Smaller place, bigger tank...my 200DD build

[EricB]

They're great power heads and I do like them a lot. I just think that the Gyre (or two of them) will meet my needs better. If not, I would prefer to get more VorTechs over any other power head on the market. I have high hopes for the Gyre, though.

I was supposed to get a delivery today with Phosphate Rx, some GFO, and some other goodies. The UPS dude left one of those signature slips on the front door of my building so I won't be able to go at it until Monday.

 

[EricB]

I committed to buying a Biocube 29 today for QT by ordering the stand and Tunze Nano Osmolator. I was going to order the whole kit and kaboodle, but I b/w the Gyre, stand, and ATO I think that's enough for this week, LOL. This will give me time to put the stand together and figure out what kind of ATO reservoir I can fit in it. I hope that having an ATO will make prophylactic hypo more effective and less stressful on the fish.


I'm going to move the MP10 from my fuge to the Biocube...it's such a waste to have it down there. I have a Korallia 4 that will go into the fuge. Now it's just a matter of getting the Biocube and I can order some more fish. Hopefully by the time a round of hypo is done the algae issue will be resolved and I can make that coral pack order.

 

[EricB]

Got a small delivery yesterday:

I dosed the tank with Phosphate Rx at 2/3's the recommended strength. Later today I'm going to pull the hair algae that has returned and do a water change.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Nice little delivery. Hopefully, you get the upper hand on the pesky algae. Oh the joy of new tanks!!

 

[EricB]

Nice little delivery. Hopefully, you get the upper hand on the pesky algae. Oh the joy of new tanks!!

You're tellin me, LOL.

After thinking about it,I decided to go ahead and order the Biocube today. Classes start next week and I figure it will be best to get this out of the way during syllabus week before I actually have to put-in work, LOL. I was going to wait a week to defray costs but this makes more sense...it's nice to be single again, haha.

So there's a Gyre, Biocube 29 w/ stand, Tunze Nano ATO, and a bucket of salt coming my way this week. Looking forward to getting the QT set up and making a fish order.

 

[thenissantech]

I wish I knew you were looking for a biocube. I have a 29 gallon pro led sitting in my closet. Its almost new

 

[SnakeBlitz33]

Your single again?!?!

Woohoo! More money to play with!

 

[EricB]

I wish I knew you were looking for a biocube. I have a 29 gallon pro led sitting in my closet. Its almost new

Bummer. I'll probably end up upgrading the lighting down the road so I can use it as a frag tank/coral QT. I have absolutely no intention on making this into a reef or anything.

Your single again?!?!

Woohoo! More money to play with!

It definitely made it easier for me to get this Biocube rolling...not because of finances but because of space. The Gyre is scheduled for delivery tomorrow and the stand/ATO should be here on Friday. Hoping to get everything set up by Saturday afternoon b/c I have another tattoo appointment and I have someone coming over Saturday night.

 

[EricB]

Why, oh why do I have to get ready for work right now...

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Bummer! Aren't you a little sick? You should probably stay home and rest. Lol

 

[EricB]

Bummer! Aren't you a little sick? You should probably stay home and rest. Lol

If I didn't work in the field I do, I would definitely "get sick". I did put it in the tank, turned off the VorTechs and plugged it in. As far as first impressions go...WOW. Thanks to all the algae I'm fighting, I can see the flow really well. It's definitely hitting spots that two MP40's weren't and it's exponentially quieter. I'm going to run it a little slow today while I'm at work, but when I get home I'm going to get it situated.

 

[EricB]

It was so weird walking into my spot and not hearing the fish tank at all. The CEILING FAN is louder than my tank now, even with the Gyre running at full speed. It's a little early yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if I became a convert from VorTechs. I was thinking of ordering another one, but I'm going to wait and see what improvements are made with the 2nd gen...hoping that they come up with wireless syncing. For now, one is just fine...it's an improvement, at least, over two MP40wES's.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Isn't the gyre awesome? I wonder where you heard that from.

 

[EricB]

VorTech's are awesome powerheads no doubt, and I love mine. I would have had no issues paying the original price for more of them for this tank if this Gyre didn't blow them out of the water. It's not even a real comparison because their flow pattern is completely different. But from one day of having a Gyre XF150 on this tank I think that it's a better powerhead for my needs.

 

[EricB]

Got the stand for the QT put together this morning.

Tomorrow I'm going to take the VorTechs off of the DT and fuge and clean them up. I'll also make some adjustments to the Gyre and try out the different modes. The Biocube and salt are scheduled for delivery Monday and Tuesday.

 

[EricB]

With the exception of the light fixture and the Korallia 4 in the bottom right of the picture, this is all the electrical I was able to eliminate by switching from two MP40's to a Gyre:

 

[EricB]

Got some equipment set up for the QT today:

The Biocube and salt are both scheduled for delivery tomorrow. I have to work, but I'm hoping to have the energy to play around with the QT afterwards.

 

[EricB]

I got the QT set up and wet today...



I still need to toss a heater in it and test the salinity. Next week I'm going to make a fish order.

 

[EricB]

Between the H2O2 and the reduced lighting schedule the algae and dinos are slowly going away. I can't really manually remove the hair algae b/c I've been getting tattooed every week, working on sleeves. Saltwater is not too kind to fresh tattoos. I read some reviews on API's AlgaeFix Marine and started dosing that yesterday.

I turn on the lights when I wake up, run them for 4-5 hours, and turn them off before I head out to work. Every 3 days I'll dose AlgaeFix (per the directions) when I turn the lights off and will continue to dose H2O2 when I get home from work at night. Once the algae is gone I'm going to run GFO and hopefully that will take care of whatever phosphates continue to leech from the rocks.

I reckon it's time to put some fish into QT :bigsmile:

 

[EricB]

The algae is almost completely gone. I'm still dosing AlgaeFix every 3 days and it's doing wonders. I have 6 Disbar Anthias going into QT tomorrow and 1/2# of chaeto going into the fuge (finally). On Wednesday I have a 20 piece SPS frag pack coming, too.