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[STOCK] tinyreef


tinyreef

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water's in (last night). some of the fiji pink's floating on top. yummy.

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rock's in. 'twas a dried-out/nuked-out piece of fiji from the lfs's throwaway bin (cheeep). but not a bad looking/shaped piece imo (hopefully you'll see it soon <insert :D'oh: emoticon> .

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waiting for the water to clear up again after rock entry. also had some issues with the heater set too high (85F :o ). pita hagen heater.

 

already switched out the DW-12 air pump for a DW-18 air pump (i really have too much aquarium junk accumulated thru the years). the dw-12 just wasn't creating the turbulence and flows i wanted. the dw-18 seems about right so far.

 

but obviously, i'll have to wait for the water to clear some more to adjust/determine the flows and air bubble directions.

 

so far the acrylic canopy is working like it should, holding in the water splash and letting in sufficient light. we'll see if the placement (northern window) is enough for corals and ilk.

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do you plan on using any artificial lighting? from the way you worded your post, it makes it sound like you will be using 100% natural daylight.

 

 

if that's the case, this will be the thread that interests me the most...

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do you plan on using any artificial lighting? from the way you worded your post, it makes it sound like you will be using 100% natural daylight.
no, i don't plan on using any artificial lighting. 100% sunlight on a northern window. i'm thinking southern might be too hot, even in winter. it's one of the things i'll be figuring out as we go along.

 

i was originally considering a LED moonlight but i'll be getting real moonlight (it was very bright last night) so i'm now figuring to skip that as well.

 

i'm also trying to go without a pump/powerhead (a ugf and randomn bubbles only, a la Eng-method of reefkeeping) but i'm waiting to see how the water dynamics work themselves out before fully committing to that. plus the issue of livestock, which i haven't completely decided on.

 

so far so good imo, but the water hasn't really cleared completely for me to judge. i also need to put casters onto the shelving unit so i can more easily see the other side. so far i'm really just looking at it from the "back side".

 

so i may re-aquascape, which will obviously rearrange the water dynamics again. i've already chiseled some of the rock to sculpt the water flow (very minimally though).

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interesting. like I said, I'm going to be very interested in how this turns out...what do you plan on keeping in it, and are you worried about algae blooms what with that type of lighting?

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not so much the algae blooms, i'm more concerned if there's adequate flow with only the bubbler.

 

i do plan on doing waterchanges (instead of going without) so i'm not overly concerned about nutrient buildup. of course, that goes hand-in-hand with the livestock choice. so that's why i'm still considering my choices (verts, invert, etc.).

 

i'm a little concerned on temp stability tho. i've prepped for a fan/heater to stabilize. probably/hopefully won't need it until spring/summer.

 

the main thing for me has always been evaporation. i don't really like using a typical ato on a pico (too biggish) but i got one of physh's just in case my acrylic canopy idea doesn't work as well as i hope. (manually topping off is just too much like work to me :P )

 

that idea came from brandon's "evolutionary" thought a couple of years back with sealing his picos (his femto-reef to be exact, iirc).

 

i've had this pitched top concept rolling around my brain for awhile as you can see. :lol:

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updates

 

2005-1016-3.JPG

just a shot of the canopy/lid. so far so good on its operation. it's been keeping the water in, self-eliminating salt creep (a big concern of mine due to the bubbling nature of the setup), and still allowing (hopefully) sufficient sunlight thru.

 

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after yet another re-aquascaping session. every day i've been futzing with it. turning the one chunk of rock (which barely fits).

 

today i chiseled it down to one big part and a billyun little ones. the big one went back in. also swiveled the updraft another direction, again.

 

btw mickey, i now added some crushed coral to the substrate. the dw-18's larger air production caused the ugf to start sucking up all the sand on its grille. :o i had little mountains in front of the updraft's outflow. so now i'm using the cc as the layer on top of the grille and spread the sand outwards.

 

hopefully, i'll leave alone tomorrow to get a good clear pic. one thing about the natural light setup is that nowadays it's dark when i get home. maybe the weekend i'll get a good shot.

 

temp's been good but unsure about during the day. again, the sunlight issue. added a clump of chaeto (must-resist-impatience). probably test something this weekend.

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btw mickey, i now added some crushed coral to the substrate. the dw-18's larger air production caused the ugf to start sucking up all the sand on its grille. :o i had little mountains in front of the updraft's outflow. so now i'm using the cc as the layer on top of the grille and spread the sand outwards.

 

THat would have been my concern. I've used UGF in the past in FW tanks, and I've noticed that anything smaller than say 3-5 mm would get sucked into the grate and either clog it or cloud the water blowing out the exhaust. This is why I have nothing but HOB's on all of my tanks except the betta tank (which is the 2G hex in my sig...converted to FW).

 

Where did you get that curved acrylic?

 

depending on how this setup goes, I'd really like to emulate your tank some time in the future. what is your schedule looking like, as far as maintenance and such? i.e. water changes, etc?

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THat would have been my concern. I've used UGF in the past in FW tanks, and I've noticed that anything smaller than say 3-5 mm would get sucked into the grate and either clog it or cloud the water blowing out the exhaust.

yep, gravel and cc is what i've used in the past. the dw-12 wasn't really pulling it tho. but i also split the bubbling underneath the grille. some flows up the updraft and some "leaks" out thru the grille. i wanted to try and imitate Eng's reported chaotic bubbling. but the dw-18's output seems to rush to the updraft, very little going thru the grille. <sigh>

 

Where did you get that curved acrylic?
made it. i had some extra acrylic lying around. one piece came from an old CSL seabrights unit. clunky pos.

 

heat bent the middle (it's a little crooked, d'oh) and matched the tank's width and then copied for the 2nd piece. i weld-on the ends and voila! it's a cover. i did two pieces just for the ease of handling.

 

what is your schedule looking like, as far as maintenance and such? i.e. water changes, etc?
i dunno yet. i do plan on doing waterchanges but i haven't fleshed out a schedule (weekly? cup or 8~16 oz.). i'll probably lazybutt myself into an ANB (as needed basis :P ).

 

the shape of the canopy is basically self-cleaning as far as the salt creep goes. again, that was a major concern of mine actually. top-offs are non-existent but it's still in the process of being setup so i'll see as the weeks/months go by.

 

nothing else planned so far because i will be doing wc's. eventually. ;)

 

i cant wait to see how your pico comes along. i love the setup. sun and bubbles.good luck.

thanks, shiva! you too!

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I hate to say this, but I find this tank much more interesting than any of the high tech tidepool tanks.

 

 

how were you planning on having the "chaotic bubbling" through the grate? couldn't you (hear me out on this) block the updraft tube, and just have a small pump blowing air directly through the substrate? you could have a valve to check the amount of air so you wouldn't have "hot spots"...just an idea.

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how were you planning on having the "chaotic bubbling" through the grate? couldn't you (hear me out on this) block the updraft tube, and just have a small pump blowing air directly through the substrate? you could have a valve to check the amount of air so you wouldn't have "hot spots"...just an idea.
i was trying to leave the "chaoticness" of the bubbles to the water tension and the features of the LR. i.e. catching some here and some there, trying to stay true to Eng's concepts (at least as i sees it :P ).

 

couple of reasons why i didn't want to try something like you're suggesting:

 

one, it would've been a lot or significant modification. and there's that whole question of "Stock" qualifications going on right now.

 

a possible layout could be: using a perforated sheet (e.g. tank divider sheet) to sandwich underneath the substrate with at least couple of air tubes networked out. otherwise, the bubbles would congregate together and just rise up out of the substrate (tunneling upwards).

 

you'd probably have to open up some of the holes on the divider sheet too and maybe even distort it a bit for randomnness. i'm not sure the valve would be "selective enough" to give you chaotic results. it would favor the easiest route.

 

two, i wanted to try and really emulate the Eng method as much as possible. to me, it seems easier to do so in such a small scale than the larger "traditonal" ones that he actually did.

 

my setup basically has the airstone hidden far into the grille versus at the base of the updraft. this allowed significant air "leakage" up thru the grille so that every few minutes i had a "burp" away from the ugf's outflow. sometimes i got smaller burps elsewhere.

 

it worked better for the dw-12 than the dw-18. i think the massive amount of bubbles just creates too much of a suction upwards and doesn't allow seepage like the lower volume dw-12 did.

 

obviously, it wasn't running that long and i switched to the bigger pump. but my initial observations was that the layout and concept could work out like Eng's described. (but with me cheating with a ugf :) )

 

thanks for the interest!

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Updates (Sunlight Tank)

 

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finally had the opportunity to snap a pic without clouds of dust from my constant tweaking/aquascaping. still not 100% happy with the layout though. <sigh>

 

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the "Back" view, the whole setup is on a mini-shelf on casters so it is very mobile. viewable 360-degrees.

 

ugf, heater, and thermometer visible. readings are a little wacky though, significant fluctuations.

 

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top view, you can see the significant turbulence from the ugf/dw-18 pump. needed the turbulence/bubbling since i'm not employing a surface skimmer and i'm too lazy to manually do it daily.

 

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whole setup view, rolled away from the windofor better angle. still not satisified with the aquascaping though. grrrr.

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glad to see a few old timers on here, i may still enter if i get motivated....theres only a few of us left...gotta show em how its done

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glad to see a few old timers on here, i may still enter if i get motivated....theres only a few of us left...gotta show em how its done

c'mon in, someone's gotta teach these youngs dogs about talking smack.

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<tiny-geezing>

 

 

Tinyreef's Solar Pico, whaddya think?

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Updates

 

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1st coral/invert/whatever. a tiny single polyp frag from my display tank. an orange-eye zoo. :rolleyes:

 

i added it the other night and it seems fine today. didn't have a chance to take a "daylight" pic since i work late. psst..being your own boss means you work more not less. (d'oh)

 

being the zoo looks ok (most sensitive fugger imo) i'm going to add some more stuff this weekend. i've gots loose frags floating around (literally :blush: ).

 

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i've got some evaporation leakage though, as seen in this pic. the opening where the wires and air tube is coming out/in is around 10mm but because the bubbling is so ferocious there's significant (imo) water leaking out.

 

i'll be keeping an eye on the water level. i had already re-arranged the wires/tube so that most of the splash would/should trickle back in though.

 

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this is a good pic of the condensate forming inside the acrylic canopy.

 

the droplets sliding down (upper half of pic) shows the self-cleaning aspect i was hoping the design would develop. this self-cleaning action eliminates (hopefully completely, still watching the frame edges if any develop) the salt creep buildup i'm concerned about.

 

so far so good. the blandness of the white color is beginning to get to me though. bleh. my reefer patience is getting worn down, hence the coral/zoo addition already.

 

EDIT: arrgh, spelling/grammatical errors. i hate this immediate edit notification. <whine>

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Updates

 

2005-1023-1.JPG

 

adding coral frags. one polyp of clavularia, one (2nd) zoanthid barely visible at top.

 

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added a capnella frag (he was ill, hopefully he recovers), the greenish rock has a single polyp of erythropodium/stoloniferan, and just to the upper left of that rock is a single blue mushroom.

 

every frag is a daughter coral and single polyp (except for the capnella). so far, the natural sunlight seems enough. i'll be watching closely this upcoming week though. it's been rainy/cloudy besides the seasonal change.

 

some salt buildup above the ugf uptake has me thinking of redesigning the canopy with more angles to promote runoff versus the "beading" you see in the "condensate" pics.

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heh, i had to think for a few minutes what FTS meant. just as i posted the question i figured it out, Full-Tank-Shot. tiny's geezing again.

 

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here's the tank shot (Front View). i just added the lava rock on the left side. it's that greenish/red mess but it has a small GSP colony on it (3-polyps). i also repositioned the shroom so it's on top of the rock it was sheltered underneath.

 

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this is the Back View with the bubbler on again. i had to unplug it to swing for a Front shot before. too lazy to unwind the power cord.

 

the lava rock is to the right now and its red is more easily seen this side. the "underneath" for it in my display tank. i wanted some color in there. too white. maybe i should rename my pico Prussian Blue Pico (that's a lounge joke).

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