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CSalt's 20" Cube MH life


Csalt

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DIY sump is completed. Hopefully the baffles aren't too high, Once I get the plumbing finished i'll test it for overflowing.

Working with glass is a pain, didn't help that Aquaon uses odd tank measurements for their 10g.

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Picked up a Smart ATO Micro this week. So far I like. it. Only gripe is the LED is very bright. Won't be an issue once it's in the sump.

Rock flower has been moving around a lot. That macro might be irritating it.

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Cencalfishguy56

Picked up a Smart ATO Micro this week. So far I like. it. Only gripe is the LED is very bright. Won't be an issue once it's in the sump.

Rock flower has been moving around a lot. That macro might be irritating it.

your first baffle looks a little high to me and usually the first chamber is for a skimmer, unless you don't want one
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your first baffle looks a little high to me and usually the first chamber is for a skimmer, unless you don't want one

I didn't have any measurements so I went off looks. It's 4" wide so it will fit a skimmer. Might have to either have the skimmer sit high in the tank or adjust all of the baffles. I still have time. Going to go with the coral box 150 skimmer.

Edit: first wall is 10" tall.

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Sump is finished. I let the AC70 run all last night to clean up the water. This morning before I put the rocks in i was showing almost .5 ppm of ammonia. Hopefully the rocks will lower it, i'll check it later this afternoon. Still have to clean things up some. I have uneven floors So i'll have to shim the stand, otherwise it's going to bother me. The big rock on front right is going to be broken up and mixed between sump and display. Just have to figure out how to get the BTA off it.

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Cencalfishguy56

Sump is finished. I let the AC70 run all last night to clean up the water. This morning before I put the rocks in i was showing almost .5 ppm of ammonia. Hopefully the rocks will lower it, i'll check it later this afternoon. Still have to clean things up some. I have uneven floors So i'll have to shim the stand, otherwise it's going to bother me. The big rock on front right is going to be broken up and mixed between sump and display. Just have to figure out how to get the BTA off it.

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looks really good!
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Busted up that big rock, most of it is in the sump now. Clouded up the water some. Might have read that ammonia test wrong, shows zero now. I'll get a better pic when it clears up, still have to mount some frags. I'll wait a few days so they can adjust. I should have mounted that overflow box a little higher, but oh well.

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They're not fancy but they're fast growers. They went from this

4 heads

DSC_0022_zpsmngsgerd.jpg

To this

25 heads

20160811_204201_zps5j8qyhl1.jpgThey were also a lot greener when I first got them. The guy used LED and I have T5. Might be why. I noticed corals are usually darker colored under LED and lighten up when I have them under T5 for awhile.

 

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Here's an example. I've had the two bottom groups for a little while under t5. The top one is only a week or 2 old, and were under LED. They're the same type but darker.

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Updated the FTS. RFA is still there, just not where you can see it. It hasn't been that long but it seems having a sump makes the display seem cleaner, everything settles in the first chamber of the sump. I'm using a 6w 5k LED bulb for the fuge light, not sure it's enough. Any suggestions?

DSC_00011_zps4e0lf2lo.jpgDSC_00021_zpsxdhwqa43.jpgDSC_00031_zps7qaoyv3k.jpg

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Cencalfishguy56

Busted up that big rock, most of it is in the sump now. Clouded up the water some. Might have read that ammonia test wrong, shows zero now. I'll get a better pic when it clears up, still have to mount some frags. I'll wait a few days so they can adjust. I should have mounted that overflow box a little higher, but oh well.

20160807_140047_zpsjkabpbzy.jpg

how did you end up drilling it?
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how did you end up drilling it?

Took everything out. Rock and critters sat in a tub. Cleaned the sand. Used a glassholes kit. Ended up having to get another heater since my mix heater was too weak to keep the tank warm while mixing.

I don't recommend it lol, but i'm glad I did. It's Noisier than the AC70 but it cleans up the display a ton and makes water changes so much easier.

edit: I do get microbubbles though. There's no vortex in the return chamber. No idea where it's coming from. Using soft return line, didn't see any leaks in the return. Pump is running at half power. Maybe it's a new pump thing? Would running the pump at full and using a valve in the return to limit flow help with microbubbles?

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Cencalfishguy56

Took everything out. Rock and critters sat in a tub. Cleaned the sand. Used a glassholes kit. Ended up having to get another heater since my mix heater was too weak to keep the tank warm while mixing.

I don't recommend it lol, but i'm glad I did. It's Noisier than the AC70 but it cleans up the display a ton and makes water changes so much easier.

edit: I do get microbubbles though. There's no vortex in the return chamber. No idea where it's coming from. Using soft return line, didn't see any leaks in the return. Pump is running at half power. Maybe it's a new pump thing? Would running the pump at full and using a valve in the return to limit flow help with microbubbles?

really nice job man, everything looks clean! Also is your overflow line under the water? I have a valve on my return and dial in the flow so all I hear is a trickle in my cabinet from my overflow pipe into the sump
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really nice job man, everything looks clean! Also is your overflow line under the water? I have a valve on my return and dial in the flow so all I hear is a trickle in my cabinet from my overflow pipe into the sump

Yea, it touches the bottom of the sump.
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Cencalfishguy56

Yea, it touches the bottom of the sump.

maybe that's where your bubbles are coming from? Do you ever have problems with the level in your sump fluctuating? I had my line submerged also and it fluctuated my level cashing my ATO to dump freshwater and also if the power went out there would air in the line plugging it essentially not allowing water to go down to the sump which would virtually flood my sump so now I have the line above the water in my sump, just some things to consider
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I've tested it a few times and turn the pump off for feeding. Never had an issue with flooding. Only thing that fluctuates in the sump is the return chamber due to evap. I'll get a pic of it later.

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Cencalfishguy56

I've tested it a few times and turn the pump off for feeding. Never had an issue with flooding. Only thing that fluctuates in the sump is the return chamber due to evap. I'll get a pic of it later.

intetesting I mean I didn't have a problem for the first month or so but after that I had all kinds of problems and raised it out of the water, adjusted the return line to get rid of the flushing sound and has been dead silent ever since and fine
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intetesting I mean I didn't have a problem for the first month or so but after that I had all kinds of problems and raised it out of the water, adjusted the return line to get rid of the flushing sound and has been dead silent ever since and fine

Mine probably still needs to break in.

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Found a friggin zoa nudibranch. I was wondering why my one group of blue zoas were anemic looking for the longest time. Didn't see any eggs.

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RFA has been curled up, about half its size for a couple days now. It's foot is pretty deep in a crevice though.

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Cencalfishguy56

Found a friggin zoa nudibranch. I was wondering why my one group of blue zoas were anemic looking for the longest time. Didn't see any eggs.

20160817_203546_zpszgmkpn2y.jpg

 

RFA has been curled up, about half its size for a couple days now. It's foot is pretty deep in a crevice though.

20160817_163929_zpsnrri8zv3.jpg

that nudibranch is kinda cool! And the mouth on that RFA is suspect
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  • Csalt changed the title to CSalt's 20" Cube MH life

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