AJ_Tsin's Zeo 47g Shallow. NEW FTS

[AJ_Tsin]

Very cool can't wait to see

 

also u should look at the new contoller ecotech marine has for that mp10 of urs

check there website

it looks pretty cool

 

I just bought my MP10 in mid January and I read about that new controller on Glassbox friday! Oh well the upgrade cost isn't that much.

 

They are offering rebates for MP40 users

 

"Daddy, when I grow up. I want to be the OP's tank"

I cant get enough of this tank !!

 

 

very creative upgrade -- i'm impressed with this, and the results look perfect.

 

Thanks both of you. Keep following more updates to come.

[AJ_Tsin]

A couple more shots.

 

 

 

That is all.

 

- A.

[konolua]

I plan on buying an LED light and an Aqua-controller soon. Any opinions on which to get?

 

I have no idea which LED fixture to get, but it has to be comparable to a 250watt halide and I would like to have blues and whites operate separately.

 

For a controller I am looking at a Digtal Aquatics Reefkeeper. No idea wether I should go lite or Elite.

 

Any thoughts?

 

The PAR 38's are awesome and would work well.....I would say go with those over anything else.

[lilopop11]

NEXT TOTM...i'm sure of it...Nice Tank bro...

[AJ_Tsin]

The PAR 38's are awesome and would work well.....I would say go with those over anything else.

 

I have looked at these How many would I need? Thats not what you run is it?

 

NEXT TOTM...i'm sure of it...Nice Tank bro...

 

Thanks lilopop I have had a bunch of people say that. Someday hopefully.

Edited March 16, 2010 by AJ_Tsin

[AJ_Tsin]

Also I should thank Evilc66. He has been answering a ton of my PMs regarding an LED light source. So thanks. I will post decisions and those options here when I am ready to buy.

[Mr. Microscope]

WOW! I just found your tank. Thanks for making this beauty! Great video too. Well done! A shallow tank is my dream. Keep it up. I can't wait to see more. :bowdown:

[konolua]

I have looked at these How many would I need? Thats not what you run is it?

 

No, I'm on two 150 HQI's, though I am considering the PAR 38's for mine. I have done it on a couple of other recent tanks though and they are stellar. I converted one guy's aggressive tank to a reef, and used PAR 38's and the guy's electricity bill went down after switching out 2 VHO's to 4 PAR 38s. That's so awesome it was almost stupid! He already had a chiller, and he has even said it comes on less now....though I think the now open top has a lot to do with that also...but regardless, net result was less dough per month. Killer!

 

Quantity depends on your goal. If you are supplimenting what you have, then I would do 4 and have them aimed slightly in ward...meaning they are installed directly above the 4 corners of your tank, with a 30* angle inward. If you are trying to replace what you have, I would do 5 clustered in the middle with one down, and the other 4 angled as needed.

 

You can get them with different angles of light spread, and I would go low angle from the corners or high angle if clustered.

 

Good luck!

Edited March 16, 2010 by konolua

[AJ_Tsin]

Quantity depends on your goal. If you are supplimenting what you have then I would do 4 and have them aimed slightly in ward...meaning they are installed directly above the 4 corners of your tank, with a 30* angle inward. If you are trying to replace what you have, I would do 5 clustered in the middle with one down, and the other 4 angled as needed.

 

You can get them with different angles of light spread, and I would go low angle from the corners or high angle if clustered.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Thanks for the input. I have been talking to Evil about these lights today actually so it opens more options for sure. By the way your tank is cool I have read about it before on a couple other sites good work. Very interesting concept cool to see people think outside of the box.

 

 

Here are another couple of photos, these two really show the aquascape and the open concept from other angles.

 

 

[AJ_Tsin]

 

Here's a photo of the Vertex in action. Still skimming wet but I am fine tuning it to get a little thicker skimmate.

 

This is one day's worth and my water is really clean... it's a good skimmer.

Edited March 17, 2010 by AJ_Tsin

[timdanger]

 

awesome shot. i feel like i'm under water!

[AJ_Tsin]

awesome shot. i feel like i'm under water!

 

Yea I like those two I posted they really show you how much depth is involved in this aquascape.

 

It's hard to tell in 2D photos.

 

Thanks Tim.

 

-A.

[Cheetos]

That is one sweet setup you have there! My dream tank (one of them actually) is a 48x48x12". That video of your tank is awesome!

[AJ_Tsin]

That is one sweet setup you have there! My dream tank (one of them actually) is a 48x48x12". That video of your tank is awesome!

 

Thanks. I love the shallow look and feel. The whole tank is very low to the ground as well which makes for a really awesome effect. The girlfriend definitely likes it more than my old biocube too which is a plus.

[davidschmaus]

Is your star a Echinaster sp or Fromia milleporella or something else? How is he doing?

[AJ_Tsin]

Is your star a Echinaster sp or Fromia milleporella or something else? How is he doing?

 

The star is a Fromia. I have had it for a while now and it seems to be doing well. I have no algae whatsoever but it seems the star is eating detritus on the sand bed and other stuff in the rocks. It is very active and is constantly zooming around in the water. I also turn all the pumps off once a week an mixture of frozen foods selcon, AAs and reef roids the star gets a lot to eat during this period when all the uneaten food falls to the sand bed.

 

I took a long time acclimatizing this guy and it seems to have paid off so far.

 

Any questions in particular you would like to ask or is this good enough?

[AJ_Tsin]

Update!: The

is featured on http://www.theseas.org/ for March 2010. It's getting around. You saw it here first!

[AJ_Tsin]

Just added an inline TDS meter today.

 

Works great and yes the output is ZERO!

 

The unit comes with two sided velcro tape so it attaches right to the existing unit.

 

 

After the unit is placed you basically cut the in and out lines and join them with the two simple T connections supplied with the unit which are easily marked with the words IN and OUT.

 

 

 

About 2 minutes and 30 seconds later I had an in and out reading of 141 IN - 0 OUT.

 

Awesome addition and above else... it supplys peace of mind. Now if any thing goes wrong with the water quality I can only blame myself. I also I highly recommend the inline units instead of a handheld one its way easier..

 

By the way I have been dosing:

1.5 ml of vodka daily

four drops of Brightwell Microbacter 7 daily,

1 drop of Kent Lugols daily

a capful of Brightwell strontion daily

 

a couple drops of Brightwell CoralAmino weekly

 

along with all the regular Ca Kh Mg dosing.

 

The corals have been getting more and more colorful each day. I had a Brown Acro that had been brown for years. I removed it and sold it a while ago but there was a little bit left on a piece of LR. That little piece of awfully brown Acro is now growing and is Bright blue with Neon green polyps.

 

If Probiotic Reef Keeping is done well the results are phenomenal.

 

I will be taking the fuge and Rowaphos offline in a week or so.

 

That is all. Pictures to come soon..

 

Questions or comments welcome.

 

- A.

[AJ_Tsin]

It's also worth noting that I have been using a Sybon Refractometer since setting up this aquarium. This is an essential tool for keeping things in check. If you don't have a one get one. It's amazing how inaccurate other float based salinity measurements are.

 

This one is made by Sybon.

 

 

Get it.

[AJ_Tsin]

WOW! I just found your tank. Thanks for making this beauty! Great video too. Well done! A shallow tank is my dream. Keep it up. I can't wait to see more. :bowdown:

 

Thanks..

 

By the way I took the GFO (ROWAPhos) offline today. I think it was hindering my bacteria growth from the MB7.

 

We shall see how it goes.

[Billdemart]

Thanks for the input. I have been talking to Evil about these lights today actually so it opens more options for sure. By the way your tank is cool I have read about it before on a couple other sites good work. Very interesting concept cool to see people think outside of the box.

 

 

Here are another couple of photos, these two really show the aquascape and the open concept from other angles.

 

 

That's one of the coolest shots I've ever seen.

[AJ_Tsin]

That's one of the coolest shots I've ever seen.

 

Well thanks.. thats awesome.

 

I thought it was kind of cool, but its getting a lot of attention. I guess seeing the surface of the shallow setup adds a lot, really feels authentic.

[AJ_Tsin]

For those of you vodka doubters out there. I must say you would have to be pretty careless to mess things up using this method.

 

My nitrates have been steadily dropping and are <2 now. Cheato growth has slowed down tremendously I will most likely remove the refugium in a couple weeks.

 

I will leave the rock pile as its a Pod breeding ground and I will keep the DSB but the cheato will have to go as it will slowly start to die with no nutrients to absorb.

[AJ_Tsin]

Picked up a few zoa frags today. Pics to come tomorrow ish.

 

Here's an update on what I've been up to.

 

Currently I maintain these standard parameters:

• Total Water Volume: Approximately 76g
  
• dKH: 8.5
  
• Ca: 420
  
• Mg: 1300ish
  
• Temp: 76-78
  
• PH: 8.2
  

In addition to Calcium and Alk Buffer supplements on alternating days, I also add 1 TSP of Mg Weekly and two capfuls of Purple-Up.

 

All of my dosing is done manually except for my top off water which is gravity fed ATO. I will be looking into automatically dosing Two Part in the future but without a controller I dont feel safe automating anything like that.

 

As of right now in order to establish a Ultra Low Nutrient System (ULNS) my dosing regiment is as follows:

 

Daily

• 1.4 ml of vodka
  
• 4 drops of Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter7
  
• 1 Drop Kent Lugols Solution
  
• .5 Tsp Strontinum
  
• Spectrum Pellet fish food (sometimes rinsed Mysis shrimp)
  

 

Weekly

• Brightwell Aquatics CoralAmino
  
• I also Feed Cyclopeeze Rotifiers and ReefRoids Soaked in Selcon
  

 

I have not hit complete ULNS yet, according to my Seachem Test Kit I still have around 1 or 2 ppm of nitrate but that has dropped from >10 about a week and a half after a cycle.

 

For those of you who havent read much about this. The goal here is to dose a carbon source eg: Vodka, Sugar, or Vinegar this carbon source feeds bacteria which will grow rapidly consuming Nitrate and Phosphate as they consume N/P the bacteria gets skimmed up quickly ridding the system of just about everything.

 

Benefits:

• Crystal Clear Water, in fact I had to raise my light higher because the water was soo clear the corals were reacting to the increase in light.
  
• The ability to feed heavily without worrying about algae or nitrates
  
• Incredible coral colors and growth
  

 

MB7

 

For those of you who are starting vodka I recommend you both stop Vodka for two weeks and pick up some Microbacter 7 (MB7). Based on my experience and research the results with this product combined with Vodka or VSV are incredible. Not only does it prevent a Monoculture of bacteria, but it aides in ensuring the carbon source only feeds the good bacteria instead of the bad. I am sure you have heard of Cyano appearing because of Vodka this is the result of bad bacteria spreading because of the vodka. MB7 is the way to go. Do it.

 

It is a very good idea and almost essential to this method that you dose a bacteria supplement (MicroBacter is the cheapest by far and shows the same effect as the other competitors eg: ZeoBac). The ideal way to start is to dose MB7 (by following the instructions on the bottle) for 2 weeks before beginning the vodka which is then dosed according to this article which I am sure you both have read.

 

By dosing MB7 for two full weeks before the vodka it ensures that you buildup a foundation of good bacteria which will outcompete the bad when you start feeding Carbon (Vodka). After the two weeks are up, you then begin the vodka dosing and continue to dose MB7 as per the instructions on the bottle.

 

Other Important Info

 

• As you begin Vodka it is pretty important to Skim Heavily. Your skimmer should be rated pretty high as it will become the backbone of your filtration. Not only will it skim out the thick bacteria cleaning the water, but it will keep the Oxygen levels up in the water as bacteria blooms could deplete the O2 possibly harming livestock.
  
• It is essential to keep your dKH between 7-9 any higher and the tips on your SPS will burn.
  
• If you have an established DSB seeing an effect from dosing may take way longer so be patient and don't raise your vodka doses too quickly.
  
• It is highly discouraged to simultaneously run GFO (Phosban ROWAphos etc.) For the bacteria and vodka to be effective it needs to consume both phosphate and nitrate. If you are running a GFO reactor there will be no phosphate for the bacteria to consume and the nitrates will not drop as a result. As a matter of fact I tried to keep my Rowaphos reactor on during this process for about a 2 weeks my Phosphate was undetectable and nitrate was stuck at 5ppm. I took the Rowa offline and within 3 days my nitrate is down to about 1-2ppm and its still dropping.
  
• It is encourages to still run Carbon in a reactor or bag.
  
• If you have Cheato or some other macro algae you will eventually have to get rid of it as the Bacteria will consume all available nutrients leaving nothing for the algae to eat. It will quicky stop growing then eventually die which will pollute your tank.
  

 

Other Additives

 

Once you get a low nutrient system going all your sps should start to fade a bit. This is most likely because there are no more nutrients in the water for them to eat. Which is a good thing because now you can feed heavily. Many people dose Amino Acids once a week at this time. AAs are very powerful and should not be used until a ULNS is established as they can make the water pretty dirty.

 

I dose the Lugols to bring out the Blues in my sps and zoas.

 

Summary

 

Several people have been too afraid to start vodka but honestly you would have to be quite careless to mess it up.

 

Generally speaking if you stick to the guidelines here and dose MB7 following the directions, you should have no issues. I took everything slow and raised my dosage by less than the article advises.

 

To allow a big bloom to creep up on you would be pretty hard unless you do not pay attention to your tank. If you dose too much Vodka you will see strands of white cobweb looking bacteria on the rocks or glass. This is harmless but is sure indication that you are dosing a bit too much Vodka this is not a problem just scale back.

 

This MB7+Vodka+Amino Acid combo is basically the ZeoVit system with no Zeolites.

 

I am still new to this methodology but so far soo good. The only issues have been with the water being too clean and the lights being too bright. Which in this hobby are good problems to have.

 

Let me know if you have any questions or want me to go into further detail on any of this. If you want to start this method feel free to ask more questions as this post assumes you already know a bit about carbon dosing. Also if anyone is going to start this using this method let us know so we can follow your progress from day 1.

Edited March 22, 2010 by AJ_Tsin

[CORALCRUZE]

Hey AJ... what a great looking tank you have there. I am actually in the p[rocess of getting out of the hobby when i saw this thread. now, thanks to you, i am definatly back. i decided to stop selling my stuff and looking into getting a tank made with similar specs. i am considering a 15" depth though. I have absolutly no idea where to get a tank like this made in my area. can you give me some infor where I could start? thanks so much.