20L AIO build -365 Day All-in-One Nano Reef Challenge

[waldoz]

We just noticed this, what is it?

Do we have something brewing?  It's orangish yellow almost green.

[Matteo]

5 hours ago, waldoz said:

We just noticed this, what is it?

Do we have something brewing?  It's orangish yellow almost green.

Looks like diatoms to me! 

[Daan6661]

1 hour ago, Matteo said:

Looks like diatoms to me! 

Jep! I have them too in my 365 AIO atm 

 

[debbeach13]

If it is dusty and you can blow it off with a turkey baster. Then it is definitely diatoms. They usually die out eventually. Some leave them alone and some turkey baste a few times a day and replace the fluff often. You can buy a bag of pillow stuffing for cheap at WalMart. Either way no worries.

[naothan]

On 4/5/2020 at 7:24 PM, waldoz said:

Tested Ammonia: looks like .25

And shrimp is almost pile of goo 😂

I see some people saying that API test kit is not accurate.  Maybe test for nitrite. Will check and update.

found my pic cleaning the computer

[waldoz]

Ammonia .25 week later.

So just wondering how long those small food pellets last for one clown?  Trying to figure out what to add first.  He might just a 🦀 or shrimp. 

 

 

[waldoz]

I found a friend with table saw and band saw, though it would have gotten done sooner if I knew he had these hiding in his garage. LOL  Had my son make a template  after we talked about few scenarios. 

All the plastic taken off.

Here is the Before pic.  It would be nice to just have black plastic but we had picked up a piece of 1/4 acrylic from local fish shop that closed down. 😞

And after! 

Few things to suggest here.  Don't flame polish the ends and then wipe down with alcohol when its still warm.   Also mental note don't flame polish if you don't know what your doing. 😛

There should be enough room for skimmer hose down the road and cord, though we will have to prob zip tie them together.  We could make the hole in the back bigger later if need be. 

We put the power head cord hole in the middle so we could still move it around if needed.   I asked my son if he was going to test the ammonia level and he said nope waiting a week.  🙂  The salinity is at 1.024 so he is keeping it in check.  Not much else going on right now and eagerly waiting to install first critters.

 

[waldoz]

Ok so what it looks like is we just finished the short cycling or is my son getting too excited yet? He could barely contain himself when I got home from work.

What do you guys think?  Thinking about a water change but I feel like should let it roll and turn the lights on. At this point need to have some food build up in the tank is what we are thinking.

[waldoz]

Well think we are going to do a small water change.... Maybe next week add a clown though I still need to get the RO system up. Might have to post some questions in one of the other forums.

[waldoz]

Ok things still the same.  

0 ammonia

0  nitrites

20 nitrates

My son seems to be more realistic than I am. LoL  I have to make some time to get the filter system going and make some room to n the garage.  He is going to check salinity do 20% water change.  He wants to make sure we have enough RO water. 🙂 We still have about 15 gallons left so go some time still.

 

[waldoz]

Got the filter mounted and bunch of stuff moved out of the way. Still need to order filters and hose from BRS. In the meantime need to hook up to my main line. Will address that in the other thread. Interestingly I took off the filter bottoms and the he water does not smell bad.

 

[devaji108]

years ago I had an RODI filter with the Di resin  unit on top. it works, but if you can get the ad on DI resin  housing and the refill cartage when you can . 

 

tank is coming along great!

 

 

[waldoz]

Yeah I just put those on there not going to use them. Will do an add on like you said when I find a used one down the road. Going to try and run it with out and test with tds meter before start using.

[waldoz]

We did a 20% water change. Did not do much but did install a 1/4 in sharkbite compression fitting.

Cut this area, but make sure you know how much to cut from the center.

It was a 10 min job with cutting the pipe. 😁 Done and no leaks!  Hopefully we can get this going soon.

[waldoz]

So it looks like we are in a holding pattern till we get an RODI.  How long can the tank sit there? We still are getting few diatoms  but nothing else. We're not feeding the tank and no lights on either.  The only thing I can positive about this is the tank will be really stable when we start. 🤔

[spectra]

1 hour ago, waldoz said:

So it looks like we are in a holding pattern till we get an RODI.  How long can the tank sit there? We still are getting few diatoms  but nothing else. We're not feeding the tank and no lights on either.  The only thing I can positive about this is the tank will be really stable when we start. 🤔

Well if you need any water just let me know.................

[waldoz]

 

51 minutes ago, spectra said:

Well if you need any water just let me know.................

Thanks for the offer 😊 we might take you up on that.  We still have about 13-14 gallons.  My son is overly cautious but that's good.  We might actually do fine once we start .  This is his tank so I try to let him make the decisions.   Working on a shade for the hydra26 though that should be fun. Will post a 3d model when I get more done.

[devaji108]

nice job on the plumbing work.  

I think you tank will be fine. heck I still dont have any live stock in my tank other thank corals & RFAs  just think of it as a long cycle. you can spot feed it from time to time nothing to much just to keep the bac. going strong. 

BRS suggest a 4 month cycle for SPS tanks. so like you said you're just taking it slow and getting a real stable tank in the long run you will  benefit as i am guessing you guys are going to keep this tank for some time right?

   

[spectra]

21 hours ago, waldoz said:

 

Thanks for the offer 😊 we might take you up on that.  We still have about 13-14 gallons.  My son is overly cautious but that's good.  We might actually do fine once we start .  This is his tank so I try to let him make the decisions.   Working on a shade for the hydra26 though that should be fun. Will post a 3d model when I get more done.

Well just replaced my filters as TDS was high...........not sure if you get some crap so like I said if you want new water let me know..........

 

 

[waldoz]

1 hour ago, devaji108 said:

nice job on the plumbing work.  

I think you tank will be fine. heck I still dont have any live stock in my tank other thank corals & RFAs  just think of it as a long cycle. you can spot feed it from time to time nothing to much just to keep the bac. going strong. 

BRS suggest a 4 month cycle for SPS tanks. so like you said you're just taking it slow and getting a real stable tank in the long run you will  benefit as i am guessing you guys are going to keep this tank for some time right?

   

Yeah it's a keeper, we are in it for the long haul. Sometimes I just stare at it 😂 watch the water surface. 

1 hour ago, spectra said:

Well just replaced my filters as TDS was high...........not sure if you get some crap so like I said if you want new water let me know..........

 

 

I think we should be fine. That was a few months ago so it was probably not as bad.😉   Unless you think you doomed our tank😂 no worries .

 

[waldoz]

Finished the model. The 3d printer my friend has only goes to 4" square so I have to do it in parts and glue it together.  We tested it out with some cardboard to see how much shade it give to the bottom of the tank.  Hope its not cutting any light out we can not see.

 

Made a cut out for the power cord and the reset button.  I would have made the hydra26 more detailed but I hate sketchup 😞  Not like autodesk or solidworks like I am used to.

Here is the back side that faces the wall. The whole thing will be able to slide off is we have to clean something on the light. 

I ran the light almost at 100% and it did not heat up to much.  The small fan kicked on and kept it cool.  It should not get to warm but I will crank it up for an hr or so when I get the shade on and see how hot it gets.    My son thought he was being funny putting a piece of paper under the light.  LOL that thing started to smoke, these leds are not to be messed around with. 😛  It is a good supervised lesson learned. 🙂 

[waldoz]

Went down to CFC shop.  Pretty busy and they had to limit people. When we left there was a line outside. LoL

 

We didn't leave empty handed though.😁We got a Percula clown that my son picked out. Moving around pretty good, hard to take a picture.

Got a Turbo snail that guy is fast.  Hope there will be enough food and waste.. going to put the lights on so things should start to take off. Picked up some frozen food too so that might help too.

Also got Astrea and Cerith snails one each.  We will see how they do. The Turbo snail might be too big though have to keep an eye on it. Also ordered BRS RODI and will fill in more later on that when it shows up.  I think in the long run it will be way worth it. 😀 Had to negotiate father's day, anniversary and my birthday. 😬  

[waldoz]

So we did proto out Playmobil box and the 4" down on the side seems to work well.

It's just hanging by some tabs but has good flow and doesn't get hot.

If you get a chance to try out a shade on yours I highly recommend.😉

[debbeach13]

Congrats on your new livestock. I bet your son is pretty happy.

[waldoz]

Oh yeah thanks!  He is constantly watching the tank. Told him to keep an eye on the snails.  He is going to do a 10% water change rounded up to 2 gallons. Nitrates little high but that was probably from adding the stuff into the tank.  Ammonia is .25ppm  but will check again at the end of the day after the water change.