CAD 50G Artisan Rimless Starphire Cube Build

[ReeVo]

^I just ordered my TLF 150 yesterday bro.
If you said something yesterday, I would've so gotten it.

[collie man]

no worries man its just sitting inside my stand wasting space.

[mpsullivan]

Collie do you have it as HOB or regular? I haven't even bought my SW tank yet, but I know I am going to buy the cadlights artisan 50g once I move into my new apt so might as well stock up on the smaller pieces while I can (especially if they are a decent deal).

Reevo Sorry for the double talk but are you now NOT doing HOB on your TLF reactor and are actually putting that in the seperate cabinet as well? And do you have any experience or opinions with NP Bio Pellets? As with most things I hear great things with the occasional thread dedicated to horror stories, I feel if they arent added to an already established aquarium then there is less chance for huge swings that could damage the stability of a system.

I also read that if you use them in a reactor you want your outflow directed at your skimmer intake, that way you take out the excess bacteria and replenish oxygen, from the looks of your pics of the stand/sump and your confirming comments, looks like there wont be any room to make this a feasible setup...

[mpsullivan]

also any critter guards in the works for the return? or do you think the overflow cover is enough?

[ReeVo]

Originally Posted by mpsullivan

Collie do you have it as HOB or regular? I haven't even bought my SW tank yet, but I know I am going to buy the cadlights artisan 50g once I move into my new apt so might as well stock up on the smaller pieces while I can (especially if they are a decent deal).

Reevo Sorry for the double talk but are you now NOT doing HOB on your TLF reactor and are actually putting that in the seperate cabinet as well? And do you have any experience or opinions with NP Bio Pellets? As with most things I hear great things with the occasional thread dedicated to horror stories, I feel if they arent added to an already established aquarium then there is less chance for huge swings that could damage the stability of a system.

I also read that if you use them in a reactor you want your outflow directed at your skimmer intake, that way you take out the excess bacteria and replenish oxygen, from the looks of your pics of the stand/sump and your confirming comments, looks like there wont be any room to make this a feasible setup...

My TLF just arrived today and it can easly be placed in the return chamber.
I will not be using any sort of bio pellets in my system. I've herd good and bad things but it has not convinced me enough to get it.

The seperate cabnit will be holding my Calcium reactor, ATO unit, and chiller.
These are things I will be doing about 6 months from now.

Originally Posted by mpsullivan

also any critter guards in the works for the return? or do you think the overflow cover is enough?

I have a sponge in my 2nd buble trap to block out those critters. I shoouldn't have a problem with that. The cover I made wouldn't allow anything inside the overflow. Only really small critters like amphipods and copepods.

[mpsullivan]

Ah I just looked back and saw the sponge in the sump, I just want to be able to follow suit and make sure I don't get any pipe blockage from criters. How often will you change out or rinse the sponge and are adult pods able to make it through the sponge?

How much evap do you manually top off during the week?

Once again my apologies for the million questions but I am just trying to soak up as much as I can.

Thx

MP

[ReeVo]

Don't worry man.
Like I told another member.
The people who are successful in this hobby, or any other hobby, are the people who asked questions.


I clean it about once every two weeks. Or if I notice my return area is lacking water.
Pods manage to geat through it somehow lol
My friends tank that I setup has pods all over the place and he has had that sponge in there for over 3 months now. So it shouldn't stop them.

I top off an average 2-2.5 gallons of RO water a week.

[Bilk]

ReeVo, nice work! Clean and well thought out. I'm getting back into the hobby and this is the tank I'm looking at. Just the right size for me at the moment.

I'll be making my own cabinetry as that is also another hobby of mine - an extension of my profession - architecture/design. I may also build my own sump which would fit the full footprint of the base cabinet approx. 20 x 20. I see you use Two Little Fishies reactors, which is what I plan as they can hang inside the sump. Well made and designed as well. I'm hoping a chiller won't be necessary for my build and that evaporation will suffice. The tank will be on my lower level which is below grade at the location of the tank and pretty much has a constant temp of 70̊ year round.

My cabinet build will have full overlap doors on all four sides allowing access to everything in the sump area. I should be able to post pics once I get started.

Thanks. Your setup is inspirational. I may have some plumbing questions for you too

[ReeVo]

Thanks Bilk

Thats great man. You are going to love this tank.
I can't wait to see your setup.
Make sure to post a link in my thread when you start building it.
I would love to see your work.

If you got any questions, just let me know.

[ReeVo]

Alright guys, it's been 3 weeks since I filled up the tank. So far everything is doing great. I have added 2 blue/green Chromises that are having a blast in the new tank.
My diatoms are spreading everywhere and I will probably get a CUC this week. I want the diatoms to spread a little more on my dry rock.
I have also added another 5lbs of fiji premium live rock to the display and another 3lbs to the fuge. I already see my sand bed in my fuge coming to life. I have seen atleast 20 worms in my DSB. My cheato has grown twice its size in just a week.
I still havent gotten my protien skimmer due to some difficulties, but will get it soon. i hope :/

I also hung my MH on the ceiling about 10" above the water. I'm getting temps between 77.2 and 77.9. No more or less than that. I might get a fan for now till I get my chiller. I might just wait till spring is over for that.

[mike810]

nice scape, I like it. Leaves plenty of room to mount corals

[ReeVo]

^Ya, I tried to aquascpae it ina way where I can mount lots of corals. Now it's all about placement of corals and which ones lol

[ReeVo]

Alright guys, here is a pretty big update.


So I got my skimmer today (AquaC EV 120 with Mag 7 pump) and it fit like a glove. I had my first chamber to fit this skimmer perfectly. Skimmers go through a break in period but this thing started skimming within an hour. I tried to tune it a bit but it start skimming again. So I'm letting it do it's thing. The skimate is a pretty dark brown color. It isn't too wet but not too dry. I guess I had some nasty stuff in my tank. It's funny, because my tanks water clarity is amazing. It got so much more clear. My dad even noticed and I hadn't even told him I put the skimmer in already. So it made a huge difference. I am very happy with this skimmer.
It's really sturdy and solid. Build quality is amazing, and the design is brilliant. Very easy to tune and not complicated. The barbed fitting on the collection cup is a great feature. I'm using a bottle for now so the cup won't overflow when I least expect it. I'll wait until I can afford the AquaC Auto-Waste Container. Overall, it's a great skimmer.

I had to raise it about 2 inches, but just enough room so I can take off the collection cup. You only need about 1" of room to take it off.


I also put some eggcrate in between the first and second chamber for 2 reasons. First, it won't let me cheato sneak into the first chamber and get inside my skimmers pump. Second, my snails and crabs are too big to get through it. I put some critters in there to sift my DSB and I don't want them getting sucked into the pump.

I also put some eggcrate in between my bubble trap so it will suspend my foam pad and carbon. It won't get as dirty and it much easier to clean.


So last night I was staring at my fuge for like 30 minutes and found a tiny brittle star on my rocks and I got pretty excited but then I noticed something else.
I saw this little microscopic white thing move across my glass. I take a closer look and there are hundreds off them. Looks like a got copepods in my fuge. Then tonight I took a look inside my tank and they are all over my glass. So I'm pretty happy about that.
It's also been one week since I've added my cheato and it has, no joke, quadrupled in size. It just don't stop growing. It looks bigger everyday.


My chromises are really happy, eating very well, always active. I see the big one picking on the small one sometimes but then the small one grew some balls and started stealing his food lol


I also got my clean up crew today from LiveAquaria.
They came very well packaged. First time ordering from them and I am very impressed. They all came alive and well.
I got:
1 Emerald Crab
15 Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crabs
10 Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs
10 Astraea Turbo Snails
15 Cerith Snails
3 Nassarius Snails


I probably get more when there is more source of food. I dont have that much live rock and my diatoms are half gone now. So they are really cleaning up.
I hope they don't starve.

Now for some pictures. I know you guys like pictures

[collie man]

Looks great man! Once I get my new Skimmer ill take some Sump shots

[ReeVo]

Sounds good man.

My water is really clear now. This thing just ckeaned everything up. It's so clean it doesn't want to skim anymore lol
I'm sure it'll skim alot more once I have a heavier bioload.


My cuc has really done a fantastic job. Almost all my diatoms are gone.
I still have 10ppm nitrates but I'm sure that will go away in a week or so.
Once i reach 0ppm nitrates I'm going to get my true percula clowns.

[cocoaandme]

The sump looks awesome! And that skimmer looks really good in there. It really does fit like a glove.

[mpsullivan]

Hey Reevo were you able to set up the TLF yet or are you waiting until your cycle is complete?

[ReeVo]

Originally Posted by cocoaandme

The sump looks awesome! And that skimmer looks really good in there. It really does fit like a glove.

Thanks bro

Originally Posted by mpsullivan

Hey Reevo were you able to set up the TLF yet or are you waiting until your cycle is complete?

My cycle has been complete for about 3 weeks now.
I haven't put the TLF in yet but planning to in about a week or so. I might use my return plumming to give it the flow it needs instead of putting another pump.

[ReeVo]

Hey guys, got a small update.
Haven't done any really big changes.

My diatoms are almost all gone. I still have about 1ppm nitrates.
My CUC is cleaning it up before I can even take a look at it.

I have little mini stars all over my glass.
They are barely barely 1mm in size, just a tad smaller.

My DSB is already starting to show signs of life. All sorts of worms, and stars, and critters in there. My fuge is full of pods and are starting to fill up the DT.

I also have new additions to the tank.
2 wild ocellaris clowns. They are really healthy and eating normally. They are getting along with chromises just fine. No aggression at all.
The male always seems to stay back when it's feeding time but I make sure he always eats. While all my fish come to the top during my feedings, the male is near the bottom. He eats, but it's like he is scared to roam with the bigger fish.
My clowns are already sleeping together side by side. It's so cute
Glad to see them pair up.
Since they are wild, I'm thinking of getting an anemone. Just don't know which one yet.

Alright guys, here are some pix.

[ReeVo]

Got my first frag yesterday.
I won it at a frag swap : )

So far it's doing great. Withing 10 minutes of it being inside my tank, it had full polyp extension. I hope it down well. I'm keeping a really close on it.

Forgot what kind of sps this is but if someone can ID this, I would really appreciate it.
If I'm not mistaken, I think it's a Green Stylophora.

[hmello@bermexin]

I am gonna say Pocillopora.

[ReeVo]

Thank you hmello : )

[cocoaandme]

Yep it's a Pocillopora Damicornis. It was from my tank Reevo and I got it from Garett's Acropolis. Glad to see it's doing well.

[duncantse]

Your tank looks awesome! Your chromis looks so pretty

[collie man]

show us an actinic shot of that poci!