New 20L Mixed Reef Build

[aparker]

Sounds really good. Don't forget to post pics dude! And if you can get some macro shots of the nudis that might help others on Nano-Reef ID them too.

 

Yeah, I know. I'm resistant to taking pix when things are not beautiful.

 

Here are some nice photos that another person posted that show exactly what to look for - identical to what I had. I need to get a better camera to do macro shots with.

 

http://thereef.info/nudi-20050717.jpg

 

http://thereef.info/nudi%20eggs.jpg

[edacsac]

I love your tank setup and scaping! Your is probably the nicest I've seen yet that is close to how I want mine to look.

 

Questions though: You have two bulkheads for your overflows, the overflows are 1" deep I think you said. What are you using to keep things from getting sucked into the bulkheads aside from the slots in the overflows? It seems that others at least use and elbow with some sort of screen thingy, but at 1" there is no room. If nothing, how is it working for you? I'd like to have my overflows shallow like yours as well.

[aparker]

I love your tank setup and scaping! Your is probably the nicest I've seen yet that is close to how I want mine to look.

 

Questions though: You have two bulkheads for your overflows, the overflows are 1" deep I think you said. What are you using to keep things from getting sucked into the bulkheads aside from the slots in the overflows? It seems that others at least use and elbow with some sort of screen thingy, but at 1" there is no room. If nothing, how is it working for you? I'd like to have my overflows shallow like yours as well.

 

For the one that is an actual overflow (leading to fuge) there is nothing at all, and I think that's OK for two reasons.

 

First, the overflow just leads to the fuge, not into a pump, so anyone (e.g. snail) who goes down it isn't necessarily going to be injured by the experience.

 

Second, it is really important in this kind of setup to prevent the overflow to the sump from getting blocked. If it had a screen, and that screen clogged, then the return pump would outpace the overflow and the display tank would overfill and dump saltwater all over my apt. If I was to do anything differently there it would be to have two independent bulkheads for the overflow as insurance (and yes, I know I could have a float switch relay on the return pump, but I haven't got there yet).

 

For the "overflow" leading to the closed loop, I glued some fine black nylon netting (bird netting) on the back behind the 1/4" slots to prevent a small fish from getting sucked in, since that bulkhead goes straight to a pump. I believe there is a photo of this on one of the first couple pages of the thread. I did not mention this in the thread, but I have also put a piece of black acrylic over the top of that overflow as a lid to prevent dumba$$ hermit crabs from climbing down in and either getting trapped or getting sent through the CL and lodging in a return nozzle. In retrospect one of those elbow style intake screens would have been a fine solution for this, in place of the pseudo-overflow.

 

Hope this is helpful. Feel free to post more questions as they arise.

[edacsac]

Wow you got back quick!

 

For the one that is an actual overflow (leading to fuge) there is nothing at all, and I think that's OK for two reasons.

 

First, the overflow just leads to the fuge, not into a pump, so anyone (e.g. snail) who goes down it isn't necessarily going to be injured by the experience.

 

Second, it is really important in this kind of setup to prevent the overflow to the sump from getting blocked. If it had a screen, and that screen clogged, then the return pump would outpace the overflow and the display tank would overfill and dump saltwater all over my apt. If I was to do anything differently there it would be to have two independent bulkheads for the overflow as insurance (and yes, I know I could have a float switch relay on the return pump, but I haven't got there yet).

 

I was thinking just the opposite, that a snail or fish would get stuck and dump saltwater all over the place. I figuered with a screen, whatever critter wouldn't stay in front of it for long - this is my inexperienced thinking mind you, as I have no reef of my own yet. So I've learned something here!

 

How would the back glass hold up with two bulkheads for overflow? Just a thought, as I was going to punch about 8 holes in the back of my tank when I get it.

 

For the "overflow" leading to the closed loop, I glued some fine black nylon netting (bird netting) on the back behind the 1/4" slots to prevent a small fish from getting sucked in, since that bulkhead goes straight to a pump. I believe there is a photo of this on one of the first couple pages of the thread. I did not mention this in the thread, but I have also put a piece of black acrylic over the top of that overflow as a lid to prevent dumba$$ hermit crabs from climbing down in and either getting trapped or getting sent through the CL and lodging in a return nozzle. In retrospect one of those elbow style intake screens would have been a fine solution for this, in place of the pseudo-overflow.

 

I like your overflow better though, it looks nicer and cleaner. I want to replicate what you have done to a point.

 

Hope this is helpful. Feel free to post more questions as they arise.

 

It is helpful, and I hope I didn't hijack your thread too bad. This thread is one of the most informative to me right now. :-)

[jnarowe]

Yeah, I know. I'm resistant to taking pix when things are not beautiful.

 

Here are some nice photos that another person posted that show exactly what to look for - identical to what I had. I need to get a better camera to do macro shots with.

 

http://thereef.info/nudi-20050717.jpg

 

http://thereef.info/nudi%20eggs.jpg

 

Those are good shots, especially of the eggs. The nudi shot makes it look so much larger than they really are. In the egg picture, you can see a nudi up and to the right as well.

[aparker]

How would the back glass hold up with two bulkheads for overflow? Just a thought, as I was going to punch about 8 holes in the back of my tank when I get it.

 

I think the rule is to leave a minimum of like 1.5 or 2 diameters between holes that you drill. You are absolutely right in assuming that too many holes could = trouble. Doing the drilling will require a steady hand; you might also think about drilling each hole 90% through before finishing any of them, to help avoid cracking.

 

Good luck.

[aparker]

Being unable to leave well enough alone, I am now wondering if I'm completely happy with my lighting mix. As long-time readers will recall, the tank has 2 actinic and three daylight-type bulbs on it (see post introducing these):

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=1170248

 

I am thinking that a bluer overall light might look better, do less to promote algae growth, and be a little easier on some of the lower-light oriented LPS, while still making the Acros happy.

 

Options are either to

 

1. take out the center daylight (6500 K) bulb and replace it with an Aquablue (~9500K) - this is the mild option.

 

2. switch to 3 actinic and 2 daylight, losing the 6500K bulb and getting another actinic, so I have 3-24W actinics running 13 hours and 2-24W daylight (one Giesmann Aquablue and one URI Super White) running 11 hours.

 

Thoughts?

[jnarowe]

According to my FW Planted books, the blue spectrum actually promotes algal grow while limiting plant growth, IIRC. But for what you are doing, that probably doesn't matter. I wouldn't use 6500K lamps on a reef, but I would use them on a refugium. As you know, my reef is lit entirely by 20K lamps and the corals love it.

[aparker]

According to my FW Planted books, the blue spectrum actually promotes algal grow while limiting plant growth, IIRC. But for what you are doing, that probably doesn't matter. I wouldn't use 6500K lamps on a reef, but I would use them on a refugium. As you know, my reef is lit entirely by 20K lamps and the corals love it.

 

I think the photosystems in zooxanthellae are somewhat different than in higher plants, however, in terms of which pigments predominate and what wavelengths they best absorb at. With fluorescents I think it's more about getting the right mix of colors, as opposed to picking all one type of bulb with a particular color temp (e.g. 20K).

 

I am thinking more and more of going to the three actinic/two daylight approach. I will probably keep the Giesmann daylight bulb for the PAR, but put it towards the back where it can light up the Acros.

[jnarowe]

Makes sense to me.. all you can do is try it out and see what happens. When is your next trip to Seattle?

[aparker]

Makes sense to me.. all you can do is try it out and see what happens. When is your next trip to Seattle?

 

I dunno about Seattle - possibly not until the new year. Company is being tight with travel $$$ right now.

 

Here is the before:

 

and after:

 

On the lighting change. Not a huge difference, but you can see it. You can also see some new livestock that I got today from a fellow N-R regular who was taking down a tank. More pics of these very nice creatures to come in the next few days.

[jnarowe]

I dunno about Seattle - possibly not until the new year. Company is being tight with travel $$$ right now.

 

Here is the before:

 

and after:

 

On the lighting change. Not a huge difference, but you can see it. You can also see some new livestock that I got today from a fellow N-R regular who was taking down a tank. More pics of these very nice creatures to come in the next few days.

 

I think that is bluer than my tank...did you adjust the white balance?

[seastar12]

A quick update on plumbing progress:

 

Got the baffles put into the 'fuge. This is a slight departure from my original plan (see drawing above), but an improvement I think. Plan is to have about 6" deep LR rubble on both sides of the rightmost baffle, so that skimmer effluent flows down through it and back up the other side. Then through a wad of Chaetomorpha that will hopefully "surf" on the upwelling waterflow and be contained by the eggcrate grill so it will not migrate into the leftward area designated for sandbeds and other types of macroalgae. Or so the theory goes.

 

Here is a look at the display tank sitting in its final location, w/various bike geek paraphernalia thrown in because I was too lazy to move them.

 

Closeup of the front (pardon the flash) showing (trying to show) how low-profile the closed loop return canopy is - you can just barely see the nozzles peeking under the tank rim.

 

Progress on the plumbing rough-in. Should get the rest of the parts I need on Wednesday. Those tubing runs will not sag when it is all assembled (dammit).

 

That's it for tonight.

Do you mind me asking where you got your bag from? Is it a souviner from Mexico[?] or did you order it.

[aparker]

Do you mind me asking where you got your bag from? Is it a souviner from Mexico[?] or did you order it.

 

Custom order from Timbuk2 - colors are supposed to be the Italian flag (I'm into bikes).

 

I think that is bluer than my tank...did you adjust the white balance?

 

The white balance on my camera is set to "fluorescent" for these pics. It is not that blue in real life. It does look less "warm white" now with the three actinics. It's tough to properly represent these colors with a cheap camera (and no skills)....

[seastar12]

Custom order from Timbuk2 - colors are supposed to be the Italian flag (I'm into bikes).

The white balance on my camera is set to "fluorescent" for these pics. It is not that blue in real life. It does look less "warm white" now with the three actinics. It's tough to properly represent these colors with a cheap camera (and no skills)....

thanks

[jnarowe]

Custom order from Timbuk2 - colors are supposed to be the Italian flag (I'm into bikes).

The white balance on my camera is set to "fluorescent" for these pics. It is not that blue in real life. It does look less "warm white" now with the three actinics. It's tough to properly represent these colors with a cheap camera (and no skills)....

 

Try manual white balance. What I do is put a white cutting board or piece of PVC inside the tank in full light and then adjust the white balance by pointing it at the white object. That really is the only way to get decent white balance adjusted pics under such heavy blue lighting.

[aparker]

OK, long time no post - been busy.

 

First thing to mention is my new Ca/Alk dosing system. This was easy to set up save for a slight difficulty getting one seal airtight. It is now dialed in and dosing the right amounts of 2-part to keep my tank running at about 430 mg/L Ca and 9 dKH. This is really significant because it means i can now leave for 5-6 days and not worry about water chemistry (still have to overfeed the fish before going, but c'est la vie...).

 

Here are pix of the dosing setup;

 

 

Also have new creatures, from a N-R stalwart Caesar777, who sent me a lovely colony of clove polyps to go with another one I got locally here in Boston:

Also visible here is a colony of Xenia I got from a good friend here in town who has them growing nicely in his 75. I gave him a hit of chaeto from my fuge and the promise of the first frag off my avocado green M. digitata.

 

A nice Pavona also came from Caesar777, shown here next to a frag of yellow-green Poecilopora from my local friend:

 

Finally, the main event, a gorgeous Acanthastrea lordhowensis colony from Caesar777. The beast made the overnight FedEx trip from Seattle no problemo, and is fat, sassy, and happily eating shrimp in its new home now. What a gorgeous animal.

 

Also of note - the #$(@^&%#^* zooanthid-eating nudibranchs appear to be DEAD. Thanks to all of you loyal readers for your support, and to JNA Rowe for advice on exterminating the MFs.

[divecj5]

Glad to see that things are thriving in your tank. Nice update for sure. Sorry if you've mentioned this above, but what dosing setup is that?

 

Congrats on the new additions. Those clove polyps are really awesome looking and especially paired with the xenia close by. I'm with you, acans are some of my favorites and the colony that you got is no exception.

 

Glad to hear that the b*stards are to be considered dead on your tank. I'm sure your zoas will be back to thriving now.

[aparker]

Glad to see that things are thriving in your tank. Nice update for sure. Sorry if you've mentioned this above, but what dosing setup is that?

 

It's an Aquamedic Reef Doser

 

Congrats on the new additions. Those clove polyps are really awesome looking and especially paired with the xenia close by. I'm with you, acans are some of my favorites and the colony that you got is no exception.

 

Glad to hear that the b*stards are to be considered dead on your tank. I'm sure your zoas will be back to thriving now.

 

It's amazing how much better they look - all opening up and looking great. I am very relieved. I need a bigger tank so I can get more Mussidae - Acans, Blastos, Micromussa - all sooo cool....

[jnarowe]

sweet acans Alex!

 

I don't know if I already mentioned this, but you need to be very careful with the Aqua-Medic doser. Because it is built with only two rollers, they WILL allow a siphon in certain positions. It looks like the way you have them set up may be OK, but careful review and testing is an extremely good idea. I had to round-file mine because I couldn't trust it. It occassionally would stop in a siphon orientation and over-dose my system with top-off kalk.

 

Tank looks great. So when are we going to get you some captive reef appropriate inverts?

[aparker]

sweet acans Alex!

 

I don't know if I already mentioned this, but you need to be very careful with the Aqua-Medic doser. Because it is built with only two rollers, they WILL allow a siphon in certain positions. It looks like the way you have them set up may be OK, but careful review and testing is an extremely good idea. I had to round-file mine because I couldn't trust it. It occassionally would stop in a siphon orientation and over-dose my system with top-off kalk.

 

Tank looks great. So when are we going to get you some captive reef appropriate inverts?

 

Yes, I read about the siphon potential, so my input tubes to the sump/fuge end above water level, so there is no back siphon potential (plus check valves). Forward siphon cannot happen because the source reservoirs are below the sump water level.

 

Of greater concern is the fact that dosing 2-part does slowly raise salinity, as one is adding sodium bicarbonate and calcium chloride. The corals consume calcium and bicarbonate, leaving extra sodium chloride. At this point I am fixing this by doing water changes with salt mix at 1.024, so it keeps diluting the added salt and the tank stays about 1.025, but this seems suboptimal. I may need to explore kalk as an alternative. Certainly for the next tank I need a better strategy.

 

Current tank is not too terrible, though. Here an FTS from a couple days ago. It looks even better today - new Xenia is fully expanded and happy...

 

[aparker]

Tank looks great. So when are we going to get you some captive reef appropriate inverts?

 

Like what would you recommend? I'm pretty happy with my snail mix right now, esp the Nassarius that seem to be reproducing so nicely in my setup. The Mithrax crabs appear to be behaving themselves and keeping Valonia and hair algae in check. The hermits are probably worthless to noxious - I will not replace the remaining few when they die....

 

Other thoughts?

 

Curiously enough, I was shifting sand around the other day and discovered that the IPSF sand bed clams I introduced at tank startup are alive (or at least one is) and happily filter-feeding. So at least some of this clean-up-crew package business is legit. Also got the Nassarius from IPSF - these are the BEST.

[crad190]

your tank looks awesome!

[jnarowe]

Hey Alex, the tank looks great. I was getting worried since I didn't see you post for a while. You can't build a fan base if you don't post!!

 

If you are happy with your cleanup crew then so be it. I am sending out a bunch of snails to a High School in Texas on Monday as a donation to a really cool tank system: 800 gallon classroom build

 

I am sending DIBS Turbo sp, columbellids, an unidentified shrimp, hopefully some stomatella (if I can catch them, and an assortment of limpets. These are primarily part of my DIBS Project work.

 

As far as you rsystem goes, if you don't already have them, I would recommend a few mini-brittle stars. They are low impact but do help keep the underside of the rocks clean.

 

Again, your tank really has come a long way in a short time. Very nice! Did you go to MACNA? I am looking into going next year, but need to convince someone else to go with me.

[divecj5]

Current tank is not too terrible, though.

 

You can say that again...I think it looks great. Nice variety of colors and textures in there. Plenty of eye candy and everything looks nice and healthy.

 

Keep up the great work.