|
08/02/2014, 10:34 AM | #1 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
RIP 54g corner Welcome 60g cube
Hi RC,
I'm back after 2 years out due to personal problems. I had a 54 gallon corner tank that I sadly broke. I tried to "fix" a leaking pipe going to the sump. I tightened too hard and cracked the bottom glass. That was an interesting and flooded night with 54g of saltwater and another 54g of tears ;(( Dispite the broken tank and heart, I really learned a lot working with it and I think I had pretty successful display tank. This was my 54g corner tank when I started it in January 2010: This was before it broke in 2012: I also have 2 youtube videos. The first one is details about my tank and the second is lightning, progress, and growth. First: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBtjbjILptE Second: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB2sIM20sXc Anyway, I was desperate because I didn't want my corals and fish to die, I bought a cube tank. It is a 24x24x24 60g tank. The tank looks pretty good and I hope it will do even better than my old one. Cleaning my equipment; I was thinking in how I was going to set up the aquascape and what type of live stock would be the best. Loving so much the SPS, I decided to go SPS dominant. Having the appropriate equipment for them, I made up my mind and I start my new project. These are some pics of my equipment: (Top) 60g cube 24x24x24 including 2 inches of live sand Black stand 32x25x25 Live Rock (around 70lb) 2-mp10w es Lightning: Was the Marineland 24hrs Pro light that includes 1-MH Radium with 4-T5 ATI and 2 LED's. Now I have the Radion Gen3 Pro
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days Last edited by Omie; 08/02/2014 at 10:39 AM. |
08/02/2014, 10:36 AM | #2 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
(Bottom)
Sump 15g DIY Skimmer SRO 1000sss 4"x14" sock Rio 2100 return pump AquaController III (I only use it for temp and ph) Tunze ATO 3- two little fishies reactors (GFO, Carbon, Denitrator) American DJ outlet
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
08/02/2014, 10:37 AM | #3 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
08/02/2014, 11:41 AM | #4 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
Let start the assembling!
With help from my girlfriend, I put the tank in place and started beginning my project. I save around 30-35g of my old water and I mix the rest with the Red Sea pro salt. That way I can accelerate the process of recirculation. At this time I was using the marineland pro light fixture. After I finish my aqua scape and add the water, this is how my tank looked:
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
08/02/2014, 12:54 PM | #5 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
Problems, problems and more problems!!!
Working with the sump and installing all the PVC pipes I started the recirculation process. I placed my skimmer and turned it on... Nothing happened!!! I tried again and... NOTHING HAPPENED!!! So, I disassemble the pump and check that everything was fine. Pin wheel was fine (not broken or cracked). I cleaned it for 24 hr in a bucket with water and vinegar. Next day I tried to turn it on.... Again nothing! I call for warranty and they said that will send me a new pump. This is the worst part! Waiting... Like everybody, when I start something I don't want to wait. But didn't have any other option. Now, working with the ATO I installed and turn it on. Guess what happened... NOTHING!!! I started getting frustrated and anxious. I suspected that the problem was the pump, so I decide to buy a new pump. Thank God it is not that expensive. Meanwhile, I was waiting so I made an egg create stand for the skimmer, so it can be 6" in the water for a better skim. Finally after 4 days waiting (feels like a year) I received my new bubble blaster pump and my new ATO pump. I check the ATO pump and I was correct, it was the pump. One less problem. Then I connected the BB pump and... It turned on!!! I left it running in fresh water for few hours and then connected everything to the body and put in in the sump. This is how it started looking after few hours:
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
08/02/2014, 06:43 PM | #6 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
My sump is complete and so far doing good. I clean all the reactors and put new media in all of them. That way I won't have to deal with to much GHA.
This is my sump with the reactors and reserve of water for my ATO. These are my reactors. The first one is the GFO, continued by carbon, and last but not least the denitrator .
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
08/02/2014, 06:55 PM | #7 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
I've been doing 10g w/c every week and these were my results:
First week: Salt: 1.026 Temp: 78.0 Alk: 11.2ppm Ca:405ppm Mag: 1410ppm Nitrate: 75ppm PO4: 0.16ppm Ph: 7.74 Second week: Salt: 1.026 Temp: 78.6 Alk: 10.9ppm Ca: 425ppm Mag: 1450ppm Nitrate: 50ppm PO4: 0.05ppm Ph:7.7 Third week: Salt: 1.025 Temp: 79.2 Alk: 10.0ppm Ca: 435ppm Mag: 1410ppm Nitrate: 25ppm PO4:0ppm Ph:7.84 Fourth week: Salt: 1.025 Temp:79.1 Alk: 10.6ppm Ca: 425ppm Mag: 1365ppm Nitrate: 15ppm PO4: 0ppm Ph:7.83 I check with salifert test kit. Only PO4 is Hanna instrument. My nitrates and PO4 went down. Looking to the results I decide to buy some peppermint shrimp to see if they will survive. These are my peppermint shrimp and they are doing great! This one is Pepper This one is Mint
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days Last edited by Omie; 08/02/2014 at 07:01 PM. |
08/02/2014, 10:40 PM | #8 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Queens, NY
Posts: 9
|
Very nice progress. My son is helping me to setup a 60 gallon cube that looks just like yours. I will take pictures to chronicle the progress.
I like the rock design. |
08/03/2014, 10:36 AM | #9 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
Quote:
Looking forward to seeing yours... My tank is already 2 months old and I put some corals already. I have 18 SPS and few softies... Will start posting pics soon.
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
|
08/03/2014, 03:36 PM | #10 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
Was to be expected... GHA show up to the party!!!
My parameters are pretty good but I was waiting for the GHA to show. It's bad and getting worse. It's up to 2 inches long and covering all my rocks. I move some corals because it starts suffocating them. Hope this part passes by fast, because it's affecting my corals. The good part is that my Starry Blenny and my snails have enough food for years to come. LR w/ GHA This is my chalice war coral. Someone gave it to me because it was dying. It is doing good so far, the only problem is the algae.
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
08/03/2014, 10:29 PM | #11 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Spanaway, WA
Posts: 1,101
|
looking really good
__________________
"You can run but you will only die tired" U.S. Army Snipers |
08/04/2014, 12:55 AM | #12 |
Moved On
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 25
|
Starting to look good
|
08/04/2014, 01:41 PM | #13 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
Thanks!
I'll keep posting the progress of my corals... More pics coming soon!!!
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
08/05/2014, 09:52 AM | #14 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
08/10/2014, 07:58 PM | #15 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
Finally!!! My GHA is going away. It took me 2 months, doing a w/c every week for it to go away. Wasn't that difficult but it was very annoying just looking at an ugly tank. I still have some but not to the point to suffocate the corals. Here are some pics of the progress of my cube tank.
One of my LR without GHA Chalice is no longer suffocating from the GHA My shrimps are happy for the progress
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
08/10/2014, 08:13 PM | #16 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
Like I posted before, this is my new radion g3 pro. I switched my marineland pro light, that includes one mh and t5's, for the LED's. I know a lot of people have been successful growing SPS and I wanted to give it a try. So far all my SPS are doing good (I have like 21 acros), and the colors are like I expected. The shimmering on the rocks and sand makes the tank so real and enjoyable to watch. Don't regret changing nor the money spent.
This is how it looks from the top:
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
08/11/2014, 01:28 PM | #17 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
I will buy a good camera, now I'm using my phone, so I can get more clear and better pics. But at least you can see, more or less how my tank is looking up to today's date.
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
09/28/2014, 09:40 PM | #18 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
Finally I bought a good camera! Don't know how to work with it, but I will try. It's a canon rebel T5i and I love it so far.
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
09/28/2014, 09:54 PM | #19 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cottonwood, CA
Posts: 222
|
Great thread build. I like the cube! Keep us posted!
__________________
Coralife BioCube 29: Aquaticlife 115 skimmer, InTank Media/Fuge Basket. Running filter floss, purigen and chemi-pure. JBJ nano zapp UV. Aquaticlife RODI buddie system. |
09/28/2014, 10:22 PM | #20 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
I have been playing with this camera the past 2hrs. This is one of my first pic. It's a gorgonian and it's pretty happy with the flow. Just testing my camera. Feedback will be appreciated so I can improve my work.
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
09/28/2014, 10:25 PM | #21 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
Thanks! I'm in the learning process, but will try
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
09/28/2014, 10:30 PM | #22 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
09/29/2014, 08:33 AM | #23 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
09/29/2014, 11:14 AM | #24 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cottonwood, CA
Posts: 222
|
Quote:
__________________
Coralife BioCube 29: Aquaticlife 115 skimmer, InTank Media/Fuge Basket. Running filter floss, purigen and chemi-pure. JBJ nano zapp UV. Aquaticlife RODI buddie system. |
|
09/30/2014, 06:15 AM | #25 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 686
|
Thanks BioCubeGuy,
I'm trying to learn how to take out the blue of the pic so it will look more natural. They explained to me, but I though they were talking to me in Chinese! Lol I need to buy some cover lenses and work with the withe balance... Lets see, maybe in a few weeks it will start looking different. If not I will take some photo classes!
__________________
Live in the moment... ...30 years from now it'll be one of the good old days |
Thread Tools | |
|
|