h3dgehog Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Introduction After four years without an aquarium, I finally found the time to set up a new tank - and as always, I will be going with a rimless tank. This thread will be dedicated to documenting the growth of the tank. Listed below is the hardware and livestock that I currently have / am planning to get. I hope that the nano-reef community is as excited as I am about my new build! I started off with a small nano ADA 30C tank which soon upgraded to an Elos Midi. Hardware Tank: ADA 30C Elos Midi Diamond Lighting: 250W Radium w/ Reefbrites 4x24 ATI Powermodule (w/LEDs) Sump: Custom sump made by Advanced Acrylics ATO: Tunze Nano 3152 Tunze 3155 Osmolator Chemical: Phosguard in CPR Tumbler TLF 150 with Rowaphos Doser: Profilux Doser 2 Controller: Profilux 3 Supplements: ESV 2-Part and Magnesium Full Tank Shot Progression January 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 November 2016 January 2017 Link to comment
Rehype Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Awesome.. look forward to seeing this build get underway Link to comment
h3dgehog Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 The custom filter being made by @smiz will be an internal filter that has multiple sections that will be separated by a "media basket". While an internal filter will take up precious space in an already small tank, It will help skim off any oils on the water's surface and also allow me to have a discrete way to install an ATO system. After multiple discussions with @smiz, this is a draft of the filter (updates to come within ~one week). Hope this turns out as awesome as it looks like in my head... Feel free to poke holes in the design and/or provide feedback. Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 This looks fantastic so far. I'm really interested to see how this filter turns out. Link to comment
h3dgehog Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 Update #1: "It's Alivee!" With majority of my hardware finally delivered from Marine Depot, it was time to find some live rock and sand. After going through thread after thread from messages board to message board on where the best place to get live rock, I finally decided to go with Tampa Bay Saltwater. Since I live in the midwest, there aren't many local stores that carry high-quality live rock. The process was quick and painless. I placed my order and the owner emailed me back within 24 hours to set up the day on which I wanted the rocks and sand to be shipped. Once that was done, he had the tracking number ready for me within the next 24 hours. The whole process took less than 36 hours really... So far I was impressed by the responsiveness and willingness for the owner to keep me in the loop. What caught me off guard was when I checked my weather-app and I see snowflakes and a low of 20F. This freaked me out since the shipment was going to be sitting at the cargo area overnight (the plane landed 5 minutes before the airline office closed). So I waited anxiously till the next day to wake up before the sun to get to the box of critters I was hoping to get. I finally come home and grab the camera and took the picture below (only box 1 of 2). After waking up my S.O. at 6:00am with sounds of box ripping, water slushing, and some "oohhhs" and "ahhh", I finally put the rocks in the glass box. To put it as simply as possible, I was 200% satisfied with the quality of the live rock and live sand. The live rock and sand arrived in a package of water to ensure that all the "live" I was paying for was indeed alive. The rocks and sand came with a lot of hitchhikers - tiny urchins, porcelain crabs, hermit crabs, sponges, feathers, and of course coralline algae. The only unwanted hitchhiker was the pistol shrimp, which I easily removed since they were just swimming around in the package. So after the painless process to place my order to the incredible packaging job and the quality of the products, I highly recommend anyone to give Tampa Bay Saltwater a try. Check out the stuff on this rock! Aside from getting some live rock and sand, I put together the hardware for the tank. I decided to mount the AI on the wall to minimize any intrusion into the tank's overall design. I have the AI Prime set on auto and if anyone wants me to upload the settings, just let me know! The colors of the tank aren't representative of the actual color - a bit whiter in person. On a separate note, \the custom filter is on its way to being finalized. I am waiting for @smiz to send me the final design of the custom internal filter, which should come in this upcoming Monday. There were some concerns about the return pump plumbing and maximization of space for the chemical filtration and ATO space. While I wait patiently for this thing to be made, I grabbed an Aquaclear 70 as a temporary fix. To finish this update off, I took some tank shots for you guys - don't mind the dirty glass.. I might get some proper photography equipment to capture better pictures that better capture the color and detail of everything here. If anyone has any recommendations on their current camera setup, let me know! In the mean time, maybe I'll try to find a forum for photographers... Next Update: "An Unexpected Encounter!" Link to comment
h3dgehog Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 Update #2: "An Unexpected Encounter!" After getting my live rock and putting it in the tank, I noticed this really pretty looking shell that was attached to the back corner of my rockscape. It had a pretty cool texture so I kept an eye on it. The next day, I check it out and realize that it may have moved from its original location. Was this thing alive? I had my doubts at this point. So I checked today and guess what I've concluded... IT'S ALIVE!. The shell had moved to an entirely different location on the rock. So I took it out with some tweezers to make sure I identify this creature before putting it back in the tank. All I can say is that it was one heck of a sucker! The thing was glued onto the rock so hard that I may have damaged the shell in the process of tugging it off the rock. If anyone can help me identify this guy and tell me if he's reef-safe, I'd really appreciate it. If I can't find an answer, I may just donate him to the LFS. Here's a picture of it in my "container of solitude" On a separate note, I just did my first set of basic chemistry tests - ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Ammonia: <0.5 Nitrite: <0.1 Nitrate: 10~25 From the looks of it, the tank may be nearing the end of its cycle. I'll give it another day or two and keep and eye on the chemistry before doing a water change. Hope the tank cycles soon... I can't wait to splurge on some corals over the holiday weekend with all the sales going on locally and online! Haven't bought many corals online so if anyone has any suggestions on high-end coral vendors, let me know! With limited space, I'm trying to collect the best-looking pieces I can get my hands on. Next Update: "Adventures of the CUC" Link to comment
Benny314 Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 It's just a limpet. Harmless. I'm supprised you got it off, back in summer it was in the news that the natural material limpet teeth are made of (they use their teeth to grip rocks) is the new strongest supstance known to man and could lead to break throughs in medical sicence etc. Link to comment
h3dgehog Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 Do you think the limpet will act as a bulldozer and knock off any future corals I decide to put on the tocks? Link to comment
Benny314 Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Don't know, it's only tiny and I don't think they grow that fast but I'm not sure. Most people stick frags down once they're happy with their placement so your unlikely to have loose corals at risk of being knocked over for too long anyway. Link to comment
h3dgehog Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 Maybe I should have added something next to the picture for relative scale... The limpet is bigger than a quarter. Yeah I'm concerned that it might mow down any zoas or soft corals that i decide to have mat over the live rock. Link to comment
JR! Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 wow the size of a quarter? thats crazy. i want it Link to comment
h3dgehog Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 Yeah... It was so big I thought it was part of the live rock formation. Plus it's like a good 1/4 inch tall. After observing it and doing some research, I've concluded that it is a keyhole limpet (has a small hole on the top of the cone shaped shell). From what I've read, they can be a problem with some corals, namely SPS. So I am planning on donating it to the LFS tomorrow when grabbing some RODI water. Link to comment
h3dgehog Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Update #3: "Adventures of the CUC" Now that my tank has cycled through a good deal and the diatoms were approaching, I decided to pull the trigger on a CUC. There's nothing worse than buying a nice high-clarity glass tank just to see diatoms and hair algae in full 1080p quality. After going through some reviews from people who've order their CUC online, I decided to go with ReefCleaners. Their reputation for quality CUC and great customer service drew me in. Not to mention that their prices were pretty fair even compared to my LFS. Speaking of LFS... I needed to get something off my chest guys - need my soapbox moment: "So I go into my LFS where I get my fresh and salt water looking to see what they had for CUC before placing an order online. I ask one of the guys (not the owner) if they got nerites or ceriths. After 15 minutes of looking into tanks looking clueless he told me to wait at the checkout table. He comes back with bumblebee snails telling me that snails are snail and will do the job. The nerve of this guy... there was a reason why I asked for specific things." Enough of my rant and back to the update! So I placed an order through John @ReefCleaners and he responded/shipped the items promptly and I sat patiently waiting. To both of our surprise, the package was delayed by USPS and thus came the great winter storm. The temperature where I live dropped well below freezing and there was freezing rain, sleet, snow and some hail at one point! I should have known that this would happen, especially with Thanksgiving around the corner! I updated John about the delay and kept him posted. Eventually my package was delivered and I quickly took the bags and floated them in hopes that the CUC survived the heinous winter storm weather. Five hours later - no luck. I crossed my fingers and waited till the next day and to my surprise the little guys were moving! I dropped them in per ReefCleaner's recommended acclimation process. Close to 12 hours later, I realized that not all of them made it. Some snail were just not moving and looking like they were dead. So I notified John and he gave me a refund! Mind you that the shipping delay was not his fault, not all the CUC were dead and I should have seen a delay coming considering how Thanksgiving was around the corner. In short, I was amazed by John's customer service, especially in comparison to my LFS. I would highly recommend ordering your CUC from ReefCleaners not just because you might get an extra snail or hermit here and there but because the customer service is impeccable. Some of my snails going hard at the algae growth On a side note, I want to let everyone know that there are a LOT of new things coming my way so make sure you check in soon! You can expect fabulous looking frags as well as a high-end dosing unit among many other things that I splurged on thank to good ol' Black Friday Sales. Next Update: "Fragkin Awesome Frags!" Link to comment
h3dgehog Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 Update #4: "I Confess... I Have an Addiction" It has been a pretty busy week. Not because of all the food that I was stuffing my face with over Thanksgiving but because of how many times I had to type in my credit card information to buy things for this hobby. That being said, I think I have a problem... I am addicted to buying things for my tank! I started off with getting two baby clownfish and a nice "gold/purple tentacle, green mouth, pinked tipped torch" from my LFS. They had an amazing black friday sale and I waited outside in the winter storm for 40 minutes just to qualify for some freebies. This was the first sign... Then I pulled the trigger last minute to participate in Legendary Coral's live sale and got a boat load of frags. How can one resist awesome looking corals at awesome discounts? All I can say is that the extra frag Darwin threw in because of delayed shipping was just adding fuel to the fire of coral addiction! But I ain't complaining, just take my damn money!!!! Here's one of the two clownfish - the lil' guy is less than 1"! The torch I got from the LFS at a steep 40% off! The photo doesn't do it much justice... A few days later... my bag-o-frags arrived! Where'd the clownfish go??? My first time buying frags online but man the packaging is beyond superb! Air tight seal and little cups around the frags to minimize irritation. Since I didn't anticipate getting so many frags, I made a DIY rack using egg-crates. Here are a few quick shots of what I got. Again... the photos don't do them justice. And more recently... I got a little surprise in the mail! Lookie lookie~ I'm too tired today from a long day at work to play with it but here's a teaser! But as a side-note, does anyone know what the heck these white and purple little growths are on my rock? They have multiple mouths - reminds me of honeycombs. I think for christmas, I want to get a nice macro lens for my camera so I can take better shots. When lacking in skill just supplement with nicer equipment! Next Update: "Setup Makeover" Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 The white and purple growths look like tunicates to me! Filter feeders. Good to have in the tank but I've heard they are hard to keep happy/alive. Link to comment
aquakevem Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Nice choice on the GHL Doser 2! Don't forget to update to the latest firmware. Link to comment
h3dgehog Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 The white and purple growths look like tunicates to me! Filter feeders. Good to have in the tank but I've heard they are hard to keep happy/alive. Do I need to feed the suckers like one would for sun corals? Nice choice on the GHL Doser 2! Don't forget to update to the latest firmware. I thought these dosers come with the most recent firmware? I don't have a PC at hand so that might be... a challenge. I was planning on controlling it with just my iPhone. Do I have to tell my S.O. that I want to add "PC computer" on my christmas wish list - I might get killed! Link to comment
aquakevem Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 I thought these dosers come with the most recent firmware? I don't have a PC at hand so that might be... a challenge. I was planning on controlling it with just my iPhone. Do I have to tell my S.O. that I want to add "PC computer" on my christmas wish list - I might get killed! What's the "Quality Check Passed" date on the bottom of the Doser 2? Firmware updates are released every few weeks. You'll need a PC to configure the Doser 2 to use mobile apps, especially for the initial setup. Link to comment
h3dgehog Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 What's the "Quality Check Passed" date on the bottom of the Doser 2? Firmware updates are released every few weeks. You'll need a PC to configure the Doser 2 to use mobile apps, especially for the initial setup. Hmmm, I'll figure it out this weekend. Last I spoke with a GHL sales guy he told me I can just set it up with the phone but with limited functionality (e.g. I can't set up AWC or temp monitoring). We shall see... Link to comment
aquakevem Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Hmmm, I'll figure it out this weekend. Last I spoke with a GHL sales guy he told me I can just set it up with the phone but with limited functionality (e.g. I can't set up AWC or temp monitoring). We shall see... Quite possible with just a phone now, but try it out and let me know(please). I've had my Doser 2 for a year now and had setup via a PC initially. Link to comment
h3dgehog Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 While this does not merit an update on its own, I felt the need to make a note of the little episode I experienced in the past two hours. Reliving the entire experience as I try to find the right words to describe how I felt is giving me goosebumps.... So it's a Friday night and an end to what was a busy week at work... So I decide to lay low at home and rest. As I crawl into bed nearing midnight, I turned on my side, took out my iPhone and used the little flashlight app to check up the little cube that sits next to the bed. I do what I call my usual checks Fish are alive and well Frags are sitting nicely on my frag rack with some late-night polyp extension CUC going hard on a Friday night And of course the glass is getting cloudy With that I took my flipper nano magnetic scraper to clean the four sides of this glass cube. I do one side of the tank at a time making sure I get into the edge nicely so no trace of algae can be seen. I do this meticulously with attention to detail and as I hit the third side of my tank I find something on the sandbed that I have never noticed before! At first it piqued my curiosity - I got closer to investigate. As I get closer to the alien object, my brain cells start firing on all cylinders trying to recall the information I stored in my brain after hundreds of hours research aquarium-related things. Then as things click and I realize what it is that I'm seeing, my intrigue quickly turned to horror. It's a damn amphipod! Not only that, it was the kind with big black eyes that is known to bother both fish and zoanthids! I then look at the delicious frags I got from Legendary Corals and panicked. Not to mention my tiny clownfishes! The freakin thing was almost as big as the smallest clownfish in the tank... CODE RED CODE RED!!!! I quickly grabbed my turkey baster and tried to suck it out of the tank. The thing was so big it got stuck at the tip and escaped. As I reloaded my weapon of choice, the dang pest swam away into the rockwork. Now it's close to 1:00am and I couldn't fall asleep. Just thinking about it gave my goose bumps and the shivers. So I stared at the tank with my iPhone's flashlight beaming in - trying to find the bugger. After hours pass, I finally spotted him on my flipper nano glass cleaner. I reload my turkey baster and this time got real close and suck him into the tube. I got him and what a relief~ I took the trapped amphipod to the bathroom to document what happened. Here are some pictures.. Beware - you may get grossed out. Another picture with my camera lens to give you a sense of how large this thing was.. What a way to start my weekend Link to comment
Newstead Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Well that is certainly the stuff of nightmares. Yikes. Link to comment
dpoltsdsu Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Tank looks great so far, really impressed with that rock quality Link to comment
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