Louis' Cubic Adventure

[louist]

Thanks SBC and Aural.

I am ordering a CookWorks IceProbe off Ebay and plumbing that into the HOB filter to chill the tank. It has 50W of chilling power, which should be enough for this tank. There's no plans for a temp control unit for the chiller yet, I am sure the heater + light will balance the chiller. I am going to plumb it into the lid of the HOB filter.

Draws 12V DC, ~50W of cooling power, able to cool 40 liters by 4 to 5 degrees C. Do you guys think that should be enough for the tank (~34 liters).

 

[aural]

my conversions arent great, but 34 liters is just under 10 gallons (i think), and the coolworks website lists that 1 chiller can drop 10 gallons of water 6-8 degrees. I'd say you will have plenty of chilling power.

 

[Carl_in_Florida]

I just wanted to give you kudos for being bright enough to scrub the rock instead of letting it funk up the whole tank like I did when I got started.

Looks like a great start.

Carl

 

[louist]

Here's a small photo update:

The feared apstasia:

Unknown organism/sponge of some sort:

Closeup of a macro algae's leave:

Pearls of the Sea - the gaseous product of photosynthesis

I have installed a 8cm fan to blow across the water, it seems to counter the halide's heat pretty well. I've installed a "quick release" system for the fan so it can be removed when I need to take the light off for tank maintenance. Some photos will be following soon!

The little hitchhiking clam has moved out of his little den, and is now hanging out near the top, right in the path of the powerhead, smart little fellow. Fan worms are popping up everywhere, some with very funky "fans", and I spot a few tiny apstasias too.

Current tank specs:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 1.6mg/L
Nitrate: >110mg/L
Phosphate: 2.5mg/L
pH: 8.2
SG: 1.027

 

[louist]

The cooler arrived today! Here's some photos, now I just need to figure out if I need to put a resistor on the fan's power, or is the little thing on the side already a resistor?

The 8cm fan I wired up with a 12V DC 300mA PSU. I used a little plastic nut to protect the wire joint. Each wire is insulated by hot glue.

The quick release made from velcro cable ties.

OK, anyone know what kind of (macro)algae this is? Their tips are blue. Bad or good?

No one has any comments?

 

[tomcoleman]

i have a Mirabello 30 Tank Size: 43 x 27 x 35cm (17'' x 11'' x 14'')
Will the AquaMedic Oceanlight 150w fit my tank?
where can i get them from ?

 

[louist]

The AquaMedic mounting legs only extends to around 29cm, I did a quick mod to allow it to span the whole 30cm. It could go as far as 35cm, but 43 would be too wide unfortunately! You could hang it though.

I got mine from Chris, of Nanotuners. Great services and awesome light.

 

[louist]

I am afraid I have potentially very bad news! I flick on the light, and there it was! an isopod! it swam around then dug itself under a rock and disappeared.

Reading on RC, I can say its exterior anatomy is that of a Cirolanid Isopod, I can only hope it is a scavanging variety and not a parasitic one. I would hate to nuke the tank and restart, since treating this bug is very difficult.

However, I might leave the tank fishless for maybe 3 month and see what happens, my original plan was for an invert tank anyway.

Here's an article from Reef Keeping Mag that's good reading:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.htm

The little guy is a great swimmer and digger, I doubt I can catch him with a net. Apparently they are nocternal, and detach from their host when light comes on, and they come out of hiding when the lights go off again, therefore some people never realise they have these bugs.

I am quite p***ed off about this because the tank just entered the nitrite/nitrate cycling stage, and I been waiting to add a cleanup crew!

On the up side though, the rocks came with an awesome hitchhiker! I believe it's a coral from the Siderastrea genus of the Order of Scleractinia. These corals are rarely collected because of difficulties in removing them from their attached rock. Mine is an orangy pink color and around 8cm in diameter. These corals are known to tolerate extreme conditions and dubbed "almost invincible". Mine has tolerated through cycling conditions with ammonia conc greater than 1.6mg/L, nitrite of 1.6mg/L and nitrate >110mg/L. This little guy came to me totally bleached and recovered to full glory in less than a month!

 

[louist]

Oh I get it! You guys are not replying to my thread because you are applying peer pressure and see if I would hurry up an get some corals!

Well corals you want? Coral you shall have! Allow me to present you Siderastrea sp.!! Came as a hitchhiker on the LR and survive through chemical hell only to come back in full glory as a testiment to its invincibility.

Sorry I lied, they are not all corals. You tell me what this is?!

The tri-tunicate, hopefully it hasn't been ID'ed, then I can publish a paper on it

Nitrate and nitrite are crashing, so a cleanup crew would soon be introduced.

Is it just me, or have you guys and girls also noticed that I tend to take photos of the strangest things in my tank? Who would have known a tank of LR is so much fun?!

 

[rbrice020378]

These are some awesome pictures. Can you share with us what type of camera you are using?

Nice setup by the way. I love the Chiller Probe can you post a picture of it in place?

 

[Surfzup2k4]

Also, the "Red sponge" in the second pics of the rock is actually a Sea Squirt, also called a tunicate. Looks great, goodluck with the awesome looking tank.

 

[fishinbuc]

Looks great. Awesome photos.

 

[louist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6729617#post6729617 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rbrice020378
These are some awesome pictures. Can you share with us what type of camera you are using?

Nice setup by the way. I love the Chiller Probe can you post a picture of it in place?

Hey thanks for the nice words I shoot these with a Canon EOS 10D with 180mm macro lens and a 25mm extension tube if the organism is especially small. I shoot everything with a sutrdy tripod. I usually turn the powerhead and filter off during photo shoots.

I am plumbing the chiller in this weekend, I have been discussing the wiring with my mechtronics friend to make sure I don't cook anything or burn the house down! I will post photos then, but it will basically go on the lid of the AC70.

 

[louist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6729687#post6729687 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Surfzup2k4
Also, the "Red sponge" in the second pics of the rock is actually a Sea Squirt, also called a tunicate. Looks great, goodluck with the awesome looking tank.

LOL yes, sharp eye there. I have been corrected many times, and still haven't got around to fixing that error! Will do that now. Sadly, Mr Tunicate isn't with us anymore, I was a little too aggressive with the brushing when I took all the LR out and gave them a clean.

It was a cool looking thing though! However, now I have translucent ones!

 

[vanmo92]

nice

 

[louist]

The tank hs finally cycled! I added 1 turbo, 1 astrea and 1 hermit. The snails have since mowed through the algae like there's no tomorrow, in fact I am almost worried that they will starve in the long run?! Now they are taking a break, must be too full!

Wiring the peltier cooler: The peltier draws 60W of power @ 12DV, which means it will need a power supply that's capable of 5A of power. I got a PSU that's designed for car and personal coolers that meets that rating. In reality, the peltier draws 4A, and the fan draws 350mA, so I am still within spec.

The black object on the side of the heatsink is a thermal cutout that will turn the peltier off in case the fan fails.

Gorgonia

Goniopora that came with the Gorgonia. They are both sitting on a piece of large tunicate! I feed these guys the Hikari brime shrimps.

Last but not least, welcome the new resident of nanoville! He's a male Synchiropus Pictures that's on frozen food already. I am working on traning him to eat sinking pallets too. Wish me luck!

Cooling capability:
Time - Tank temp - fan/peltier on? - ambient temp - light on?
12:08PM - 28.5 - both ON - 29.0 - light OFF
12:50PM - 28.0 - both ON - 29.0 - light ON
13:20PM - 28.5 - both ON - 30.5 - light ON
14:00PM - 29.0 - both ON - 31.5 - light ON
15:35PM - 30.0 - both ON - 32.0 - light ON
16:52PM - 30.0 - both ON - 32.0 - light ON

 

[BelowH20]

Cool tank set-up, and great photos. Good luck with the mandarin as well, they are difficult in small tanks.

 

[louist]

Thanks BelowH20, I am trying to feed the little guy as often as I can, and hence that's why I am trying to setup a feeder thingie for him so that he gets a more constant supply of frozen food, it also means that he gets to take his time eating. They are not the most aggressive feeders by a long way.

He's isn't going into the Mandarin Diner yet.

 

[rbrice020378]

That freakin' rocks, awesome Ice Probe you give me hope on doing up my 12 and a 5.5 and being able to keep them cool.

 

[louist]

That's why I "data logged" the cooling capability and posted it here. The IceProbe is really only useful for counteracting temperature generated by equipment, and especially useful when your fan is already doing everything it can but you still need that 1 extra degree of pull down.

Thanks for looking. The Gorgonia loves a sand bottom stirring and it comes out to feed with full forth when I blow the rocks down before a water change.