GravyReef Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 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. Thanks rkum! I used a putty/superglue gel combination, as if I was securing a coral frag to the rock. Once I figured out how I wanted one rock to fit to another rock, I marked the contact points between the two rocks. I made small, marble-sized balls of Waterweld. I put a glob of superglue gel on each ball of putty and attached them, glue side down, to the first rock. Put another glob on each ball of putty, and press the second rock firmly in place. So the connection is rock, superglue, putty, super glue, rock. The putty just provides more surface area for the glue, and once it hardens, the rocks were stuck together pretty well. I planned on using fiberglass rods, but the bond seemed sturdy without them. I think some of the more complex rock formations...with overhanging ledges or spires, for example, would require more putty and fiberglass rods. My scape fit together and was pretty sturdy even before the putty and glue. They just reinforced and solidified the connection. A couple notes: 1. Waterweld might be the most vile smelling stuff I've ever encountered. Wear latex gloves when you're mixing it. 2. For the base rocks that touch the glass bottom of the aquarium, I used a hacksaw to flatten any protruding bumps on the bottom of the rock. This made them much sturdier. Let me know how it works out for you! -Gravy Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Update: The cycle officially starts today. Added a couple small pieces of live rock (1 lb total) : Can see the tiny piece of raw shrimp in the 2nd pic. I also have another 2lb of rubble in the 2nd chamber for now. I'm not sure if this is helpful, but I hope so! I'll remove it towards the end of the cycle to replace with normal media. (Purigen, chemipure). For my ATO, which still isn't working the way I hoped it would...have a question into DA about how their floats work...I put my reservoir in the unfinished part of the basement, with the water tube and power coming through a former cable junction box. ATO is 30 quarts. I'll have to get a picture of how the water gets into the tank later. And now I wait... -Gravy Link to comment
metrokat Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 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. Thanks. So are you cycling with the lights on or off? Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 Thanks.So are you cycling with the lights on or off? I was going to go with "On". The cycling the tank article in the NR library says to leave them on, but that is to limit die off on the live rock. With only two small pieces of live rock in my tank, I've been wavering on which way to go. In the end I decided that I'd risk the extra bad algae growth from lights on the dry rock in order to save the coralline on the 2 small pieces if possible. Another poster on this forum, MedRed, did an "All dry rock, one piece of live rock, and some shrimp" cycle. He appears to have run his lights during his cycle, and it sure worked for him! Any advice appreciated! -Gravy Link to comment
RedStang Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I was going to go with "On". The cycling the tank article in the NR library says to leave them on, but that is to limit die off on the live rock. With only two small pieces of live rock in my tank, I've been wavering on which way to go. In the end I decided that I'd risk the extra bad algae growth from lights on the dry rock in order to save the coralline on the 2 small pieces if possible. Another poster on this forum, MedRed, did an "All dry rock, one piece of live rock, and some shrimp" cycle. He appears to have run his lights during his cycle, and it sure worked for him! Any advice appreciated! -Gravy I ran with my lights on for the first couple of weeks. Turned them off for a week or so, and then back on once the CUC went in. I think the coralline will survive a few weeks without light though. Most stuff is actually pretty hardy IMO. Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Update: Cycling along. Thought I'd play with the test kits: KH: 8.8 dKH Ca: 500ppm+ (tested off the chart twice...) Bad kit? NH4: 0.5-1.0 mg/L NO2: 0.5 mg/L Surprised there is a nitrite reading at all yet. Phosphate: 0.6 ppm (yikes?) All test kits are salifert, except phosphate which is a Hanna tester. Other params: Salinity 1.024 Temp 78o pH 7.75 (low) -Gravy Link to comment
metrokat Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I've always cycled with lights on to preserve the tons of life that came on my uncured rock. You could try running lights for shorter period than normal, say 4 hours to put your mind at ease about the coralline. Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 I've always cycled with lights on to preserve the tons of life that came on my uncured rock. You could try running lights for shorter period than normal, say 4 hours to put your mind at ease about the coralline. I'll probably go with this. Thanks! -Gravy Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 i ran with lights about 3-4 hrs during my cycle to try to keep the coraline that i had on my LR, most of it died off anyways. luckily it has made a resurgence since my tank balanced out and i started doing regular water changes. Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Seems like the modified light cycle is going to be the way to go. Speaking of lights....I'm already starting to look at an LED mod for the tank to replace the stock MH. Heat, bulb replacement, electricity cost, and "clunky-mount-that-gets-in-the-way" being the main reasons. Those DIY LED kits look like fun to put together. Also gives me something to do while the tank is cycling!! Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 Update (Cycle Day 7): NH4: 1.0-2.0 mg/L NO2: 3.0-4.0 mg/L Phosphate: 0.61 ppm Other params: Salinity 1.023 Temp 78o pH 7.82 -Gravy Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 those damn phosphates will lead to the inevitable algae growth. watch that and at the first sign of growth start dropping CUC or chemi-pure elite. i dunno, it worked for me. i still get algae and some diatoms but they never get out of hand. Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 those damn phosphates will lead to the inevitable algae growth. watch that and at the first sign of growth start dropping CUC or chemi-pure elite. i dunno, it worked for me. i still get algae and some diatoms but they never get out of hand. Yep. Was surprised that it registered so high already. Tested very close to the same number 5 days apart though. Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 FTS - 1/13/2012 Not much going on! Actually looking forward to algae.... -Gravy Link to comment
JayPagi Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Such a great scape it has so much potential for coral placement... well done! Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 Such a great scape it has so much potential for coral placement... well done! Thanks very much. Went and read your build thread. Love your tank, and the timelapse video you did was great. I need to spend more time reading through the Pico Forum! Lots of great stuff there! -Gravy Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 Plans: Something to work on while I wait for the tank to cycle. Major Parts List: Heatsink: 6"x9" Black Anodized Aluminum Heatsink LED's: 3UP CREE XT-E Royal Blue XP-G Neutral White Each star combines 1 XP-G Neutral White with 2 XT-E Royal Blue 455nm. I might add 2 additional LED's down the road (Violet). Drivers: 2 x Mean Well ELN-60-48D dimmable drivers Controller: Digital Aquatics ALC I'm debating optics, and will be asking the LED guru's over in the lighting forum for some advice. All this could change! With 40o optics, and the fixture set at 6" above the water level, I get the following spread (sort of, this is the coverage area of each set of 3 LED's showing overlap): Going to be several weeks before I get the LED's....so I have lots of time to work on the design. -Gravy Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 i would shoot a note to milladledgroupbuy and see what he says, i don't know too much about the three ups, he could lead you in the right direction. Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 i would shoot a note to milladledgroupbuy and see what he says, i don't know too much about the three ups, he could lead you in the right direction. I've emailed back and forth with him a couple times about them. I was concerned that they might create too much heat for the heatsink to dissipate, since it's basically 3 LED's crammed into the space of one. He said that with fans on the heatsink I'd be all set. He also told me to scrap the optics, and just go with a clear splash shield since dispersion wasn't going to be an issue. There are some definite benefits to having the 3 leds so close together, with the only drawback being the replacement cost when a single led goes out (replace a $13.50 unit instead of a $3.50 unit). I like the simplicity of them....6 stars vs. 18. Also leaves me more space on the heatsink to possibly add exotics at some point in the future (violet). Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 Updated drawing. No optics, with fans: -Gravy Link to comment
tinkerer Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 you have some made design skills. what do you do those pics with? a cad program? Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 you have some made design skills. what do you do those pics with? a cad program? Thanks Tinkerer. It's Google Sketchup. Pretty intuitive to use, and there are models of many things already built that you can download (I was able to download the fans for example). The heatsink and LED's I drew. I have one last pic, with the light sitting in it's 1/4" black acrylic enclosure: It's a pretty small unit, 9.5"x6.5"x4". I'm going to try to find someone to build the enclosure for me. As a last resort, I'll attempt to build it myself....which could be scary! -Gravy Link to comment
GravyReef Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Update: Water Params at Day 10 NH4: 0-.25 ppm NO2: 4+ ppm NO3: 50+ ppm (!!) Salinity: 1.023 Temp: 78o pH: 7.77 No diatom bloom, no green algae....yet. -Gravy Link to comment
RedStang Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Update: Water Params at Day 10 NH4: 0-.25 ppm NO2: 4+ ppm NO3: 50+ ppm (!!) Salinity: 1.023 Temp: 78o pH: 7.77 No diatom bloom, no green algae....yet. -Gravy Cruising along! I'd be tempted to do a WC even though trites and ammonia aren't zero yet. 50ppm trates is high! Link to comment
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