Electrobes' sumpless 40Br

Electrobes · Oct 4, 2012

An update after the move!

So I am finally settling in Fort Myers (Florida). All inhabitants survived the 12 hour drive, but I did make many of the promised changes, and some unintentional ones.

- The stand was switched and in the video you'll see some things about it. Overall I love the new stand and can't wait to make a new canopy to better match the stand.

- The rockscape was slightly redone, mainly because of the taller pillar being unstable, thanks to the Monti Caps monster growth. I've had to replace that rock, but kept the old one for now.

- I've taken away and added new frags to the tank.

- I've rebuilt the ATO using BRS 50ml doser. I love it! It's hidden in a black ottoman and looks great.

- I am receiving a new black background for the tank soon. Looking forward to getting this in.

- I bought a DrsFosterSmith powerfilter with surface skimmer. I have been wanting something to get rid of the surface scum, and I am hoping this is the answer. I could only fit the 160GPH model, not the 350GPH that I wanted.

Here is a bad video that I entered in another forum:

[video=youtube;Les_cV31rp8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Les_cV31rp8&feature=g-upl[/video]

Electrobes · Oct 4, 2012

A major cleaning achieved!

After about 2.5 hours of cleaning, I've finally finished and here are some bad photos!

- Pulled off canopy with LED fixture, and blasted air through it to knock out the dust bunnies.

- Drained and pulled out the Medium Aerofuge, and further took out the pumps and skimmer body. Pumps went into vinegar after being cleaned.

- Word of warning, don't forget your automatic feeder is still on!

- Stuck the filter but together and back onto the tank, now the Vortechs!

- Scraped the tank walls by hand with a razor

- And after checking over everything, took some really bad finished photos.

I plan on having videos shot from now on when it comes to displaying the tank, I just don't have a fancy camera, but a nice camcorder instead!

Saltgator · Oct 4, 2012

Nice as always. Watching the video now.

Country Boy using tapatalk on his EVO

Electrobes · Oct 4, 2012

Thanks man! I am uploading a brand new one in a couple minutes.. upload is taking a while

Electrobes · Oct 4, 2012

Post clean up video!

Just shot a video (Watch it in HD) of the tank! Lighting sucked, sorry!

[video=youtube;ce07nFSeSOc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce07nFSeSOc&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Specs:
Tank: Aqueon 40BR
Stand and Canopy: Unknown (I re-customed the canopy... building a new one soon.)
Light: Reeffiltration 120w 18k LED light fixture with custom hanging bracket.
Sand: Reef on the Rocks Aragonite
Rock: Reef on the Rocks Aragolite Box Kit
Water Movement: 2 X Vortech MP10 (One old, one new)
Filtration: Aerofuge (Medium, it has the Aeroforce skimmer included).
Fish Feeder: Hydor EKOMIXO plus Tom Aquatics Floating Feeding Station (modded)
ATO: BRS Doser (50ml/min) used in custom set up (7G tub that is hidden). (I use Kalkwasser)

Notes: Two projects need to be done, the new canopy and the background. These will be done soon. I added some frags and for now I am just letting the tank settle in and grow out. I ordered from DrsFosterSmith.com a power filter with a surface skimmer to get rid of all sumpless reefers' headache... surface scum! We'll see how that performs.

Saltgator · Oct 4, 2012

I'm digging the new stand!! Is that the piece left behind my previous owners?

Country Boy using tapatalk on his EVO

Aquaph8 · Oct 4, 2012

Looking good Christian, Im gonna wait and watch the video on a bigger screen when I get home though. I can't tell you how many times I've fed the floor or the euro bracing with my auto feeder.

Electrobes · Oct 4, 2012

Brad: Yeah, that's it! Such an awesome piece of furniture, and not cheap either, couldn't believe we got it for nothing!

Brett: lol, I've done it at least a dozen times now! I don't think I'll ever learn.

Electrobes · Oct 5, 2012

I made a much better video with notes:

[video=youtube;Ih0UKz7oo7U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih0UKz7oo7U&feature=g-upl[/video]

bknapp · Oct 8, 2012

Very nice tank, super clean especially being sump-less great work!

Electrobes · Oct 8, 2012

Thanks Brandon!

spsboss · Oct 8, 2012

I love the cross over the tank, and the tank looks sweet great job

skinz78 · Oct 8, 2012

Hey Christian the tank is looking awesome!

I'm wondering if you have any words of wisdom that go along with your Vortech placement? I'm kinda wondering if maybe I should try something similar in my tank, I have one side completely open and I'm thinking I should have both my MP40"s on that end instead of facing each other on opposite sides.

fsu1dolfan · Oct 9, 2012

Glad to hear the trip went well. The tank is looking great and dig the new aquascape. BTW that stand is a thing of beauty!!! Thanks for the videos.

Electrobes · Oct 11, 2012

spsboss
I love the cross over the tank, and the tank looks sweet great job

Thanks a lot. It keeps Murphy at bay!

skinz78
Hey Christian the tank is looking awesome!

I'm wondering if you have any words of wisdom that go along with your Vortech placement? I'm kinda wondering if maybe I should try something similar in my tank, I have one side completely open and I'm thinking I should have both my MP40"s on that end instead of facing each other on opposite sides.

Always good to hear from you Chris! That came from habit thanks to the old house I was at. I only had two view-able sides, and I wanted them both to be free from blockage. So I tried it, and it turned out way better than I expected. Now the entire tank is used to it, and I am glad I kept it that way. Looking at flow patterns, I think they really like it at the crash from the two PHs is at the far end AND softer than if they were on opposite sides. Overall I think both the fish and corals like it a lot.

fsu1dolfan
Glad to hear the trip went well. The tank is looking great and dig the new aquascape. BTW that stand is a thing of beauty!!! Thanks for the videos.

Thanks and yeah, can you believe the previous owners left it with the house because it was too heavy to lug? It ain't a cheap piece either.. but I assumed the good Reef Lord decided it's fate would be awesomer in my hands! :lol:

Electrobes · Oct 11, 2012

Some minor changes and completed upgrades!

So a couple things since the last video:

- I tried the power filter with surface skimmer and my fears were correct, it's just too small to do much of anything to the surface scum. Oh well, I tried.

- I got the black background from my Dad and it's beyond perfect! It's not acrylic but a flimsy type of plastic that easily slid between my Aerofuge and the tank. The tank looks sharp, I am excited to take another video soon.

- I started dosing B-Ionic on top of keeping my kalkwasser ato. I am starting to suspect that the tank needs more now that everyone is settled and growing. For now I am dosing 10ml three times a week, and we'll see what goes on from there.

- My auto feeder goes off once a day, and every now and then I feed a dose of freeze-dried cyclop-eez. I've decided to make this more regular, now feeding it twice a week. I have probably always been doing that, but now it's more consistent.

- I drilled a small hole on the outlet of my Aerofuge, so now my ato has the perfect place to dump the kalk water into. I should have done this earlier as it is MUCH more secure now, but also because you can no longer see the tube.. giving the tank a slightly neater look.

- I got a new frag, something I've wanted for years but never got because they can be aggressive.. a maze brain coral! The location it's in is perfect as I don't give two turds if it stings the xenia... not like the xenia cares anyway. I had one before and it did really well, but then life got in the way and I moved.. again! But I should be here for keeps and I am so looking forward to seeing this pretty coral grow.

- I also just made a decent order from Reefcleaners.org: 28 assorted hermits, 2 bags of Pods+, 1 bag of Reef Pods, 4 blue legs, 10 nerites, and 5 nass. snails. It amounted to just over 50 bucks, and I get free UPS shipping for living in Florida.. yay! This is really meant to revitalize a pretty barren CUC, not to mention a tiny population of pods that I currently have. While it may increase the bioload, I think this is going to work out perfect in the end!

I have two projects left... I need to build a new canopy to match the stand and I need to install 2 X 39W T5HO's into it. I want a bit more daylight in the tank, and I'll probably pick up two GE 6500K's or maybe two Aquasuns. This will help me get the color I want plus it should also help coral growth... assuming I don't bleach them to kingdom-come.

rarelyseriousb · Oct 11, 2012

What a nice tank. Well done

Electrobes · Oct 12, 2012

Thanks Spike!

Electrobes · Oct 25, 2012

So thanks to Ron (A local reef club member), I now have a 250W HQI MH (The Hamilton Cayman Sun Reflector Pendant, with Aquamedic's 250 HQI ballast) on my reef! For now I have a 10K bulb on there (Unknown brand) but I have already ordered the Phoenix 14K for it. The moonlight bar is a great bonus to an already awesome light.

As to why I switched from LEDs to MH.. well it's a bit difficult to explain but in short I just feel like MH are still better and have been wanting to go back to them since I made the switch all the way back to T5's. After setting up the 250W HQI, I can see and feel the power.. the entire tank is lit up the way I want it. In the end, I love it and I feel my tank loves it as well... least I hope! I'll chronicle the acclimation and we'll see how it all goes.

I naturally have added heat, but overall I am so happy with this light. The corals responded mostly by inflating themselves (Surprised me). I have cut the hours by half, so about five hours and so far no problems. I plan on doing a pretty standard acclimation.. adding an hour after each week until I get about nine to ten hours total (I have no actinics). I am glad I installed my cool little fan as it did cut on right at the end of the current photo-period.

Here's a crappy pic: