Hello! New reefer in the making! Updated - November Update!

[PapoReef]

Hello everyone! its nice to post for a change instead of reading. I Just made this new account so I could start getting more involved, and i hope to do so. Im 28 years old from South America (Chile), so its a little harder to get advice/equipment/livestock than for most haha. Well, I hope and am looking forward to meeting some reefers who could also enlighten my reef aquarium journey. I have been intrested in marine life for as long as I can remember, and the idea of a the reef tank always stayed in my head, so I'm thinking "now is the time". Im getting all set up with aquarium, filtration and lights for starters, and also some water testing equipment. I do have some questions on the filtration (going to go skimmer-less) and the filtration part of the AIO. I hope to be posting pictures soon!! Cheers!

 

-------November Update

Hey guys! been a while. I have gotten a few more corals, and a lot has happened. First off, the hermit and watchamn are doing great, still though, Athilus (the YWG) is quite timid, can't figure out why, he has lots of places to hide, and feeds good... maybe needs another fish?  Also had an outbreak of cyano, which i have been dealing with adding aquaforest bio s and cleaning the sandbed with every waterchange, besides from doing more water changes. The astrea snail dide though, that was a bummer since it was the first inhabitant of the aquarium. Also got into the lights config to turn off the red led for good to help with the cyano. This seems to help, we'll see. Pics to follow! Already thinking about upgrading to a larger and sump'd aquarium. 

[PapoReef]

The aquarium I have for free is a DoPhin KW450 (10.6G) measuring 17"x12"x16". In the hood comes a built in led (im assuming its a very bad light), so im probably going to remove the hood and make a DIY net cover, and replace the light with a AI Prime HD. Now the rear (sump) part of the aquarium is where i have doubts. It is not fully sealed from the display tank, it has some holes to provide water connection. Should i leave it like this? or should i cover the hole and make it 100% independent for the filtration area?

 

This is the aquarium I have, with the "sump" on the back. This is where on the lower part has a hole connecting both areas.

 

Thanks for the replys! Cheers!

[vlangel]

Hi PapoReef!

 

That design with the holes is not the best in my opinion but it can certainly work.  I would think that the flow in the tank would be diminished with that design.  Try filling it with tap water and turn it on just to feel how much flow you feel.  If it feels very weak, then I would cover the holes and cut teeth in the top of the false wall on the side opposite of the return pump.

[Clown79]

You have to have the water from the display area go into the back chamber for the filtration to work.

 

So either you have to keep the holes or fill them and cut a grill overflow into the wall.

 

Check out the innovative marine and biocube tanks to get an idea of the wall between chambers and tank.

[PapoReef]

Hello guys, thanks for the replies and tips! I have seen the Biocube, as well as some other aquariums, but its impossible for me to get them locally, and international shipping for an aquarium... sounds like an impossible feat without it cracking haha. I know what you mean with the grill to the overflow, the aquarium hass this, but also a hole in the "wall" near where the return pump should be. I was thinking of covering it with sillicone and a piece of acrylic.

[Christmas Corals]

welcome! its such a fun exhilarating, interactive hobby!

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, PapoReef said:

Hello guys, thanks for the replies and tips! I have seen the Biocube, as well as some other aquariums, but its impossible for me to get them locally, and international shipping for an aquarium... sounds like an impossible feat without it cracking haha. I know what you mean with the grill to the overflow, the aquarium hass this, but also a hole in the "wall" near where the return pump should be. I was thinking of covering it with sillicone and a piece of acrylic.

If it's an additional hole to pull water from the bottom as well as the overflow, fill it up or you will not get surface skimming of the water.

 

The fluval aio's have an additional hole as well and we all fill it up for that reason

[PapoReef]

1 hour ago, Christmas Corals said:

welcome! its such a fun exhilarating, interactive hobby!

Thanks! Yes, it is, and its also a lot about studying!

 

35 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

If it's an additional hole to pull water from the bottom as well as the overflow, fill it up or you will not get surface skimming of the water.

 

The fluval aio's have an additional hole as well and we all fill it up for that reason

This is it, thats exactly what i thought, but wasn't sure i was correct, thank you! What do you use to fill it up? Silicone? cover it up with acrylic and silicone? 

 

Thanks for the help!

[Christopher Marks]

Welcome to the community @PapoReef, I'm glad you decided to join!

 

I think you could plug the holes easily with just silicone, as long as you can access both sides of the hole to spread the silicone around. Give it a few days to cure too!

[Clown79]

26 minutes ago, PapoReef said:

Thanks! Yes, it is, and its also a lot about studying!

 

This is it, thats exactly what i thought, but wasn't sure i was correct, thank you! What do you use to fill it up? Silicone? cover it up with acrylic and silicone? 

 

Thanks for the help!

Well I used epoxy because I figured it out after I set up the tank...what a pain.

 

Definitely do it before you set up. Lol.

 

Most use reef epoxy but silicone might work too. As long as it sticks to plastic.

 

If you will have epoxy for your aquascape just use that. 

[PapoReef]

Thanks for the tip guys. I was thinking maybe if im going to do this, lets do it right, so im thinking about having a custom aquarium made. What do you think is a good size aquarium to have a nice aquascape that is no too crowded (IE All rock) but still good enough for one AI Prime HD? I was thinking maybe 20"L x 20" W x 16" (i would be putting an acrylic sheet on the back to make the AIO filter/equipment area, about 6-8 inches wide (thus display for rockwork would be around 12"-14" W x 20" L x 16". Do you think its a good size for the equipment aswell? Thanks guys!

[Christopher Marks]

A custom aquarium would be cool @PapoReef! 6 to 8 inches for a rear AIO filter space seems excessive though, pick your other equipment like return pump and skimmer and consider scaling the rear chamber to fit that with a little breathing room.

[PapoReef]

Noted on the filter space, will get equipment and see how much i need. As i have read, the most important thing is to keep things stable in the aquarium, so with this in mind, would a ATO be worth it? I know smaller tanks have more evaporation so maybe its worth it for a nano? Also, as i plan to go as basic as possible in the filtration department, would the AutoAqua AWC be a good option? to set it for example for a 1g daily waterchange? any reviews or experience on the AWC? Will it work properly on a AIO? Thanks for the replys! I'm trying to make a setup that is super stable, and would make it possible for me to leave my house for a couple of weeks. Thanks!

[Christopher Marks]

I would definitely invest in an auto-top-off system of some sort, it will help keep your salinity stable and save you a lot of trouble in the long run.

 

An auto water change system sounds kind of risky in my opinion, too many variables with saltwater to leave that on auto-pilot.

[Pjanssen]

I would never again run a tank without an ATO!

[Tamberav]

ATO for sure if you won't be home all the time. I would also limit your fish to easy keepers and not too many since you may be gone for extended periods. Can someone feed the fish while you are gone? Many auto fish feeders are not reliable with small volumes of water. I have used one called FishMate 14 that dispenses the exact amount added, works with pellets but not so much with flake. Others just turn and what falls out, falls out. Sometimes even when set to a tiny hole, a bunch finds its way out.

 

I have not used an automatic water changer but I find it interesting. It does add another thing to 'fail' and possibly crash the tank. Reviews show people using it in AIO tanks but I believe you can't have a skimmer unless you have another controller to turn that off as well.

[PapoReef]

Good point on the "automatization", but if I were to go that road, id use it manually, not like a set and forget, but being that easy it can be done daily (good point on the skimmer!!). Yes, luckily there is ALWAYS someone home, and if not i can get someone. Now I'm more and more inclined to go the "long" way, custom aquarium stand aswell hahaha. So absorbing this thing :D.

[PapoReef]

So Guys, I have been thinking on lighting and in the meanwhile I'll Retrofit custom leds to the hood of the tank, so as to minimize evaporation and reduce cost. Later on definitley going for the AI Prime HD (the price in my country is ridiculous, i could get a Hydra for less, so i have to buy it overseas... its 380-396 USD in some shops here). For the rock I was first thinking going all live rock, but now I'm having second thoughts, mainly because of unwanted algae/hitch hikers, and thinking going the Dry rock and SOME live rock. Any opinions? will this route lower the chances of unwanted algae/hitchikers/pest? I do want SOME hitch hikers though...

 

 Cheers and thanks guys!

[Clown79]

Algae will happen with or without liverock. Its not the cause of algae.

 

No difference setting up with part liverock or all liverock. You may still get hitchhikers. Most are not bad.

 

You can also get hitchhikers from frag plugs, rocks corals are on, or the coral itself.

 

The worst hitch hiker I ever got was a crab and it was on a coral.

[Christopher Marks]

A custom DIY LED retrofit is a fantastic approach, you can save a lot of money this way if you're up for the project! Have you started looking at parts and procedures? Our lighting forum has a lot of great discussions.

[PapoReef]

4 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Algae will happen with or without liverock. Its not the cause of algae.

 

No difference setting up with part liverock or all liverock. You may still get hitchhikers. Most are not bad.

 

You can also get hitchhikers from frag plugs, rocks corals are on, or the coral itself.

 

The worst hitch hiker I ever got was a crab and it was on a coral.

Okay, thanks for the info! in this case i'll go LR, for the hitchhikers and hopefully will be able to keep everything else in control :).

2 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

A custom DIY LED retrofit is a fantastic approach, you can save a lot of money this way if you're up for the project! Have you started looking at parts and procedures? Our lighting forum has a lot of great discussions.

I took a look at the LED DIY discussions, although I won't be doing the DIY myself, I found "a guy" that has done this on many reef tanks and can do it for me cheap.

 

Thanks for the input guys!

[PapoReef]

Hello Guys! Little bit of some time with no update. On the personal side of things, i had an injury doing downhill (MTB) and had to get surgery, so all the reefing stuff had to be put on hold. Im all well now, and on to continuing the aquarium, since i have some time off work due to the surgery. I am all set on retrofitting some quality LEDs on to the hood of my tank. I should have the lights back and ready by Tuesday-Wednesday next week. In the meantime, i took a good cleaning and scrubbing the aquarium with plain tap water and its as good as new. On the filtrarion area, i still have some doubts, so i took a picture and made it very clear, hopefully someone will be able to help me understand it. Will these baffles work?

[PapoReef]

Hey guys! Im thinking maybe its time for a little bit of an update. First of all, i removed the center baffles, and now I have 3 compartments, last one for the return pump. I also had the Retrofitted "DIY" led light in the hood, and I started to cycle a week ago. Have been dosing 2ml of microbacter7 daily for the past week and plan on doing so for the next week as well. No filtration media whatsoever, only heater and return pump. The issue I'm a little nervous is that none of my LFS had ammonia/nitrite/nitrate tests, so I haven't been able to test at all. Hopefully they will have in stock this week so i can get, and also there's another quality shop and online fish store that opens next week, so I'm looking forward to that as well. The lights have a circuit for day and a circuit for night. Pics are, DIY light, day circuit and night circuit. Any questions, comments or criticism are most welcome! Cheers and thanks for the help!

 

[Clown79]

If you set up with dry rocks you will need to add an ammonia source to start the cycle.

 

I would order dry goods online. Often better prices than some LFS.

 

I would add filter floss during cycling to collect any particles and switch it out often.

 

If you didn't wash the sand before use, I would stir it up during the cycle to get rid of any silt.

 

I wouldn't cycle with lights on.

 

Otherwise it all sound good to me.

 

 

[PapoReef]

1 minute ago, Clown79 said:

If you set up with dry rocks you will need to add an ammonia source to start the cycle.

Yes i understand this, and thought the Microbacter7 contained all the things necessary to start the cycle (including the ammonia source), and was told a the LFS that i should just add 2 ml (based on my tank size) everyday for two weeks, and it should be ready. (They didn't have test kits available, hope this week they will). So to stay clear, i should add an ammonia source AND dose the microbacter7? Would ghost feeding flakes do the trick?

5 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

I would order dry goods online. Often better prices than some LFS.

Problem is, here its not the same as Europe or Usa, so its harder to get things online, and if you ship them overseas sometimes its held up by customs or whatever. Sucks! There's a new good looking LFS and online shop that im looking forward to.

7 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

I would add filter floss during cycling to collect any particles and switch it out often

I had filter wool but as i'm dosing microbacter, thought it might be better not to, so that none of the product gets lost in there. No idea if its good idea or not hahaha.

9 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

If you didn't wash the sand before use, I would stir it up during the cycle to get rid of any silt.

Yes, washed it thoroughly (sp?) for a good few hours under tap water, then let it sun dry most of it.

11 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

I wouldn't cycle with lights on.

 

Otherwise it all sound good to me.

good to know on the lights. No light on at all? i just turned them on today to see how it looked (got them today), but do plan on leaving them mostly off.

 

Looking forward to a frag swap meet coming up, hope to meet some local reefers too!