27 Gallon Cube Build

[pelphrey]

I would stop adding ammonia. I know many people these days advocate to keep adding until the ammonia gets fully processed out within 24 hours, but my rule has always been just getting nitrates to rise is good enough, since the hard part will be getting these nutrients out of the system before the algae explosion.

As far as the sump, can you put a light behind the sump, or down on the sump? Is there any transparency to the white acrylic, or is solid? If it's semi-transparent, the backlight would help to see the water level through the acrylic. If it's totally opaque then you might be hosed.

The nice thing about a lot of the ATOs is that they come with magnetic mounts so that it's pretty easy to stick them in difficult to access places.

Thanks for the reply! Once nitrites started rising I added a few drops of ammonia every 2-3 days. I haven't added any ammonia for 4-5 days now. In the course of the month I've seen no signs of algae...yet!

I have a light in my cabinet, but it is mounted towards the front. I've tried using a flash light to see if I was able to view the water level in the return chamber, no luck!

Auto aqua has come out with a new micro ATO that I am looking into. For the time being I'll probably angle a mirror on the back of my stand so I can easily view the water level. I keep the level a few inches above the "marked" water level height.

 

[pelphrey]

Haven't added any ammonia to the tank and my nitrites are still sky high!

Would anyone recommend doing a water change, if so what percentage?

 

[Greybeard]

I have an EShopps R100 sump/ref. I like it, but yeah, not being able to easily see the return compartment is high on my list of issues. I'm using the factory float valve for the ATO, with one of their 5g reservoirs. Gravity feed. Don't know if the cube model has one... and the return compartment is small. Would be better if they'd move the wall an inch, loosing a bit of the refugeum compartment, and increasing the space in the return compartment.

Going to be a nice setup

 

[sixpackgarage]

neat build

 

[Flyboy450r]

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Here's the route I went with my tank. Nothing to fancy

 

[Flyboy450r]

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[pelphrey]

Two months in and the cycle is slowly moving forward. My Nitrites are still sky high, I did a large water change yesterday and moved the rock work around. When I started the cycle I put all of my rock in the tank just to get it in and start the cycle. I was able to move a large rock into my sump.

I also go over the Red Sea test kit, which I am a fan of! And I briefly go over the Milwaukee MA887 refractometer, this is an awesome piece of equipment!

 

[D.v]

looking great so far.

 

[pelphrey]

looking great so far.

Thanks! I'm ready for this never ending cycle to end. That's for sure. Nitrites are still through the roof!

 

[pelphrey]

In the fight to reduce my nitrites I did 1 large water change followed by a smaller water change 2 days later. I started this cycle at the end of October, so it has been a very long cycle. My nirtites were off the charts for probably a month, not sure if that stalled the cycle or not. After the large water change my nitrites are now showing up on my Red Sea test kit chart and I have a slight hint of nitrates. I am now dosing ammonia every few days, just a small amount to "feed" the tank.

It has been a long process and I am getting more and more excited about it finishing and adding some life to the tank!

 

[ReefWreak]

I would have stopped dosing ammonia after the first spike of nitrites. While I get why people recommend "continuing to feed the cycle to keep it going", what you're going to end up with is a ton of nitrates that are either going to be taken out by water changes, or more likely algae.

Even if you continue dosing ammonia to keep the cycle going, the minute you change the bioload by adding a fish, coral, etc., you'll be back at day 1 as far as the bioload goes, just with a lot of nitrates to figure out how to remove.

 

[pelphrey]

I would have stopped dosing ammonia after the first spike of nitrites. While I get why people recommend "continuing to feed the cycle to keep it going", what you're going to end up with is a ton of nitrates that are either going to be taken out by water changes, or more likely algae.

Even if you continue dosing ammonia to keep the cycle going, the minute you change the bioload by adding a fish, coral, etc., you'll be back at day 1 as far as the bioload goes, just with a lot of nitrates to figure out how to remove.

Would you suggest dosing ammonia to raise my nitrites to a responsible level? Or just let my nitrites sit at such a low level?

 

[ReefWreak]

Would you suggest dosing ammonia to raise my nitrites to a responsible level? Or just let my nitrites sit at such a low level?

I would add ammonia until it registers in the tank, maybe 2ppm or something, test daily or every other day for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and then once nitrite shows up, stop dosing ammonia, then wait for the cycle to finish itself with nitrate showing up.

I get that it's challenging to "cycle" a tank "properly" when you have inputs and outputs that are changing all the time, but honestly, once you have done the initial cycle, your bacteria load will adjust to whatever you add, as long as you add livestock SLOWLY. That's the key. Even if you had your bacteria processing enormous amounts of ammonia daily into nitrates, it would still have to rebalance to exact specifications of whatever you add to the tank when you do add inhabitants.

Since we don't know what the ammonia-equivalency of each specimen we're adding to our tank is (though is suppose someone could figure it out), it's all kind of a shot in the dark. That's why going slowly and stocking appropriately is key.

 

[pelphrey]

I've cycled many freshwater tanks, with those when my nitrites were off the charts I would do a large water change and dose ammonia appropriately. Soon after the tank would complete its cycle. What you are saying makes perfect sense.

The other issue I need to fine tune is my herbie drain. I'm using a gate valve and there are times that sucker is a pain to tune. On top of that the water volume in my return chamber fluctuates significantly from time to time. I am accounting for evaporation and always check my salinity when topping off. I am using a sicce 1.5 and to be honest I think it is just a little much for the sump. To combat this I will probably pick up some more 1/2" braided vinyl tubing and a Y adapter. This way I can return water to the display as well as to my skimmer section.

Thanks for all of your input, it is greatly appreciated!

 

[pelphrey]

Dosed ammonia up to 2ppm last night. Ammonia is back down to 0.4 and my nitrites are at a strong 1, which is the highest on the card. Nitrates are at 0.05 or 0.1. I'll sit on my hands now!

Ordered some parts to hopefully fix my return chamber issue.

 

[pelphrey]

I bought a frag rack from The Alternative Reef last week. Although I don't have any coral currently I've always kept my eye out for frag racks. Since this is in my living room/kitchen area I wanted a frag rack that looked "natural" and would blend in well with the rest of the tank. This frag rack did not disappoint. This was a limited production run so I barely snagged 1 before they were all gone. Communication was great, shipping was fast and the item was packaged with extra care. The magnetic system to hold this in place is also easy on the eyes and overall I think it looks great in my tank. If you get the chance to purchase one of these I would highly recommend it! Now I just need to get this tank cycled so I can fill it up!

 

[pelphrey]

The cycle is finally neat its completion. I got tired of topping the tank off in the morning and evening so I got the JBJ ATO. I really wanted the Smart Micro ATO but it used magnets for the sensor. With my return chamber being in the back, not visible I went with the JBJ. Going this route will easily allow me to move the sensors if I need to.

I also picked up a lid for a 5 gallon bucket. This has proven to be a life saver in terms of storing my salt. Buying salt by the box is much cheaper than the bucket, and I already have a ton of buckets around anyway!

 

[pelphrey]

The tank is coming along nicely... Finally! The cycle has completed and I've added my first inhabitants. I got my JBJ ATO setup and after multiple configurations I have it set the way it works for me and my setup.

I picked up some hardware to make my own fuge light (Got the idea from the Melvsreef website). I should have this light setup this week or weekend. Hopefully be adding corals soon! It has been a very long process. I started buying all of the hardware a year ago. Patience has been key!

 

[CHOX]

Nice!

This is really great to see, because I have the exact same aquarium. Finding a rock setup I liked has been hellish.

 

[pelphrey]

Nice!

This is really great to see, because I have the exact same aquarium. Finding a rock setup I liked has been hellish.

I really like the foot print. The Kessil A160 works perfect, the eshopps nano cube refugium sump fits with just a few inches to spare. The tank is viewable from 3 angles where it sits, so that's always a plus!

I bought 50lbs of Marco rock. Used a little more than half I think.