Jump to content
Innovative Marine Aquariums

Got my BC29 today......


TEALCOBRA

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 411
  • Created
  • Last Reply

In this picture you show the widening of the 1st to 2nd chamber overflow.

chamber1mod.jpg

 

Did you just use a dremel for that and if so, what kind of bit?

 

Did you remove the false bottom from the 1st chamber?

Again, if so, how did you do that?

 

I'm waiting on my BC to pass the leak test before I start cutting anything.

Link to comment
In this picture you show the widening of the 1st to 2nd chamber overflow.

chamber1mod.jpg

 

Did you just use a dremel for that and if so, what kind of bit?

 

Did you remove the false bottom from the 1st chamber?

Again, if so, how did you do that?

 

I'm waiting on my BC to pass the leak test before I start cutting anything.

 

1. I used a cut off blade on the dremel for the widening of the chamber, it provided a straight cut across and then most of the way down... then i bent the piece back and forth a few times and the little piece that held it on broke off. Then i put the drum sander in it and cleaned it up.

 

2. I didnt remove the false chamber from the first chamber, I didnt really see a point in doing it.... atleast not at this time.

 

3. Good Idea. ;)

Link to comment

Well I am going to be making some changes to this tank guys.... I got 35 pounds of LR and I just cant seem to get it aquascaped in any way, shape, or form that I really like.... looks like garbage to tell you the truth. :lol:

 

Anyways, I just ordered 50 pounds of dry fiji rock to try to make something cool... I ordered a bunch of acrylic rods and epoxy along with the rock so I can "make" something like what I keep seeing in my head.... I just couldnt pull it off with the rock that I had. I will keep up with updates as they happen, so no worries there. I wont actually be using all 50 pounds, I just wanted to make sure I have enough to pull off the aquascaping that I envision.... I will be using the large piece of live rock that I currently have with the Yuma Ric's on it to "seed" the new rock... Hopefully it will start to coraline up within 6 months of so.

 

I dont know if anyone else ever had this problem, I just knew that if I didnt like how the aquascaping ended up now, it'll really aggrivate me in a year when I look at it, so I figured better to deal with it now. :)

Link to comment

Well, the 50 pounds of rock has been ordered at www.marcorocks.com, I also won an auction on ebay for a ton of acrylic rods to tie the rock together, and ordered a bunch of epoxy at doctors foster and smith... Ill keep you guys informed of the progress... :)

Link to comment
Well, I got 45 pounds of LS and 15 pounds of LR from a local guy who was closing one of his larger tanks that I couldnt pass up, so i started the process this weekend.... As I posted earlier, I went with a Rio 6HF pump, which is rated at 350 gph, the best part was that I was able to go with Eheim 16/22 tubing and go directly from the pump to the bulkhead which is nice because there are now no 90 degree fittings or the like to slow down the flow, and the thing pumps like crazy....

 

pumptubing.jpg

I had to keep filling the second chamber in order to get the water level high enough to skim fully, but its running great right now, just not much to skim thanks to the guy who i got all the sand rock and 30 gallons of water from had impeccable cleaning ethic... the stuff was spotless. I added a filter sponge thing to have the water slowly go into the 2nd chamber instead of just pouring into there to help quiet the tank down abit....

 

skimmerrunning.jpg

So far I just have the stuff in the tank seeing if its going to cycle any. Im going to be getting another 30 or 35 pounds of LR and aquascaping this week if time allows... Ill give more updates as soon as I get more. :D The best part was the "extras" that came along for the ride... I have about 10 blue legged hermit crabs and about 15 snails... not sure what kind but theyre cruizing around doing their thing...

 

tankstart.jpg

 

I should have the Nanocustoms 4.36 mod in by this weekend also, Ill post pics as soon as its in....

 

Tealcobra; It all looks great! Question: I too am looking at using the Rio 6HF replacement of main pump… It seems nearly everyone who comments on the Rio’s talks about noisy this and hot that, but the efficiency watts/gph is just below the best gph pump in the range (Tunze) which unfortunately seems too big to put in, not to mention the metric sizes. How are you finding the noise level & heat of that pump?

 

Also do you have any pics of the hood lighting mod, I looked on nanotuners, and couldn’t see to clearly the way they did it.

 

Thanks

Link to comment

I too was looking at the tunze, but couldnt bring myself to spend that much money on the pump... Ive had nothing but good experiences with the 6HF so far..... it almost flows too much. Noise level is non-existent especially since all i hear is the upgraded fans keeping the 4 bulbs cool.... I dont have pics of the 4 bulb install, they have them on nanotuners.com, just look at the 4.36 kit, and then click the .pdf link on the product page.

Link to comment

how's the skimmer working for ya? have you started getting good skimmate yet? my 9010 produces the nastiest stuff :) tunze skimmers rock!

Link to comment

Nothing too gross yet, i think its because the guy I got the water and sand thats in there from had immaculate husbandry techniques... I'm selling all the LR and LS thats in there because I just couldnt get it right, so im doing dry rock out of the tank to see what I can pull off.

 

Pics should be up this weekend.... :)

Link to comment

Okay, Ill give a sneak peek at the work in progress....

 

Here is the dry rock that I received today... the stuff is UNBELIEVABLE.... there is a TON of nooks and crannies in this stuff and once it gets covered in coraline, itll be beautiful... I also think it should filter better since it has more "surface" area than the blocky stuff that I had earlier....

 

marcorock.jpg

 

I just started to epoxy these two pieces together... hopefully within a year (hopefully less) you wont even see the epoxy... I ordered some pink epoxy too so I may do a thin layer over this with the pink stuff....

 

epoxyrock1.jpg

 

Heres a picture of a piece that I drilled out and am using acrylic rods in the pieces to hold the structure together in certain spots so if I ever needed to I could tear down the entire structure without taking it out in one huge epoxy'ed brick....

 

epoxyrock2.jpg

 

Thats all the pics for today, its poker night afterall... :)

 

More updates later this weekend.....

Link to comment

Here are the pics of the final aquascape, im still debating about putting a large (somewhat) hole through the middle of the base rock so the fish will be able to swin through the middle of it since I left room on all four sides of the new structure... I also made it so that I can easily tear it down by epoxying acrylic rods through the pieces to hold it nice and sound, while still being able to break it down if I ever needed to.

 

newaquascaping1.jpg

 

newaquascaping2.jpg

 

newaquascaping3.jpg

 

newaquascaping4.jpg

Link to comment

looking cool! I am tring to get a perspective on the size. What are the dimensions of the work area you have drawn on your tarp? Is that the size of the biocube?

 

Dave

Link to comment

Its smaller than the inside dimensions so that i have around 2.5" on each side of the glass, and around 2" between the rock and the backwall. The little "leg" on the right will be around 3 or 4 inches off the front glass.... it looks pretty huge in those pics now that im looking at it.... :lol::lol:

 

I just took the inside tank dimension and subtracted 4 inches off the numbers to make that "sqaure" map on the cloth that im working on and just made it fit into those dimensions.... I had to grind the base rock flush in the back because prior to that it was all crazy huge and would have never fit into the tank.... I really want to make a swim through tunnel but dont want to accidentally crack the baserock into half...

Link to comment

Tealcobra-Im thinking about the same kit from Nanocustoms. With the 2 actinics, 1 white, and 1 50/50, how is the color temperature of your tank? Would you say that its comparable to, lets say, a 14K MH? Is the blue the same blue or is it more blue?

Link to comment

TEALCOBRA,

When are you putting your new rock structure in the tank? Have you done it yet? I am looking forward to seeing pictures of it in there.

 

Dave

Link to comment

Sorry I took so long.... :D

 

I used my dremel tool to give the rock some more shape, uncluding more of an "overhang" look instead of it being another big chunk of rock hanging in another direction.....

 

newoverhang.jpg

 

Then I traded all the rock I had left for a bunch of frags..... I also kept some of the coralined pieces to try to "seed" my new dry rock....

So I threw it all in on Monday, and all seems to be going well.... all my numbers are where they should be, im just keeping a closer eye on them now that I have living things in the tank.

 

 

currentfts.jpg

 

currentfts2.jpg

 

I left some room so anymore frags that I get that may be on rocks can fit in there with no problems.... I also bought a bottle of purple-up to try to jumpstart my coraline...

 

 

Nht - I would say its pretty close to a 14K type light.... I really like the coloring, the 50/50 gives it a shading of blue with makes it alot nicer than just the 10K's...

Link to comment

I just popped the false floor out of the first chamber and put my heater in there.... I also bought a Sapphire Aquatics skimmer to see how well it works compared to the Tunze 9002 skimmer.... So far they're both pulling about the same skimmate, but we shall see. :)

Link to comment

Second pump or is the HF6 enough?

 

 

edit: How much rock did you end up with? Looks pretty sweet! Are you expecting to put tall stuff at the top of the rock, or just didn't want to go too high?

 

Cheers

Link to comment

the HF6 moves a ton of water, if I get anything i'll end up with a Tunze 6025 nanostream to assist with water movement... I didnt want to go too high with the rock, but if I happened across a really nice piece of LR at a LFS, I would not be against putting it on there and making it a touch taller. :)

 

It right around 26 pounds of so of rock.... a little short of the 1.5 pounds per gallon I always hear, but as porous as this rock was, there will be a TON of coraline covering it eventually, so I think itll be good.

Link to comment

They have a similar kit at nanotuners.. im waiting to see if they come up with a 2 (70 watt) system with the 2 18w actinics like they are with the other cube... if they come up with that I will be going to that instead of my 4.36 setup that im using now.

Link to comment

Thats why im looking to order a new bottom grid for the BC29, I had mine out for the tunze, then stepped on the grid and broke it. I figured it wasnt a big deal, but now with the Sapphire one I would like to put it on top of that grid to bring the collection cup up to a better height.

 

Once I get the new floor piece I will let you know. :)

Link to comment

Thats why im looking to order a new bottom grid for the BC29, I had mine out for the tunze, then stepped on the grid and broke it. I figured it wasnt a big deal, but now with the Sapphire one I would like to put it on top of that grid to bring the collection cup up to a better height.

 

So how do you like the Sapphire Aquatics skimmer compared to the Tunze? Mine just recently broke in and is producing some really good skimmage. I am impressed now after the break in.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions


×
×
  • Create New...