Kinetic System 120

[Kinetic]

After dinner I headed over to the ELOS warehouse in Pleasanton, CA. It's about 35 minutes from my house. I took my little 86 Toyota truck.

When I got to the warehouse, I saw a handful of beautiful ELOS tanks being moved around. It was like a dream. I found a few System 120's, and picked one out. I also picked out a 160xl and 70, but they didn't make it onto the truck fast enough.

I brought it home, along with the sump, skimmer, return pump, topoff, etc etc...


Packaged up on the floor:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1094/1487925059_09ce6ce1dd.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1094/1487925059_cc80cff7c1_o.jpg)


This is super fragile!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1241/1488783398_8ece2bfb3f.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1241/1488783398_a0fcf01562_o.jpg)


unwrapping... sexy tease: swish ~

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1344/1488784688_de96c1a1ae.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1344/1488784688_a25f9c1720_o.jpg)



drumroll...

Beauty:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1135/1487929031_4d8589b549.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1135/1487929031_cc7bf7245c_o.jpg)



Front side:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1388/1487929583_9f65ecd7dc.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1388/1487929583_9858989ef6_o.jpg)


Right side:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1154/1487930237_eb0c6c40f5.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1154/1487930237_62f75a6265_o.jpg)

[Kinetic]

Along with the tank came the sump (sump box on left, stand on far left):

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1044/1488788400_b00457b416.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1044/1488788400_efe317090e_o.jpg)



Opening her up:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1379/1487931725_ace6211640.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1379/1487931725_bcadb3d599_o.jpg)



Comes with a cool cover... I'm probably not going to use it:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1307/1488789620_debb7e45b0.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1307/1488789620_3d02a0cfaf_o.jpg)



Sump next to Tank, get to know each other! You're going to be working together for awhile:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1435/1487932967_efb42433e7.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1435/1487932967_ce4624515c_o.jpg)



Side View:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1307/1488790976_5833816401.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1307/1488790976_daa1ad7da2_o.jpg)



Front View:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1338/1488781830_0cebd88dd9.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1338/1488781830_f26189ce90_o.jpg)



In the above pictures, I took out all the equipment, but it literally comes with EVERYTHING. Only a handful of things aren't included, which I mostly have already.

I'll take pictures of the Skimmer etc. tomorrow! I'm too pooped... TGIF!

btw do I get some kind of discount for promoting the system with my pictures? ;)

[slovan]

Congratulations Kinetic! :celeb2: Thanks for sharing, those pictures look awesome!

[boozeman]

:eek1: was thinking ''damn those are some great pictures'' and then saw your signature list photography as your interest.:D

welcome to the Eclub.

glad you didn't walk out with that 160xl...cause its' mine :strooper:

[elosusa]

Those are nice pics but I can give you a few tips to make them a little better. I like to use a nice background, like a parking lot and if you can get your thumb in the picture it is a plus. Ask Slovan he has seen some of my work.........

[nanoguy]

Very nice. I might have to pick up a larger Elos in the near future. My 70 is feeling a little small now. Hey Jesse, thanks for the short cut directions........ I thought I was going to get hit by stray bullets driving down Mission Blvd ;).

[Nuuze]

Congrats Kinetic! Nice pics! :D

[slovan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10909135#post10909135 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elosusa
Those are nice pics but I can give you a few tips to make them a little better. I like to use a nice background, like a parking lot and if you can get your thumb in the picture it is a plus. Ask Slovan he has seen some of my work.........

Your pictures turned out great Kinetic! Just out of curiosity, what kind of camera are you using? Also, don't listen to Jesse. He's notorious for taking crappy pictures and then he laughs his arse off on the phone because he realizes his thumb had obstructed the picture! :lmao:

[Larry Waughon]

Nice looking tank. I will have to check those out.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10908620#post10908620 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by boozeman
:eek1: was thinking ''damn those are some great pictures'' and then saw your signature list photography as your interest.:D

welcome to the Eclub.

glad you didn't walk out with that 160xl...cause its' mine :strooper:

Thanks! Yeah I almost got your 160xl onto the truck. It's a nice one! They were packing it up real nice when I got to the warehouse.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10909135#post10909135 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elosusa
Those are nice pics but I can give you a few tips to make them a little better. I like to use a nice background, like a parking lot and if you can get your thumb in the picture it is a plus. Ask Slovan he has seen some of my work.........

Jesse, you're too artistic! I wouldn't be able to produce a photo like that even if I tried. It's too good =)


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10909492#post10909492 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by slovan
Your pictures turned out great Kinetic! Just out of curiosity, what kind of camera are you using? Also, don't listen to Jesse. He's notorious for taking crappy pictures and then he laughs his arse off on the phone because he realizes his thumb had obstructed the picture! :lmao:

I'm using a Nikon digital camera. Checkout my other pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kinetic/sets/72157594189182622/

[raddogz]

Good for you Art!!!!

Finally you have an Elos tank. Btw, I'm still first on the FS list - ROFLMAO :D

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10910420#post10910420 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raddogz
Good for you Art!!!!

Finally you have an Elos tank. Btw, I'm still first on the FS list - ROFLMAO :D

Yeah it finally came! I was hoping the Italians would have included a few pieces of bruschetta and a glass of chianti with this shipment... I miss Italy!

I'm going to open up a bottle of Kenwood 2004 Cabernet tonight and maybe eat some cheese crackers =)

I'm ordering my vortech's on Monday with battery backups, and sometime later my aquactinic fixture. This is getting expensive =X

BTW, I've lost my brand new airwaterice typhoon III ro/di system. I have no idea where I put it...

[raddogz]

Well, if it's around the house I'm sure you'll find it.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10910574#post10910574 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raddogz
Well, if it's around the house I'm sure you'll find it.

yeah it's weird, I can't find it anywhere for some reason. I've been looking for it for a few days now, and it's really nowhere. I'm afraid I might have tossed it with all those boxes I recycled recently =X

Oh well, might not even need it if you take the tank before I get water in it ;) j/k j/k

[Fliger]

Wow, great pix! The Vortechs are nice - and I'd say for the 120, two are perfect. Two would be fine even for a 120XL. I'm running four on the 160XL and I'm having issues getting enough flow - I'm really hoping the controllers solve that problem. You do have excellent taste!

[Kinetic]

Just saw that the new VORTECH's that have the wireless controllers already built in are being released today. It's awesome that you don't need a separate controller, but I guess they're a bit more expensive.

I'm going to get two and probably a pair of battery backups. With these blasting at 3,000gph and the ~600gph return (after head/plumb loss) I should be getting around 80x turnover. With the pumps controlled, probably less per hour, but much better randomness.

After I get these, I'll need to get my lighting.

I'm probably going to get the Aquactinics 48" MH/T5 with 2x175watt 15K Iwasaki Lamps and 2x54watt ATI Blue Plus t5's. I'm sort of waiting for their new ballast box though that will accept the new icecap ballasts, or I can just pickup a few older model ones, I think Aquarium Specialty has them.

[Maximus]

Nice tank Kinetic! Did you happen to see any 120xl's there? I may drive up this weekend to see the tanks. I wonder if Jesse is open?

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10912178#post10912178 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maximus
Nice tank Kinetic! Did you happen to see any 120xl's there? I may drive up this weekend to see the tanks. I wonder if Jesse is open?

I saw one 120xl sitting there, a few of my finger prints and face smudges were left over on the glass though =(

I'm not sure if it was sold already or not, but it definitely wasn't packed to be shipped anywhere.

Jesse's gone hiking this weekend, so he won't be back until Monday. Which is why you probably see a lot of people posting about picking up at odd hours all night yesterday =)

[Kinetic]

Here are some b&w pictures of the SeaChill Chiller I got earlier this week, along with the stand:


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1361/1475249072_4a9f7f0702.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1361/1475249072_7bcbc0f31d_o.jpg)



Opening the box... uh oh, peanuts galore.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1261/1474399501_234698cd67.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1261/1474399501_02ea5ba93b_o.jpg)



Well I guess I can tip it over and pull it out... here come the peanuts...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1231/1475250304_69beec0846.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1231/1475250304_816f8ae282_o.jpg)



BA!@#$!@%# peanuts everywhere!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1212/1474400861_c56078e9e5.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1212/1474400861_0bf120c55b_o.jpg)



Good thing I have a dust pan:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1007/1474401493_9483ddd008.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1007/1474401493_5de31bff66_o.jpg)



Opening the inner box:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1418/1475252360_56c6e3c828.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1418/1475252360_0a9976f487_o.jpg)



Nicely packed:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1247/1474402855_3718296f20.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1247/1474402855_15094b947f_o.jpg)

[Kinetic]

Out of the box! Look at this little guy:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1052/1475253728_d310e8c0c7.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1052/1475253728_ca0b60dcc1_o.jpg)



Front View:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1078/1475254298_6042c3d958.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1078/1475254298_b29ee5eaf3_o.jpg)



Back View:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1123/1475255482_20722194a1.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1123/1475255482_1d5600a507_o.jpg)



Close up view:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1049/1474404589_ab697ece00.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1474404589&size=o)


Maybe I'll put it inside here, or maybe on the other side, depending on how the sump will be configured. Seriously, a perfect fit:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1209/1475248508_1f2f2d2ae7.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1209/1475248508_ab8eb9c11f_o.jpg)




The pros so far:
Looks really nice. The exterior design is very nice, rounded, and even a little "retro". The footprint is TINY, and it's very short. I may lift this up on a small shelf inside the stand so that I can put more underneath it. Amazingly great packaging too. Nice modern LED control screen.

The cons so far:
- The packaging came with TONS OF PEANUTS. Great packaging, but what a mess =)
- The power button and power chord come straight out of the side of this thing. So weird =/ I'd prefer it to come out from underneath or behind.

[raddogz]

That looks so cute.

Where do you put the rice in? :D

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10912367#post10912367 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raddogz
That looks so cute.

Where do you put the rice in? :D

Haha I know huh!? I told my friend: "Look, it's my new Ice Cream maker" It's a tiny little thing, 17" long, 10" wide... and I forget how tall.

Here's some info about the custom stand. I had SoCalCreations make me a custom stand, basically the same one I used to have, but spec'd to hold the ELOS tank. I really like the style that they made my last one in, which is why I went with them. The ELOS are cool, but I think I really wanted the old style that I had before. Also this one is 36" tall, raising the tank up higher.

I'm absolutely thrilled with the quality of the stand. Again SoCal did a great job. I added a under cabinet light underneath and added little foam pads to the corners of the doors so they don't slam shut.


Enjoy these pictures:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1012/1416588408_fea9af67d3.jpg


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1341/1415710565_ff5d836141.jpg


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1143/1415711363_457fab368d.jpg

[raddogz]

This time you have to put water in the tank.

[Nuuze]

You going to make it viewable from both sides? That would be awesome! :)

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10912449#post10912449 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raddogz
This time you have to put water in the tank.

I know seriously! Don't let me sell it k? =)


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10912576#post10912576 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nuuze
You going to make it viewable from both sides? That would be awesome! :)

I would've, but I think I'm moving it so that it's against a wall =/ It would be cool though since the glass is so clear =)

[boozeman]

cool...you got a Teco/seachill. don't you just love the perty box it comes in :D
[ I got the TR20 with the optional UV lamp built in]

[invincible569]

Great photography skills! Which model nikon??

Cant wait to see the tank in action.

[Apon]

Nice Art,

You me and Eileen can have a battle of the 120 gallon tanks! When is the tank tour at your place...its only fair you have seen our tanks. Don't forget to save room for a big clam, especially since its an open tank on top, no bracing.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10912784#post10912784 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by boozeman
cool...you got a Teco/seachill. don't you just love the perty box it comes in :D
[ I got the TR20 with the optional UV lamp built in]

Haha yeah the packaging is very well done! The box is also really nice with those butterfly fish =)

I got the TR10, which is only 1/8hp. According the TECO guys, it is plenty for my system and for the ambient temp that my house is usually at. I don't think it ever reaches over 90 in ambient temperature, unless it's a really hot summer. But noise is a big issue for this tank, as it's next to a piano, and in a living room. So hopefully it will be pretty quiet and efficient.

I wasn't sure if I should get the UV. I'm going to keep a bunch of corals, as well as filter feeders like clams, and anthias and genicanthus, so I'm worried the UV will kill too many good nutrients from the water column. I've heard otherwise, but I think I can add this feature later on if I needed. Plus after setting this thing up, I'm sure my wallet's going to be empty and cupboards filled with Ramen noodle packages.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10912855#post10912855 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by invincible569
Great photography skills! Which model nikon??

Cant wait to see the tank in action.

Thanks, it's really nothing crazy. It's a Nikon D80. The shots were like 10 second exposures at F/8 with a circular polarizer with only a few floor lamps =P No flash, so I guess it turned out better and more even.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10913012#post10913012 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Apon
Nice Art,

You me and Eileen can have a battle of the 120 gallon tanks! When is the tank tour at your place...its only fair you have seen our tanks. Don't forget to save room for a big clam, especially since its an open tank on top, no bracing.

Hey Arnold, it's actually only about 83 gallons in the display. It's called a System 120 because it's 120 cm long. 48" x 20" x 20", so it's still pretty Nano. I'd definitely be happy to have a tank tour stop at my place sometime. I'll figure out a nice spot in the aquascaping for a clam =) Maybe a nice black and white teardrop maxima somewhere down the line.



I dont' have any updates on the build today. I ended up coming home from work, went to the gym, opened a bottle of some cheap but good 2004 Kenwood Cabernet, and watched two episodes of Planet Earth =) That series is unbelievable.

Tomorrow I have a portrait shoot with one of my models all day, and at night going to a choir concert, so probably nothing until Sunday.

You guys know it's Columbus day on Monday? I asked my boss if we got a day off for it, he laughed. I was like, "But I believe in Columbus!!" Oh well... maybe I'll be "Sick" with the ELOS plague. I'm determined to get water in this tank, seriously =)

[Kinetic]

I spent the whole day setting up the sump. It took me the entire day, but let me tell ya, I'm basically done. This is due to the fact that I'm using all vinyl tubing now, rather than PVC. Just stick it in, clamp it, and go. So easy.

The only thing I haven't hooked up is the Calcium Reactor. I still have to get the Co2 bottle filled, and the setup is a little confusing. I'll take this one slow. I also realized my pH probe is broken. So this guy will be on the back burner. No corals right now anyway =P

Here are the pictures!


ELOS Natural Skimmer:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2120/1521871006_9229ea2e80.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2120/1521871006_2feeb1e398_o.jpg)


Stand's rear center brace removed:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2348/1521860434_a3bb5808eb.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2348/1521860434_7d07e72b9c_o.jpg)


Sump in place:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2063/1521858018_8a07c1a759.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2063/1521858018_60190c9198_o.jpg)


Equipment in place:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2336/1521861874_5c7a9cf4d3.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2336/1521861874_f0c8cad4dd_o.jpg)


And drumroll...

[Kinetic]

A big fat mess of wires! I'm all ready! (minus Ca Reactor):

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2121/1521859164_f2e932140b.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2121/1521859164_de321ef0a4_o.jpg)


The inside of the sump:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/1521865540_f49e89328c.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/1521865540_4892b88ab5_o.jpg)


Pumps (the quiet one 1200 will be moved so it's not touching, no worries =):

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2357/1521867012_0aac9c2c62.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2357/1521867012_4f23d176f7_o.jpg)


Skimmer drain:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2325/1521869452_13ad62c2db.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2325/1521869452_ff857f46eb_o.jpg)


GFO Drain:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2170/1521863184_2e4d856594.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2170/1521863184_cd04688a8e_o.jpg)


GFO Intake / Chiller Outlet:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2397/1521864058_bcd522f078.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2397/1521864058_195f3179d1_o.jpg)


Aquacontroller mount:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2361/1521002803_95fa2b0891.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2361/1521002803_437bf74d69_o.jpg)

[cecilturtle]

Beautiful tank and pictures Kinetic... might I suggest something, uh anything, for the floor?

Seriously though I think that setup and your photography kinda go hand in hand.

[Maximus]

I think you're missing something.....WATER!!:)

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10933612#post10933612 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maximus
I think you're missing something.....WATER!!:)

LOL! Yeah, I need some water. I can't find my darn RO/DI for some reason. It's in my house SOMEWHERE! I know it! I'm not a messy person, I think I just stashed it somewhere and can't remember where I put it.

I probably need a faucet adapter too.

Get your ELOS too Sang =) We can start stocking the tanks at the same time if you can catchup! ;)

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10933573#post10933573 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cecilturtle
Beautiful tank and pictures Kinetic... might I suggest something, uh anything, for the floor?

Thanks! The floor? Am I missing something? I'm going to have to be very careful about leaving any saltwater on the floor =/ I'll probably mop everything / anything up.

Underneath I've built joist supports already. I can handle at least a 300g tank I believe =)

[Apon]

Art I would place some kind of clear plastic sheet under your stand. That way you know the water won't hit your floor under the stand. I wish I did that to mine. If you cut it right, no one will ever see it.

[Kinetic]

but if it's flush under the stand, the water would still seep under the plastic right?

[raddogz]

It's the water that leaks from inside the stand and not the outside that he's talking about. Have you ever had a skimmer overflow or maybe a loose fitting that should have been tightened only to find water leaking out from underneath the stand and gone "O <BLEEP>!!!"?

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10936614#post10936614 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raddogz
It's the water that leaks from inside the stand and not the outside that he's talking about. Have you ever had a skimmer overflow or maybe a loose fitting that should have been tightened only to find water leaking out from underneath the stand and gone "O <BLEEP>!!!"?

ooh... good looking out.

What kind of plastic should I use? That's going to be a honkin big piece.

[raddogz]

You know that heavy mil plastic you can get for plastic drop cloths (course I can't recall what it is really called).

[TimTen]

OH Wow!

That looks so sweet. I need to get working on your old tank fast, I was hoping to beat you. Nice looking stand.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10937434#post10937434 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raddogz
You know that heavy mil plastic you can get for plastic drop cloths (course I can't recall what it is really called).

Oh I think I know what you're talking about, like the blue plastic cover we use at the BAR frag swaps on the floor? shoot the name escapes me too, lol.

TARP?

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10937465#post10937465 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TimTen
OH Wow!

That looks so sweet. I need to get working on your old tank fast, I was hoping to beat you. Nice looking stand.

Yeah I hid my build thread over here =) Are you going to put a build thread together for your tank? It would be fun to follow.

Haha thanks about the stand, it's exactly like yours, just a foot longer and with center braces. Thankfully the braces are pocket screws (go socalcreations!) so they can be removed temporarily. We can be stand twins... siblings... or something lol.

How far are you on that tank? Are you waiting on the frag tank to cycle still?

[whosinpower]

Sigh....elos....droooool........

I want one.

thanks for sharing with us. It looks awesome.

[Maximus]

Hi Kinetic,
Is there any way you could take a picture of your stand in color? I would love to see the real color of it. I may be ordering one from the same company.:)

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10937649#post10937649 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maximus
Hi Kinetic,
Is there any way you could take a picture of your stand in color? I would love to see the real color of it. I may be ordering one from the same company.:)

Oh, yeah, there's a color one on the first page, but it's kind of hard to find between all the jokers posting ;)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1012/1416588408_fea9af67d3.jpg

The picture shows the stand kind of dark, but it's a tad lighter and more cherry. The thing is, they stained it a bit darker than I wanted unfortunately. My last stand that Tim now has is about 10% lighter and more cherry colored.

I'll try to take another picture tonight of the full color in better lighting etc.

[Maximus]

I'd appreciate that. Thanks again.

[TimTen]

My frag tank is just about done cycling. I will do the build thread on the BAR forum. Really nice looking tank.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10937761#post10937761 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maximus
I'd appreciate that. Thanks again.

didn't get home in time for the sunlight to be out. I'll need to wait until Monday (I have the day off) to take some good colored shots of the stand.

Today was a lot of fun working on the tank. I went to ACE and bought a piece of rubber matting. It has large treds, such that it will allow any stagnant water that somehow seeps under the tank to evaporate, while still providing even support on the floor.

I then realized that the inside of the tank was already sealed, so I went ahead and put in a piece of 1" thick foam under the sump. The foam is anti-mildew and termite resistant, so it'll be great. 1" thick because I want to also deaden any vibrations. To do this I just cut the foam, but didn't want to take the whole sump out again... so what I did was lifted one end, put a 2x4 under it, slid it towards the chiller, then lifted the other side, and slipped the foam underneath! It took all of 2 minutes rather than dissasembling everything and then replacing it =)

I then placed the rubber mat under the stand, and walla, I was ready to put the tank on the stand. My buddy came over and we picked it up and placed it on the stand. Perfect!

The stand is about an inch longer, I guess the dimensions were a bit off... it's not bad though, but I think I'll try to get something to fill it. Probably wood or maybe black plastic. I'll see if Tap plastics can cut a really thin slice for me.

The width is perfect, and the hole cut in the stand is spot on.

I plumbed the return, and then the drain. The only thing that's weird is the return "nozzle" plumbing is a little loose. I'm thinking of adapting some 3/4" locline that I have to it instead.

So all I'm waiting for now is my lighting fixture, and I'll be ordering my vortechs tomorrow.

Here are the pictures:

(kind of dark):

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2241/1548958917_353927b939.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2241/1548958917_9ad8771249_o.jpg)


Open stand:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2414/1549822326_ca143739b9.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2414/1549822326_20a28f0e84_o.jpg)


From the side, piano shot:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2202/1549823440_d39795ed53.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2202/1549823440_6e0a32859e_o.jpg)

[Kinetic]

Finally setup my RO/DI system. It's an air water ice typhoon III system. The tubing was long enough to go from my basement sink to the kitchen, so I'm filling up 5 gallons at a time. Currently it puts out about 3.5 gallons an hour... it's going to take awhile.

Tomorrow I'm going to stop by a hydroponic store to get some more tubing and maybe a JG fitting to get this all the way over to my tank so I don't need to keep lugging 5g's back and forth.

Problem is I'll have to set a timer or something to shut it off when the time comes.

[Kinetic]

This morning the auto topoff switch had lifted off and floated away. The suction cups don't seem to cut it.

Anybody have any suggestions on what to do about this guy? I'd rather not silicon it to the glass or anything.

I think I saw someone use a maxijet mount?

Maybe I can use magnets or something... mount it to an old magfloat maybe.

[Kinetic]

I found Nuuze's thread on what he did:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/printthread.php?threadid=961293&perpage=25&pagenumber=2


Looks fine, but so adhoc for such a nice system. You have this beautiful glass float switch on a chunky holder =( But I guess that's that.

[elosusa]

in the instructions it does say to use silicone inside the suction cup. This is a very small dab and it can easily be removed with a razor blade. Thw magnet holder will interfere with the float switch as nuuze found out. Hope that helps.

[Kinetic]

Oooh, I need to read more =X

I'll play with my water level for awhile before finding the perfect spot and then silicon a dab of it. Thanks for the help Jesse.

Btw did you have time to put in the order for my pumps? =) My slowpoke RO/DI is slowly filling my tank up, hehe.

[Nuuze]

I didn't silicone mine since my sump was in operation already and I don't like suction cups. The Tunze bracket actually works great and does not come off even when bumped. I wanted something I can completely remove since I take my sump out every couple months for cleaning.

[Kinetic]

YOu remove your sump to clean? No wonder it's so damn clean!! =)

I don't think I can do that unless I can undo my pocket screws for the center bracing on my stand while the sump is in and the stand is pushed against the wall =/

I'll try mounting it on my maxijet holders or seio holders to see if that works. Perhaps I can get something from tap plastics as well...

[elosusa]

i did put the call in for kinetic.

[Kinetic]

thanks jesse =) Can't wait to get them! There's a thread about this one guy who made a killer wave in his System 120 with two opposing vortech's in anti-sync mode.

[Nuuze]

Yeah, I take my sump out every couple months for cleaning. 2 part causes some serious build up, mainly the A part. I give the sump, float glass and pumps a water/vineger soak... :)

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10985671#post10985671 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nuuze
Yeah, I take my sump out every couple months for cleaning. 2 part causes some serious build up, mainly the A part. I give the sump, float glass and pumps a water/vineger soak... :)

That's awesome! Maybe I can just kill my return pump and run water vinegar through it, then use the ATO pump to pull the water out when I'm done. Do you think vinegar left overs would be harmful to a tank? Maybe I'd need to rinse it down real well with ro water.

[Maximus]

Vinegar leftovers are not harmful to a tank. I wouldn't worry about it. It wouldn't hurt to rinse though.

[Lagger]

Awesome tank Kinetic, your pics look great also. :thumbsup:

what do you have planned for lighting?

[Kinetic]

I'll definitely do a good rinse with RO water after doing the vinegar clean =)

Lighting will be an oil-rubbed bronze Aquactinics 48" with 2x175watt 15K Iwasaki Halide Lamps and 2x54watt ATI Blue Plus T5 Lamps.

It's in the mail ;)

[hawaiianwargod]

Kinetic,

So happy to know you finally got your [~]! Pics looks great!
Sang is back??? The power of elos....lol!

[Kinetic]

we should put together a bay area ELOS tank tour =)

I had some major issues with my non-elos equipment today. Goes to show how crappy anything non elos is ;) but in all seriousness this is what happened:

I plugged in my return pump earlier this week to make sure all the wiring would reach. I turned off that port on the DC8 so that it wouldn't turn on since I have no water in the display yet.

I've filled the sump with ro/di water from my newly hooked up typhoon III, but only got about halfway on my display.

Today there was a mini power outage, and upon restart, my aquacontroller restarts all pumps! My return pump of course turns on and drains my tank... all my pumps ran dry for about 4 hours. Most pumps are ok, but I haven't tried the return yet =( I was randomly checking my Aquacontroller III from work and noticed it on. Thank goodness I didn't wait later. So i turned it all off from work, and rushed home. I used the Osmolator to transfer RO/DI to the main sump area and turned on my chiller feed and skimmer feed pumps, they were fine. I just have to test the return as soon as I fill my display...

Then when I tried to restart my RO/DI drip to continue filling the display, it stops working. I troubleshoot all afternoon and found the auto shutoff valve won't turn back on. It's purely mechanical with a piston that shuts it off if there's too much back pressure (meaning I've closed the out valve). But it wouldn't turn back on! So I took it off the system and tried to open it up to see what was busted.

There is good stuff said about the air water ice customer service, and how their valves have a lifetime warranty, so why not try to open it up and try. I start undoing each of the 4 screws holding it together, but these screws are such LOW grade that I start stripping them. One of the screws is completely stripped. At this point I'm about to bust out vise grips and just rip it apart.

Finally I give up and screw them all back down tight without stripping that side of the screws. Then I banged it against the table lightly a few times, and used a paperclip to see if I could reach the piston inside to make it loosen up. I started blowing into it and finally AIR went through!

I hooked it back up in it's really crappy state, and now it works.

So in the end, everything is working... crossing my fingers that my return will work as well. NO water on the floor though for the tank, so I know that when the return drained into the display, nothing leaked there =)


So what's left to test:

Return pump Eheim 1260 works still
Drain has no leaks


I'm also replacing my chiller feed pump with a lower GPH and lower wattage pump in a few days when it arrives. Next week my lighting (minus the ATI Blue Plus) arrives, so does my reef crystals salt and other misc. stuff.

*whew that was a long one*

[Maximus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10996447#post10996447 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hawaiianwargod
Kinetic,

So happy to know you finally got your [~]! Pics looks great!
Sang is back??? The power of elos....lol!

:D

[hawaiianwargod]

Art,

Glad everything turns out fine...."rookie" mistake...j/k...lol!

[Kinetic]

My tank is almost done filling. Only a couple more gallons to go!

Here are some pix:


This is from the outlet of the RO/DI going into my tank. The reason there's black is because of the black silicon and black bottom bracing on the tank ;)


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2113/1613218572_b7005f19f3.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2113/1613218572_48fdc9ce1a_o.jpg)


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2191/1613220026_922a65de1b.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2191/1613220026_985ce73038_o.jpg)


The edge of my elos... now THAT's what i called beveled to perfection:


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2047/1612313267_e9cbc5442d.jpg


And finally boring shots:

Tank being filled, piano reflections (the tubing I bought was made a long time ago, 2 years):

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2324/1612317241_e02084bd31.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2324/1612317241_5222395e8e_o.jpg)


And an updated full tank and stand shot:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2305/1612315285_3eccce3aab.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2305/1612315285_f623b6a1f3_o.jpg)

[Maximus]

Your pics belong in an Elos catalog! Great work!

[Kinetic]

maybe jesse will give me a discount on replacement filter socks and test kits ;)

[hawaiianwargod]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10999417#post10999417 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maximus
Your pics belong in an Elos catalog! Great work!

I totally agree with you Sang! Art got skills... no doubt!

[cecilturtle]

Too funny Kinetic...I can just sit here all day looking at your EMPTY tank. Hope the wife doesn't catch wind of that.

[Skorpinok]

Alright Art, I was beginning to wonder if you ever going to have a display tank. I guess, we all want daily progress report along with those great pics.

I like the way you had your tank situated on a SoCalCreations stand, good decision. Wouldn't it be better if you went with a taller stand, instead of 36" (I think that's what I read)?

[SuAsati]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10999417#post10999417 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maximus
Your pics belong in an Elos catalog! Great work!

I think it might endup there once all complete.... excellent photography.... looking forward to seeing it completed...

[dazed]

wow!! the photographs look great; so does the new setup nice and clean; can't wait to see some more..

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11006083#post11006083 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Skorpinok
I like the way you had your tank situated on a SoCalCreations stand, good decision. Wouldn't it be better if you went with a taller stand, instead of 36" (I think that's what I read)?

Well the original elos stand is 30" tall, so I got SoCal to make a 36" tall stand. I think it's a good height for me =)

[ac green]

Looking good art! As always, your photos are nothing less then amazing. Can't wait to see when this tank matures.

I went to visit Jesse last week and it was tough to keep my credit card in my wallet but I think the purchases will but a nice ~ touch to my new system.

[Maximus]

Did you end up wth an elos tank, ac green?

[ac green]

No, not as far as an elos tank! The tanks are REAL nice and I think think if I were to do it again, I would of gone with an Elos tank but the quality of the AE tank is just as nice. Plus the AE tank was designed to fit perfectly in an existing closet and has been sitting in my garage for over 4 months now.

But I did get 2 of the planet 2's with 150watt de and 4 t5's each. I really like slim/clean look of the fixtures and since they are 15" wide 2 of them will fit perfect over the 30" tank.

[Kinetic]

Just a quick update: I've been trying to put together a really cool aquascape, but keep coming up with ugly rock walls =P I think I got some good shapes out of my mix of Marco rocks and Reeferrocks... now if ELOS only made ceramic rocks too ;)

I got all my lighting in too, including my ATI Blue Plus and Iwasaki 15K 175watt lamps. I should be able to hang this on Sunday. I have to crawl into the attic to put some 2x4's down over the joists or whatever they're called. Drywall ceiling won't cut it =(

I've put in half my rocks so far, the other half is still curing from gluing in the fiberglass rods.

Pictures as soon as all the rock is in!

[Kinetic]

All my rocks went in last weekend, and my skimmer kicked in strong! The skimmer cup is almost half full of yellow scum (from the dryrock) in about half a week. I'll try to see how full it gets in a weeks time before cleaning it out.

I haven't had time to climb into the attic yet =X

Here are some test parameters:

11/2/07
Calcium: 440ppm (salifert)
Alkalinity: Normal (red sea)
Magnesium: n/a
Phosphate: 0.5ppm phosphate / 0.17 phosphor
Nitrate: 0.2ppm
Nitrite: 0.7ppm
Ammonia: 0.3ppm

I'm not that great at reading the colors yet, so they may be off =/

Here are some parameters from today (11/05/07):

Calcium: n/a (testing ca and alk only weekly right now)
Alkalinity: n/a
Magnesium: n/a
Phosphate: 0.25ppm
Nitrate: 0.3ppm
Nitrite: 10ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm

I added in Marine BioSpira on Friday as well after I tested the water, so that might have done some hefty ammonia reducing.

It looks like my phosphates are a little lower, though I think it may be just me taking a better measurement with the salifert kit.

Nitrates only went up a tiny bit

Nitrites however skyrocketed! I'm guessing the sudden ammonia change really spiked this, because I can't detect ammonia now!


I'm going to start dosing ammonia nitrate from an "ice pack" and try to get the ammonia into nitrites within a day. Then once that's hitting I'll wait on the nitrites to get into nitrate form within a day as well. Does that sound like a good "cycle" plan?

[TimTen]

Let's see some pics of your rock work. :D

[Kinetic]

Haha very soon. I am probably going to change it again =/ Too symmetrical at the moment.

I'm also having a hard time finding time to go into my attic to hang my light =/

[Kinetic]

Tank is now running! Lights, rock, and more! Picture update:

FTS:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2115/2048952877_7b40e19eb9.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2115/2048952877_54e272c6ef_o.jpg)


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2254/2049738090_1ef43fe30e.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2254/2049738090_447d9f8561_o.jpg)


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2244/2048952705_0784bc1939.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2244/2048952705_a8eebc63c5_o.jpg)


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2338/2048953085_bd0a31cad9.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2338/2048953085_c2582a9d4c_o.jpg)


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2253/2048953261_75138a419c.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2253/2048953261_6e5e1728f9_o.jpg)


All photos white balance corrected to 15000K (kelvin rating of my 15K iwasakis, so you can see the actual actinic the ATI Blue Plus are adding to it. CRISP huh?)

[Kinetic]

the aquactinics light focuses the light on a narrow strip lengthwise =/ I don't really like it, the spread isn't wide enough, but good thing it doesn't blind the room as badly.

The fixture is 7" off the top, maybe if I moved it up?

[Kinetic]

the loud fans and the narrow strip of focus is really making me think of going with a different fixture...

any other fixtures out there with 175watt SE and 54watt T5?

[invincible569]

your pictures are so nice. wish I knew your picture taking secret. ;)

[reefbuzz]

You probably know this but your Vortechs will fall if you don't secure the cable above the driver. Aquascaping looks good!

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11220022#post11220022 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by invincible569
your pictures are so nice. wish I knew your picture taking secret. ;)

Custom white balancing and a tripod... seriously. That's it.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11220778#post11220778 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefbuzz
You probably know this but your Vortechs will fall if you don't secure the cable above the driver. Aquascaping looks good!

I have them secured right below, I did a few trial falls, and they don't hit anything coming down at all... we'll see =) I may be switching to Tunze 6101's or some crazy maxijet mod ;)

[raddogz]

I call dibs on the Vortech's next then - lol :D

It looks like you did good on the aquascaping.

[Kinetic]

anybody know of any light pendants that are SE 175watt + T5's? Isn't there a Geismann out there that's a 400watt? I could probably swap out the ballast for a 175watt IceCap?

[flyingphish]

coming along real nicely...good job. so clean! makes me want to go bb again.

[scaryperson27]

Elos sure makes some nice equipment. How many pictures did you cherry pick those from?

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11228948#post11228948 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flyingphish
coming along real nicely...good job. so clean! makes me want to go bb again.

Yeah BB is nice! I have some calcium precipitation on it right now =/ I'll start scraping away soon. Reef Crystals leaves this fine film all the time. I used to exclusively use NSW, but switched after I got my RO/DI.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11229031#post11229031 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scaryperson27
Elos sure makes some nice equipment. How many pictures did you cherry pick those from?

What do you mean? Pick pictures? I only took like 5 photos...?

[scaryperson27]

You only took like five photos?

Photographers, or people into cameras usually take like 100 photos and pick like five good ones.

If you can get those photos in only like five even ten shots, then you truly do have a talent.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11230161#post11230161 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scaryperson27
You only took like five photos?

Photographers, or people into cameras usually take like 100 photos and pick like five good ones.

If you can get those photos in only like five even ten shots, then you truly do have a talent.

LOL!

These are only snapshots!!! If I were to pick something to print or put on my portfolio, I wouldn't of chose any of these. All these shots were taken with little or no thought.

I take about 500 pictures in a photoshoot that lasts 8+ hours. I usually come back with 5 that I like. These are NOTHING I would ever choose as photographs I'd like. These are merely photo snapshots of my tank, not considered art pieces.

I'm flattered that you think these are some photos I'd choose as something more than my snapshots though. These photos are very basic, sit on a tripod, two buttons to change the white balance, and take a shot, then upload and resize to a reasonable size.

THe prints I do take about 15 minutes to prepare on average, sometimes more if it's a difficult situation. Processing it for print takes another hour.

All 5 shots took me about 10 minutes at most from getting out my tripod to posting them here.

Thanks for the compliments =)

[scaryperson27]

cool. They are nice. Do you have any examples of some of your nicer shots.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11230266#post11230266 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scaryperson27
cool. They are nice. Do you have any examples of some of your nicer shots.

Here's some random ones (kind of old some of them):
http://flickr.com/photos/kinetic/sets/72157594189182622/show/

Here are my favorite portraits:
http://flickr.com/photos/kinetic/sets/72157602482511772/show/

and my main flickr page:
http://flickr.com/photos/kinetic

the main flickr page is everything including my snapshots =)

[flyingphish]

thank you so much for sharing your flickr photos. you have talent my friend.

gives me inspiration...i love the model shoot at the old fort/gun turrets...

[scaryperson27]

Wow. You seriously have some talent! There's about 20 of those that i would use as my wallpaper if they were big enough.

[dukecola]

I love everything, but.. could you not find any live rock with life on it? That stuff looks dead as can be. You'll definately be fighting an algea problem till you get some good coraline growth on there. I went thru the same thing when after I moved, all life on my LR died while sitting in buckets in the basement of my motorhome in the dead of winter. Took more than 1 yr, plus seeding with quality LR to finallt get things under control. I wish you luck.

[hansmatt]

Wow! very classy, oh an your tank is beautiful too!

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11237362#post11237362 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dukecola
I love everything, but.. could you not find any live rock with life on it? That stuff looks dead as can be. You'll definately be fighting an algea problem till you get some good coraline growth on there. I went thru the same thing when after I moved, all life on my LR died while sitting in buckets in the basement of my motorhome in the dead of winter. Took more than 1 yr, plus seeding with quality LR to finallt get things under control. I wish you luck.

I used 100% dry rock from ReeferRock and MarcoRock. I'm avoiding any life because I don't want to introduce any pests at all. No algae, no mantis, no majano, no aiptasia.

I'm cycling the tank with ammonia chloride additives, adding 3ppm and building the ammonia up. In a week my ammonia started dropping within a day. Better than my LR would have been able to do.

I'm in the middle of a nitrite spike, but once those are in control I'm ready to go.

No algae here at all, no blooms ;) RO/DI mixed with Reef Crystals, I haven't introduced a single spec of algae yet ;)

not saying I'll never get any, but this is the best way to go without introducing potential pests. I will definitely seed the tank soon with a bunch of pods and such from IPSF.com. Amphipods, then I'll go get tiggerpods, and a handful of snails for show =)

[StrategicReef]

Yea I love your idea, I just want clean rock with purple coraline if I have a choice! Better than waiting for the slimy LR with turfs of algae on it to die, the spores are always there and they always seem to come back whenever your tank params swing out of spec.



<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11240364#post11240364 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kinetic
I used 100% dry rock from ReeferRock and MarcoRock. I'm avoiding any life because I don't want to introduce any pests at all. No algae, no mantis, no majano, no aiptasia.

I'm cycling the tank with ammonia chloride additives, adding 3ppm and building the ammonia up. In a week my ammonia started dropping within a day. Better than my LR would have been able to do.

I'm in the middle of a nitrite spike, but once those are in control I'm ready to go.

No algae here at all, no blooms ;) RO/DI mixed with Reef Crystals, I haven't introduced a single spec of algae yet ;)

not saying I'll never get any, but this is the best way to go without introducing potential pests. I will definitely seed the tank soon with a bunch of pods and such from IPSF.com. Amphipods, then I'll go get tiggerpods, and a handful of snails for show =)

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11240588#post11240588 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by StrategicReef
Yea I love your idea, I just want clean rock with purple coraline if I have a choice! Better than waiting for the slimy LR with turfs of algae on it to die, the spores are always there and they always seem to come back whenever your tank params swing out of spec.

Yeah, I'm trying to avoid any nuisance pest and algae. All corals introduced will be fragged from my frag tank, so nothing can hitchhike from the base.

Also the frag tank will be laced with interceptor all the time =)

I will do a dip of the frag in TMPCC, then interceptor for 6 hours (more, why not?) and then after a rinsing through some clean SW, I'll add it to the display.

I don't even want corraline =)

[flyingphish]

i hear they are hiring at the CDC, youd fit in well over there...

[mr294]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11222095#post11222095 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kinetic
anybody know of any light pendants that are SE 175watt + T5's? Isn't there a Geismann out there that's a 400watt? I could probably swap out the ballast for a 175watt IceCap?

You should be able to order the Giesemann without ballasts, and just supply your own IceCap.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11268963#post11268963 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mr294
You should be able to order the Giesemann without ballasts, and just supply your own IceCap.

would just switching the ballast work out? no difference in reflectors etc?

where can I order the geismann with the SE sockets? I can't seem to find a source =(

[mr294]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11269098#post11269098 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kinetic
would just switching the ballast work out? no difference in reflectors etc?

where can I order the geismann with the SE sockets? I can't seem to find a source =(

I just wired up my ARO ballasts to quick disconnects and it was plug and play. If you want T5s with SE halides, that is the Spectra I think. Should be able to get any Giesemann retailer to order it for you, but I haven't seen it stocked by any of the major online retailers. I think Slovan has one, so you might ask him.

[Ewan]

Excellent photos!

I thought you were shooting IR at first, or at least an IR filter. The custom white balance certainly makes the difference.

Thanks for sharing your Flickr page. I really enjoyed the color and composition at the vineyards. Beautiful! Really an inspiration.

-E.

[uhuru]

I'm curious to see if you have any algae outbreaks if there is no algae to begin with on the rocks... keep us updated on that! I like the idea of using dry rock. I cook my rock for 6 months but this could save a lot of time!

I'm kind of thinking the algae will find it's way into your tank anyways, esp. through food

[Kinetic]

No algae at all, but when I feel the pumps and the inside of the glass, I feel a slime. When I wipe the inside glass (under water) with a towel it shows a little bit of brown, so I'm guessing algae is in there somehow.

My nitrates and phosphates are up, probably from the dead organics in the marco rock. I should've used exclusively reeferrock, which is almost completely void of anything except rock... but not sure how phosphates are made, so it can be very well be from nitrates.

I'm currently dosing my tank with 5ppm of Ammonia Chloride every other day. My Nitrites are spiking off the charts, but my ammonia is reduced to 1.5ppm within a two days. I'll keep dosing 5ppm until ammonia knocks down to 0ppm within 24 hours and nitrites also to 0ppm in 24 hours.

Once nitrites start falling faster, I'll go for a few big water changes to get rid of the nitrates.

[Kinetic]

I tried the OceanVision background from Underwater Warehouse:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2398/2073605518_0e97da1e76.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2398/2073605518_e732cd0380_o.jpg)

Compared to before:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2115/2048952877_7b40e19eb9.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2115/2048952877_54e272c6ef_o.jpg)


I cleaned the glass bottom to get rid of the precipitation from the Ca / ALK or whatever reef crystals leaves behind and it's so shiny. I think I liked it when it precipitated, looked kind of like sand! I'll probably leave it white.

The vortechs have basically dissapeared, and the overflow box too. Sure the contrast is high because of the very strong lighting, but without toning down the lighting so the rocks aren't blown out, it still looks pretty clean.

I've also added a Koralia 2 on the overflow box, on the left side of it pointing towards the left of the tank, flush with the back wall to kick deadspots out from behind the rock. It is doing an OK job, since all that's left is larger sand sized rock crumble.

What do you guys think?

[mr294]

Looks great with the background

[Kigs]

Looks nice and clean, I like the new background. Was that tank shot taken while being lit with aquactinics?

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11277517#post11277517 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kigs
Looks nice and clean, I like the new background. Was that tank shot taken while being lit with aquactinics?

yeah it was being lit by the aquactinics. the shutter is really fast so that it doesn't really show how bright it really is, otherwise the rock would be a big white blob =P

[Leonardo_]

Very nice tank/setup with great potential! :)

Leonardo

[Kinetic]

hey leanardo! thanks for the comment =) I love your tank too, inspired me to take out 30lbs of rock from my initial configuration ;)

I'm hoping to concentrate on only placing a few corals in my tank (the nicest ones of course) and letting them grow to their heart's desire... or at least much more than in my past tanks.

[Leonardo_]

Thanks :) Make sure you pick some different growth forms and make sure your pendant spread the light well. I currently have problems with the blocking of light at the bases of my 2 largest Staghorns.
I read your thread on NR and I'm also researching the Photon Plus pendant for the reason above. I will use it for my upgrade.

I'm curious which corals you will choose to grow out :)

Leonardo

[khoivo1]

any update here

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11320426#post11320426 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by khoivo1
any update here

I'm waiting on a price for the Giesemann Spectra, and will be going with SE 175watt ballasts for the halide in order to use my existing Iwasaki 15K's.

Otherwise I'm doing chemical dosing to quick cycle a completely dry rock setup. I'm dosing 8ppm of ammonia a day now, and the ammonia drops to 0.5ppm within a day, a few hours later undetectable (salifert). The nitrites last night finally fell to 0.5ppm (from off the charts a few days ago). I dosed again last night 8ppm of Ammonia, so we'll see how fast nitrites go down this time. Once both ammonia and nitrites go down within a day, I'll be ready.

I'm also setting up a Remote Deep Sand Bed with a 4 gallon square bucket. I'll wait for this to slowly bring my nitrates down.

Somehow my ALK levels dropped to 3dKH, not sure why though. I just dosed with some ALK buffer last night to see if I can bring it back up. I'm thinking it precipitated out somehow.

But yes, I'm doing 8ppm of ammonia to prepare for anthias, and a genicanthus bellus which all eat like monsters... poop like them too ;)

[StrategicReef]

Can't wait to see some fish in your tank!
Where did you get a square bucket? Will bulkheads work on it?

I think if I was in your sitaution instead of dosing I would buy a crab from Ranch99, feed it a piece of chicken and that will cycle the tank pretty good ..and some return of investment when it's finished :)

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11320928#post11320928 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by StrategicReef
Can't wait to see some fish in your tank!
Where did you get a square bucket? Will bulkheads work on it?

I think if I was in your sitaution instead of dosing I would buy a crab from Ranch99, feed it a piece of chicken and that will cycle the tank pretty good ..and some return of investment when it's finished :)

I got the square bucket from usplastics dot com. It also came with a lid. It has ribs on the top side to reinforce it, which is the only problem. I will have to grind them flat where the uniseal will go. I'm going with uniseals instead of bulkheads, though I guess I could go either way since it's a flat surface.

Yes, I could goto ranch99 and get a crab (mmm...) since I go there almost every other day ;) It's only 5 minutes from my house!

But I don't want to introduce anything into it. Any parasites, any crab gunk, nothing. Instead I'm going straight for ammonia chloride. It's the most controlled way of cycling the tank, and I can cycle it with as much or as little ammonia I want. I have full control of what happens, and I am adding in pure ammonia rather than random other pollutants. Sure the pollutants may be ok, but I like going with Ammonia because dead things have to break down into ammonia first.

So I can dose a controlled amount of ammonia, and having that control I can pretty much be 100% sure my tank is fully cycled and ready for whatever poop you can throw at it ;)


btw, I almost closed the entire exhuast valve on the skimmer, and I can get it to overflow if I unscrew the airline tube from the intake! The skimmer cup's riser tube I guess it's called, is super dirty, but I don't have any skimmate. It's probably just not bad enough... maybe that crab is a good idea... ;)


The first fish I'm putting in there will be a trio of ventralis anthias. *crossing fingers*.

[Kinetic]

I've been checking my water parameters every day, so far everything holds (obviously) except my ALK. It drops like crazy, even though there's NOTHING in the tank... weird. Maybe it's precipitating out? Ca etc is ok.

My Ammonia is dropping to 0ppm after a day after doing 8ppm Ammonia doses with ammonia chloride. So that is doing really well. My nitrites take 2 days right now to drop to undetectable, so it's almost there. Big improvement since last week, I think the bacteria population is really coming along. I dosed again today 8ppm of ammonia into the tank (like 7grams of the ammonia chloride), so we'll check the nitrites tomorrow and see how fast it drops. Once it goes down within 24 hours, my cycle is pretty much done.

What I need to address now is my Nitrates. This will be done with a RDSB...

EDIT:
I just made a RDSB! I basically took a square 4 gallon bucket with lid I bought from usplastics.com, and drilled two holes on opposite sides. I found insert fitting bulkheads at my LFS today at 3/4", and a reducer. So I got all of that and I will be hooking up some pump that has a 1/2" outlet to it and dumping it out back into the tank, or maybe I'll hook it up inline with another phosphate reactor.

I first drilled the holes for the 3/4" Bulkheads, then I took a dremel with a grinder and grinded flat the "ribs" that went where the bulkhead was. Once that was done, I just had to do some vinyl tubing for the intake. I need 1/2" vinyl tubing and some 3/4" to finish it off tomorrow. I'll probably hook it up to a MJ900 that I have to digup somewhere. This will start reducing my nitrates soon!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2034/2092298047_8414ce25cc.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2158/2093076372_3db5892725.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2133/2093076610_84b6d421bc.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2148/2092297443_6493c63b9c.jpg

[Tank Predator]

LOOKING SWEET

[nanoguy]

What is an RDSB?

[nanoguy]

What does RDSB stand for?

[Maximus]

rdsb=remote deep sand bed. It's basically a sand bed in a bucket that is plumbed into the system in order to reduce nitrates.

[nanoguy]

Thanks for clearing that up. Didn't know such a thing existed....what a great idea.

[gsoaxionsk8]

you normally see it on tanks that are barebottom

[StrategicReef]

Hey Kinetic what sand are you going to use in that bucket?

[Kinetic]

a mixture of sugar sized caribsea aragmax and oolite. if that's not enough, I might toss in some spare tahitian moon sand too =P

[khoivo1]

more picture about the bucket sand bed please,,,so all you have to do is drill two hole on each side of bucket with bulkhead ?? where is the pump hook up at?? the bucket have to be full of sand up to the top ,,,so when you hook it up ,,all you have to do is branch out the drain line into the bucket?? never see this idea before,,,but would love to learn about it,,,,,do you have to replace all the sand after so many month?/thanks

[Maximus]

Hey Art, is the tank cycled yet? I'm waiting to see your first inhabitants!

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11405598#post11405598 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by khoivo1
more picture about the bucket sand bed please,,,so all you have to do is drill two hole on each side of bucket with bulkhead ?? where is the pump hook up at?? the bucket have to be full of sand up to the top ,,,so when you hook it up ,,all you have to do is branch out the drain line into the bucket?? never see this idea before,,,but would love to learn about it,,,,,do you have to replace all the sand after so many month?/thanks

Here's one of the main discussions about the RDSB:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/printthread.php?threadid=595109&perpage=25&pagenumber=36


I don't have anymore pictures, not sure what other pictures you're interested in seeing?

The pump will be hooked up to one bulkhead, and then the return will come right back into the sump.

You would need to replace the top 1" or so of sand every few months, just to keep it clean. One suggestion is to cut a piece of filter floss and put that on the very top, and only needing to replace that piece rather than the sand. Not sure how well that'd work though =/

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11405607#post11405607 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maximus
Hey Art, is the tank cycled yet? I'm waiting to see your first inhabitants!

Hey Sang, it's not quite cycled yet. My Ammonia drops to undetectable within a day, my nitrites last week took a bit less than 2 days to drop to undetectable, and this is after dosing 8ppm ammonia every day.

I dosed 15ppm for fun one day, and ammonia dropped within a day, so it looks like the bacteria is ready for a very heavy bioload already.

I'm going to test out my nitrites today and tomorrow to make sure it goes to ntirates faster than a day.

I currently have nitrates up the wazoo, and I'm in the middle of setting up a RDSB as you can see, to battle it. Once that brings my nitrates to 0, I'll be getting my ventralis =)

I may get impatient and give it a little boost with AZ-NO3 and then a few big water changes (80%). The RDSB will take 4 weeks to start kicking in.

BTW I've found a great source for ventralis. One of the LFS's (actually down the block from my house) now has Jim (bookfish) working there, and he said he'll only bring in the healthiest ventralis batches he finds. He knows healthy fish, so I'm pretty sure he can bring in some tuff ones =) He'll bring in 10 at a time, so I can pickout the ones I want. Any suggestions on how many I should get? I'm thinking just 3 of them.

[Kinetic]

just stuck a RDSB inline after my phosphate reactor. this should keep out any detritus.

I loaded my bucket with caribsea AragAlive Bahama Oolite on the bottom, Sugar Sized on top, and mixed in a bit of tahitian black moon sand. Man that's like 45 - 50lbs of sand! I used all sorts because that's what I had laying around. Aragalive was cheaper than the dry stuff because it was on sale. I think the expiration date was coming up =)

Ammonia and Nitrites are undetectable, nitrates off the charts. 4 weeks should be the amount of time it takes for the RDSB to start the NNR process... cross your fingers! =)

BTW I just dosed with another 8ppm of ammonia. Might as well =P

[Jarob]

hands down the best build thread ive seen. and thats all i read on here..

[rroselavy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11408776#post11408776 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kinetic
just stuck a RDSB inline after my phosphate reactor. this should keep out any detritus.

Good idea. I considered using a RDSB for my System 70 so I could go SSB in the tank, but there is so little room next to my sump that a RDSB would leave no room for my tools and supplies.

Your approach to keep any algae/pests out of the tank will be interesting to watch. As far as algae is concerned, I certainly do not embrace its presence, but keep a balanced view - allowing grazing (I hear those micro-hermits from IPSF are great), uptake competition from macros and lastly reactor and pruning. I am fascinated to see the "species climax" unfold. I may change my mind when I start feeding the tank more aggressively... ;)

My LR came with almost a half dozen types of algae, including Halimeda, Maiden's Hair and Bryopsis(!), and a few others I have not yet identified. Micro/Macro growth can be good tank indicators if watched carefully. I have Chaeto in the sump, and my DSB in place to help me with the nutrient uptake when dealing with the more problematic species.

I bought the TLF Reactor like yours, but did not much like how loose the fittings are. It looks like you tightened them with zip ties (good idea), and you have the output tied into your chiller (and RDSB?) which is great, but I may pick up one of those new Magnavore reactors instead. It has far fewer fittings, and just sits in the sump.

Anyway, great tank build! Tagging along...

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11506538#post11506538 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rroselavy
Good idea. I considered using a RDSB for my System 70 so I could go SSB in the tank, but there is so little room next to my sump that a RDSB would leave no room for my tools and supplies.

I was lucky enough to have a small space behind my stand and beside the piano, just enough for the square bucket =/

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11506538#post11506538 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rroselavy
Your approach to keep any algae/pests out of the tank will be interesting to watch. As far as algae is concerned, I certainly do not embrace its presence, but keep a balanced view - allowing grazing (I hear those micro-hermits from IPSF are great), uptake competition from macros and lastly reactor and pruning.

I understand what you mean by balanced view, but my view and experience is that our tanks can never provide a completely balanced environment as compared to the vast and massive ocean. I have kept many critters that graze, and they will never be able to balance grazing. Micro hermits will graze, but they won't help balance, I've tried before. It may just be my experience, but I don't believe in balancing pests with predators inside a reef tank =( You'll never be able to provide an environment that can handle all the pests.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11506538#post11506538 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rroselavy
I bought the TLF Reactor like yours, but did not much like how loose the fittings are. It looks like you tightened them with zip ties (good idea), and you have the output tied into your chiller (and RDSB?) which is great, but I may pick up one of those new Magnavore reactors instead. It has far fewer fittings, and just sits in the sump.

The output of my TLF is now going to my RDSB, so it catches any junk so that it will keep the RDSB pretty free of detritus =)

I used multiple zip ties and plastic tube clamps to keep those fittings on tight. NEver had a problem, but I like to be redundant so I can sleep easy ;)

[Maximus]

Art, is the tank cycled yet?

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11506704#post11506704 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maximus
Art, is the tank cycled yet?

Tank is cycled, but I have to address the nitrates. I've been dosing so much ammonia, the nitrates are off the charts. I'll probably do a 50% water change and add AZ-NO3 to bring down nitrates. Once it comes down, I'll dose ammonia at 8ppm again just to make sure it still has enough bacteria after 50% water change and then wait for the NNR to reduce the remaining nitrates.

Once that's done I'll add some ventralis anthias =)

[Maximus]

I did a 90% water change as soon as my tank was cycled. I would suggest the same. I think I waited another week and tested my levels again and they were fine. The fish came soon after. The nitrifying bacteria will still be there even though most of the water is gone. Most of the nitrates will be taken care of with the huge water change.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11508284#post11508284 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maximus
I did a 90% water change as soon as my tank was cycled. I would suggest the same. I think I waited another week and tested my levels again and they were fine. The fish came soon after. The nitrifying bacteria will still be there even though most of the water is gone. Most of the nitrates will be taken care of with the huge water change.

Wow 90%? Ok I'm gonna need some big fat buckets =)

Thanks for the tip. I'll probably go buy two big brute trashcans from ACE hardware this weekend to do the water change.

[Maximus]

Yeah Art. I always cycle my tanks this way. Trust me, I have had lots of practice.:) I used 3 rubbermaids and it did the trick. You may only need 2.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11509895#post11509895 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maximus
Yeah Art. I always cycle my tanks this way. Trust me, I have had lots of practice.:) I used 3 rubbermaids and it did the trick. You may only need 2.

oh no, don't get me wrong, I totally trust you! I was just thinking of a 50% initially so I was like... woah, time for some more buckets ;)

I'll probably only need two. I'll have to dig up another powerhead and heater to mix the water with...

[Maximus]

No, no, I didn't imply that you didn't trust me.:) How are the vortechs doing? My pair are kicking ***!

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11510021#post11510021 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Maximus
No, no, I didn't imply that you didn't trust me.:) How are the vortechs doing? My pair are kicking ***!

haha ok just makin sure ;)


my vortech's are great too! I'm currently at about 70% throttle since there's nothing in there, and it's really great. At full throttle they're a bit loud, but managable. As long as I'm not doing pulse mode, they're not annoying. One day, they'll come out with completely silent 3,000gph powerheads ;)

I was thinking of getting a Polario when it's out and putting it behind my rockwork to keep deadspots out from behind. I'm currently using a Koralia 3 blowing in the back to keep dead spots away. Hard to tell though still, since there's nothing in the tank =/

[StrategicReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11510115#post11510115 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kinetic
One day, they'll come out with completely silent 3,000gph powerheads ;)


Yea I think they make one and it's called a Tunze Stream? :)

Seriously, I know you thought the light fixture fan was loud, but you don't think the vortech is loud? What kind of noise does it make at 100%?

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11514444#post11514444 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by StrategicReef
Yea I think they make one and it's called a Tunze Stream? :)

Seriously, I know you thought the light fixture fan was loud, but you don't think the vortech is loud? What kind of noise does it make at 100%?

Yes I think the Vortech is loud at 100%, but I'm only at about 70% or so throttle, and at that level it's pretty darn quiet. At 100% it's a whirling zipper sound.

The tunze stream is the answer to my question, but it's a bit honking huge =P

[theclearblue]

Hi Kinetic,

I'm really impressed with your tank build so far, you've been very thorough in your set-up - which is really a help for those of us preparing to do the same thing.

I'm really interested in your "sterile" (for lack of a better term) approach to the tank. I'm confident you'll be successful in preventing the introduction of mantis, aiptasia, mojanos, etc. Algae... I'm not so sure.

I think it's probably likely that the live sand you used in the RDSB contained algae (or at least spores) that will get into the system.

Regardless, I think it's an interesting approach, and I'm anxious to see how it works in the short and long-term.

Best of luck, and thanks for all the information/inspiration you've provided.

[Kinetic]

Thanks for the comments!!


I just finally got two 55g brute trash cans filled with RO/DI water (took 3 days for my RO/DI unit) and I have my salinity in them adjusted to 1.025 with ReefCrystals. No worries, I know of their current low Mg and Ca level issue, I'll supplement as necessary.

Tomorrow I'm going to change 80-90% of my water, since I've dosed 8ppm of ammonia almost every other day since October. The nitrates have built up pretty bad, and the RDSB isn't going to bring it all down fast enough. So now that all my bacteria levels are in check, and my RDSB kick started, I'm ready.

I'll test both my waters before doing the change. I may not temp adjust the new water since I have no critters to kill.

I just need to get a really long siphon tube to drain the water, and then a really long vinyl tube to pump new water into the tank.

Wish me luck! In the meantime, I leave you with a picture of my ELOS Mg Test Kit and 5 filter socks =)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2112/2243194163_0a82a490a1.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2112/2243194163_544cded85c_o.jpg)


Thanks to Jesse for sending these out to me! The filter socks are great, they'll last me awhile! Not sure if they're washable and if so, how many iterations, so 5 was a good deal.

I think my ReefCrystals batch has bad Mg levels, so I needed a kit. It drops my ALK and Ca so quickly in my prop tank, so I think it may be the Mg... or just super Alk thirsty corals... I will probably try the Elos supplement for Mg if so.

[Kinetic]

My First Frags - [ 2/10/08 ]

Water parameters were spot on! Went to a Bay Area Reefers frag swap yesterday, picked up a few frags from Atlantis Aquarium on my way home... and after a 24 hour interceptor / flatworm exit laced dip, a 15 minuted providone/tmpcc, these following 5 frags make it into the display tank. These are the first frags I've added to my ELOS 120:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2216/2256445723_c31a07be74.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2216/2256445723_534a613b31_o.jpg)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2254/2257240424_d34b91c98f.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2254/2257240424_92c106c00a_o.jpg)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2268/2256443417_989940c6e7.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2268/2256443417_2832ee9288_o.jpg)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2164/2256441949_c717c27697.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2164/2256441949_07773ff7a0_o.jpg)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2269/2256440749_f4e4b8f70a.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2269/2256440749_67c5a69637_o.jpg)

[Kigs]

wow very nice! love the fireside

[13threefmaniac]

Stunning tank and equally stunning pictures. You got some mad skills with a cam.

[Kinetic]

Thanks guys =)

Well since you revived this thread, I'll give an update.

I bought a group of 5 gobies, 2 trimma and 6 eviota (gold and neon red). Three of them didn't make it, so I have 2 trimma and 3 eviotas. I can't tell which is the gold line and which is the red eviota gobies =/

I also received a trio of Ventralis Anthias, but one was dead within a day, the other two hide all the time. Last night I saw both swimming in the cave, but wouldn't touch any of the garlic soaked rod's food or formula two pellets.

I'll try to buy some frozen mysis tonight. THe rod's food has a little bit in there, but it has a ton of other stuff that the ventralis might not want. THe gobies are freaking fat as hell now because they eat 4 times a day =)

[clownnrnd]

May be dabbling on the dumbside w/ this question :) but what kind of fish is that in your avatar?

Thanks,

Chad

[Radar1]

any new FTS of the tank?

[rroselavy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11929698#post11929698 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clownnrnd
May be dabbling on the dumbside w/ this question :) but what kind of fish is that in your avatar?

Sort of looks like a Tail Spot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura).

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11929905#post11929905 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Radar1
any new FTS of the tank?

it looks exactly the same as it did in november... if I took another picture, it would be identical =)

I haven't loaded it with corals or anything, and it's still really clean. I stock really slowly, so you won't see fast changes.

I don't really get the guys/gals who can toss in a full load shortly after a cycle =/

currently the coral frags I do have in there are all under 1/2" so you can't see them anyway.

They're turning white now because I have the lights off most of the time for the anthias acclimation time... doh =X

Should've waited on the coral introduction.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11939856#post11939856 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rroselavy
Sort of looks like a Tail Spot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura).

yeah, it looks exactly like a tailspot blenny ;) It was one of the pair I had gotten. the label I have under the avatar also says "tailspot blenny"

not sure how many thousands of people have asked that same question =)

i took that picture a minute into introducing them to my frag tank. you can see it's hanging out on the softies side of the tank.

[clownnrnd]

dang....guess I would'nt of been much of a detective :)

Chad

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11943063#post11943063 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clownnrnd
dang....guess I would'nt of been much of a detective :)

Chad

hehe, well the text size is pretty small =P

[LesMartin]

Kinetic, try some frozen cyclops for the Anthias. Most Anthias can't resist it and once you have them feeding they can usually be coaxed onto other things.

[elosusa]

Kinetic send me a pm I will send you a little SVC sample for the anthias, that works at a lot of our stores to get them acclimated.

[Radar1]

I was wondering how your vortechs were working out for you. have you had any problems yet.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11946097#post11946097 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LesMartin
Kinetic, try some frozen cyclops for the Anthias. Most Anthias can't resist it and once you have them feeding they can usually be coaxed onto other things.

I can't find any frozen cyclopeez at any LFS in my area. They do have the dried kind, but does that have the same effect?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11946747#post11946747 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Radar1
I was wondering how your vortechs were working out for you. have you had any problems yet.

No problems at all. They were a little loud at full throttle, but I'm down two speeds from maximum (whatever that is) and it's extremely quiet.

EcoTech people are weird, I asked about adding some notches on their dial for gph, but they said it was ridiculous and that nobody really cares how much GPH they've set their pumps at. I'm guessing it's at 70% or so.

[Radar1]

Have you tried Aquatic-Gallery for Cyclopeez?

I'm not too worried about the noise of the vortechs but one of the LFS's that I go to has had 3 of them stop working and needed service in less than a week out of the box. I really want one of these for my new tank but I'm a little freeked that it wont be too reliable. On the plus side I hear that customer service is good and quick.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11947389#post11947389 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Radar1
Have you tried Aquatic-Gallery for Cyclopeez?

I'm not too worried about the noise of the vortechs but one of the LFS's that I go to has had 3 of them stop working and needed service in less than a week out of the box. I really want one of these for my new tank but I'm a little freeked that it wont be too reliable. On the plus side I hear that customer service is good and quick.

I don't think I'm close to Aquatic Gallery. I work in Concord, and I get off work sometime between 6 and 9pm, so things are usually closed by the time I can get there. Weekends I work too, oi.


Yeah I've heard of some messed up Vortech's, but mine are fine, and have been for months.

I would recommend not depending on them just in case. Have backup flow when they fail.

[tonyespinoza]

hey kinetic - ocean treasures aquarium in san francisco (near the 101 on-ramp, http://otasf.com) generally carries Liquid Life Cyclop-eeze (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~SearchStr~cyclop-eeze~action~view~idProduct~LF1151~idCategory~FIFDFZFSPB~category~Liquid_Life_Marine_Plankton_w__Cycl op_eeze_30ml_Saltwater_Aquarium_Supplies_Food_Frozen___Refrigerated_For_Fish__Corals_Pumpable~vendor ~.html)

[Kinetic]

I guess I'll have to head over to SF one of these days.

[Radar1]

I wanted to go with my own stand design and did not buy the sump because I want more room under the tank for more equipment.

[LesMartin]

I can't find any frozen cyclopeez at any LFS in my area. They do have the dried kind, but does that have the same effect?

Not Cyclopeex. Cyclops. It's a freshwater crustacean.

[Apon]

Art, Chris at Aquatic Central carries the frozen bars of cyclopeeze, over on Ocean.

[Kinetic]

cool, I think I'll head into the city on Saturday. I have to pickup some prints from photoworkssf, I'll stop by Aquatic Central, and then stop by Daniel's for that blue macro algae =)

[Apon]

Art, Chris at Aquatic Central carries the frozen bars of cyclopeeze, over on Ocean.

[Kinetic]

Great news, the Ventralis Anthias are no longer scared of me! I freak them out at first, but then they come out of their hiding places and are very bold. They don't care that I have a camera on them either. If I make really sudden movements they'll slowly glide under their cave, but I think they're improving a lot! I can move around in front of the tank, halides full blast, and they'll be ok with it.

I saw one of the anthias gulp down at least 5 mysis shrimp! The other is still going after phantom food, lol.

Well, because I was so excited, I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures.


Click on the link below to see them:

http://flickr.com/photos/kinetic/tags/22808/show/


Teasers:


Does the text annoy you? If so, click here (http://flickr.com/photos/kinetic/2299956804/).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2061/2299956598_4d8ec23d73.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2061/2299956598_756e875088_o.jpg)



Her profile:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2385/2299956180_8abc21dbd4.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2385/2299956180_c18d177899_o.jpg)



Here's the pair, they look hungry huh?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3074/2299956010_f292c207da.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3074/2299956010_f6e896c87a_o.jpg)



And here's a picture of one of my Trimma Cana's. I have two of these. They're so fat because they get fed 4 times a day like the anthias.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/2299160091_8ea75230df.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/2299160091_65014b057b_o.jpg)

[tigerarmy40]

beautiful pics! however I would say that the anthias are looking a little pinched, are they eating yet? how often do you have to feed them?

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11972311#post11972311 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tigerarmy40
beautiful pics! however I would say that the anthias are looking a little pinched, are they eating yet? how often do you have to feed them?

one is barely starting to eat. read up a few threads you'll see my struggles =)

[fras]

beautiful tank, great read. How are the gobies behaving? Do any of them hang out together or fight?

[rroselavy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11972278#post11972278 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kinetic
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/2299160091_8ea75230df.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3134/2299160091_65014b057b_o.jpg)

Wow. Great pics. Beautiful bokeh. What lense did you use for this shot. I know you use Nikon gear, but the bokeh reminds me of the Canon EF 85mm f1.2L.

[StrategicReef]

Beautiful Anthias.. maybe add another 2? Hopefully their weight comes back..

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11972557#post11972557 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fras
beautiful tank, great read. How are the gobies behaving? Do any of them hang out together or fight?

They're great, they sort of hangout together, but they really just find their own perches. The trimmas hang out within a few inches of each other. I never saw any aggression. Trimmas and eviotas can be kept in groups, but trimmas need to be introduced at the same time while eviotas you can just keep adding =)

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11974381#post11974381 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rroselavy
Wow. Great pics. Beautiful bokeh. What lense did you use for this shot. I know you use Nikon gear, but the bokeh reminds me of the Canon EF 85mm f1.2L.

Yeah I love that 85 f/1.2L!! But no, this is a Sigma 105mm Macro on a nikon DX sensor body.

The 85 can't get this much magnification. The sigma does a great job with the bokeh though, which I think may be what makes you think of the 85 ;)

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11974579#post11974579 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by StrategicReef
Beautiful Anthias.. maybe add another 2? Hopefully their weight comes back..

I'm going to add 3 more, either all females (hoping one will turn) or two fems and one male.

My goal is to end up with 4 super healthy ones =) Ideally they'll all be healthy. The tank will be mostly species only for a few months.


I checked out one anthias this morning, and she's actually not pinched at all. The other... I'm afraid is starving. She keeps trying to eat but spits the food right back out.

[StrategicReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11974964#post11974964 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kinetic
I'm going to add 3 more, either all females (hoping one will turn) or two fems and one male.

My goal is to end up with 4 super healthy ones =) Ideally they'll all be healthy. The tank will be mostly species only for a few months.


I checked out one anthias this morning, and she's actually not pinched at all. The other... I'm afraid is starving. She keeps trying to eat but spits the food right back out.

Oh no, this does not sound good for the one. Fish just like people have different preferences.. for example, certain of my anthais will eat Nori but some will spit it out.
try some really yummy stuff like scallops or raw shrimp in a food processor.

Do these fish afraid of the bright light? Are you still using the Aquactinics .. which should be really bright?

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11975013#post11975013 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by StrategicReef
Oh no, this does not sound good for the one. Fish just like people have different preferences.. for example, certain of my anthais will eat Nori but some will spit it out.
try some really yummy stuff like scallops or raw shrimp in a food processor.

Do these fish afraid of the bright light? Are you still using the Aquactinics .. which should be really bright?

They come out all the time now, even with the dual 175watt halides. They're very brave, but that one antias won't eat. I saw her last night try to eat some, but spit the food out right away.

I've tried pellets, flake food, brine, mysis, and rod's food. Oh and even live tigger pods and ocean pods!

Rod's food is a blend of everything... and that one girl won't take it down.

I'm picking up some cyclopeez tomorrow, hopefully that will work.

[Kinetic]

You guys are in for a treat! I got a hold of my girlfriend's camera and was able to take some videos of the tank. The last one of my sump is still being uploaded. The videos are about 3 minutes long at most, but they're like half a gig big! But I uploaded to YouTube so the quality sucks.

The noise you hear is the loud *** fans from the Aquactinic lights. It's not actually that loud, but I'd just turn the sound off when viewing.

Overview of the ELOS System 120:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vUb27S-dx_4

Here's one showing off the vortech's pulse mode, and my ventralis (trying) to eat:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=g6nwDX2gQdg&feature=user

[Radar1]

Damn Jim. Work wont let me look at youtube videos

[StrategicReef]

I don't understand why videos of aquariums (not just yours) have to include sound at all, is it about how many manly fans and pumps the system have :) , it often is amplified by the video camera somehow.. I am sure it's quieter in real life.

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12016948#post12016948 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by StrategicReef
I don't understand why videos of aquariums (not just yours) have to include sound at all, is it about how many manly fans and pumps the system have :) , it often is amplified by the video camera somehow.. I am sure it's quieter in real life.

yeah... if I had a better light fixture (the only piece of my tank I'm not completely happy with) then it would've been completely silent ;)

Maybe I should download a opensource video editor and just add a soundtrack.

[theclearblue]

Hey Kinetic,

Now that your tank has had a few weeks to settle in with some bioload, I'm curious to hear your thoughts about the way you established the biological filter in your tank with dry rock and ammonia dosing.

How are your nitrates looking before a waterchange?

Do you think the RDSB is having any effect on nitrates (are they slowly getting lower)?

Any regrets?

I'm thinking of going down this road...

[Kinetic]

I actually haven't seen any changes in nitrates since my big water change. but to be honest, I've only checked my nitrates once after that. I will definitely test it again tonight and report back.

My stupid bucket is leaking a tad again, it has a little salt creep around the bulkhead... *sigh* at least it's not dripping. I may take it offline and get a new bucket.

[Kigs]

Art, congrats on keeping the ventralis succesfully! Will you be getting more?

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12022469#post12022469 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kigs
Art, congrats on keeping the ventralis succesfully! Will you be getting more?

hey kigs! I'm not entirely sure I'm out of the woods yet. One of the anthias eats and chases food like a pig, but the other is spitting back out and a bit pinched in the stomach. I'm sure she's eating something, otherwise she'd be dead by now. I'm hoping she will kick into the same habits with the eater right now.

Once they're totally healthy and acclimated, I will probably add two more in a month or two. I love these fish so much!

The only other tank mates will be a tailspot blenny, and a genicanthus bellus female in the future, on top of all those dinky gobies ;)

[Kinetic]

darn, my air intake for my skimmer is at full blast, I took the silencer off too, and the air bubbles aren't even making it up to the bottom of the collection cup.

this is 2 weeks after cleaning the pump. There's nothing stuck in it =( The air intake is totally clean, I've washed it in ro/di water.

Only way to make the skimmer overflow is by blowing really hard into the air venturi, lol! I need a turbo.

I'm thinking of just replacing the pump with an extra 1260.

[Kinetic]

I tried that ELOS SVC food to feed my tank. Thanks to Jesse for sending me the sample packet!!!

My clownfish and flame angel go crazy over that stuff in my frag tank. But the ventralis anthias and gobies in my display have no clue what they are, and just let it fly everywhere, LOL =)

I'll keep adding it with the rest of my food mix, and see if they catch on.

Anyone else use this stuff?

[cartman5579]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12039862#post12039862 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kinetic
darn, my air intake for my skimmer is at full blast, I took the silencer off too, and the air bubbles aren't even making it up to the bottom of the collection cup.

this is 2 weeks after cleaning the pump. There's nothing stuck in it =( The air intake is totally clean, I've washed it in ro/di water.

Only way to make the skimmer overflow is by blowing really hard into the air venturi, lol! I need a turbo.

I'm thinking of just replacing the pump with an extra 1260.

Dude, a 1260 will kill that skimmer. Mine did the exact same thing, i couldn't get it to overflow at all before i added all my livestock. Once i did i can't even control the thing. If i touch the clamp at all the skimmer overflows. Trust me, as soon as you stock this thing and actually have something to skim it'll work great.

Matt

[Kinetic]

Hey Guys,

Just an update on the tank. I haven't changed my carbon in awhile, and I have been feeding an insane amount. My ventralis count is now down to 3, but the three are extremely healthy and really fat!

They're eating all the mysis / brine that I put in the tank now. I will slowly get them on flakes and pellets soon too.

My corals are more browning now than bleaching, which is a good sign =)

The skimmer still hasn't skimmed anything into the cup, but the bottom of the cup where the bubbles are breaking is always caked thick! But I'll take everyone's word for it and keep holding my breath on this guy. I clean the cup daily to clean up the skim. Every day the skim collects really well at the bottom of the cup, so I guess I'll have to live with that for now.

I'll probably add a few more ventralis once these three are for sure going to make it. Two of them are always swimming and aren't scared of people, the third comes out only when nobody else is around, so once he behaves like the other two, I'll probably add my last two ventralis.

I started seeing Bellus Genicanthus show up on LiveAquaria's Diver's Den, hopefully a nice female will pop up soon.

[tbone28]

That's great news! :)

[tigerarmy40]

probably could answer this question by reading back a bit but have you tried adjusting the water level a bit?

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12173389#post12173389 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tigerarmy40
probably could answer this question by reading back a bit but have you tried adjusting the water level a bit?

You mean the submerged level? I've tried that too, but I'm within the specified range. I can't see how something would work better out of spec, especially an ELOS =/

I've tried to tweak with that exit valve as well, closing it all the way up to see if the water level inside will rise higher, but no luck there. wide open it doesn't even come close to reaching the cup.

[Kinetic]

Well I said screw the silencer and have my skimmer on full blast for a day now, and I got a little bit of water in the cup!! Hopefully when I get home from work tonight it'll have skimmed a bit. The bubbles are now at least reaching a little less than halfway up the cup.

When I say full blast, I mean no clamp, no silencer. It's not overflowing, but i think this will work. sucks that it's so dang loud though, but I just want to see if it will actually skim something... if so then something's definitely up with the skimmer settings. It should overflow even with the silencer on if not clamped. I have terrible luck with skimmers =P

I'm thinking of getting a few more ventralis to finish off this group, and then probably a naked ocellaris and a misbar. I was thinking of the snowflake but man they're way too expensive for a clown that looks like it got shat on by a seagull.

[tonyespinoza]

hey kinetic - just wondering how your system is doing! i'm planning a elos-like tank and also considering going with marco rocks... is there anything you would have done differently next time around with regards to rock?

[Crypsis]

It was a pleasure reading your thread. :) I'm thinking of going with the elos and vortechs as well after seeing your videos. Did you ever try them on either end? I would think you would get a better wave with them on the ends. Looking forward to some more pictures.

Merlin

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12359223#post12359223 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tonyespinoza
hey kinetic - just wondering how your system is doing! i'm planning a elos-like tank and also considering going with marco rocks... is there anything you would have done differently next time around with regards to rock?

System is doing well, my skimmer is still not doing much, and the corals are just starting to color back up.

I don't think I'd do anything differently with the rock, it came out perfectly and better than I expected!

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12360038#post12360038 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by merlin_451
It was a pleasure reading your thread. :) I'm thinking of going with the elos and vortechs as well after seeing your videos. Did you ever try them on either end? I would think you would get a better wave with them on the ends. Looking forward to some more pictures.

Merlin

I tried them on both ends and got the water to slosh out of the tank. It works better that way, but the placement of my tank etc. makes it bad for me to place them on both ends, plus I like a clean unobstructed view from 3 sides, gives the elos style much cleaner feel.

I'm still getting insane wave turbulence =)

[tonyespinoza]

awesome!

[jhebi]

Woww....besides having a beautifull tank, you take some DAMMMM awesome pics.....Thats a 40 gl size? I just pmed Jesse for some prices, love the ELos....

[Kinetic]

It's more like 78g or so

[tbone28]

Do you have any new pics to share? :)

[Radar1]

Hey dude, If you want that naked clown I have it's yours for nothing if you come down and get him, I think I am going to consolidate my two tank before I go I vacation neer the end of May. I would love for this little guy to go to your tank otherwise I will have to take him back to AG..

[Radar1]

K,

Did you ever use the aquatic systems design nano calcium reactor? and if so how did you like it?

[InsaneClownFish]

I've been dying to see updated FTSs!!!

[Maximus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12391530#post12391530 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by InsaneClownFish
I've been dying to see updated FTSs!!!

Ditto!

[Kinetic]

hey guys,

sorry for the slow responses, I just started a new job so things have a bit hectic.

Radar1: I'll hit you up on that offer. I'll send you a pm tonight!

[Kinetic]

Hey everyone,

Really a big lack of updates... nothing new has happened in my tank. Three ventralis are healthy as heck, eating like pigs =) My gobies are fat too, those lucky guys get 4 - 8 feedings a day with the ventralis.

The blue on my cali tort and fireside are really kicking in now, but otherwise everything else is colorless.


I will probably be adding a naked clown and a teardrop ocellaris soon. And whenever a female bellus genicanthus pops up, that'll go in too.

I may add one ore two more ventralis as well.

I've been fighting a mini crash in my frag tank. The powerstrip with my pumps failed while I was out of town for 6 days... somehow only a few things died.

Cheers!

[purplereef]

Hey Kinetic,
How does that bottom look with leaving it BB? I am sure it will get coralline algae eventually so it will look like all other bb's eventually correct?

[Kinetic]

Yeah this BB will be no different than any other... looks nice and reflective after the snails get to it, otherwise has a nice white look to it (I have strange white algae I guess)

I will try not to introduce any coralline algae =)

[Dejavu]

any updates?

[moo0o]

yeah man, where are those updates with your super nice camera that makes everything look nice. haha

[Maximus]

All the great reefers have stopped posting.:(

[Kinetic]

Scored an awesome 2.5" Genicanthus Bellus from Live Aquaria. She just arrived this morning to my work, and I took her home to acclimate right away.

I think she is still a juvi, especially at that size. She's smaller than the ventralis I used to have. Beautiful coloration, and ZERO signs of swim bladder problems. She's swimming perfectly, just like my flame angel does (that one's in a different tank), with no bobbing. She hid in the rocks for about 10 minutes, and shortly after came out and swam around with my clowns.

She's going for some bits of stuff in the water, I think she's ready to eat. I'll feed her after work with some mysis and maybe some Rod's food. The clowns I have are still pretty small and showed no aggression or interest in her.

[mr294]

He's alive :eek:

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13386611#post13386611 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mr294
He's alive :eek:

Haha yes I am! =)

I'm gonna go take pix of the girl in a few minutes. She's out and about swimming back and fourth through the current (2x vortechs running at full + some)

[Kinetic]

A picture of one of the hundreds of baby trochus snails that have taken to eating all my algae =)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/2872276242_59258c64a3.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/2872276242_bb6dd4c20a_o.jpg)

[Kinetic]

The newest addition:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/2871445037_140f491645.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/2871445037_ae3a9fbd8a_o.jpg)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3295/2872277616_6588ccc91b.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3295/2872277616_a00d196c0b_o.jpg)

[Dejavu]

How big is that little guy?

[mr294]

Great pics as usual, and nice choice on the bellus!

[purplereef]

FTS FTS FTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pretty Please with sugar on top...

[HomeSlizzice]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13389017#post13389017 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by purplereef
FTS FTS FTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pretty Please with sugar on top...

+2

[Kinetic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13388740#post13388740 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dejavu
How big is that little guy?

Just under 2.5" Almost as small as my clownfish =)

She eats like a bottomless pit! I fed her eight times what I usually feed my clowns, and she just kept going. She doesn't look as fat as when I first go her, so I think she's not getting enough food. I'll be feeding a lot more Rod's food and mysis soon along with the flakes, and probably put pellet food in an auto feeder during the day.

[André Silvestre]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13390386#post13390386 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HomeSlizzice
+2

+3!

Too much talk and few little pictures, when this hardscape and this tank would deserve a FTS long time ago. ;)


Regards,
André

[Kinetic]

The FTS looks exactly like before, just a few more fish swimming around =)

[tigerarmy40]

Hows this tank doing?

any news on the ventralis? I just found a place with them in stock and Im considering them for my tank...l

[HomeSlizzice]

Any updates?

[tonyespinoza]

i'm sure i'm not the only one that would love to hear how it's going!

[Radar1]

The last I heard he was selling everything. maybe moving or something.

[Kinetic]

Hi Guys,

Not selling anything. I was just waiting for the marine velvet to die off before adding anything else. It's been over 7 months since my last fish was killed by it. My tank has been running for a long time without any fish or coral, just snails and a shrimp. Hah.

I'm pretty sure there's no more parasites left.

I'm at the point where I'm not sure when to add new livestock. I don't want / have time to setup two QT tanks, one for fish, one for corals. It seems like soooo much work to maintain a QT for livestock for weeks before adding them in. Maintaining two tanks really sucks.

I'm currently remodeling a house I bought, once that's done I'll be moving my tank over there. This might mean I won't be getting anything new until December of this year.

I'll probably purchase a Litermeter III and water change module to do water changes in the meantime. I'm also going to shop around for a nice hefty L.E.D. pendant to replace my halides. 2x250watt halides + 2x55watt T5's is just too expensive, especially to house some snails and a shrimp ;)

Any suggestions on a LED lighting solution?

[rroselavy]

Solaris LED, hehe. j/k

Aquaillumination makes some impressive fixtures. I think the blending of the color temperatures is far better than my Solaris fixture. I saw a 36" unit at MAX one year ago, and thought the hardware was smart and well built - better than the Solaris. The hanging rails they devised to suspend the light modules is a bit gangly IMHO, but offers some flexibility not possible with my fixture.

I know some other companies like Sfiligoi and Elos are now offering some solutions, but these are well out of my reach.

Soon I will be replacing my Solaris fixture for a 6x24w ATI Sunpower fixture. The LED's are perfectly cool running and low wattage, but I am not going to spend that kind of money on a 24" light fixture again. The T5 fixtures seem to offer better PAR spread and nearly the same efficiency as my 1st gen Solaris. I will probably miss the caustic patterns ("glitter lines") at first but get over it as I enjoy better coral growth in the recesses of my tank. ;)

[Kinetic]

Since my tank's all ELOS anyways, might as well hitup Jesse for some ideas ;)

[rroselavy]

baller... ;)

[Kinetic]

hah, not really, I think I like one big credit card bill over a large electricity bills

[Kinetic]

Just ordered a Spectrapure Litermeter III and Water Exchange Module from my local LFS! This means I will no longer need to change my water manually. Just have to premix the water every week or so (much easier!).

Here's my plans:

50g premixed reservoir
80gph pump on a timer to run a 6 times every day for 10 minutes to keep the water mixed (should I do more or less?)
Second 50g reservoir ready fed from my RO/Di unit.

When the first 50g runs out of water, I'll premix the RO/DI in the second 50g, and swap the source reservoir to the second. The first one will then get the 50g of RO/DI.

This way I will always have 50g of RO/DI ready. I currently already have a 30g RO/DI reservoir, but I"ll need to upgrade. I will also need a few speed fittings and another float valve.

In terms of how much water to change, I'm not sure yet.

[michael_cb_125]

ohhh.....ahhhhh

http://www.sfiligoi.it/files/media/CATALOGHI%20INGLESE/GALAXY%20ING.pdf

Sweet Italian Goodness ;)

~Michael

[Kinetic]

So it's been a long time since the ventralis and bellus were taken by marine velvet, so now I've added some black photon clowns, and a handful of chromis. QT tank is being setup for a few SPS frags coming in, so those will be added soon too.

Here's a picture with the votechs turned 1/2 power. BTW I haven't cleaned the glass in about 9 months, so excuse the salt creep! At least I have little to no phosphates nor pest algae, so it's still decent):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC5kV27egfU

[Rickyrooz1]

Nice build, any updates?

[Kinetic]

Decided to put some life into my tank. it had been running with no corals, fish, for about a year. All I had was a shrimp and a million baby trochus. Here we go, FTS:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2529/4030875715_253f2799c8.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4031628420_3697969b50.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/4030875789_ea4c5f457b.jpg

[joeyvu]

That is very nice....I love your aquascape....Tank looks awsome. How do you like the vortech placed in the back of the tank...Do you find any deadspot? What setting are they on? I tried mine on the back and it blew my sand so much and there is few dead spot in between them....Anyway, tank looks great...and welcome back getting busy with the tank..:)

[Kinetic]

That is very nice....I love your aquascape....Tank looks awsome. How do you like the vortech placed in the back of the tank...Do you find any deadspot? What setting are they on? I tried mine on the back and it blew my sand so much and there is few dead spot in between them....Anyway, tank looks great...and welcome back getting busy with the tank..:)

Thanks for the comments. I like them on the back. It creates a super turbulent flow in my tank as it bounces off the front glass and the surface of the water. There's no deadspots as I run both vortechs at full blast (3,000gph) plus I have a Eheim 1260 with the return adding a bit too. Hidden behind it is a koralia (one of the bigger ones) blasting water from right to left behind the rockwork to kick anything that gets stuck there. Going barebottom has really allowed me to put tons of flow in the tank without worrying. I do lose that great sandbed look though =(