asting Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 It's time for a new tank! A lot has changed since i started my last tank a few years ago, and after a move, in addition to an extended power loss I'm "refreshing." the 20L i had was in my basement, which i thought would be the man cave, but i spend more time in my living room and the tank was neglected as a result. Hardware EVO 13.5 Inkbird 308 Temperature controller Tetra 100w heater (50w seemed not strong enough to take house, mid-upper sixties at night to 78) 2x60mm cooling fans - currently clip on but may cut a hole and attach to hood. Jebao OW-10 on lowest setting Stock light with some mods - Added 2x blue and 2x cool white 12" LEDENET strips, 3.6w each. The additional LEDs alone seem to match the stock light, which people have done LPS on. I'm hopeful this will be plenty for anything i could throw at it. Autotopoff.com ATO Egg-crate rack in 1st chamber. Will be moving carbon over, don't think i need anything else Chamber two will house a submerisble chinese LED and some chaeto - hope it is sufficient. Chamber 3 holds the heater, ATO, temp probe. Livestock 7 lbs of new coraline covered liverock 2-3 lbs of old rock, buried to create the base 20lbs of arag alive live sand - the pistol/goby combo needs depth! PJ Khalid - Pajama cardinal (moved up from 20L) 1 blue-leg hermit (moved up from 20L) *** 2 Yellow Watchman Gobies (still living in the 20L, coming up in the next week or so) *** Tiger Pistol Shrimp (chillin with the gobes currently) 2x Maxi Mini Nems - one was less pleased about my extensive rock separation process, but both are opened. Hammer coral Xenia Toadstool a couple zoas GSP (new addition) Some type of pulsing coral. the LFS called it xenia, but it has tubes/hard structure underneath so i think that's wrong. it almost looks like a stalky pagoda? Other than that, i'll be playing around with coral. Probably maxed on fish, but maybe would get something small - neon goby, etc. The tank seems pretty good so far - but i am very disappointed in the finish on the honeycomb. Wiping down salt creep with a damp rag has worn off a good chunk of the top 1/2", so i'll likely just be removing it at some point. Enough talk, here are some photos: Left side Front Right side Top shot Upgraded hood Mystery coral - what the heck is this, besides blasted by the flow? 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 6 minutes ago, asting said: It's time for a new tank! A lot has changed since i started my last tank a few years ago, and after a move, in addition to an extended power loss I'm "refreshing." the 20L i had was in my basement, which i thought would be the man cave, but i spend more time in my living room and the tank was neglected as a result. Hardware EVO 13.5 Inkbird 308 Temperature controller Tetra 100w heater (50w seemed not strong enough to take house, mid-upper sixties at night to 78) 2x60mm cooling fans - currently clip on but may cut a hole and attach to hood. Jebao OW-10 on lowest setting Stock light with some mods - Added 2x blue and 2x cool white 12" LEDENET strips, 3.6w each. The additional LEDs alone seem to match the stock light, which people have done LPS on. I'm hopeful this will be plenty for anything i could throw at it. Autotopoff.com ATO Egg-crate rack in 1st chamber. Will be moving carbon over, don't think i need anything else Chamber two will house a submerisble chinese LED and some chaeto - hope it is sufficient. Chamber 3 holds the heater, ATO, temp probe. Livestock 7 lbs of new coraline covered liverock 2-3 lbs of old rock, buried to create the base 20lbs of arag alive live sand - the pistol/goby combo needs depth! PJ Khalid - Pajama cardinal (moved up from 20L) 1 blue-leg hermit (moved up from 20L) *** 2 Yellow Watchman Gobies (still living in the 20L, coming up in the next week or so) *** Tiger Pistol Shrimp (chillin with the gobes currently) 2x Maxi Mini Nems - one was less pleased about my extensive rock separation process, but both are opened. Hammer coral Xenia Toadstool a couple zoas GSP (new addition) Some type of pulsing coral. the LFS called it xenia, but it has tubes/hard structure underneath so i think that's wrong. it almost looks like a stalky pagoda? Other than that, i'll be playing around with coral. Probably maxed on fish, but maybe would get something small - neon goby, etc. The tank seems pretty good so far - but i am very disappointed in the finish on the honeycomb. Wiping down salt creep with a damp rag has worn off a good chunk of the top 1/2", so i'll likely just be removing it at some point. Enough talk, here are some photos: Left side Front Right side Top shot Upgraded hood Mystery coral - what the heck is this, besides blasted by the flow? I like the overhead view.... makes it look huge! 😄 those look like clove polyps possibly Quote Link to comment
asting Posted March 20, 2019 Author Share Posted March 20, 2019 14 hours ago, WV Reefer said: I like the overhead view.... makes it look huge! 😄 those look like clove polyps possibly It is huge. My cardinal is 6 inches top to bottom, if scaled. They do look like cloves. It's just an odd structure of tubes. Thanks for the help. One thing I'm not positive on is the rockwork. My 20L had probably too much in it, and it was hard to maneuver between the sides and rock for cleaning, arranging, etc. I might have gone too far the other way with the simple setup. I also have way more space on one side than the other. Not a huge issue since its sufficient on both, but the smaller sand area is closer to the couch. I probably wont keep anything there anyway, as the pistol shrimp's favorite activity is dragging frags underground. Hey, maybe I should give him some frag plugs as building materials. 1 Quote Link to comment
asting Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 Okay, spent about 3 hours redoing all the wiring this weekend. Primary changes were adding the second PSU to separate white/blues (so i could run on a timer), and also putting my return pump, heater, and ATO on a wifi smart plug so i can easily turn it off for water changes. Other than that, it was a lot of cleanup. I tested params (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0-5 PPM nitrate) and they were perfect, so i splurged and got some things from local reefers. Specifically, a pair of picassos, some kenya trees, 2 types of shrooms spread throughout rocks (immediately let go and blew around, of course), some what i believe is anthelia (but seems to have a shell), GSP (and also moved my old GSP on frag plug to the wall), and the maybe dumb, but maybe not, RBTA (2x). The maxi minis i moved from my other system are quite happy, and i'm getting growth on the corals in the short time they've been in. PJ Khalid is way more active in the tank with clowns in there, instead of just trying to hide behind rockwork and just stick his eye out to watch me. Clowns are great dither fish. I'm not positive on stocking - seems heavy with two gobies, but they're pretty inactive. i've got another system still up and another one i'm planning on starting soon, so i can spread if it's an issue. Also played with my jebao and angled it up a bit to get less blasting action. Finally, did a 3gallon water change. Saved old, and am cycling some rock to restart my aqueon evolve 8 - think i'll need a frag tank with my online shopping problems. Finally, i have been noticing a fair bit of sediment in the water still - i'm beginning to think it is microbubbles, possibly a return pump issue? I've changed filter floss 3 times, so it doesn't seem like it's silt or sand. I also plugged the top slot in between chamber 1/2, so i'm getting good surface skimming. Some GSP glued to wall, also added the plug GSP - not fully opened in this, but seems to be doing okay. Put against back wall to try and seed from bottom. Tank next to couch. Kenya tree coral, safely on frag plug (testing with one band off, seems like it is holding so i'll remove the other two tomorrow). Other two Teenie weenies Clove Polyp New heads on xenia. why do i feel like i'm going to regret this one? RBTA - attached to a small piece of rock, so i put against main rock in hopes it'll climb. Obligatory clowns hosting return. They have actually been swimming the length of the tank since fixing the pump angle, so they are doing awesome. 1 Quote Link to comment
asting Posted March 30, 2019 Author Share Posted March 30, 2019 Changed pump around, increased flow a bit, added some reefcleaners, and got my aquasd and a shipment from a reef central seller. Also replaced my fuge light with the Acke one, scraped the paint off the 2nd chamber where it is mounted. I'm getting a bit of diatom/bloom in the display and want to outcompete it. It should manage that now (quite a bright fuge light). I also scraped the honeycomb off around the edge. Overall i'm noticing some growth on a few corals (leather i added a week ago, GSP, Xenia is 2x its size). First up, the not so mini maxi mini. temporarily in the Gulag. Think i might move this over to the 2.5. Clowns hosting BTA Euphyllia corner Couch side End - i need to get some coral in the other tank 🙂 outward facing side. 1 Quote Link to comment
billygoat Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 Looking good! That's quite the collection of frags you've got in there! A huge selection for such a small tank ;D Those two clowns look hilarious jammed into that tiny RBTA 😄 Quote Link to comment
Firefish15 Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 Wow, that's a full looking tank! Quite the diversity of corals. Quote Link to comment
JulieReefer Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 Looking good! It’ll be neat to see everything fill in. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment
asting Posted March 30, 2019 Author Share Posted March 30, 2019 5 hours ago, JulieReefer said: Looking good! It’ll be neat to see everything fill in. Thanks for sharing! Thanks! The plan is to let the BTAs settle, but I want to mount the frog spawn to the far end, SPS up top. The maxi mini was huge, so I'm going to move that to the 2.5 and leave it in the gulag for now. 6 hours ago, billygoat said: Looking good! That's quite the collection of frags you've got in there! A huge selection for such a small tank ;D Those two clowns look hilarious jammed into that tiny RBTA 😄 Ha that's the big BTA too! The dead plate coral is the rock I got with the BTAs. The two larger ones of course did not like the flow up top and moved down. The baby, about the size of a quarter, did not move. Before the larger nems peaked out of the rock they were both trying to host the tiny one. I looked this morning and with the lights off the clowns are basically just hosting rocks as the nem recedes. 5 hours ago, Firefish15 said: Wow, that's a full looking tank! Quite the diversity of corals. Thanks! I've got a problem with impulse buying. Fixed shipping + auctions are no bueno. 1 Quote Link to comment
asting Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 Did a test of parameters. 0,0,0. Pardon the pleb test kit. Chaeto growth hasn't taken off, but i did swap the light out. I routed it through the case today, and because the power cable isn't detachable that meant taking it apart, detaching the wires, running them through, then re-soldering. Looking at my photos, i apparently took one before disassembly, and one after... Also did a WC, and noticed some baby stomas on the glass. pardon the dirty glass - this was pre WC, and pre wipedown. Looking at them now, i'm actually not positive. Anyone have a better ID? I then glued up my euphyllia and will take some photos once they settle in. Quote Link to comment
asting Posted April 1, 2019 Author Share Posted April 1, 2019 Glued up frogspawn GIANT paly Acan looking nice Orange shrooms Freebie two headed ric. Think i might need to give this one less light. 1 Quote Link to comment
Maddie Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 Dang, what do I need to do to get freebie rics?! That shroom is blinding! They have some completely neon red-orange ones at my closest shop that I love, but at $60 apiece I can't take that leap yet. Quote Link to comment
748S911 Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 Awesome progress....My pico has been taking all of my time while my EVOreef settles in. Quote Link to comment
asting Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 I've had a bit of cyano on a patch of sand, and a few other diatoms. I used aragalive sand, but i think it must be leeching. Tested phosphates - 0, nitrates 0, nitrites 0, ammonia 0. I think i need to feed heavier to get some cheato growth haha. Quote Link to comment
748S911 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 6 minutes ago, asting said: I've had a bit of cyano on a patch of sand, and a few other diatoms. I used aragalive sand, but i think it must be leeching. Tested phosphates - 0, nitrates 0, nitrites 0, ammonia 0. I think i need to feed heavier to get some cheato growth haha. Thats funny u say that, becuase I have forever used arag alive and always had so many issues with it. I bought some 5 dollar sugar grain sand and it was amazing... makes me think 🤔 Quote Link to comment
asting Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 21 minutes ago, 748S911 said: Thats funny u say that, becuase I have forever used arag alive and always had so many issues with it. I bought some 5 dollar sugar grain sand and it was amazing... makes me think 🤔 My barebottom systems have always had way less issue. It's not exactly low flow either. stock flow plus OW-10 at 2nd speed setting. Have to play to reduce flow because it's too high and was chasing the RBTAs all around. 1 Quote Link to comment
billygoat Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 I have no hard evidence to support this, but I have a hunch that larger grain sizes seem to promote greater cyano growth... I certainly am seeing quite a bit of it in my tank, with fairly large-grain AragAlive sand. I'm planning on setting up a refugium soon to help out, as I've read that can be a good long-term solution (vs. using some chemical-based cyano killer). Quote Link to comment
748S911 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 I dont think thats the case, i think its not washed down properly. Maybe im wrong, but this 6 dollar san in my pico was amazing Quote Link to comment
asting Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 Yeah I didn't want to rinse it either becuase it is "live sand" what a gimmick. I'm a moron. Quote Link to comment
billygoat Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 I did the same thing! No rinsing, and now I am fightin' the cyano just the same. 😄 Oh well... as long as it's not Dinos! Or that's what I tell myself as I clean it off my sandbed every day, at least... I think it will clear out of your system before too long. It's definitely not the worst thing you could have growing in there. Quote Link to comment
748S911 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 I would be amazed and not surprised if i dont have any issued with 5.99 sand Quote Link to comment
asting Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 yeah i'm hoping it will wear out. I didn't think it was my water. My RODI bin is reading 2ppm (which is due to me being an idiot and not plumbing a faucet/spigot and instead dipping a bucket). Will probably replace my filters in the next few months as a precaution, but pretty sure i'm still at/near 0 ppm TDS. It's so localized I don't think my refugium is even helping yet. I think i should feed heavier/reef roid. Quote Link to comment
asting Posted April 5, 2019 Author Share Posted April 5, 2019 Tested my nitrates this morning. nil. I fed reef chili and flake last night (1 scoop, 20 gal worth of the chili). I'm not sure if the diatoms/bit of cyano on the sand are soaking up the nutrients, or the chaeto. Maybe feeding more is a bad plan, but i have that huge fuge light on the chaeto so i have to believe anything in the water column would get pulled by that first. Quote Link to comment
748S911 Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 12 minutes ago, asting said: Tested my nitrates this morning. nil. I fed reef roids and flake last night (1 scoop, 20 gal worth). I'm not sure if the diatoms/bit of cyano on the sand are soaking up the nutrients, or the chaeto. Maybe feeding more is a bad plan, but i have that huge fuge light on the chaeto so i have to believe anything in the water column would get pulled by that first. Yeah my chaeto fuge really does well in keeping everything at bay. Quote Link to comment
asting Posted April 9, 2019 Author Share Posted April 9, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjdWqxPMOJjmEr7Gs6a8cag/live Playing around with streaming options. Pajama cardinal creeping in frame. Also, i've been feeding a cube or so a day (half mysis, half emerald entree, or mixing flake in, or reef food). Will test nitrates and see if they are registering, or if i see any chaeto growth. Changed out the two white LED stripes to blue for a total of 4 blue for a total of 14.4w of blue lighting and am really liking the hue change. Quote Link to comment
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