Bonsai Cube Mixed Reef Build

[revhtree]

Sorry for the issues but nice build so far!

 

[thatsruff]

That’s a bummer man. Hope all goes well with plumbing fix. Have you considered running skimmerless? If you plan on weekly water changes, I would imagine that would be enough for nutrient export.

Thanks, hopefully I will be able to tweak the plumbing without too much trouble.

Yeah, I am certainly considering running skimmerless. I could expand the fuge into the skimmer zone too and almost double its size. The only other concern I have with running no skimmer; I will have a solid lid on the tank, so I was a little concerned with oxygen or lack thereof. I could always run an extra powerhead aimed at the surface in the sump, or run an air pump in there though. Those would both be significantly quieter than the skimmer.

 

[thatsruff]

Sorry for the issues but nice build so far!

Thanks Rev!

 

[thatsruff]

A few shots with my custom light hanger, need to bend the rod some more and trim it back still.

I might be able to cut the secondary drain pipe with a Dremel in place so I don't have to take it all apart. Here is hoping that works.

 

[jk_s124]

Thanks, hopefully I will be able to tweak the plumbing without too much trouble.

Yeah, I am certainly considering running skimmerless. I could expand the fuge into the skimmer zone too and almost double its size. The only other concern I have with running no skimmer; I will have a solid lid on the tank, so I was a little concerned with oxygen or lack thereof. I could always run an extra powerhead aimed at the surface in the sump, or run an air pump in there though. Those would both be significantly quieter than the skimmer.

+1 on the extra power head aimed at the top. Oxygen and extra flow. Just my opinion though. I like the light bracket. You might have mentioned before, but what kind of light is that?

 

[thatsruff]

+1 on the extra power head aimed at the top. Oxygen and extra flow. Just my opinion though. I like the light bracket. You might have mentioned before, but what kind of light is that?

Yeah I might try that route for a while and see if it is sufficient. There is always room for the skimmer at least and I could get a different one if needed.

It is a Reef Radiance Nano 60, its basically just a black box LED. We bought it back in ~2015 when we were thinking about setting up this tank the first time around but it never got used. The only concern I have with it is it is only on/off so it will have the same power through the day. But it will probably be just fine.

 

[thatsruff]

Got the shipment from IPSF and set up the quarantine tank!

I am going to go with h2o2 dips and observational quarantine for the fish, coral Rx pro and lugol's dips for coral.

I wasn't sure that I wanted everything in this shipment to be in my dt so it all went into qt. This is basically what will become my refugium.

The free leather is out and lovely already.

 

[thatsruff]

Got the shipment from IPSF and set up the quarantine tank!

I am going to go with h2o2 dips and observational quarantine for the fish, coral Rx pro and lugol's dips for coral.

I wasn't sure that I wanted everything in this shipment to be in my dt so it all went into qt. This is basically what will become my refugium.

The free leather is out and lovely already.

Sorry, pictures weren't loading before...

Why won't the dumb snails stay in the tank? Guess I have to make a lid for this tank too.

 

[thatsruff]

 

[thatsruff]

 

[thatsruff]

It's nice to have a bit of life, even though it isn't in the main tank yet...

 

[thatsruff]

Started cutting the secondary drain with the Dremel but my cut off wheels don't have a big enough diameter. I ordered some more that should do the trick.

Did some testing just to be sure nothing is way out of whack, everything seems fine for now, way early to be thinking too hard about numbers.

Alk: 7.2
Cal: 400
No3: 5
Po4: 0.47
PH: 8
Salty: 1.025

 

[thatsruff]

Sorta terrifying, but these should be big enough to get the rest of the way through the pipe.

 

[thatsruff]

Got the new plumbing together. It's a whisker higher than intended but hopefully it will work. Will clean out all the PVC dust and debris tomorrow and do a new test.

Had help identifying this snail (https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bumpy-green-snail-id.745158/post-7802044) only to find it the next morning having a snack, it will be relegated to the sump probably. I will be picking up a new clean up crew and macro algae from reef cleaners at some point soon.

 

[thatsruff]

Okay! New plumbing worked out well, just a very little hum from the return pump as you would expect. The drain bulkhead did have a bit of a leak on the external overflow side. I thought it was weird when I got the bulkheads that they only come with one rubber gasket. Most of them might not need rubber on the back but with the water in the overflow being over the bulkhead this one sure does, that fixed the leak.

After the plumbing test I cleaned up the PVC debris and cleared the tap water out with rodi.

Time to get it salty.

 

[thatsruff]

Woohoo!

 

[thatsruff]

The fan in the light is the loudest thing at the moment. Might have to see if I can get a quieter one in there.

 

[thatsruff]

Still a good bit of work to be done until it is fully operational but having it to this point feels good.

Lid, ato, wire cleanup, fuge light are top of the list now.

Well, I was thinking about going shopping too...

 

[thatsruff]

Took apart the light see if I can get a new fan in it.

 

[jk_s124]

Good luck with light man! Love the rock work! It’s hard to believe that tank is only 7.5 gallons .