Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 FTS: 9-28-11 Equipment: Mr. Aqua 18"x18"x18" 25 gallon rimless tank (drilled for 2 overflows, and one return line) Aquamedic 150W metal halide Ehime Jager 100W Heater MP10 ES Pondmaster Mag5 return pump Reef Octopus 4 skimmer Tunze Osmolator ATO BRS carbon and GFO reactor (used for carbon and biopellets) Rubbermaid bin (used as sump) Clean up crew: 3 hermits 10 Astrea snails 5 Margarita snails 6 Nassarius snails Livestock: Vertebrates: (2) Ocellaris Clownfish (1) Mccoskers flasher wrasse Invertebrates: (1) "Skunk" Cleaner shrimp (1) Mithrax emerald crab Corals: SPS: Tri-color Valida*NEW* Pink Millepora Brown Millepora Rainbow Montipora*NEW* Orange Montipora Capricornis Green Montipora Capricornis LPS: Hollywood Stunner Chalice Blue Chalice (ORA?) Green purple and green Trachyphyllia Blue and Red Acanthastrea Lordhowensis Pink Alveopora Softies: Blue Kiss Zoanthids Radioactive dragon eye Zoanthids Unknown green paly-like polyp with white speckles on stalks Tank Spec's: 5-10Lbs of BRS Eco-saver rock in display 20-25Lbs of fiji live rock (in sump) 3" of live sand 30 gallons total water volume Parameters(Salifert tests and marine depot refractometer): Temp: 80-95F/26-35C Salinity: Constant .026 specific gravity Ca: 420ppm KH: 8 PH: 8.1 No3: 0 ppm Po4: 0 ppm Additives: Microbacter 7 added daily to maintain a good population of good bacteria KZ coral snow added daily B-ionic is used to maintain Ca and Alk Purple Up to help keep Mag from depleting and to maintain Ca as well Kent's Tech-M for magnesium Husbandry: Parameters tested about 2 times a month and adjusted accordingly. Skimmer cup is emptied once a week, and powerheads are cleaned about once every 2 weeks when needed. Link to comment
Braxis Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Nice! I like the very simple look of the tank and stand gives it a very classy look. I hope your starfish recovers and welcome to the forum. Link to comment
SneekaPeek Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 looks good so far keep it up Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 Edit: Adding fist post here to make the first post full of regularly updated info. So after my petco 10G broke on me (cracked on the bottom, go figure), Ive decided to stop lurking and document my reef nano reef adventures. So i figured I'd start with some photos of my old setup. the percs (sorry for the bad quality on some of these, I'm still getting used to using my iphone for tank shots) the cleaner my fake flowerpot baby carpet nem green polyp birdsnest orange monti cap green tip torch and the acan lords and a full tank shot Theres also a chocolate chip star I've been keeping in my sump/refuge a 18G rubbermaid bin, it got chopped in half during my hasty removal of live rock from the display(as well as the rest of my livestock), so we'll see if he lasts. now for the build, so far I've build a cabinet roughly 18.5" squared by 40" tall, built from 2X4 and plywood, nothin fancy. Some build pics(sorry for the bad lighting, but I had to do stain it in a carpet-less bathroom to keep the finish from gathering dust) built and ready to stain and stained after a couple days of staining I drilled my tank, and plumed everything for a night long leak test this shot shows the frosting I applied to the back of the tank well this one gives a good feel of the stand color So thats how far I've gotten in a week, currently I'm thinking about how I'm going to mount my ecoray 60D above the tank. I'm thinking about bending a piece of stainless steel and powder coating it so to keep oxidation to a minimum, and using the provided pendant cables. Also on the to do list, is find a 10 gallon Brute trash bin to serve as a temporary sump and or refuge till i have the time and money to build a custom acrylic piece, and finding a suitable power head to create enough flow in the tank. I feel like my koralia nano just isn't gonna be enough with almost 3 times the water volume. Anyways let me know what you guys think, If all goes well you should see live stock in the tank by the end of next week. Thanks for the kind words guys. I've run into a setback today, my Ecoray 60D took a dump in some SW and one of the drivers fried But there's a silver lining, After some research I think I may replace both drivers with dimmable ones and eventually either buy or build a programmable dimming controller that works much like the unit for the AI Sol Blue's controller dose. If anyone has any information on such a controller that uses PWM (Pulse Width Modulation), it would be much appreciated. Untill then I'll just have to familiarize myself with the search Link to comment
GOODgREEF Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 nice tank, is the water level crooked? Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 nice tank, is the water level crooked? Lol yea, I did the freshwater leak test without leveling the tank, as of now I have leveled the tank and am currently warming up the new RO/DI SW so I can add the livestock tomorrow. Pic's are to come. Link to comment
Dasani Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 wow.... My xbox live gt is Rab1d Gerbil haha. Nice tank btw Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 wow....My xbox live gt is Rab1d Gerbil haha. Nice tank btw Haha thanks, and good thing I only got a ps3 or we might'v had a problem Link to comment
Blackworm Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 That's not a bad setup at all. I like your aquascaping, it's a little different from what a lot of tanks (including mine) go with, but it certainly works visually. I can see the birdsnest filling out nicely too. How's the lighting working out with everything so close to the bottom though? Also digging the cabinet, nothing like a dark stain on wood. No clue on the driver. Noob is me. Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 That's not a bad setup at all. I like your aquascaping, it's a little different from what a lot of tanks (including mine) go with, but it certainly works visually. I can see the birdsnest filling out nicely too. How's the lighting working out with everything so close to the bottom though? Also digging the cabinet, nothing like a dark stain on wood. No clue on the driver. Noob is me. I'm assuming your talking about the FTS of my previous setup, the corals were doing spectacularly the way I had them. Depth really wasn't an issue since my tank was only a foot deep and my 60 watt led array was giving about as much light as from a 250w MH. with this new setup however I'm probably going to have to be more conscious of my placement. The birdsnest has grown spectacularly over the past month, however it had a tangle with my carpet nem not to long ago but seems to be recovering. I'll post some shot later to show the tissue and color loss. Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 14, 2011 Author Share Posted March 14, 2011 Well I would have updated earlier, however school and work have been taking up more time than they usually do lately. now that I've got a minute though ill give an update of the tank. So the tanks been up and running with live stock for about a week now. I've got an old PC fixture I've been using to light the tank while I've been working on the LED fixture. So here are a few shots of my current aqua scape, let me know what ya think (sorry for the dirty glass and lower quality pictures) Front FTS Right FTS Left FTS Acan's Avelopora Euphyllia Stichodactyla haddoni (On the move) Now for my biggest problem as of yet. My monti cap and Birds nest are both looking blue, and both are having issues with bacterial growth. The birdsnest is an issue I've been battling since the nem and it had a tangle, but the monti is showing a large bleached patch and what looks like cyano growth on its dead spots.. monti cap As you can see the dark purplish area is the problematic area, I believe when I had everything in the rubber maid tub the light from my LED's was overpowering and started this tissue necrosis. As for the birds nest there has been accelerated tissue discoloration from its stay in the blue bin. Again I believe this is from having to much light while in the holding tank. green polyp brown tissue birds nest You'll see it has good polyp extension, and no real loss of polyps. So I believe the real issue was having to much light, which I've been told can have such an effect on this type of sps. Current water parameters: PH: 8.0 (thinking of raising .2 as I've been told it can be beneficial for my monti's condition) Kh: 9 Cal: 420ppm PO4: 0 NO-3:0 Ive been having an issue with Diatoms in high flow areas, and this is what I believe is growing on my birds nest as well. I'm thinking my silicate may be high? I really cant understand why I've been having so much trouble with bacteria, especially with cheato in my refuge and 3 power heads keeping deterius out of the rock work. If anyone has any ideas I'd be more than glad to hear 'em. Link to comment
aaron1987 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Really like the rimless look, you've got a nice start. If you don't mind me asking, what are the dimension on the tank and where is it from? Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 14, 2011 Author Share Posted March 14, 2011 Thanks aaron, it's a standard mr. Aqua 18"^3, the O.D. Is about 18-1/4"^2. I got it from a local LFS called aquatic warehouse. If your not near the greater SD area you can get 'em online at marine depot. Link to comment
aaron1987 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 How is the build quality of the aquarium (seam cleanliness, glass overlap, etc)? I hadn't heard of Mr. Aqua before but I'm rather liking the looks of their 24x18x18... Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 14, 2011 Author Share Posted March 14, 2011 Lol I just replied to the other thread where you were asking as well, but I like the quality. I got the regular iron glass, and unless your looking at the edge you can't really tell a difference. The silicone was a little sloppy though(about 1/16" extra on the insides), I just used a razor blade to clean up the sides and left the bottom since I'm using sand. The overall squareness of the tank in 99% perfect, however one pane is tilted ever so slightly(I couldn't tell visually, but knowticed when I was taking measurements for the stand). For the price I feel like its a great deal, and I'd definitely buy again. If you absolutely need low iron glass you should check out ADA tanks, I dono if they do that size for sure but it's worth a look. Though the price is mighty steep on those. Link to comment
aaron1987 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Wow. Bonus points for not just copying and pasting your reply from the other thread here Unfortunately ADA doesn't make the 24x18x18" tank or I'd have pulled the trigger already. If I opt for a 24 cube though their 18" square will most likely be what I pick up. Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 14, 2011 Author Share Posted March 14, 2011 Haha yea, well I gotta kill time in English class some how I know you can get low iron 18" cubes from mr aqua, so if you go that rout you can get that crystal clear glass. Good luck to you. PS: I envy your column, it looks amazing! Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 So I've been working on the lighting for a few weeks now and I finally have something worth posting about I've also acquired some new live rock, and re-aquascaped since my last post. also on the list of additions are 2 new fish, a purple dottyback (unknown sex, if anyone could inform me on how to tell it would me most appreciated), and a Lyretail Anthia (Female). so far the Anthia has been extremely shy hiding away during the days, and exploring a little at night. The dottyback on the other hand seemed at home in my tank in less than an hour. Now to the pictures A few shots of my entire setup and the new lighting fixture: The bluer shots are with full power from both cool white and royal blue LED's, the yellower are about half RB and full CW Now some tank shots (Everything's closed up because i had just finished gluing them down) and a couple shots of the new inhabitants (This is the best shot I could get of the Anthia since she likes to hide in the lower right during the day) (the dottybacks magenta color dosent seem to come through with my lame iphone camera) Link to comment
zma21 Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Nice to see another Mr. Aqua cube owner. These are 25 gallons, by the way. Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 I have also been starting a Carbon dosing regimen with MB7 as of last Saturday, right now nitrates are about 15 and PO4 is unreadable with my API test. I'm really hoping this will help to control the formation of a brown slimy/stringy substance in high flow area's (my research points to dino's, though no sails seem to be affected as of yet) If anyone knows anything about this stuff I'd love to hear it as it doesn't seem to be going away, and is growing on my corals which really has me worried. Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Nice to see another Mr. Aqua cube owner. These are 25 gallons, by the way. Glad to be one, and yea your right they are 25gallon. Since I leave about an inch without water on the top it ends up being about 24 gallons in the display, hence the title. Not like it really matters Link to comment
Rabidgerbil38 Posted April 8, 2011 Author Share Posted April 8, 2011 Got some new frags from a local reefer, a colony of zoanthid's, and a colony of pink Acropora Millepora? At least thats what it looks like to me. This will be my first attempt of keeping a species of Acro and a first for trying to keep soft coral (though I'm a little less worried to keep the zoa's happy.) I also found an old point and shoot Panasonic to shoot pictures with. Its not much better than the iPhone since i still cant manualy focus, but its better none the less. so here are more shots: P1000731 by theAsteroidBlues, on Flickr P1000722 by theAsteroidBlues, on Flickr P1000723 by theAsteroidBlues, on Flickr P1000719 by theAsteroidBlues, on Flickr P1000718 by theAsteroidBlues, on Flickr P1000716 by theAsteroidBlues, on Flickr P1000714 by theAsteroidBlues, on Flickr P1000715 by theAsteroidBlues, on Flickr Link to comment
fote03 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Any pictures of your sump? Tank looks good! Link to comment
Arkayology Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 How is that little carpet doing? Link to comment
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