Maestro's 57G Illuminata Rimless

[whaevclever]

I was reading up on LEDs a little. Did you look at the maxspect's when you were looking for lights? If you did what made you go with the ecoxotic fixture? I was not going to go with LEDs , but the cost of replacements, heat and maybe lower electric bill, has me considering an led fixture.

 

 

 

Congratulations on the new edition! I'm sure he will love looking at your tank once you get it going. Anything helps to get them to calm down sometimes. You got a lot of late nights ahead. Good luck. :happydance:

[SWEETLOU]

hmmm, sounds good. so this is my plan:

1. add new live sand to the new tank
   
2. siphon out live sand from the bc29 and add it to the new tank
   
3. put saved water change water into new tank
   
4. add clean water to new tank
   
5. add half of live rock from the old tank to the new tank w/new pieces i'm adding
   
6. let the cycle begin
   
7. when cycle is complete, add livestock and remaining live rock
   

thoughts?

when i went from my 29g to my 57g this is what i did

1.take out all live stock at night into 5g buckets with heaters.

2.drained the old water into jugs.

3.set up new tank with new sand. add old water.

4.add whatever extra new water you need.

5.add live rock. let everything settle down and temp get right.

6. acclimate all live stock and your good to go.

you wont get a cycle. you will get some diatoms on sand but its new sand thats will always happen

 

there is no need to add old sand. i would think that would cause more problems

[violinist]

I had my son on good friday...

 

Was just going to commence razzing for waterless tank till I scrolled to this - grats!!

[VtheMaestro]

Was just going to commence razzing for waterless tank till I scrolled to this - grats!!

hahaha, thank you! Water will come very soon. I'm waiting on a few more pieces of pvc to complete my vision. Hopefully we'll have a freshwater test by the end of the week. stay tuned

 

when i went from my 29g to my 57g this is what i did

1.take out all live stock at night into 5g buckets with heaters.

2.drained the old water into jugs.

3.set up new tank with new sand. add old water.

4.add whatever extra new water you need.

5.add live rock. let everything settle down and temp get right.

6. acclimate all live stock and your good to go.

you wont get a cycle. you will get some diatoms on sand but its new sand thats will always happen

 

there is no need to add old sand. i would think that would cause more problems

 

But isn't the sand in my existing tank more 'live' with the stuff i need than a new bag off the shelf? Also, I'd hate to lose my nassarius snails and worms in the process. I'm sure there's a way to siphon out the sand from the old cube in sections without kicking up too much trash....

[SWEETLOU]

hahaha, thank you! Water will come very soon. I'm waiting on a few more pieces of pvc to complete my vision. Hopefully we'll have a freshwater test by the end of the week. stay tuned

 

 

 

But isn't the sand in my existing tank more 'live' with the stuff i need than a new bag off the shelf? Also, I'd hate to lose my nassarius snails and worms in the process. I'm sure there's a way to siphon out the sand from the old cube in sections without kicking up too much trash....

Yes. But when you stir up old sand. You release stuff you really don't want. My nassarius made through the process. But either way is fine. Just personal choice I guess ha ha

[johnyens]

Tank is looking good!

 

I am just filling up a 58G Oceanic with the same sump you have!

 

Check out my thread if you want to see how I went about the pumbing of the sump. I will be filling it up in the next couple days and will post more pics.

 

I like your rimless damnit!!!!!

[VtheMaestro]

Yes. But when you stir up old sand. You release stuff you really don't want. My nassarius made through the process. But either way is fine. Just personal choice I guess ha ha

 

Thanks... I may take your advice once its time to cross that bridge

 

Tank is looking good!

 

I am just filling up a 58G Oceanic with the same sump you have!

 

Check out my thread if you want to see how I went about the pumbing of the sump. I will be filling it up in the next couple days and will post more pics.

 

I like your rimless damnit!!!!!

 

Thank you. I put some comments on your thread; its looking great so far. Good luck

[VtheMaestro]

I got my new frags from Coral Morphologic. They came right on time - I ended up having a chat with the fedex guy; coincidentally, he's interested in setting up a reef tank

 

It looks like Colin threw in some extras for me. Its the little things that count the most...

 

 

The Frags:

(a2) Metallic Yellow w/ Purple Undertone (Rare Morph)

(d8) 7 Polyps - 'Miami Vice'

(c7) Purple-Lavender-Teal

(g6) 15 Polyps - Pink -> Aqua-Blue

 

 

Check out this article from Complex Magazine. Ever since seeing it I've been on a hunt for the Pederson Cleaner shrimp, and it was what prompted me to purchase from CM. I try to patronize my atlanta reef club sponsors and local LFS's as much as possible, this was my first time buying livestock online. Definitely a pleasurable experience

 

[VtheMaestro]

My 3 week old Brenton has been taking away my computer time, but i've been working non-stop to get 'his' tank up and running...

 

Once I got my main cabinet and side cabinet (with no-slam hinges and color matched stain) from Greg at Optimum Aquarium, I was able to do the measurements for my plumbing and to hang my light fixture

 

 

Mike at Glass Holes suggested a 1.5" drain so I drilled into the back side of the sump and threw a bulkhead in there

 

 

After some research on Melev's Reef for ideas on my final plumbing, a couple freshwater wet tests, and a full drain of the tank to make it sit level, here's the finished product...

 

 

 

403nm and 453 nm stunners only...

 

[VtheMaestro]

Both cabinets are lighted inside; the smaller one houses my brs top off bottles, 2 peristaltic pumps, my top off reservoir, and my reefkeeper powerstrips.

 

 

The large cabinet is the base for the tank and houses the Aqueon Proflex model 2 sump, aqualifter ato pump, tunze 1073 return pump, reef octopus nwb 110 skimmer, reefkeeper elite head unit, reefkeeper sl2, probes, float switches, and vortech wireless drivers.

 

 

John at All Things Aquatic in Hiram came by to help design a custom refugium box that will be fabricated by MRC. It will sit below the left pipe tee'd off from the return, and overflow back into the return chamber of the sump

 

 

I got this idea from Melev; i can control the flow and dwell time thru the fuge, ensure that chaeto doesn't clog up my return, and keep pods in their place

[Crackerballer]

Maybe I missed it, but why didn't you just get the reef ready tank?

[mdannyg]

Check out this article from Complex Magazine. Ever since seeing it I've been on a hunt for the Pederson Cleaner shrimp, and it was what prompted me to purchase from CM. I try to patronize my atlanta reef club sponsors and local LFS's as much as possible, this was my first time buying livestock online. Definitely a pleasurable experience

 

 

that is an awesome picture/ aquascape. so simple and inspirational. i wonder if that's a tank that Coral Morphalogic set up (edit: duh, i just read that sidebar). I like ordering from them as well, always top notch service. i'm glad you had a good experience.

 

And your tank/aquascape looks great!

[VtheMaestro]

Maybe I missed it, but why didn't you just get the reef ready tank?

My 90g was reef ready. The megaflow overflow is big, unsightly, hard to aquascape around, and difficult to clean algae off of. Also... The placement of the overflow would require a curve in the drain and return plumbing for use with the Aqueon sump;

drilling the tank allowed me to choose where I wanted things to go, and use straight vertical plumbing runs

[westcoastreefer84]

Nice setup. How do you like the octopus cone skimmer? I'm running an older model nw110. Its a great skimmer, but I'm ready for something more efficient. Could you also elaborate on your plumbing. Why do you have the return draining back down on itself? I run the 1073.40 with the glass holes super nano overflow. I think I may go with a bigger overflow so I can turn the pump all the way up. At full power my overflow gets too loud.

[MedicBMC]

Hows the skimmer working out for you?

 

You need to post some pics of those miami vice zoas....I've been eyeing those in their site but I seriously don't think they can look that good in person.

[VtheMaestro]

that is an awesome picture/ aquascape. so simple and inspirational. i wonder if that's a tank that Coral Morphalogic set up (edit: duh, i just read that sidebar). I like ordering from them as well, always top notch service. i'm glad you had a good experience.

 

And your tank/aquascape looks great!

 

Yeah, Colin did an awesome job with that tank. The rics look incredible. I want to order some more, but i think i have enough mushrooms and buttons lol

 

thank you for the compliment

[VtheMaestro]

Nice setup. How do you like the octopus cone skimmer? I'm running an older model nw110. Its a great skimmer, but I'm ready for something more efficient. Could you also elaborate on your plumbing. Why do you have the return draining back down on itself? I run the 1073.40 with the glass holes super nano overflow. I think I may go with a bigger overflow so I can turn the pump all the way up. At full power my overflow gets too loud.

Thank you. The octopus seems pretty cool so far. This is my first skimmer so I don't have much to compare it to. The bioload in the tank is very low so i'm not pulling out much junk yet, but it looks good in my sump

As for the plumbing, i wanted to have a refugium, but i had to dedicate the center chamber to the skimmer. I could have thrown the fuge items into the 3rd section with the pump, but it would have been messy and the water level would have been too low to house much. I decided to put an acrylic box in there to act as my fuge. MRC (My Reef Creations) is building it; 9.5" x 5.5" x 14.75" with black acrylic sides/top/bottom and a clear front. The return appears to be draining back down on itself now, but it will really be draining down into the box. There will be teeth across the back so as the water reaches the top, it will overflow back down to the return.

 

That 1073.4 is rated at 700+ gph. redirecting flow to another part of your sump allows for different phases of the filtration (in my case, the refugium) to get more contact time with the water. Most importantly, you don't have to throttle back the pump and cause added heat/strain/noise.

 

here's where I got the idea...

[Akwarius]

Hows the skimmer working out for you?

 

You need to post some pics of those miami vice zoas....I've been eyeing those in their site but I seriously don't think they can look that good in person.

Miami vice zoas look great in person and retain that color under halides.

[VtheMaestro]

Hows the skimmer working out for you?

 

You need to post some pics of those miami vice zoas....I've been eyeing those in their site but I seriously don't think they can look that good in person.

 

skimmer seems cool so far, my bioload is low so there's not much to skim, but its pretty silent and appears to be doing something.

 

The miami vice zoa's look best under the daylights, but aren't as impressive as my basic run of the mill zoa's under actinics. I guess its a tradeoff. I'll try to get some good shots of them for you

[johnyens]

Hey Maestro!

 

Just came across this thread again. Lookin really good my friend!

 

Very cool to see different ways to use the Aqueon sump.

 

I setup mine with the middle chamber as the fuge but I really like the idea of the custom made box. Cant wait to see how that works in there.

 

I am going to start following your tank thread now....

 

Great work!

 

[VtheMaestro]

Hey Maestro!

 

Just came across this thread again. Lookin really good my friend!

 

Very cool to see different ways to use the Aqueon sump.

 

I setup mine with the middle chamber as the fuge but I really like the idea of the custom made box. Cant wait to see how that works in there.

 

I am going to start following your tank thread now....

 

Great work!

 

 

thanks! i considered trying different custom sumps throughout the build, but I didn't want to pay to ship the aqueon back, so I tried to make it work. The middle chamber would have been awesome for a fuge with the vented cover

 

Hopefully MRC brings my vision to life

[johnyens]

thanks! i considered trying different custom sumps throughout the build, but I didn't want to pay to ship the aqueon back, so I tried to make it work. The middle chamber would have been awesome for a fuge with the vented cover

 

Hopefully MRC brings my vision to life

 

yeah it sounds like a great idea to me! Roll with it bro!

 

How are you going to mount the new fuge within the current sump?

[Akwarius]

The miami vice zoa's look best under the daylights, but aren't as impressive as my basic run of the mill zoa's under actinics. I guess its a tradeoff. I'll try to get some good shots of them for you

+1 the pigments do not glow under actinics,

 

nice, clean rimless setup btw

[VtheMaestro]

yeah it sounds like a great idea to me! Roll with it bro!

 

How are you going to mount the new fuge within the current sump?

 

It'll sit right here in front of the pump and be as tall as the valve handles

 

 

+1 the pigments do not glow under actinics,

 

nice, clean rimless setup btw

 

yeah, i thought they'd look rad once my lights were on. to my surprise, they looked pretty weak. lol. But they look greeeeat during the day

 

thanks

[westcoastreefer84]

Thank you. The octopus seems pretty cool so far. This is my first skimmer so I don't have much to compare it to. The bioload in the tank is very low so i'm not pulling out much junk yet, but it looks good in my sump

As for the plumbing, i wanted to have a refugium, but i had to dedicate the center chamber to the skimmer. I could have thrown the fuge items into the 3rd section with the pump, but it would have been messy and the water level would have been too low to house much. I decided to put an acrylic box in there to act as my fuge. MRC (My Reef Creations) is building it; 9.5" x 5.5" x 14.75" with black acrylic sides/top/bottom and a clear front. The return appears to be draining back down on itself now, but it will really be draining down into the box. There will be teeth across the back so as the water reaches the top, it will overflow back down to the return.

 

That 1073.4 is rated at 700+ gph. redirecting flow to another part of your sump allows for different phases of the filtration (in my case, the refugium) to get more contact time with the water. Most importantly, you don't have to throttle back the pump and cause added heat/strain/noise.

 

here's where I got the idea...

 

Now that makes sense to me. The fuge should be pretty nice, MRC makes some great equipment.

 

I love my 1073.40. I have had the tunze pump for well over a year, on a few differant setups. I bought the pump used for 50 bucks from a guy who ran it on a 90g corner for god knows how long. Great piece of equipment IMO.

 

Octo's are pretty good skimmers from what I've been able to tell. My nw110 pulls a lot of crap out, it just takes up a lot more space then your cone. I've got my heart set on an i-tech cone, but the octo like yours is probably what I will get due to my budget.