nanocube update

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As promised to Karl, here are some pics of the new topless 24 JBJ nano w/ a Viper 150w MH , you can see I popped to 900 MJs through the bulkhead and not shown are some of those spinning vader helmets, that work cool but one makes a rattle that I am trying to fix.

The water is cloudy from the new additions but other than possibly some more zoas, this is all its getting as far as coral......which currently is a rainbow rock of zoas I have had for two years, xenia, hammer coral that I have almost killed about a dozen times but just won't die, a frogspawn negleted due to my SPS afflection, and Mongo, the sebae with the clown. (stupid fish....always sleeping in that dang anenome......caught you with the net by turning out the lights last night.....didn't we?)

I think I am going to put some kind of mechanical filtration,

(HOB whiper or penquin perhaps....anyone know of a good one that fits on these suckers in between the baffles?),

on it to add to aeration and water clarity.....thought about using a pantyhose as a filter sock.......add some chaeto in there and call 'er good........This one is going to be an exercise in quiet, reliable simple technology and go as simple and low tech as possible.....the cool thing with having two tanks is the cycle was non existent due to the rock, sand, and water came out of the 75g, and if I have a problem its always there as a back up.

I am not totaly sold on these super small water volumes yet......but we will see.

 

[Unarce]

Very nice, Doug!

Can you explain the plumbing a bit? Looks like you drilled two more returns. Is that where the vader helmets will go, or do you plan on using a powerheads/wavemaker combo?

Karl

 

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Karl, its so simple even a Doug can do it......I asked our local kid with the nano lowdown (Pico1) and asked him which PHs work the best for the cubes, because I knew some people are just all about the nanos, I knew I didn't have to reinvent the wheel. He suggested the Maxijet 900s, so I got a pair of them......I am/was a Via Aqua guy and jumped to the Seios so never had used any of the MJs, but they are a cool design with the ability to rotate them and mount them on either side of the housing......I simply drilled a hole and stuck em through and the clip you see is the the provided clip, the Hydors fit right on em....very slick and great flow. The pumps are fed through the stock grill and provide great suction for the baffles......not by any means done, but very happy with this VERY simple mod and very clean looking.....I hate to throw a HOB filter on it to screw up the clean looks, but I like clean water and am not impressed with those stock filter blocks. The other stock "return" is non functional and has nothing hooked up to it, in fact the MJs put out more than the grate can supply, so I plan to turn it into a redneck surface skimmer to pull the junk off the top and get pushed through the MJs with the hopes a HOB will pick it up eventually. But no mechanical filtration as of yet, I am going to think of that over the next few weeks when I should be working on homework, as the case now.....

 

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However, the Nanocube market is getting fired up with a bunch of products, so I am in no hurry to hack some hunk o junk in......in fact I am debating one of those $30 skimmers offered at M.D. for nanos.......another Pico1 sugggestion I might add....

 

[xia]

I have this one I'm not using if you're interested. http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_protein_skimmers_current_usa_fission_nano_skimmer.asp?CartId=

To be honest I can't seem to get it to work right in the tight space of my aquapod 12g. Yours for a frag or $20.

 

[DarkDevil]

that is very very nice, now that maroon is kind of lonely in there, you better find her a mate.

also becareful that monster is gonna kill everything in the tank...

 

[xia]

I know you're leaning towards a hob filter, but I'd becareful with that as well. Not too long ago my filter pad was clogged up, so water backed up and started dripping out of the top onto the floor. So keep that pad clean if you do get one. Or just leave the tank the way it is and do a little more frequent water changes. Softies like it dirty. If you want to add filtration just add a few pads in the back paritition.

 

[dots]

Good point, I may drill in an overflow in the back of one so if it does that it leads back to the main tank rather than to a puddle on the floor. Because so far the clarity sucks!!!

 

[maxdout]

the cassete skimmer mod helps cleans it up. mine is pretty clear except for my kids finger prints all over the glass

 

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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8643108#post8643108 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maxdout
the cassete skimmer mod helps cleans it up. mine is pretty clear except for my kids finger prints all over the glass

can you please elaborate

 

[Elite]

Have you tried to run carbon to see if that helps?

 

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I am sure it will, but carbon doesn't absorb the particulate matter that I see suspendend in the water I am trying to get rid of currently......I need to find a filtration system that works better than the blocks that come with the cubes. Carbon and cheato are the last peices to this water puzzle.

The coudiness in the pics is less, because the tank is still new and probably going through a mini cycle.......

I am a big proponet to mechanical filtration....skimming(probably not on this tank).....then carbon.........in that order. Our drinking water is done in about the same order......with a little chemical mixed in, but the mechanical is about the same.......I consider carbon and phosate mixes to be on the ragged edge of mechanical and chemical filtration.....

kinda like sanding a car before paint....you use 180 grit to get most of the scratches out......then work to 400 grit for the finer stuff........filter=180 grit, skimmer=320 grit, carbon=400 grit, the problem is here is that the stock filter is a P.O.S. IMO, don't like the design at all I think mechanical filters should be removed somewhat to help eliminate "some" feedback and cross contamination. In my 75g my filter sock is suspended, not sitting in my sump for that reason,what gets through feeds the remote SSB. This is the same reason if you have to you the ugly HOB filters, I like the method of "slightly" taking it out of the system, not submerged like the foam blocks, which also cut down the flow to the MJs I put in........thought about making a snap ring for the grate/intake grill and using a pantyhose stocking as a fine mesh filter.........

 

[maxdout]

well i have a cut out cassete cover to go over the grate. kind of like hte jbj mss skimmer deal. that helps clean out the top layer of junk, then i have filter floss, chemipure and maxi 750 in chamber 1. cheato and lr rubble in 2 and therm and maxi900 in chamber three. seems to work pretty well and my water is pretty clean. every now and then will get filmy stuff in the chamber 2-3. i just use a cup and scoop it out.

 

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I put a cheapo millenium 1000 filter on it today, been on there just a couple of hours and the water is SOOOOO.....much clearer, I think its going to work great!!!!

It looks like the filter has little holes in the top to prevent overflow, but I will make it do so to check manually.......thanks for the input guys......I think were getting dialed now.

 

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Update:

The dust has settled....pods are poppin, and even coraline algae on the glass within three weeks......here are some pics from today....the water is oh so clear now. love it!!!! The clown lives under the anenome now, thinking of getting her a boyfriend, and under these lights looks as if her bars are turning gold!!.......rescaped the other today........look freckin sweet, tons of shelves and very dynamic, no fruitstand nomore......post pics of that when I reset all the frags......

 

[eagleONE]

nice.

that anemone is pretty big.

 

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Thank you.....thats why I needed the "Big-Boy Cube"