Z's upgrade build
- Thread starter bigzman
- Start date
gambitcobra
New member
i do like the new setup 
janes_mw
Active member
well, I'll show you what I run when you come over this weekend. Basically, my 4 48" T5's (Blue Plus) are on at 9am and off at 8PM, LEDs ramp up to 100 Blues/80 whites from 9 AM to 7 PM with peak of 3 hours of 100% blues and 80% whites (reef breeders photon 48s). I definitely had to work the tank up to these levels although.
Also, get that thing ready already! I have some killer frags for you!
mike
Also, get that thing ready already! I have some killer frags for you!
mike
Thanks Mike. Cant wait for lights. I am working on rock now. Seems like sand it will be for me. Wife really likes sand. It seems I might need more dry rock for a arch idea I wanted to see. Also have to order a heater. For temp control I will have one 250watt heater and one 300watt set to 76. One 8inch fan directly over sump at 79 degrees. At 81 I have another fan.
I added sand to refuge and some water. As I add sand and rock it should fill refuge.
I added sand to refuge and some water. As I add sand and rock it should fill refuge.
janes_mw
Active member
my heater never runs and my house is kept at 71 degrees year round :-o
anbosu
New member
Yeah they will. I bet they move it up to 75 or so, depending on how well your canopy is vented. What do you keep your house at, 70?
Arron, with one 250 heater I made it to 75. I keep house at 74 but with tank wide open on top and tons of flow 72 was the normal.
Here is the last few days of work. Kid was ill so couldn't finish. There is about 80 pounds of sand. Amazing how at 90x36 is so hard to get cover with sand. Sad part is that is 180 pounds of rock of the 250 I had. I will have to get more. I have been looking for about 100 more pounds.
rogergolf66
im an addict lol
Wouldn't u want the opposite? Run the tank very warm and ghost feed the tank so the cycle happens faster? Since the bacteria produce faster in warm water. What is the benefit of the lower temp if no fish in the system?
I would think the ammonia would be only lower at lower temp cause fish metabolism is slower at lower temp. But if ammonia is caused from ghost feeding wouldn't ammonia be the same but bacteria count be lower in the cooler water?
Roger
Cycle
Cycle
Rob,
I have accounted for salinity Currently at 1.021. As for the heater its barely making a dent in temp.
I thought bringing up temp would help accelerate bacteria growth and cycle. This morning levels read zero everything.
Cycle
Rob,
I have accounted for salinity Currently at 1.021. As for the heater its barely making a dent in temp.
I thought bringing up temp would help accelerate bacteria growth and cycle. This morning levels read zero everything.
TheAquatect
I Could Stop If I Wanted
Yeah, you want to get to a temp that will create a more ideal environment to foster a more rapid bacterial growth, but the other side of the equation is that you also need to feed that bacteria, so temp AND food (pure ammonia, a shrimp, etc.). The whole idea is to create an elevated bacterial population that will support the initial bio-load you'll be adding, which is usually a bit more than a cycle alone will create. This will keep you from having a mini cycle if you add several large fish.
TheAquatect
I Could Stop If I Wanted
Seriously? Jeez! You mean 3 blue tangs, in honor of Finding Dory. :fun2:
Joe that is the plan. The rock was already cured and cycled. I dropped a shrimp about 2 months in the bin it was in. Yes it had a bit of a trace of PO4 but minor. I am hoping once I get temp to 78 I can place my clown fish tank. I am not a fan of new additions more so with out QT. Still have to add another 160 pounds of sand.
Next Items I need to order and case any one is selling locally:
100 pounds of dry rock
1 booster pump 8800 or the aqualine
1 PH probe
Next Items I need to order and case any one is selling locally:
100 pounds of dry rock
1 booster pump 8800 or the aqualine
1 PH probe
Thank you joe
Thank you joe
Joe(Safir), thank you for heater. Tank is now at 79 and running only the 300w. I have run into 2 problems. One is that I am not picking up any signs of a cycle. Also skimmer is producing a ton of foam and over flowing. Skimmer has been cleaned in vinager for 2 days. Will add carbon tomorrow. If all is well on Sunday I will be in st. Pete at mikes wiring up t5 in canopy. I Completed full programming on reefkeeper and finally calibrated ph probe. Also added the rest of the 160 pounds of sand. I made labels for cables and power and for pvc.
Thank you joe
Joe(Safir), thank you for heater. Tank is now at 79 and running only the 300w. I have run into 2 problems. One is that I am not picking up any signs of a cycle. Also skimmer is producing a ton of foam and over flowing. Skimmer has been cleaned in vinager for 2 days. Will add carbon tomorrow. If all is well on Sunday I will be in st. Pete at mikes wiring up t5 in canopy. I Completed full programming on reefkeeper and finally calibrated ph probe. Also added the rest of the 160 pounds of sand. I made labels for cables and power and for pvc.
Update
Update
Wow, so hard to believe that it has been over 2 months since my last update. So much has happened since then. Where to start.
Well I have my reefkeeper setup and thanks to Safir I have a 250 watt heater and a 300 watt.
Since July I lost my evaporate coil in ac and outside unit kept blowing Capacitor. So after 11 years it was time to replace. This time I wanted to address home climate and fix many issues builder left me with.
1: actual working intelligent zone control. Old zone would have dump half the air and blowers on airhandler would die every 2 years do to backpressure
2: 5 ton 18 seer dc variable system. My bill ranged in summer months from 389 to 400 and I barely had it at 74. Now I run 72 night and day and I my augst bill is 206.
3: duct works and vents were widen and grills were changed. Rooms were adjusted for flow.
4: intelligent thermostat which I can control and monitor anywhere as well as humidity control. House use have 78% humidity now I have it at 52.
5: last but not least air purification with Reme halo by rfg.
With that said I have been tied up with work and trying to recover from ac event I had another event. My sump developed a small leak which cuased my jeboa dcs controllers and power supply to fry out. Lucky for me reef breeders sent overnight replacements. Unfortunately I still needed to address leak and seem separation on sump. Leak happened on a Sunday and I reached out to sump manufacturers on Monday to see if there is a Warrenty for second hand purchase sumps and obviously there really isn't but they were more than happy to help repair it which was a shock. These guys are amazing they arranged repair on Monday and Tuesday we had a solution and all is well. Amazing company supporting there product even after it was second hand.
So where am I now? Lighting. Tank has been running over a month with a few chromis and one copper band butterfly. I have not had time to build custom lighting I draw up on past post but thanks to Mike Janes, I now have a working solution and he has by far improved the original design.
I will post pictures later tonight.
Update
Wow, so hard to believe that it has been over 2 months since my last update. So much has happened since then. Where to start.
Well I have my reefkeeper setup and thanks to Safir I have a 250 watt heater and a 300 watt.
Since July I lost my evaporate coil in ac and outside unit kept blowing Capacitor. So after 11 years it was time to replace. This time I wanted to address home climate and fix many issues builder left me with.
1: actual working intelligent zone control. Old zone would have dump half the air and blowers on airhandler would die every 2 years do to backpressure
2: 5 ton 18 seer dc variable system. My bill ranged in summer months from 389 to 400 and I barely had it at 74. Now I run 72 night and day and I my augst bill is 206.
3: duct works and vents were widen and grills were changed. Rooms were adjusted for flow.
4: intelligent thermostat which I can control and monitor anywhere as well as humidity control. House use have 78% humidity now I have it at 52.
5: last but not least air purification with Reme halo by rfg.
With that said I have been tied up with work and trying to recover from ac event I had another event. My sump developed a small leak which cuased my jeboa dcs controllers and power supply to fry out. Lucky for me reef breeders sent overnight replacements. Unfortunately I still needed to address leak and seem separation on sump. Leak happened on a Sunday and I reached out to sump manufacturers on Monday to see if there is a Warrenty for second hand purchase sumps and obviously there really isn't but they were more than happy to help repair it which was a shock. These guys are amazing they arranged repair on Monday and Tuesday we had a solution and all is well. Amazing company supporting there product even after it was second hand.
So where am I now? Lighting. Tank has been running over a month with a few chromis and one copper band butterfly. I have not had time to build custom lighting I draw up on past post but thanks to Mike Janes, I now have a working solution and he has by far improved the original design.
I will post pictures later tonight.
