60g Cube

[Rjukan]

Was having a few beers one night last week, and I thought it was a good idea to get the "snake oil" coraline spores lol.. got them yesterday and put them in the tank today. Soooo in 9 weeks.. 3/20 maybe I'll see something. Maybe I won't, and maybe buying items while drinking isn't a great idea

Speaking of elapsed time.. the tank was neglected for years. I had to break down and remove that nano due to some sort of leak. Idk if it was in the piping, or over the top from algae coated overflow teeth, idr. After that I just left it to its own devices. I did keep the ATO filled for the most part, but at some point I stopped using RO bc it didn't matter anyway.

The rebirth was on 12/3/23, and after the deep clean, things were looking really pretty good, considering what it's been through. I've been doing 5g water changes every 4 days or so, there hasn't been any nuisance algae, or cynao. I'm enjoying it, and trying to stay consistent.

12/3/23:

 

[Rjukan]

This was the tank with white light on day I put spores in. For reference.

 

[Rjukan]

Split my white worm culture today. Maybe I'll have some feedable amounts in another month or so!

 

[Rjukan]

After removing an exploded battery, and cleaning out the completely gunked up spring, I got my Alk tester working again with some new regents and curvettes from Hanna...

Alk as of today is 10.9 so I'm pretty happy with that.

In the same order as the alk regents from BRS, I got a pinpoint pH meter that I'm going to hook up now. Im going to guess that it's quite low, but who knows.

 

[Rjukan]

Just set up pH monitor..
Calibration completed, took a bit longer than I expected but it's dialed in.
AM pH: 8.22
Pretty surprised with that, but I'm very glad to see it. Seems like all the water changes I've done since 12/3 has paid off.
Going to watch it for a few days and decide if I want to run an airline to the skimmer.

 

[twentyleagues]

Wow quite the journey. Just read the entirety of it. To bad the nano leaked that was looking good. I am on board with the tank threads/builds being quite dead with lack of posts on them. The ones that seem to have a lot of traffic are the same "click" of people and a lot of times stuff not related to the tank. I almost feel strange posting about their tank.

 

[Rjukan]

Wow quite the journey. Just read the entirety of it. To bad the nano leaked that was looking good. I am on board with the tank threads/builds being quite dead with lack of posts on them. The ones that seem to have a lot of traffic are the same "click" of people and a lot of times stuff not related to the tank. I almost feel strange posting about their tank.

Hey twenty! Thanks for reading lol, and yeah I've given up on hoping for interest, and instead I'll try and use this just to track my progress. It's the threads with a lot of off topic posts, or the ones that are just amazing systems that get the attention. But I'm cool with it now. I'll head over and check out your build today!

It was a downer about the nano, but I've just started thinking about it again... maybe I'll put it on my desk next to the tank if I can figure out what went wrong with it. Maybe a leak test out in the garage... the weak link there was the way it was drilled, iirc there weren't any bulkheads, just pvc through with some silicone. Plus the diameter of those holes were very small, it was hard to dial in the pump so it wouldn't overwhelm the drain.

 

[twentyleagues]

Hey twenty! Thanks for reading lol, and yeah I've given up on hoping for interest, and instead I'll try and use this just to track my progress. It's the threads with a lot of off topic posts, or the ones that are just amazing systems that get the attention. But I'm cool with it now. I'll head over and check out your build today!

It was a downer about the nano, but I've just started thinking about it again... maybe I'll put it on my desk next to the tank if I can figure out what went wrong with it. Maybe a leak test out in the garage... the weak link there was the way it was drilled, iirc there weren't any bulkheads, just pvc through with some silicone. Plus the diameter of those holes were very small, it was hard to dial in the pump so it wouldn't overwhelm the drain.

I just started a new one today my 80g cube. The other is my return to this hobby after about 14years.
Can you get a 1/2" or 3/4" bulk head in there?

 

[Rjukan]

I'll take some pics later, or in the coming days so you can see what I'm dealing with. It's so small, I really don't think any would fit and there isn't enough room to redrill with larger holes either.

 

[twentyleagues]

I'll take some pics later, or in the coming days so you can see what I'm dealing with. It's so small, I really don't think any would fit and there isn't enough room to redrill with larger holes either.

Bummer.

 

[Katrina71]

I'm a cube stalker. Cubes are my favorite.

 

[Katrina71]

I wanted to ask, is that tonga rock in your tank?

 

[Rjukan]

I wanted to ask, is that tonga rock in your tank?

Hmm I guess my notifications are off for my build thread haha.. I just saw these last few messages now.
Tbh, I really don't remember.. I think it must be, because some pieces are really branching. I have openings all the way through the structure even at the sand, I should try and get some pics of it. Using the pvc posts for the zero g effect on a couple rocks helped a lot too.

 

[Rjukan]

Bummer.

So I dusted it off and got it out of the attic lol.. I posted another thread asking for some suggestions on what to do with the bulkheads, and after thinking about it, I've got a good plan in place. I'm dealing with a miserable cold/flu right now, but as soon as I feel better I'll get back to working on it. Here are a couple pics of what the existing "bulkheads" looked like when I cut them open, crazy how small the inner diameter was!


And here is the new PEX pipe I'll use as part of my homemade bulkhead:


And here is the tank! I'm kicking around the idea of buying the TBS Treasures Mantis Box for it.

 

[Rjukan]

I wanted to ask, is that tonga rock in your tank?

I'm guessing this big one has to be Tonga right?


And here are a couple showing how open it is at the sand

(LOL the royal gramma)



It's hard to get good pics showing the depth..
Thanks for the interest!

 

[twentyleagues]

So I dusted it off and got it out of the attic lol.. I posted another thread asking for some suggestions on what to do with the bulkheads, and after thinking about it, I've got a good plan in place. I'm dealing with a miserable cold/flu right now, but as soon as I feel better I'll get back to working on it. Here are a couple pics of what the existing "bulkheads" looked like when I cut them open, crazy how small the inner diameter was!


And here is the new PEX pipe I'll use as part of my homemade bulkhead:


And here is the tank! I'm kicking around the idea of buying the TBS Treasures Mantis Box for it.

Oh yeah they make pex fittings that could easily be used as bulkheads couple orings and you should be good. Is that 1/2" pex?

 

[Rjukan]

Yep, 1/2" and the outer diameter is a hair under 5/8" so it's a really nice fit.
I didn't think about O rings, but maybe I should. My idea was to use 2 schd 40 90° fittings on either side and allow the pvc cement to squeeze into that little gap and fuse to the PEX and also the opposite side fitting. This way there is no pressure on the seal when installing the rest of the plumbing. Do you see any faults with that plan?

 

[Rjukan]

Oh yeah they make pex fittings that could easily be used as bulkheads couple orings and you should be good. Is that 1/2" pex?

The way I described also let's me get away from the PEX pipe right away, and go back to the original plumbing I used the first time around. I can resue some sections and the gate valve too.

 

[Rjukan]

Ok, I've got to fess up...

I've been using tap water for top off since idk, probably the summer, if not longer.. and for water changes since being back into my tank at the beginning of Dec. :face-with-open-mouth:

I've never seen the tank so algae free, but ik that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Sooo, I ordered a ATI ICP test today and that's after ordering a new RO membrane for my filter. I should have the RODI back on line in the next day or 2 and I will send off the ICP soon after. I'm very curious if anything bad has built up over that time of using the tap water. Luckily here in NYC we have some really good water out of the tap, but I know it's like Russian roulette and at any time the water could have elevated levels of harmful elements.

 

[twentyleagues]

Yeah I used to do that when I was on good city water. Then one day they added chloramines to the water for some reason ( kill some bacteria or something), it was a bad time.