TheClark Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Having some fun with my son, he is really taking a liking to the reef tanks.Picked up a 60 gallon cube from Jose a while back. Finally got started a few weeks ago putting things together.The tank has a cool little skimmer and even a GFO reactor, a return pump and a powerhead.It is a 24x24x24 cube, a perfect cube, pretty cool.So far we have done the following together:1) Cooked the live rock (bleach and muriatic acid)2) Built the stand from scratch3) Painted stand4) Moved the tank up to his room, level / shim / placed the tank. 5) Polished the tank with acyrlic polish to remove scratchesToday we looked together at build threads for cubes to find a rock layout he liked. We prototyped it out of the tank, and then glued and used fiberglass rod to put together his dream scape.Very, very fun times to have a reef buddy in the house.Here is the rockscape he settled on and a pic of his cube. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 That's awesome man! Nothing like.some father, son bonding! Scape looks similar to the scape in my old 30x30 cube. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisQ Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Awesome! Can't wait to see it come to life! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 That's great that you are doing this with your son. Sadly my kids never got into the hobby. Nice looking cube. I was tempted to get it when Jose had it up for sale. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Did you decide on an alk and ca supplement for the system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 Did you decide on an alk and ca supplement for the system? Yes, I think we are going to try the tropic marin balling light. Something different and the OIAB display tank just thrived when Jason was using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Yes, I think we are going to try the tropic marin balling light. Something different and the OIAB display tank just thrived when Jason was using it. Just looked this up to figure out what it is, It appears to almost be a replacement for 2 part with more benefits. You have my curiosity now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 That's awesome man! Nothing like.some father, son bonding! Scape looks similar to the scape in my old 30x30 cube. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk You mean my cube? hahaha It looks good. I like the look of rimless Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Getting him started young, Smart man young Jedi. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 Just looked this up to figure out what it is, It appears to almost be a replacement for 2 part with more benefits. You have my curiosity now I will try to keep his thread updated here. It showed some promise! Hoping we see the same. It will be a while as we have a cycle to get through here but it should be fun to give it a shot.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softy Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 NICE!! now he can absorb like a sponge and start showing daddy some tricks!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 I have been dumping krill in his tank for days. Ammonia badge still showing zero, must not be working! Time to bust out the kits. It has been fun teaching him about cycling. he was surprised that we are purposely trying to fill his tank with bacteria! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Test kit confirmed our ammonia badge is shot. The ammonia is up there in the .75 range. Been adding bacteria for 4 days now but 0 nitrite and nitrate so far. A good lesson in patience! He did a nice job on the rock work, proud of him and had fun together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashy Fins Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Looks nice! Can't wait to see how it progresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Looks nice! Can't wait to see how it progresses. Thank you, it is fun to work on it with him. Hopefully we can get that ammonia knocked down soon here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 Still waiting for Nitrite to go down. Some nitrate is being produced so there is some good bacteria action, but man this is slow! He is insistent on having a pest free tank, and I applaud it. So no rock transfer or sand to speed it up. His rock must have been very well sterilized with bleach and muriatic acid. Adding bacteria has had no affect to this ultra slow cycle. Added some of the brightwell bacteria last night just to mix it up. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Patience grasshopper. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 Well, as luck would have it. Nitrites went down to zero finally. Nitrates were about 5-10 ppm (tough to read on API, but too high for low range). We did a 50% water change, added the clowns and a small frag of BN. Good stuff! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltwater newbie Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Nice little tank man its fun when the kids enjoy the same things we do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 Nice little tank man its fun when the kids enjoy the same things we do. So true, feeling pretty blessed to have a son, let alone one who digs reef tanks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kknight Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 Very nice. Awesome your son gets to enjoy the hobby !!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 Thanks for the tip Jase, added this temperature controller from amazon. So easy compared to DIY and only a few bucks more than an STC-1000 with all the fittings project box etc... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 also hooked up dual autotopoff.com floats, great little ato setup! The acyrlic on these things is thick, and the floats are well protected. I am impressed/inspired to improve my apex floats: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 Tank is doing very good.We lost one clown, presumably the duncan stung it, or the pseudochromis whooped up on it, not sure. Carcass was in the duncan.Tropic Marin Balling Light is legit, it works for a small tank and the coral seems to dig it.No skimmer seems to work fine for this low demand tank. There are random birdsnest and stylos scattered around as an SPS test. So far, so good. But it doesn't look great in the aquascape, that will get resolved soon here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 Wow, lets try that again with the gel filter, those colors are really messed up! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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