[Biocube 29 hqi] GravyReef's Build Thread

[metrokat]

Cable management behind the tank. I hate (hate, hate) visible cables. Trying to figure out a good system for tucking the cables away that still leaves them easily accessible.

 

^^ this

[GravyReef]

Update:

 

Bulkhead on RO/DI holding tank is fixed. Also replaced the original spigot with a ball valve for faster flow.

 

 

 

For cable management, browsing HD yesterday came up with this. Painted black, they'll mount to the back of the tank and stand. They won't keep the cables completely covered, but they will keep them flat against the back, and can be easily opened/closed.

 

 

 

Work continues on the *drawer* to hold electronics and cable slack. (Drawer slides removed for painting) First coat of stain is on. The front angled plate will hold the RKL and Vortech controllers, the upper level in the back will have the PC4's and SL1, and the lower level will be a somewhat organized rat's nest of rolled up power cables...

 

 

 

Currently shooting for water-in-the-tank tomorrow.

 

Major To-Do's

• Second coat of stain on Drawer, Second coat of paint on wire-concealers
  
• Hook up electronics and program RKL
  
• Make Saltwater (28 gallons of ro/di on hand)
  
• Clean and rinse sand
  
• Transfer scape from desk to tank!
  

 

Still looking into's

• How to best attach LED's to the MH lamp casing
  
• How to setup ATO. The other side of the wall that the tank is being installed against is an unfinished portion of the basement. I think I'm going to put my reservoir back there and run the wire/tube through a junction box.
  
• MJ1200 vs. NJ900. I have both, I think it's going to come down to flow vs. heat but I won't know until tank is up and running. Going to start with the NJ900.
  

[GravyReef]

Update:

 

Water in the tank late last night, still cloudy this morning. Excuse the droid phone pics:

 

 

 

The rock looks much, much bigger in the tank than it did on my desk! The top of the arch is about 1.5" from the surface. Not sure if I need to raise the light a bit. Any advice/suggestions appreciated.

 

One positive aspect of the cloudy tank is that you can't see the heater that's currently in the back left corner of the display tank! The 2 50w's are supposed to arrive midweek and will be going in chamber 3.

 

The skimmer was noisy at first, but has quieted down quite a bit. I'm not really sure what it's supposed to look like at this point...any thoughts?

 

 

My cord management project didn't go as planned. Frustrating day of working in a confined space. I've just about had enough of twist-ties, velcro, and cable-ties!! Going to redo it next weekend.

 

-Gravy

[GravyReef]

Water has cleared considerably as of this morning. Slight film (from sand?) on inside of tank comes off slowly with nanomag.

 

Skimmer is still producing a ton of bubbles. I saw in another thread that waterweld will make skimmers go crazy, and I used it to help build my rockscape...maybe that's the cause. I have the air valve dialed back to almost closed.

 

Adding 1lb live rock today or tomorrow, depending on LFS being open today. Might throw 1/2 a shrimp in there too.

 

 

Water params:

78^o F

SG: 1.024

ph: 7.78

 

Pic without lights:

 

 

-Gravy

[db366]

Water has cleared considerably as of this morning. Slight film (from sand?) on inside of tank comes off slowly with nanomag.

 

Skimmer is still producing a ton of bubbles. I saw in another thread that waterweld will make skimmers go crazy, and I used it to help build my rockscape...maybe that's the cause. I have the air valve dialed back to almost closed.

 

Adding 1lb live rock today or tomorrow, depending on LFS being open today. Might throw 1/2 a shrimp in there too.

 

 

Water params:

78^o F

SG: 1.024

ph: 7.78

 

Pic without lights:

 

 

-Gravy

 

Looks to be coming along very nicely. Really am liking the aquascape.

[RedStang]

Things are looking good! I Like the scape as well. Skimmer looks like it's bubbling correctly.

 

One tip, use an old shower curtain on the floor when working on the tank and lay the towel above it. Trust me, sometimes more water comes out than the towel is equipped to handle .

[GravyReef]

Looks to be coming along very nicely. Really am liking the aquascape.

 

Thanks very much db366!

 

 

Things are looking good! I Like the scape as well. Skimmer looks like it's bubbling correctly.

 

One tip, use an old shower curtain on the floor when working on the tank and lay the towel above it. Trust me, sometimes more water comes out than the towel is equipped to handle .

 

Thanks RedStang. Good tip on the shower curtain! I'd set the towel there while putting the rock/sand/water in the tank and haven't moved it yet...it probably wouldn't have been much help if I'd spilled more than a drop or two, would it!?

 

Lights came on (now that tank has water in it, and I have 4-6 weeks to wait, time to start working on some photography skills...yikes!):

 

Front:

 

From left (100w jager headed out on Wed. 2x 50w hydors going in Chamber 3. This jager going to QT)

 

From right (still uncertain of placement of mp10)

 

 

It really doesn't look as blue as that. And the lights + ripple from the mp10 = a really pleasant "shimmer" on the rocks and sand that doesn't come through in a snapshot. Time to start playing with a real camera...

 

Thanks again for the responses you two!

 

-Gravy

[iball1804]

Lovin' the scape Mr! Great start.

[tinkerer]

damn, how did i miss this? looks good and way to go all out with the water room, that is awesome. turn off the skimmer during the cycle, it will just take longer since there will be less "stuff" to cycle with. very nice, very nice.

[GravyReef]

Lovin' the scape Mr! Great start.

 

Thanks iball!

 

damn, how did i miss this? looks good and way to go all out with the water room, that is awesome. turn off the skimmer during the cycle, it will just take longer since there will be less "stuff" to cycle with. very nice, very nice.

 

Thanks very much tinkerer. The water room is overkill for the 29g, but will be great down the road (heh, I haven't got one small tank up and running, and I'm already thinking expansion...I'm an idiot!). Thanks for the advice on the skimmer. There seem to be different opinions on whether or not to run it during initial cycle, though most people that recommend keeping it on are cycling with live rock. I've had it on more out of curiousity than any benefit it would provide. It probably does make sense to have it off.

 

-Gravy

[iball1804]

Hmmm... what are your stocking thoughts?

[tinkerer]

Thanks very much tinkerer. The water room is overkill for the 29g, but will be great down the road (heh, I haven't got one small tank up and running, and I'm already thinking expansion...I'm an idiot!). Thanks for the advice on the skimmer. There seem to be different opinions on whether or not to run it during initial cycle, though most people that recommend keeping it on are cycling with live rock. I've had it on more out of curiousity than any benefit it would provide. It probably does make sense to have it off.

 

-Gravy

 

you're not crazy, i have been looking at tanks way bigger than i have room for right now. my wife and i are planning on being in the house market in the next year and tank/equipment space will be a factor. i am jealous of the setup you have.

[GravyReef]

Hmmm... what are your stocking thoughts?

Well, I've narrowed down the list of possible fish to about 20. I've got more work to do there...

 

All the favorites are on the list...but one fish I liked that looks interesting and is a bit different is Tanaka's Pygmy Wrasse.

 

For coral, just about anything goes. Zoas, Ricordea, and eventually Acropora will probably be the bulk of it, but I'd like a lot of variety (color especially, as well as shape/size).

 

you're not crazy, i have been looking at tanks way bigger than i have room for right now. my wife and i are planning on being in the house market in the next year and tank/equipment space will be a factor. i am jealous of the setup you have.

 

I've already started to plant the seed with mine...she's not quite onboard at this point!! Right above the unfinished part of the basement is our Living room, which never gets used. It has a perfect wall for a tank, and all the plumbing could be in the basement within 10' of that water room area. The tank could be any size up through 300g (with appropriate strengthening of the joists, etc.). Who knows... Good luck on the house hunting. Good time to be buying!

 

-Gravy

[metrokat]

That scape is amazing!

[cberglof]

Jealous of the scape. Looks good.

[RedStang]

Thanks iball!

 

 

 

Thanks very much tinkerer. The water room is overkill for the 29g, but will be great down the road (heh, I haven't got one small tank up and running, and I'm already thinking expansion...I'm an idiot!). Thanks for the advice on the skimmer. There seem to be different opinions on whether or not to run it during initial cycle, though most people that recommend keeping it on are cycling with live rock. I've had it on more out of curiousity than any benefit it would provide. It probably does make sense to have it off.

 

-Gravy

 

I started planning an upgrade before I had the first fish in too. Like you I have a great area in the basement for a fish room right below a perfect spot for a large tank. Wife's on board with the idea but not the cost. She'll come around though. She liked the idea of a huge tank with primarily small fish as we could get more fish.

 

Also, it may be best to put the MP10 on the left side when facing the front as that way it is "pushing" water towards the over flow. I think this is recommended in their full blown manual. Not sure if it's listed in the quick start guide they send with the pump.

[GravyReef]

That scape is amazing!

 

Thanks Kat. Coming from you...(straw models? Waking up at 3am to look at your tank and imagine moving rocks around? etc.) ...that means a lot! One of the nice things about dry rock was being able to spread the various rocks out and mix/match them for as long as I wanted. It was fun, and I'm happy with the results.

 

I've been reading through your first tank thread before starting on your new (congrats!) tank thread. After seeing your RSM, I'm a bit jealous I didn't look into it more before going with the BC29.

 

Jealous of the scape. Looks good.

 

Thanks very much cberglof!

[GravyReef]

I started planning an upgrade before I had the first fish in too. Like you I have a great area in the basement for a fish room right below a perfect spot for a large tank. Wife's on board with the idea but not the cost. She'll come around though. She liked the idea of a huge tank with primarily small fish as we could get more fish.

 

Also, it may be best to put the MP10 on the left side when facing the front as that way it is "pushing" water towards the over flow. I think this is recommended in their full blown manual. Not sure if it's listed in the quick start guide they send with the pump.

 

Sooo, that's a great point you bring up about the MP10 placement. Another possible negative to placement on the right side: It might go against, and possibly counteract to some extent, the flow from the return pump. Here's my thinking on leaving it on the right side, at least temporarily. I could be totally off base, please let me know what you think:

 

I've got the rockscape 2" off the back wall so that water can flow behind there to get to the overflow. The mp10 pushes water across the front of the tank and the return pushes it behind the rock to the overflow, creating a clockwise whirlpool effect (I hope). Also, for purely aesthetic reasons, when you walk into my office, you're looking at the left side of the tank...the right side faces the far wall....it's nice to see an unobstructed view when I, or someone else, first sees the tank.

 

Obviously, function will eventually win out over form if the current set up isn't doing the job.

 

Thanks very much for your comments!

 

-Gravy

[RedStang]

Sooo, that's a great point you bring up about the MP10 placement. Another possible negative to placement on the right side: It might go against, and possibly counteract to some extent, the flow from the return pump. Here's my thinking on leaving it on the right side, at least temporarily. I could be totally off base, please let me know what you think:

 

I've got the rockscape 2" off the back wall so that water can flow behind there to get to the overflow. The mp10 pushes water across the front of the tank and the return pushes it behind the rock to the overflow, creating a clockwise whirlpool effect (I hope). Also, for purely aesthetic reasons, when you walk into my office, you're looking at the left side of the tank...the right side faces the far wall....it's nice to see an unobstructed view when I, or someone else, first sees the tank.

 

Obviously, function will eventually win out over form if the current set up isn't doing the job.

 

Thanks very much for your comments!

 

-Gravy

 

If you're happy with it, leave it! I can't imagine it makes that much of a difference anyway. Like you I left space behind the rock work and with the MP10 you WILL get flow back there. As for the return flow. I can't imagine that turbulent flow is a bad thing vs the laminar. So feel free to point your return in a way that it crosses and mixes with your MP10 flow.

[GravyReef]

Update:

 

Heaters arrived yesterday, so I swapped the Jager 100w out and put the 2xHydor 50w into chamber 3.

 

Chamber 3 now contains:

 

RKL ATO switches (2)

Return Pump - Marineland NJ900

Heaters - Hydor 50w (2)

RKL Temp Probe

RKL pH Probe

 

Wow, it's crowded in there!

 

The doser pump for my ATO also arrived, so I set that up as well.

 

The goal was:

When switch 1 hits it's low point, a timer would start that would pump water for 5 minutes, then shut off for 25 minutes, and repeat until switch 1 hits it's high point. The pump will pump about 32oz. in 5 minutes. I will probably switch this to 1 minute on, 10 minutes off or something.

Switch 2 is an alarm. If, for whatever reason, switch 1 doesn't turn the pump off, this will force it off.

 

I'm not sure it's working correctly at this point....will have to do some testing.

 

I'll also post some pictures when I get a chance.

 

 

Went to a LFS to pick up some live rock to seed....didn't like the looks of it, plus it was expensive. Ordered from premium aquatics instead. Expensive shipping, but $6 a pound cheaper.

 

I talked with them, and will be getting small pieces, rubble, golfball sized...I was thinking of putting one or two of the larger pieces in the tank, and putting the rest in a bag (for easy removal) in chamber 2...which isn't being used for anything but floss in one of inTanks' media baskets at this point. Thoughts?

 

-Gravy

[tinkerer]

i started out with 90% dry rock, i spent the first week with water in my tank digging through every LFS live rock tank to find the pieces i wanted. i probably spent more in gas than the experience was worth, but i am happy so far.

[RedStang]

I got my LR from a LFS that was going out of business and am lucky that they had a few nice pieces. It only takes a very small amount to seed the rest. Just take it slow and give it time.

[GravyReef]

i started out with 90% dry rock, i spent the first week with water in my tank digging through every LFS live rock tank to find the pieces i wanted. i probably spent more in gas than the experience was worth, but i am happy so far.

 

 

I got my LR from a LFS that was going out of business and am lucky that they had a few nice pieces. It only takes a very small amount to seed the rest. Just take it slow and give it time.

 

Thanks guys. Heading out to pick up the rock from UPS this morning. Anxious to see what it looks like. I'll get some pictures posted soon.

 

-Gravy

[RedStang]

Thanks guys. Heading out to pick up the rock from UPS this morning. Anxious to see what it looks like. I'll get some pictures posted soon.

 

-Gravy

Sweet!

[rkum19]

Thanks for the response gmod!

 

I removed one of the rocks in the front. It does make it more open. I like the flat area left by the other rock. Hoping once this is in the tank, with the bottom 2" buried in sand, it will look a bit more natural.

 

 

I really like your rock scape. I will be doing something similar to my biocube. How do you combine and secure your rocks together with putty, floss, etc ?

 

BTW great work all together, your design and execution is inspiring.