Urchinhead Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Present Day Tank Stats: 39G Pro Cherrywood stand 30 lbs live rock taken from old tank 10 lbs of new live rock fully cured 30 lbs live coralife sugar fine sand 250w HQI MH Icecap Pendant and Icecap ballast with 14k Phoenix bulb 1/15 hp Chiller from Current Vortech MP40w power head Sump: Custom designed sump with: 3 gallon refugium 5 gallon skimmer and return compartment Tunze 9005 skimmer with sump attachment Mag 7 return pump Fuge light Controller: Reef Keeper Elite Temp probe ORP probe pH probe 3 x power strips Light cycle: Lights on 0900 to 14:30 Lights out 14:30 to 16:30 Lights on 16:30 to 21:00 Fish: 1 False Perc tank bread clown 1 black tank bred clown 1 Helfich firefish 2 Blue Chromis Inverts: 4 x blue leg hermits from old tank Turbo snail 2 x nas. snails 3 x misc snail hitchhikers Tuxedo Urchin Abalone Staghorn crab Red Brittle Star A whole lot of little brittle star hitchers. Acropora crab Anemone crab Clams: Electric blue Maxima Corals: SPS- Orange/Red monti Purple Gomezi aquacultured Pink Mili Light blue Mili Apple green monti Purple monti light blue/blue SPS (pending ID) blue tip with light green stalk SPS (pending ID) LPS- Purple green blasto Red blasto Red green blasto Red with green ring blasto peach blasto ping rim with green center blasto green blasto Green candy cane Burgundy candy cane Rainbow Acan Pink cotton candy Acan Incredible Hulk neon green Acan Green candy cane Acan Red candy cane Acan Purple/red Acan light green Acan Orange/Green Micromussa Softies- Yellow Fiji (now huge!) Red ring open brain (named son of jaba) Blue zoa's (tubs I think) Nuclear green zoa's Red Paly's watermellon zoa's 5 x Orange Ricordia's 3 x green and/or blue Ricordias Blue yuma Cherry yuma Orange yuma Hammer Purple mushrooms A few quick insights: The CAD tank is a very well designed good looking tank too bad it isn't offered in the Pro model stand alone anymore. Ditch the UV sterilizer if you get it from CAD. Its worthless unless you are looking for a source of accidental blindness and heat for your tank. Ditch the sump that comes with the CAD tank. Its ok in a pinch but you can do better. Ditch the skimmer and return as well. Same reason. Ditch the lights and go with a pendant and 250w at least. In the long run it will save you money. Even better try to convince Eddie to sell you the Pro without all the extra crap. And build your own kit. I cannot say enough good things about the Vortech MP40w! I replaced my two Tunze 6045's and two 6025's with this beastie and man what a difference it makes! Spend the money now and again save yourself allot of headache! Once the Tunze breaks in it skims like the daylights! The Staghorn crab is by far the best sand cleaner I have ever encountered! I keep him moving between two low flow areas of the tank in the back under the Tunze's and he keeps the sand pristine! I am planning on getting another one as soon as I can. After researching this guy I found that it is best to get one at least the size of mine as the smaller ones tend to be more fragile and die. On to the photos. Old Tank Stats: Tank: 39G Pro Cherrywood stand 2 x Hydor flow's plumbed to return line 2 x Tunze 6025's 30 lbs live rock taken from old tank 10 lbs of new live rock fully cured 30 lbs live coralife sugar fine sand 150 W HQI MH 2x 65W T5 Actinic White/Blue LED Current Outer Orbit 24" Cadlights Fan Sump: 10 gallon sump (soon to be replaced with custom sump/fuge) 10 lbs live rock rubble Bag of ChemiPure Elite Tunze 9005 skimmer Mag 9.5 Return pump 1" drain line with Gate Valve (to be replaced with proper plumbing when new sump comes) 1/2" return line (also to be plumbed properly when new sump comes) Light Cycle: LED's are on 24/7 0800 to 1000 the T5's only 1000 to 1300 MH and T5 1300 to 1600 T5 only 1600 to 1900 MH and T5 1900 to 2000 T5 Reason being is that I am not home to monitor heat and I am still getting my old corals and clam used to the new lighting. This is the cycle I will stick with until I get a controller and can better stay on top of heat issues and everything is used to the lights. Fish: 2 x False Perc tank bread clowns Sixline Wrasse Starki Damsel Solomon Islands Damsel Inverts: 4 x blue leg hermits from old tank Turbo snail 2 x nas. snails 3 x misc snail hitchhikers Pincushion Urchin Abalone Staghorn crab Red Bali Star Fish which was a hitchhiker on a coral I got. Not sure he will make it long term... Clams: Pink & Blue Derasa Blue Corcea 3 x blue Maxima's Corals: Yellow Fiji Green open brain Green candy cane Burgundy candy cane Multiple Zoa's from old tank and Zoanaughts BOC 2 x Orange Ricordia's Orange chalice Dark blue Acro aquacultured Dark blue Acro frag aquacultured Green Acro aquacultured Purple green Blasto Red Blasto White Blasto Red green Blasto Purple mushrooms Watermelon mushrooms Green harry mushrooms Burgundy harry mushroom On to the photos. My corals: Link to comment
Smurf Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 How are those mussa I gave ya? Heh, I wanna see a macro! Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 How are those mussa I gave ya? Heh, I wanna see a macro! Doing quite well! Thank you! Please PM me again your feedback thread. I accidentally deleted it. I am actually offering the blue green's for sale but the red/greens are already growing two new small heads. UH Link to comment
Oceanic 30g Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Lookin good. I like the tunze stuff. Why did you go with the 9025 over the koralia? I was thinking about doing the same, but a lot of people love the koralias Link to comment
StevieT Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 the back wall looks like it is alive with arms!!! Link to comment
burtbollinger Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 been waiting for this thread....looking real real nice....you need to wipe out your cabinet tho Link to comment
proraptor2 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Looks good....You planning on painting or sticking vinyl on the back wall though? Link to comment
Phixion Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Looking very nice so far UH! Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 Lookin good. I like the tunze stuff. Why did you go with the 9025 over the koralia? I was thinking about doing the same, but a lot of people love the koralias Flow. For the size it really kicks down doors in terms of flow. Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 the back wall looks like it is alive with arms!!! Yeah yeah... I know... I miss the nice cable management and master control switch panel of the RSM... Thats the bloody cords from the lights. Keep in mind that in the process of setting this up and moving stuff from my RSM I had a bulkhead break on me and flood my living room floor and the stand so I got to play submarine commander and wedge my 6'6" 280 lbs frame under that tiny stand, haul that temporary sump out, replace the bulkhead, redo my plumbing, and all that jazz so I am *NOT* touching *ANYTHING* until I get the controller and the correct sump/fuge in. And at that point I will make everything look nice and neat. been waiting for this thread....looking real real nice....you need to wipe out your cabinet tho Cheers mate. I will be taking the center post and cutting it to size then mounting it horizontally so that I can mount a controller on the front and power strips on the back and I will be replacing that temporary sump with a custom one which will entail a major plumbing redo. Until then it works and I ain't messing with it! See above for the trouble I had during the setup and you will understand why the inside of the stand looks like I went at it with a chisel. Looks good....You planning on painting or sticking vinyl on the back wall though? At this point I plan to clean up the cords so they can't be seen and leaving the back wall as is. I may end up sticking some vinyl back there though just because it does bother me a bit. Looking very nice so far UH! Thank you sir. If you are interested I have a hookup on some very nice Maxima's. $30ish a head if you buy three. Local to both of us somewhat. If he has any left that is. It's Ali at Amazing Aquariums btw. he got an over shipment and the wholesaler just told him to blow them out. Against my better judgement I picked up the three you see in there now. I am worried about them but they have all attached and are filter feeding but not fully extending their mantles so only time will tell. UH Link to comment
proraptor2 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I saw those clams at ali's...Very nice....Good luck Link to comment
Phixion Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Ahh yes, Ali's! I heard about the clam shipment he got in (on SCNRS) and I wich I could accomidate 3 (or afford them right now at the least, lol!) I did lose a clam about 3 weeks ago, so I'm only down to 3 now. But those 3 are doing well!! Attached clams are generall happy clams with most. Maximas are very nice clams though. Miguel at Fraggle reef has a bunch of clams instock right now I saw too when I was there this past weekend. He had an awesome bright blue crocea I wanted to get, but I believe it was already spoken for. Good luck with the 3 you picked up from AA though! Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Thank you gents. So far all the clams but one are doing ok. One just is being a real PITA. It attached briefly to a spot next to my Crocea then decided it wasn't happy and fell off. After I put it in another place close to the same level and light it was in it just wouldn't attach. So now its sitting on the sand bed until I can chip off a small piece of rock for it to rest on and (hopefully) attach to. But the way its going I am afraid I am going to loose it. Sigh. And the bloody star fish got a big hole in the head so I had to remove it. I was really worried about keeping one in my sized tank but decided to give it a go. Shame on me as I knew better. UH Link to comment
Md's Finest Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 awesome setup. looks like you got some good flow in there. Link to comment
Oceanic 30g Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 That input tube on the right going into the sump would scare me. I would have to pin it down somehow to make sure it wasn'r going anywhere. I was so anal about everything when I had a drilled tank. -chuck Link to comment
Phixion Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Clams are picky beasts. The sand should be fine till another spot can be accomidatd... Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Thank you Weetabix, MD, and Monk. MD- The flow is cranking in there. Those Tunze's really are the cat's arse! And the hydor's really do a good job breaking things up and causing a wave like motion. Oceanic- That won't be the final plumbing or the final sump. That one is a temp while I get the new fuge/sump built. See the photo for what I will be going to in terms of a sump/fuge. I designed it specifically for our sized tanks (>50 gallons) and so that would fit under our stands with some room for other stuff. I also wanted a small (2 gallon) fuge, an increase of at least 20%+ in terms of water volume (this one holds about 8 gallons so it is spot on for me with 34 gallons in the tank after sand and live rock), the ability to handle at least a gallon of overflow (it can take 1.5 gallons) and an integrated ATO reservoir that was big enough so that I wasn't filling it daily (its 1.5 gallons) but wasn't so big that I would crash the tank if the ATO system flaked on me or flood the sump and tank itself. I also wanted to make sure the plumbing was straightforward enough so I wasn't having to do the plumbing from hell dance and could work on it without having to become a Chinese acrobat. From a plumbing standpoint I will bring a 1" drain line down and split it with a PVC Y or T connector at about 4" below the top of the bottom of the stand into another 1" feed to the main sump chamber where the skimmer is and a 1/2" one into the fuge area. Both bulkheads will have a 90' L on it connected to a Union valve and then a Gate valve to control flow rate and to disconnect it for maintenance. The return line will be 1/2" and have a check valve on it. The piping will be a combination of vinyl tube and PVC. Point being that all that will be locked down per what you mention. Phixion- Yep. I know that one well. I just really love the little beasties. I placed them so that they could grow to full size and not cause problems and got what I thought was enough light. Seems this one didn't think so. He falls off everything higher than at the bottom of the tank. So I will most likely keep him down there on a small rock. As to keeping him in the sand long term, I am worried about the fine sand I am using getting into his gills as he is a maxima which is a rock dweller not a sand dweller. UH Link to comment
Oceanic 30g Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hmmm.... Well thought out. i have read a bunch of your posts and I knew there had to be more to it. I like it. A lot. Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Oceanic- Thank you. I have been working on it for a while now. Its in Mark 2 Mod 1 at this point. On a sad note I came home to an empty clam shell with that Maxima that had me worried. I did a immediate parameter check thinking that I would have to do an emergency water change but interestingly everything was 0. I was very surprised by this but I am guessing that my CUC got to it pretty quickly. I had noticed them picking at the clam about a day before which is why I thought there would be problems with it. I am also finding that with the Outer Orbit 150w HQI lighting I am getting about 1.5 gallons worth of evaporation over about a 5 day period. Anyone else seeing this? UH Link to comment
Phixion Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Also with a skimmer, you'll almost never see any parameter changes when livestock passes on, unless it's a total tank crash. Sorry to hear about the clam though, I had one of my 4 die on me a little over a month ago. And this morning I noticed my black/gold maxima had turned (or been turned by a nass snail) into it's side, and with the mantle touching a birdsnest. I noticed it while on my way out the door for work, and running late I didn't have time or a chance to upright it... It'll be first thing when I get home, I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's OK! Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Thats good to know about the skimmer. It also explains why I had so much skimmate in the container last night. Yeah. That was a real pisser. I don't like things dying on me. I was concerned about it when I bought it but it seemed to recover only to go back down. Everyone else though is happy as a clam (sorry for the pun). Especially my my pink and blue Derasa and original Crocea. Both have adjusted to the higher lighting and both have really plumped and colored up their mantles. The Derasa is also quick to react to things but settling down a bit now that he is used to the fish swimming by. The Crocea is used to the fish now and doesn't panic when they shoot by. The other two Maxima's are firmly attached, coloring back up, and extending their mantles a bit but are not fully extended as of yet so its a waiting game at this point. Hopefully they will be ok. It was an impulse buy on my part. You think I would know better. I would be worried about that birds nest too mate! From what I remember yours is a real firebrand! It may end up stinging the crud out of that poor clam! Good thoughts for him! Link to comment
spanko Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Good stuff UH as always. How is your son liking this tank as compared to the other? Is he as involved as you want him to be? Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Thank you Spanko. My son is only 2 1/2 now so he really isn't all that involved (though he thinks he is) with the day to day stuff but he loves it even though its no longer in his room. He is fascinated by the testing kits and the sump and tries to help me every chance he gets. And he likes to just sit and watch the tank as things go about their daily routine. He also likes to try and put his hands in the tank when I do when I am moving stuff around or fixing things even though he can't reach anything and I have to scrub his hands before and afterward and he open up the sump cabinet and 'go fishing' in the sump which is something I am having to discourage by placing the 5 gallon water container in front of the doors. UH Link to comment
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