Fish's 2gal starfire cube. Pictures inside.

[ninjafish]

Thanks guys. I currently have a really good cleaning magnet made by "Aquaruim Systems". It is really powerful but the best part is that the inside magnet is very low-profile and is able to squeeze past my rock work.

I have been doing some testing on my ATO pump and I have complete faith in it. It will pump into a system with 110psi pressure and will not allow any backflow at all, regardless of pressure. I am also confident in its acuracy. The week link in the chain, I believe, is the timer. If the timer failed while the pump was in operation and didn't turn it off after the alloted time, then there could be some big problems. I am going to look around to see if there isn't a more reliable option for the timer.

I will be by the office today and will try and take an updated picture.

Cheers,

 

- Chad

[coralcrazy]

SWEET TANK, can you give instructions on how to make that tank.. I love the Tangs btw!!!

[ninjafish]

Thanks. Here are the pictures I promised of the 20k lighting. I think that the colors are a lot better now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Top down:

 

 

 

 

Hope you like!

 

 

- Chad

[outtafocus]

Fish, very nice tank.

 

Where in Calgary are you? Where do you buy your supplies?

[smokez01]

that tank looks so clean and sparkling clear!!

 

i read through the thread though, and im still not sure where you have the water flow coming from?? since the rocks are in the middle i thought you had a pvc pipe with holes in it and the water pumped into there and exerted it throughout the tank, but now it looksl ike something different

[mushroom head]

What are the dementions of the tank???

[ninjafish]

Originally posted by outtafocus

Fish, very nice tank.

 

Where in Calgary are you? Where do you buy your supplies?

 

Thanks. Actually I live in Okotoks. I get most of my stuff online but do check Big Als and Wai's once in a while for livestock.

 

 

 

Originally posted by smokez01

that tank looks so clean and sparkling clear!!

 

i read through the thread though, and im still not sure where you have the water flow coming from?? since the rocks are in the middle i thought you had a pvc pipe with holes in it and the water pumped into there and exerted it throughout the tank, but now it looksl ike something different

 

If I had had the option of drilling the desk, I would have put the bulkheads in the middle of the tank and hid it all with the rockwork like you suggested. Unfortunately, I had to run my plumbing through the electrical conduit in the desk and put the bulkheads in the side so that the tank wasn't hanging half off the desk. In the first picture I posted of the new lighing, you can see a black circle in the front. That is just a naked bulkhead that the return line is connected to. Once I switch to fine sand, I will do a bit better job of hiding it.

 

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Originally posted by mushroom head

What are the dementions of the tank???

 

8" x 8" x 8"

[phergus_25]

man thats an amazing tank, good job

[smokez01]

how ever you have it hooked up it looks scwheet, i still cant figure it out how you have everything hooked up and nothing drilled into the desk, it looks like just a cube of water there, no electric cords or piping or anything

 

really nice set up dude, its very clean, i like it

like i said, how ever you did it its nice

[ninjafish]

Thanks guys. I guess I should clarify, the desk came with a 4" slot in the top of it, through which to run electrical cables for things like computer moniters. I had the bulkheads drilled so that the plumbing in the bottom of the tank would fit through the existing slot in the desk top. My goal all along was to have all of the hardware out of sight so that it looks like a plain old box of water that just happens to be a thriving nanoreef!

 

- Chad

[smokez01]

well you def accomplished that

 

good job once again!

[mushroom head]

Im thinking of making one of these:P I have a 10gallon that is going to be a "mushroom coral jungle" and when i frag the shrooms i want to have a little tank like this. If i do make one of these tanks i will call it the "mini shroom jungle"

[robbyrob]

nice job man!!!!!!!!!!!

 

looks sweet!!

 

Rob

[ninjafish]

[The Empiricist]

Have you tried any digital Timex timers? Or perhaps a Timex is said questionable timer. I just got two since I'm seeing a lot of other reefers using them. Of course, I'm down here. You're up there. I don't even know if you have stores per the name of Target. That's where I got mine. $10 ungrounded, $15 grounded + 7 day memory.

I've dwelled on all of your posts for quite some time and since I'm here, I might as well point out that your tank is outstanding. Thanks for sharing your progress so clearly!

[ninjafish]

Thank you. Actually I looked at those Timex timers and I think that they are a good option. The only thing you need to check is how the battery backup works on the timer, ie, what happens when the battery goes dead while the timer is running. My last digital timer was awesome but when the battery died while the timer was in the 'on' position, it would leave the power on. That could be catastrophic to an aquarium if the top off pump falied to turn off. I just bought another metering pump that has the timer built in and that should be safer. Here is a link to the manual:

http://www.advantagecontrols.com/pdf/manua...P%20MANUALS.pdf I will post some picks as soon as I hook it up.

 

- Chad

[Chronicles]

Where did you get the light you're using for your fuge? That kinda light would benifit the NC community a LOT!

[ninjafish]

That's why I'm here

The one that I ended up using is on this page:

http://www.mainlandmart.com/aquapump.html

It is the double 5w submersible set #FL02. I figured the two bulbs would give me more options in spacing the light and controlling temperature. For example, if my system was too hot I would just disconnect one of the bulbs. Works like a charm!

 

- Chad

[ninjafish]

Updates:

 

First of all, I upgraded my auto-topoff system. The new pump is smaller capacity (not quite the overkill the last one was), is a little sleeker, and is brand new. The nice thing about this one is the timer is built right in. It allows me to choose an on/off time each day and set the stroke rate from 125 strokes per minute to 1 stroke per hour. I will install it by cutting the line to my eheim in half and then reconnecting each end to the injection tee. Easy peasy.

 

 

 

 

 

I am still testing to get the output just right but it looks like I will have the pump come on at 12:00 noon and run for 30 minutes to add 350ml. That way, most people will be away on their lunch break and wont hear the pump but the tank will be looking its best during the part of the day that it is most likely to be seen. The milk jug that I have been using as a resevoir for testing would hold more than 10days' worth of top-offs. No more trips in to work on my days off!

[NanoBobby]

Awesome tank. I love how you have kept everything out of view and very "clean" looking. Thanks for a great tank.

[ninjafish]

Thanks Bobby! I will take another picture once I have installed the ATO but the view on top of the desk will not change at all.

My other update is bad news. My 20k halide failed and I threw my 10k ushio back on the tank while I waited for the replacement 20k. I wasn't thinking at the time that this happened to coincide with when I added a small bag of carbon to the inside on my eheim. I am pleased to report that my water looks clearer than I ever thought possible; unfortunately, the increased clarity of the water and the increased par of the bulb resulted in a couple of my corals being burned. In only two days that I was away from work, my orange monti cap bleached white and my pulsing xenia laid down on its side and was only a twitching xenia. I cut back the lighting schedule as soon as I realized what had happened but my zoos still would not open. Today, I put the new 20k bulb back in and almost instantly the zoos opened up and everything else is looking better too. It's like it didn't even matter how little the light was on, any amount of time under that 10k bulb and crystal water seemed like too much for the corals (except the candycane - man that stuff seemed to soak up all the radiation that was thrown at it). Moral of the story: I'm going to stick with the 20k from now on and if I ever have to use the 10k again, I will only run it for a couple hours.

 

- Chad

[The Empiricist]

That's one swanky ATO. Whowhatwherehowmuch?!

Hope your inhabitants make a full recovery. I have that same variety of Xenia... have you pinned an exact species ID on it?

[ninjafish]

Thanks man. I stole it off Ebay for $150US. These types of pumps retail for $600-$1200, depending on the model/capacity. Do a search under "metering pump", "dosing pump", "LMI pump", and "advantage pump". Should get you on the right track. I came across this type of pump by accident and after some research, found it perfect for my needs - especially injecting into a presurized application like my cannister filter (this ones rated up to 110psi!!!) Infact, I was just going to go without auto-topoff altogether until I found diaphragm metering pumps. The thing with these pumps is they are built for hard-core applications like drinking water treatment or industrial and laboratory production. No machine is failproof but I trust one of these over anything that is built for the aquarium hobby!

As for the xenia, I've never ID'd it but I know it's one of the best species. How do I know? Of the different kinds of xenia I have, this stuff grows the slowest... just like all the good stuff does .

 

- Chad