Build That Cube!!! 40G First Reef Build!

[zcedric]

Looking good!

I would let the lights off. Just adds algea.

 

[Stpeteshawn]

Looks great so far. Redoing my sump area in a week or so on my 60 cube, this was great inspiration! Keep it up.

 

[MSOEME2009]

Moved my fuge light. Thought I would post this since it looked cool. I will have to address some of the light bleed so I don't grow algae at night in the DT; looks cool though...



Couldn't add any more ammonia today. Was sitting around 1.2-1.4; down from 2+ on Saturday night.

FYI if anyone gets a new wet side for their vortech pumps, you'll need to break it in. I put it on and was disappointed because it was LOUD. However, after looking around, you need to run it at low for a bit (they say week+); mine only took hours. I gradually increased it after a few hours. Now it's fine.

However the dry side has a slight noise, but only because the tank is 6' from me in a silent room. I believe it's from the previous owner running an unbalanced wet side which caused the bearings to wear slightly unevenly inside the dry.

 

[Stpeteshawn]

What are your thoughts on how to stop the light bleed?

 

[MSOEME2009]

I used some extra 2' x 2' closed cell EVA foam mats (2x2 exercise mats) I had laying around. They don't absorb water and are non-toxic.

Trimmed them up, and used one to cover the entire bottom of the tank since it's rim supported. I then cut one to cover the entire back opening with a wire cutout. No more light. Still have to trim the back one.

Once the fuge is running, I'll have to monitor the temps to see if I need to add a small PC fan to the case if it gets too hot.

 

[najer]

I used some extra 2' x 2' closed cell EVA foam mats (2x2 exercise mats) I had laying around. They don't absorb water and are non-toxic.

Trimmed them up, and used one to cover the entire bottom of the tank since it's rim supported. I then cut one to cover the entire back opening with a wire cutout. No more light. Still have to trim the back one.

Once the fuge is running, I'll have to monitor the temps to see if I need to add a small PC fan to the case if it gets too hot.

It will get humid, do ventilation of some sort, IMO.

 

[Stpeteshawn]

Any link to the foam used? Are you going to Black out the back of the tank?

I thought about trying to make a “canopy” for the fuge section. Still not sure of the material I’d use. The back of my stand is open too but wanted to keep it like that for the venting purposes.

I like to see someone building something so similar. Helps so much!

 

[MSOEME2009]

https://www.amazon.com/We-Sell-Mats...?srs=2603606011&ie=UTF8&qid=1524601523&sr=8-5

We have these in both my exercise room and my son's play room. His cover the entire room, while mine were just a small area so I had some extra.

I will probably use one of my extra 12V fans laying around from old PCs. I had made a media cabinet fan I'll re purpose.

I think I might leave it open for now. I put some black window cling on the back yesterday and looked at it and wasn't overly impressed. The sandy colored walls look fine at the moment; the only thing is that the vortech pumps would be invisible. If I do black it out, I will do paint. There were some bubbles in the cling and doesn't make for a uniform appearance.

On tank news I still didn't have a decrease in ammonia. Still sitting in the 1.5-2.0 range; pH is down to 7.8 from the initial fill of 8.1, but could be stale house AC air. Temp is 77.6.

I went to the local LFS today and got some more bacteria (different brand) and seeded it some more. I know something is in there because I adjusted my flex return line and there was a nice slimy bio-film on it.

https://www.aqualifesupport.com/alssimages/media/AL834-1483804069.pdf

Looks like they did a test with their brand (Aqualife Activate) vs Dr. Tims One and Only. We will try and see! From initial dose, the Aqualife was much "cloudier" then the Dr. Tims.

I also turned the skimmer on, ***. Foam everywhere; WET WET foam literally would fill the cup in 30 seconds. Skimmer says 8-10" and my chamber is 9.5". However I can tell there is "stuff" in the water because the skim is not clear and when I initially turned it on it threw nasty in the water.

I DIY'd a stand out of some egg crate I had and raised it up another 1" and raised the adjustment to MAX (o-ring literally at bottom of adjustment cup). It's now not throwing anymore skim into the cup, but this can't be right.

I ended up turning it off though once I threw in the additional bacteria.

Not sure I I want to keep the Aquamaxx WS-1 or move to something different. It's probably user error because the skimmer has great reviews. and is built well.

Otherwise I'd look at getting:

Reef Octopus 110SSS
Eshopps S-120
Skimz SN127

I was originally leaning Skimz before I found the WS-1 but there are few reviews and people are not a fan of the motors. The Eshopps is nice with the adjustable gate but it's 300... RO is a well known brand but wasn't sure about well it adjusts.

I'm more focused on getting this ammonia moving...

 

[MSOEME2009]

Cleaned up and finished the inside now.

I added a small exhaust fan too. I will have my RK set up to turn this on: 1) During fuge light 2) During high temp alarm 3) Once an hour for a short period to purge humidity (hopefully it can do this w/RKL)

I simply used a 12V power supply I had laying in my bin of electronic extras and an old PC fan. Cut wires, used heat shrink (no nuts or tape because of potential water exposure), mounted fan.

Throws a lot of good air (even with cabinet door closed because of all the leakage out the front as you can see from my top photos of when the light is on.

 

[MSOEME2009]

I got sick of sitting with my windows closed in my office.... And I mean my entire wall is windows... As you can tell, I like (& have) these mats...

Don't mind my ugly bucket while I figure out how best to hide it.



Made a stand for the skimmer out of some PVC pipe, nylon screws I had, and a piece of HDPE marine board I had sitting around from one of my amp mounts for the boat.

Cut board to size, de-burred, added chamfers for fun, drilled holes for nylon screws, inserted so the end was flush with top of board and slipped the PVC right over the bolt. Bolt holds it in place and centers the PVC as the OD of the screw head is the ID of the PVC. If I end up switching skimmers, I can swap out PVC spools.



Set water level in this sump is 9.5"; stand is around 2-1/4". Recommended water height is 8-10" on this skimmer. Maybe when it's loaded...

FYI don't dose before coffee. I found myself putting 8-10 drops of refractometer calibration solution into the tank. Thought it was bacteria... ;Facepalm Hopefully it's just saltwater, I tried finding an SDS sheet online on the solution (for any manufacturer) and couldn't find anything. If I called, they'd have to have one by law. Not sure how no one publishes this...

Next up while it's cycling is to cut another piece of HDPE to cover the sump area with cut-outs for pipe/skimmer to prevent fuge light from growing things in other places.

 

[MSOEME2009]

Went to LFS and picked up some chaeto. Wanted to try algae barn but have been sold out. Got a fist size but weeded it to a golf ball size.

Had a few pods and bristle worms. Didn’t find any flats or aptaisa. I’m not experienced to tell the difference between bad algae or old chaeto. Did a freshwater dip in RODI.

Put in the fuge and... sank to the bottom and sat there. Real exciting. Knowing that the “tumble” is what I want I had an extra sicce nano 1000 I put in the fuge. I put it in the bottom on the fuge drain side so there is a circular flow pattern. Will probably keep a more accurate temperature and less detritus now.

Nice tumble now.

 

[MSOEME2009]

So Chaeto and marinepure don't mix. It gets stuck. Chaeto and power heads don't mix. It gets stuck. Chaeto and filter floss don't mix. It gets stuck.

Chaeto and egg crate mix. No more stuck Chaeto.

 

[MSOEME2009]

Finally got to dose some additional ammonia back to 2 PPM! Dropped to 1.o PPM, nitrate 0, nitrite 0.

Found a new nutrient export method!

Excess Nutrients:



Export:

 

[Pntbll687]

I'm not sure how important the "tumble" of cheato is.

Personally, mine barely moves, it has grown to fill a whole chamber of my sump without moving. Now, mine is in the drain section, so water flow through it is pretty decent, might produce the same effect.

 

[MSOEME2009]

Finished the HDPE lid. I used a plexiglass blade made by Bosch T102BF and cut like butter (also have variable speed Bosch jig saw).

Looks much better.

Might start playing the waiting game now. Not sure what else there is to tinker with. I was thinking of bringing in a fresh air line for the skimmer since our house is tight. However I can’t get in the attic with the family asleep lol.

 

[MSOEME2009]

Oh look more goodies

 

[MSOEME2009]

This cycle is slowwww... not sure how people can say they've cycled a tank in days. I assume this will take a month at this rate.

Got bored. Painted the back with an oil based enamel. I also painted the underside of the tank to eliminate all light bleed from the fuge where the bulkheads are and there is no foam. Thank goodness for warm weather. FYI don't paint this stuff in your house without ventilation. Luckily my office has it's own bathroom. I have a fan in that window exhausting and my office window open with another fan going on the supply side + stand fan going. Otherwise I'd be unconscious.

I was a little concerned if the VOCs would get into the water, but after doing some reading they're not (not very) soluble. Just nauseating.

Good side effect though, with windows closed in house pH ~7.8 with windows open pH ~8.0



Blends together now. Power heads will be hidden once I let it cure.

Have to go out of town this week. Only thing to do is make sure ATO is full and the rest is automatic. Chaeto seems to be doing OK. Fuge is lit for 5 hours a night. I don't want to burn it up and there really shouldn't be any nutrients in the tank.

I tested water again today. ~2 ppm ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, 0 phosphate. I will only test for ammonia when I get back. If this chaeto stays alive, I assume it'll gobble up any NO3/PO4. I wonder if the ammonium is feeding this chaeto? Unfortunately I don't (yet) have a scale to measure the mass. Otherwise I would have done a before/after weight.

 

[Stpeteshawn]

How are you planning on doing the kalk? In ATO reservoir or a reactor?

 

[MSOEME2009]

At the moment with the ATO. We will see because my Tunze never sits flat in my RODI container.

 

[ranchhand02]

Nice set up. I noticed you have an engineering degree in your office. What did you get your degree in?