GTi's CAD Lights 34G Mini-II

[GTi]

Mohawk has Smart Strand fiber that can take a direct hit from clorox and it will not bleach out the carpet. That would be good in case you accidentally get any chemicals from your tank on the carpet.

 

Carpet was installed yesterday (we had the Smartstrand in our basement and like it so we followed the suggestion and used it upstairs, too - thanks!).

 

Last night I set the tank up with Fiji Pink Arag-Alive sand and the added the saltwater and the rocks I had been cycling in a bucket. I added 10 drops of ammonia. The water was very cloudy from the sand but by this afternoon it had cleared nicely. Ammonia, nitrite an nitrate all tested zero so I added 25 drops of ammonia and will retest tomorrow evening.

 

I adjusted the rock work and now the tank is cloudy again. I'm hoping that the cycling of the rock in a bucket helped and that I will be able to add some livestock this weekend.

 

http://s867.photobucket.com/user/markpr/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo_zpsf5b9fdfa.jpg.html'>

[Dramad1]

Finally. Lol. Awesome news. What are the plans

[GTi]

Finally. Lol. Awesome news. What are the plans

I know - it's been months! I have the clown pair, red fire fish and hi-fin goby in a holding tank (although I haven't seen the hi-fin for a couple of days). I also have a few frags in the holding tank and some more in my 'display frag tank'. I lost the beautiful clam and a few frags that were in the holding tank - not sure what happened but it was very disappointing.

 

All the fish will be transferred. After a few months I will get an anemone for the clowns and later on maybe a clam.

 

I want to keep the coral care simple but I also like a lot of the SPS! I have a neon green toadstool, Bam Bams, Rastas and a couple of gorgonia that will go in the main tank. Also a frogspawn. I have Red Planet, Pink Lemonade, TriColor Valida, Green Slimer, Assorted Birdsnests, Pearlberry, Bonsai, Blue Mille, Green Tabling. I think the Mille and Pearlberry will definitely make the cut and either the RP or PL.

 

I have the PLS50 skimmer and also the media reactor which can both fit in the rear chambers but haven't decided if I will run both . I am considering keeping chaeto back there. 2 75W Cobalt Neotherms which will be run off the Apex controller. Radion G2 with LEDs upgraded to G3. And an MP10 or two. Two might be overkill but I'll try them on a lower setting.

 

That's about it! I'm sure the plan will change.

[theishkid]

Will you have any problems with the 2 heaters as far as size? Or do they fit in there nicely?

Also which apex do you have?

[GTi]

Will you have any problems with the 2 heaters as far as size? Or do they fit in there nicely?

Also which apex do you have?

The 75s are quite short and fit in the middle chamber vertically. I haven't fine-tuned the water level but they look like they should be fine.

 

The Apex was the basic one (Junior?) that didn't have a display and used a web browser to interact with it. I bought a display for it.

[GTi]

Yesterday the ammonia and nitrites were zero so I moved a couple of snails over from the holding tank. This morning they seem to be doing ok so I'll be moving more livestock over later and grabbing a photo or two.

[GTi]

Moved the Clowns and Firefish over to the new tank. Also moved the majority of the snails as well as all the live rock. No sign of the Hi Fin Goby. I decided to move all of the live rock over as insurance and I will gradually remove it to just leave the final rockscape.

 

[theishkid]

That's the same sand I think I'm gonna go with. Is that just one bag? Or did it take more than that?

[SouthFlorida_Tron]

goby is either in a rock or buried under the sand by his cave....

[GTi]

 

That's the same sand I think I'm gonna go with. Is that just one bag? Or did it take more than that?

Just one bag.

 

 

goby is either in a rock or buried under the sand by his cave....

That's what I was hoping - he's definitely done that before but there was no sign of him for about a week or when I pulled the rock out (bare bottom holding tank). I'll be checking down the back of the tank stand - he may have found the gap in the cover and jumped or the CuC may have got him. He didn't come out much but he was a cool little guy.

[Nanofreak79]

Interested in the vortech back up you were talking about on another thread. Any info?

[GTi]

Interested in the vortech back up you were talking about on another thread. Any info?

Hi. I'm short on time right now but it's this:

Belkin Residential Gateway Battery Backup BU3DC001-12V and

this cable: 5.5mm/2.1mm Female plug to 3.5mm/1.35 male power cable.

There's a thread on another website about this but it's plug and play.

I bought the BBU new for $40 shipped and the cable was under $5 shipped but took about 10 days as it came from China.

LMK if you need more info!

[Nanofreak79]

Thanks! I'll just copy and paste. I'll look everything up and let you know if I'm having trouble.

[GTi]

Belkin Residential Gateway Battery Backup BU3DC001-12V and

this cable: 5.5mm/2.1mm Female plug to 3.5mm/1.35 male power cable.

There's a thread on another website about this but it's plug and play.

I bought the BBU new for $40 shipped and the cable was under $5 shipped but took about 10 days as it came from China.

 

The short wire is the adapter that will connect the Belkin to the Vortech. Note that the Vortch cable is fused whereas this is not.

 

In other news, I'm gradually getting the tank transferred over. I Got the PLS-50 skimmer going today. It sounds like there's a toy steam engine running back there - chuffing noises coming from the air intake. It's also kicking out a ton of micro bubbles which were getting in to the display so I added some floss downstream of it and it has helped a bit.

 

The stock pump is noisy and seems to add a lot of heat. I'm not convinced that I need a 500 gph return pump for a tank this size when I have a couple of MP10s. I may get a Syncra pump with lower flow to replace it.

 

 

[Dramad1]

Sweet scape. Tanks so blue, it almost looks like you have a blue background. What is that in the left side of the frag rack,green and branching?

I see you have your skimmer hung high as well, why?

[GTi]

Sweet scape. Tanks so blue, it almost looks like you have a blue background. What is that in the left side of the frag rack,green and branching?

I see you have your skimmer hung high as well, why?

Thanks! Some of the rock is temporary - just to make sure my dry rock was fully up to the job of processing the ammonia and nitrites. I'll be pulling some of it out over the coming weeks as the biofilter increases.

 

I think the phone camera picked up a lot of the blue in the lighting - to the eye it doesn't look that way.

 

The green coral is a Hawkins Echinata. I find it varies a lot in color from green to teal depending on lighting intensity.

 

Skimmer is set so bubbles break at the base of the cup. I will be fine tuning the water level in the back chambers and also the skimmer bracket so hopefully I can get it to skim but sit lower (like Tron's).

[rchraska]

Hi Mark,

 

The new tank is looking good!

 

BTW this is Rob (rscdragon) from Michiganreefers.

[Nanofreak79]

Thanks for posting the belkin, I'm looking into it now. Your scape is sick, love the new frags. Nice job on the tank so far.

[GTi]

Hi Mark,

 

The new tank is looking good!

 

BTW this is Rob (rscdragon) from Michiganreefers.

Hey Rob - how's it going! Are you going to do a build thread?

 

Thanks for posting the belkin, I'm looking into it now. Your scape is sick, love the new frags. Nice job on the tank so far.

TY! EBay had the best deals on those parts. I had a lot more frags but something went wrong in the holding tank and I lost a lot of the SPS.

[rchraska]

Hi Mark,

 

Things are going well. I already have a thread started over in the members aquariums section.

 

There is a link to it in my signature.

[GTi]

Hi Mark,

 

Things are going well. I already have a thread started over in the members aquariums section.

 

There is a link to it in my signature.

I should know better - I was on my phone and the sig didn't show up! Nice tanks and great rock scape!

[GTi]

I've lowered the water level in the rear chambers and the skimmer sits much lower. It's still making an odd chuffing noise but I posted on the CADlights skimmer thread to see what they suggest.

 

I was initially using the provided glass lid to prevent jumpers and also to reduce evaporation until I got my screen top made up. It was keeping too much heat in so I'll be doing the screen top tonight! I think the return and skimmer pumps aren't the most efficient and even though the rear chambers are open, the heat is retained.

 

With the light hung and a few frags in there, it's starting to look a bit better, if untidy!

[GTi]

I put together a screen top with the left over parts I had from my 55 gallon. I sprayed the frame satin black and it blends in well with the black background of the tank. I still need to trim the mesh a bit more.

 

 

For the ATO I am currently using my autotopoff.com system but I had been using an aqualifter; the aqualifter won't pump that high so I'm now using a Cobalt MJ600 pump.

 

The return pump was rated around 500 GPH and I felt it was more than needed so I have replaced it with an Syncra Silent 1.0 which has half the flow and is, well, almost silent! I have 2 MP10s on there for additional flow but I prefer it set up this way because then the bulk of the flow is variable and changes direction rather than being constant and in one direction with the high flow return pump.

 

Still need to get the wiring in the cabinet all nice and tidy.

[GTi]

I placed an order with Pacific East Aquaculture and it arrived this morning. Beautifully packed, livestock all happy. These are the best bits:

 

Green Gobstopper Palys:

 

Rose BTA:

 

Clowns were very happy!

 

Maxima:

 

I have some other frags that are temporarily placed around the tank to check they are happy there before I glue them down.

 

Tank is still bit of a mess so no FTS for now!

[theishkid]

That clam is gorgeous. That's what I'm looking most forward to.