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Rizakaniza's Cadlights 39g Pro Build Thread


rizakaniza

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Today I ordered a Koralia K3 and a Tom's Aquatics Aqua LifterDosing Pump (for my JBJ ATO). Now I'll have a Koralia K4 & K3 for flow, plus I won't have to keep an eye on my water levels as often.

 

I have to say that placing the cooling fan over the overflow pump has done two things:

 

1) no condensation buildup in the cabinet whatsoever

2) Tank cools down quicker

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Don't worry too much about the brown algae bloom. Just let it run it's course.

 

On your second pic, it looks like you have a couple sprouts of Halimeda attached to the rock. Good stuff!

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Don't worry too much about the brown algae bloom. Just let it run it's course.

 

On your second pic, it looks like you have a couple sprouts of Halimeda attached to the rock. Good stuff!

Yeah, there are actually quite a number of halimeda sprouts as well as some others I can't identify that seem to have really sprouted up over the last day or two.

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My current setup is as follows:

 

1 x ReefKeeper Lite

1 x PC4

1 x Temp Probe

1 x Koralia K4

1 x Koralia K3

1 x JBJ ATO

1 x Tom's aquatic LifterDosing pump

 

Here's what I'd like to buy eventually:

 

1 x RO/DI unit

1 x additional PC4

1 x SL2

1 x Salinity Probe

1 x KalkWasser Reactor

1 x Rio Return Pump

1 x Chiller

 

Any recommendations for future purchases?

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Here's a few pics of my delivery from Monday:

 

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Now here are some pics of the Algae bloom I have been dealing with. It's gotten pretty bad and I refuse to reduce my lighting schedule, so I went out and purchased a turbo snail today. LFS did not have any blue legged hermits or nassarius snails... :(

 

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Here's my turbo blazin' a trail!

 

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Param's as of today are as follows:

 

Salinity: 1.0250

Ammonia: 0.0000

Nitrite: 0.0000

Nitrate: 5.0000

PH: 7.8000

 

Today I put together a spreadsheet that I will use to keep track of my param's. I went back and added all my data since I started testing. I think the SeaChem Stability really did help to push through the cycle quicker. Here are my historicals:

 

Day------Salinity---Ammonia--Nitrite----Nitrate-----PH

9/9/09---1.0250---0.0000--0.0000---0.0000----8.2000

9/13/09-----------0.0000------------0.0000---8.2000

9/16/09--1.0260---0.2500--0.0000---10.0000---7.8000

9/18/09-----------0.2500--0.0000---10.0000---8.0000

9/21/09-----------0.0000--0.0000---10.0000---8.2000

9/23/09--1.0250---0.0000--0.0000---5.0000----7.8000

 

FYI: Besides using the SeaChem Stability, I also started live sand one week before adding LR. A day after adding Live Sand I added Live rock from my LFS to the sump. When I added LR to the Display I also added sand scaraped from the bottom of my LFS display tank to the Fuge a day later. I began doing 10ml of Seachem two days before adding LR. I dosed 20ml after adding LR, then I dosed 10ml for 2 days then 20ml for 2 days. I dosed SeaChem Prime for the first 4 days after adding LR.

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Today I installed my JBJ ATO and I thought I would post my setup for those interested in a way to make it all look neat and such.

 

The best place I found for the ATO controller was the upper left area of the sump above the shelf. I started by drilling a starter hole and then using a woodscrew with a bid head.

 

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Then I drilled a hole in the back of my cabinet just a few inches above the fuge area of my sump and pulled the airline hose through it for the outlet hose.

 

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I then installed the float switch at the water level I desired...

 

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To keep the wiring looking neat I pulled the float switch wire through the back right cabinet wire hole and pulled it back through the left hole and plugged it into the Controller. This allowed me to pull it taught so there wasn't any excess wiring in cabinet. The way I setup my tank allowed me to hide a big mess of wiring behind the cabinet while leaving minimum wiring visible in cabinet. Here are some shots of this.

 

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I think I should have thrown in there that I used the Tom's Aquarium Aqua Lifter pump. It's an exterior pump that you connect airline tube to. Drop one line in the water source and another in the sump and you're ready to go...

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HeyLookItsCaps

looks like you invested ahead of time and have everything prepped pre-reef. VERY good idea, ive had my tank for over 2 years, and if i told you how many things i ordered, re ordered, swapped out, traded, made-do with.....i could go on and on. i like the planning involved here two thumbs up

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looks like you invested ahead of time and have everything prepped pre-reef. VERY good idea, ive had my tank for over 2 years, and if i told you how many things i ordered, re ordered, swapped out, traded, made-do with.....i could go on and on. i like the planning involved here two thumbs up

Hey, thanks! I'm excited about the next step of buying fish and corals once everything has settled

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My tank is currently infested with green hair algae and diatoms! I ran out and bought another turbo snail and 3 hermit crabs (that was literally all my LFS had at the time)! Also, there is a pod explosion in my sump and display...

 

I just went to reefcleaners and inquired about a custom crew...but they are backed up and can't ship until monday...I may have to actually resort to shutting off the lights for a few days..

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My tank is currently infested with green hair algae and diatoms! I ran out and bought another turbo snail and 3 hermit crabs (that was literally all my LFS had at the time)! Also, there is a pod explosion in my sump and display...

 

I just went to reefcleaners and inquired about a custom crew...but they are backed up and can't ship until monday...I may have to actually resort to shutting off the lights for a few days..

 

booooo shutting off the light!

 

first, if you're in LA, there has GOT to be another LFS to visit if you feel like you need additional clean-up crew help.

 

second, when i started getting overrun with algae during my cycle, i just went in there and manually plucked/scrubbed off what was on my glass, some of what was on my rocks (i should've been siphoning behind my plucking/scrubbing, but i was being lazy). in any event, that got it under control/kept the algae stalks from getting too thick and allowed the snails to catch up on it a little bit. ever since then, my crew of 6 snails (trochus(:ninja:) and turbos) + 13-14 hermits has been keeping it looking pretty great in there. :lockdown:

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Deleted User 6

stop getting so hung up on the algae bloom, rizzo. it'll go away with time. it's all a part of the process. did you try to soft-cycle the tank?

 

the halimeda is a nice hitcher macro. I've got some of it - it's fun when it starts popping up in random places on your rock.

 

i def. recommend a reefcleaners CUC. I'd say 10 ceriths, 25-30 dwarf ceriths, 10 or so nerites. Anything else you would like that looks cool is just a bonus (I just bought a fuzzy chiton and some limpets - cool guys).

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stop getting so hung up on the algae bloom, rizzo. it'll go away with time. it's all a part of the process. did you try to soft-cycle the tank?

 

the halimeda is a nice hitcher macro. I've got some of it - it's fun when it starts popping up in random places on your rock.

 

i def. recommend a reefcleaners CUC. I'd say 10 ceriths, 25-30 dwarf ceriths, 10 or so nerites. Anything else you would like that looks cool is just a bonus (I just bought a fuzzy chiton and some limpets - cool guys).

I wanted to do an experiment using chemical/biological agents to help soft cycle and I do believe it worked for the most part. Nothing died and according to my readings we blew through an ammonia spike and nitrates have been steadily dropping (I'm sure the algae has been helping with this).

 

Here's what I did:

1) Added live sand first and put some live rock from LFS in my sump. Left like this for 1 week.

2) Began dosing SeaChem Stability 2 days before adding LR to display.

3) Added LR and simultaneously added grunge/sand to my fuge from the LFS holding tank

4) Dosed 3 days double dosage of SeaChem Stability and Dosed SeaChem Prime for 4 days

5) Did 1 25% water change

 

I love the Halimeda! I have all sorts of amazing macro algae growing all over the tank as well as sponges and all sorts of colored coralline.

 

I've heard so many things about ReefCleaners. I'm very excited to get an order from them!

 

BTW, I am shutting off my light for the next 2 days. I will try to scrape some of the algae off the glass as well as doing some manual hand picking of the algae off rocks. One of my hermits did not make it. I am left with 2 hermits (they aren't blue-leg apparently, their legs are black and they have orange antennas) and 2 turbo snails. The smaller one zips all around non-stop...the larger one takes lots of breaks...

 

Chiton and limpets, huh? I don't know anything about them...they are reef safe?

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Deleted User 6
Chiton and limpets, huh? I don't know anything about them...they are reef safe?

 

Yes, but if you have any children they will most likely have their legs eaten.

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booooo shutting off the light!

 

first, if you're in LA, there has GOT to be another LFS to visit if you feel like you need additional clean-up crew help.

Apparently these guys have been hit pretty hard by the economy so they have been keeping overhead down to a minimum. It turns out what I thought were blue-legged hermits, weren't even blue legs! They have black legs and orange whiskers!

 

I kept my lights off today and I will leave them off tomorrow also. My turbo snail (the smaller one) is single-mouthedly eating all the algae off the glass. I do some scraping and hand-picking this weekend. Hopefully I can get a CUC from ReefCleaners by early/mid next week.

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Over the last few days I noticed a buildup of condensation in my cabinet. This doesn't occur every day though. I started brainstorming and I came up with a thought....Using a humidity controller in the cabinet that will kick on some exhaust fans when the humidity reaches a certain level inside the cabinet. I found one for about $100.

 

HUM-1 Humidity Controller by C.A.P.

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Deleted User 6

I just bought a small, quiet fan and power supply from Newegg and cut a square hole in my cabinet and run that baby on a timer. Voila. Much less that $100.

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I just bought a small, quiet fan and power supply from Newegg and cut a square hole in my cabinet and run that baby on a timer. Voila. Much less that $100.

The fan/timer option isn't a bad idea, but I like the look and functionality of the humidity controller. I'll think about both for a while before I do it.

 

Where would the most strategic placement be as far as humidity reduction?

P9230028.JPG

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Shutting down the lights for 2 days really helped in giving the turbos some time to catch up on their algae munching. I put in a request for a custom CUC with ReefCleaners.org. I'll update when I hear back from them.

 

Also, guess what I found in my sump today? The two pencil urchins that had disappeared. They're healthy looking and thriving. When I fisrt got them they hardly had any spines...I'm amazed how quickly they seemed to grow back. My Param's are all looking great. I am certain the cycle has completed at this point. I'll start with the CUC then wait a week or two and start out with a Bicolor Pseudochromi to make the wife happy.

 

I forgot to mention earlier that the way I have been dealing with the condensation issue (not really too much of an issue, because it wasn't really very much to begin with) is that I leave one of the cabinet doors open at night. It doesn't really bother me at all...cuz we don't have kids or animals or anything...

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