reef-luva Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Wow, at .75/ gallon thats a steal, after the 25-30 bucks for 50g mix of salt and .50/g for RO/DI water you are saving a good amount. Even after driving (depending on how far) it sounds like it would be totally worth it. STINKIN IOWA! The LFS is two miles from here...or less...pretty painless... Ya, but LA SUCKS A_S in many ways, some days I wish I was in Iowa bro'....trus 'dat! Link to comment
drewbold Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Ya sometimes its good to be in Iowa 68 in mid february was awesome til it snowed 2 days later Also, the selection at my 1 LFS and Petco are not very good and I don't have many options other than order online. Now I have to figure out my filteration needs and start to make some purchases. I'm thinking a Media basket and fuge set from InTank, but I'm also thinking I need a skimmer. Is there a way to fit all 3 of these in the back while keeping the hood on and not having a sump? From what I have seen, it seems like the Tunze 9002 (ordered without the magnet attached?) and a mediabasket will fit both in the 2nd chamber. Link to comment
msujeff Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 PM replied. The tunze fits with the magnets attached, it's tight but it does fit. I don't think you could do all three using a 9002. Problems arise using the hydor slim skim in chamber one, you have to remove the entire hood to remove the skimmer cup, it cannot slide out of the rear hatch. I'm not sure if the aquaticlife 115 has this same problem. Link to comment
RedStang Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 I just picked up this BC 29 and stand for $75 on craigslist. Such a great deal I couldn't pass it up. The tank was previously set up as a SW tank but has been empty with dried sand at the bottum for a few months. I got all the sand out and i filled it up in the tub, where it currently sits filled with tap water for the leak test which it seems fine. I was thinking this would be a good place to finish cleaning it up. My questions are since the glass is very dirty with old algae. What can I do to clean it besides just scrub? I have heard to use baking soda? and or a vinegar solution of some sort (if so how much)? As I am a noob and this will be my first real SW tank I wasn't sure if either or both of these would be safe to use? Thanks to anyone and everyone that helps, I'm really not sure what to do next. Tagging along! I got my BC29 for $75 too! Got it from a guy that's a member of my local reef club. Looks to be in good shape with a few minor scratches. Like you, I could care less for $75! Anyway, looks like we have some of the same ideas and you're probably a month or two ahead of me so I'll be following your build closely. What are you planning on stocking it with? Good luck! Link to comment
drewbold Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Hey RedStang and Welcome Also, grats on your excellent purchase! Well, Idk about months ahead of you as It has only been running with rock (that needs curing) and sand for a few days now, and am planning on just taking it slow right now. Planning on ordering a bunch of stuff for filtration and everything before any livestock. ATM I dont have a splashguard for my lights and the condensation in the hood with all the feeding doors and back chamber is ridiculous so I don't even have the hood plugged in and I am now venting the tank with those hatches open. Link to comment
drewbold Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 Well it has been about a week since I started curing my live rock so I flipped the lights on and snapped a few pics. The sand I got from my LFS seems to blow around relatively easily if the stock return is pointed anywhere near the bottum half of my tank. Is this normal? I am thinking I should replace the sand with something that wont blow around as easily, heard about that fiji pink sand will that be large enough to not blow around. I ended up with about 18-20 lbs of rock, trying to leave room for colony or 2 of zoa. does this look like enough? I do have access to more old live rock that will need curing, should I pick up more? I am not sure about the scape of my rock. My original thought was to make sure none was touching the back wall so I could maintain it easier, but after some though and looking at more scapes I see most people do use the back wall. Also ordering from InTank tonight, plnning on mediabasket with fliterfloss then purigen in 2 and 3 chemi-pure or chemi pure eliete what is the difference which should i pick up? Any advice or comments welcome Sorry pics are bad I just have my camera phone FTS LTS RTS FTS Link to comment
drewbold Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 My shopping list for tonight or tomrrow. With the chemipure or chemi-pure elite (WHICH ONE SHOULD I GET) and purigen how often do they need to be changed? Should I order multiples so I dont have to pay more shipping later? Is this a good heater or should I chose another? Your Shopping Cart Qty Item # Description Total Price BC29MR Biocube 29 Media Basket Price Each: $55.00 $48.00 $48.00 TNZCUP Standard Upgraded Cup Tunze 9002 Price Each: $45.00 $26.99 $26.99 TI00773 Rio 6HF HyperFlow Pump Price Each: $26.99 $26.99 3PACK VALUE PACK - POLY FILTER FLOSS Price Each: $8.97 $6.97 $27.88 SEA_165 Purigen 100mL in Bag Price Each: $8.99 $8.99 NM1 NanoMag Magnetic Cleaner Price Each: $10.99 $10.99 HYD_P29201 Hydor Koralia Nano 425 Price Each: $39.99 $31.99 $31.99 RF_CT_RFAR Refractometer Price Each: $64.99 $48.99 $48.99 AM00601-15mL Pinponit Calibration Solution 15mL Price Each: $3.99 $3.99 HM36136 Eheim Jager Aquarium Heater, 100 Watt Price Each: $27.99 $27.99 ELITE11OZ Chemi-Pure Elite 11.74 oz Bag Price Each: $13.99 $13.99 Subtotal: $276.79 Link to comment
msujeff Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Elite, it's contains GFO which helps with phosphates I would also think twice about the rio 6hf, it's pretty hit or miss while the maxi-jet 1200 always delivers. I'm in the process of getting a replacement rio since mine was so loud, I had it in there for about 20 min and then switched it out with the mj. Point your return nozzle up towards the surface to help with surface agitation and gas exchange. Edit: Also the refractometer already contains some calibration fluid. Link to comment
drewbold Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hey Jeff Thanks for the reply. Well I had also read the MJ 1200 puts off more heat and as I am already having a problem with condensation in the hood if i dont keep both hatches open that concerned me more than a little bit of extra noise. Also I have the return pointed lower because I have no splashguard at the moment and was getting alot of water in the hood already. Link to comment
msujeff Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Condensation will happen no matter what, I would just keep the hood off till you get the splashguard. I get a lot of condensation and my tank stays at exactly 77.5 The rio sounds like it's broken, "loud" isnt the best way to describe it. Hopefully it works for ya, they're flawless for some. Link to comment
drewbold Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 Thanks again Jeff, I do appreciate your insight I have the splashguard coming in the mail so maybe I will just hit up the MJ1200. I also plan on the 4.6 LED DIY from nanotuners with upgraded fans, so that should help with heat anyways. I have just left the hood on but not plugged in, until I snapped those pics. Speaking of what do you think of the scape do i need more rock? I'm very unsure about it. Also what sand do you think I should order that won't blow around as easily? Link to comment
msujeff Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I would add some more but if you play around with what you have now you could come up with a cool minimalist rock scape. What kind of substrate do you have now? I would put in the powerhead and don't put the output nozzle pointed down and see how it does. Link to comment
drewbold Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 It was caribsea live sand I beileve, I didn't see a size anywhere on it. It was the only thing my LFS had besides crushed coral and freshwater junk. I have about another 16 lbs of live rock in my hand-me-down tank that I could toss some of that in but that will cause a longer cycle too, but thats fine since I haven't even ordered the DIY lights yet so they wouldn't be here for at least a month or more. Thats also why I'm thinking I should switch out the sand now too. Link to comment
msujeff Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 If you go to the caribsea website they have all the sizes listed. I have the caribsea seaflor special and it's pretty good. I find that the smaller grains "sink" to the bottom while the larger pieces rise to the top so it looks a lot more cc then it actually is. I think I'll do a 50/50 of seaflor special and Fiji pink in my next tank. Hopefully NT can catch up with all their orders and the lead times get back to normal. I'm going on 2+ months for my 5.6 order but everything is pointing to shipping next week.... (this has happened before so hopefully I'm right this time) Link to comment
drewbold Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 I hope thats true, you have been waiting a long time for those. That is one of the things kind of holding me back. They said when emailed them there was about a 3 wk delay on current orders. So if I ordered now they would ship in 3 weeks I guess, which would mean I would get them in about a month I think. If I order the fiji pink about 10lbs and just put it on top of what I have already, which is probably close to 8-10 lbs would that be a good idea? Also I still would need to rinse the new pink with RO/DI water right? Link to comment
msujeff Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Receiving it within two months would be a victory in my eyes. Hopefully in the next month everything will be going smoothly and they can kick new orders out within a week or two. I would rinse it with ro/di water then mix it into the substrate that already in there. Since there will already be some good bacteria growing in the substrate that you have right now, creating two layers of substrate could lead to problems. You're going to have a major sand storm no matter how much you rinse it. Running the media basket will some floss will help clear things up faster. Link to comment
yaridong Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Wow, at .75/ gallon thats a steal, after the 25-30 bucks for 50g mix of salt and .50/g for RO/DI water you are saving a good amount. Even after driving (depending on how far) it sounds like it would be totally worth it. STINKIN IOWA! im surprised .75 a gallon is a "steal" i wouldnt pay more than .50 a gallon for either catalina or RO/DI. RO/DI is cheaper too...i think at tongs its .40? i guess southern oc is pretty cheap! Link to comment
drewbold Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 at .50/g for the RO/DI the fish manager gives me a discount, in their system its 1.00 for RO/DI and 1.50 for premixed with salt. Way too expensive and I can't believe people around here pay them that much for it. You dont know how lucky you are Link to comment
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