My version of patience... a build thread.

“Nothing good in this hobby happens quickly”.
--Bob Fenner (and a million other people)

June 6, 2011--
So, patience has never been a strong suit for me. As you may know, I am considering building a 180 gallon reef. My nature is to go big right from the start. We’re looking at probably 6 months or so to be ready for that kind of investment. So, as recommended by every source in the world, I’ve been researching and evaluating the feedback I’ve had on the “go big” spec sheet post and generally boning up on reef keeping. While I was doing that I happened across Haloist’s EcoPico build and read it from front to back (really nice work, btw). Then I started thinking, which is where things usually start to head South.
While I was thinking, I found some of the other really cool smaller builds and thought, “Hey, that’s totally sweet. We’re going to need a quarantine tank at some point anyhow so we should do something like THAT”! All of a sudden I’m on the other side of the equator; things have officially gone South!
After discussing with the wife that night, we agreed we should probably do it but it wouldn’t hurt to think about it a bit more.

June 10, 2011--
Say hello to my little friend.



I picked up the 29 gallon BioCube and matching stand stand Friday after work. I brought it home and hid it in the laundry room. I walked in the living room and handed the missus [/SIZE][/FONT]The Nano-Reef Handbook, by CR Brightwell.“Oh, what a nice surprise” said Mrs. Wolfe. (l told her I had a surprise for her earlier in the day). A few minutes later I said, “Hey, what’s that $%!+ all over the floor in the laundry room”? She went in and looked. There was a very loud shriek followed by her running out with a giant smile on her face. Surprise!

June 11, 2011—
At least I was smart enough not to get anything except for the BioCube and the stand. If I’d got all the accoutrements the wrath would’ve been severe (never deprive a female of an opportunity to go shopping 8)). So, since all we had was a terrarium and a pump at that point, we were off to the LFS at the crack of about 10:00 Saturday morning.
The shopping list:
· Live rock and sand – 20 pounds each
· 25 gallons of premixed water (don’t have an RO/DI unit yet so we’ll be using LFSW (is that even an abbreviation?) for the next week or two)
· Test kit and some pH buffer
· Thermometer
· Magnetic cleaner thingy
· Hydrometer

Home Depot happens to be on the way there, if you can imagine that, so we stopped in for three timers and a semi-gnarly power strip.

All told, we’re in for about $900.

I asked the LFS folks about adding the miniature protein skimmer, and they suggested that if we did a good job keeping up with water changes we probably didn’t need it. We figured it certainly wasn’t necessary while we were cycling so we decided not to spend the extra $50 for the time being.
We sloshed our way home with our provisions. Time to get it on!

The stand is assembled and in place. I verified it was level in both directions.






Thar she blows. All ready to go.


In goes the 20 Lbs of live sand.


Time to add some H2O!


I managed not to spill too much.


It's a little known fact, but if you stare at it, it will totally clear up faster.


Ok, close enough. Aquascaping time! ~6 Lbs of Fijian LR, ~14 Lbs aquascaped LR.


Here's what we ended up with...


Lot's of tunnels and stuff for the future inhabitants to swim through.



Any idea what this green stuff is? It's covering one side of a chunk of Fijian LR.



We threw a chunk of Tilapia in there to kick-start the Nitrogen cycle.

Water parameters:

Household thermostat: 72 F
Water temp: 78 F
Specific gravity: 1.024
pH: 8.6
Alkalinity: 8 dKH
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Phosphate: 0 ppm
Calcium: 380 ppm

Ok, so we're off and running. We're expecting to put a snail or two in there this coming weekend. Maybe even a hermit crab... Stay tuned for round two where the scores can REALLY change!

 

Congrats and nice setup. Two things to consider for future.

1. In your future build try doing the aquascape before adding sand and water to prevent a possible future rock slide. Depending on your stock list, some animals dig under the sand and may cause an avalanche so be ware.

2. I would wait until you cycle your tank before adding your clean up crew (cuc) because the ammonia or nitrite spike might kill them.

I'm strong to the finish cause I eats me spinach. I'm ReefBruh the reefing man. Toot Toot.

 

Good start and planning, I agree with Reefbruh's points.

The green stuff is a type of coralline algae called lithothamnion.

 

Ok, so my single greatest accomplishment this week was figuring out how to get pictures into the original thread. I'm smart!

Thanks to Reefbruh and 2in10 for the responses above... Based on your feedback we have made sure the LR that is on the bottom surface is well down into the sand and is actually making contact with the bottom of the tank.

Coralline algae is starting to populate the LR and the back of the tank nicely.






Unfortunately, the lithothamnion is starting to bleach out a bit.



I did a little research on it after it was identified by 2in10 and it seems this stuff likes deeper water and less light. We're going to add another chunk of LR today out in front on the sand bed (will ensure good contact w/ bottom) and move that piece of LR with the lithothamion on it to a lower light spot in hopes that we can help it survive. Pictures I've seen of mature ones are pretty cool, but it seems it doesn't generally do well in captivity.

The nitrate spike has definitely started. We're up to about 10-15 ppm at the moment, so will be exercising our patience muscles a bit longer.

This week's questions:

I have removed the filter cartridge (carbon/floss unit) for the time being thinking this will help w/ the cycle. Good idea?

Latest water parameters are:
Water temp: 76
pH: 8.8
SG: 1.025
Nitrate: 15
Phosphate: 0
Alkalinity: 6
Calcium: 340

What specific water parameters are critical for the lithothamion to survive?

pH is on the rise a little. It started out at 8.4. I figured it would go lower as the cycle continued. Is this normal behavior, or do we need to do something about this?

Concerning top-off and water change...

The water level has not dipped below the bottom of the trim, and the salinity is within spec. I'm thinking as long as those two things are cool it's not all that necessary to top-off. Yea or nay?

Also, from what I've read, it's not necessary or advised to do water changes during cycling. True/false?

Brown stuff on the sand... Coralline or diatoms? Good or bad?



Thanks all! I really appreciate the knowledge.

 

Brown stuff most likely is Diatoms considering the age of the tank and all the new equipment, sand, tank.... all adding silicates to the system that will be used up by the Diatoms.

A water change should come after the cycle is completed if you have no significant livestock IMO.

I have noticed with AIO the evaporation is best seen in the back compartments. If you are using a hydrometer it maybe less than accurate and you may want to double check the SG. I loose about 1/4 gallon a day in my AIO so I am a little surprised you have no evaporation going on.

I tend to leave the carbon and floss in place as it becomes colonized with beneficial bacteria as well.

The tank looks great.

 

Thanks Corailline, I was also very surprised by the lack of evaporation. Typically in Colorado it's so dry you can spill a glass of water and it'll evaporate before it hits the ground. I hadn't thought to check out the level in the return areas in back. I will definitely do so.

 

I am sorry I may have missed the type of lighting you are using on this tank, and is it always open top? Some have lids, open top should definitely see some evaporation going on.

Oh and I laughed at your little known fact " a tank clears faster if you watch it".

 

I'd defineatly recommend you get a skimmer, not the cheap airstone one. A good skimmer is the best investment you can make IMHO, you will notice the difference between skimmerful and skimmerless. Since you want to make this the best possible, the Tunze 9002 is absolutely your best bet. It may seem pricey but it'll make up for it. Also replace the stock filter with an inTank custom media basket/fuge combo or mediabasket/Tunze. Google inTank by stevieT, you should find it quick. 9002.Looking good!

 

wow very informative and clean, its always a good thing to take your time, expecially during the first crucial weeks of setup. and it looks like you are so i wish you luck.