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schgr.cube's Ultum Nature Systems 45u - tons of new coral added


schgr.cube

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 I completely agree with you lol I always try to be but honestly I am not that crafty to come up with stuff. I am hoping my current build turns out half way decent with looks. 

 

  The only thing I hate to say is,the DIY crowd is not here anymore. Its a shame. This forum used to be so DIY saturated and it seems like half or 3/4 of the older memebers are no longer here anymore. 

 

 I was actually looking at those ABI par38's and replacement diodes on eBay pretty cool idea for a pico or pico frag tank 🤔

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schgr.cube
9 minutes ago, Reefkid88 said:

 I completely agree with you lol I always try to be but honestly I am not that crafty to come up with stuff. I am hoping my current build turns out half way decent with looks. 

 

  The only thing I hate to say is,the DIY crowd is not here anymore. Its a shame. This forum used to be so DIY saturated and it seems like half or 3/4 of the older memebers are no longer here anymore. 

 

 I was actually looking at those ABI par38's and replacement diodes on eBay pretty cool idea for a pico or pico frag tank 🤔


Interesting, this used to be the go-to place for this kind of thing. I honestly just am not a huge fan of the other reef forums, as I never do anything larger than 40 gallons. 
 

Yeah this is basically that same par light but built into a custom housing with active cooling. 

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schgr.cube
13 hours ago, LazyFish said:

Can allways use the other light on something else.

Yeah that is very true, although if I do anything else I'm going to go with a larger tank... But if it doesn't sell perhaps I will finish it.

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schgr.cube

We have water!

 

schgpico-0010.thumb.jpg.c70210883499ee2ca0614eeddc645b84.jpg

 

I filled it up two days ago, and went to pick up the AI Prime HD last night. I need to sort out my light mounting situation and fine tune the lighting profile, but I at least have my light now! Pardon the bubbles, but I figured I would at least show this tank as it is at any given moment, and I have been too lazy to wipe the bubbles off the glass. I do need to adjust my rock a little bit more, specifically pushing it further into the sand to keep a goby/shrimp combo safe if I do go that route in the future.

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I love it !!! The Prime is such a perfect pico/nano light. I didn't mind mine the app was super easy to navigate,but I always felt like it was lacking that PERFECT spectrum or else I would probably be running 2 of my new tank. 

 

 I really wish they replaced 2 cool whites with 2 warm whites and replaced 2 true blues with a cyan and a lime and it was be at least 10x better. 

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schgr.cube
On 5/21/2022 at 1:58 PM, Reefkid88 said:

I love it !!! The Prime is such a perfect pico/nano light. I didn't mind mine the app was super easy to navigate,but I always felt like it was lacking that PERFECT spectrum or else I would probably be running 2 of my new tank. 

 

 I really wish they replaced 2 cool whites with 2 warm whites and replaced 2 true blues with a cyan and a lime and it was be at least 10x better. 


Yeah, I remember selling my first AI Prime way back in the day pretty quick to go with Kessil instead, because I wasn’t able to dial it to my liking enough. I think a change to the LEDs would help, but I think I’m pretty happy with the spectrum visually right now. Will obviously have to see what things look like once I get coral in here. 
 

Went to a LFS yesterday to just see what they had, and man I want too many nano gobies…kind of wishing I went with the 6 gallon instead just so I could feel comfortable having two gobies. 

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schgr.cube

schgpico-0012.thumb.jpg.10cca6055f6209c3eb009a8e11b94099.jpg

 

Okay, last pictures of the tank before I end up adding coral or anything, but I do feel much better about the aquascape now. The rock is pushed down into the sand nicely to protect any potential burrowing inhabitants, the cave is more pronounced for anything that doesn't need as much light, and the scape slopes up on each rock to provide plenty of places for growth.

 

schgpico-0011.thumb.jpg.7125a61f53ffc15357157ed3aa99f042.jpg

 

I also built a fake wall behind to keep things clean, using an old Ikea desk top and shelf, giving me a simple spot to mount the light. I am going to redo the light mount soon and make it white to match, and will clean up that lovely little hole I drilled for the cable to go into. Ordered a cheap auto top off from Amazon (Magtool?), as I remembered just how bad this heat impacts pico tanks. That should be here Tuesday.

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You should look into Trimma or Eviota Gobies. They are small,stay like ¾"-1" are perchers and are awesome. They will hide a lot especially if you have a good amount of flow. Of people pit a clown in 5g,you can definitely have 2 in this. Not that its right lol but with ample filtration you should be good. 

 

 Its also not too late to get a 10" cube though. I would before things get far into the cycle,and just use this tank as a sump 🙂

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schgr.cube
3 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

You should look into Trimma or Eviota Gobies. They are small,stay like ¾"-1" are perchers and are awesome. They will hide a lot especially if you have a good amount of flow. Of people pit a clown in 5g,you can definitely have 2 in this. Not that its right lol but with ample filtration you should be good. 

 

 Its also not too late to get a 10" cube though. I would before things get far into the cycle,and just use this tank as a sump 🙂

 

Yeah, that isn't the worst thought.... the 6 gallon version is 11.5" instead of 9.25". This would give me the ability to comfortably house two fish, more coral growth room, and less possibility of the light being too intense....but I would need to purchase more sand and rock, which I was trying to avoid. But the rest of my equipment setup WOULD work perfectly, so that is nice.

 

Maybe I'll do this, I'll think on it.

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Tank looks great already!

 

I have some primes and they are a good light but yes… spectrum not quite perfect.
 

It is hard for me to like anything as much as I liked my nano boxes spectrum wise. I got spoiled by them.  

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  • schgr.cube changed the title to schg's 6 gallon invert pico
schgr.cube
3 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Tank looks great already!

 

I have some primes and they are a good light but yes… spectrum not quite perfect.
 

It is hard for me to like anything as much as I liked my nano boxes spectrum wise. I got spoiled by them.  

 

Thank you! Yeah, I really LOVED my nano box, but also had the hybrid so it literally was everything I have ever wanted. I wish he hadn't stopped production, or that I could find them used for a little bit cheaper.

 

 

 

And I ended up going to Petco and picked up the 6 gallon version while they were still on sale. I'll post an update once I get everything redone.

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  • schgr.cube changed the title to schg's 7 gallon invert tank

I think you made a wise choice by doing so. Kinda opens your fish selection up just a hair,more room for growth,more room to absorb more light/spectrum,and overall just more room. I remember my 6" cube and omg..it was the worst. My 8" cube was a little better,but was still a pain and that was acro dominate. 

 

 My last pico,the 10" cube was pretty awesome. And now this tank,I hope is more amazing than anything I have ever setup. My new bulbs came in and 😍 so nice. I need to order my overflow box from Tenecor Aquariums,get it set up and get some dry rock to scape. 

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schgr.cube
20 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

I think you made a wise choice by doing so. Kinda opens your fish selection up just a hair,more room for growth,more room to absorb more light/spectrum,and overall just more room. I remember my 6" cube and omg..it was the worst. My 8" cube was a little better,but was still a pain and that was acro dominate. 

 

 My last pico,the 10" cube was pretty awesome. And now this tank,I hope is more amazing than anything I have ever setup. My new bulbs came in and 😍 so nice. I need to order my overflow box from Tenecor Aquariums,get it set up and get some dry rock to scape. 


Yeah, I know this is the better way to go, but I was kind of hoping to still keep it smaller. Since 6 gallons isn’t really a pico (water volume total is about 7.5 gallons with the canister filter and rock/sand displacement), I suppose I should ask @Christopher Marks to move it to the nano reef journals section now instead. So much for my pico idea!

 

And yeah I have actually had this same size cube before, my old ADA 30c was almost identical, although it had higher quality glass and silicone. I think I’m okay with the aqua scape even though it looks so empty now, but I should have plenty of room for coral grow out. I’ll take a picture once the sand settles. 
 

Nice! I honestly think the Carib Sea Life Rock looks great in person, and it was cheaper than many of the alternatives since I could buy in smaller quantities. 

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I think it will be here,but Chris may move it. It's still under 10g lol. 

 

 It probably doesn't look that empty,I know my tank will with my minimal scape I want. 

 

 Its nice rock,but its really not my look personally. 

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schgr.cube
14 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

I think it will be here,but Chris may move it. It's still under 10g lol. 

 

 It probably doesn't look that empty,I know my tank will with my minimal scape I want. 

 

 Its nice rock,but its really not my look personally. 

Eh, he moved it. I don’t really consider anything over 5 gallons a pico personally.

 

I need to wait for the sand to settle so I can see if I still like the scape or not. I still think a nice piece of actual live rock to jump start the cycle would help either way.

 

I hear you. I always used Marco rocks back in the day for dry rock, but got kind of tired of how start it looked. I actually quite like how this looks overall, and am okay with it being fake purple. 

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  • schgr.cube changed the title to schg's 6 gallon invert tank
schgr.cube

Auto top off, part 1:

 

I'm going to start with the auto top off, since I am a little proud of this one. I know I really wanted to run an ATO on this tank, as I really hate having to manually top off, and smaller tanks of course need as much stability as possible. The big problem with an ATO on this setup is maintaining a clean aesthetic, as I have no sump or back chambers. Having a visible sensor is unavoidable without the aforementioned features, so I had to find one that was physically as small as possible, without breaking the bank. I decided to go with the Magtool optical ATO found on Amazon, being one of the cheaper but still well-reviewed options, and it seems to fit the bill so far. I dislike the green coloration that you can slightly see in the tank, but it is minimally visible for now, and I have a secondary solution for that which I'll get to at a later date.

 

Oh also, I forgot I haven't posted a shot of the new tank / scape yet, so here you go. The scape looks better in person, since its a bit more obvious there is a cave in the middle:

 

schgpico-0013.thumb.jpg.9bf5cd7033c7f63d04f1f3a8c79da72c.jpg

 

Forgive the dirty glass and pipes, I have had a lot of sand blowing around during the transition to the larger tank, and am waiting on my Two Little Fishies magnets cleaner to give me the motivation to clean the glass.

 

So the second consideration with the ATO is the actual fill tubing, which normally wouldn't be a problem as far as being visible since it is clear tubing among other clear pipes already visible, but having been forced to make the sensor visible I wanted to remove one more thing from being visible. I went to Lowes and picked up a 1/2" barbed tee adapter, and spliced the check valve for the fill-pump into the middle part of it. It was pretty secure with my original iteration, but I opted to add 1/2" tubing around the connection and use clamps to secure it JUST IN CASE, so I don't have an issue with the canister filter pushing water out of that connection. I'll likely grab a second check valve as a backup, since I'm not 100% sure I trust this one being a cheapo Amazon setup.

 

schgpico-0014.thumb.jpg.b5207425a9fc6a99d0f8778a35ea8812.jpg

 

This is plumbed into the return valve, so when the ATO turns on it just pushes freshwater straight into the outflow, all while being hidden underneath. I would have chosen the inflow, but the heater is already on that and I don't think I have the space to make both work. I may redo my plumbing a bit later with some PVC to make things more stable, and in the meantime I need to shorten the lower tubing visible in the above photo to get rid of that small kink you can see.

 

Anyway, thought I would share part one of this now, but I have two more ideas to keep things super clean here that I'll post about when I get them done.

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 Man this thing looks so good !!! I'm sure you are loving having more space now.

 

 Just a word of caution,I would remove that TLF magnet cleaner after every use. 2 I have used in the past rusted and crashed one tank and severely messed uo another. 

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schgr.cube
59 minutes ago, Reefkid88 said:

 Man this thing looks so good !!! I'm sure you are loving having more space now.

 

 Just a word of caution,I would remove that TLF magnet cleaner after every use. 2 I have used in the past rusted and crashed one tank and severely messed uo another. 

I am! And the extra space is making me feel like maybe I should get a clown as one of the two fish, as I always feel like having a reef tank without a clowns silly movements just doesn't feel right. There is a reason they are so popular.

 

Yeah, I have owned them before, and will remove it when not in use. I just like the size and shape for navigating in some of the tougher spots, especially in the back where the rock is up against the glass.

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I mean its doable,so you mas well and see how it goes. I am thinking of doing a Wyoming White,I really want a pair but idddddk. The tank is long,but I feel like I would be pushing it. If not its a Wyoming White and a Neon Goby. 

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schgr.cube
6 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

I mean its doable,so you mas well and see how it goes. I am thinking of doing a Wyoming White,I really want a pair but idddddk. The tank is long,but I feel like I would be pushing it. If not its a Wyoming White and a Neon Goby. 

Yeah a pair is pushing it for sure. Most people seem okay with a single clown and another small fish in the IM10, which is only marginally bigger than my tank (and has almost identical display dimensions). I’ll likely do a single clown and a hi fin goby / pistol shrimp combo.

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schgr.cube

I’m feeling a bit less patient with this tank using dry rock, as I forgot how long dry rock takes to cycle beyond just using actual live rock. 
 

I decided to grab two more smaller pieces of live rock, and picked up Dr Tims Ammonia Chloride and One and Only. My ammonia was at .5ppm today before adding, so hoping this will kick start things properly. I am not in a rush to add anything, but also don’t feel like waiting a month and a half before I do. 

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One thing I hated about dry rick. I always used the BWA Quik Cycl,and a small piece of live rock,and dosed MB7. Once cycled I added pods and honestly even with super heavy feedings I had to dose neophos and neonitro on my last tank because my params were so low. I am assuming from the biodiversity of beneficial bacteria. 

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schgr.cube
On 5/30/2022 at 10:14 PM, Reefkid88 said:

One thing I hated about dry rick. I always used the BWA Quik Cycl,and a small piece of live rock,and dosed MB7. Once cycled I added pods and honestly even with super heavy feedings I had to dose neophos and neonitro on my last tank because my params were so low. I am assuming from the biodiversity of beneficial bacteria. 

Yeah that is understandable, and I have never really had to deal with it as I have always used half dry half live or just cycled for a long time when using dry. This is my first venture into using almost entirely dry rock.

 

I do have to say, the numbers are moving quick, I really do believe it should be "ready" by the 7th day, but I'll still probably wait a little longer before adding anything beside my CUC.

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  • schgr.cube changed the title to schgr.cube's Ultum Nature Systems 45u - tons of new coral added

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