craftyfish Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Hey guys, I'm restarting the hobby with this new cube setup...I remember trying to do mods on old cubes long time ago looking through nanotuners.com. But here it is, stock cube with HQI! First off I am getting equipments ready 1. Chiller - metal halides will make lot of heat (also read that it does) so I'm going to get a chiller - already bought one used but too big for my tank, so I may sell it and get a smaller (got 1/5hp...yea toooo big 180gal capacity - anybody want to buy a 1/5hp west coast aquatics chiller? or trade for smaller 1/15hp chiller used?) 2. tunze 9002 skimmer on the way (but i will need to get StevieT skinny cup) 3. nano hydro koralia 1 or 2 perhaps ... probably 2 and use pulse that came with the tank on them, while leaving the stock pumps on 4. 100w jager heater 5.refractometer 6.(need to get later) calcium / alkalinity and magnesium supplements My Plan: bought some live rocks - premium fiji from local seller - so they're sitting in a dry box right now and will jump start the tank cycle. will add LS and more LR perhaps after the cycling and leave bare bottom - I will probably have pumps blow directly on the rocks during cycle to remove "stuff" during cycle or Should I put some sand in there? I didn't want to see the algae bloom during the cycle on the sand basically Also, how much flow do I need if I'm going to have SPS / reef tank? 2 nano koralia enough with 2 stock pumps? do I need more or is this sufficient? I've been reading about start-up mostly, forgot a lot of tank knowledge...and about supplementing calcium and magnesium... Any suggestions as I get the tank started would be appreciated Link to comment
craftyfish Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 ok finally put the rock in the tank @ salinity 1.025 i was hoping to see the algae bloom soon...to indicate cycle... these rocks have been dried up while i was getting tank ready...these should start a cycle right?? they used to be live rock... i removed as much dead sponge, etc as i can with toothbrush...didnt think id be waiting for the algae bloom to come on with so much eagernes... Link to comment
craftyfish Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 Here's a pic with my chiller AQUA EURO 1/13HP in place (not plumbed yet) - fits in perfectly in the jbj stand...just enough room for the in/out hoses to go through the back replacing west coast 1/5hp which is too bulky and overkill for this tank...found the 1/13hp perfect for this 28g tank... Almost ready.... just waiting for the algae bloom / diatom and cycle to kick in still...no algae/diatom bloom yet... I noticed the evaporation was a bit more than what I had thought...I don't even have a fan. Anybody else topping off more frequently than they like to? Link to comment
urbaneks Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Looks like you are off to a good start with some nice upgrades (chiller). Have you found that the chiller is running quite a bit? I have the same tank but with T5s so heat is not an issue for me. I've always wondered how the HQI would run. Link to comment
thermosts Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Where is the sand? Sand? We don't need no stinking sand! Bare Bottom is where it is at! I run my BC8 and 40B Bare Bottom and I can crank up the MP10s without a sand storm. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.