Chi w/ rice

[StevenSeas]

Well I just picked up a fluval chi yesterday, the 5 gallon version, for my dorm room since my other tanks are too large. I plan on making all four sides view-able. I am going to put some live rock in it, drilled to accept frag plugs, most likely zoos, maybe a sps too.
I plan on using a par 38 bulb with 5 or 7 leds for the lighting. As far as filtration I am thinking about using the box that fluval uses for their filter, and cutting it and modifying it to hold cheato. And do weekly water changes with tropic marin salt.

[Jarob]

I like the concept! Get some pics up!

[Europhyllia]

that's tiny!

[ramsey]

I want to tag along for this. I was thinking about doing the same with the Chi or an Edge because I need a mini reef at work too. :)

[StevenSeas]

Well unfortunately this plan is on hold for a little bit right now. I had to move up to College Station and was in a time crunch so wasnt able to bring sand or rock up. So now I will have to wait a bit as the only fish stores within an hour plus or so are petco and petsmart, so thats a no go.

For lighting I am debating between a Par 30 5 LED bulb and a Par 38 7 LED bulb for lighting. I really want to just grow zoos out, but might want to dabble with an ORA red planet or Joe the Coral.

For filtration I am going to do one of two things:
1) leave the bottom part of the filter stock; polyfiber -> carbon laced fibers -> biological sponge and then use the box that is supposed to go on the bottom and weldon that to the top of the "filter box" and put cheato in it for growth. This might work because the flow would be coming up from underneath maybe creating a tumbling action? And with this course of action do a weekly wc of 1 gallon

2) use stock filter and just do what Ace does and do wc 2 times a week, so probably half a gallon every 3 days.

flow:
I was thinking of putting one of the Koralia nanos mounted on the bottom, in the middle of the rockwork, and have it angled straight up at the surface. that coupled with the stock filter overflowing from the box I think it would create a pretty cool effect, and good random flow

stocking:
im still not sure as to what for this, but thinking a small goby like a yasha hasha goby or randalls goby with a pistol shrimp pair

[StevenSeas]

so any thoughts on which way to go on the lighting? 5 LEDs or 7 LEDs? not to sure what i am wanting to grow, mostly zoas for sure, but am tempted to do sps or acans. it is a 10"x10"x12" (LxWxH) tank

[txg8gxp]

How high do you plan to mount the light, and what angle lenses you want. The 5 led w/ 60 degree lenses would be my vote. What are the dimensions of the tank?

[StevenSeas]

just updated with deminsions, and idk the angle im choosing either 60 or 80. I plan on using a clamp on lamp with a gooseneck so i can adjust it but no higher than 13"

[txg8gxp]

One 5 led bulb is normally rated to cover a 12x12 area. With that size tank, and still being able to lift the light above the water...I would use a 5 led 60 degree. Just my opinion though.

[StevenSeas]

I think I am going to go 7 LED bulb and 60* and be able to raise it, still unsure, I think my tank is on the fence for which way to go. I am thinking in dabbling into some SPS anythought on needed equip for a small SPS nano? Also what is a good plastic reef safe glue? I need to glue to parts of my chi together.

[Jarob]

Eh im against SPS in such a small tank with easy fluctuations, LPS and zoas would be pretty easy and 5 LEDs would be the way to go. JMO

[StevenSeas]

ya thats what im thinking, but I decided I would like to make it an all Tank Raised Specimen tank, corals, fish, inverts. That made me think ORA and their SPS, but I am unsure if I want to do them in a small tank too

[Jarob]

Get some freshly fragged zoas and acans from the good people here on maast, theres always an amazing selection of frags to pick from!

[StevenSeas]

ok so its about time for some pics.

this one is just what it looks like stock.
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad161/aggiereefer12/Mobile%20Uploads/100MEDIA_IMAG0108-1.jpg?t=1283019362
What I am thinking about making it look like, as far as lighting, the filter area will change some but that is to be determined how
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad161/aggiereefer12/Mobile%20Uploads/100MEDIA_IMAG0109.jpg?t=1283019363

and I will probably end up getting the 5 LED version of this light
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad161/aggiereefer12/Mobile%20Uploads/download_7led_par38.jpg

[txg8gxp]

This will be a cool build, just make sure not to use that light fixture...but I'm sure you know that.

[StevenSeas]

Well my dry rock came in on friday, and along with it came my realization of just how small 5 gallons is. I now have 2 extra pieces of rock laying around and an aquascaped tank. I have modified the filter to accept chemipure elite, more sponges, and some cheato. Hopefully my DIY LED supplies will come soon so that I may get that done and hooked up. hopefully my idea on that works out well...more to come on that later ;)

Quick question though: How do I get a tank that has dry rock and no substrate prepped for coral? I have some frags and will be picking up some frags for this tank but I dont know how to get the tank more or less cycled. Should I put in a small piece of LR from my BC 29 or just add a bacteria like cycle or bio-spira, maybe even fritz? or another method.

[Jarob]

Some LR for SURE to help seed it, also maybe some water from your biocube too? like a gallon or two.

[txg8gxp]

I would vote add bacteria versus adding a seed rock. No reason to buy dry rock then add stuff to it. IMO I think I added some stablity or whatever the seachem stuff is, but I'm not sure. Maybe karin will jump in, I know she used something in her new setup w/ dry rock. Maybe read through her thread.

[StevenSeas]

I read through it, looks like she used the Fritz bacteria and about two weeks later started adding fish... I just dont know if its this simple. Rather I think/know it is I just need some reassurance.

[txg8gxp]

Bacteria is bactera right....I just think the only reason to buy dry rock is so you don't get any bad stuff, so why add a piece and have it still happen. I just did a whole tank treatment, so if you do want to add a piece of rubble as a seed rock...you can grab one when you stop by.

[StevenSeas]

Its been a while so here is a quick update:

I have about 8 pounds of dry rock from the BRS group buy. 3 peices of that rock is shelf rock so I plan on cutting them with a masonry saw (anybody h ave one?) I will make the cuts at 90 degree angles so that it will fit into the corner of my tank, then will drill in using a masonry drill bit to insert magnets and have 2 or 3 shelves alternating sides in the back corners. the rest of the rock will fill up the front area if there is room .... man 5 gallons is SMALL

As for lighting:
Well I am finishing up stage 1 of testing for the priciple of my LED light concept. On to stage 2 .... burnout test

[justahobby]

What did you end up doing about the cycle?
-----------------------------------------------


This will be a cool build, just make sure not to use that light fixture...but I'm sure you know that.

^^^Why not?

[txg8gxp]

the par38 bulbs should not be put in dome fixtures to prevent overheating the bulb.

[StevenSeas]

What did you end up doing about the cycle?
-----------------------------------------------

^^^Why not?

I have yet to do anything to it, infact it doesnt even have water in it yet. i am waiting to get all the components taken care of since I stripped the original chi of anything aside from the glass and the filter box, (but that is gutted too)

I plan on just puttin in like a few zoa frags and using bio spira or cycle as a bacteria suplement and the zoas as an amonia source. I think this will be ok since I wont have fish in it till potentially next semester (mid jan) and there is nothing live now so the bacteria additive should be able to compensate for what little ammonia the zoas give off.

As for the light fixture, I wasnt aware but its because the LED bulb will be enclosed in it and build up heat and reduce effective life time of said bulb. But I decided to go away from that idea anyways and came up with what i think to be a much better solution. This will keep it looking exactly like a chi with 1 minor change in it visually: the top box is 2-3 inches taller. Not something the average person will notice

[StevenSeas]

Well another quick update:

I finished my DIY LED project for this tank and keeping with the original look I made it go in the bottom of the floating box. I upgraded my pump and then made a section on the top for chemi pure, sponge and a seperate one for a LED and some Cheato. I finished the lighting Sunday night when I got back to school and all the while I had my 2 little zoa frags floating in my tank of freshly made new saltwater, with the first dose of cycle. When I put my thermometer in the water I got a little shock though my temp was at 67 degrees. I turned up my room temperature a little bit not much to about 70 or so and then was hoping my lights would raise it from there. I got the Lights in and working Monday morning and added more cycle by mid afternoon it was a little cloudy and I just figured it was a bacterial cycle. The temp got up to about 72 maybe with the lights fully submerged so atleast I wasnt over heating or anything
The best news of all of this was both zoa frags opened up and were looking happy when I got back from class around mid-day with the temp of 71 and all.

Today the foggyness went away a bit and I added the last dose of cycle. When I got back at 12 my tank was really cloudy again and what looked like Diatom algae was formin on the rockwork, sweet the cycle is begining. When I got back at 5 to my dismay the white fog has turned into a rust cloud. I flipped over the filter box and found out to my dismay why it got progressivly cloudier over the day and cleared up at night... because there wasnt any electricity going through it making it rust faster. So aparently I missed a few little spots when making the lighting waterproof and the waterproofing softened up a bit making the tank get filled with rust.

I am now running the filter with chemi pure elite and thats it, waiting for the rust to clear so I can see the damage, I will be doubtful if the zoas make it if not I wont ever get rid of them and they will be worse than aptasia LOL.

[txg8gxp]

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww38/rc05293/misc%20pics/ThisThreadIsWorthless.jpg

[txg8gxp]

Sorry...I had too.

[StevenSeas]

i will get some up in an hour so. It looked great when the water wasnt liquid rust

[StevenSeas]

Here is my testing of the 1 LED used for the cheato fuge
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad161/aggiereefer12/Chi/002-3.jpg?t=1286325248

Probably shoulda done this with the full scale ones and not gotten cocky otherwise this wouldnt have happened
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad161/aggiereefer12/Chi/100MEDIA_IMAG0190.jpg?t=1286325318http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad161/aggiereefer12/Chi/100MEDIA_IMAG0191.jpg?t=1286325364

But here is what it looked like in its few hours of glory
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad161/aggiereefer12/Chi/011-2.jpg?t=1286325426http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad161/aggiereefer12/Chi/013-4.jpg?t=1286325473
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad161/aggiereefer12/Chi/010-4.jpg?t=1286325571

And now the muck that is currently on my desk
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad161/aggiereefer12/Chi/038-2.jpg?t=1286325617

[StevenSeas]

so i LOVE zoas. I put both frags in dixie cups with the original water in them about 18 inches under a 13 watt pc light that i was lucky enough to bring up and the emeralds on fire (I beleive) started opening up. While they sat there I dumped the water I had messed up with rust and cleaned the tank out well and scrubbed the rust that settled on the rocks off. I then made up some more salt water with tap and Tropic Marin salt. Yes I know the irony of using a good salt and tap water but I had no RO on hand, dont have a RO/DI filter system or anywhere to get it from when I am up here in College Station. I put the rocks and new saltwater in the tank, hooked up the filter box and put in my frags. I am temporarily using the 13 watt PC light (which looks soo weak compared to the 5 LEDs that were on it for 3 days.) But the best part is I think my zoas will make it through, the eagle eyes are opened up 90% of the way about 2 - 2 1/2 hours later and the emeralds are working on it.

This is surprising to me as I used copper wiring and lead solder both of which rusted along with arctic silver which has silver in it, and a steel base plate. I am pretty sure atleast the wiring and the base plate rusted from where I didnt quite make the epoxy get under the wires all the way. so these zoas are tough they lived with a lot of copper and heavy metals, but now they are looking happy.

[Mr Cob]

good news.


....you are very experimental!

[StevenSeas]

good news.


....you are very experimental!


LOL I am unsure as to if this is a good or bad thing, I will take it as good for now, if it fails on my 2nd attempt I will take it as bad for a while.


If this attempt fails horribly then I will quit for a while if not well then I will keep at it so long as it doesnt cost too much more money.
I am planning a second attempt on the LEDs this time just encasing the entire piece in clear epoxy and then hopefully being able to remove the epoxy from the lenses if not then ooo well.

[StevenSeas]

OK well I got my new super clear epoxy for 22 dollars today ... only needed 20o ml of the 1000 I paid for ... now i know why I didnt go this route origianlly. HOwever I have applied it and it Is now sitting in a jug of water testing its waterproofness and is coming up with flying colors. Why I didnt originally go this way I have no Idea, soo much easier and better looking, just not as cheap. OOO well hopefully the LEDs will be back on by tonite or tomorrow

[StevenSeas]

OK so I got impatient after 0 stray voltage and minimal temp change (could have been due to external factors) So I threw the LEDs back on the Chi and it looks soo much better than the PC light that was on it. the zoas have color that pop and look good. Just have to wait now to get more frags for it...

[tebstan]

words words words... where's the pics?!

[StevenSeas]

So somehow I blew out my LEDs. I had unplugged them after the switch that i had put inline and was servicing the tank, then go to plug the quick disconnects back in and one bright flash later my LEDs no longer work. My best guess is that its because i was running 5 LEDs on a meanwell 700 ma constant current driver which apparently has a minimum load of 6 LEDs.....OOPS. So now I have ordered some new LEDs. I ordered 3 RB, 3 7000K, 3 10,000K and 3 Cyan to play around with configurations with. I am getting the cheap Chinese knock offs that a few people have gone with as they are only 2 dollars each and so i can get 12 including shipping for $28. I hope to play around with these to keep the nice look of LEDs but improve on some of the "missing spectrum." I am looking at running these off of a buckpuck or maybe a meanwell but still undecided there, as well as dimming.

On the upside after a while of no cycle going on in my tank due to lack of bacteria.... Silly me using dry rock and barebottom didnt think of the fact that i wouldnt have any LIVE bacteria to multiply. I had bought Cycle in order to cycle my tank but had forgot that it requires some bacteria. As I kinda needed it sooner than later I picked up biozyme from petco. This was the only other biological starting agent other than Cycle that they sold :( However now i finally seeing a reduction in ammonia and getting nitrites and nitrates, so I am excited. I didnt expect it to work at all as it was 5 dollars to treat 500 gallons and was a dry powder.

[StevenSeas]

Well after some debating and going back and forth I am deciding to try out this whole rice thing, am looking at ways of making it a nano SPS tank. I have read Aurora's thread on RC and half of the other 33 pager. I will NOT be using a reactor for this as it will probably only take up about a teaspoon or so lol. I will be having the rice hidden away in the built in filtering system. The way I have the flow worked out and its designed it should essentially act like a reactor anyways. I will probably just run an air stone on the top layer to infuse some fresh air. My plans are to only run a sponge, rice, and an airstone, maybe a small bag of carbon as the only means of filtration.

We shall see