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Drama's cad34/ Breeder down/ semi cube


Dramad1

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The time has come to start over fresh. I have a 29g that I have had set up for about ????3-5years??? A while. I have battled everything in this tank from dino's,byropsis, hair algae, cyno, brooks,various pest and hitchhikers, bub algae, aptasia/majanos, phos issues as well as ca, alk and mag etc. Etc. You name it, I have had it and battled it and battled it over and over.

At one point the tank looked bad ass, but over time maintenance has not remained consistent and my corals have shown this having there ups and downs.

I'm at the point now where I am battling bubble algae and have been for the past 6 months. Can't be rid of it no matter what. I have remove all I can find, removed rocks, introduced crabs. Just losing the battle.

On top of this aptasia has appeared again out of no where. I completely eradicated it using Berghia's, aptasia x and my majanos wand. It was gone for 6 months and just showed up again out of no where and nothing new has been introduced to the tank since I was rid of it all.

Small flat worms that die off and re appear are an on going problem, I use flat worm stop and syphon out as many as possible. They dissappear for a month and then reappear with a vengeance the nxt. They don't seem to be harming corals, but I hate seeing them.

I can go on and on but I'll just stop there. Alot of the issues came from inexperience and not dealing with the problems right when i notice them, not dipping etc etc. Time to be wiser and think its time for a reboot. I just want to start fresh and see of I can get a new set up going without all the nuisances and take more time and care with what is introduced and going on in my system.

 

So I have my old cadlights 34g mini2 just sitting here empty and not selling even after the super low price I was asking for it...... $250. Well I'm tired of looking at it and have decided to set it up for the reboot. Problem is, I never really liked the rear set up in the tank. Time to fix that!

 

After reaching out to cadlights, I was able to confirm that all sides of the tank are drillable. :). So I want to drill and sump this bad boy. I have talked about it in the past and have heard others have a similar idea but haven't actually seen it done. So I am going to attempt to drill and sump it.

Picked up a 10g tank for a sump. Just going to run a simple sump w/ 2 baffles before return. This should give me plenty of room for a sock, skimmer and reactor.

 

As far as drilling the tank. I have an old but new 700gph glass holes kit that has never been used. I never used it cause the lack of emergency drain being incorporated into the overflow. I figure it's just laying here, f it....let's use it. Still need to figure out how I'm going to run an emergency drain. I think I might just bite the bullet and drill another hole outside of the overflow a taste higher and have an elbow turning up. Not sure. I have also thought of ordering one of glass holes nano kits and using that overflow box as the emergency drain. Honestly I'd like to just get the synergy 16" overflow but it's 200$ that I can't really justify dumping the money on right now having this 700gph kit right here already. Just sucks they only make the one drain on them. The synergy overflow is so nice though but way way overkill on this tiny tank. So is the 700gph kit but I have it here new and covered in dust, lol.

Well equip wise, I have a skimz sn123, sicce 3.0, 4" sock and hob holder, 100w neotherm, mp10, nanobox duo, phosban150, ato, powerstripe. All this will be coming off the current 29g tank that is going to be broken down. I have some base brs dry rock in a box somewhere about 20# and some sand that's been sitting in a bucket for about a year, hahaha.

Plan to peroxide and maybe even bleach and rinse the sand really well then spread it out and let it dry out before reusing. Hoping this won't be an issue. I would buy new sand but, I have this perfectly good bucket full right here. I guess I will see how it goes once I start rinsing and cleaning it.

Tonight I removed the baffles inside the Cad tank in preparation for drilling tomorrow. Man it was siliconed in there. Got it all out and saved all the glass for future projects. I plan to throw a new bead of silicone around all the seams in the tank just to be safe. After I removed the rear aio section, I began to worry if it was acting as reinforcement for the sides of the tank. The baffles where like 3/8th thick. Just worried the sides will blow out or crack with out the rear chambers in there giving it extra bracing. Going to have to water test this thing for a week or so.

So, this is where I'm at. Removed aio, nice and open tank now. Removing the false wall and rear chambers really opened it up. Drilling tank tomorrow, then re siliconing and leak testing for a week. While that's happening, I will silicone in the baffles in the sump and situate the stand and figure out the plumbing.

Pics of the gutted tank.

Open to comments good or bad. Sorry for the long ass post, thanks for hanging in there.

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Removed the false wall, it snapped on the end, :(

 

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Glass wall behind the acrylic

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Baffles and false wall

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All gone

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And on the stand.

 

Drilling tomorrow, hope all goes as planned

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Pics of progress, Not much but still progress

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Overflow prep

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Ready to drill

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Oh man, nerve racking

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Whew, got through but speed was to fast at the very end and bit caught, thank god for the clutch on the drill otherwise the tank would have cracked. Some small oystering around the hole but it's not to bad and I'm sure it will work.

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Almost forgot pics of the return, set up and ready to drill.

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Went half the speed on this side as I did on the other side. Took about 10 mins to get through

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Hole came out perfect, no oystering, very clean. Im happy.

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Prepping for a new bead all the way around just to be safe.

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Another angle

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Left over tube from my 125 build

 

 

And I can't find my caulking gun. No idea where it walked off to. Going to have to pick up a new one tomorrow.

I'm sure some are wondering what's up with just the two holes. Glass hole kit, no emergency drain. Just main drain and return.

I'm still up in the air about ordering a nano overflow kit and using that as a emergency or just chancing it and go with just the one drain and do a syphon break on the return or.... just drilling another hole for a 1" bulkhead and have an elbow turning up 1/2" higher than main drain. I have even thought of "t-ing" off or using a "y" fitting on the main drain and making it 2 lines. Not sure what I'm going to do atm honestly.

So tank is away for the night. Time to play with the new toy I picked up for me and my boys.

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Charging atm, so tomorrow. My boys are pumped to get this thing in the dirt.

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Tank is siliconed, overflow and return installed, simple sump put together. Just have to clean old sand and dry it out as well as wait for a cord to show up before water test/leak test and fill. Going for a simple set up for the first few months. Still unsure the direction I plan to go with it, keep changing my mind.

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Overflow and return.

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Simple 10g sump, baffled for skimmer height and return.

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Equip in sump, also going to run a phosban reactor which just fits.

 

Sump equip

4" vertex sock holder

Skimz monsterz sn123

Phosban 150 or may use the minimax but it needs a new pump.

Neotherm heater 100w

Sicce 3.0 return

Egg crate media basket placed between baffles

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Sweet reboot!! Have you used the traxxas yet? I want to grab one just to screw around with in my neighborhood and for my nephews to play with when they come over. I keep eyeballing them on amazon

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Nice E-Revo. They are stupid fast with a 6S lipo. I have way too many RC cars right now that my wife wants me to get rid of some.

 

Team Associated RC8.2e

Team Losi Racing MIP SCTE

Team Durango DESC210

Team Durango DEX210

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Thanks guys.

Yeah this e revo is a beast. I have some 3s lipos but need to upgrade some of the parts before I attempt to use them. With just the stock nimh batterys, this thing is doing wheelies no problem. Definitely a fun rc to drive. My kids have gone crazy with it as well, they just need to learn how to slow down some. Already charged the batterys about six times.

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I was gonna grab the 1/16 version and an actual charger with a 6s lipo on Amazon a few weeks back, maybe I'll grab it after vacation next week.

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Awesome! Glad to see someone finally do this....i wanted to for a while but I think I'm gonna just try to sell mine and downsize. Hopefully i have better luck selling mine. Regardless, im stoked to follow along with the build. Looking pretty badass so far!

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I was gonna grab the 1/16 version and an actual charger with a 6s lipo on Amazon a few weeks back, maybe I'll grab it after vacation next week.

It's an amazing car imo. Driveshaft need to be upgraded if running 6s and maybe do a rear tru trac to eliminate the toe rods from popping off all the time, aluminum skid plates a must imo, maybe a metal spur gear. After that it's all what ever you choose. Maybe a wheelie bar as well, I've seen one with a heli gyro on it that kept the nose down very well. Fun rc for sure though.

My nxt one is the x maxx, it is freaking huge like a 1/5 scale huge. You can plow through bushes in this thing.

Awesome! Glad to see someone finally do this....i wanted to for a while but I think I'm gonna just try to sell mine and downsize. Hopefully i have better luck selling mine. Regardless, im stoked to follow along with the build. Looking pretty badass so far!

Thanks, I have been checking your build out recently. Looks good to me. Problem with selling this tank is no one wants to pay what it's worth. I was asking 25p for the tank and stand and had plenty of interest but all flaked out or low balled me. So I decide to gut it. I hope it works out.
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Spiderguardnano

This is super badass you did thise bro everything looks good

 

When the time comes for to sell it will sell way faster

 

 

Any previews for the new light

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This is super badass you did thise bro everything looks good

 

When the time comes for to sell it will sell way faster

 

 

Any previews for the new light

Thanks Spider. Plan on working a bit on the plumbing today, getting the sump in the stand and trimming an opening into the back of stand to fit plumbing.

 

As far as the light goes, I sent my nanobox in for repairs and ended up going with upgraded v3 arrays. Not sure if I will end up running this light atm, still waiting on power cord. I may and run 1x t5 on either side of it if I do or even a 14k hqi bulb. Or put in a new order with nanoboxreefs.com or browse for something new out there. Kinda undecided atm. The nanobox fixture worked excellent over my last tank. Kinda want to run some mh pendants with an led strip on either side for the shimmer. So many options, can't make up my mind.

 

I have been working on the sand for the last few days. I've been tempted to just go grab a new bag but have decided atm to try and re use a bucket of old sand I had laying around. It's been in a bucket for at least 8 months.

 

I opened it up, no mold or anything crazy, just stinky. I took it out of the bucket and rinsed it thoroughly about 50 times until water ran clear even after mixing the sand. After this I soaked it for 2 days in a 50/50 mix of water and peroxide, mixing up the sand 5 or 6 times throughout the day. Drained and rinsed thoroughly again and is currently layed out in a thin layer drying out. After it is all dried out I will rinse one more time thoroughly with some ro/di water and hope it should be good to go.

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Sand is currently drying. Spent all last week procrastinating with the tank and only managed to clean the bucket of sand I had.

So had the whole day to play with the tank. 1st I had to move the old tank out and get this one where it was going to be.

After that, I had to cut some holes in the back of the stand to accommodate for the plumbing. I used a 2 1/2" hole saw and it took a dump on me halfway through the second hole. The set screw stripped out on the bit that guides the hole saw. Tried to fix it but.... not happening. That's what I get for buying the cheapest one. Hahaha.

I ended up busting out the sawzall and made 2× 3" holes on either side of stand.

 

So holes are cut in the stand, time to pull the bottom shelf out and see how the sump fits in.

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Looks good, but not enough room for an ato resuvour<---SPELLING???. I'll just set one outside the stand.

Next up was plumbing the drain and return, went pretty easy besides the fact that I could not find my pvc saw anywhere. It kinda pissed me off, cause I know I have one. Just can't find it, wtf. Ne ways, plumbing all glued in, just got to let the lines flex out.

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And the sump

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Just waiting on cord to my light to get here, rinse the sand, leak test, build scape, drain then fI'll with sand and scape, wait for the cycle. Oh and need to find some rimless lid clips so I can run either my glass or net top.

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Lil bath today for my brs reef saver rock. It was nasty. Currently soaking in some fresh water. Going to let it soak for a week or so changing the water every few days before I start cooking it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update,

I worked on wiring the equip today. I will have to wait until after I break down the 29g to clean the mp10 and heater that I will be using on this tank bit all else is wired in and ready to go.

After giving the dry rock an acid bath and letting soak for a week in ro/di, I pulled it all out and began cooking it in a 18g tote with heater and powerhead, no light. It's been in there for a week. I stirred it all around today and added some top off water. I want to go ahead and start the tank but I think I'm going to let the rock cook for another week or so just to let it cure some more and help speed things along once I do start the tank as well as give the rock a lil more time to leech anything it may have inside.

Well while I wait another week, I'll be giving the tank, sump and equip a vinegar bath. Then leak testing, finish setting up the nanobox setting and light set up "may need more light", I'm thinking maybe another duo or a couple 24" t5's on either side of current duo. I need to see what kind of spread I can get with the duo on this tank.

Some pics of progress:

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New arrays and fan

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Trying to keep electrical stuff seperate from the sump area, kinda nervous about having the dj power strip mounted right above the sump because of humidity build up in stand. I need to figure out a ventilation plan for inside the stand area, maybe a clip on fan and vent openings on each side allowing better air exchange inside stand.

Hopefully 1 more week until I get this reboot wet. Almost forgot, sand is now completely dried out, just need to rinse again well before placing in tank before water. I have a bottle of Dr Tim's ammonium chloride and a bottle of seachem stability to help with the cycle. I will continue to update as things progress.

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Update:

Started filling. Plan to fill all the way, mix salt, then remove 10 gallons, add sand and rock then top back off with water I removed. Left over water will be used to do a water change on my 29.

I removed my mp10 from the 29 and have had it soaking in vinegar all morning. Plan to install this and get the wires situated during fill process. I'm averaging 5gal every 55 minutes. Going to take all day.

On a side note, I was so busy giving my rock an acid bath, rinse and in a hurry to get it cooking that I just realized I forgot to play with it and make a scape. So I'll be just stacking for now and try to come up with something. I have several medium size pieces so we will see what I can come up with. Should be fun............. Rock has been cooking for 3 weeks.

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I'll post more pics as the tank progresses. So far I have 25g in the tank, above pic is 10 gallons

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Tank filled with exactly 30 gallons. Once filled, I mixed the salt up, threw in an power head and let it run for 3 hours.I turned on the return pump and the water level was just a lil to low and was sucking some air. I mixed the salt in the display with just the powerhead for the 3 hours.

I then added in my rock slowly. This brought the water level up in the sump. I turned on the return but still the water level was a lil to low and sucking a lil air. I decided to go ahead and add the sand the raise the water level that lil bit I needed.

The sand was basically dry sand that I saved from an old tank I had. I let it soak prior to use in a tote with peroxide for 3 days after about a hundred rinses. Then I spread it out and let it dry completely. Before use I rinsed small amounts at a time in a bucket until rinsed clear with a total of 10g of ro/di. I placed the sand in the tank and had very little clouding of the water.

Rock still needs to be scaped. I just threw it all in the middle just to get the water displacement. Kinda have an idea of what I want to do but unsure if it will work with the pieces I have. Another day I will mess with the scape.

Pulled the mp10 from the 29 as well as the ato. Gave them vinegar baths and got them installed and wired up. Just need to either buy a new heater or transfer the neotherm from the 29. I'm hesitant to do so because I would have to lay it down in the sump. Not sure if it is true but I have heard several people say you are not supposed to lay the neotherm down flat. I have a marine land heater in the sump for now that I use for mixing salt but it is under powered and I need something bigger, at least a 100-150w. Tempted to just get a jager or that fancy fluval one that comes with an encasement. Leaning towards a jager atm.

Reprogrammed the nano box duo. I need to figure out how to turn the fan off at lights out cause its the only thing I can hear on the tank. Also noticed after upgrading to the v3 arrays, my cloud mode as well as lightning mode doesn't work any longer...hmmm. I don't use them anyways but have shown them off in the past to friends. While I was changing some of the settings, I was playing with it and noticed it. Other than that, light seems to have plenty of spread so far on this tank. I do not have access to a party meter so I can't give numbers but the light covers edge to edge of the tank and no real shadowing with the rocks all bunched up in the middle. Corals will let me know :). Overall happy with the v3 arrays and the added limes.

After the tank and sump were running for a few hours, I went ahead and dosed some dr tims ammonium cloride (30 drops) and 3 cap fulls of seachem stability. To start a fish less cycle. I had a few friends use these 2 together with positive feedback so I thought I'd give it a shot. I will be testing over the next few weeks using Salifert kits. Hoping for a some what quicker cycle because I cooked the rock for 3 weeks prior to use. I probably could have waited a bit longer on the rock but just got tired of waiting and wanted to set this up already so I can transfer my fish over and break down my 29.

Enough rambling, few cell pics.

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Stull need to mess with the scape. After it cleared a bit, I kinda liked the way it is but a few hours went by and now want to change it. Keep in mind I just threw it all in the middle in no order. Surprised it didn't look super awful.

More updates as they occur

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick update,

 

Added a reef cleaners c.u.c, thanks John.

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All snails of various types

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Tank according to testing has cycled. I dosed seachems stability for 7 days and it seems to have help things along.

-sg/1.025

-ph/8.2

-nitrites/0

-nitrates/20

-ammonia/0

Going to wait another week before adding my fish from the other tank and continue to test, will also do a wc on the day I add the fish to help reduce the nitrates and turn the skimmer on and get it dialed in.

Rescaped the tank. As soon as I moved one rock, I thought to myself, I should have just left it alone. I couldn't really come up with a unique scape with the rocks I have. Didn't really want to smash them all up and epoxy something together. So I went with a simple 3 island scape. FigureD I could do something different on each one.

I didn't really like it at first but after a week of looking at it, the simplicity of it makes me happy and the overall scape will make cleaning a breeze during weekly husbandry.

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I've had some micro bubble issues in the display. Just recieved some new floss pads and threw that in before the return and it seems to have cleared 90% of it up. I plan to throw a bit of floss in the overflow to hopefully take care of the rest and that trickle I hear at night when the house is quiet.

I was getting some sump spray from the overflow dumping into the sock so quickly. Kinda wish I had put a valve on the drain so I could adjust the flow. Oh well. I made a lid for the sump out of a thick sheet of plastic. Actually it's a cutting board sheet thingy. Made to cut veggies and fruit on, very thin but rigid. Took lots of measuring but fits and has reduced noise, eliminated salt spray and crape build up, reduced evaporation and eliminated some moisture build up on some of the cords and rim of sump. So far I'm happy with the results. Need to snap a pic still so you can see what I used and did.

 

Well that's it for now. Should have a few fish and shrimp from old tank in a week or so.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I may have added my cuc in a bit of a rush. Oops. Must have patience. Although the clean up crew is alive and well, I probably should have waited a few more weeks. 2 snails have died, I feel bad for them.

I thought my cycle would go quicker than it has using seachem stability and Dr Tim's one and only. Nope, still cycling. I've tested a few times last week and all parameters looked perfect and spot on. Guess that's because the cycle hadn't yet kicked in yet. :).

So I'm happy to announce the cycle is in effect. Nitrites are spiking finally. So another week maybe two before it's ready to go. Currently using an api test kit until the cycle is over and then plan to switch over to salifert.

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I'm glad I checked though. My original plan was to transfer my fish over today. The 29 has experienced another mini crash last week wiping out my milli's and half my red planet. I blame it on the removal of the mp10, decreasing flown in the tank. I have added a lil 425 pump to help until I transfer the fish. Also blame the mini crash on alk swing, "stopped dosing ca and alk" and tank neglect. I have not performed a water change on the tank in over a month because I planned to break it down.

So today since I need to wait another week or so, I'm going to do a wc and try to nurse it back a lil in hopes to keep the remaining corals alive. Kinda bummed out about the 29.

So another week or so before I add anything, I'll post as things progress. Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for checking out the thread.

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Looks like another week or so. Ammonia has come down to zero but my nitrites have been stuck at 5pm for a week now and still no spike in nitrates as they have been showing zero.

I dosed a cap and a half of stability to try and get the nitrites to budge. Impatiently being patient at this point. Hoping nxt weekend it will be good to go. So much for a quick cycle. Small patches of diatoms are appearing on rocks so that's a good sign.

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