Mark's 40 Breeder build

[Aframomum]

Thanks eb!

I looked at different build threads to get an idea of what people were doing and really liked the idea of isolating the fuge from the rest of the sump. The height was actually a last minute decision to make sure I had enough room to grow out macro algae, so yeah a big ball of chaeto I can see.

 

[geekengineer]

I hear you on the water changes. Still trying to figure mine out as I'm looking to try out smaller ones per week rather than a large one every 2 or 3 weeks. Not having a demanding tank like a SPS dominated one helps with the relaxed WC schedule too. And yes, side projects can really take up precious time. So you have a 10 gallon setup and going? At least you have some motivation to look at! :lol:

yeah I do have a small one its nice to have that at least I just wish I could have a bit more room to grow and maybe have some fish eventually. I had fish in the 10 gallon but haven't had any luck keeping them. I think a 10 gallon is too small to keep it stable enough. I also think the last fish I got was sick. After that I gave up and thought I wait till I get the bigger tank going ans stable. So all I got are inverts at the moment.

How much water do you have to change at the moment? How often? I'm curious

 

[Aframomum]

Sorry to hear about the fish loss. I know it can be discouraging. Your right, a 10 gallon is a difficult tank to maintain as temp and salinity fluctuations can be extreme. Inverts can be fun as I watch my crabs and snails waaay too much.

My last WC was 6 gallons, so a bit over 10% of my total water volume (tank+sump). My last change was 1 week ago and I currently have salt water mixing to change out tomorrow night, so about weekly.

Getting into a routine of sorts helps too - same with changing out the socks, I do that every 5 days now and clean out the skimmer cup at the same time. 2 chores at the same time!

 

[geekengineer]

hmm I guess 6 gallons doesn't' seem too bad. I trying to set it up so I can go on vacation for a week too. lol.. I got someone who can check in on it but I don't want to have them have to think about it too much. Let the controller do most of the work. If I get that mostly done then I think I'm ready to go. you seen that DYI controller from dohboy? It looks like it will be fairly nice for not too much money spent into it depending on what you need. I guess you need to know how to build electronics tho. lol

 

[Aframomum]

6-7 gallons a week isn't too bad, plus with a super light load (no fish) the tank doesn't have that much of a build up. When fish are added then I'll increase my WC amounts.

I thought long and hard for what to do concerning an ATO for my tank. I looked at the brand offerings and what people had to say about them, also looked at the DIY, but in the end decided to go with something I already had on hand - a timer (of sorts).

I got a luft pump (one that doses liquids) and used an old Coralife digital powercenter I had sitting around. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11304
The powercenter has a digital timer with 8 programmable on/off settings so I have it turn on the luft pump 8 times a day (about every 3 hrs) for 6 minutes. This adds around 4-6 cups from my ATO reservoir (a 10 gallon garbage container) each time it turns on and it keeps my water levels spot on. This way I never have to worry about a failing ATO emptying my reservoir into the tank. I took about a week to fine tune it but no problems. And when the weather warms up come summer all I do is adjust the -on time to 7,8, or 9 minutes to keep up with evaporation.

BTW, do you have a build thread?

 

[reeferKen]

"used an old Coralife digital powercenter I had sitting around."

reef 2 reef member house burnt down from a coralife power strip. Also members replying saying stay away from this brand.

If interested, title is "Lost it all: An electrical warning" october 21st this year.

Really enjoy this build thread and your stand, wow great work. Thanks for sharing all your photos.

 

[geekengineer]

"used an old Coralife digital powercenter I had sitting around."

reef 2 reef member house burnt down from a coralife power strip. Also members replying saying stay away from this brand.

If interested, title is "Lost it all: An electrical warning" october 21st this year.

Really enjoy this build thread and your stand, wow great work. Thanks for sharing all your photos.

Did you(they) have a GFI circuit breaker? I wonder if that might have helped. I was planing on using one cause it's water and well things can short out. :worried:

 

[geekengineer]

BTW, do you have a build thread?

Yes I do.. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2535599

You can see how I didn't know what I was doing with some stuff. :facepalm: lol

 

[Aframomum]

Thanks reeferKen for the heads up on my fire disaster time bomb! Suffice to say I took it out of service after reading all the horror stories and seeing the pictures of the burned up power units. Thanks again!

Thanks for the link to your build geekengineer, didn't know you had a 29 going. Nice.

 

[brewtus]

looking good keep it up

 

[geekengineer]

Thanks reeferKen for the heads up on my fire disaster time bomb! Suffice to say I took it out of service after reading all the horror stories and seeing the pictures of the burned up power units. Thanks again!

Thanks for the link to your build geekengineer, didn't know you had a 29 going. Nice.

Thanks.. Maybe I should have did a 40 like you did but I just didn't feel like I had the space for it where I wanted to put it, felt like it be a lot of water to change etc. lol I guess I wait till I want to jump to 200 gallons.. :lolspin:

I have to look into why those power units failed. I haven't had a chance yet but I just be curious if it was a design flaw or what.

 

[Aframomum]

Thanks brewtus!

I really don't know why the timers tend to short (and catch fire) but most of the fire reports had to do with the mechanical timer and not the digital, but I wasn't going to take a chance. I still have mine so may do an autopsy on it later on just to see what's inside. :lmao:

I got my Kill-O-Watt meter last week and did some power consumption readings on my equipment to see what they were drawing. Some results were expected, others not so much.

175 MH light watts: 174.5 / Amps: 1.43
Mag 9.5 pump watts: 69.5 / Amps: 1.12
Skimmer watts: 7.5 / Amps: 0.250

Wavemaker (a bit surprised the smaller 425 drew more than the larger 565)
Koralia 425 watts: 3.5 / Amps: 0.055
Koralia 565 watts: 3.0 / Amps: 0.050

I also stopped by the LFS and picked up 3 more corals...it has started! Got myself 3 frags: montipora, torch, and a brain. Did a Bayer dip and put on bottom of tank on the outside areas of the MH light.

I also got a few pictures of my crazy galaxy coral with its sweepers out - guess it doesn't want any neighbors! :lmao:

 

[geekengineer]

hmm that's sort of wild looking thing.

I guess the smaller pump is not as efficient or they lied about its output. lol

Dumb newbie question but what is a bayer dip? :/

 

[Aframomum]

Grrrr, dumb bot. :rolleye1:

Bayer is an insect killing product you can pick up from the local hardware store that can be used as a coral dip to help rid new coral additions of some unwanted pests.

And yeah, that Galaxy is some wild, anti-social coral!

Hydor actually lists both the 425 and 565 as 3.5 watts, hmm.

 

[geekengineer]

Interesting lol sounds dangerous but I guess people know what there doing. I was looking at that I assume that is just for corals not for inverts? like Kenya tree is an invert right? I get confused lol.

 

[Aframomum]

geekengineer - the Bayer is used on corals only. Not fish and I'm don't think inverts either. Your Kenya is a coral - Capnella species. See link: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+600+652&pcatid=652

Some pictures of my new additions:

 

[geekengineer]

ah ok so it wouldn't hurt do do this on my kenya tree I take it? if I understand correctly?

Your starting to grow a nice little colony there nice additions.. hehe..

 

[geekengineer]

Did you catch my question by the way did you know for sure? I was just curious. I wasn't sure if I should be doing it in my tank or not. So far I haven't had any problems that I am aware of anyways..

 

[Aframomum]

Missed that, sorry! You usually want to do a dip when you first buy the coral - before they go into the tank. That way if they had any pests you would kill them before they hit the display tank. If your Kenya is doing fine I wouldn't worry about it now. But all coral additions in the future should be dipped.

My mini coral collection was a result of an innocent trip to the LFS, I don't know what happened.

 

[geekengineer]

Lol we will let such things slide this time.. don't let it happen again. :hammer: :lolspin: