Coralife BioCube 29g Build

[timfederwitz]

I know I've talked about the temp swings I was seeing in my tank and how the skimmer seemed to create a LOT of heat transfer. I captured a screenshot of the temp graph through Apex Fusion and annotated it with what I did at key peaks/dips. Before the skimmer was turned on (prior to the visible timeline in the graph) the temp swings were very much the same as towards the end of this graph after I turned the skimmer off.

Just thought I would share.

 

[Goby_Clarence]

Very very cool screen shot. I'm looking forward to my apex for x-mas...for once in my reef addict life, I'm plotting, planning and waiting/being responsible with the cash flow.

Sorry if I missed it, but what skimmer did you go with? I saw a lot thrown around.

I have massive temp fluctuation in my open top 29g as well. Its the bane of small volume tanks. I have to put in ice cubes in sandwich bags in mid summer sometimes.

We can study until our eyes fall out, but its really your tank with your schedule and livestock that will dictate what needs to be done. I'm so jealous you are able to experiment and document your parameter swings and can't wait for my chance.

Algae MUST HAVE LIGHT to grow...my recommendation, because it worked for me while my skimmer was out of action for a couple days, is cut feeding in half or all together, and cut light schedule by at least one hour on each end. I had an algae outbreak. Backed off feeding, cut light by 2 hours a day (made is 8 or 9 instead of 10 or 11 hours) and the ~balanced system of CUC and algae eating fish cleaned it up in less than a week. Even if your water is adding the nutrients like my first tank, you can limit anything you add to it. Also, your LFS will probably sell you RO/DI water for ~$1 per gallon and just over that for salt...not cheapest way to do it, but it works in a pinch and given the success of their tanks (only you can see that) it'll have similar effects on your tank given a similar schedule.

 

[timfederwitz]

Coralife BioCube 29g Build

Sorry if I missed it, but what skimmer did you go with? I saw a lot thrown around.

I have the Aquaticlife 115 skimmer. Fits perfectly in the first chamber, but I was amazed at how much heat it added to the tank! Anyway, I will be posting the addition of a fan strip in the next couple days.

I AM glad I messed with the tank for a few weeks before adding anything other than water. It wasn't so much by choice as it had to do with how freaking busy I have been the last couple weeks. But I'm thankful for it now.

 

[soulpatch]

horrible timing as I just sold off my 125 gallon. The equipment and plants in the tank were worth what I got for it and you could have easily swapped them to your tank to get a kick start. Nonetheless a FW planted tank is easy to set up but costly to do it right. You can get away with lower light items and smaller plants to avoid the hassle of CO2 injection. I found it to be a pain to have to worry about CO2 personally.

I guess it all depends on what you are looking for in the tank. Where you want a shoaling peaceful tank or a more aggressive planted tank. If I were to do it over again I would have a peaceful tank again. Sloped bottom of the tank with one side being a rock face type of area perhaps even extending above the water line. A large piece of driftwood laying across the tank OR one of the root structures you can get with the tree extending above the water line. Varios swords and micro grasses to give definition. Schools of neons, some discus, cories, and perhaps 2 bolivian rams.

The thing I LOVE about planted tanks is that they just run. I left it alone for weeks and it was always in a prime state. Top off the water frequently and do a monthly water change. The plants ate the waste, the filters kept the water clear, and the plant suppliments added various minerals back into the water for everyone.

All that said I cant see myself going back that direction for a while. HA HA. I enjoy the tinkering salt provides.

 

[Chibils]

Two more questions:
1) What is TDS??
2) Is there any reason I can't use the RODI water for my freshwater tank once I am able to produce RODI?

For the second question, I ask because I am getting a TON of brown algae in my freshwater tank and my wife is ****ed (it's in our dining room). I need to figure out how to get rid of it, but also would like to figure out how to prevent it in the first place. If I can use RODI water to help with that it would be great. And if I can, I am thinking I won't have to use the API Stress Coat+ at all (??).

1. TDS is "total dissolved solids". Its a numerical representation of how much junk is in your water, and you can use the TDS meter your RODI comes with (I assume it has one) to measure water before and after it goes through. Ideal TDS is 0, but anything below 5 is pretty good.

2. I think so, but you might have to add something like a tiny tiny dash of aquarium salt (very different from your saltwater salt) or Blackwater extract or something to add something back. You would then be removing the bad (phosphate, chlorine, nitrogen, misc. waste) and adding in some good (salts). Pure H2O can cause electrolyte imbalance and cause some nasty things, so I think you would need to add some salts in to counteract that.

 

[Chibils]

I have the Aquaticlife 115 skimmer. Fits perfectly in the first chamber, but I was amazed at how much heat it added to the tank! Anyway, I will be posting the addition of a fan strip in the next couple days.

I AM glad I messed with the tank for a few weeks before adding anything other than water. It wasn't so much by choice as it had to do with how freaking busy I have been the last couple weeks. But I'm thankful for it now.

I'm not too familiar with the AL 115 but you may be able to swap the pump on it for something that makes less heat.

Also (just my opinion) I think your Petco saltwater is fine. Your tank is going to have an algae cycle anyway, all this might do is prolong it by a day or make it a bit worse. The TBS rock and sand should be pretty capable of handling it though and adjusting to the nutrients in the water. More important than which water you use imo is how well the parameters match against what you're water changing in. If your Petco water is 7.5 alk, 375 calcium, and 1200 mag and you add Reef Crystals or RSPC and it's 9/550/1450 that'll cause more problems than a little phosphate.

Test kits for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium are incredibly important and I think you need to test your Petco water vs your new salt mixes before deciding whether or not to drain. If the parameters are very different, I would drain so that your water change water will more closely match what's in your tank already.

 

[timfederwitz]

Well, my RODI didn't show up today, and I paid for expedited shipping too! I'm p*ssed. Hopefully it shows up tomorrow!

 

[timfederwitz]

I'm not too familiar with the AL 115 but you may be able to swap the pump on it for something that makes less heat.

Also (just my opinion) I think your Petco saltwater is fine. Your tank is going to have an algae cycle anyway, all this might do is prolong it by a day or make it a bit worse. The TBS rock and sand should be pretty capable of handling it though and adjusting to the nutrients in the water. More important than which water you use imo is how well the parameters match against what you're water changing in. If your Petco water is 7.5 alk, 375 calcium, and 1200 mag and you add Reef Crystals or RSPC and it's 9/550/1450 that'll cause more problems than a little phosphate.

Test kits for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium are incredibly important and I think you need to test your Petco water vs your new salt mixes before deciding whether or not to drain. If the parameters are very different, I would drain so that your water change water will more closely match what's in your tank already.

The AL115 is very small and designed for nano tanks. I'm not sure that id be able to swap the pump in it, but it *may* be possible. However, now that I have the back lid off and the new fan strip in place, I'm betting my temp swings will be very minimal. I have it all running again to see how things go over today and tomorrow.

Great points on the stability of numbers being more important than some "golden" numbers to aim for. I'll try to keep this in mind as I add livestock to the tank.

I only have the basic test kit so far (Red Sea Marine Care Test Kit), so I need to get a test kit that allows me to test magnesium, alkalinity & calcium. I was hoping to be able to grab that tomorrow at MACNA in DC with Soulpatch! My shopping list is growing (and never seems to end! LOL).

I will post some pics of my latest progress on the tank/stand. I completely re-did all of my wiring in the stand to clean things up, as well as added lighting in the stand, and modified the hood for the fan strip. It all came out beautifully, so I feel some accomplishment.

 

[ReefWreak]

I will post some pics of my latest progress on the tank/stand. I completely re-did all of my wiring in the stand to clean things up, as well as added lighting in the stand, and modified the hood for the fan strip. It all came out beautifully, so I feel some accomplishment.

Can't wait to see pics, have fun at MACNA. I'm still wondering about the extra heat from the AL115, but in another month or two it won't matter anyway.

 

[Chibils]

My shopping list is growing (and never seems to end! LOL).

Welcome to the dark side mate.

The most important thing you can do for your critters is to keep them stable. There are numbers you want to hit I'm sure with pH and alk and such, but chasing numbers almost always goes badly because it means constant adjustments. Stability is king.

 

[timfederwitz]

Okay, here are some pics of the work I did last night. Unfortunately I didn't take progression pics of the modification I did on the hood, but it was pretty simple to do. The biggest thing that needed to be done was figuring out the right position, because I had to leave room for the skimmer cup (in case I need to move it up in the water column) and I also didn't want to destroy the clips for the original back lid in case I want to put it back on in the future.

So I positioned the right-side bracket of the fan strip just to the right of right-side clip for the original lid. Fortunately, this seems to be *just enough* room for the skimmer cup, but it is closer than I'd like. But there was no getting around it while still leaving the clip for the lid. If you didn't want to keep the clip, you could position the fan strip further to the left and have plenty of clearance for the skimmer cup.

With the fan strip flipped up

And on the tank

I set the Apex to have the fans come on if the temp gets to 78, and turn off once it gets to 77. In this way, the temp should only fluctuate between 77-78 degrees during the day, but the fans and heater also won't be competing as I have the heater set to 76.

Because I had to pull the hood, and subsequently all of the wiring, I took the opportunity to re-wire the stand and organize everything. Instead of screws, I used Velcro strips to mount the power strips and the Apex display and RW4 pump controller on the door. I also added battery powered LED light pucks in the stand. Two on the top (front and back) and one under the shelf. You push them to turn them on and off and they provide great light. Loving it!

Here is the stuff I bought to do the work. I got Velcro tie wraps to wrangle the cords, and a 1" flex tube to gather the cords behind the tank.

Here is inside the stand now

I created the drip loops for the cords behind the stand before the cords come into the stand.

I have a large cutout under the shelf that I will eventually use to plumb a BRS Mini Reactor down there. Also, my ATO tank/jug will be under there as well.

It's starting to come together!!

 

[timfederwitz]

In the pic of all the stuff I bought, you can see the yellow GFCI plug. I added this to the power cord that feeds the power to the stand. Wanted to be safe. I believe it was ~$13 at Home Depot.

 

[soulpatch]

Looking good. Smart to label the plugs and such. My electrical is not nearly as clean as I would like and the next system will have an electronic cabinet to compensate for this.

LED lighting is great too. The next stand I will put some strip lighting in to ensure I can see everything...

 

[homer1475]

Very neat and clean looking, nothing like my mess. lol The only thing I don't like about that fan is how it sticks way up past the hood, but it should definitely do the trick. My 2 pc case fans work perfectly and you have 2 more. Kind of takes away from the stock look, which I have tried real hard to keep mine looking like stock. It's the one thing my wife insists on!

As for an early post, I use my RO/DI in both my fresh water tanks. Only caveat is you need to replenish some stuff the RO/DI strips out. I simply use seachem replenish, and seachem neutral regulator.

I unfortunately made the mistake of using plain RO/DI water for a water change once, let's just say it didn't end well for a few fish and my wife's prized angel. I didn't know I couldn't use it, and read on seachem's website about using their products for RO/DI and FW tanks. I haven't had a problem since I started using them.


Edit:
I need to get me some of those LED's you have, I end up with a flashlight and asking the wife for help. Lowes, Home Depot? I didn't see where you got them in your previous posts.

Edit 2:
Reading back, No, my fans sit under the eggcrate so it keeps the stock look. I originally tried them on the top, but didn't like the way they looked, and they didn't blow as much air. I zip tied the eggcrate where the stock back lid hinge clips are(around the hinge and wire holes), the eggcrate pivots on the zip ties. You see nothing except eggcrate as my back lid.

 

[timfederwitz]

Very neat and clean looking, nothing like my mess. lol The only thing I don't like about that fan is how it sticks way up past the hood, but it should definitely do the trick. My 2 pc case fans work perfectly and you have 2 more. Kind of takes away from the stock look, which I have tried real hard to keep mine looking like stock. It's the one thing my wife insists on!

As for an early post, I use my RO/DI in both my fresh water tanks. Only caveat is you need to replenish some stuff the RO/DI strips out. I simply use seachem replenish, and seachem neutral regulator.

I unfortunately made the mistake of using plain RO/DI water for a water change once, let's just say it didn't end well for a few fish and my wife's prized angel. I didn't know I couldn't use it, and read on seachem's website about using their products for RO/DI and FW tanks. I haven't had a problem since I started using them.


Edit:
I need to get me some of those LED's you have, I end up with a flashlight and asking the wife for help. Lowes, Home Depot? I didn't see where you got them in your previous posts.

Edit 2:
Reading back, No, my fans sit under the eggcrate so it keeps the stock look. I originally tried them on the top, but didn't like the way they looked, and they didn't blow as much air. I zip tied the eggcrate where the stock back lid hinge clips are(around the hinge and wire holes), the eggcrate pivots on the zip ties. You see nothing except eggcrate as my back lid.

The fan strip isn't that bad looking in person, and again doesn't look like it sticks up as much as it looks like in the pictures. It's not perfect, but is already doing its job.

My wife is pretty insistent on it maintaining the stock look, or at least not look like a hacked together setup. She is fine with the fan strip. However, I may eventually switch to something like you have with the egg crate and the fans under it. Sounds like a sweet setup.

I actually had an idea to use my Dremel to drill slots in the factory lid and mount some fans under the lid, but then I found this strip and it seemed like less work. LOL We'll see if I keep it. So far so good.

Everything in the picture of the stuff I got was from Home Depot, but they have all the same stuff (or similar) at Lowes. I just happened to be in HD.

BTW, thanks for the info on RODI for FW! I will look into those. I'm guessing it could help cut down on some algae issues I am having??

 

[homer1475]

0 Algae in my FW setup since I switched to using RO/DI.

I originally tried dremeling out the back lid and mounting the fans to it. The eggcrate just ended up cleaner looking(my dremel skills suck!!).

 

[timfederwitz]

Just got back from MACNA in DC. Awesome day!! I somewhat begrudgingly bought 25 raffle tickets for $25 because there was an Apex Gold system, and I really wanted one. There were some other things: A Gyre 130 (I dropped 2 tickets for), A Jellyfish Art setup (2 tickets again), and a full tank setup (1 ticket for that, just in case), and that left 20 tickets for the Apex Gold. Cabo and Soulpatch were with me, and Cabo dropped *200* TICKETS in for the Apex, so I figured I had no chance.

Well"¦ I WON IT!!!! I never win anything! So made the trip worth it alone, but it was also cool to see all of the equipment at the show and get to know Cabo and Soulpatch better (and I bought them lunch since they didn't win anything).

So stoked! I'll move the Apex Jr to my FW tank, which was my plan if I bought the Apex eventually.

 

[homer1475]

Sweet score!

 

[timfederwitz]

Sweet score!

Thanks homer!

 

[Chibils]

Congratulations!that's awesome.