Rookie1 Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 So quite a while back I had a little 5 gallon reef tank that I was reasonably successful with thanks to this forum. While moving I had to get rid of that tank. Well, I miss it. I want another. So I did a wee bit of shopping today. The build looks like the following: IM Nuvo Fusion 20 Pro Auqa Gadget Spin Stream Nozzle - Innovative Marine Prime 16 HD LED Reef Light - Black Body - Aqua Illumination Auqa Gadget Desktop WaveLink DC Powerhead (165 - 1500 GPH) - Innovative Marine (and another powerhead for the mixing bucket) 4 Stage Value Plus 75GPD RO/DI System - Bulk Reef Supply Finnix HMX-150 heater (and another heater for the salt water mixing bucket) Dr Tim's one and only 20 lbs Reef saver rock The stand is another one that's in the photo, so there will be two side by side. It's going to be placed on the right hand side of the one in the photo. Well, I'm off to lament my empty walled, get my RO/DI unit setup and pumping, and start assembling everything. Hopefully tomorrow morning I'll be filling it up and kicking off the cycle. Wish me luck!! Quote Link to comment
SliceGolfer Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Great tank! But, I’m biased 😉 Is the B&H cube organizer going to be used as the stand? If so, do you have concerns about it supporting 200lbs long term? Quote Link to comment
Rookie1 Posted December 7, 2019 Author Share Posted December 7, 2019 2 hours ago, SliceGolfer said: Great tank! But, I’m biased 😉 Is the B&H cube organizer going to be used as the stand? If so, do you have concerns about it supporting 200lbs long term? It is. The way it's built with thick top and sides, and a center support I'm not too worried about it. I weight about 260 and sat on it and sorta sway back and forth in all directions, it was surprisingly solid. I don't think I'd go to a 30 gallon tank on it, but I'm pretty confident in it holding up a 20. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 The IM tank is a great 1. I'm also biased 🙂 I have 3 IM's. How close is the tank going to be to any electronics? Salt spray and even maintenance spillage can do damage. Looking forward to pics. Quote Link to comment
SliceGolfer Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 37 minutes ago, Rookie1 said: It is. The way it's built with thick top and sides, and a center support I'm not too worried about it. I weight about 260 and sat on it and sorta sway back and forth in all directions, it was surprisingly solid. I don't think I'd go to a 30 gallon tank on it, but I'm pretty confident in it holding up a 20. Good luck on the build, you’re off to a great start! Quote Link to comment
Rookie1 Posted December 7, 2019 Author Share Posted December 7, 2019 The electronics nearby should be well protected. I'm a bit OCD, and I learned this lesson the hard way in the past so I'll be taking some steps to tidy things up a bit. Thank you for the comments folks. Overnight my new Brute can filled up with RO/DI. I installed the float shut off on it and it wound up hitting the float about an hour after I woke up. I currently have the heater and powerheat in the Brute running and I'm mixing salt. I've got the salt mix up to 1.020 so from there I'm letting it mix well after adding salt each time so as to not overshoot 1.026. I got the 32 gallon Brute can and marked off 5 gallon increments up to 30 gallons and that's right where the float shuts it off. I've been trying to superglue my aquascape this morning and the glue just snaps off pieces of rock once there is any pressure on it (in order to move it). So I think I'm going to go get reef putty once the LFS opens up (I get up way to early and they don't open till noon). I have to also grab some ammonia chloride which I forgot yesterday, as well as the sand I paid for but didn't load into the Jeep. With those in hand, salt water will be ready and I should be able to glue up my rocks, throw in sand, add my water and fire everything up. I'm pretty excited. My first tank took 45 days to cycle due to the amount of organics in the dry rock I used. Given the rock type I have this time, and using Dr. Tim's I'm hoping for a shorter cycle. I'm going to be a good school boy though and run the Dr. Tim's three times per the instructions before moving on and adding any livestock. Quote Link to comment
Rookie1 Posted December 7, 2019 Author Share Posted December 7, 2019 Alright, so before I head off to the LFS, a couple updates: I've got 30 gallons of saltwater mixed up, heater and powerhead running. Got my aquascape sketched up. Had to do a lot of paring back the rocks, they were pretty big. Took almost 3 pounds off. I should be good to go to epoxy now I suspect. Got the light mounted up. It seems high to me at 15 inches or so above where the water line should be. Does this seem about right or do I need to go lower?? Photos below. 1 Quote Link to comment
Blue Demp Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Nice! How’s your spin stream? Mine is loud AF. I’m hoping over time it will go silent. 1 Quote Link to comment
Capt. Nemo Posted December 7, 2019 Share Posted December 7, 2019 Looking good so far.I will be following as I like the IM tanks. Quote Link to comment
Rookie1 Posted December 7, 2019 Author Share Posted December 7, 2019 Haven't tried out the spin stream yet. No water in the tank yet. Just got back from the LFS with epoxy putty. Waiting on that to harden up, make sure it's good, then I can rinse the rock of and fill this sucker up! 1 Quote Link to comment
Rookie1 Posted December 7, 2019 Author Share Posted December 7, 2019 Rocks are putty’d up and water is in. Everything is plugged in. Going to give the water a few hours to clear up and heat up before I start round one of Dr Tim’s. The spin streams are a little loud but from more than a few feet away the AI fan drowns them out. On that note, does anyone have a decent AI prime schedule to get started? Quote Link to comment
Rookie1 Posted December 8, 2019 Author Share Posted December 8, 2019 Well, the tank settled well overnight. I plugged in the AB+ setting from brs into the AI prime for now. I confirmed the ammonia spike this morning via test kit so the cycle is underway. I’m curious to see how fast the dr Tim’s goes to work. I’m hoping to take advantage of some holiday specials at the LFS that expire Christmas, lol. This only being my second tank, and my first one relatively short run, I’m still pretty green so tips and recommendations are welcome!! I’ll post updates on the cycle. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 On 12/7/2019 at 10:53 AM, Blue Demp said: Nice! How’s your spin stream? Mine is loud AF. I’m hoping over time it will go silent. They quiet down a bit but definitely not silent. I replaced mine with RFG nozzles. Silent, no moving parts, better random flow. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 8 minutes ago, Rookie1 said: Well, the tank settled well overnight. I plugged in the AB+ setting from brs into the AI prime for now. I confirmed the ammonia spike this morning via test kit so the cycle is underway. I’m curious to see how fast the dr Tim’s goes to work. I’m hoping to take advantage of some holiday specials at the LFS that expire Christmas, lol. This only being my second tank, and my first one relatively short run, I’m still pretty green so tips and recommendations are welcome!! I’ll post updates on the cycle. Looks good. Most people who cycle with ammonia and Dr Tim's, I've noticed anywhere from 2- 6 weeks cycling time. As for light height, common in 8-12" Quote Link to comment
Rookie1 Posted December 8, 2019 Author Share Posted December 8, 2019 30 minutes ago, Clown79 said: As for light height, common in 8-12" I was able to get a better bend in the arm and got the light down to about 13 inches. Hopefully that'll be alright. 1 Quote Link to comment
NanoTrav Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 42 minutes ago, Clown79 said: They quiet down a bit but definitely not silent. I replaced mine with RFG nozzles. Silent, no moving parts, better random flow. What size nozzles? I looked into getting those awhile ago for my 20. Didn't know what size to get. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 3 hours ago, NanoTrav said: What size nozzles? I looked into getting those awhile ago for my 20. Didn't know what size to get. 19mm Slip fit adaptor 1/2" rfg Quote Link to comment
NanoTrav Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Thanks so much. I've been annoyed with the flow in my fusion 20 for so long. I bought the spin streams and didn't care for them. And because I don't want to hijack you're build thread I'll add my fusion is on the same cube organizer and on carpet. Just fine for over a year. Though water gets on the screen bracket things and leaks down the sides of the tank, so thats caused a little surface damage on the stand. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rookie1 Posted December 9, 2019 Author Share Posted December 9, 2019 10 hours ago, NanoTrav said: my fusion is on the same cube organizer and on carpet. Just fine for over a year. Though water gets on the screen bracket things and leaks down the sides of the tank, so thats caused a little surface damage on the stand. Good to know, I appreciate the information. I did as good a test as I could by putting my fat backside up there for a little while to make sure it would hold, but this is obviously a short term test. The storage unit seems really solid though with the top resting on top of the sides, and a center divider with only a short span between the sides and center. Structurally it seems solid but I'm not sure I'd go to a larger tank with it. Quote Link to comment
Rookie1 Posted December 10, 2019 Author Share Posted December 10, 2019 Parameters from last night: Ammonia: 2ppm Nitrate: 2ppm Ph: 8.2 Salinity: 1.025 d SG Based on the fact that I have nitrates it looks like the cycle is underway. I did measure nitrite the day before and they were .05ppm. I was hoping the nitrate would have been higher by now seeing as I dosed Dr. Tim's but I'll take what I've got. I'm going to recheck tonight and hopefully the nitrate are rising. I've always kind of giggled when I hear about the Dr. Tim's and Biospira products being able to cycle a tank in days. I haven't read about too many folks having that actually happen. But if it speeds it up at all it's probably worth the few bucks the bottle costs. Quote Link to comment
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