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Custom 20g Zoa Garden


NYfishies

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He is sending the entire Duo fixture and also a different mount for the gooseneck which should fit the tank better.

 

We have a ORA Orchid Dottyback in our Fusion 40 and she is pretty aggressive. We can't add really any other free swimming fish to the tank due to her (have 2 Ocy clowns, 1 Yellow Tail Damsel, 1 Scooter Dragonet, 1 Yellow Watchman Goby). We do have a Pistol Shrimp / Watchman Goby and a Blood Fire Shrimp and she lives in harmony with both. Not sure about anything smaller. She doesn't bother the Emerald Crab either, but she does like to knock the smaller snails off the live rock near her cave.

 

Thanks for following along. We are really excited about this build as well!

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CatfishSoupFTW

so youre gonna have one working fixture, and one almost working fixture? xD

 

Also i love the look of a dottyback. I have an ORA Neon dottyback. At first, I thought he was all nice. He still to this day schools with my ORA naked clownfish and oscellaris clownfish. He didnt really bug my sleeper goby, and didnt care for my white pigmy filefish. But when i lost the filefish, and sleeper, i tried smaller gobies and blennies, and a peppermint shrimp...OOHHHHHHHHHH it didnt go well D:

 

so after that .... success... I tried a jawfish. Completely fine. seems like shape and size determines what he goes for. if its too similar and smaller than him he goes for it. Ever since then, I have been wondering about either adding one chromis, or one damsel (but it may be more aggressive?) Cardinal, or wrasse. Ill have to see. Dottybacks are beautiful. Just so hard to find friends for. lol

 

any build log on that 40 fusion?

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Haha I guess so, but I am sending back the potentially faulty fixture.

 

How deep is your sand bed? I also think my Pistol Shrimp and Goby would not be happy about another deep burrower.

 

I have a Yellow Tail Damsel and the more I watch him since adding the Dragonet (who seems to simply not care if somebody tries to bully her) seems to be the main culprit. I would add him last if you add a Damsel at all. He's a small one still too, but has the meanest mug haha.

 

Unfortunately I do not, but I will PM you some photos when I get a chance to take a few new ones.

 

As for the new tank - the cycle is coming along well. Ammonia looks to be 0 ppm, Nitrites >1 ppm and Nitrates ~7 ppm. Coming along!

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CatfishSoupFTW

my sand bed is about 1 inch to 1.5 inches maybe even 2 inches of aragonite. The jawfish moves around quite a bit.

 

thats my scare with a damsel. I feel like even if adding it last it could start beef. since the dotty back was almost first and the blennies came last, thats what happened. blenny just took it. so having two hard heads could be bad? but then aggression with aggression? i dunno. lol gotta take my time with these thoughts. As long as they dont share the same shape I may be fine.

 

and yeah of course, if you ever take pics, post them up or pm. whatever floats your boat.

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I have decided to go with the following setup for the Fuge light.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-Spectrum-Indoor-Growing/dp/B00PBCG8X0/ref=pd_rhf_dp_s_cp_2_N0F5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0CHVW025NC6SJ7DAJNNV

 

http://www.hardwarestore.com/high-impact-floodlight-holder-646710.aspx

 

The red/blue LED combo I feel will grow Chaeto like crazy. I will paint the fixture red with Krylon so hopefully it fits in with the rest of the design.

 

Trying to figure out how I can incorporate a cheap way to dim the light. Any suggestions?

 

Cycle is still well on its way. Hoping by next weekend we see zeros across the board.

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CatfishSoupFTW

wouldnt an LED fixture need a potentiometer/dimmer driver built in in order to dim it? or externally? i dont know much, but they def. would be missing something.

 

any reason why you would want to dim it? (is it always exposed or will it be closed in a cabinet? I just use this :

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/JBJ_Macro_Glo_Adjustable_Refugium_Light_Refugium_Sump_Lighting-JBJ_Lighting-JB9311-FIRFRL-vi.html

 

 

I used to use this to light my fresh water tanks, and i guess it worked out. lol 6500K bulb. Seems to be growing chaeto well. You can even go with cheaper alternatives.

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I would like to be able to dim it given the potential it is going to be too bright for what I require. The chamber which will contain the Fuge is only 3.3 gallons so I do think it will be overkill. Since the stand where the sump is contained has a glass door the light will shine through during the nighttime (running opposite the DT lights). I would also like to be able to have it on during parties and such and have it dimmed down lower than usual for aesthetics.

 

Just found this one (had been looking for this exact model because I saw it on another forum, but they never listed the name).

 

http://www.amazon.com/Wholesalers-Power-PAR38-Dimmable-x1325RB/dp/B00M2FCMSY

 

I just picked one up. I am still going to keep my purchase of the Apollo Horticulture as I feel it will be of much higher quality, just not dimmable. I believe there is a way to dim the Apollo using the Apex - just need to figure that out.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all,

 

So we have continued to accumulate equipment/toys for the tank. I finally made a decision on the light fixture for the Fuge and I bought 2 different LEDs as mentioned in my last post. Both are red/blue, but only 1 is dimmable (with remote controller which is awesome). The one which is not dimmable at the end of the day may be a better light, but not sure how I will be able to incorporate dimming via Apex later on.

 

I painted the flood light holder red with Krylon fusion. It is a great fixture and fits perfectly. The socket has a rubber liner for moisture which is a nice touch.

 

After mounting it fits perfectly. I still need to install wire holders to hold the power cable which I also painted red. I cannot wait to get some Chaeto in there to see if it will grow on some of the lower levels which would remit pretty much no heat. If not, as you can sort of see from the pictures it can get very very bright. The glass door is also ventilated which will help tremendously.

 

We set up the ATO which at the moment is positioned outside the tank in a plastic lock seal container. Really doesn't look bad and sort of fits in with the tank build. Might just paint that red with a white lid and call it a day. Holds a few gallons which is nice for such a small tank.

 

The Nanobox is beautiful and fits the tank perfectly with the new mount Dave sent. Very happy thus far with the purchase.

 

Ammonia is at zero and as of yesterday Nitrites are at 0.4% and Nitrates at 7. Patiently waiting for the tank to fully complete its cycle before we add some inverts. Today marks 35 days.

 

We have not done a water change on the tank - is this in order or not necessary for a cycling tank?

 

Thanks all for following along!

 

 

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It's all looking really good. I'm glad the setup is working out well for you. Keep the updates coming :)

 

Thanks bro. Love the tank! Playing around with the water levels / ATO. I would like to put more flow through the DT using the return, but I think I need to instead invest in a wave maker.

 

With that being said does anybody have any suggestions? I was going to move my Jebao RW4 from my Fusion 40 to this tank once the WAV comes out as a temporary solution. Unfortunately, it looks like due to the port strike on the West Coast those are delayed. Not sure when they will come out, but I do not think I can wait. There are dead spots forming in the tank with algae growth now that the tank is nearing the end of its cycle. I do not want to risk further growth.

 

I am leaning towards the new MP10W, but I am afraid that will be too powerful.

 

Nitrites are nearing 0, but Nitrates are still steady at 7 ppm. Not sure if I can add a small CUC at this point to help with the problem?

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CatfishSoupFTW

I had a wp10 at its lowest power and it can be pretty bananas in it. depends how it goes around your rock formation really. an mp10 dialed down could do it a bit rough as well. But when it comes to a good performer, wp10, mp10, and rw4 would be great to own. i dont know what else you could do. powering up the return is something I do as well, then i have my powerhead on the other side but the return would be more directional so the wavemaker would help spread that.

 

unless you get one of those spinny return things then up the return?

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RW4 would work well in your setup

 

So do you think the Vortech is too powerful then? It is mainly the wire outside of the tank that I am going for with the Vortech.

 

I had a wp10 at its lowest power and it can be pretty bananas in it. depends how it goes around your rock formation really. an mp10 dialed down could do it a bit rough as well. But when it comes to a good performer, wp10, mp10, and rw4 would be great to own. i dont know what else you could do. powering up the return is something I do as well, then i have my powerhead on the other side but the return would be more directional so the wavemaker would help spread that.

 

unless you get one of those spinny return things then up the return?

 

What size tank do you have again?

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With your setup I think the RW4 would work a little better than the MP10 for the simple fact that you can point it exactly where you need the extra flow. With the Mp10 it will be a little harder to do that

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With your setup I think the RW4 would work a little better than the MP10 for the simple fact that you can point it exactly where you need the extra flow. With the Mp10 it will be a little harder to do that

 

Now that I look at the pictures again I see what you are saying. Hadn't realized this benefit of the RW4 over the Vortech. Not too much its a quarter the price! Thanks for the advice.

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Need some advice. I do not want to overdo the bio-load in this tank, but I have never had a sump before so trying to understand how to factor that into the overall tank volume. The DT is 10 Gallons and the Sump is 7 Gallons. In my mind that makes the tank 17 Gallons (not inlcuding the FT). Does that mean I can have maybe 3 small fish?

 

We originally were going to just get 1 Helfrichi Firefish and 1 Green Clown Goby, but now I want to get a 3rd. I am thinking about either a Yellow Banded Possum Wrasse (http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+2124+1396&pcatid=1396) which we saw recently at a LFS and they are pretty awesome or a Red Scooter Dragonet (http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1635+91&pcatid=91). The latter appears to require a larger tank although they are very small? I believe given the Fuge we will be running and our interest in stocking the tank with Pods would outweigh this requirement?

 

What are your thoughts on 3 fish? Any other suggestions for a 3rd? We want an active fish, but it MUST be peaceful as we want absolutely no stress on the Firefish.

 

Thanks!

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righttirefire

I love my yellow clown goby. He's not real active but always visible in the display. I've heard greens are a different story might be worth checking into

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I love my yellow clown goby. He's not real active but always visible in the display. I've heard greens are a different story might be worth checking into

 

We have a Yellow Clown Goby (Walter) + Tiger Pistol Shrimp (Buck) in our Fusion 40. Love them! :)

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I wanted to take some more shots of the Nanobox Duo Dave built for me. It is beautiful and fits the tank perfectly color and size. I cannot wait to see some corals under this thing.

 

I plan to upgrade to the Bluefish Mini as well.

 

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So I now have had 2 faulty Tunze Nano Osmolators. The first time the chip in the black box fried and this time it is the pump. Fortunately Roger @ Tunze USA has been very helpful in both cases. The first case I had to send the pump and black box to him for inspection. He then sent a replacement. That replacement is now causing me issues. What happens is the pump appears to not get enough power - it vibrates and the impeller tries to spin. Roger explained that this was an issue with their manufacturer and it has caused them a lot of issues over the last year. It has since been corrected, some faulty pumps still remain on shelves or as replacement pumps. I should have my replacement by Saturday. Hope this helps anybody who has experienced the same issue.
I also took 2 shots of my Fusion 40 since I have referenced it a few times. I really need to get a camera!
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CatfishSoupFTW

oops sorry for the late reply. been busy. I have a 18x18x16. 21 gallon cube, and I also have a 15,12,10 or something like that 10 gallon sump. that 10 gallon I speak of used to be my main display tank (no sump at that time) . for both rigs I use my wp10.

 

the wp10 and rw4 have a more directional flow it seems. the vortex doesnt move because its more obvious two piece design, but if im not mistaken its also more omnidirectional, which is how it combats that design restriction. Honestly, all three would be great options. The jebaos would take up slightly more space on the wet site, but at the upside of being able to move it around nicely (which I enjoy, i find it benefits nicely.

 

those gyres are insanely expensive and I dont know how well that would do in such a small tank. But their flow is impressive, and how well it does it.

 

also, photos look great.

 

 

as for stock, that wrasse would be pretty neat. the pygmy wrasse is also pretty neat. neon gobies as well, and some blennies. you do have a reasonable amount of options. imo, 3 fish max. the way I see it at times are this. 21 gallon cube, and my sump is about half full. so a total of 26 gallons of water . thats how I base my stocking. naturally with all the LR in the tank etc, there is less water - then I also look at swimming space. I then buy fish depending their turf. my clowns and dotty back dominate the middle and top of the tank (dottyback sometimes claims the bottom) ... then naturally that airspace is taken up, so I buy a bottom dweller.

 

Honestly, no matter what size the tank is, everyone pushes stocking levels most of the time, so just figure out reasonable combos, and think about the certain levels of swimming height, how active they are, turf wars, and slow introduction so that the system adjusts. equipment can push out quite a bit.

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You bring up some good points. The RW4 will certainly take up more room on the wet side. I am really torn between the 2. Pro's for RW4 are that it is much cheaper and the power head can be rotated. Con's are the large wet side, Chinese made and the cable in the tank. The MP10 is sleek looking, but pricey. I also imagine it is much better made. My RW4 is silent. I have heard that the new MP10 is no more quiet than the last version.

 

We spoke last night and are going to feel it out on adding the 3rd fish. The swimming space is our biggest concern. The bio-load will be ok I think. Once the tank cycles (this weekend I hope) we will add a coral or 2 and some inverts. Mid-April we will add the Green Clown Goby and then 1 month after the Firefish. If by the summer time it looks like the tank could use another little swimmer I think we will add the Possum Wrasse.

 

Thanks again for following and the input!

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CatfishSoupFTW

youre taking things slow it seems which is great! sometimes people add fish for a cycle... as in when its almost ready but not just yet. Seems to be alright. but those are discussions worth avoiding similar to the tang police. lol

 

check out my build thread, I posted new stuff ( for the 21 cube, should be in sig) and you will see my wp10 in there with the cord. with the black background and how high it is in the tank, it blends in extremely well. it lifts my diy lid up a bit (to avoid jumpers, which I recommend to do)

 

though your background is not painted regardless, so .... youll still have a very large dry side plus cable regardless showing through. so youre benefit would just be a potentially smaller wet side. you could minimize the eyesore by matte spraying the back (like Heys tank). I have a friend she upgraded from the mp10 to the mp10 we-qd or whatever it is, and she said the silent treatment in comparison is beyond amazing. I havent heard it myself, but she seemed extremely pleased. my wp10 is pretty quiet I find. in wave mode you may here a mild buzz if you pay attention, but if i clean it im sure it would go away , considering I havent noticed it until recent.

 

 

and the jebao build quality seems fine. its a well considered chinese brand, many own it, just dont expect customer service. I tried that already, the store front i got it fromw as nice enough to help me with an issue I had once. you already own a rw4?

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