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[BC 14] Jon's Reef


nanoreef11

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Thought I would update the page today since I finally installed the ATO.

 

Talked to the cabinet guy about the hood and it will be about 2 weeks for it to be made.

 

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At first I tried to install the chiller but realized the tubing was 1/2" instead of 3/4" so will have to pick some up.

 

I didn't take any progressive shots of the tank just final shots so here they are:

 

 

Rio 800

 

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JBJ ATO

 

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"U-Tube"

 

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Water Storage

 

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Sensor

 

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Hopefully the chiller will be installed by the weekend but more than likely it will be next week so look for updates then.

 

I might do a 2 gallon water change soon and test parameters to see how everything in the tank is looking before the CUC goes in.

 

Gonna place an order for a Salifert PH & Mag test, Refractometer, and more "U-Tubes".

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Wow!You're not messing around! Looks awsome!

 

Yea I'll get the chiller hooked up next week and hopefully start with some corals after my canopy is done.

 

I order my MH retro fit today and actinics.

 

Will post picks once they come in.

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Well school has been keeping me very busy. Last night I checked my paramaters and the nitrates were high again. So I decided to test my tap water (40ppm), RO Unit under sink for drinking water (0ppm), tank water (160ppm), and RO water from my work (160ppm). So clearly the filters on the RO unit at my work need to be changed so I am going to tell my boss in the morning when I go to work.

 

I need to do a water change but don't know what to do with the nitrates in the RO water. Any ideas whether I should do a water change with my drinking water at my house or what?

 

The ATO quit working the second day it was hooked up. The power button was off so I tried other plugs around my house and no green light. Tried to raise the sensor above the water line in the tank and no water is pumped into the tank. Going to take the ATO back into work tomorrow and my boss is going to get me a new one.

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Today I went down to my work, Advanced Aquascaping, to pick up some medicine for my girlfriend’s freshwater fish tank. Her plecostomous (sp) has fin rot. So anyways my boss finally got the U-Tubes in for me. It’s the JBJ Arctica install kit for their chillers. It comes with two U-Tubes and ½” tubing which is what I have needed to install my chiller. Except the chiller only takes 5/8” tubing or ¾” tubing. My boss gave me a couple of adapters from ½” to ¾”, all I need is the ¾” tubing because he didn’t have any at the time. So I went to home depot after dropping my girlfriend off at work and ended up buying 7/8” tubing. The guy said it should work fine as I was going to already buy some metal clamps. They didn’t sell the ¾” tubing by the foot, and all I needed was one foot. So I hope I have everything for the chiller set as I will be installing it on Wednesday. Don’t get mad if it takes me a little longer to set up the chiller though, schools rough this semester.

 

My metal halide and actinic retrofits came in. The metal halide is a 70 watt ushio 10k bulb and the actinic are 13 watt bulbs (2 actinics). I hope my custom canopy is finished by next week. I will then install the MH in the center of the tank with the actinics located in front and behind the MH. The actinic will come on for 8 hours and the MH will come on for 6. The actinics will come on an hour earlier and go off an hour later. I hope the tank doesn’t get to warm but I think the 1/10hp chiller should be able to handle everything. I think the canopy will be about 8” tall so the lights sit about 6” away from the surface of the water.

 

One question I have is what type of moonlights would work best in a canopy that small? I’m thinking about doing 2 moonlights on the left and 2 moonlights on the right but not sure what will work/look the best. I am open to any opinions/suggestions.

 

I tested the Magnesium level the other day and it tested at 1180ppm which I think is significantly low. I need to get it up to 1300 at least. My boss has the aqua vitro products that seem to work okay. I haven’t used the magnesium one yet but are there better ways of increasing the mag level? The mag level needs to get to 1300 by the time the first coral gets dropped into the tank.

 

Thanks for helping and looking at my thread.

Jon

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the chiller is finally installed. School has been tough and I have 3exams this week. I will throw up some pics asap.

 

I was looking for some suggestions on what type of sps I should start with. I want something and thrives and gives good color under mh. My work doesn't get a lot of sps corals in so I need some suggestions so that I can order the right corals.

 

Thanks Jon

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  • 2 weeks later...
reefermadness.us

 

Thanks for the link hxcaquaman. There is a lot of great information on their besides just corals. I'm gonna try to read most of the info over the next couple of weeks as there is a lot to it. Have you ever ordered from the site?

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Now that I had some time on my hands I was able to check the parameters of my tank. I'm sorry I didn't take any pics but the only updates are the chiller is hooked up, the ATO is on order for replacement, and the wood hood is in the process of being made.

 

Anyways the parameters were about the same with HIGH NITRATES!

 

Calcium - 400ppm

Carbonate Hardness - 9dkH

Phosphates - 0ppm

Nitrates - 160ppm

Salinity - 1.022sg

Magnesium - 1185ppm

 

I need to drop the Nitrates. They have not dropped since the last time I checked and I do about 5 gallon water changes every 2 weeks to get these down. My last water change was on Sunday and there is no livestock in the tank. What could be causing high nitrates?

 

Well I decided the only thing it could be is the source water. I tested the source water and it was above 0ppm which, for RO water, is unacceptable. It was about 20ppm. I need to tell my boss, again, to get a hold on the nitrates. He just bought a brand new RO unit because of this problem and now this one doesn't do ######.

 

I need help on what to do with the nitrate problem...

 

I have an under the sink RO unit at my house for drinking water but there is only a small reservoir. It holds like less than 5 gallons. The nitrates test 0 and this is the only pure source to use in my opion. If I took about 2 gallons out everyday, would it be a good idea since its pure water? No nitrates.

 

 

Another question I have is the magnesium. I need to raise the magnesium level a tad bit. What are some suggested methods people have used? I might pick up so aquavitro magnesium as its supposed to raise the Mg levels.

 

Looking to do another water change tomorrow if I have time in the morning.

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I still don't know what to do about my NITRATES. Any suggestions???

 

I got my new JBJ autotop in at work today. Gonna hook it up possibly tomorrow morning. I also got the salifert PH test in. Tested it tonight and it was about 8.1. Is this a good PH level for a reef tank or should it be closer to 8.3?

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I figured out the nitrate problem. At my work we just hooked up another RO unit and replaced the cartridges in the old RO unit. Well the cartridges were replaced because it was time to switch them out. Nitrates were reading high so my boss changed them out and bought another RO unit. He ran the waste water to the storage tank and the good water down the drain. So my nitrate problem is solved.

 

I did a 10% water change tonight and installed the new JBJ auto top off. I rerouted the electrical and hoses so everything is set. Once nitrates read less than 10ppm, I will be adding the CUC finally.

 

I also want to add a fuge to the middle chamber and run filter media over the top of it. I want to enlarge the spill way from chamber 1 to chamber 2. I was thinking about cutting it but don't know which way would be the cleanest and easieast. Thanks.

 

Also for the fuge light, which K value is best for it to grow under. I heard 6700K but not sure if a light fixture from home depot will work. Any suggestions are appreciated. I will be cutting the black backing off of the tank.

 

After that a clown, possibly a goby, and some corals.

 

Thanks for looking,

Jon

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Keep in mind that nitrates do not affect livestock as much as it does in a freshwater tank.

 

As long as ammonia and nitrite are zero then you are good to go! It's not a bad idea to do a large water change to lower nitrates. Nobody likes looking at algae. :)

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Xenon thanks for the advice. I did a 50% water change last week and will probably do one again this week. I just did a 10% water change. Would it be safe to add a CUC or should I wait till the 50% water change is done.

 

A question on corals:

Can I have LPS and SPS corals together?

Is it best not to keep both in a small aquarium?`

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Xenon thanks for the advice. I did a 50% water change last week and will probably do one again this week. I just did a 10% water change. Would it be safe to add a CUC or should I wait till the 50% water change is done.

 

A question on corals:

Can I have LPS and SPS corals together?

Is it best not to keep both in a small aquarium?`

 

Toss a CUC in now, it wont be harmful to them or your tank.

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Sounds good fiction 101. How many nassarius snails and how many hermit crabs would you suggest? Would a diamond goby be a good addition after the 50% water change?

 

If I am right should I wait on all reef items till the nitrate problem is resolved?

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I went to home depot today to buy parts for my fuge light. I found a thread that I followed but a little differently. I put a regular light bulb in the gang box instead of circular lights. Good thread if anyone is looking to do a light mod on a biocube for a refugium.

 

When our next order of fish come in I will be ordering some cheato for my new fuge. Excited to get the tank started.

 

Going to add CUC later this week when I get a chance. Maybe Thursday or something. Expect pictures on Thursday as well. I always forget and I think someone should remind me to post them haha.

 

Thanks for looking at my boring thread, and hopefully next time you come back it is full of color.

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Yea it tests at 160ppm. My boss had the RO unit hooked up wrong. I hope the nitrates drop. I tested the RO drinking water from my house and it registers at 0ppm so there is nothing wrong with the test kit. Also the RO water that I was getting from my work with the dirty line in the storage tank, tested around 40ppm. I dont know what could make the nitrates raise so much in such a short amount of time. I wasn't running my lights all last week because I was getting it traced for a custom hood. That might be the problem because I heard nitrates and phosphates go up when a light is not on it. I will test it tonight when I get home and post my results when I get home. Hopefully a partial water change today with about 3 gallons.

 

Thanks for the feedback on my thread. Comments are always welcomed here. Thank you for looking at my thread as it is boring until I get pictures up.

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Didn't have any saltwater when I got to my house, so looks like the water change will be tomorrow with the snails and crabs. I was thinking about 3 of each for now and maybe adding a couple more later on when the tank needs it. What do you think of that?

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Last year I started my 14 gallon biocube and about 6 months ago it crashed. I have finally decided to restart it in hopes to build a thriving reef full of color. Previous to the tank crashing, I had 2 true percula clowns, 1 diamond goby (sand sifter), about 8 snails and hermit crabs, a frogspawn branch coral, 2 leather corals, and a couple of mushrooms.

 

One weekend the power in my neighborhood went out and everything died but the clowns and the snails/crabs. I immediately did a water change and the next day the clowns were starting to look better. The next weekend my stealth heater decided the tank should have been 20 degrees warmer then normal. So everything in the tank died. I was really mad and decided to tear the tank down and either start over or possibly upgrade to a 40 gallon breeder.

 

Well I was still in school and other things were on my mind instead of restarting my biocube. No funds for a larger kept the biocube as the only option to go. The day for the rebirth of my tank has finally come it is up and running with water, live rock, and live sand. I put it all together one day last week late at night and I am finally getting around to writing a thread for it.

 

I have been working at my LFS since February and enjoy it very much. I am only 18, working two jobs, and I am a full time student majoring in engineering. The guy that owns the fish store is very cool though because he is very flexible with my hours. I mainly use the money I earn there on fish, corals, equipment for my biocube.

 

I started my 14 gallon biocube with cured stage 3 live rock, aragonite sand, 10 gallons (yea I know I thought it was 14) of water from the reef tank, and a filter pad. I did this so that cycling would be kept to a minimum and I could get back into what I like doing best asap. I love this hobby and I just hope that I can learn more than I know already while keeping a beautiful reef.

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the chiller is finally installed. School has been tough and I have 3exams this week. I will throw up some pics asap.

 

 

Here are the pics that I promised on the chiller. The oceanic chiller works amazing.

 

 

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Any questions on the chiller feel free to ask.

 

I got my new JBJ autotop in at work today. Gonna hook it up possibly tomorrow morning.

 

Here are the JBJ autotop off pics. Set it up like the old one but this time the power button stays on haha.

 

 

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I also have some pics of the fuge light that I made.

Materials:

Gang box

5500K light bulb

Lamp Cord

Lamp/bulb adapter

Acrylic

Screws

Velcro

Razor

 

Link I followed by Uwwmatt:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=1818210

 

 

I put the light bulb together and placed it inside of the gang box. Screwed on a piece of acrylic and applied velcro to the outside. Scraped the back of the Biocube with the razor and applied the other half of the velcro. Plug it in and you are good to go. I can answer any questions. Very easy and cheap to make.

 

 

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Chamber 2

 

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very slick! So do you get a water noise with it pouring over from chamber one - two?

 

My plan for the BC14 is to have a media rack/fuge built together. That way you get floss and chaeto on top, then media bellow, all while forcing flow through the rack.

 

I solved the pouring noise in the BC29, I hope to do it in the 14 as well. Thanks for the link!

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very slick! So do you get a water noise with it pouring over from chamber one - two?

 

My plan for the BC14 is to have a media rack/fuge built together. That way you get floss and chaeto on top, then media bellow, all while forcing flow through the rack.

 

I solved the pouring noise in the BC29, I hope to do it in the 14 as well. Thanks for the link!

 

Yea I get a little noise but its not that bad. I have it set up here on my desk and it doesn't bug me that much but if you could solve that problem with a media rack, that would be awesome. I saw the rack u made for the RSM a while ago and it was pretty nice looking. Hopefully this one turns out just as good. Thanks for doing us all a favor here on nano-reef.com

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