R2R - Bottyfish 60 gallon rimless

[Bottyfish]

 

[Bottyfish]

Bunch of goodies came in the mail today! ;Smilie

 

[Bottyfish]

So instead of dropping a fortune on an MP40, and the fact that my current MP10 doesn't hold well on the 1/2" glass (yes it says this on their site). It will go back on my other nano tank.

I decided to try out the Jebao PP 15 as a value powerhead wave maker. This thing can move water... . I have it on the lowest setting, should have got the PP8 or even 4.

Besides that, it is really quiet which meets my needs since the tank is in the living room. I would say it makes less noise than my MP. I'll post a video later.

Quality wise, despite what some have said, I don't see a huge drop compared to the eco tech. The magnets are stronger. But the controller, yes the quality is not as high as the eco tech but well worth it for what you pay imo.

I have the same complaint as I do for the cross flow. The cable from the powerhead to the controller is too short.

Currently I have it set on ripple mode. This combined with my crossflow, I don't think I will have any flow issues or dead spots in my tank. Especially with the floating reefscape. I may even move this to my larger tank and downgrade as it is really powerful and I am under utilizing it.

 

[Bottyfish]

Glass scraper.

I've used the typical entry level mag floats in the past but had the issue of sand getting caught in between the velcro pads the clean the glass. As I brought the scrapper near the sand bed, sand would always get caught in there and it wasn't an efficient way to clean. I'd had to compliment it with long scrappers or get a blade and reach in the tank.

I don't want anything like that happening with this tank.

Looks like the two popular models out there are the flipper and the Tunze care magnet.

My thoughts... Though I like the idea of the flipper, it seems to me as just an extra step from what I can see the Tunze can accomplish without the need to flip. I also saw a drawback in that the blade is only one size. Where as the Tunze, comes with a larger and small side.

For those reasons I went with the Tunze. I tried it out and so far I like it! But both seem like good products and both would have been a big step up from the mag floats.

I've seen some complaints that the Tunze doesn't float and people had trouble switching sides on their tanks. I didn't have that issue, pretty easy to just move the magnet to the new side and the scraper just follows... The magnets are strong.

 

[Bottyfish]

TANK CYCLE STARTED!!!

Wohoo!

 

[Bottyfish]

So I've always cycled a tank without using livestock.

When I first started the hobby, I did the shrimp in a mesh bag route but through my various setups became a firm believer of using pure ammonia. You know what and how much to put in your tank, and you have control.

There is a great article in our R2R article section on cycling an aquarium if anyone wants more details. It mentions the use of ammonia chloride which is a powder form. I used ammonia hydroxide which is a liquid form and will accomplish the same thing.

Put my tank to 2ppm and now the wait begins...

I did move over some rocks from one of my established tanks and put those in my sump.

#promotefishlesstankcyle

MSDS to make sure no other ingredients are added.

 

[Bottyfish]

Added a few pieces of LR from my other tank's sumps. ;Smug

 

[Bottyfish]

Here's a video of my tank with the Jebao PP15 on lowest ripple wave setting. Had it running for a while and the setting is just enough that the waves do not go over the rim of the tank. ;Woot

 

[Bottyfish]

 

[Bottyfish]

lol was watching this and realized I caught the part where I tripped over my son's Lego train set at the end. ;Dead;Hilarious

 

[Bottyfish]

Went to ikea and picked up a rack and some containers to store random things. ;Joyful
There was a nice little red and white squeegee that matched my color scheme, so I bought it. ;Shy

 

[Bottyfish]

Also, added the shelf and put my doser in the cabinet. Haven't set it up yet, but of course I painted the unit white and red ;Smuggrin.

Will do a little write up on it after I've used it for a bit.

 

[Bottyfish]

 

[Bottyfish]

I put an order in for a S1 controller for the PP15. Apparently it allows me to dial down the % power to as low as 1% and can overclock to 120%. According to the vendor, the default controller pad lowest setting is 65%.

Ammonia still 2ppm. no surprise there, its only been a week.

 

[Bottyfish]

Ammonia at 0.25

 

[Bottyfish]

Got some diatom bloom happening...

 

[Bottyfish]

 

[Bottyfish]

Hi All,

Early package came in via UPS and it was my skimmer!

Pretty self explanatory for putting it together (put the cup on last ;Smuggrin to avoid it falling off when you assemble the other parts)

I chose this skimmer for its value and many reviews I read while doing my research. I watched a ton of reviews on youtube of it running and in one case someone said they replaced their vertex with this as it produced less noise and wasn't much of a difference in skimmate side by side test. I have to admin I focused my budget on other equipment like my lights and water movement...

The footprint was perfect for the design I was doing for my sump, and because the outlet was at the bottom of the skimmer, I've read that this produce less to no bubbles which meant one less baffle in my sump saving me an inch of space. I'm restricted to 36" wall to edge of the corner of my room. Every inch counts.

Bubble Magus A5

Specs
18.5″ tall, with a 7″ x 7.2″ footprint
Rated 80-132 Gallons
DC24V/13W
Recommended 8 inches operating water level

Unpacking and assembly

There is a dial that as a Min 1 - Max 5 setting which spins the gear at the bottom of the skimmer to increase and decrease the hole where the water outlet is. It will allow me to adjust the height of the water internally. I've read that the outlet being so low to the bottom may restrict the outflow and perhaps cause some noise. If this happens I'll have to raise it with some egg crate or something. Stay tuned for that...

The DSP1000 Skimmer pump that it comes with is a hybrid non controllable DC pump. The regular Curve is 220V/110V so the A version requires less power, but cannot be controlled. The wheel on the pump is your standard needle wheel impeller.

It comes with a cap to block off the drain outlet in the collection cup, I wont be using the drain so the silicon tube will be stored away and Ill leave the cap there.

The overall body is light and the acrylic is 1/8" thick (or thin) so if you get this skimmer don't accidentally drop it, it will probably crack as it is not as robust as some of the other skimmers I have used. The bubble counter at the top is also made of thin plastic so I will need to remember to be careful when putting this into the cabinet not to knock and accidentally break it.

I wanted to share the collage I put together of pictures below to illustrate the out of box and assembly and some close ups that I couldn't find when doing my research.

So here is an updated picture of the Skimmer in action since my initial unpacking...

Tank doesn't even have anything but the live rock from the other tanks I put in the sump. Guess its all the die off maybe that dead pile of bristle worms in the sump from cycling.

 

[Bottyfish]

Bubble Magus recommends 8-11 " water level for optimal operation. That didn't work for me. At first it was fine... but that was only dryrock and RODI 0 TDS water. I guess as the skimmer started to "break in" and the live rock was in there it changed things. The cup kept overflowing even when I adjusted all the possible valves and air knobs.

I built a quick stand with some left over PVC and egg crate that was about 5"inches high. So the skimmer is like operating at 6" water level.

 

[Bottyfish]

Don't think I've given an update on the new heater I purchased, will remember to do that...