Deputy_Pooh Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 I did this before making the switch. The LED's are actually a bit cooler than the CFL's on my BC29. Where my tank is currently though there is no airflow, it's in like a dead zone, so the heat just kind of sits there, so I leave my lid cracked open. Keeps me around 79-81 in my tank. I just ordered my JBJ ATO, I now need to go get a pump. What would you recommend? Similar set up to yours, the resi will be on the bottom pumping up to the tank. Go with the aqualifter pump. Best $11 investment I have spent in awhile. It pumps slow but its hasn't failed in the month its been running. I'm using a 29 gallon stand for my 14 which means i have space on the tank stand. My pump sits behind my tank for the purpose of having it closer to the tank for less strain on the pump. I initally had it on the top shelf inside the stand and it still worked fine. I moved it up bc I wasn't comfortable with the pump being near my electrical wiring. I can post pic if u want. Just let me kno. Ive add some new corals to the tank. A red cap and a branch of 5 baby candy canes. Iphone pics suck Link to comment
smai-tai Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Go with the aqualifter pump. Best $11 investment I have spent in awhile. It pumps slow but its hasn't failed in the month its been running. I'm using a 29 gallon stand for my 14 which means i have space on the tank stand. My pump sits behind my tank for the purpose of having it closer to the tank for less strain on the pump.I initally had it on the top shelf inside the stand and it still worked fine. I moved it up bc I wasn't comfortable with the pump being near my electrical wiring. I can post pic if u want. Just let me kno. Ive add some new corals to the tank. A red cap and a branch of 5 baby candy canes. Iphone pics suck Perfect! Yea, I just want to make sure I do it right. It will be my first ATO system and I don't want to experience a flood, had a few of those when I first got into this "hobby". I heard that when using say a MJ900 or something the pump stays on for a bit after the ATO shuts off. Have you heard of this? That got me all worried about getting a MJ. But I have heard good things about the aqualifter, as well as bad of course. But for $11-$15 for one, it's worth a shot. A pic would be great. I am still not sure how they work exactly. But I will just have to get one and find out. And the tank looks great! Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 I've heard issues with all sorts of pumps. A strong pump pushes too much. A slow pump doesn't come on or it isnt strong enough. I placed a timer on my JBJ ATO for safety purposes. Its on for 45mins and off for 15min every hr. No issues so far. Looking at my tank you will not see any lose tubes unless you go from the side then you will see one clear hard airline tube. This is the same size tube that i have on my RO/DI unit. However, I will eventually switch to black tubing for a more uniform look since I know the pump is working properly. I chose hard vinyl tubing so the tube will not crease. Tubing cost $3 from home depot. timer was cheap as well from there.. under $10. This is the aqualifter pump. Extremely quiet and works great. The red section where the hose are connected has two arrows on the pump, indicating which hose is for pulling the water and pushing the water..Very easy to figure out. The tube is stopped at the top of my return hose to my tank. I bought a 6 quart container from walmrt for $5. I drilled a hole in the top for my hose to fit in..I used a maxijet suction cup to secure the hose to the bottom of my container so it doesn't float.. Hope this helps and gives you confidence in the aqualifter. Link to comment
colormyheart Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 That wud be great Pm sent.. Also I've never had a hood on this tank. Wut was the temp your tank stayed at with the hood attached. I really dont want my tank to go above 79. It stays at a consistent 78 with the open top and a mh. My house stays around 76-77. My tank was usually at 78-79 degrees. When it rises to 80 I would open the lid and it would go back down immediately. But for the most part, it consistently stayed at 79. Let me get to my inbox, I will PM you shortly. Link to comment
NickCage Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I just started reading this post, i also run a cube14, w some leds and corals, i cant figure out how to upload pics from an iphone. How are you doing it? Also this pump and container are confusing me. Did you just build a giant fuge/sump? I have the same type setup, meaning my tanks on a workbench with the underside hidden, i wanted to do this, but was affraid i would need 2 pumps, or it would not be the same exchange. This is nice. Never heard of the pump. Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 I just started reading this post, i also run a cube14, w some leds and corals, i cant figure out how to upload pics from an iphone. How are you doing it? Also this pump and container are confusing me. Did you just build a giant fuge/sump? I have the same type setup, meaning my tanks on a workbench with the underside hidden, i wanted to do this, but was affraid i would need 2 pumps, or it would not be the same exchange. This is nice. Never heard of the pump. no sump. That container you see is just my reservior for my ATO. I wish i was crafty enough to drill my tank and establish a sump. I use photobucket to host my pics. From there, I just copy the image address to upload it to nano reef. The pump is Tom's aqualifter. Not many visual reviews, but you can find some on youtube. Its mainly used for top offs or dosing. It creates a slow dripping action when on.. but for a BC14 it works perfect. When it tops off my tank, its only on for about 20 secs. It may top off a couple times through out the day, but its not on for long periods at all.. I love it, and I will buy another one if I ever have problems with it down the road. Link to comment
SiLkk Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Nice setup and the tank is coming along nicely Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 Nice setup and the tank is coming along nicely Thanks..I just wish it was cheaper Next upgrade is a mp10 whenever I find a decent price. I also want to switch to LEDs. But I dont think I'm going to be doing that anytime soon. Link to comment
smai-tai Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I've heard issues with all sorts of pumps. A strong pump pushes too much. A slow pump doesn't come on or it isnt strong enough. I placed a timer on my JBJ ATO for safety purposes. Its on for 45mins and off for 15min every hr. No issues so far. Looking at my tank you will not see any lose tubes unless you go from the side then you will see one clear hard airline tube. This is the same size tube that i have on my RO/DI unit. However, I will eventually switch to black tubing for a more uniform look since I know the pump is working properly. I chose hard vinyl tubing so the tube will not crease. Tubing cost $3 from home depot. timer was cheap as well from there.. under $10. This is the aqualifter pump. Extremely quiet and works great. The red section where the hose are connected has two arrows on the pump, indicating which hose is for pulling the water and pushing the water..Very easy to figure out. The tube is stopped at the top of my return hose to my tank. I bought a 6 quart container from walmrt for $5. I drilled a hole in the top for my hose to fit in..I used a maxijet suction cup to secure the hose to the bottom of my container so it doesn't float.. Hope this helps and gives you confidence in the aqualifter. Awesome!! Thanks for the pics and detailed description. I am def going with a very similar set up from what you have. Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Tested my water today... Ph - 7.8 Ammonia - 0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 5-10 I will cut back on the feeding and also do a half gallon more on my water change. Link to comment
Maddevil1 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Looks great! I like the scape. I need to remove some rocks from my tank to make it more simple. Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Looks great! I like the scape. I need to remove some rocks from my tank to make it more simple. I'm thinking about doing a retro LED setup in the hood. I think I will need a chiller if I put the top on. Are you happy with ur setup, bc I can't decide on spending between $5-600 on the retro kit and chiller to give a more uniform look or shud I get The AI nano fixture for $374? Link to comment
czdiver Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I bought the 425 but was thinking it might be too much flow for a 14 gal. biocube and was thinking of exchanging it for the 240. Also wondering where you got your live rock from. I got mine from Live Rock Ranch which cultures theirs off the coast of Florida. Was very disappointed in the lack of color. Yours has a lot of color. Also, was reading in my Nano-Reef Handbook that test kits can go bad and may not give accurate readings after a couple of years. You might want to think about getting a new one......although everything seems to be looking great! Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 I bought the 425 but was thinking it might be too much flow for a 14 gal. biocube and was thinking of exchanging it for the 240. Also wondering where you got your live rock from. I got mine from Live Rock Ranch which cultures theirs off the coast of Florida. Was very disappointed in the lack of color. Yours has a lot of color. Also, was reading in my Nano-Reef Handbook that test kits can go bad and may not give accurate readings after a couple of years. You might want to think about getting a new one......although everything seems to be looking great! I've been running saltwater tanks for about 6 years now and I end up swapping out tanks every so often. Thats how my live rocks seem to have good growth for a newer setup... I was told the same thing about my test kit. Maybe I shud replace them. But I do get different readings on my levels, so that kinda makes me believe it is still working and the fact that the livestock are doing well...The 425 powerhead with the maxi-jet is very powerful, but I dont think its overkill tho.. I'm buying a mp10 whenever I get my hands on one. Thank you for following.. Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 So over the month that my cube has been running, I've notice that my LE meteor shower has not been looking happy week after week. So I decided to place him back in my 75 gallon where he was once showing tremendous growth.. His replacement is a colorful polyp that I found at a LFS nearby. I also lowered my MH fixture from 8 inches to 5 inches above my tank.. I hope this is a beneficial move to my reef inhabitants. Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 Random shot of my cube. I love this angle for some reason... Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Just received 3 recuse frags from a lfs for $20. 2 acans, and a ricordea. I will post pics shortly. All 3 are placed on the sand bed bc I was advised that they require low light. I feed the cube today and I noticed the tentacles coming out from the acans, so I assume thats a sign of hope. Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 So I came home and noticed my aquascape has been shifted due to my active pistol shrimp. So my question is : what is the best way to prevent an rock avalanche in my tank? Shud I take everything out and place the rock on the tanks floor and wrap the sand around the rocks? Will this prevent the issue bc when I first did the aquascape, I layed the rocks ontop of the sand.. Will this raise my nitrates bc some sand will be stirred up but my tank is only a month old.. Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Wow, pretty sad that i cudnt get any advise from local hobbyist. I ended up rescapeing layout. Stirred up alot of sand in doing so, but everyone survived and I'm about to do a 40% water change to attempt to drop any risen water parameters.. Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Its official. .. Hopefully I will never have to buy another bulb for the life of my cube. I'm really going to purchase a camera this year. Iphone pics suck.. My ricordia, and two acan's. Got a deal: 3 for $20. They were about to die. Hopefully I can save them. Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Here's a video of my YWG and pistol shrimp being themselves... Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXyTfZzF9xU Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Video link to my cube running with the unibody LEDs.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNgAou2n_qg...be_gdata_player Link to comment
HVani Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I like that light a lot. Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 Full FTS.. Link to comment
Deputy_Pooh Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 The LED's have decreased my tank temp by 2 degrees.. Was running at 79.ish with open top. Now i'm at 77.ish.. nice and cool, just the way I like it.. Coral update: besides the better color upgrade, my corals are responding postively in its 2nd day. my zoas are not stretching as much as much as they did with the halides, and my acans look more puffier..My sps still look horrible as to thats why I replaced the halides in the 1st place..even if they dont survive with LED's, I will replace them will more colorful sofites and LPS.. only time will tell.. So far so good.. +1 for LED's Link to comment
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