bpounds1991 Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 As soon as it arrives! So I ended up just purchasing a brand new Auto Aqua Smart ATO from Marine Depot for their Memorial Day Sale... this would seem like great news except for the fact that I got cheated out of one from Craigslist for 90$, I sent the money (via money order, I know..facepalm*) and the individual BS'd me for 2 weeks and will now not return any calls/texts. Depressing but at the same time I'll have a new ATO shortly... unfortunate that it's at the expense of 90$ down the drain. So let's see -Tank broken: Check -Cheated out of my money: Check -Waiting on new light parts: Check Heck of a start to the build! Link to comment
Stakins Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Looks like you got the big three problems behind you and now on to the fun!! Link to comment
NorthGaHillbilly Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Hate to hear that man, looking forward to seeing you get it all together Link to comment
Dramad1 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 That autoaqua ato is sweet, comes with everything you need and well worth the price. Youll love it. I love mine:) Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 Yeah, sadly enough it cost me 140+87 (from the craigslist scam) + 75 (gas to deal with the 29 gal biocube bs) so we're looking at roughly...300$ ATO here LOL *FACEPALM*, in other good news tank will be up and running by sunday night so i'll have plenty of new pictures! Girlfriend will be coming into town and INSISTS I don't do any aquascaping until she gets here lol. I got 6 tubes of superglue gel and 1/8 stick epoxy left, lets get to building the perfect aquascape Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 Tank is in and it's a beauty! Although there are a couple small issues with it I love it, very well built. While setting it up I realized the maxi jet 600 (return pump) impeller piece came loose, allowing 0 blade spinning so I'll try and glue that back together tonight. I also love the rounded edges on the acrylic, if you guys could explain to me what the 4 black pieces are in the first return overflow section? http://s.photobucket.com/user/joker577/media/Newest%20Tank/3CBE806E-7555-41ED-841B-329453753580_zpszi2xwjgf.jpg.html'> What are those pieces!? Lol, almost looks like for media but for DIY purposes http://s.photobucket.com/user/joker577/media/Newest%20Tank/FC5335C2-20B3-45C6-A9C7-A67BED0D3CC2_zpse5az6fyj.jpg.html'> Here's the curved acrylic http://s.photobucket.com/user/joker577/media/Newest%20Tank/8918BFD1-F7A0-4679-9EDF-1222BD5A218E_zpsju4bkyvn.jpg.html'> http://s.photobucket.com/user/joker577/media/Newest%20Tank/A125FA80-658C-45E3-ABCF-F64E22FE39C8_zps0acmsbt5.jpg.html'> Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 25, 2014 Author Share Posted May 25, 2014 Tank getting wet tonight! Link to comment
DaveMc Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Tank getting wet tonight! Awesome..can't wait for more pics! Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 25, 2014 Author Share Posted May 25, 2014 There was no real clean way to transfer over all the sand so it's still looking like day #1, extremely cloudy lol Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 26, 2014 Author Share Posted May 26, 2014 So quick question for you guys, the sand was still heated and in the water of the other tank for the last couple weeks until the new one came in. I transferred the rest of that water over with all of the sand and added about 10 new gallons of water plus adding the rock back in, I'm reading 0 nitrites and 0-5 ppm nitrate is the tank cycled or does it have to cycle again? Link to comment
Alex B Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 You need your rock in the tank. The sand bed holds a lot of bacteria, but your rock needs to cycle with the tank. Unless you are curing the rock separately. Did you scape the tank and add the rock already? Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 I just did about 2 hours ago Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Oh and when I got home the test solution showed somewhere between 5-10 ppm Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Here's some pics of the new aquascape, excuse the cloudy water http://smg.photobucket.com/user/joker577/media/Newest%20Tank/D0BC75F9-40BE-4B56-91EF-2BED06554CAF_zpsdaje13la.jpg.html'> http://smg.photobucket.com/user/joker577/media/Newest%20Tank/B70B406F-8207-439C-A020-E384AE7146AA_zpsegmzsrq5.jpg.html'> http://smg.photobucket.com/user/joker577/media/Newest%20Tank/AB367B0D-C381-4115-B70E-B71EB8B17BD2_zpsfirisb5i.jpg.html'> Link to comment
Alex B Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Looks good. Hopefully you have a short cycle. You might want to add some bacteria since you are starting with dry rock. Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Thanks! And I plan on doing that sometime in the next couple of days depending on what the readings are. I was going to wait about a week and a half and get it tested at the LFS, they aren't too keen on me using API On another note, I'm hoping that it's enough rock to sustain some biological filtration... it's probably only about 9-10 pounds whereas the rest is still sitting lonely in the box unused lol Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 Here's a few more clearer pictures...still trying to decide how I like the left side, but the one in the back right is my absolute favorite. Excuse the cloudiness, skimmer is on the fritz again. http://smg.photobucket.com/user/joker577/media/Newest%20Tank/24ACC467-E94C-4986-A7AF-2B372DB09D1C_zpshedtavuy.jpg.html'> Link to comment
Dramad1 Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Looking good. I like the open concept Link to comment
DaveMc Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Nice! Can't wait to see more once you have your livestock in it. Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 28, 2014 Author Share Posted May 28, 2014 Thanks guys, I didn't think an Aquascape like that would've been possible in here..but I think it'll have enough rock to support biological filtration and I'm finally FINALLY happy with it. Lol Link to comment
Watever Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 So what's the size of this tank ? can we see a FTS ? Link to comment
nismo_sky32 Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Glad to hear after all your troubles that things are finally coming together for you. Your build is of to a great start. Advanced Acrylics makes some really nice tanks. I got a custom 19x24x10 peninsula aio made by them and it's been up and running with no issues since February. Can't wait to see this tank stocked. Following along. This small pieces on the overflow side look like the built in removable media shelves I had made. Cut some eggcrate and use them to hold your floss, etc Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Watever - The tank is roughly 20 gallons but it holds closer to 14 with the rock/sand, and if you look up above a couple posts that is the full tank shot it's not a very big tank but I'll get a new one for ya later today Nismo- Would you mind taking a couple pictures of yours with the egg crate? Ninja - Yes I did! Girlfriend brought me over to the dark side Link to comment
nismo_sky32 Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I'll snap a few shots for you when I get home from work. I had advanced acrylics cut me media racks but egg crate will serve the same purpose Link to comment
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