MrObscura Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Things have and will continue to change since this thread was started, but while the coral list, equipment and FTSs will be updated the rest of the original post below will remain as originally posted to document the tanks progress from the beginning. Hi, I've been posting a bit in the AIO forum, and finally have all my equipment to get the tank up and running. This will be my first reef tank and only my 2nd saltwater tank after a FO tank I had as a kid with no clue as to what I was doing. New updated info follows... Equipment Lighting: AI Prime HD Flow: Generic Amazon 250gph return pump with RFG / Aqamai KPS Filtration: Intank Media Basket with filter floss and gac. Skimmer: Reef Glass ATO: Generic Amazon ATO Heater: Neo-Therm Fish Snowflake clown pair CORALS SPS Pavona Stylo Montis LPS Various Lords Duncan Euphyllia Torches Blasto Goni ZOAS/PALY Various MUSHROOMS Ricordea Floridas Regular maintenance(as of 4\24) consists of twice weekly water changes of 25%, feeding NLS Pellets to clowns once a day, and I broadcast a chunk of Rods Food with a pinch of Reef Roids daily( i target 2x a week instead of broadcasting). Filter foss is changed at least 2x a week with water changes and carbon is changed weekly. I do not dose anything for major\trace elements finding it easier to maintain with water changes. Well... I do run a little kalk in my ato. Just 1\2 tsp. per gallon of ro. This small amount allows me to run kalk without spiking alk(been there) keeping things a little more stable between water changes while boosting ph. Though to be honest I don't know any of my current parameters. I stopped testing a while ago. Old original post begins again... And plans for live stock are a mixed reef with with a zoa and ricordea garden low, a micro lord garden and euphyllia garden in the middle, with a chalice or two, and the top will eventually be occupied by various types of montipora and birdsnest. I also think I'll fill the low light cave area with some low light corals like blasto and cyphastrea. (Stock list includes more acros than originally planned) Here's a shot of the final scape(wasn't so final), though I have to glue everything together so it's lined up properly, and fill in some gaps with rubble. FTS 9/16/18 FTS 10/16/18 12/2/18 1/4/19 02/2019 3/2/19 4/19/19 5/25/19 10/27/19 3 Quote Link to comment
falcooo Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 You're off to a good start. Scape looks great! 1 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Congrats on the new setup @MrObscura! I like the aquascape you've created, but it looks like it might get a little too close to the side glass panels in a couple spots, potentially making future cleaning a challenge. Do you have a magnetic algae cleaner yet? Allowing some clearance for that can save some trouble down the road, if you're concerned about that. Maybe when you're gluing it together you can 'pinch' the cove area inwards just a little. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 Yea, I planned to tighten up the scape a bit before installing it, but I ended up changing the scape. After 3 hours or so I ended up with something basically the same. I know I liked the bottom portion but wasn't sure about the top, so I went with something more horizontal. This should be it though, otherwise I'll never set up the tank and will play around with the scape forever. lol I do have a mag cleaner. Picked it up on a whim while at the LFS because I had never seen one so low profile. Here's the scape... 3 Quote Link to comment
banasophia Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 I love it, but I did notice it doesn’t leave much space on the sandbed... not sure if that front left piece could be removed later on if you find a perfect sand bed coral you really like? (That’s what I had to do in my Biocube, so I just scaped my new Nuvo 10 with lots of space on the sand.) 1 Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 I thought about the lack of sandbed space, but I kind of know what I want to do with the tank and what kind of corals will go where, with a zoa garden on that lower left piece, some ricordea, and an acan garden on the bigger flat piece above it. Then on the right with the rock that kind of looks like it's melting, I plan to put some chalices there so they look like they are oozing over the rock... or at least that's the plan. In the cove I'd like to put some cyphastrea on the back rock and then put some euphyllia in the lit section of the cove so it will fill it up and look like a swaying garden in there. Then the two large shelfs up top will be for sps, with encrusting montis up front, and branching/ plating in the back and maybe some birdnest. I'd also like to do something on the back glass... might put the plating monti there. We'll see. So... Long story short, making room in the bed would sacrifice space for corals I know I want. Though I would like to find a spot for a plate somewhere. One of the front corners might work. 2 Quote Link to comment
banasophia Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Wow, great plan!!! Can’t await to see it all come together. I’m sure you’ll find a way to squeeze in a plate if you see one you love. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 Well, It's up and running and currently cycling. And I was wrong about not needing an ATO. lol This thing evaporates like crazy and drops an inch plus in a manner of hours. So, there's another 100 bucks. Plus I find reading a refractometer a bit of a PITA, and I don't trust its ability to remain calibrated for even a day. So, more money spent since I think I am going to return it and go with one of those new Ice Cap digital testers. Anyway as for ATOs I am having a hard time deciding. The Tunze nano honestly seems like a bit of a rip off at 100 bucks for a float switch ATO. The Innovative Marine controller seems pretty good but I don't know what pump to go with. The IM pump is way overpriced, and the Tom's lifter pump won't have enough lift to reach my tank. And ones that do seem to have way more power than I want/need for an ATO. Especially if I need to dose kalk in the future, though I'm probably geting ahead of myself. The Ice cap dual optical ATO is nice but there are solid cheaper options. I'm thinking about just going with the IM controller and a cheap pump off amazon, with maybe a ball valve to limit flow . Those cheap amazon pumps are actually pretty solid, I have one in my aging barrel for the discus and it runs 24/7 and has been doing so non stop for some time now. Anyway, the tank... 5 Quote Link to comment
banasophia Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Looking good! Yes, these tanks evaporate like crazy!! My other tank is a Biocube 16... I almost never need to top off between water changes. But I need to add water almost daily to my IM 10. Thanks for posting your findings on the ATO options, I was thinking of adding one as well. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
specore Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Great start. This is the hardest part 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted July 16, 2018 Author Share Posted July 16, 2018 Tank's still cycling. I didn't seed it with anything, just adding ammonia and letting it do it's thing. The nitrite spike has happened though and nitrates are being produced, there's just not enough bacteria yet to covert the ammonia to nitrate within 24 hours. But we're getting there. Anyway, the main thing on my mind right now is trying to figure out a way to set up the light so it's not constantly blinding me. The tank is on my desk were I spend a whole lot of my time and the light's constantly in my eyes. I have't been running a full light cycle, just playing around with it, but once it's up in running that's going to be hard to deal with. Right now I've titled the light towards the back of the tank at an angle so it kind of spot lights the upper portion of the scape while still covering the whole tank. Think this will work long term? Or I was thinking of some kind of reflector or screen to run along the bottom edge of light... anyone know of such a thing or have a DIY approach? 1 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 I wonder if you could wrap a short shield around the AI Prime somehow, something to reduce glare for you and keep light from spilling beyond the tank as much. Velcro tape along the entire edge to mate with a thin opaque plastic sheet a few inches tall? Like a DIY mini lamp shade. 1 Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted July 16, 2018 Author Share Posted July 16, 2018 Yea, I think I'm going to try and dyi some sort of little lamp shade. Or just modify an actual mini lamp shade if I can find one that works. 1 Quote Link to comment
TatorTaco Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 I"m excited to tag along to follow your progress. I really enjoy your aquascape and think your coral stocking is perfect. Have any plans for what kind of fish you might add? 1 Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 Thanks. I'm just planning to add a couple clowns. And as luck would have it a new lfs just opened nearby, it's a tiny little place but they have extreme Davincis and black ice for 50 bucks a pair. Hopefully my tank cycles soon. when I was in there they had a couple Davincis I would have taken on the spot. And I've been going back and forth on adding a shrimp goby with a pistol shrimp, but at the same time want to keep the bioload low. 1 Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 Tank should be cycled soon, so I just finished ordering the last few things I needed. And I set up the prime schedule. This is what I've settled on. I'm up at night so at 4pm it starts a 4 hour ramp up to a 4 hour max intensity with "cloud cover" followed by a 4 hour ramp down, then 2 hours moon. I also want to run a lunar cycle but can't figure out how to get it working. Max intensities are based on the bsr settings. 1 Quote Link to comment
falcooo Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 For the lunar cycle, run it from 4am-4pm since that’s outside your main lighting period. Throw the blues on 3% and it’ll track the lunar cycle and whatever % of the moon is out it will be that % of the 3%. Hope that makes sense. 1 Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted July 27, 2018 Author Share Posted July 27, 2018 That's how I thought it worked but for some reason the blues just stayed on from 4-4 despite the lunar time I set. Quote Link to comment
falcooo Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 Was it a full moon? That could be why it didn’t seem to change. Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted July 27, 2018 Author Share Posted July 27, 2018 It was a waxing gibbous, I think, so a lot of moonlight was expected, but it never shut off. Isnt it only supposed to stay on for the time you set the lunar schedule to? Quote Link to comment
falcooo Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 The lunar cycle doesn’t stay on/off. It just reduces the percentage of whatever your lights are set at, by whatever the moon is at, during the time you have it set for. Quote Link to comment
Daniel91 Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Following for sure - like the aquascape. 1 Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted July 28, 2018 Author Share Posted July 28, 2018 Just set up the ato. I went with the ice cap. I like the unit and dual optical sensors for the price makes it the best value imo. The set up was more of a pita than I expected though since the little hose clip fell into the back chamber and ended up all the way under the first chamber. I spent forever trying to get it and got water everywhere and still didn't get it. It'll just have to live there for good. I just rigged the hose with a rubber band instead lol. Oh and regarding the lunar cycle, what's the point of the time setting if it doesn't set lunar on and off times? 1 Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted July 29, 2018 Author Share Posted July 29, 2018 Installed the intank media basket and I have to say the fit isn't as tight as I hoped. there's a gap between the overflow and the front of the basket which seems like it'll allow for water to bypass the basket. I Edit: I noticed the amazon page mentions a "tilted design", so i just tried pushing it forward while in the chamber to tilt it, but the water flow kept pushing it back. So, I took it out completely and slid it in at an angle and now it seems to be staying put a bit better, but IDK... I wish they would have simply designed it to be a tight fit. Though I just thought of the fact that it's lighter than it will be since I only have filter floss in there, and when I run some chemipure that should weigh it down a bit, helping it stay in place. 1 Quote Link to comment
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