First Tank RS 425XL Build
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Michael Rossi
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very nice. looking forward to following along for the ride!
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Morphix
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No idea really. The COR-20 is rated for 2000 gph so i hope i'm getting at least 50% of that.
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Morphix
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A thing to note for new tank cyclers: I'm not running my skimmer at all during this process because I want everything that's in the water to stay there. I've been dosing Microbacter 7 NOT Start XLM. The reason i'm doing this is... because I didn't realize XLM existed. 
That being said, Microbacter 7 has more strains of bacteria than XLM does and even though it's dormant bacteria that is taking longer to bootstrap, it should result in a more robust biosphere theoretically. Something something nothing good happens fast in a reef tank.
I also noticed the water beginning to get sort of hazy 2 or 3 weeks into the cycle. It was hard to notice at first and I wasn't sure that it actually was cloudy. I expect it was some sort of bacterial bloom, and on the advice of a fellow reefer i pointed my gyre pumps up about 45 degrees to increase the O2 getting into the water. I don't know if that did anything or time did, but it went away on its own. Even though it looks like nothing is happening in the tank, I figure at the microscopic level there's a war going on in there.
That being said, Microbacter 7 has more strains of bacteria than XLM does and even though it's dormant bacteria that is taking longer to bootstrap, it should result in a more robust biosphere theoretically. Something something nothing good happens fast in a reef tank.
I also noticed the water beginning to get sort of hazy 2 or 3 weeks into the cycle. It was hard to notice at first and I wasn't sure that it actually was cloudy. I expect it was some sort of bacterial bloom, and on the advice of a fellow reefer i pointed my gyre pumps up about 45 degrees to increase the O2 getting into the water. I don't know if that did anything or time did, but it went away on its own. Even though it looks like nothing is happening in the tank, I figure at the microscopic level there's a war going on in there.
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Morphix
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My tank has its first fish!
The cycle seems to be far enough along to handle the bio load of two clownfish, so here they are. We got them in there last week, so far they've been doing great, eating a diet of Hikari Bio Pure
The cycle seems to be far enough along to handle the bio load of two clownfish, so here they are. We got them in there last week, so far they've been doing great, eating a diet of Hikari Bio Pure
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Morphix
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I had planned to leave the lights off for a while with the two fish, but I "accidentally" ordered a couple of bottles of coralline algae - not realizing that of course this would force me to turn the lights on. They're on now, and I guess I'm in the chute.
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Morphix
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In other plumbing news, I'm planning an upgrade to the mixing station. Hopefully I've got enough parts
And I've also decided to get away from having to siphon water into my ATO reservoir. This chore is a bit of a pain tmbecause the red sea ATO is on top of the sump, so I need to stack boxes to get a bucket at display tank level and siphon it in. No longer. This beauty with a short python extension has made this chore much easier.
And I've also decided to get away from having to siphon water into my ATO reservoir. This chore is a bit of a pain tmbecause the red sea ATO is on top of the sump, so I need to stack boxes to get a bucket at display tank level and siphon it in. No longer. This beauty with a short python extension has made this chore much easier.
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Morphix
Community Member
An update on the flow meter situation:
So I did something dumb here. As far as I can tell, there is no way to do a reducer into a barb in one go - but I could have used a spigot here and cleared some space. At the time I did not really understand what spigots do (they're designed to be inserted directly into a slip (socket) coupling - i.e. they have the same out diameter as pipe. BRS does not sell a 1.25" reducing bushing that would directly work, but if I had bought this part:
1 1/4" x 1" Schedule 80 PVC Reducer Bushing Spigot x FPT, 838-168
1-1/4X1 BUSHING SXT, 838-168
pvcpipesupplies.com
It would slip fit into the 1.25 union that comes with the COR-20, and then I could simply screw the barb x male thread fitting into that. If I had done that, it would eliminate all of the white PVC, all of the orange PVC, eliminated one of the two couplings and since it's a spigot, half of the other would be inside the union. I would have to measure, but that is a SIGNIFICANT gain of space. If I eat into the buffer afforded me by the flexible tubing that barb connects to, it's possible I would be able to fit the flow meter in there, although I would have to measure it.
2BeAlive
Community Member
My tank has its first fish!
The cycle seems to be far enough along to handle the bio load of two clownfish, so here they are. We got them in there last week, so far they've been doing great, eating a diet of Hikari Bio Pure
Congratulations!
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