A Customdusty Rimless Build

[customdusty]

Beautiful display! Have any concerns about fish going carpet surfing? Also who made that tank? Thanks, T

Thanks! The tank was built by Miracles in Glass, out of Toronto, Canada.

Fish taking a leap is definately a possibility, but I don't think with a rimless tank that it is any more a possibility than any other tank that doesn't have a top on it. I lost a couple of fish on my old 90g, including my favorite fish Bleonard - a red spotted blenny. He was a super cool fish with an awesome and goofy personality. It's going to be hard to replace him.

As long as my SPS colonies don't start jumping, I think I'm ok wth it. The aesthetic benefits of the open top and rimless tank by far outweight the risks.

 

[customdusty]

nice.

I still have your Tunze 9010 skimmer

love the tank. keep it up

Hey, good to hear from you. Glad the Tunze worked out for you, good little skimmer. Let me know when you want to trade that up for my BK Mini

 

[ser_renely]

hehehhe, I wish!

I just spent my dollars on a digital aquatics rkl controller...how did I reef before? Best thing I have done so far.

 

[customdusty]

I also forgot to mention that when I had the Giesemann torn apart to do the moonlight mod, I switched out some T5 bulbs to try and play with the colors a bit.

My previous set up was, front to back:

ATI Blue +
KZ Fiji Purple
Giesemann Pure Actinic
ATI Blue +

My new set up is:

ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +

The all Blue+ set up really increased the blue appearance of the tank, which is not shocking. The pop of everything really increased a lot, making me fall in love with my frogspawn all over again. One of my favorite corals there is and will always have a home in my tank.

The only problem now is that the red/pink colors in my birdsnest, lobo, and some of my zoos suffered a bit form the removal of the Fiji Purple and the increased blue.

I think that I will switch to:

ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI Blue +

This should give me some more balance, and bring out the colors that I like the most.

Boy do I miss the 7 and 8 bulb T5 fixtures...... Hint, hint.

 

[customdusty]

hehehhe, I wish!

I just spent my dollars on a digital aquatics rkl controller...how did I reef before? Best thing I have done so far.

That's exactly how I felt when I started up this new build with the Apex controller. I can't believe I went this long without one.

 

[ser_renely]

That's exactly how I felt when I started up this new build with the Apex controller. I can't believe I went this long without one.

Sweet the APEX. how you like it?

I had a hard time choosing between the DA or Neptune, and I don't think you can go wrong with either. Ultimately the modular systems of all of DA's stuff won out for me. They have some limits, but seem to get updated monthly with fixes and new features. Can't wait for their software to get released.

 

[customdusty]

I haven't used any other controller before, so I don't have much to compare the Apex against. I really like how easy it is to program and control things manually using the display unit/controller. I also like the internet functionality although I don't currently have it set-up now, but tried it. Almost all of the Neptune break out boxes, etc. are compatible with it as well. Really a nice system, I can't wait to expand on it. The only knock I have on it right now is that you can only program it in whole minutes, not seconds. This would be helpful for dosing.

 

[reefsahoy]

When I was planning the new system and was weighing my options with lighting, I was really interested in trying something different than the all T5 fixtures I have used since I have been in the hobby. I ended up choosing the Giesemann Infiniti, although I really wanted to get the Giesemann Moonlight to have the integrated moonlight capability. I just couldn't justify spending over $3000 on the fixture, just to get the moonlights that I wanted. I got the idea to add some LED moonlights to my Infiniti fixture from a fellow reefer on RC, who shall remain unnamed - they know who they are. :wavehand:

I choose the linkable LEDs in white, and performed the DIY.

I first disassembled the modular Giesemann fixture, which is a simple process and mounted the LEDs to the steel mesh screen used for cooling the fixture. I drilled a few holes where I planned to bring the cords through.

I then ran the wires inside the fixture in a small channel, and used electrical tape to hold it inside. I chose to do this to prevent the cords from getting too close to or contacting the reflector/bulb.

I then reassembled the fixture and drank some beer.

Now I've got moonlights, and it saved me $1540 not having to get the Giesemann Moonlight.

Nice idea! how do you like the look of the moon lights? did you add only 2 or did you add 4 moon lights? I like the finished look too.

 

[customdusty]

I went with just two linkable units, each unit has 2 leds. They are super bright, I'm glad I didn't get 4. I'd even like to dim what I have now.

 

[Wayner2]

The infinity fixture, is the Halide ballast external or internal?., I presume the T5 ballasts are internal?

Thanks in advance.

 

[customdusty]

The infinity fixture, is the Halide ballast external or internal?., I presume the T5 ballasts are internal?

Thanks in advance.

The T5 Ballasts are internal and the HQI are external. It came with two separate electronic ballasts made for IceCap by Hatch to run the HQI.

 

[customdusty]

Today I begin some trials with Randy's Two Part. I'm actually only going to just make the Alk part and try to raise my alkalinity to see how that helps my pH as my calcium is typically pretty good. I'm going to try and manually dose it for a few days while my Kalk reactor is still going to see how it works out and if things stabilize or maybe just swings less day to night.

I'll post updates with how things go. I started a separate thread on the chemistry forum to inquire about what type of setup to go with. If this two part looks more promising and flexible than my kalk reactor, I'll switch the systems out. Maybe I'll keep both. We shall see.

 

[customdusty]

I came home today to find my pH at the high point of the day, 8.05, then when I dosed my vodka, it dropped over the next 30 minutes slowly to 8.0.

I tested my Alk, Calc, and Mg, 8 dkh, 480, and 1410 respectively.

Pretty typical, Calc and Mg are usually good, Alk low. We will see how raising my Alkalinity goes.... I baked a small box of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda at 330 degrees for an hour and a half, calculated the amount to make a liter jug of mix using Randy's Two Part guide - and off we go!

 

[ser_renely]

kool and interesting.

can't wait to hear about the outcome.

 

[customdusty]

I haven't re-tested the Alkalinity just yet, but after a couple of Kalk auto top offs and 100ml of the Alk solution, pH is up to 8.14 the last time I passed by the tank. I'll re-test tomorrow and see how things are going. I've got my Kalk ATO set to automatically shut down if the pH gets too high, and if it gets crazy, the alarm will go off to alert me.

 

[customdusty]

pH has held steady all day at around 8.15 and swings up to about 8.25 when kalk is topped off.

Don't know what is going on though, my API Alkalinity test kits says that my alkalinity has not changed? Maybe from 7 to 8 dKH?

Interesting, although the good thing is that the pH didn't drop below 8 for pretty much the first time ever.

On a separate note, I am really pleased with how smooth the transition went and how all of the corals, fish, and inverts adjusted to the new conditions. I had tested a few times for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for any evidence of a mini cycle and there was nothing at all. I'm surpised by this since having an entirely new sand bed and all new equipment I figured there would be some biological adjustment that would take place.

Now if I could just get some of my old equipment sold, it would free up a whole bunch of spending money to buy a bunch of new corals and fish. My "frag tank" is still serving as a refugium for the time being as I still haven't bought a new light for it and it is packed with almost about 70 lbs of LR I can't get rid of. It looks pretty funny because the tank is only a 20 gal that is filled top to bottom with rock. People around here must be really struggling because I have been offering things at some pretty darn good deals and hardly anything has sold. The bigger problem is that I haven't been able to put my cars in the garage in months and there is no sign of that changing soon.

 

[customdusty]

So it seems that after a couple of days, my maintenance dose with alkalinity is about 40 mL per day. I'll see how just dosing this porition of the 2 part works with my kalk reactor for the time being.

Oh yeah, and another aquascape began today. I'm starting to organize space in the DT to start placing new frags that will be on the way soon.

 

[customdusty]

So I made the decision to go ahead and part ways with the kalk reactor and move to a 2 part system.

I had found that although I was dosing the kalk as my top off, I just wasn't able to maintain alkalinity and pH with that alone. I found that my calcium and magnesium were always good, but the alkalinity would be low and pH would be low as a result. I have enough kalkwasser mix to continue and top off with kalkwasser in my reservoir, although I don't feel the need to continue to run a reactor so long as I have some flexibility with the two part.

 

[customdusty]

I got a shipment yesterday of some new sps frags and put them all on the sandbed for the time being. I went out for dinner last night and when I came back, one of my new acro frags was broken off at the base and MIA. I am so furious. I tore apart most of the aquascape and went through the whole tank, but I couldn't find it. What a waste of a $60 ORA frag. This thing was a decent size too, I'm so suprised I couldn't find it.

 

[Daniel Reef]

If you don't mind me going back to the moon lights, what did you do with that part of the cord that plugs into the outlight? If you have any pictures, I would appreciate it.