Jahmic's Tasty Cubed Reef Recipe
- Thread starter jahmic
- Start date
A little early to be asking this question...but I might as well plan ahead:
I have a 30W PAR38 bulb that I'm thinking about using for my fuge. It's a 2:1 ratio of red to blue LEDs. 10 red, 5 blue (2W each) there are also lenses mounted on there, pretty sure they must be somewhere around 90 degrees given the spread of the light, but I have no way of confirming that. Would this be ok for growing macro in the fuge? I know CFLs are cheap enough, but I figure I might as well put this bulb to use since I have it laying around...I used it for supplemental lighting on my FW tank and the plants loved it.
I have a 30W PAR38 bulb that I'm thinking about using for my fuge. It's a 2:1 ratio of red to blue LEDs. 10 red, 5 blue (2W each) there are also lenses mounted on there, pretty sure they must be somewhere around 90 degrees given the spread of the light, but I have no way of confirming that. Would this be ok for growing macro in the fuge? I know CFLs are cheap enough, but I figure I might as well put this bulb to use since I have it laying around...I used it for supplemental lighting on my FW tank and the plants loved it.
Re: Jahmic's Tasty Cubed Reef Recipe
Martin was generous with his time yesterday and got the tank plumbed for me. Something about 100 gal of water potentially ending up on the floor from my newb plumbing skills seemed like an unnecessary risk. Also, I'm now pretty sure that I would have been making some mistakes and running back to Lowes after seeing how he did things vs how I imagined it working out.
I have some stuff soaking in vinegar right now, and am slowly filling the tank with waste water from my RO to leak test the fittings. If all goes well I'll start scaping and filling the tank early this week.
Who can guess what's gonna be hiding in that sweet antique ice chest I snagged off Craigslist?
Martin was generous with his time yesterday and got the tank plumbed for me. Something about 100 gal of water potentially ending up on the floor from my newb plumbing skills seemed like an unnecessary risk. Also, I'm now pretty sure that I would have been making some mistakes and running back to Lowes after seeing how he did things vs how I imagined it working out.
I have some stuff soaking in vinegar right now, and am slowly filling the tank with waste water from my RO to leak test the fittings. If all goes well I'll start scaping and filling the tank early this week.
Who can guess what's gonna be hiding in that sweet antique ice chest I snagged off Craigslist?
Re: Jahmic's Tasty Cubed Reef Recipe
Got her filled up enough yesterday to test the closed loop for leaks.
Found a tiny one here...it developed a few drops per hour.
Called up Martin, and was told to save some coin and just try super glue...
Success! This stuff has so many uses.
Also got the return and overflow lines hooked up
Got her filled up enough yesterday to test the closed loop for leaks.
Found a tiny one here...it developed a few drops per hour.
Called up Martin, and was told to save some coin and just try super glue...
Success! This stuff has so many uses.
Also got the return and overflow lines hooked up
Re: Jahmic's Tasty Cubed Reef Recipe
Loving this pump...it's tucked away neatly between the tank and my favorite chair. Looks awkward in the pic...but you really can't see it from most places in the room due to my furniture placement.
I did have a little concern with this pump at first, as the reeflo was pretty noisy last night. I had cleaned out the impeller before hooking it up, and found some snail shells, so I assumed something else was up. I'm not 100% certain the noise was cavititation...but after running the pump overnight and waking up to noise still going on, I shut it down and closed up the valves. When I got home and turned it back on and opened the valves...bubbles were pushed out and it's been whisper quiet.
Of course...this only happened AFTER I hit up Martin, and then the folks at reeflo trying to figure out what was up. All I gotta say is we have some stand up people in this hobby! Thanks again Martin! Crossing my fingers that it stays quiet and was just cavitation...so far so good though.
Time to drain the waste water, get my rocks in here, and start filling the tank with RO...here's a quick pic of some surface ripples courtesy of the closed loop system. A welcome sign of moving forward with the build after staring at a messy house over the past week. Laying out equipment and rocks sure can create some clutter.
Loving this pump...it's tucked away neatly between the tank and my favorite chair. Looks awkward in the pic...but you really can't see it from most places in the room due to my furniture placement.
I did have a little concern with this pump at first, as the reeflo was pretty noisy last night. I had cleaned out the impeller before hooking it up, and found some snail shells, so I assumed something else was up. I'm not 100% certain the noise was cavititation...but after running the pump overnight and waking up to noise still going on, I shut it down and closed up the valves. When I got home and turned it back on and opened the valves...bubbles were pushed out and it's been whisper quiet.
Of course...this only happened AFTER I hit up Martin, and then the folks at reeflo trying to figure out what was up.
All I gotta say is we have some stand up people in this hobby! Thanks again Martin! Crossing my fingers that it stays quiet and was just cavitation...so far so good though.Time to drain the waste water, get my rocks in here, and start filling the tank with RO...here's a quick pic of some surface ripples courtesy of the closed loop system. A welcome sign of moving forward with the build after staring at a messy house over the past week. Laying out equipment and rocks sure can create some clutter.
Re: Jahmic's Tasty Cubed Reef Recipe
Yup! $6 in parts got it done. My biggest plumbing expenses were 3ft of 1.5" spa flex we ended up not needing (anybody looking for some? lol), and vinyl tubing for the returns because I was too ______ to clean and reuse the old ones
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MartinsReef;241069 said:
Man your making some great progress! that stand looks awesome! So for less than what $10 we got the plumbing reworked only changing the drain elbow and adding a pvc elbow?
So for less than what $10 we got the plumbing reworked only changing the drain elbow and adding a pvc elbow?
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Re: Jahmic's Tasty Cubed Reef Recipe
Thanks! I may add one very small structure in the back right corner. Gonna get the 2 pillars in there first and see what I'm working with on space. I was worried about the height limiting my aquascape...but I think I used it to my advantage.
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Thanks! I may add one very small structure in the back right corner. Gonna get the 2 pillars in there first and see what I'm working with on space. I was worried about the height limiting my aquascape...but I think I used it to my advantage.
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Re: Jahmic's Tasty Cubed Reef Recipe
I don't really like how my eyes are just drawn through the middle of the tank on the last 2 shots...so I'm thinking about putting another very small structure in the back right corner. It'd give the eyes someplace to "stop", and would break up that negative space a little. I also feel like the 2 pillars are a little too balanced... I've always liked the look of an odd number of formations anyway.
Gonna use this as the top of the structure.
I plan on putting some small pieces of tonga branch at the base to create a little cave that water can still flow through. Should be a nice retreat for any shy bottom-dwelling fish...hoping my goby takes up residence there.
I don't really like how my eyes are just drawn through the middle of the tank on the last 2 shots...so I'm thinking about putting another very small structure in the back right corner. It'd give the eyes someplace to "stop", and would break up that negative space a little. I also feel like the 2 pillars are a little too balanced... I've always liked the look of an odd number of formations anyway.
Gonna use this as the top of the structure.
I plan on putting some small pieces of tonga branch at the base to create a little cave that water can still flow through. Should be a nice retreat for any shy bottom-dwelling fish...hoping my goby takes up residence there.
Tonga branch would look awesome around your scape, if you are unable to find any I have had luck with the BRS selection.
Link to their Tonga Branch rock: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-tonga-branch-dry-live-rock-1.html
In addition zoas,palys, and mushrooms look great growing on Tonga.
Link to their Tonga Branch rock: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-tonga-branch-dry-live-rock-1.html
In addition zoas,palys, and mushrooms look great growing on Tonga.
Re: Jahmic's Tasty Cubed Reef Recipe
I do have a few small pieces of tonga laying around...I dipped them in acid yesterday and just finished bleaching them...they're in dechlor now. Did all that since they were pulled out of my other tank and have been sitting outside for months.
I was originally going to cap the pillars with tonga branch, but decided against it due to lighting concerns. I'm planning on putting a radion over the tank, and am already pushing it with a single fixture given the depth and footprint...I wanted to avoid blocking more light from reaching the bottom of the tank. I think the small structure in the corner would be a good opportunity to make a small, complex formation using the bits of tonga that I have laying around. It'd also (hopefully) draw some attention away from that "tunnel vision" that you end up seeing from either corner of the tank.
We'll see how it turns out I guess. Impatiently waiting on some mortar to cure so I can get the rock back in the tank...
I do have a few small pieces of tonga laying around...I dipped them in acid yesterday and just finished bleaching them...they're in dechlor now. Did all that since they were pulled out of my other tank and have been sitting outside for months.
I was originally going to cap the pillars with tonga branch, but decided against it due to lighting concerns. I'm planning on putting a radion over the tank, and am already pushing it with a single fixture given the depth and footprint...I wanted to avoid blocking more light from reaching the bottom of the tank. I think the small structure in the corner would be a good opportunity to make a small, complex formation using the bits of tonga that I have laying around. It'd also (hopefully) draw some attention away from that "tunnel vision" that you end up seeing from either corner of the tank.
We'll see how it turns out I guess. Impatiently waiting on some mortar to cure so I can get the rock back in the tank...
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Re: Jahmic's Tasty Cubed Reef Recipe
Thanks for bringing this up btw...instead of using the tonga for a cave, I'm going to get out the dremel and mortar tomorrow. I ended up placing that small pedestal in the corner, and will use the tonga branches to cap it off.
Sand is in the tank...I'm really liking the darker shade of the marco sand, looks more natural IMO. More pics tomorrow
Thanks for bringing this up btw...instead of using the tonga for a cave, I'm going to get out the dremel and mortar tomorrow. I ended up placing that small pedestal in the corner, and will use the tonga branches to cap it off.
Sand is in the tank...I'm really liking the darker shade of the marco sand, looks more natural IMO. More pics tomorrow
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