Project cube is here
Posted 02/08/2010 at 06:10 PM by AQD_ottawa
Well I guess its been a long time coming, but I am finally at the point to start our small 24" cube tank build.
This will highlight as many GHL ProfiLux items we can cram into it, go through step by step set ups and throw in as many photos and possibly video for you.
This build will also feature fauna marin and Aquarium Illuminations as these two companies products all tie up with GHL in various ways.
So onto the equipment
[B][U]Then tank[/U][/B]
24x24x24 cube Euro brace with rear center weir box. 3 sided star fire, supplied by Miracles in Toronto Canada. I should have delivery in 14 days or less.
[B][U]The stand[/U][/B]
Custom made in birch by none other than Christian (Boboxx) Chris builds some of the most stunning bespoked cabinetry I have come across and well worth talking to him if you are looking for something custom. The stand will be Espresso in colour to match our home decor, production photos to follow soon.
[B][U]The Sump[/U][/B]
Supplied, again by Christian (man of many talents!) This will be acrylic.
[B][U]Lighting[/U][/B]
2 x Aqua illuminations LED's, I am really looking forward to getting these above the tank, the functionality when attached to a profilux controller is mind blowing. Still waiting on the cable like everyone else, but I am told its in the post wahey!!
[B][U]Mineral dosing[/U][/B]
No calcium reactor here, instead fauna marin Balling light using the GHL doser and 3 x Bubble magus 2.5L containers.
[B][U]Skimmer[/U][/B]
I wanted to use the Blue line skimmer from Fauna Marin here but its just too big so will be using a Bubble Magus BM150Pro, this is the one with the aqua bee pump so I am quite keen to see how this plays out, again i wanted to use a cone, but they do not do one small enough as yet.
[B][U]Live Stock[/U][/B]
Lots of Fiji premium rock, and SPS dominent, I will also have a small amount of LPS, my wife would not be happy if it did not have a hammer head. Fish wise, not a clue as yet, its only 60 gallon so will not be crowded.
I am not sre where the corals are coming from as yet, to be honest i have been quite dissapointed with local offerings so far, being from the UK I am used to full coloured maricultured colonies for about $100, and I cant find anything to match this here in Canada. Same goes for the rock, hard to find good supply, but I am banking on Pat at Ottawa Inverts to come up with something to meet my European high expectations
More to follow
This will highlight as many GHL ProfiLux items we can cram into it, go through step by step set ups and throw in as many photos and possibly video for you.
This build will also feature fauna marin and Aquarium Illuminations as these two companies products all tie up with GHL in various ways.
So onto the equipment
[B][U]Then tank[/U][/B]
24x24x24 cube Euro brace with rear center weir box. 3 sided star fire, supplied by Miracles in Toronto Canada. I should have delivery in 14 days or less.
[B][U]The stand[/U][/B]
Custom made in birch by none other than Christian (Boboxx) Chris builds some of the most stunning bespoked cabinetry I have come across and well worth talking to him if you are looking for something custom. The stand will be Espresso in colour to match our home decor, production photos to follow soon.
[B][U]The Sump[/U][/B]
Supplied, again by Christian (man of many talents!) This will be acrylic.
[B][U]Lighting[/U][/B]
2 x Aqua illuminations LED's, I am really looking forward to getting these above the tank, the functionality when attached to a profilux controller is mind blowing. Still waiting on the cable like everyone else, but I am told its in the post wahey!!
[B][U]Mineral dosing[/U][/B]
No calcium reactor here, instead fauna marin Balling light using the GHL doser and 3 x Bubble magus 2.5L containers.
[B][U]Skimmer[/U][/B]
I wanted to use the Blue line skimmer from Fauna Marin here but its just too big so will be using a Bubble Magus BM150Pro, this is the one with the aqua bee pump so I am quite keen to see how this plays out, again i wanted to use a cone, but they do not do one small enough as yet.
[B][U]Live Stock[/U][/B]
Lots of Fiji premium rock, and SPS dominent, I will also have a small amount of LPS, my wife would not be happy if it did not have a hammer head. Fish wise, not a clue as yet, its only 60 gallon so will not be crowded.
I am not sre where the corals are coming from as yet, to be honest i have been quite dissapointed with local offerings so far, being from the UK I am used to full coloured maricultured colonies for about $100, and I cant find anything to match this here in Canada. Same goes for the rock, hard to find good supply, but I am banking on Pat at Ottawa Inverts to come up with something to meet my European high expectations
More to follow
Total Comments 26
Comments
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So i spent the day in and out of hardware stores, and came up with this, it is a work in progress as you can see the lamps need to come forward by about 1 1/4" but that is eaily resolved.
Chris at Ai said the lamps need to be 6-8" above the surface for a 24" tank so will adjust these up once I have water in the tank
here are the prototype pics
Maybe that will give some other users some ideasPosted 03/04/2010 at 08:23 PM by AQD_ottawa 
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Busy weekend,
Water in - Check
sand in - Check
GHL fully set up - Check
creation of worlds largest wiring tangle - Check (hey gimme time i will clean it up )
Premium Fiji in Place - Check - Thanks Ottawa Inverts for the cleanest LR I have ever seen
I am awaiting a new prob bracket from Chris, then the sump will not look like a bowl of string
pH - 8.08
Salinity - 51.8mS and rising
Redox - 177mV (target = 300mV)
Temp - 28 degrees C
Rest not worth measuring yet, let the tank settle a bit
Posted 03/14/2010 at 05:07 PM by AQD_ottawa
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Posted 03/14/2010 at 05:07 PM by AQD_ottawa
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The main build is pretty much finished
As you can see below the lights are in place and fully programmed to the GHL, in fact the Profilux has pretty much full control of every aspect of the tank. This weekend I will do a review of what is controlled, how it is controlled and screen shots of programmed software pages.
The hanging kit was custom made by Chris (Boboxx) I have to thank him for the amazing job he did of this and also of course the quality stand.
The pump debate actually produced a huge oversight on my part, I guess running a business and also trying to do a tank build made me lose my head. I forgot the most important element and that was to at least have a flow rate to match the skimmers requirements and I was WAY short of that, this has lead to not enough draw from the surface of the water to stop bio film, so i now have a suitable balanced tunze coming that will draw 500L and hour at 1.5 meters, perfect for the skimmer and tank, thanks to Phil at Xenia for shipping it so fast.
The photos below show the lights aon about 60% at this time as they are slowly dimming for the evening. As you can see they are mega bright and need to be throttled right back. If you are looking for ultimate light control then seriously get these units. The ProfiLux cloud simulation is amazing also, I have it set to 25% and 50% dimming at random.
Here are some pics
Posted 03/18/2010 at 04:41 PM by AQD_ottawa
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Just planning the auto water change now and then in April the balling chambers The AWC programmed and controlled by the profilux will be as follows
1/4 Ro line gravity drained from sump to basement about 12' below direct to drain, this will be controlled by a solenoid. The ATO sensor will be switched to dual mode ATO/AWC and a second low sensor for the AWC lower limit draw off.
In the coat closet behind the tank will be a large (ish) vat, this will at present plans feed the tank with new water via a tiny power head. The tank will drain and replace 1L twice a day so approx 10% a week.
Due to only draining off 1L at a time the tank will not have to have any equipment down time making the water change process and programming very simple.Posted 03/19/2010 at 12:50 PM by AQD_ottawa
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First corals are in Courtesy of Pat at www.ottawainverts.com
Tri coloured Ricordea - reason = for a new set up this is an ideal choice for the tank
Bright orange Monti frag - reason = Very hardy and a good indicator of tanks stability
Nothing else will be added for two weeks.
Dosing -
2 drops of FM Bio per day
1ml of Ultra Bak
0.5ml of ultra Min-S
Ultra Life is being dosed also at present due to new fish introduction and the tank being new.
Paremeters
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0.2
P04 = 0.1
Ca = 460
MG = 1410
DKH = 7
Salinity = 1.0249
I will be switching to ProdiBio shortly as it needs to be reviewed by us.
I am not yet dosing any minerals as the draw on the tank is too low to warrant it, as soon as I see a dip in any of the 3 elements then I will set the balling up.Posted 03/20/2010 at 04:34 PM by AQD_ottawa
