Time for a new start

Mp40 all the way, I replaced two evo's in my tank with one mp20 and still have better flow / turbulence in the tank with just that one powerhead. I'm trying to get a cheap mp40 used to stick in with the 20, or get the parts cheap to upgrade the 20 to a 40 and add a 10. They are just so unobtrusive and amazing how you don't need to point them, they just work like they should!
 
FishBeard said:
Mp40 all the way, I replaced two evo's in my tank with one mp20 and still have better flow / turbulence in the tank with just that one powerhead. I'm trying to get a cheap mp40 used to stick in with the 20, or get the parts cheap to upgrade the 20 to a 40 and add a 10. They are just so unobtrusive and amazing how you don't need to point them, they just work like they should!
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You guys are killing me! I promised myself to stop spending so much $$ on this hobby :shot: and you're not making it any easier!!
 
OK. So a quick update on my build!

I have a couple of raw cocktail shrimp in a mesh bag rotting away in the tank. This should get the cycle going. I am still on the fence over to put substrate in or not. I am thinking of reef flakes... They should hold still in a bit of flow. I am not going to add a lot. Perhaps 60-90lbs. I have also decided to get an MP40 for the tank. I hate the Koralia pumps....they look like @#$% and they work even worse... So…with some luck the cycle will wrap up the first or second week in January! I am taking it slow…and easy to get this bad boy up and running.

Speaking of patience…. I am still waiting on equipment to come in. For those who have said how impressed you have been with Premium Aquatics... I would have to differ with your opinions right now. I placed an order with them Saturday the 3rd for a bunch of stuff that was supposed to be in stock! I got an email Tuesday that one of the items on the order was on backorder. I thought…. No big deal…they will ship the rest right!!! Nope! I emailed them on Thursday inquiring when the rest of the order would ship. They responded four weeks! Hmm…. So I decided to call them and was told initially that the shipment would go out with the backordered item in 4-6 weeks!!!!! Of course…that is just silly. I challenged the person who answered the phone…she put me on hold….went and asked someone more experienced and returned saying… oops! Sorry! Her mistake and that the order would ship out right away. That she was new and that she was mistaken …and that the order would ship partial. So…. As I sit here typing…. Still no confirmation of when the equipment will ship. Nothing! I would have figured they would do something to get the shipment out the door on Thursday after I called….and I would get a confirmation of some sort. Nope!

Now to be fair… I got lousy service from Aqua Cave and probably won’t order again from them. I finally got my AquaC EV180 in… The thing is huge… LOL! But I am still waiting on stuff from them….stuff that was supposed to be also in stock! Total BS. Now with Premium Aquatics… I really had some higher expectations due to everyone’s suggestions and that they are sponsors here on CR. I need to order yet more stuff…. I am not sure who I am going to order from. I am going to give PA a call in the morning. Hopefully I will get good news like that it will be delivered tomorrow…. But I am not holding out a whole lot of hope at this point.

More to come!
 
A quick LED Lighting Update:

I finally got the VDM for my Apex Controller so yesterday I hung my Apollo LED SolarBlast 15k Dimables. Installation was pretty straight forward; I hung them using the included hardware from the ceiling. I installed them about 8” from the top of the tank and about 10” from the top of the water. I had some real challenges with the Apex…and the VDM. The Apex instructions…are pretty poor. The new variable dimming ports that show up in the controller from the VDM are not the ones that control the LEDs. You need to modify two of the other variable ports to run the LEDs. This was very confusing and cost me a lot of time and frustration last night. I finally stumbled on to the solution….by happenstance. Anyway, I shut down and resumed this morning with programming the LEDs to work with the Apex.

Though the interface for the Apex is a lot better, in my opinion, than the RK, I still found the programming to be a challenge. I called Joe at ApolloReef this morning and spent a good long time talking about how to set things up. He has come to the realization that the lights are not as plug and play as he had thought; the Apex Controller settings are not as intuitive as we would all like. It takes some time fiddling around (yes a technical term) with settings and programming. BTW, Joe is a great guy and was very patient with all of the many questions I had.

So after a few frustrating hours… I finally have programmed my lights. I need to get comfortable with the lighting in the office. Right now…there is a bit too much light pollution that I think I can tweak out by adjusting (lowering the light or tilting it) so there is perfect coverage for the tank and it is not just pouring out into the room. I may need to come up with some sort of shroud arrangement as well. I am also not running full power yet. I am only one week into my cycle and light is not important. I wanted to get familiar with the light…and its programming. I may end up turning the lights off really until after the holidays. We will see.

Here are a couple of pictures in the different settings. Please note these are iPhone pictures. They did not come out as clearly as I would like. When I get a chance I will get the other camera out and take some pictures.

Moon Lights Only
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Blues Only
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Whites Only
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Blues and Whites
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More to come!
 
Looks awesome!

DanSreef said:
am thinking of reef flakes... They should hold still in a bit of flow. I am not going to add a lot. Perhaps 60-90lbs.
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This is what I used and they are awesome. No blowing around and you will need less than you think. I was left over with 1.5 of the 15lbs bags left over even adding more than I thought I would.

That sucks about your PA experience. I always call and talk to Jeremy, Jason, or Michelle R to take my order. They have always been top notch. I have had back ordered items before and they had to override it to partial ship (or they put the backordered items on a seperate invoice). I think their system defaults if it's on backorder to hold the order.
 
Ok... So another picture of the tank from today...it is still an iPhone picture...not perfect... I have done a few more tweaks to the light setup. I am still playing with profiles and settings. I thought I would share another picture. This is at 60% power. The coverage can be tweaked a bit more still (raising it a bit more than the current 8" height) but I am fairly happy.

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Going to be heading up to MCF hopefully this weekend to buy a nice chunk of live rock! I was going to pickup some at the holiday party....but thought I would wait. I am ready now! After that.... just have to sit back...watch...and wait. I am already pre-planning some placement of coral on all of this awesome virgin rock.

More to come!
 
That is looking really good dan. Nice job cleaning up the tank.

If you need any help with the Apex from this point forward, I would be happy to give you a hand. Also be sure to refer to this:

http://reeftech.webs.com/

I think that the website that the PDF is on is pretty abandoned and isn't priority bandwith. It takes forever to load. Not sure what the problem is. But save it once its done. That is the only manual you should need for the apex and covers almost everything.
 
EricTheRed said:
Jeeze...even the picture is blindingly bright :)
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LOL.... I know. I think once the rock matures and there is some stuff in the tank...things will mute down a bit. This is only 60% too... It will be interesting when we do some par testing what this thing can do.
 
The reefer said:
The aquascape looks great.
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Thanks. I have a little bit of work I want to do. I want to pull in the right side a bit to improve water flow. I am also going to put in an Ecotech MP40 which should make things really move in there!

I am also going to minimize the rock. I could easily put another 100 lbs... but I want a lot of open water for the corals to grow into. I think this will also help with flow. I have seen some beautiful tanks with minimal rock...where the corals just went nuts! I am kind of heading that way in my mind.

Should be interesting!
 
I had a little time on Sunday to move some rock around and introduce some live rock. I did not have time to turn the lights on and get the camera gear out until today. I am leaving all lights off until the cycle is near complete. This will hopefully minimize algae growth.

Anyway, here is a bit of a better picture with a proper camera that shows the updated rockscape. One thing I notice with the iPhone which I used to take the previous pictures is that it amplifies the blue in the light. This is the same light setting as the all on previous picture... still at 60% intensity.
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Ammonia level is at 1.0 ppm, still no Nitrites and of course no Nitrates. Things are going as planned....nice and slow. My hope is that Nitrites will start showing by the weekend with the Ammonia dropping to zero. The shrimp in the bag have stopped smelling up the office which is a good thing. The dogs didnt even want to come in here. Now if it could have kept out the kids.... :a08:...

I am hoping the MP40 will be in by the weekend. There has been a bit of a delay...which is fine. I am also waiting for some more equipment that I have ordered like a Carbon and GFO Reactor from BRS and a Pellet Reactor....all that will get installed when the Nitrites drop off and the Nitrates jump....so I have a bit of time yet.

I am still bare bottom... :bootyshake: ... no substrate that is... I am leaning towards keeping it that way. The ease at which the Koralias have been able to keep stuff in the water column to be filtered out... I think is of great value. When I add the MP40 this will even be better. I guess I can always add some slowly if I find challenges by going bare...

Right now things are cooking up nicely... More to come!
 
Lookin' good!
Crystal clear pic. You wouldn't even know there was water in the tank if it wasn't for the floating shrimp bag. Heck, you can't even see the acrylic after all that buffing you did. it looks like a pile of rocks sitting on a table. Did you get a new camera...?
 
Ha Ha..... VorTech MP40W ES with Battery Backup!!!!! Santa, How did you know??? Oh yeah... Santa bought it for himself!!!! :santaclaus:


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You must be s**tting money Dan! That build is getting up there! I could've made a killing on tanks with that much $! Looking good though and I am sure you will not regret anything(or if you do I'll comfort you and take it off your hands :lol: )
 
Nope.... I am not S**tting Money.... I wish...:hurt:

But I did have a plan on a tank build that was going to be a custom in-wall tank ... between the kitchen and the office. I almost pulled the trigger... but decided that was way too much money for me to spend.... So I decided to go another route... Frankly I am glad I did. That left me with a little budget that I could use for this build... and... Yes... I have spent more than a few dollars on getting good equipment that I would not normally have gotten. My ultimate hope is that at the end of the day this will be a tank I can enjoy for years to come!

On the other hand... If I did not spend the money... My wife would have... :pleasantry:
 
DanSreef said:
On the other hand... If I did not spend the money... My wife would have... :pleasantry:
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Haha very nice Dan! You know I'm just teasin ya! Can't wait to go see this bad boy personally! I'm over by your house all the time. . just never stop by :ahhhhh: I need to make a couple hours one of this days to stop by and see your tanks and Erics. Haven't seen his since before he was going dominant. . . One ofthis days :blabla:
 
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