Nick’s 10g

[DerekDun]

I ordered a lid from Top Lids a moment ago. I guess I didn’t realize how expensive the lid would be... I opted for a standard frame and single feeding door with a cutout for an Apex AFS because I will be picking up a used one Wednesday from a LFS.

Also, my Milwaukee digital refractometer and case will arrive tomorrow. It has definitely felt like Christmas lately.

It feels good to stockpile equipment for when I actually get some livestock added to the tank. I want to be prepared in every way possible before I bring home future inhabitants.

If you don’t mind me asking...what did they charge for the lid?

 

[nickkohrn]

If you don’t mind me asking...what did they charge for the lid?

No, I don’t mind at all.

The lid covers only the display of the tank (no rear chambers), which measures from the false wall to the front pane of glass, and between both side lanes of glass. The dimensions are 17 3/4” x 13 3/4”. It also includes a feeding hole cutout and a cutout for my automatic feeder. The total, shipped, was $165.99.

It’s definitely not on the cheap end. However, I am not handy, so making one on my own, that also looks good, would likely end up costing me more in mistakes. Also, I haven’t found many, if any, negative reviews about the product except for high shipping times from some.

If you are interested in getting a quote from them, I found that messaging them on Facebook was the quickest.

 

[DerekDun]

No, I don’t mind at all.

The lid covers only the display of the tank (no rear chambers), which measures from the false wall to the front pane of glass, and between both side lanes of glass. The dimensions are 17 3/4” x 13 3/4”. It also includes a feeding hole cutout and a cutout for my automatic feeder. The total, shipped, was $165.99.

It’s definitely not on the cheap end. However, I am not handy, so making one on my own, that also looks good, would likely end up costing me more in mistakes. Also, I haven’t found many, if any, negative reviews about the product except for high shipping times from some.

If you are interested in getting a quote from them, I found that messaging them on Facebook was the quickest.

Thanks, I already follow them on FB. I was just curious as I'll be buying the same exact tank. Just bought a brand new Ecotech 10wQd for 200 bucks this afternoon. Chipping away at it.

 

[nickkohrn]

I have been getting alerts from my Apex since I set it up regarding my pH level. The Apex shows my pH at 7.4, and I verified this against a test kit. I also tested my alkalinity, which is 12.3 dKH.

My water has been a little cloudy since I added salt to the water after leak-testing it. The salt that I used was two years old, and it was clumpy. I’m hoping that the salt is the cause of the issue. I’m going to get a new batch of salt today and perform a water-change to see if that starts to level things out. If it does, then I will continue with my fishless cycle; I’m on the first of two days that are strictly testing the water, so it shouldn’t impact the cycle much. I should be able to pick up on the third day by adding the recommended amount of ammonium chloride to the tank and verify that the ammonia and nitrite levels decrease within the specified 24-hour period.

 

[nickkohrn]

I went and picked up a bucket of Red Sea Coral Pro salt, and the pH of the mixing water is ~8.2. The previously-used salt must be the culprit of the low pH.

Should I do a single, large water-change, or would it be best to do a few smaller changes?

Keep in mind that I’m still in the cycling process, so there is nothing in the tank besides a growing population of bacteria. I’ve noticed that the low pH levels are seemingly making my rock dissolve. They appear to look much less smooth, for lack of better term; rather, they look rougher and as if the surface is dissolving.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I went and picked up a bucket of Red Sea Coral Pro salt, and the pH of the mixing water is ~8.2. The previously-used salt must be the culprit of the low pH.

Should I do a single, large water-change, or would it be best to do a few smaller changes?

Keep in mind that I’m still in the cycling process, so there is nothing in the tank besides a growing population of bacteria. I’ve noticed that the low pH levels are seemingly making my rock dissolve. They appear to look much less smooth, for lack of better term; rather, they look rougher and as if the surface is dissolving.

If you have no livestock, a full water change will not hurt your bacteria colony.

 

[nickkohrn]

If you have no livestock, a full water change will not hurt your bacteria colony.

Thanks! I figured that would be the advice, but I wanted confirmation. I don’t even mind if it stalls the cycle some because I will unlikely put anything in the tank until next month. I want to ensure that I have a nice bacteria population being fed ammonium chloride for a month, a nice biofilm, and I will be keeping the lights off for a solid month to prevent algae grabbing hold while the biofilm is being created.

 

[nickkohrn]

I did a 50% water change the other day, but my pH was still sitting at 7.4 shortly after. I posted in the chemistry board, and I got some sound advice. I’m going to let the cycle rude out without chasing pH right now. There should only be a few days left in the cycle; ammonia is decreasing quickly and nitrite is undetectable.

I opened my windows today to see if it would make a difference, and my pH is the highest it has been yet, and it keeps climbing. Unfortunately, it’s too hot to leave them open all day, every day. I also don’t have a skimmer. Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to bring in air from outside, through the wall, because I live in an apartment; they would frown on drilling through the wall.

In the meantime, I’ll be researching other options.

 

[nickkohrn]

I’ve been checking my water daily, and the cycle is nearing its end. However, my pH has been hovering around 7.35. It rises after some time of having the windows open, but I can’t keep them open all the time. Hopefully this will start to fix itself within the next month, after the cycle has completed. I won’t be adding any livestock until I have a steady, higher pH.

 

[Deiblerj]

Hey man, any updates on the tank?

 

[nickkohrn]

Hey man, any updates on the tank?

I did a water test this morning. Ammonia is at 0, and nitrite is at 0.25. I’ll test again tomorrow and dose ammonia to another 2ppm. I will repeat that until I am able to dose ammonia to 2ppm and have it read 0 within 24 hours. It shouldn’t be much longer; I’d say within a week or so.

I’m still having pH issues. It seems to hover around 7.3-7.4, but it rises when the windows are open. However, I’m not able to leave them open all day, every day. I don’t have a skimmer, and if I did, I wouldn’t be able to run an air hose outside for the intake because we live in an apartment; they wouldn’t like me drilling through any walls. I need to find a way to raise pH and keep it steady.

I also have a bacterial bloom, which has clouded the water for a couple of weeks now. I need to figure out how to get that cleared up. I may have to temporarily run a UV sterilizer, but I’m hoping not to.

 

[Christian Racey]

Great looking tank man.
Started a similar setup that has been going for a month now! Red Sea MAX Nano. Same footprint it seems with similar features!
Any reasoning for 2 MP10's versus 1? Or just preference on running a master/slave setup?
As for your cable management, i built out a customer shelf with false wall to contain the cables,apex, power supplys and backup battery. Just have to get my apex all wired up now
see below picture

Sweet build none the less man!

 

[Deiblerj]

Great looking tank man.
Started a similar setup that has been going for a month now! Red Sea MAX Nano. Same footprint it seems with similar features!
Any reasoning for 2 MP10's versus 1? Or just preference on running a master/slave setup?
As for your cable management, i built out a customer shelf with false wall to contain the cables,apex, power supplys and backup battery. Just have to get my apex all wired up now
see below picture

Sweet build none the less man!

That’s pretty sweet...

Is that an iPad mini?

 

[Christian Racey]

Amazon fire 7 tablet! Got it on sale during Black Friday for 25 bucks! 50 new.
Using it as a controller for the apex

 

[nickkohrn]

Your setup looks really nice and clean!

Any reasoning for 2 MP10's versus 1? Or just preference on running a master/slave setup?

I chose to go with two because I have one on Reef Crest and the other is on anti-sync. I wanted more turbulent flow throughout the tank rather than a more uniform direction. As they ramp up and slow down, the flow switches directions for a couple of minutes at a time, and it does this all day. The flow will come from the left for a bit and then from the right for a bit before repeating. I get really nice flow patterns from having both.

 

[Christian Racey]

Thanks buddy!

Gotcha! as long as it works right! lol

 

[TatorTaco]

I seem to be in a similar situation as you. I am planning to receive/trade for a 10G Fusion. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted a 20G instead. As luck would have it, I'll be picking up a 20G the day after I get my 10G.

What do you plan to do with your 10G now? Frag tank? QT tank? I already know I can't afford 2 fully stocked tanks at once, so I want to be greedy and keep 2 tanks. lol.

 

[nickkohrn]

I seem to be in a similar situation as you. I am planning to receive/trade for a 10G Fusion. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted a 20G instead. As luck would have it, I'll be picking up a 20G the day after I get my 10G.

What do you plan to do with your 10G now? Frag tank? QT tank? I already know I can't afford 2 fully stocked tanks at once, so I want to be greedy and keep 2 tanks. lol.

I’ll be keeping it as a QT and hospital tank. It’s small enough to set up and tear down very quickly.

 

[nickkohrn]

Well, after battling cloudy water for a week, which was likely silt from the sand that I added, I tore the tank down today and got rid of the sand. Since the tank is still going through the initial nitrogen cycle, I decided to clean out the tank. There was a surprising amount of crap in the water; it was likely a result of adding sand, carbon, and Caribsea’s BioMagnet to cure the cloudiness, which didn’t happen. I took the chance to paint the bottom of the tank white, which I hope will look good. If it doesn’t, then I’ll just deal with it because I’m over sand at this point.

I’ll be adding photos either tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s a link to the thread where I discuss my cloudy water:

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/Cloudy-Cycle-(3-Weeks).444091/

 

[nickkohrn]

Life support equipment in Sterilite tub:

Newly-painted bottom: