Carey's Rimless LED Build

[carey]

Got my stand, still in the box as the b/f is in bed but I hope to have it put together today which means I can start with my sand. I've been thinking about getting some live rock instead of base rock as I have a guy I buy lots of stuff from and he charges only $2 a lb. It would also make the cycle non existent I believe between his seasoned live rock and the rock I have in the pico. Was also gonna run the pico filter for awhile as well as it should have some good bacteria on it already.

So I may have an up and running tank in just a few days.

So what do you guys think will be a good sand consistency for a coral tank? I won't have any sifters or burrowers so I was leaning towards the cheapo super fine sand from petco.

AND should I paint the back glass or just put a black background on? I'm leaning towards the background.....

 

[TLTGF]

Sounds like a good plan, I'm not sure about the sand, I'll let others chime in there, but I agree with you that a background would be easier and most likely look more "professional" than paint.

Can't wait to see the build happen!

 

[Space lord]

Black limo tint looks good and it's not permanent and stays on good

 

[carey]

Picked up 30lbs of a fine white sand today. Still don't have the stand put together though, gonna try to start it myself soon. LOL

I totally forgot to get the background for the tank though, I HATE when I spazz out and forget something I went to a store for. I even remembered to get new suction cups for the heater bit forgot the background. grrr.....

On another note I found this on ebay

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices.

I'm thinking I'm gonna pick it up if the bidding doesnt go too high. The new ones are $150. Only issue with the ebay one is it's been modded to fit in a cube, but otherwise it looks ok. What do you guys think?

I'm also gonna make a call tomorrow and see if i can get some live rock, of course thats if I can get the tank up and running tonight. lol

Any thoughts guys? I'm getting so excited to finally move my pico into this new tank. The corals are everywhere lol. Plus Ithink I need to move my new b&w clowns from my cube as they are stressing out my watchman goby. he isnt yellow anymore, he's almost pure white.

 

[carey]

So today is almost over and still no stand. :-( I have the water already mixed and ready to go so just need the stand to move along. I;m gonna try to put it together myself now, might be able to do it.

Then tomorrow I add the sand and hopefully pick up some live rock. Once I get that all in the tank I can dose some ammonia and see where that takes me. The live rock will be coming from an established tank so I expect a quick cycle, figured I'd bring buckets and transport the rock totally submerged.

I'm kinda bored so any suggestions at all are appreciated.

I'd also like any input on the skimmer and other stuff I mentioned earlier.

 

[carey]

Woot! It wasn't as easy as I thought but I got the stand together and the tank set up on it. Planning on adding my sand shortly and the water.

Gotta call my guy and see if I can pick up the live rock today too!

here's the pictures thus far....Looks better in person in my opinion. lol

 

[carey]

Sand is in! I added the 30lbs and it made quite the deep sand bed. Looks to be at least 2-3 inches. Hoping I didn't go overboard.

More pictures! I love posting as I go so I can see the before and after.

I also am not going to use the supplied filter, not sure which replacment cartridges to use and don't wanna risk zeolite getting in the tank. SOO I am gonna clean up my aquaclear 30 and use that. I figure the sponge, carbon and biomax on top. Maybe even a felt filter pad on top if it will fit.

 

[TLTGF]

Just adding that sand, sure does change the look quite dramatically!

 

[carey]

Got 20lbs of live rock so far, just threw it in for now, still need to do some rockscaping. I also will add the 5-8 lbs that are in the pico.

Also got the black background but havent gotten to it yet.

While I was there I got a load of goodies! Broke down and bought for $20 the biocube protein skimmer, not expecting much though. Got some chemicals like trace elemets and some kalkwasser, syringes adn got a YUMA!!! It was only $20 and is huge! It's in the 125g until I;m ready to put it in here.

here are some pictures of course LOL

 

[Fotopoulos]

Another tank? Lucky girl. Have fun building it Looking forward to hear about your experience.

 

[carey]

been busy working on it and here is the picture with the two PAR38 bulbs going. Tomorrow I will get another clip type apparatus so i can get rid of the lamp. The colors are stunning in person. Really brings out the pruple on the rock but not in an obnoxious way.

I also am testing a theory with this tank. It came with a bottle of butrafin cycle so i am adding that. Lots of people go back and forth about it working and here's a great opportunity to prove or disprove it.

I had the rock only wet for 30 minutes on the way home so I expect and hope I get some die off. I am rethinking adding ammonia now as I got all live rock this time around. I will test parameters in the morning if I can wait. lol

pretty soon it will be light discussion time....I anticipate that being a nightmare. lol

here's the tank lit up. Still haven't added the background yet. Working on it. Also have some major re arranging to do with the rock, I think I may have gotten too much for my purposes. :-(

 

[TLTGF]

Coming along quite nicely...

 

[Walkbreathe]

Looks great, can't wait to see it when it's finished.

 

[carey]

So being the anal retnetive fool that I am, i tested my water last night. i had between .25 and .50 ammonia and no no nitrites. Just tested it now and I have 0 ammonia and no trites. Do you think that this is the spike from the live rock? I usually use live rock with new tanks and generally within a week i have fish able water.

I'm kinda in a hurry to move the pico over to the new tank, it;s way too crowded in there and the corals are contstantly on the sand bed due to my crabs knocking them over.

I'm not looking for a super huge bioload in this tank anyway, for now only a half inch clown goby and inverts would be going in. i was gonna wait awhile to move the clown over.

i was gonna dose ammonia but it seems I had some already sowhat do you guys think? Or should i start a new thread?

The ph and salinity is balls on accurate and the temperature is 78 degrees without a heater, same as the pico.

I;d love to start rockscaping and moving corals over today or tomorrow....I'd even consider leaving the goby in the tank for a few days to be sure.

Any thoughts guys?

 

[carey]

Just got back from lowes with some scotch tape for the background and a new clip on light socket.

Not sure I like the look but I suppose for now I'll have to deal with it.

 

[Ibrahim]

lol So this is the mystery build??

 

[carey]

Yeah, wanted to do something different this time around. Planning on making it a coral only tank pretty much.

Though I may have to either keep the led's I;m using and hope they are enough or I need to get a mh setup. I can't find anything led appropriate for this tank.

Nothing but bad news today I tell ya....this was supposed to be my centerpiece...:-(

 

[Ibrahim]

Same here my metal hallide is too strong for everything in my tank. I've had 9 heads of frogspawn and now I'm down to 5. My Galaxy is dying, my Long tentacled plate coral died and everything was doing great while my metal hallide bulbs were out and I was using 108w T5HO. Im trying to decide if I should sell it and get a 6 bulb system but I really like the shimmer that gives life in the tank

 

[carey]

So I guess a 250 will be way too much for my tank then..would a 150w be any better? I want to grow most corals but not bleach them. lol I already have so many t5 setups I wanted to do something different.

The colors I;m getting wiht the led bulbs is awesome too. Maybe I can just add a blue one and put it on the back glass wall. I woudl think 3 par38 bulbs should be enough.

Wheres mr x when ya need him lol

 

[Ibrahim]

Yea u think a 150 is enough. I guess I'm just gonna need to use my hanging kit. My parents said no drilling the ceiling tho.