PDA

View Full Version : My New 25gallon NANO BUILD


REEF DOCG
04/08/2016, 10:22 AM
In the process of my new Nano Build
I am building a back AIO system for the tank. trying to keep it simple. Will post pics as item arrive. hope to get some helpful advice.


http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=347375&stc=1&d=1460132298

REEF DOCG
04/13/2016, 03:44 PM
So my tank arrived yesterday and thanks to the UPS guys who literally threw the box on the floor and when it landed I heard the glass brake, when I confronted him about the handling he said it slipped and walked away.


347956

347957

GriffinMarsh
04/13/2016, 03:48 PM
Contact UPS Claims. It should be covered. If you have a LFS that carries MR.AQUA you should get the tank from them. Guaranteed to not be broken, and saves a ton of headache.

REEF DOCG
04/13/2016, 03:52 PM
Contact UPS Claims. It should be covered. If you have a LFS that carries MR.AQUA you should get the tank from them. Guaranteed to not be broken, and saves a ton of headache.
I've already contacted UPS. And BRS whom I bought the tank from already is sending a new one and should arrive on Friday.

What is LFS?

GriffinMarsh
04/13/2016, 04:01 PM
Local Fish Store

REEF DOCG
04/13/2016, 04:14 PM
Ok so due to my tank being re-delivered I decided to start working on my aquascape. I wanted a floating reef so I decided to cut the Tunga Shelf in the corner so I can glue it to the one side of the tank. Here is what I've done so far.
So i scored the plate with a homemade square.
347963
Cut off the angle
347964
re attached on the upper part to create a nano lagoon
347965
here is the finished product all glued and ready to be set in tank.
347966

REEF DOCG
04/13/2016, 04:27 PM
Local Fish Store

lol Should have figured that one out!
I did check around before i ordered it online. Not many stores around my area, :(
I just found out about a supposedly big place but its over an hour drive I think once i get my tank cycled i will have to make it a trip and see what they are about.

REEF DOCG
04/13/2016, 06:00 PM
I came up with this sketch as my aquascape. I already have my nano lagoon all glued up and working on cutting the rocks to assimilate this floating Island mass.
Any input would deeply be appreciated.
Also does anyone know if I make a miniature Rope bridge can it be placed in salt water?
347973

REEF DOCG
04/15/2016, 01:52 PM
348099
So this is the closest I can come to this pic of floating Islands
348100
Now drilling the bottom to create the illusion that its floating. (Obviously you wont see that until its in the water)

REEF DOCG
04/15/2016, 01:56 PM
5/8 pine
348101
45 degrees and boxed out
348102
opening for door
348103
filled in with some wood puddy
348104
door and zipper hinge
348105

REEF DOCG
04/15/2016, 01:58 PM
All assembled
348106
Get ready to be stained and varnished. Sturdy little cabinet.
348107

Hentz
04/15/2016, 08:10 PM
Following!

Phenomenal build so far. I can see you're putting a lot of time and effort into this build, it's going to look incredible.

Have you thought about the Hydra 26 HD at all for lighting?

REEF DOCG
04/24/2016, 04:01 PM
Following!

Phenomenal build so far. I can see you're putting a lot of time and effort into this build, it's going to look incredible.

Have you thought about the Hydra 26 HD at all for lighting?

Hmmmm. I must give those a thought. my wishlist is a Kessil 360we.
But a lot of saving for them lights. thanks for following I am happily to say the build is going quite well. Posting pics soon

REEF DOCG
04/24/2016, 04:10 PM
I have created the baffle system in the back according to my added componets.
There will be a media reactor in one, a Hydor nano skimmer in another and the rack which i built will hold up to 4 different media filters
348838
this is the completed floating island ready to go I have drilled a 1 1/2 hole at the bottom to insert an acrylic rod which will hold the entire island floating in the water
348839
Here are some mini mangroves that I obtained from a friend in Florida he has the best mangroves around. He is out for the season and will have new batch in july
348840
Here is the aquascape in the tank
348841
Here is a close up of the bridge i build from the floating lagoon to the floating island
348842

REEF DOCG
04/24/2016, 04:18 PM
Drilling a 1 1/2 inch hole at the bottom of the floating island
348843
end result I manged to not destroy the edges
348844
Inserting the acrylic rod (6")
348845
Glued and set
348846

REEF DOCG
04/24/2016, 04:25 PM
Here is the end result. I am happy with the turn out, the island actually looks like its floating and the nano lagoon is true to look at the bridge is just the finishing touch this tank needed.


348847

Please if anyone has any input I would love to hear from you.
Up to date My water is a bit cloudy. I am wondering if its all the rock work and glue and putty. Did already two water changes. Any suggestions?

oldreefer76
04/24/2016, 05:29 PM
Tank looks great!! I would let it settle the cloudy look will go away soon

homer1475
04/24/2016, 05:38 PM
What did you make the bridge out of? I would think that rope and wood wouldn't work long term in salt water. Colored acrylic rod and thick mono might work better long term?

Either way that aquascape is bada**! Following along for sure. :thumbsup:

REEF DOCG
04/24/2016, 08:48 PM
What did you make the bridge out of? I would think that rope and wood wouldn't work long term in salt water. Colored acrylic rod and thick mono might work better long term?

Either way that aquascape is bada**! Following along for sure. :thumbsup:

The bridge was made of wooden dowels and hemp rope. I figured it wouldn't last long, but I actually hope it deteriorates, I am aiming for that rundown look.

REEF DOCG
04/26/2016, 09:39 AM
Tank looks great!! I would let it settle the cloudy look will go away soon

Thanks! I just got the nano skimmer in and the SPR bio pellet bubbler

REEF DOCG
04/26/2016, 09:59 AM
Bio pellet tumbler
348947
Hydor Nano Skimmer
348948
The pre assembled baffles where a perfect fit for both units
348949
Update I have a fine micro bubble mist. I hear its normal when first adding a skimmer.
348950
Any comments would be appreciated

REEF DOCG
04/26/2016, 01:45 PM
Following!

Phenomenal build so far. I can see you're putting a lot of time and effort into this build, it's going to look incredible.

Have you thought about the Hydra 26 HD at all for lighting?

So i took a look at the Hydra 26 HD they cost just as much as the Kessil. In your opinion what difference you see in these two lights?

pelphrey
04/26/2016, 01:49 PM
Great build! I really like the AIO tanks! I am a huge fan of the sicce pumps I am using the 1.5 on my 27 gallon.

REEF DOCG
04/27/2016, 04:14 PM
Great build! I really like the AIO tanks! I am a huge fan of the sicce pumps I am using the 1.5 on my 27 gallon.

Thanks. and thanks again for the suggestions. Believe me I rather ask twice then try alone and screw up. Lessons on reef tanks can get costly. So IMO asking is a great way to save money. I rarely get offended unless its about family hahaha.
Sicce are super nice and very quiet.
HYDOR nano skimmer SUPER QUIET sometimes i need to check it to see if its running. lol Still haven't tuned it out yet, collection cups gets filled with water.

Westcoastindia
04/28/2016, 02:40 AM
Nice scape, Mr. Octopus with glasses.
That would be a kick S nano.
Good luck, I'm sure you already have it.

REEF DOCG
04/28/2016, 07:51 PM
Nice scape, Mr. Octopus with glasses.
That would be a kick S nano.
Good luck, I'm sure you already have it.

Thank you. I'm getting there. Its now all about properly placing the coral so they all get light and water movement. I've already changed my wave pumps three times. lol

REEF DOCG
04/29/2016, 05:47 PM
Nice scape, Mr. Octopus with glasses.
That would be a kick S nano.
Good luck, I'm sure you already have it.

Thank you Sir.

REEF DOCG
05/04/2016, 02:46 PM
So folks its been almost a month now and my tank is still foggy. I've tried to do some small water changes and no luck. I have been keeping up with the temp, fresh charcol, and maintaining salinity. What am I missing?349596

349598

349600

349604

349605

I am almost frustrated and want to quit! Ive had salt water tanks before and never had these problems. The only differnce is I always used live rock before and tanks where bigger. I figured this time around I would go Nano so it wouldn't take up too much of my time but this has been worse so far.
Any suggestions?

strummerfan
05/04/2016, 03:59 PM
So folks its been almost a month now and my tank is still foggy. I've tried to do some small water changes and no luck. I have been keeping up with the temp, fresh charcol, and maintaining salinity. What am I missing?349596

349598

349600

349604

349605

I am almost frustrated and want to quit! Ive had salt water tanks before and never had these problems. The only differnce is I always used live rock before and tanks where bigger. I figured this time around I would go Nano so it wouldn't take up too much of my time but this has been worse so far.
Any suggestions?

My first guess is some sort of bacterial bloom. Have you wiped down the tank walls? is there a film on them?

Pnewt
05/04/2016, 07:35 PM
my tank cycled for about 4 weeks before i had anything living in it besides the live rock. what is your ammonia and nitrate and nitrite levels? i had cloudy water for about a week and then one day it was clear as could be. what kind of water changes are you doing?

drakedeming
05/05/2016, 08:54 AM
Nice set up.

ReefWreak
05/05/2016, 09:36 AM
So folks its been almost a month now and my tank is still foggy. I've tried to do some small water changes and no luck. I have been keeping up with the temp, fresh charcol, and maintaining salinity. What am I missing?

Time. And a cycle. I honestly wouldn't worry about it. It can take a while for a tank to settle in. For what it's worth, you're also probably complicating it with that rope and mangrove.

If you think the bacteria is bad, wait till you get your end-of-cycle algae spurt.


I am almost frustrated and want to quit! Ive had salt water tanks before and never had these problems. The only differnce is I always used live rock before and tanks where bigger. I figured this time around I would go Nano so it wouldn't take up too much of my time but this has been worse so far.
Any suggestions?

Are you monitoring your ammonia and nitrate levels? Do you know how far in the cycle (if at all) you are? Dry rock is fine as long as you seed it and/or just give it a lot of time. How did you do your cycle? I wouldn't be discouraged, I always expect the absolute worst in the first month or two, i.e. algae forests, dianoflagellates everywhere, cyano everywhere. If you're not getting those, then you're doing well.

Also, mangroves are cool for effect (which I think is why you have it there), but even in large numbers, they have almost no impact on nutrient reduction. They really are only good at magnesium reduction :p (which is not a good thing).

I don't mean to be rude or discouraging, and you have a really cool setup built, but because you're making a "different" kind of tank, you're going to get slightly "different" results than what you may have expected or what others have experienced. It's still early in the tank's life too, so with time things will change.

I would almost recommend cycling in the dark until you're at 0 ammonia and all nitrate, then turn the lights on and start water changes to keep nitrate below 20ppm. Once you see whisps of green algae growing, time for clean up crew and more water changes. Then you're on your way. And keep your calcium and alkalinity up to get those rocks purpled up (kalkwasser top offs are an easy way).

REEF DOCG
05/05/2016, 06:17 PM
My first guess is some sort of bacterial bloom. Have you wiped down the tank walls? is there a film on them?

Yes there is a film on them, even on the wires of the pumps.

REEF DOCG
05/05/2016, 06:18 PM
my tank cycled for about 4 weeks before i had anything living in it besides the live rock. what is your ammonia and nitrate and nitrite levels? i had cloudy water for about a week and then one day it was clear as could be. what kind of water changes are you doing?

So far I have been doing 5 gallons per week.

REEF DOCG
05/05/2016, 06:31 PM
Time. And a cycle. I honestly wouldn't worry about it. It can take a while for a tank to settle in. For what it's worth, you're also probably complicating it with that rope and mangrove.

If you think the bacteria is bad, wait till you get your end-of-cycle algae spurt.



Are you monitoring your ammonia and nitrate levels? Do you know how far in the cycle (if at all) you are? Dry rock is fine as long as you seed it and/or just give it a lot of time. How did you do your cycle? I wouldn't be discouraged, I always expect the absolute worst in the first month or two, i.e. algae forests, dianoflagellates everywhere, cyano everywhere. If you're not getting those, then you're doing well.

Also, mangroves are cool for effect (which I think is why you have it there), but even in large numbers, they have almost no impact on nutrient reduction. They really are only good at magnesium reduction :p (which is not a good thing).

I don't mean to be rude or discouraging, and you have a really cool setup built, but because you're making a "different" kind of tank, you're going to get slightly "different" results than what you may have expected or what others have experienced. It's still early in the tank's life too, so with time things will change.

I would almost recommend cycling in the dark until you're at 0 ammonia and all nitrate, then turn the lights on and start water changes to keep nitrate below 20ppm. Once you see whisps of green algae growing, time for clean up crew and more water changes. Then you're on your way. And keep your calcium and alkalinity up to get those rocks purpled up (kalkwasser top offs are an easy way).

No NO, please you're not being rude.
I will definitely remove the mangroves. I did use Purple up but i don't see anything growing on the rocks. The bottle said to use a 1/2 teaspoon for 25 gallons it didn't seem much but with all I have going on I didn't want to create more problems.
Far in the cycle? All I can say is 30 days in, since setup.
I do have some clean up crew but they seem lazy they don't move around much. 10 bumble bee snails, 15 small hermit crabs, 1 big blue hermit crab, 1 big red Halloween hermit crab. those are the live ones.
the DEAD 1 skunk shrimp rip 1 emerald green crab (rip) 2 scarlet crabs (rip) 4 turbo snails (rip)
Adding Kalk? Do I add this directly to the tank Or add kalk in a bucket with the rocks only?
I have a test kit on order and will do some tests.
What are the most common test to be done in the beginning? I see these test kits only have certain ones in the box or independently. I ordered a red sea. is that a comparable one?
Thank you in advance for you input.

REEF DOCG
05/05/2016, 06:34 PM
Please let me know what test kits you have had best experience with. I have to spend the money anyways on a test kit so I might as well know the good and bad. This way I can gear myself to a more accurate one. Thank you all again for your help.

ReefWreak
05/05/2016, 07:02 PM
Salifert for test kits. All you need are ammonia, nitrate, alkalinity, calcium, and down the line magnesium, and maybe a hanna checker for low range phosphorous to check phosphates.

So your cycle is kicked off by default because of the things that have died. Are you monitoring ammonia and nitrate now?

Don't add purple up until you are confident in your cycle and your tank is rockin and rollin.

How did you measure your original salinity? Pick up an inexpensive refractometer (<$40 or so).

Kalk gets added to your fresh water top off down the road when you have calcium and alkalinity demand (and are measuring and observing it).

I had the impression before that this wasn't your first tank. If I am wrong, or if you could use a refresher, these threads (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074) might help get you back on the right foot.

REEF DOCG
05/05/2016, 08:37 PM
Salifert for test kits. All you need are ammonia, nitrate, alkalinity, calcium, and down the line magnesium, and maybe a hanna checker for low range phosphorous to check phosphates.

So your cycle is kicked off by default because of the things that have died. Are you monitoring ammonia and nitrate now?

Don't add purple up until you are confident in your cycle and your tank is rockin and rollin.

How did you measure your original salinity? Pick up an inexpensive refractometer (<$40 or so).

Kalk gets added to your fresh water top off down the road when you have calcium and alkalinity demand (and are measuring and observing it).

I had the impression before that this wasn't your first tank. If I am wrong, or if you could use a refresher, these threads (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074) might help get you back on the right foot.

Yes I do have a refractometer, And I have had salt water tanks before but never used dry rock or this type of aqua-scaping (using putty) before. I started with live rock and had a sump with live macro algae. Also firt time using LED's I am old school and used MH, T5's. I love the look of LED's and the fact they don't put out heat but I wonder over-all if they are just as good as HD's and T5's.
I never ran into problems like this. Yes had very light cyno algae but cleaned it up and back to normal. a little hair algae and the same took care of the problem and back to normal.
I never had the glass feel slimy and with a film on them that is gooey. I clean it off and 5 minutes its back. this is crazy to me.
I probably could do a 100% water change and this would come back, this is how I am feeling about this right about now.

ReefWreak
05/06/2016, 06:47 AM
Yes I do have a refractometer, And I have had salt water tanks before but never used dry rock or this type of aqua-scaping (using putty) before. I started with live rock and had a sump with live macro algae. Also firt time using LED's I am old school and used MH, T5's. I love the look of LED's and the fact they don't put out heat but I wonder over-all if they are just as good as HD's and T5's.
I never ran into problems like this. Yes had very light cyno algae but cleaned it up and back to normal. a little hair algae and the same took care of the problem and back to normal.
I never had the glass feel slimy and with a film on them that is gooey. I clean it off and 5 minutes its back. this is crazy to me.
I probably could do a 100% water change and this would come back, this is how I am feeling about this right about now.

It's debatable, but LEDs are definitely "mainstream" now and success can be had with them, it's just harder and requires more tweaking. I'm hoping that these new lights that Philips is putting out may take care of some of the difficulty people have had with LEDs so far in the hobby. It would be nice for there to be a "plug and play" LED option that almost immediately leads to success, like a 250w MH would be.

The slime may be bacterial blooms. Could be from critters that died and the bacteria are using up the ammonia and nitrates, could be from the putty? I know it ruins the head on a skimmer if you even use a tiny bit. If you use a lot, it may take a few weeks and a few big water changes to remove the surficants and other side-effects of using that much epoxy.

I still hold that because this is a "unique" build, you're going to have some "unique" problems that are probably best ironed out with time. As long as it's not overgrown with disgusting algae and you're not making it worse, then you're still doing pretty well, and if time is the only issue, so be it. Just expect the unexpected with this tank.

You could try adding a competing bacteria into the tank with something like Dr. Tims one and only or Brightwell Microbacter7 or something, but honestly I think it's more trouble than it is worth. I have seen bacteria blooms in early tanks, and whatever, at least it isn't bad algae. It just settles out with time and water changes.

bitwise
05/06/2016, 09:08 AM
I had cloudy water like that for a couple of days when I threw in a small piece of fresh squid from the fish market. This was early on too, similar to your situation.

bitwise
05/06/2016, 09:11 AM
I recommend Salifert test kits, like ReefWreak said. When I bought my first Salifert kits, after first using and throwing out about $200 worth of expired Elos kits, I was really happy about the shelf life. On some of the kits the shelf life is 2+ years, and they are relatively cheap!

REEF DOCG
05/06/2016, 11:25 AM
It's debatable, but LEDs are definitely "mainstream" now and success can be had with them, it's just harder and requires more tweaking. I'm hoping that these new lights that Philips is putting out may take care of some of the difficulty people have had with LEDs so far in the hobby. It would be nice for there to be a "plug and play" LED option that almost immediately leads to success, like a 250w MH would be.

The slime may be bacterial blooms. Could be from critters that died and the bacteria are using up the ammonia and nitrates, could be from the putty? I know it ruins the head on a skimmer if you even use a tiny bit. If you use a lot, it may take a few weeks and a few big water changes to remove the surficants and other side-effects of using that much epoxy.

I still hold that because this is a "unique" build, you're going to have some "unique" problems that are probably best ironed out with time. As long as it's not overgrown with disgusting algae and you're not making it worse, then you're still doing pretty well, and if time is the only issue, so be it. Just expect the unexpected with this tank.

You could try adding a competing bacteria into the tank with something like Dr. Tims one and only or Brightwell Microbacter7 or something, but honestly I think it's more trouble than it is worth. I have seen bacteria blooms in early tanks, and whatever, at least it isn't bad algae. It just settles out with time and water changes.

I so totally agree on your first paragraph.

On the second and third Paragraph I truly believe it was the putty, epoxy, silicone and glue. As you said this was a unique build and this is the course it needs to take.

Paragraph 4, I will try some Microbacter 7 and I also ordered some Chemi-pure hopefully between the two of them I can get this under control.

I do want to thank you for your honesty and suggestions. Last night I did remove the mangroves and while I was back there(AIO baffle system)I clean what I could that had build up, removed the bag of bio-balls and the bag of ceramic rings, clean out my skimmer, removed the tumbler from one of the compartments and placed it in the front part of the actual tank with some carbon. This morning there was NO green slime on the glass. I was so happy. The water is still cloudy, but I feel it is going in the right direction.

I also reduced the amount of high light by 2 hours. So I have my blues come on a 7 am then my highs at noon (for now) and off at 11pm and blue (moonlight) off at midnight. Is that still too much light? Should I reduce more for the time being to cut down on this algae bloom?

REEF DOCG
05/06/2016, 11:33 AM
I want to thank all for your help and suggestions.
Here is a quick update of what I've done since last night.
349735
I removed the tumbler from the back and placed it directly in the tank with some carbon
349736
TYhis morning NO GREEN SLIME! happy! HAppY! HAPPY! Still cloudy but I hope that will go away soon as well.
349737
In addition and I don't know if this did or will do anything but I figured to reroute the return line to the bottom so it would stir up whats on or settles to the ground up and circulate it out and through the filter floss media. Again this was just a thought, I don't know for sure if this will do anything. I could only imagine if it did everyone would have set up their returns in this manner.

ReefWreak
05/06/2016, 11:38 AM
I prefer my back section to be lower flow so crap settles there, then I can siphon it out with water changes. If you'd rather have it flowing around, that's fine as long as it does get picked up by the filter floss eventually. I don't run filter floss, so I'm fine with it just settling.

I'm glad the tank is clearing up! Still more road to go, but it's the right direction.

If you leave the carbon up front for too long, you'll probably get algae fouling it up, FYI.

REEF DOCG
05/06/2016, 02:22 PM
I prefer my back section to be lower flow so crap settles there, then I can siphon it out with water changes. If you'd rather have it flowing around, that's fine as long as it does get picked up by the filter floss eventually. I don't run filter floss, so I'm fine with it just settling.

I'm glad the tank is clearing up! Still more road to go, but it's the right direction.

If you leave the carbon up front for too long, you'll probably get algae fouling it up, FYI.

I didn't know that about carbon. good to know. I only put it up front to speed up the process. I had double the amount in the back and I felt like it did nothing. With half the amount up front It worked better. But I will put it in the back here soon as it starts to clear up.
Yes I do siphon from the back as well, in one compartment as the others are too crammed. But once in a while I will just brake down everything and clean out all compartments.
Once again thanks for your input. IMO you saved this tank BC i was giving up on it.

dt204
05/06/2016, 04:42 PM
Ya, I'd also be testing your levels to confirm you are cycled. That was quite a large CUC to begin with for such a small tank, so early. With not much for them to eat yet. Could have been partially responsible for the deaths.
I'd be worried that the deaths of the inverts could have caused mini cycles, and thrown off your original cycle or slowed it down significantly.
Confirm cycle is complete. That's number one. Maybe even remove some CUC to a buddy or LFS until your algae bloom starts.
I agree that the cloudy water is just an initial thing. Should go away with time and maintenance.
Nice tank btw! 😃

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

dt204
05/06/2016, 04:46 PM
And don't give up on your tank yet! Things can get tough, but nothing good happens fast. Take some time, things will come around! Keep reading. I personally found the BRS 52 weeks of reefing videos very informative. Good luck!

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

REEF DOCG
05/06/2016, 05:50 PM
Ya, I'd also be testing your levels to confirm you are cycled. That was quite a large CUC to begin with for such a small tank, so early. With not much for them to eat yet. Could have been partially responsible for the deaths.
I'd be worried that the deaths of the inverts could have caused mini cycles, and thrown off your original cycle or slowed it down significantly.
Confirm cycle is complete. That's number one. Maybe even remove some CUC to a buddy or LFS until your algae bloom starts.
I agree that the cloudy water is just an initial thing. Should go away with time and maintenance.
Nice tank btw! 😃

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
I also believe that it was the cause of their death.
Thank you for reading and your thoughts.

REEF DOCG
05/08/2016, 08:21 PM
Well My fellow reefers, I have tried and tried and spent more money then if I had started over. I watched many videos of how this purigen and Chemi pure worked on tanks that where cloudy. The videos showed the 3 to 5 day progression and how it cleared up every day.
well here is my progression after 24 hours my tank is worse then ever.
349889

349890

I think I will be breaking this tank down. I really want to thank all of you for encouraging me to hang in, but I think sometimes you just got know when to let go and cut yourself short. It will cost me more in trying to continue to fix the problem that I don't even know I have then to start fresh. This time I will go with Live rock As I did in the past.
And I need to find a nano sump. back to old school..

ReefWreak
05/09/2016, 09:00 AM
I think I will be breaking this tank down. I really want to thank all of you for encouraging me to hang in, but I think sometimes you just got know when to let go and cut yourself short. It will cost me more in trying to continue to fix the problem that I don't even know I have then to start fresh. This time I will go with Live rock As I did in the past.
And I need to find a nano sump. back to old school..

Sorry to hear that. Still the best thing I can recommend, is probably turn the lights off, keep the tank running, let the algae die out, and just do a lot of water changes.

If you decide to do dry rock with a bunch of additional materials again that are non-standard, it might be useful to cure them in a garbage can or trough or something, in RO water or salt water, just to let the epoxy and other stuff really cure and get removed out with water changes or carbon, before you're really starting it up into a tank.

Hopefully for your rebuild you can get some nice LR that is similar to the shape you designed (maybe even send a pic to some LR vendors and see if they can send you exactly something that looks like that) fully cured and ready to go?

Good luck, sorry you had a tough time, I wish you the best on your next tank!

REEF DOCG
05/09/2016, 08:45 PM
Sorry to hear that. Still the best thing I can recommend, is probably turn the lights off, keep the tank running, let the algae die out, and just do a lot of water changes.

If you decide to do dry rock with a bunch of additional materials again that are non-standard, it might be useful to cure them in a garbage can or trough or something, in RO water or salt water, just to let the epoxy and other stuff really cure and get removed out with water changes or carbon, before you're really starting it up into a tank.

Hopefully for your rebuild you can get some nice LR that is similar to the shape you designed (maybe even send a pic to some LR vendors and see if they can send you exactly something that looks like that) fully cured and ready to go?

Good luck, sorry you had a tough time, I wish you the best on your next tank!

thanks for your thoughts. But my girlfriend and I already working on it. we did a complete overhaul and started from scratch. We'll be back and up in running soon again.
My girlfriend already has Darwin Misbars on order with CR.

REEF DOCG
05/16/2016, 08:15 AM
Hello guys just a little update.
So we took down the old tank and got rid of all the rock and sand. I know it sound ridiculous but we felt it was just a bad omen. I do want to mention skmething. My girlfriend had a feeling from the beginning that is was the rocks, she was so convinced that after some research online she came across many articles that read the rocks sold from BRS contain a high amount of phosphates. I don't know how much truth is to that but it definitely was more then one article that claimed this to be true.
Having read that is what made us decide to get rid of them completely including sand. I also took the baffles out and temporary have a hob filter as to I want to install a sump in the near future.
Here are some pics. Thanks all for your input.

homer1475
05/16/2016, 08:18 AM
It's only the BRS pukani that is high in phosphates and very easy to clean up with some lanthum chloride.

Sent from my BlackBerry PRIV

REEF DOCG
05/16/2016, 08:19 AM
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160516/0bda61d7ce40e78cd14263f8de93d871.jpg

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

REEF DOCG
05/18/2016, 09:06 AM
It's only the BRS pukani that is high in phosphates and very easy to clean up with some lanthum chloride.

Sent from my BlackBerry PRIV
Yes that is exactly what I had. I wish I knew about the lanthum chloride sooner. But good to know for future reference. Thanks Homer

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

REEF DOCG
05/18/2016, 09:09 AM
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160518/ed9b06c35db4f72184d420602b22d175.jpg
I purchased this little guy bc it was all that could fit below, 12x12x12 deep blue.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160518/1bdf2f83bf6f8803fdded9238fead4aa.jpg
I cut some acrylic baffles and separated the fuge into four sections.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

REEF DOCG
05/18/2016, 09:11 AM
Does anyone have any preference on using sand, rubble or miracle mud for the fuge section? Would love to hear your experiences.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

REEF DOCG
05/26/2016, 01:13 PM
My finished nano fuge

https://youtu.be/fxnnNJkcdT4

homer1475
05/26/2016, 04:03 PM
One quick thing, acrylic expands when wet. Hopefully you cut those baffles slightly short so they don't swell and bust the tank.

Sent from my BlackBerry PRIV

REEF DOCG
05/28/2016, 09:54 AM
One quick thing, acrylic expands when wet. Hopefully you cut those baffles slightly short so they don't swell and bust the tank.

Sent from my BlackBerry PRIV
Wow! I never knew that. Jeez hope this won't be a future problem. Do you think even if it's so small of a piece it will still expand as much?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk