It's been a long ride. I don't want to post publicly what happened with my last order, but it was just taking too long.
Zeeter's Dream Tank
- Thread starter zeeter
- Start date
If you want the AB+ blue that most people run and the corals all glow then get the blues. If you want a closer to natural look and growth is a priority get the pros. FWIW coral farms use the pros. I don't mind the AB+ look for dusk and dawn but the rest of the day I like things pretty white.
I've bitten the proverbial bullet.
Three Ecotech XR15 Pro lights (FYI: Aquacave has these for about $30 less than most places)
RMS Rail system
Will either get a fourth XR15 later or might supplement it with a couple of Kessil lights in between.
The three lights will get me through the cycle and work fine until I want to start growing SPS.
Edit: Received a surprise $1300 check from the mortgage company for an overage. Wondering now if I should get a couple of Kessil lights or add the extra XR15.
Three Ecotech XR15 Pro lights (FYI: Aquacave has these for about $30 less than most places)
RMS Rail system
Will either get a fourth XR15 later or might supplement it with a couple of Kessil lights in between.
The three lights will get me through the cycle and work fine until I want to start growing SPS.
Edit: Received a surprise $1300 check from the mortgage company for an overage. Wondering now if I should get a couple of Kessil lights or add the extra XR15.
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It's finally arrived and in place. I put the lights on tonight. Kind of too blue for the moment. I think my camera was compensating for the light intensity.
Lights are 4XRadion XR15s on the RMS Rail.
Edit: Alright, well the server doesn't seem to want to allow me to upload an image tonight. Will upload it tomorrow.
Lights are 4XRadion XR15s on the RMS Rail.
Edit: Alright, well the server doesn't seem to want to allow me to upload an image tonight. Will upload it tomorrow.
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It finally went through
Looks good. Get that thing filled with water and rock
It's normal. You need an orange lens filter for the picture to more closely match what our eyes see. T5 was bad but leds are worse for the effect.
Been a while since I've posted. Here's an update on what's gone one.
The tank could not be placed where I originally wanted due to concerns about the floor. Instead, I've moved it back to the addition. This is not near a water source, and so I had to get a hose adapter for the RODI unit and run it in from the backdoor.
Obviously this is not a long term solution. I drilled up from the basement into the dining room where the tank was supposed to go, then through the wall, through the bathroom with no sink (don't ask - long story), and then into the fish room. The lines for my RODI and water change will run through all this.
So with the tank filled with sand I started adding water in stages so-as not to stir up the sand too much and prevent it from getting into the sump. I then filled the sump and put in the gear: Filter roller, heaters, skimmer, ATO system, and bio reactor. Was going to run a refugium in the sump, but found that they are almost useless down there. A refugium needs to be at least 1/4 the volume of the tank to be worthwhile. Instead, I'm going to run biopellets, GFO, and carbon. Currently I'm designing a manifest for all that.
I started the cycle by adding turbostart and some ammonia. Too much ammonia, in fact. Way too much. Using an ATI kit, it was so dark green that it was almost black. Removing the filter roller, I added some Dr Tim's and a few days later the ammonia dropped to zero while nitrite went up and then down and nitrates are currently 21.96 mg/L.
I ordered fish from a quarantine place and they will be here tomorrow! First ones are a Percula and Onyx Percula. Couldn't get two regular ones as they're hard to come by these days, but the Onyx is almost the same - just a bit darker. I always start off a tank with true Perculas; it's a tradition for me. Meantime I'm going to change out about 20gl water tonight to bring the nitrates down.
I'm happy with the Waterbox. Thus far there have been no leeks in the plumbing. In fact, the only leak has been caused by me being stupid and turning the pump for the bio reactor up too high.
Here's my control center in the closet next to the tank. Don't mind the poor wire management - it's a work in progress:
Added since this picture is a Mastertronic. Running Nitrite and Nitrate daily for now, and Phosphates, Magnesium, and Calcium weekly. I probably don't need the last three for quite a while, but I want to get the history going before adding corals later on down the road.
In the coming days I'll be adding the carbon reactors and my 2-part dosing system. Again, don't need the latter for a while but want it ready. I also need to set up the alkalinity and salinity testing on the Hydros iV.
Oh! Forgot about the lights. One of the XR15 lights is bad. It cannot be unplugged and plugged back in without a struggle to get it working again. I called Ecotech and a few emails aside, they're replacing it. Good customer service on their part.
I'll get another picture of the tank once the new inhabitants arrive.
The tank could not be placed where I originally wanted due to concerns about the floor. Instead, I've moved it back to the addition. This is not near a water source, and so I had to get a hose adapter for the RODI unit and run it in from the backdoor.
Obviously this is not a long term solution. I drilled up from the basement into the dining room where the tank was supposed to go, then through the wall, through the bathroom with no sink (don't ask - long story), and then into the fish room. The lines for my RODI and water change will run through all this.
So with the tank filled with sand I started adding water in stages so-as not to stir up the sand too much and prevent it from getting into the sump. I then filled the sump and put in the gear: Filter roller, heaters, skimmer, ATO system, and bio reactor. Was going to run a refugium in the sump, but found that they are almost useless down there. A refugium needs to be at least 1/4 the volume of the tank to be worthwhile. Instead, I'm going to run biopellets, GFO, and carbon. Currently I'm designing a manifest for all that.
I started the cycle by adding turbostart and some ammonia. Too much ammonia, in fact. Way too much. Using an ATI kit, it was so dark green that it was almost black. Removing the filter roller, I added some Dr Tim's and a few days later the ammonia dropped to zero while nitrite went up and then down and nitrates are currently 21.96 mg/L.
I ordered fish from a quarantine place and they will be here tomorrow! First ones are a Percula and Onyx Percula. Couldn't get two regular ones as they're hard to come by these days, but the Onyx is almost the same - just a bit darker. I always start off a tank with true Perculas; it's a tradition for me. Meantime I'm going to change out about 20gl water tonight to bring the nitrates down.
I'm happy with the Waterbox. Thus far there have been no leeks in the plumbing. In fact, the only leak has been caused by me being stupid and turning the pump for the bio reactor up too high.
Here's my control center in the closet next to the tank. Don't mind the poor wire management - it's a work in progress:
Added since this picture is a Mastertronic. Running Nitrite and Nitrate daily for now, and Phosphates, Magnesium, and Calcium weekly. I probably don't need the last three for quite a while, but I want to get the history going before adding corals later on down the road.
In the coming days I'll be adding the carbon reactors and my 2-part dosing system. Again, don't need the latter for a while but want it ready. I also need to set up the alkalinity and salinity testing on the Hydros iV.
Oh! Forgot about the lights. One of the XR15 lights is bad. It cannot be unplugged and plugged back in without a struggle to get it working again. I called Ecotech and a few emails aside, they're replacing it. Good customer service on their part.
I'll get another picture of the tank once the new inhabitants arrive.
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