question: It's been a long time since I started with a new sand bed. Is it normal to kick up massive dust storms every time I touch the sand? Should I be stirring it up to get that out, or let it be?

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Quick question: It's been a long time since I started with a new sand bed. Is it normal to kick up massive dust storms every time I touch the sand? Should I be stirring it up to get that out, or let it be?

Alot of people say leave it alone. I personally always siphon it out during water changes. Looks great so far! Following!

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What kind of sand did you use? Did you rinse it before adding it to the tank?

 

Used Caribsea Arag-Alive. It's the stuff that comes in the plastic bags, wet, and allegedly ready to go. I used the Fiji Pink (0.5-1.5 mm grain).

 

They tell you to not rinse the sand as it's seeded with live bacteria that you wouldn't want to wash away.

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My new ATO reservoir came yesterday!

 

I love the way it looks, though I'm already worried that it might be difficult to monitor the water level inside. It still smells strongly of epoxy, so I'm going to have to wait a few days before I fill it up and put it into action.

 

IMG_20141205_121152_243_zps3632f3a7.jpg

 

I wish I could get it onto the side of the sump, but there's just no room, so it'll have to go someplace else.

 

1. Inside the stand. Maintains the "no-clutter" rule for the outside of the tank/stand, but blocks my view of half of the sump.

2. Outside the stand. I can tuck it away out of sight, and it's shiny black like the stand, so there's some continuity there. That gives me a little bit of equipment outside the stand, and may tax the ATO pump a little.

 

Thoughts?



Inside?

 

IMG_20141205_121358_683_zpsb8cad63d.jpg



Or outside?

 

IMG_20141205_122111_256_zps703f2eff.jpg

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inside. the allure of the sump will quickly fade. lol

 

as long as you can peek over the reservoir to keep an eye on the return pump and be able to move the reservoir out of the way when you need to do some maintenance, you'll be good.

 

thinking about ordering the same reservoir.. let me know how it works out for you.

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Outside, hands down. The last thing you want is not to be able to see while working in your sump.....trust me. And with that thing full, you are looking at 40ish pounds, PITA to move around. Not to mention the stress on the Reservoir moving it around..... Where you had it in the corner, Perfect place IMHO. Besides, the ATO tank is made to look nice, it isn't an ugly 5 gallon bucket, yah know? I was thinking of doing a nano.....but I might wait. I have my eye on this exact tank. My issue is I only want the tank, I want a Trigger Systems sump and to build a custom stand.....I called yesterday and they only sell the tank and sump minus the stand.....lame...

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Nice ATO. It's from AdvancedAcrylics?

 

It's actually from a guy on Ebay. I got in touch with Advanced Acrylics and they were gonna build me a custom one, but I saved about $50 going this way. PM if you want the guy's info... or just search for ATO Reservoir on Ebay.

 

inside. the allure of the sump will quickly fade. lol

 

 

Outside, hands down.

 

Hm...

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Like the ATO reservoir. I need to clean up my aquarium area.

 

 

Sweet ATO reservoir. I need to get something like that. How many gallons does that hold? I need something in the neighborhood of 4 gallons or so.

 

It's 15"x15"x6", and will hold about 5 gallons.

 

Came into the office this morning after the weekend to find a green, forested mess...

 

Some kind of GHA type junk has popped up everywhere, and the water is pretty cloudy. I guess it's time to add my CUC. I'm thinking a couple Mexican Turbo snails are in order...

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Yuck...

 

I suppose this stuff is just growing because of all the die off from the live rock, and the silicates from the sand? Assuming I don't add any nutrients to the water, this should eventually go away right?

 

IMG_20141208_100953_790_zpsd5e8ef0e.jpg

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