Amp's 25g Cube Seagrass build REDUX

[Amphiprion]

That's what I've heard and that helps to ease my concerns. I made a slight error in which skimmer I chose--I actually got the NAC3.5 cone skimmer, not the regular cylindrical one. It will be a tight squeeze as far as actually clearing the stand, but once there, it will have lots of room. One of the many benefits to having a custom self-made acrylic sump.

 

[Slappy*McFish]

Quite the opposite on my 29G in my bedroom though, the stupid AquaC Remora is ridiculously loud, especially for a bedroom.

The Remora is indeed pretty loud...lol.
I quieted my Remora by packing a little filter wool around the intake/injector area (left side) inside the skimmer beneath the cup. Not a lot, just enough to dampen the sound.

 

[Amphiprion]

Well, I finally got the skimmer in and I am thoroughly impressed with how quiet it is. The only minor detail that had to be adjusted was the air intake, which was initially louder than ideal. I simply took an old prescription bottle, punched a hole for the tube in the cap and a few other holes for the intake on the other side, and filled all the middle with cotton. Almost silent now. Also, I set the skimmer up at about 4 pm and by about 10 pm, there was over an inch of skimmate. Not terribly surprised or impressed with the amount, but rather the amount of time required. I suspect it will have plenty to remove. At least now I know that I can leave it on at night without it being a hindrance to my sleep.

 

[Amphiprion]

Okay, so one thing I don't like about the skimmer (well, to be fair, this is with pinwheel and meshwheel skimmers, in general) is that when a bit of seagrass gets caught between the pins, it rapidly, dramatically degrades performance. I think anyone may well imagine the sheer amount of debris, blades, etc., that make it to the skimmer. When factoring that in, that means that I may have to clean the skimmer pump every other day or so. I'm hoping to make a "box" of some sort with some screen that could possibly stop larger fragments from entering, which would normally clog the pinwheel.

 

[Amphiprion]

Seagrass Build REDUX!

As in my "Can't Stand it anymore" thread, I've torn down my old system and disposed of almost all live rock, etc. I got rid of 99% of my grasses (I ended up keeping a sprig of each of the two grasses, both verified to be free of Aiptasia after observing for 24 hours). Basically, the new system won't be housing any rock, thoughI may decide on a single small piece later for aesthetics. It has a deep sand bed of about 5", since I'd like to try other species of grasses. Everything else is pretty much the same:

--25g 18x18x18 cube
--250w halide w/ Iwasaki 6500K
--Custom 15 gallon DIY acrylic sump
--Vortech MP40w ES
--Bubble Magus NAC3+

I also currently have a quarantine/Aiptasia elimination system temporarily set up. It consists of an old Marineland Eclipse 12 with a single 250 gph powerhead and 2-40w 3700K spiral CFLs and 1-30w 6500K spiral CFL. This system houses a single pieces of rock and all (only 4) corals in my old system, which are completely infested with Aiptasia. I will be adding Aeolidinella ("Berghia") sea slugs to this tank, which should do better in the lower flow and smaller size tank with an abundance of food. And now for pics:

Sad-looking display (lights out):

Clowns' temporary home and closeup of Aiptasia farm:

A better shot of the Aiptasia rock:

The two lovebirds and the other side of the quarantine:

A broader view of the jury-rigged setup:

Before anyone says it, yes, the tank is yellow and the light is yellow. But, the option was cheap and it is working for the time being, lol. If necessary, I have another halide I can use, but I'd like to stay away from that.

 

[Ace25]

I just thought it was yellow because that is your preference. LOL. I doubt the kelvin of the light is going to really make much difference. Corals may not be too happy with the intensity but they should at least survive short term.

I guess I am going to do what your doing.. using my QT tank as a berghia tank. I have spent way to much of my time trying to get my $150 back from my berghia order back in December. I can't even get a response from berghia.net. I sent an email asking for a refund and got a response:

I understand completely. These folks have been through some difficult times health wise. I'll forward this over to their office for tracking. Please be sure to advise them of the name for the check and the correct mailing address. Office email is berghia.office@yahoo.com so they will have it when someone is able to return and take care of this for you.

So I sent an email like I was instructed and never heard a word back. I then tried to dispute the charges with my CC and got nothing but a big run around. So I guess I am just stuck waiting to see if they ever ship them. I think my current plan for my tank is to just order all new rock from Marco Rocks and start over..

 

[Amphiprion]

Surprisingly, the intensity isn't a bad as you might think. It is bright enough to induce quite a bit of oxygen bubbles. It's not nearly as intense as my 250w, but I think it'll do temporarily.

If I had to get rock again, I'd probably start off with marcorocks with some live rock quarantined w/ Berghia/Aeolidinella. I'm not about to go through all of that with the risk of Aiptasia ever again.

 

[Tiny Reefer]

Very interesting thread, thank you for sharing. Your experiences were completely different from my own sea grass build. I have started another build two days ago. I will be trying the same kind of grasses but a different substrate. What changes do you plan?

 

[Amphiprion]

A few major changes. One is the depth and composition of the substrate. I've decided to incorporate mud into the substrate this time--about 5 lbs worth. The sand is much finer overall this time, as well. I've also made it about 2 inches deeper than in the previous build, so it tops out at about 5 inches. One other big change is the amount of initial organic content. I've lowered the initial introduction of organics quite a bit. I think this may help the tank overall, despite slowing growth a bit.

Additionally, I've decided to change the overall species composition. While I did manage to save one piece of Halophila decipiens and one piece of Halodule beaudettei each, I think I want to focus on the latter, maybe even with a small introduction of Thalassia testudinum. I'm thinking of adding a sprig or two to see what happens. Edit: I've also decided to more actively prune everything back. While I do want it to fill in, I want the seagrasses to remain healthier overall. I think allowing them to completely fill in was a mistake. I'll be pruning both leaves and rhizomes, too. The sand bed of the old system was completely compacted and bound together. I was able to literally pick up about a quarter of the bed at a time and toss it.

Other than that, though, I think it is going to be largely the same. I'm aiming for heavy feeding regimes that promote very high invertebrate diversity, as well as feeding the fish generously. Without Aiptasia, the diversity and overall numbers should explode.

Would you mind sharing your build or even starting a new thread about it? I'd love to hear how your particular build will start and progress.

 

[Benson]

Nice thread Amp... it's good to see you push through all the troubles... I will keep that in mind as I work through problems with my new FOWLR tank... soon to be a reef tank!!!