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colesnwbds
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Topic: First time reefer Posted: September 15 2014 at 1:39pm |
ALCON, Looking forward to being a part of this Forum, and gleaning advice from your knowledge and wisdom! I'm a Father or two, college graduate, combat veteran, and have enjoyed having a freshwater tank in the past. Excited to start in the world of reef keeping. I have done a lot of homework, and finally ordered myself a new tank with all the goodies as follows: jbj 28 g all in one nano cube with true temp heater. (wanted bigger tank, but space is an issue) Small coralife protein skimmer. ATO system. RO/DI system. 30 lbs of dry fiji aragonite. 20lbs of caribsea sand. Test kits, salt mix, and other supplies. I just arranged my dry rock and built a pvc stand to raise the rock off the bottom, and to hold it in place. Still waiting on my tank stand to arrive in the mail, then I will begin the setup process. I'm looking to modify the back of the tank (sump area) into a refugium of sorts with some live rock rubble and chaeto. I would like to eventually have some active fish, and variety of corals and invertebrates If anyone wants to donate some live rock rubble to help seed my dry rock, or some chaeto I would be so greatful. I'm a little sticker shocked at the cost of my system even though I found some great deals along the way. I plan on attending a meeting here and there when I have a chance, hopefully meet some folks in my area to bounce ideas off of. Wish me happy cycling!
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 2:04pm |
I'm in Centerville. I have all the sand and rubble you could ever want. 801.809.2326
Adam
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Come to a meeting, they’re fun!
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colesnwbds
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 2:30pm |
Awesome! I will send a text your way here in the next day or two Thanks!
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1stupidpunk
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 2:33pm |
From my own personal experience attempting to modify the rear chamber into a refugium just ended up being a great place to trap all your extra detritus. I know alot of people have used the middle chamber for it but its really hard to get the right amount of flow angled down to keep that area clean.
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Krazie4Acans
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 2:43pm |
Get an inTank media basket for your tank and that will give you everything you need to make your refugium and to direct all flow from the overflow down and to the correct locations. Krazie
Edited by Krazie4Acans - September 15 2014 at 2:53pm
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My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water Tank Thread:
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colesnwbds
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 2:46pm |
Roger that. I plan on keeping some chaeto in the media basket with a light on it 24/7, instead of the cyramic rings that come with the basket, and drop some live rock rubble below to sit on the bottom possibly. So the flow should be pretty similar to what was desigend to happen. I'm not planning on any sand or mud ofcourse, just a clump of algea within the filter media.
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Krazie4Acans
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 2:52pm |
The inTank basket has a compartment for rubble at the bottom Chaeto in the middle and carbon (or other media) on top. Then there is nothing sitting in the chamber to block up the flow or have to be cleaned. If you need to trim the chaeto or change the rubble you just pull the basket and it's all right there. I wouldn't put anything in the chamber that is not easy to remove because it's a narrow area and very hard to get your hand into to pull anything out (especially if it's against a wall). Believe me I have one. Krazie
Edited by Krazie4Acans - September 15 2014 at 2:52pm
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My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water Tank Thread:
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colesnwbds
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 3:01pm |
Thats a great point. I don't want to have to clean at the bottom of the 1st chamber if I don't have to. It just makes a lot of sense to me to have that chaeto in there until I can invest in a better fuge. Krazie, your saying to put carbon on top? I've read to do the sponge on top, chaeto in the middle, and carbon on bottom. What's the method to the madness here? :)
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Krazie4Acans
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 3:19pm |
The method to the madness is two fold. Having it on top allows me to change it easily without disturbing the chaeto or rubble. I also tried putting the carbon on the bottom and it settles and restricts the flow through the basket (stock one or inTanks). So if you want to put it on the bottom Then hang it from the shelf below the chaeto so that the water runs through it but it can't settle on the plastic shelf below it and compress. I would also plan on buying replacement pumps for that tank. The stock ones will work for a while but they are really hard to clean without breaking the ceramic shafts that the impeller spins on. I would just order two MaxiJet 900's to have available when that happens. Also did you get the LED version of the tank or the Metal Halide? If it's LED did you get intermediate or Pro? Krazie
Edited by Krazie4Acans - September 15 2014 at 3:20pm
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My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water Tank Thread:
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Mike Savage
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 4:21pm |
Welcome!
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colesnwbds
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 7:03pm |
Excellent advice.
I got the intermediate series LED. I thought I could improve the lights later if I wanted, with that being the only difference didn't make sense with the added cost to me.
Thanks for the heads up on the jets. I heard that might be a problem, do the 1200s have Too much flow for that size?
Do you still use the sponges on the sides where the pumps are?
And thanks for the welcome Mike.
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Krazie4Acans
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 7:19pm |
Yes you can modify the leds later. Just watch what corals you try until you get a little more light on there. Softies and most lps should be fine. Without trimming the slots on the overflow the 1200s will make the water level in the tank go over the inner lip of the top frame and could leak. 900s will run about the same as the ones that come with the tank. I still run sponges but they are smaller than the stock ones and are only there to stop micro bubbles from my skimmer. Krazie
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My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water Tank Thread:
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Krazie4Acans
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 7:32pm |
If you look at my tank thread in my signature you can see what I did with mine.
Did you get some powerheads for inside the tank to create more flow in there? Krazie
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My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water Tank Thread:
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colesnwbds
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Posted: September 15 2014 at 9:09pm |
Wow. That's an impressive DIY hood!
Sheesh. Looks like the rewards are paying off with some pretty neat livestock.
I wanted to stay close to stock to see what a plug and play could really do reef wise.
I will be ordering some pumps for inside the tank for sure.
I'm addicted and I haven't even set the thing up yet!
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: September 16 2014 at 6:34am |
I'm a big talker here on this forum yet I often say things badly or just plain wrong so please take what I say with a grain of salt.
You don't sound like a "plug'n'play" kind of guy. You sound more like a DIY'er. You have found out that the setup you bought must be modified to make it work as an effective reef aquarium. That's pretty normal for the reefing hobby which shares equipment and technology with the freshwater hobby. All of us have changed our setups many times as we learned, experimented and found new and better ways of doing things. I myself am a natural hobbyist - that is, I like finding ways to do things simple, without a lot of gadgets. For example, my ~200 gal. coral farm system is located in a south facing large window to take advantage of simple, yet powerful sunlight.
You are invited to visit with me at MarksReef Coral & Fish Farm in Murray. I give away free LS, LR, Macroalgae and advice to all hobbyists, especially newbies.
Aloha, Mark 808-345-1049 (pls call/text ahead) 750 E. Lakepoint Dr.(~5550 So.) #4V Murray
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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colesnwbds
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Posted: September 16 2014 at 2:44pm |
Pretty cool. I did not know you could use rock and sand from Utah for a saltwater tank. On second thought it makes a lot of sense, due to the whole lake bonneville concept and all. It's intereasting also to hear about a tank using actual sunlight. The majority of threads I have read, suggest that the sun is an evil algea producing devil ray, to be avoided at all costs. My do it yourself skills are to the extent of buying parts and assembling them. Ha ha. I'm certainly no wire and light soddering, circut board, whole cutting, type like Krazie4acans up there. Thanks for the welcome, and ALOHA! I will have to visit the farm one of these days for sure.
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Krazie4Acans
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Posted: September 16 2014 at 2:58pm |
Just remember we all started with a box of water. I didn't use to solder and do all the DIY stuff either but it kinda grew on me once I started doing some of it. There are a few of us on the forum. It won't take long before you figure out what you like and don't like about the hobby. Water changes is usually the first thing to go on the don't like list. Krazie
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My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water Tank Thread:
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Molli
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Posted: September 16 2014 at 5:40pm |
I found when I had a small biocube that when you do your water changes use small syphon tubing and run it along the bottom of the back portion of your tank for a little while -- that will help syphon out some of the crud that collects there.
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colesnwbds
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Posted: September 16 2014 at 6:03pm |
I'll store that in the ol think tank. Thanks.
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colesnwbds
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Posted: September 19 2014 at 7:46am |
All the parts to my tank finally arrived in the mail (after getting lost in the mail twice, adding two weeks to my start time no thanks to UPS). I got my rock scaping secured, added the sand and water. Got my Salinity dialed in, and thanks to Adam Blundell I now have some great live rock to seed my base rock for the cycle. I ended up dropping more sand than I had envisioned, so I'm looking at 2-3 inches right now. I'm a little worried that might create problems down the road. Do I vacume down to the bottom glass with water changes, or just graze the surface?
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