ZachP's 20 gallon build

Branespikin · Dec 1, 2016

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/mp10w-nanobox-dual.276393/

Paul87 · Dec 1, 2016

ZachP said:
Wow if that picture is the actual one for sale it looks awesome! Has a ton of red on it. Do you know or have experience with the company selling it?

Not personally, but they do post some nice photos of good looking livestock. Appears to be a decent company to me. They are pretty cool little fish.

NakiFantaki · Dec 1, 2016

Sure!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/nakifantakis-nuvo-20-first-time-reef-tank.274017/

So far it's been quite boring with lots of pics of water tests. Lol. I use i as a journal.

Kmore1219 · Dec 3, 2016

Got a nuvo 20 going on myself as well, love it, actually just bought a prime for it since I got some new corals that I really want to have under some good lighting. Definitely going to follow you on this.

ZachP · Dec 3, 2016

Kmore1219 said:
Got a nuvo 20 going on myself as well, love it, actually just bought a prime for it since I got some new corals that I really want to have under some good lighting. Definitely going to follow you on this.

Glad to hear your following along! It does seem like a lot of people are going with the prime

ZachP · Dec 3, 2016

So my cycle is complete now and I was planning on putting in a fish tomorrow. Buuuut unfortunately I picked up some side work for extra cash and I'll be working most this weekend so no time to do my water changes until Sunday. Good news is I will now have money for the nanobox dual light that I want!

ZachP · Dec 3, 2016

Ok kind of frustrated right now. I thought I was cycled but I tested again tonight before doing a water change to make sure. Nope still have between .1 and .2 ppm nitrites. Why I'm frustrated is because it's seems no matter how much ammonia I've dosed nitrites won't drop below that level. I watched the nitrite spike then drop over a week ago and I've continued dosing to 2ppm of ammonia then check 24 hours later. Every time ammonia is 0, nitrite is .1-.2, and nitrates are very high. The other night I dosed to 3ppm of ammonia and nitrites still went to .1-.2. Last night I dosed to only .8-1 ppm of ammonia and nitrites are .1-.2 more then 24 hours later. How can they drop to .1-.2 in 24 hours after dosing 3ppm of ammonia then drop to the exact same number after only .8-1 ppm ammonia. Sorry for the long rant I'm just confused [emoji52] I've cycled tanks in the past and never had this happen. Nitrites spiked then started dropping like normal but just got stuck at .1-.2 for almost 2 weeks now. Any input would be much appreciated

nashvillian · Dec 3, 2016

Live aquaria has a waspfish in WYSIWYG.

ZachP · Dec 3, 2016

nashvillian said:
Live aquaria has a waspfish in WYSIWYG.

I saw that cockatoo waspfish on there. I'm looking for a Redfin though. But thanks for letting me know!

ZachP · Dec 5, 2016

So after being frustrated with nitrites I just kept dosing ammonia and now they are both dropping to 0 within 24 hours. Still kind of confused why nitrites just stalled at .2 for so long but I guess waiting it out worked. So today I'll get my nitrates down to a reasonable level then I'll be adding the first fish soon!

ZachP · Dec 5, 2016

Ok so I did a big water change and got nitrates down to 15-20ppm, I'll do another one tomorrow to get them down a little more. But a couple hours after the water change when I tested I had a nitrite reading of .2 again. So I tested 3 more times back to back and every time I got a reading of between 0 and .2 so I tested some pre mixed saltwater and got .1-.2 then tested some ro water and got .2. I'm pretty sure the ro doesn't have nitrites in it so I'm thinking my test kit is messed up. Ammonia and nitrates work fine and I can replicate the test results. Nitrites are different every time I test. Tomorrow I'll have the lfs test the water for me and maybe pick up a different test kit and see

ZachP · Dec 6, 2016

Well tomorrow I'll drive to a couple stores and look for the first fish, hopefully I can find the one I want [emoji3]

Unfortunately my phone plus LEDs and shimmer = horrible pictures that look way more blue then it really is. Hopefully new phone + new lights will help a little bit here shortly

Daniel@R2R · Dec 6, 2016

ZachP said:
Well tomorrow I'll drive to a couple stores and look for the first fish, hopefully I can find the one I want [emoji3]

Unfortunately my phone plus LEDs and shimmer = horrible pictures that look way more blue then it really is. Hopefully new phone + new lights will help a little bit here shortly

That pic honestly looks pretty good! I like the scape a lot. What phone are you using?

ZachP · Dec 6, 2016

mdbannister said:
That pic honestly looks pretty good! I like the scape a lot. What phone are you using?

Thank you, I tried haha. I have an iPhone 6s. Soon I'm going to get the iPhone 7, has a much better camera and then I can take cool underwater pictures

ZachP · Dec 7, 2016

Well it's official, I ordered some new lights! [emoji3] Hopefully they are as good as expected. I got the Nanobox Dual Plus M

revhtree · Dec 7, 2016

Very nice!

ZachP · Dec 7, 2016

Ok ok ok I lied, I didn't get any fish today because I ended up having a job to do. Maybe tomorrow

ZachP · Dec 7, 2016

Now that I ordered those lights I'm starting to get curious on what to run them on. What percentages and timing schedule? I've never had leds that need to be controlled before so this is new to me. Any suggestions on where to start?