3 Foot Long Nano

[JayPagi]

Scorched when I trimmed the 1" bulkhead I purchase my 90 degree fitting would not thread in completely it would start and I'd get one turn and then it would seize. Did you have to trim the fitting as well as the bulkhead?

[Scorched]

Scorched when I trimmed the 1" bulkhead I purchase my 90 degree fitting would not thread in completely it would start and I'd get one turn and then it would seize. Did you have to trim the fitting as well as the bulkhead?

 

My elbows were not cut any shorter. It should do 3-4 spins to be on snug. Maybe you have some plastic bits making it stick. Make sure you use plumbing tape as it allows you to screw the fittings in tighter and provides a better water seal.

[kveekx]

This tank keeps looking better every time I look at it! LMK if that BTA splits and you want to sell one, it would be a sweet addition to my BTA build!

[Scorched]

This tank keeps looking better every time I look at it! LMK if that BTA splits and you want to sell one, it would be a sweet addition to my BTA build!

 

I was just looking at the anemone today and was thinking it was getting rather big for its spot. If it doesn't naturally split in the next month or two a cutting might be in order.

[kveekx]

I was just looking at the anemone today and was thinking it was getting rather big for its spot. If it doesn't naturally split in the next month or two a cutting might be in order.

Okay cool! Let everyone on here know how it goes if you cut it!

[Tamberav]

Appreciate it nidding!!

 

 

I use the dual BRS reactor. They run off a single pump. The first chamber is just biopellets. A valve is used to control the amount of flow going into the chamber to get them to slowly tumble. The next chamber is GFO and carbon mixed. You want GFO to usually tumble slowly so that it doesnt stick together and form a large rock. But when its mixed with carbon is can't clump together. Both medias are mixed and held in place with sponges. This keeps them from moving and grinding up into dust but still forces all the water to pass through.

 

Thankyou, I didn't realize the gfo and carbon could be mixed like that.

[Scorched]

Well its been awhile since I've updated and I figured I'd share whats been going on in 3 foot tank land.

 

A week before June my wifes grandmother passed away and we had to make a trip to Michigan for her funeral. A few days after that on May 31st we sold our town house and bought our first single family home. All of the real estate stuff was in the works for a long time and it just happened to be a really hectic 2 weeks with the addition of the out of state funeral.

 

With both events I was only at work for 4-5 days out of 3 weeks. My co-worker was in charge of feeding the fish, and he does a great job doing that... unfortunately thats about it. I would go into work after not being in for 5-6 days in a row and find the water in the sump to be kissing the return pump and the salinity to be high. My boss also gave my co-worker and I a bit of a hassle while I was in Michigan as my tank apparently was gurgling while I was gone. So I tried to talk my friend through the easy steps of turning the return pump down slightly to equalize the water level and stop the noise that was bothering my boss. So my friend turned the valve almost completely closed.

 

So I think I've fixed the issue with the gurgling so that it can never happen again. The drain on the right side of my tank goes all the way across to the left side of the sump to go into the filter sock. This long run of pipe has slowly began to sag and there seems to be the possiblity that an air bubble can get caught and not go past the dip. The pipe is now at a very slow decline and should allow what and air to flow freely.

 

While it probably is a combination of things other than higher salinity and low flow, this lead to the slow demise of my red monti caps and my hawkins. They are still barely alive but I don't think they'll pull through.

 

 

To make sure I don't have to worry about this issue again, and make things more stable I finally added a BRS doser to drip Kalk at night. I've matched the amount I evaporate each day and adjusted my kalk saturation to that. The cap and hawkins never tissue necrosed, but their tissue thinned as well as a few other sps in my tank. I tried to research thinning sps tissue but I didn't find much. The tissue isn't peeling, or receeding from a base or tip. It just got thinner and thinner losing color until the skeleton could be seen though it. I'm guessing this is more of a nutrient issue with the biopellets. My current progress to fix this has been to add reef chili every day and feed my fish slightly more. I may even get another small fish for additional poop and remove the gfo in canister 2.

[Ancelot]

Sorry to hear about your situation bro.

[Giga]

You have a way awesome tank!

[Scorched]

You have a way awesome tank!

 

Thats dude!

 

Sorry to hear about your situation bro.

 

It's ok. They happen to everyone eventually. I'm just trying to get things back on track.

[Tamberav]

Sorry about the situation, I'm sure once you get it turned around it will be better than ever!

 

Also, do you have the dual reactor modded to go straight into the skimmer? or just have the output tube near the skimmer?

[Arkayology]

Sucks to hear about the funeral and the tank. As for your tissue thinning acros, I would possibly reduce the amount of biopellets and feed more heavily. Maybe try some oysterfeast.

[Scorched]

Sorry about the situation, I'm sure once you get it turned around it will be better than ever!

 

Also, do you have the dual reactor modded to go straight into the skimmer? or just have the output tube near the skimmer?

 

Thanks.

 

I don't even run a skimmer. I've read lots of the articles on biobellets and almost all of them recommend having the output next to the skimmer intake. I did have some cyano on the sand after I initially set it up but it took its course and went away naturally. Everyone says you want the skimmer to remove all of the excess bacteria that carbon dosing / biopellets create, which is true you want to remove it if there really is too much and it is growing everywhere. But I don't seem to have an excess and we are all trying to have more natural bacteria filtration so why immediately remove it?

 

Sucks to hear about the funeral and the tank. As for your tissue thinning acros, I would possibly reduce the amount of biopellets and feed more heavily. Maybe try some oysterfeast.

 

Thank, I appreciate that.

 

I've been feeding more heavily and using the reef chili every day and many of the corals that were already healthy are lookin nicer. The hawkins and monti seem unrecoverable. I'll have to try out the oysterfeast to get some smaller particles floating around in there for the corals.

[Kfmmartin19]

Didnt this tank use to be like $70???

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/Mr._Aqua_Rectangle_Frameless_Glass_Aquarium_Tank_Rectangular-Azoo-AZ1119-FIAQRA-AZ1123-vi.html

 

What gives? I was actually considering buying one

[l2d4]

Didnt this tank use to be like $70??? http://www.marinedepot.com/Mr._Aqua_Rectangle_Frameless_Glass_Aquarium_Tank_Rectangular-Azoo-AZ1119-FIAQRA-AZ1123-vi.html What gives? I was actually considering buying one

It used to go on sale for $45ish lol.

[Scorched]

Didnt this tank use to be like $70??? http://www.marinedepot.com/Mr._Aqua_Rectangle_Frameless_Glass_Aquarium_Tank_Rectangular-Azoo-AZ1119-FIAQRA-AZ1123-vi.html What gives? I was actually considering buying one

It used to go on sale for $45ish lol.

 

When I bought it back in 2012 it was $70. I don't know if they do sales on it anymore or not as well. Its also the only place that seems to have it frequently in stock.

[l2d4]

Sorry to hear about your recent tank woes. I'm sure it will turn around. It would be great to get an ato for real though...

 

Interestingly enough, I got the itch again to set up an sps frag tank of sorts while I wait to see where a few things in my life go these next two years or so. I gave my mother, an avid hobbyist, one of my 400ish gallon systems (built it into a wall and viewable from two rooms) and my solana I had going for a bit to experiment on some things I considered risky in my big tanks. So I was down to a huge tank in storage and not much room lol. I decided on a 12L based on a few aspects of this thread and some deliberating over a few other options. It's going to be a pretty slow build lol, but I figured I would let you know nonetheless. This build looked like a nice change of pace and challenge.

[Scorched]

Sorry to hear about your recent tank woes. I'm sure it will turn around. It would be great to get an ato for real though...

 

Interestingly enough, I got the itch again to set up an sps frag tank of sorts while I wait to see where a few things in my life go these next two years or so. I gave my mother, an avid hobbyist, one of my 400ish gallon systems (built it into a wall and viewable from two rooms) and my solana I had going for a bit to experiment on some things I considered risky in my big tanks. So I was down to a huge tank in storage and not much room lol. I decided on a 12L based on a few aspects of this thread and some deliberating over a few other options. It's going to be a pretty slow build lol, but I figured I would let you know nonetheless. This build looked like a nice change of pace and challenge.

 

The 50ml doser on a timer has been pretty consistant to my evap rate per day. I run it for 2-3 minutes 8 times split throughout the night. Every morning it is at the same marked location in the sump so it has worked out quite well. I like this approach as it allows me to manually adjust it as needed and whenever I do tank maintenance or stick my hands in the tank I don't have to worry about adding additional kalk to the tank by accident.

 

400 gallon system! I'd keep working on that system to get it amazing.

 

If you are set on the 12L don't hesitate to ask questions, I've encountered quite a few of the little quirks this style stank and setup has and have guided others to create something that fits their goals.

[l2d4]

The 50ml doser on a timer has been pretty consistant to my evap rate per day. I run it for 2-3 minutes 8 times split throughout the night. Every morning it is at the same marked location in the sump so it has worked out quite well. I like this approach as it allows me to manually adjust it as needed and whenever I do tank maintenance or stick my hands in the tank I don't have to worry about adding additional kalk to the tank by accident.

 

400 gallon system! I'd keep working on that system to get it amazing.

 

If you are set on the 12L don't hesitate to ask questions, I've encountered quite a few of the little quirks this style stank and setup has and have guided others to create something that fits their goals.

I see. I thought the recent issue had to do with being without an ato and absence from work? Glad to hear that you do, in fact, have one working.

 

I have 400ish gallon twin systems and exactly no space or time for them right now hahaha. That's life though.

 

I'm sure I will be stopping by to chat after I get a few things nailed down and can move on to the actual decisions that might require another perspective..

[Scorched]

I see. I thought the recent issue had to do with being without an ato and absence from work? Glad to hear that you do, in fact, have one working.

 

I have 400ish gallon twin systems and exactly no space or time for them right now hahaha. That's life though.

 

I'm sure I will be stopping by to chat after I get a few things nailed down and can move on to the actual decisions that might require another perspective..

 

Sorry if there was a little confusion. I had issues with my co-worker not topping off my water while I was at the funeral and on vacation for the new house. So the doser / ato was added immediately afterwards. So things have gotten better since then.

[papaj10789]

Glad to see things turned around!

 

Thanks to the inspiration from your awesome tank I am in the beginnings of setting up a very similar tank. The dimensions are what I find so attractive but unfortunately finding a stand is going to be a pain.

I see you mentioned the overflows not pulling as much water as you'd like. Any suggestions to what you would have done differently to the overflows/return or are you completely satisfied with the current config?

[Grimmpls]

Damn dude, sorry about all that trouble. Sounds like things are getting better and congrats on the new house. Maybe we will see a new house tank soon? I also can't leave without saying "get a ATO system man!" they will save your life. Oh ya, how are the mosquitos in MN this summer?

[Scorched]

Glad to see things turned around!

 

Thanks to the inspiration from your awesome tank I am in the beginnings of setting up a very similar tank. The dimensions are what I find so attractive but unfortunately finding a stand is going to be a pain.

 

I see you mentioned the overflows not pulling as much water as you'd like. Any suggestions to what you would have done differently to the overflows/return or are you completely satisfied with the current config?

 

I'm pretty satisfied with it now that it has been running for over a year. Once and awhile it does gurgle due to the water height being too high but that is fixed by turning the return pump valve down a tiny amount. My initial goal was to have those spinners on my returns. When they barely spun I was frustrated. When I removed them and just let the water exit directly into the tank the water flow was actually quite good. I was just being picky and thought there could be improvements. The design is a waterfall / true OVERflow system. Others use full siphons to move larger amounts of water. So while this system doesn't use full siphons to move larger amounts of water it is safe and quiet and unobtrusive inside the tank.

 

Damn dude, sorry about all that trouble. Sounds like things are getting better and congrats on the new house. Maybe we will see a new house tank soon? I also can't leave without saying "get a ATO system man!" they will save your life. Oh ya, how are the mosquitos in MN this summer?

 

There is a top off system on the tank now. No more worrying over the weekends or on vacation. I went with the doser on a timer approach matched to my evap rate. This way I can never cause it to top off during maintenance or while I'm fiddling with valves or whatnot.

 

The mosquitos have been awful!! When we had our housewarming party about 2 weeks ago we had it outside in the evening. It was fine until the sun started to go down. We had a campfire going for smores but as soon as you left the smoky area or walked into the grass BOOOOM you were torn to shreads. I was itching for days. I still have a few bites that are bothering me from the 4th while we were watching fireworks. Those bastards bite right through clothes.

 

If you don't get those nasty buggers in the mountains that is one thing to celebrate about.

[Grimmpls]

If you don't get those nasty buggers in the mountains that is one thing to celebrate about.

No skeeters here man....well maybe one or two if your camping

[iamarchitecture]

stellar reef, congratulations!

have you had any issues with phosphate leaching from the Pukani?

 

other than the acid bath and pressure washing what else did you do to cure the rock?

 

again, congratulations on a beautiful and successful reef