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if I were local I'd want the whole setup.
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Dec 5, 2011 20:19
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So after a whopping two weeks of having the reefbear running, I've just ordered a new Mr. Aqua 11.4 gallon rimless aquarium, Vortech MP10 and a AquaMaxx HOB-1. I'll be going sump-less for the time being. Perhaps I'll add a HOB refugium. The total capacity will be just slightly more than the current set up, but will 1) be able to be cleaned and 2) will actually allow decent placement of my corals. Either way, in the words of my co-worker, the officereef battle is on.
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Dec 7, 2011 06:21
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I wish I was allowed to have a nano at my desk at work. Unfortunately my boss is less than forgiving about just about everything, marine life in the workspace included. 
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Dec 7, 2011 14:19
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So lets make a long story short. I had a Nanocube12 with the Nanocustoms upgraded 3.24 hood which meant 72w of PC light. At its height here is what it looked like: After 5 years of running I went through 2 power outages in the last 2 months and the whole tank is now dead. I want to restart after the new year but slightly bigger and more technical. By technical I mean I want: • LED lighting • Reef keeper light to manage Lights/Fans • ATO • Skimmer I love the all in one tanks but was looking for someone who made a 20gallon long all in one. Anyone have suggestions?
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Dec 7, 2011 17:11
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What's up dead many year old nanocube buddy... mine's only a 6 though for better desk fitment. Getting the coralline algae off was a bitch.. .soaked in vinegar for days and it eventually came off. does nanocustoms have stuff for NC6? Have you been pretty satisfied with it? Having had mine up for so long I haven't kept up with what people are doing with them any more... as far as retrofit hoods and things.
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Dec 7, 2011 17:21
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optikalus posted:So after a whopping two weeks of having the reefbear running, I've just ordered a new Mr. Aqua 11.4 gallon rimless aquarium, Vortech MP10 and a AquaMaxx HOB-1. I never saw a Mr._Aqua tank before. I love this one! http://www.marinedepot.com/Mr._Aqua_Rectangle_Frameless_Glass_Aquarium_Tank_w_Stand_Tank_with_Stand-Mr._Aqua-AZ11231-FIAQNCTS-vi.html Not sure it will fit where I want it. I will measure tonight. The only problem is no false wall, so I would need to run a sump to put all the equipment in and I have never drilled or plumbed a tank ever.
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Dec 7, 2011 17:23
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http://myworld.ebay.com/macilwu/ This is the dude I got mine from (a 20-tall custom AIO build). Very good build quality, but as you can read from the buyer testimonials, very shifty communications and very slow shipping. I'd look at your local reefing scene to see if you can find anyone who's good with acrylics work. There's usually a couple. Check with LFSes to see if they have contact information. Since you're thinking of going custom AIO, make absolutely sure you have a middle back chamber that can hold a nano skimmer. Probably a 4x4 footprint is sufficient, but do your research.
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Dec 7, 2011 17:23
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Blake- posted:
From what I read Nanocustoms closed shop. The higher end work they were doing is being worked on and sold by JBJ and releasing soon: http://www.jbjlighting.com/images/Unibody_LED_flyer.jpg
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Dec 7, 2011 17:26
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lots of nanocustoms / nanotuners drama @ nano-reef.com http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showforum=48 I just want to get a decent hood for my NC6 I don't even know if they still sell the NC6
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Dec 7, 2011 17:44
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So right now I have 3 choices. Option 1 Mr.aqua 12g Long with stand shown here:  But with that I will have to run a sump and drill the back that I have never done like this:  Option 2 Ridge tank from Picoaquariums that is 14.5 gallon. This has the AIO I like but is not really the look I am going for (shallow and long):  Option 3 Find someone local to do an AIO in the dimensions I want 35.4″ x 8.3″ x 9.4″ but in acrylic and AIO.
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Dec 7, 2011 18:47
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A carefully-researched and evaluated custom tank will in the long run make you a lot happier, in my opinion. Both of my bigger tanks are custom.
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Dec 7, 2011 20:15
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New tank has arrived! The question now is to paint the back or not. I'm leaning towards not as I may try to center stack the rocks instead of making a rock wall on the back, but it'll be very difficult to clean the back wall regardless. I could orientate the tank like a peninsula, but getting light towards the front of the tank then might be a problem, plus it'd cut out a bunch of my usable desk space heh. Also, with the skimmer on the back, there would be no room for the MP10's dry-side, so I'd have to put it either in the front (yuck) or on the side (not ideal). This skimmer looks promising, though.
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Dec 8, 2011 23:53
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optikalus posted:New tank has arrived! Just hit that easy button and it will configure itself. Just curious, why are you adverse to putting the MP10 on the right side?
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Dec 9, 2011 00:33
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SaNChEzZ posted:Just hit that easy button and it will configure itself. I just don't want to have to stare at the dry side all day heh I found that if I slide the skimmer over, there is just enough room to have the MP10 about 1.5" from the side of the glass, which may work. I could also mount the skimmer on the right side of the tank which will be hidden from (my) view by computer (if I mount it like a peninsula). I could then mount the MP10 anywhere on the back of the tank. I'm liking this idea as it'd allow me (and others) to look through both sides of the aquarium which would look pretty dope.
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Dec 9, 2011 00:39
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I would definitely do that tank peninsula style. I think you'd get the best viewing angle on it.
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Dec 9, 2011 02:27
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Ah...I've had my 50 gal up for well over a year. Something happened to it a few weeks ago, I got a weird algae film on the surface of the water, and a cyano bloom. Green star polyp coral had massive growth explosion, kenya tree got a bunch of shoots, and even some new Zoas and mushrooms popped up. However, I have a cool encrusting stony coral in there, and it is pissed off and lost some color. The hammer coral and frogspawn haven't been fully opening. I've been pretty busy at work, besides water changes, I haven't been keeping up with all the maintenance, like I'm running a canister filter and it hasn't been cleaned in like 6 months. I just caved and got a protein skimmer, and spent some time cleaning out the canister filter. The protein skimmer is one of those Bak-Pak models, I've pulled out literally 3 cups of nasty water just over the past 8 hours, it looked like black sludge mixed with cooked egg whites. It's like something died in there, but all the fish are doing fine, and nothing else has really changed. One of my cats recently took a liking to laying ontop of the T5HO lights, starting to wonder if he pissed in the tank. 
SSH IT ZOMBIE fucked around with this message at 07:27 on Dec 11, 2011 |
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Dec 11, 2011 07:25
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Well if your cat peed in the water, that would have introduced a higher pH liquid as well as some proteins, nitrates and other poo poo, hence why the dirty water corals are loving it and the clean water corals are hating it. Definitely a viable option I'd say.
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Dec 12, 2011 21:58
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Sounds like a nitrate boom to me. Xenia/GSP etc like dirtier water, and if you haven't cleaned your canister filter lately it's possible it's not helping things. Water changes can only do so much to keep up with fish poop.
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Dec 12, 2011 23:46
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cyano loves nitrates... but the only way to know for sure is do a round of tests.
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Dec 14, 2011 17:12
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Blake- posted:cyano loves nitrates... but the only way to know for sure is do a round of tests. It could be that the nitrates are being bound up in the cyano/etc. already and you wouldn't get a useful reading of it.
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Dec 14, 2011 20:39
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I just switched out the light on my 90g from a 6x54W T5HO fixture to a 2x250W halide + 2 54W Actinic fixture. From what I'm reading screening below the light is supposed to ease the transition, by removing one screen per week. I've got that going, and my frag racks down to the bottom 1/3 of the tank. Is there anything else anyone knows of that I need to do to ensure a smooth transition? I'd hate to burn all my SPS.
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Dec 15, 2011 02:53
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This may be a long shot. Is there anyone that owns an AI Sol controller and has the computer know-how to hook it up to a computer serial port and give me a dump of what it spits out over a few minutes? I would be incredibly grateful. My reason for asking is that I have a custom controller. It can talk RS-232 to AI Sol units, but AI flat-out refused to tell me what their commands are because I wasn't one of the major three (Apex, Neptune, Reef Keeper). I was hoping to save a buck by implementing whatever commands they use in my controller instead of spending more to do something I can implement for free.
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Dec 15, 2011 22:38
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So I took the plunge and ordered a new LED kit for the new tank build. Up for sale soon: StarkLED 50w LED system, 25x1w white, 25x1w blue. Aquapod 24 with stand Aqualife 115 mini skimmer Maxi-900 return pump Watch this space!
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Dec 16, 2011 20:58
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I've been tearing apart my 29 gallon biocube. I took the rim off and pulled the filter box out and drilled three holes in the back glass for a beananimal overflow. I'm going to have to build the box out of acrylic. I'm also trying to figure out whether to try to fit a sump inside the tiny stand (17" wide x 18" deep x 27" H max) or put something behind it. I've seen some guy's custom sump that he fit inside the stand but I don't know if I wanna deal with putting together all that expensive acrylic for such a cramped setup. I feel like i've done most of the dangerous poo poo, minus actually filling the thing with water, but I'm wondering if anyone has any warnings or suggestions about any of this.
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Dec 18, 2011 01:07
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So there are things growing in my sump. I don't know what they are. They weren't down there a month ago, but now there are probably two dozen of them. They seem to prefer growing on the glass. My sump isn't lighted, so I guess they're just pulling nutrients and stuff from the water? I snapped a few blurry pictures, but it's hard to illuminate them properly. They range from 1/8 to 1/4 inches long. Here's the best picture I could get:  A few more pictures in the album here. Anyone have any idea what these are? Should I be worried? I haven't added anything to my tank in over two months, so I'm bewildered by why these would show up all of a sudden. Anony Mouse fucked around with this message at 08:33 on Dec 19, 2011 |
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Dec 19, 2011 08:31
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I think those are a type of sponge. I have quite a few in my sump as well. If they are, most people consider sponges a good thing as they do a great job filtering the water.
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Dec 19, 2011 14:07
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Yeah, they are pineapple sponges. I had a billion of them too, but they've been slowly declining. They only grow in the sump, for some reason.
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Dec 19, 2011 17:43
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Yep, pineapple sponges. They're a great filter feeder and will help keep your water clean 
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Dec 19, 2011 19:29
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porksmash posted:Yeah, they are pineapple sponges. I had a billion of them too, but they've been slowly declining. They only grow in the sump, for some reason. Maybe they don't like the light.
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Dec 19, 2011 20:04
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So I was cleaning my skimmer pump yesterday after about 5 hours of tank work, and I broke the little impeller shaft that was made of some sort of stone material, instead of metal like I have seen on most powerheads and pumps. It was an old skimmer and an upgrade was on my list, but not 3 days before I was getting ready to go out of town for a week... So now I am scrambling to get a skimmer, and of course no place local has decent skimmers in stock. Trying to get a used Reef Octopus Extreme XS 160 for $200 instead of $300 retail. Only been used for 6 months. Sound like a good deal and a good skimmer for a 90g and 40g sump?
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Dec 19, 2011 20:19
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It was probably ceramic. The same piece of snapped in half on my Reef Octopus NW150 pretty much the entire duration I owned it. Didn't seem to affect its output. Either way, that should be a good skimmer. I like that they have a gate valve instead of a stupid o-ring pipe.
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Dec 20, 2011 00:28
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Yeah, it is ceramic. Sorry, had a brain fart. The problem is it snapped in an awkward spot where the impeller would not cover it, so it wouldn't keep things in order. It sounds like the Reef Octopus Extreme 160 is not the new XS version. Any reason to stay away? Trying to see if I can get it for less than $200. Links below. XS - http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/octopus-extreme-160-protein-skimmer.html Non-XS - http://www.aquacave.com/reef-octopus-extreme-160-br-protein-skimmer-br-by-coralvue-2199.html Really my main concern is the different pump. I have heard of a lot of problems with the Sicce PSK2500 and heard the PSK600 was better.
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Dec 20, 2011 01:52
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So I've been having a bit of difficulty figuring out how to dose my two-part solution. First I wasn't dosing enough (my alk dropped to about 5.8 dKH) and then I overdosed (8.6, pissing off just about everything). I'm too cheap for an automated pump so that leaves hand dosing. I'm mainly worried about alkalinity, because it's what's causing me the most trouble. No one on any forum I've read really specifies exactly how to dial in the daily dose. I gave it some thought, and here's the easiest way I can think of: 1.) Take an alk reading on your tank. Record the value (dKH or meq/L, your choice). 2.) Wait one week. Measure the alkalinity reading again. 3.) Go to the BRS calculator here, enter your system volume, type of dosing (B-IONIC is the soda ash alk buffer, I believe, but I'm using BRS's version of it), and the starting and ending values in your tank for a week without dosing. Make sure to choose the correct alk measurement unit (dKH or meq/L). The calculator will give you a value to bring it back up INSTANTLY. Divide this value over 7 days and you've got your daily dose to keep it consistent. Of course, as your corals grow this value is going to only go up as their needs increase, so be sure to revisit it from time to time to make sure you're dosing enough. the Pixies fukken SUCKED fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Dec 20, 2011 |
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Dec 20, 2011 05:38
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Is dosing really that important? I dose my 2 part when I remember (once or twice a month) and just keep up on water changes.
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Dec 20, 2011 19:50
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Pretty important. I use kalkwasser saturated top-off and I still have to run my calcium reactor to maintain calcium/alkalinity. When I was doing 2-part solely I was easily clearing 120mL of each of 2-part a day on an automated doser.
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Dec 20, 2011 20:04
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It's relative to tank size and what you have in the tank though, right? ie: I only have 2 small SPS frags in my 24 and the rest are softies, my calcium doesn't really go down all that fast so water changes keep it up.
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Dec 20, 2011 20:29
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Definitely dependent on calcium uptake in your tank: coralline, stony corals, clams, etc.
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Dec 20, 2011 20:54
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arioch posted:Definitely dependent on calcium uptake in your tank: coralline, stony corals, clams, etc. Almost all my coralline is gone.... loving rear end in a top hat asterinas. When I set up the 40br I'm going to blas all my rocks with compressed air to shoot those fuckers off before they get into the new tank. I have almost a whole shotglass full of the things that me or my g/f have picked out over the last few months. Frozen Pizza Party fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Dec 20, 2011 |
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Dec 20, 2011 21:13
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Get a harlequin shrimp. I haven't seen an asterina in months.
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Dec 20, 2011 21:16
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| # ? Jun 11, 2024 11:04 |
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arioch posted:Get a harlequin shrimp. I haven't seen an asterina in months. I have two stars that can't get eaten and no sump at the moment. Once the 40 is set up, the stars will go to the sump and if the asterinas are still an issue I'll get a harle. at that point. The pistol shrimp already took off two of my serpent's legs over the years haha.
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Dec 20, 2011 21:17
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