14G Not a Cube (Lots'a Pics)

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

peek-a-boo!

Philipgonzales3 · May 6, 2019

Awesome build thread. I genuinely enjoyed reading it and seeing the pics. Hope to see the updates keep rolling in. For a smaller tank does seem like you have a lot going on and I love it!

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

Philipgonzales3 said:
Awesome build thread. I genuinely enjoyed reading it and seeing the pics. Hope to see the updates keep rolling in. For a smaller tank does seem like you have a lot going on and I love it!

you seem to have dove head first into reefing too lol, i was out of the country for a while and hadnt caught up with your build, and when i came back you got corals everywhere!

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

so much coraline

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

anyone got suggestions on what i can put in the mid-top left side of the tank to fill it in? my desk is on the right side of the tank so i focus much more on that side but the left looks too empty right now.

Philipgonzales3 · May 6, 2019

eggplantparrot said:
you seem to have dove head first into reefing too lol, i was out of the country for a while and hadnt caught up with your build, and when i came back you got corals everywhere!

Haha yeah I caught the reef bug BAD! My first coral was just shy of two months ago and I am already 59 frags in with 7 more on the way! So far so good, but my Royal Gramma may or may not have ich so we'll see what happens here in the next few weeks. Hopefully my DT won't be going fallow but I'll just have to wait and see how things pan out.

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

Philipgonzales3 said:
Haha yeah I caught the reef bug BAD! My first coral was just shy of two months ago and I am already 59 frags in with 7 more on the way! So far so good, but my Royal Gramma may or may not have ich so we'll see what happens here in the next few weeks. Hopefully my DT won't be going fallow but I'll just have to wait and see how things pan out.

lol i just commented on that in your thread, he looks like he may have an internal parasite too.

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

Philipgonzales3 said:
Haha yeah I caught the reef bug BAD! My first coral was just shy of two months ago and I am already 59 frags in with 7 more on the way! So far so good, but my Royal Gramma may or may not have ich so we'll see what happens here in the next few weeks. Hopefully my DT won't be going fallow but I'll just have to wait and see how things pan out.

dang thats nuts, lol are ya checking the 'expenses' tab in Aquarium Note'? nearly gave myself a heart attack seeing the numbers lol

Dr. Dendrostein · May 6, 2019

eggplantparrot said:
Hello reefing peeps, i have been wanting to do a build thread since i started working on my 75, but that project is on hiatus for various reasons. i have however, got a 14G running to get my feet wet in reefing.

Before getting the 14G, i took a spare 10G and started learning the ways of the salt, testing, and mixing water. this was intended to be used to cycle some rock so that when i get my 75G up, it would reduce cycle time. That WAS the plan, until life happened, and the 75 went on hiatus. so i started thinking about keeping the 10G permanently. After having it in my room for a few weeks i felt that my dislike of rimmed tanks is starting to manifest itself, and i started shopping around for a rimless option.

10G with first clown, named Pablo (R.I.P sorry i didn't make a screen lid earlier)

i had originally wanted to try an 11G cube that i found at my LFS (Bigal's in Toronto if anyone's interested), but found this 14G and fell in love with the dimensions. 50cm x 33cm x 35cm, or 19.7" x 13" x 13.8". This tank is a Chinese brand called YiDing. they have a huge selection of tanks that are actually very high quality.

I decided on this 14G as i have had both a 10G and a 20G in my room separately over the past years, and found that 20G was too much, and the 10G left me wanting more, and this tank has more forward and backward depth than a standard 10G, which would make scaping easier. the 10G i was using, has been turned into a sump.

picture break:

This is the tank as of writing this post. Jan 27, 2019

This tank currently is sitting atop of a Seapora Empress stand, jerry-rigged to accept plumbing and a sump. if anyone is wondering, i would absolutely NOT recommend the Empress stand, more on this later.

Equipment -
Tank - 14G YiDing Low iron
Sump - DIY 10G sump with DIY glass baffle
Overflow - Eshopps Eclipse S
Filter - DIY socker holder + 200 micron mesh socks
Skimmer - RDC 150 Hang on skimmer
ATO - ancient washing detergent bottle gravity feeding into float valve
Return pump - Jebao DCP-3000
Wavemakers - 2 x Jebao SW-2
Light - Micmol Aqua Mini 60W
Algae deterrent - Flipper Nano + Vertex Simplex
Salt - Reef Crystsals (WANT TO CHANGE TO FRITZ RPM FOR PARAMETERS)
Dosing - Reefsupplies generic 2 part (STILL IN PROGRESS)
Dosing pump - Jebao DP-4 (NOT IMPLEMENTED YET)
Photography - Huawei G8 with orange acrylic piece.

Testing -
Salinity - Generic refractometer from Amazon with Brightwell calibration fluid.
Alk - RedSea Foundation Pro
- Hanna Alk egg
Cal - RedSea Foundation Pro
- Hanna Cal egg
Mag - RedSea Foundation Pro
NO3 - Salifert
PO4 - Salifert

Routine -
Feed livestock every day around 7-10pm
Terrorize Algae every other day or as they become ballsy and show their faces
Clean pumps every month
Change filter sock every weekend
5G water change every weekend

Picture Break:

Cheapo BTA i found colored up nicely

Very nice , love it, comrade

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

Jomama said:
Very nice , love it, comrade

thanks, loving reefing

Philipgonzales3 · May 6, 2019

eggplantparrot said:
dang thats nuts, lol are ya checking the 'expenses' tab in Aquarium Note'? nearly gave myself a heart attack seeing the numbers lol

Haha yep. I'm at like $2500 and have to enter like $300 more in livestock when my new corals arrive Saturday lol.

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

Philipgonzales3 said:
Haha yep. I'm at like $2500 and have to enter like $300 more in livestock when my new corals arrive Saturday lol.

oh jeez ;Greedy

Philipgonzales3 · May 6, 2019

eggplantparrot said:
oh jeez ;Greedy

That's just in livestock. I'm sure I have another $2500 in equipment haha.

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

Philipgonzales3 said:
That's just in livestock. I'm sure I have another $2500 in equipment haha.

yea i was surprised how much i put into a 14G's equipment.

JoeTheReefer · May 6, 2019

I wish my nano’s would have looked this good

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

JoeTheReefer said:
I wish my nano’s would have looked this good

i just looked up galaxea corals and while mine does look like one, the skeleton structure looks different. but the more i look at it the more i am confused. i will put up a skeleton picture when it is retracted, maybe then we can be sure

JoeTheReefer · May 6, 2019

eggplantparrot said:
i just looked up galaxea corals and while mine does look like one, the skeleton structure looks different. but the more i look at it the more i am confused. i will put up a skeleton picture when it is retracted, maybe then we can be sure

I did not look at the full tank pic. I was wrong

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

ugh my Jebao is not so great, sometimes after dosing the pump head parts may rest in a position that doesnt make a perfect seal in the tube, and i get a leak. since my containers are a bit higher than my sump it leaks the additives into the tank

i have been switching between the dosing heads as i have the 4 head pump and i am only using two. which dosing pump do you guys recommend?

eggplantparrot · May 6, 2019

just realized I have not put up a photo of my sump setup

Philipgonzales3 · May 6, 2019

eggplantparrot said:
anyone got suggestions on what i can put in the mid-top left side of the tank to fill it in? my desk is on the right side of the tank so i focus much more on that side but the left looks too empty right now.

St. Thomas Mushroom, Sunset Monti, branching Duncan, some type of killer yellow acro, clove polyps. Just throwing out some ideas.