Non-Garbage Picked 210 Journal

[DLBerlin]

I did the stepladder for 3 years with the 300g.
I love my catwalk, but it wouldn't work as well without the vaulted ceiling. You are welcome to stop by when the tank is ready and see what goodies I have. Lots of stuff in the sump yet. Same deal as last time

[tekknoschtev]

Well, if the tests are to be believed, it would seem as though the initial part of the cycle is under way. According to the test results my mom has been sending me, ammonia has spiked and is on the decline. Next up, nitrites. Oooo, chemistry is fun (not really but when it means things are progressing, then it's fun).

There's not much else to report as far as updates other than my dad and I hope to be able to knock out the structure and skin of the canopy this weekend but that's all dependent upon how long we're at my sister's graduation (done with high school!) ceremony takes and whether or not the Wings can pull off the win tonight - don't want to be rushing through to catch the game Saturday if they don't manage to pull it off tonight. Then we just have to tack on the molding to finish the aesthetics up.

Its been nerve wracking though. We can't keep the thought of the tank splitting a seam out of our minds, despite having repeatedly checked, rechecked, and re-rechecked the level of the tank. Its as spot on as we can get with an analog level, so we're going to have to rely on that - but I think each day it survives without dumping its contents on the living room floor that we become more comfortable and trust worthy of its long-term survival.

[tekknoschtev]

As expected, we know nothing about the state of the cycle even after third party testing and analysis. The first test came up negative amonia which was weird, but the second test showed some. With the knowledge that we are starting with cured live rock I'm not expecting a massive cycle. We're also not rushing things, in case that crossed anyone's mine, we're just curious as to where we're at. Right now there's a small blip in the ammonia (between 0 and 0.5) no nitrite and <5 nitrate. I suspect we're just seeing the beginning blip.

[John]

Wait till after the Diatom bloom, if the test results aren't showing anything, then test after the bloom has passed.

[tekknoschtev]

Another weekend of busting butt getting things done on this tank. Were it not for my mom and pop, I think it'd still be an empty tank. We've had our differences along the construction, but, we're getting there and overall we're all pleased with the progress.

Today, we built the canopy and installed some of the lighting. Unfortunately, the IceCap 430 seems to have been damaged due to the water from the previous two tanks leaking/pouring over it. It fires for a second or two, then shuts off. Or, it'll fire one bulb but not the other and then shut down. Fortunately for us, friends of the family happened to have a tank they broke down years ago, and still had a box with two ballasts and end caps and some bulbs. Disaster Averted.



What you see is the structure of the canopy. We have yet to cut the birch skin to attach to it. We also have a call in for some custom doors for the canopy so hopefully it'll be accessible. Currently there are two 3' VHO .03 Actinic bulbs, and two 400W 10K halides. There's going to be a third 400W halide in the middle, once I find a spider reflector for it (I have a crappy aluminum reflector that I DIYed years ago). Tomorrow (I hope) we'll get the birch skin cut so that during the week they can be stained and installed.





Mmm! Look at all that chaetomorpha!



And here's a side shot. Note the cute plastic nemo that managed to find its way into the tank

We're well into the diatom bloom, and I saw an aterina starfish in the sump today We're getting there! WE'RE FINALLY GETTING THERE! Even though we've done this before, its so exciting to finally be getting towards the point where we can add fish back. I suspect that we won't be able to have corals or fish in the tank prior to my sister's graduation party next weekend, but, everyone is prepared for that given that we don't want to rush things too much.

[Poseidon]

Good work! It is an excellent beginning that is for sure. Have you decided what you are going to do for flow in the tank? Seio's, Tunze's, maximods?

[tekknoschtev]

We're still not 100% sure. I've been eyeing a pair of Karolia 4s for the tank, in addition to the Seio 2600. I'd love to do a closed loop, but its really not feasible with the current setup. So its still up in the air.

I am also pondering a surge device as well.

[fishgeek88]

Lookin good!

[Poseidon]

Originally Posted by tekknoschtev

We're still not 100% sure. I've been eyeing a pair of Karolia 4s for the tank, in addition to the Seio 2600. I'd love to do a closed loop, but its really not feasible with the current setup. So its still up in the air.

I am also pondering a surge device as well.

I know that these cost a FORTUNE, but look at the new Vortech. The magnet on the wet side is encased in what I think is acrylic, and the new controller features are SUPER cool, night mode, feeding mode, reefcrest... just to name a few.

1 Vortech puts out more then a pair of Hydor 4's, and you get the wave motion too. For a tank of that size, and considering what will eventually be invested in time and money, I think making a considerable purchase on flow makes sense. Whether you choose Tunze, or Vortech, I think you owe it to yourself, and the tank to not go cheap here. I think there are other spots that you may be able to save a few bucks, but Flow, lighting, and skimmer, are the ones I think are the most important.

[tekknoschtev]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

I know that these cost a FORTUNE, but look at the new Vortech. The magnet on the wet side is encased in what I think is acrylic, and the new controller features are SUPER cool, night mode, feeding mode, reefcrest... just to name a few.

1 Vortech puts out more then a pair of Hydor 4's, and you get the wave motion too. For a tank of that size, and considering what will eventually be invested in time and money, I think making a considerable purchase on flow makes sense. Whether you choose Tunze, or Vortech, I think you owe it to yourself, and the tank to not go cheap here. I think there are other spots that you may be able to save a few bucks, but Flow, lighting, and skimmer, are the ones I think are the most important.

Unless something has changed, the reason we're opting against the vortech is that it mounts on the side for flow. Three sides of the tank are visible, and as such we want to keep the sides clear of any equipment when possible. I figured with the magnet mounts, we could get two Karolia 4s ( ~$100 total cost) and position them in a way that we can get better flow in various parts of the tank than if we had one bigger flow device. Trust me, I agree with your statement about not skimping on flow or lighting, but I didn't feel like two Karolia 4s was "skimping." Then again, under ideal circumstances that plus the Seio and return only gives us ~ 26x turnover. With the surge device added in it would be better, but my goal was somewhere in the 30-40x range.

I am open to suggestions, though. Its just that we have some requirements which we really don't want to sacrifice or compromise.

My original intention was to go with maxi-mods, but I haven't been successful at making them quiet enough. That's one of the benefits of this new setup - the loudest part is the metal halide ballasts, and those are going to be tucked into the stand so the tank will be pretty quiet once its done. Putting the canopy on pretty much silenced everything - it was amazing.

[Detroit_306]

love love love my Koralia's, Kee's has them at a very reasonable price as well

[Poseidon]

I was concerned about that too Steve, but my 1 Vortech moves way more water at a much wider rate, then my 2 Tunze's could. The flow is also wider then it was from my Tunze 6060. Couple this with the wave action, and it is a hard pump to beat.

Comparing the Vortech to the Koralia pumps is not a fair comparison for Hydor. The Vortech prop is EASY twice the size as the ones on the 4, and the flow from the hydor is MUCH more concentrated. (Even though it is wider then a traditional powerhead.) When my magnet went bad on my Vortech I used a pair of hydor 4 for flow, and the 2 of them were no where near what I get from the vortech. It is hard to explain, but I have an "undertow" flow going on that I never had before, and even though the pump is not "aimable" it gets the water moving all over, which is the whole point.

The hydors are good, and I may have been being a little harsh when I called them cheap, but they are not in the same league as the Vortech or controlled Tunze pumps.

[Kenbow19]

I would guess from the 400 watt halides you plan to grow more than softies, if so you will need lots more flow than the K-4s and a Seio will provide, there are other options like, sure-flow maxi-mods, and seeing that Tunze is coming out with new pumps and multi-controllers you may be able to pick up some older models at good prices. I have a 180 with a Iwaki rlt 70 for return a Dart on a closed loop and 2 Tunze 6100's and i still need more flow.

[tekknoschtev]

Originally Posted by Kenbow19

I would guess from the 400 watt halides you plan to grow more than softies, if so you will need lots more flow than the K-4s and a Seio will provide, there are other options like, sure-flow maxi-mods, and seeing that Tunze is coming out with new pumps and multi-controllers you may be able to pick up some older models at good prices. I have a 180 with a Iwaki rlt 70 for return a Dart on a closed loop and 2 Tunze 6100's and i still need more flow.

Unfortunately, the light amounts don't indicate our plans exactly. I'd love to be able to take care of high light demanding corals, but the truth is, we got a great deal on the 400W lights before we setup the 150 even, and don't have the $$$ to downgrade to 250s (I'd love to downgrade to 250s as we don't have that many light demanding creatures).

Originally Posted by Poseidon

The hydors are good, and I may have been being a little harsh when I called them cheap, but they are not in the same league as the Vortech or controlled Tunze pumps.

Hopefully I didn't come off with exactly the opposite impression. I know Tunzes and the Vortechs are in a different category of flow devices all together, its just that swallowing $300-400 for a new flow device is out of the question at this point. We had a hard enough time justifying the insane decision to purchase the 210 instead of just calling it quits. Yes, I want to do this right, no, I don't want to spend that kind of money. I'll keep my eyes open on used equipment market, maybe pick up some older Tunze Streams for cheap, or something.

When you say you were originally concerned about the vortech's location, does that mean you put it on the back? It may be me just being stubborn, but I refuse to put any equipment on the sides of the tank - having three sides viewable is something I'm glad we have, and I'd hate to ruin it with a giant black disc in the middle. Not that the sides are the main viewing points, but they do get seen by people entering the house and can be seen clearly from the dining room.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[Poseidon]

No, you didn't come off harsh.

I did mount the pump on the side, as I don't share your objection. I found the side away from "high side" to be ideal for water circulation. (Form almost always follows function for me.) The side mounting allows me to run the pump wide open, in Reef Crest mode, where as mounting on the back would not. Moving 3000 GPH from a single point in a 4 ft tank, is quite the feat on its own!

I can't run the pump wide open in a constant stream without a sandstorm though, but that is another advantage to the wave mode. I also like the new night mode, every night at 9:30, the pump reduces output by 50%, so at the points where the pump is at 100% during daytime, after 9:30 those same points are reduced to 50%, that is pretty cool! The new version also senses when the halves become separated, and cuts the power.

If I had not sold enough frags to fully fund the purchase of the pump, I never would have bought it, as a matter of fact, I blame "Alwaysfishin" for putting the idea in my head. All that being said though, now that I have one, I am convinced that it is the best thing for my tank, and I will recommend them to others until something else changes my mind! I am sure that Tunze's with a controller are just as effective, I just have not used those myself.