nrc Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 My 33 gallon (24x18x18) Aquamaxx purchased locally / used. Stand was made from 'Hopkins workbench kit' which is probably overbuilt for what I'm doing. Next up - Dry rocks. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 I kind of like the industrial vibe of that stand even if it is overkill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmas_one Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 I like it, reminds me of my old frag setup, “da grouch”. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 34 minutes ago, xmas_one said: I like it, reminds me of my old frag setup, “da grouch”. That is awesome! Smart, smart smart... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 3 hours ago, nrc said: My 33 gallon (24x18x18) Aquamaxx purchased locally / used. Stand was made from 'Hopkins workbench kit' which is probably overbuilt for what I'm doing. Next up - Dry rocks. This hopkins workbench kit is new to me. Very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted October 23, 2017 Author Share Posted October 23, 2017 Thanks all. I'm going to keep the bio load quite low (1 to 2 small fish total) with an copious amounts of Rock and a shallow sand bed. I'll update this thread as parts show up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted October 29, 2017 Author Share Posted October 29, 2017 Here's my initial attempt at aquascaping. 50 lbs dry rock from reeflcleaners, 10 lbs Aragonite sand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 (edited) Howdy, My wife spotted a 20h on sale and surprised me with it (who hoo). I'm going to re-purpose the Brute can to water change duties. So far I have 10lbs of sand in there now, I'll probably add another 15. That plus the 50lbs of rock will be my primary filtration. I'll watch and add a skimmer down the road if needed. The tank is in the basement 10' from my water source and my drain so doing changes will be a snap. At this point regarding livestock I am all over the place, but want to keep it mellow. Either a pair of clowns or a single goby, or maybe a single royal gramma. Edited November 5, 2017 by nrc corrected amounts of sand 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 Let there be light... Yesterday I painted the back of the display black, and also picked up a used AI prime light, and some plumbing bits. This morning I plumbed the supply and return, then I got the lights set up. For now I'm taking the 'easy setup' defaults for color mix, and only changed the dusk/dawn times. Next week I'll start mixing water. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Looking good! I like your rock work so far. BTW - did you pick up that light at Seahorse yesterday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 Yes - Terry made me a deal on it around noon. I'm the tall/greybeard fellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 8 minutes ago, nrc said: Yes - Terry made me a deal on it around noon. I'm the tall/greybeard fellow. Nice - I was in there when you were picking that up... the not so tall, non-bearded person Congrats on the new light - looking forward to seeing this come together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash21 Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Nice Build so far...I’d suggest taking the AI apart and cleaning the Fan! I just did a cleaning of the two over my 25 Lagoon and they accumulate a lot of dust! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted November 13, 2017 Author Share Posted November 13, 2017 Received my RODI unit mid last week, didn't get around to starting to mix water/salt until Saturday. Had the usual 3x trips to the Hardware store before I had all of the fittings, buckets, and pumps I needed. Mixed 20 gallons pumped into the display and sump, then started the next 20 gallons. Woke up 2a Sunday morning restless and walked downstairs... the rodi supply line had flipped itself off of the tank. Luckily my tank is 10' from the floor drain so not the end of the world. This am around halftime (go Vikings) I topped off the rest of the display and did a few test runs with the Rio 1700 that I was planning to use as a return pump (3/4 supply, 1x return drilled) was outrunning the drain. It is/was rated for < 700 gph so I thought maybe I'm just too close to the max a 1" drain could handle. I switched over to Mag 3 (350 gph) but when I set it up the same thing happened. It would fill display faster than water could drain. Lastly (currently) I added an inline ball valve and throttled down to the supply line. Now my water level is stable, the tank is cloudy, and I can start to let things settle. I've got the return volume somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 gph (guess) and I have a MJ1200 that is configured in 'circulation mode' which should be turning ~1000 gph in the display. Hopefully this is enough flow for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted November 13, 2017 Author Share Posted November 13, 2017 (edited) Pic of the Drain, Edited November 13, 2017 by nrc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted November 13, 2017 Author Share Posted November 13, 2017 Pic of the supply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted November 18, 2017 Author Share Posted November 18, 2017 (edited) Sourced a live rock from Terry @Seahorse Aquarium and deposited it on Tuesday...That's it in the lower left corner of the photo. The polyps may(?) make it through the cycle we can hope. They have semi opened, but aren't fully in bloom. My AI is running at 20s for all of the spectrum with a 2hr ramp up / 8 hours on / 2hr ramp down. Not sure if that is too much (?) I don't want to accelerate the inavoidable diatom or algae bloom but I also want to give the little guys enough light that they have a fighting chance. Misc note. I'm evaporating at ~1gal / every other day. I will be buying an ATO sooner than later. I'm also still stymied by the return flow.... this weekend I will take another swing at that and try and determine if I need to add a durso-ish vent to the drain or if there is something obstructing flow in the tube. More to come. Edited November 18, 2017 by nrc corrected evap rate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted November 26, 2017 Author Share Posted November 26, 2017 Re-plumbed the drain last week. Flow has increased to the point where I can run a Sicce 1.5 (357 gph) on the return without throttling it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted November 26, 2017 Author Share Posted November 26, 2017 A full tank shot. I'm starting to see the beginnings of diatoms. The polyps are hanging in there. Ammonia is at zero, nitrites and nitrates are dropping. I don't really need a cleanup crew yet, but I wanted something to watch in the tank so I picked up a few blue leg hermits and ceriths on Friday. I'm feeding them a very small piece of Rods Seaweed every other day until the algae picks up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted December 3, 2017 Author Share Posted December 3, 2017 Cycle completed last week. Have some new inhabitants. Two Ocellaris , hovering over the rock I got from Seahorse two weeks ago. Wife wants to name them Leia and Han (I said we need to wait and figure out which one is going to be Leia...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted December 3, 2017 Author Share Posted December 3, 2017 (edited) 'Lando' our lawnmower blenny.. Edited December 4, 2017 by nrc Took a better picture of Lando Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted December 3, 2017 Author Share Posted December 3, 2017 Last and not least, the digi that I got from reefrun. At the moment I have my AI lights on a slow and low ramp to acclimate... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrc Posted December 3, 2017 Author Share Posted December 3, 2017 Here's where my lights are set for now. I don't have much experience with AI Prime / LEDs so any input is welcome. At peak all colors are at 30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted December 3, 2017 Share Posted December 3, 2017 Looking like progress! I will be curious to see what those with AI experience say but, generally speaking, most folk are running LEDs at 2 or 3 times the intensity of blues over whites. I know you have more granularity than that on the AIs so others will likely have more specific recommendations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oregonic Posted December 3, 2017 Share Posted December 3, 2017 This helped me get my setting dialed in. I was running a reduced version of the ab+ spectrum they show, but got my seneye yesterday and my par was a little less then what I thought. I will slowly ramp up closer to their intensities over the next month or so till I get the par up a little more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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