Schreiba's ADA 60P

[teamschreiba]

After about 6 years of being out of the hobby, it is time to dive back in!  I had a lot going on in my life (including getting married!) during my last build and just didn't have time to properly care for my 83 gallon rimless.  I have more time these days now that we're settling down and I'm planning on going back to where my passion began with another rimless nano reef.  I'm also trying to take a lot of what I've learned that was a huge pain maintenance wise with the last few builds meaning no lily pipes or MAME overflow this time.  That doesn't mean I still don't want a clean rimless look...  My vision for this ADA 60p is a sumpless peninsula style AIO but without a large section blocked off on one end.  The equipment I plan on using to get there is below, which includes trying to make this tank as quiet as possible since it'll be in our living room.  Much of this relies on the XP Aqua Sumpless ATO which seems perfect for this setup although I couldn't find a lot of reviews.  I leaning towards going barebottom with this tank but am open to suggestions!  I also plan on keeping the bio load relatively light so maybeeee I can try some SPS again but without a sump/skimmer.

 

Another major goal for this tank is for everything to be aquacultured.  My wife and I were lucky enough to share one of our lifelong dreams to go to the South Pacific on our honeymoon and experience a lot of the natural beauty we try to recreate in our homes.  This really inspired me to keep all of this build aquacultured including the rocks, fish, and corals.  I also absolutely recommend this trip to anyone considering it as it was a once in a lifetime experience.  A couple pictures are below and I can share more if anyone is interested!

 

 

 

Equipment

• ADA 60p
• Archie & Oscar Ester Aquarium Stand
• Ecotech MP10wQD
• ARCHAEA MINI AQUARIUM HEATER (50W) ULTRA SLIM
• XP Aqua Sumpless ATO running carbon & filter floss to start

 

I got the tank setup and cycling today!  Just waiting on one issue with the ATO before I post some pictures!

[epleeds]

Welcome back!!!!  Your builds have always been amazing. Can’t wait for this one

[teamschreiba]

On 5/17/2020 at 4:23 PM, epleeds said:

Welcome back!!!!  Your builds have always been amazing. Can’t wait for this one

Thanks man I really appreciate that!! Good to be back in the hobby. 

[YHSublime]

Welcome back! I would consider a sump and drilling. Even a smaller sump would give you so much more freedom, and allow you to lapse longer on maintenance and provide more water volume.

[ImGoingCoastal]

^ I agree, since it's a smaller tank, though it is already wet.

Is that Fiji you went to? Not to detail a build thread but I spent 32 years of without seeing much of the Pacific ocean.... Then I got stationed on Guam. My life will forever be changed. The Pacific Ocean is unbelievably amazing, I've been all over the Atlantic but it just doesn't compare.

Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk

[teamschreiba]

On 5/21/2020 at 9:43 PM, YHSublime said:

Welcome back! I would consider a sump and drilling. Even a smaller sump would give you so much more freedom, and allow you to lapse longer on maintenance and provide more water volume.

Yeah I know... it’s a living room tank so I wanted to keep the noise to an absolute minimum though (like two feet away from our couch). My first ADA only had the canister filter for quite awhile and I’m going to accomplish basically the same thing with the Sumpless ATO box. Wanted to try something new!

On 5/22/2020 at 12:03 AM, ImGoingCoastal said:

^ I agree, since it's a smaller tank, though it is already wet.

Is that Fiji you went to? Not to detail a build thread but I spent 32 years of without seeing much of the Pacific ocean.... Then I got stationed on Guam. My life will forever be changed. The Pacific Ocean is unbelievably amazing, I've been all over the Atlantic but it just doesn't compare.

Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
 

It was French Polynesia, specifically Bora Bora and Rangiroa. I agree, it was incredible in all aspects! 

[Jon Lazar]

12 hours ago, teamschreiba said:

Yeah I know... it’s a living room tank so I wanted to keep the noise to an absolute minimum though (like two feet away from our couch).

 

I haven't tried this, but my theory is that an MP40 is quieter than an MP10 for equal flow settings, because the MP40 can run at a lower power setting to achieve that flow.

 

There's lots of reasons that might not be true.  The MP40 might be a naturally louder pump; the MP40 might generate sound at frequencies that are not absorbed as well, etc.  But it's worth looking into if volume is important.

 

 

[epleeds]

The new QD’s are amazing. Both are nearly dead silent. But you do get a much wider flow pattern with the 40 vs the 10

[teamschreiba]

Yeah I got the MP10QD and it is super quiet. Since this tank is only 17 gallons and 24” long I think an MP40 would be overkill. 

[teamschreiba]

So I think my Fritz TurboStart 900 was a little too effective. I had a Seachem ammonia alert badge up since I started the cycle 8 days ago and it has read the 0.5+ the entire time since the second day.  My nitrites have barely gone up (0.15ppm) and I'm only reading 1ppm nitrate.  I got a little suspicious if my ammonia badge was working and picked up an API ammonia kit.  Did the test and getting 0 ammonia... I put the ammonia badge in RO/DI and it's not moving so I don't think it is any good.  I'm now worried I left those initial turbostart bacteria with nothing to feed off of.  I did add pellets the first few days and can still see some of them floating in the tank.  

 

I think these are my next steps but feel free to weigh in here... I probably need to pickup some pure ammonia to see if the bacteria are capable of still processing it in a day.  I imagine I just didn't add enough ammonia to the tank though given the nitrates are not very high. 

 

My water is pretty cloudy if you view it from length wise so I am thinking I still have a bacteria bloom in the water column.  I am using dry rock to start so this is not a rapid cycle with live rock.

 

Thoughts?

[teamschreiba]

I picked up some ammonia chloride to be sure my cycle is started.  I'm now down to almost zero ammonia so just waiting for nitrites to drop before adding fish.

[miggs76]

I have a 17 gallon ADA.  Love that little tank. 

[YHSublime]

If the water is cloudy, it sounds like a bacterial bloom. Not much experience on that department, but I know some folks that run UV sterilizers that swear by them. I've never been convinced, or though to add something to my system that requires more maintenance, but I will try running one on the new system I'm setting up because I got it for free. 

[teamschreiba]

19 hours ago, YHSublime said:

If the water is cloudy, it sounds like a bacterial bloom. Not much experience on that department, but I know some folks that run UV sterilizers that swear by them. I've never been convinced, or though to add something to my system that requires more maintenance, but I will try running one on the new system I'm setting up because I got it for free. 

Yeah I think I'm going to wait until the cycle is over and I do my first large water change.  If it is still cloudy after that, I'll start troubleshooting.

[teamschreiba]

So I'm debating on controllers...  I want to be able to monitor the tank via wifi when I'm out of town or at work.  This is primarily for temperature monitoring but unfortunately there aren't a ton of great simple choices given the inkbird reviews are not the best.  The seneye seemed like a good choices but the wifi functionality also did not get the greatest reviews.  

 

This has led me to the GHL ProfiLux Mini Wifi ($370) and the ApexEL ($500).  The automatic notification feature of the ApexEL has me leaning that way but that is also a lot of money for just temperature monitoring.

 

Does anyone have any other ideas?

[ImGoingCoastal]

Buy a used classic? They don't have wifi but you can buy an adapter to make it work.

 

Should be in the ~$200 range.

 

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[teamschreiba]

 

First light-less/angled FTS!  Please excuse the purple epoxy...

 

 

So I ended up going with the GHL mini wifi.  I saw on an R2R thread that they're working on adding text/email notifications so hopefully that'll be coming soon.  It was also nice that I could just buy the base unit which includes a temperature probe and I can pickup the powerbar at a later date.  Don't really have space for or need the pH probe anyway.  I'm hoping the temp probe will fit right in the middle of the XP Aqua "overflow" box.  

 

Also, going to setup a black iron pipe mounted to the stand to both hang my xr15 G5 blue from as well as hide some additional wires/tubing inside.  I won't be able to hide all the wires inside (that would have required like 2" tubing) but I can fit about half.  The rest I'll try and discreetly ziptie on the back side of the pipe.  Fingers crossed it ends up looking nice!  

 

Still showing nitrites although I'm not as worried about it now.  Really just waiting out the 30 days at this point based on some of R2R brandon429 threads I've read (extremely informative).  Added a hermit crab last weekend since the ammonia was 0 so I at least have something to look at.  I'm considering attempting to go fish-less until coralline algae nearly covers the rocks.  The hope would be that this makes algae control significantly easier.  I'd still try to add at least some zoas during this time and keep the lighting relatively low to discourage algae growth but bright enough to grow coralline and keep the zoas happy.  Thoughts?

 

GHL mini comes today, xr15 g5 Sunday, and some pods on Tuesday so this is a big week!

[YHSublime]

27 minutes ago, teamschreiba said:

Still showing nitrites although I'm not as worried about it now.  Really just waiting out the 30 days at this point based on some of R2R brandon429 threads I've read (extremely informative).  Added a hermit crab last weekend since the ammonia was 0 so I at least have something to look at.  I'm considering attempting to go fish-less until coralline algae nearly covers the rocks.  The hope would be that this makes algae control significantly easier.  I'd still try to add at least some zoas during this time and keep the lighting relatively low to discourage algae growth but bright enough to grow coralline and keep the zoas happy.  Thoughts?

 

Personally I think it's 6 in one hand, 1/2 dozen in the other.

 

I would add a CUC and keep providing light feedings, and let it roll for 3 months, no coral or fish. 

[Jon Lazar]

It's hard to resist adding fish and corals, but it's a solid approach to long-term success.

 

I would also consider adding live rock from the ocean for the added biodiversity.  You'll get all kinds of little critters that will spread throughout your rock and sand, if you give them time without predators.  And I'm not talking about live rock from someone's tank.  That won't be as good because competition, predation, and environmental events will have already whittled down the biodiversity.  Fresh live rock, shipped overnight, and dump it all in.

[teamschreiba]

On 6/5/2020 at 3:48 PM, YHSublime said:

 

Personally I think it's 6 in one hand, 1/2 dozen in the other.

 

I would add a CUC and keep providing light feedings, and let it roll for 3 months, no coral or fish. 

Ahh I know it’s the right thing to do but so tough to not get a least one or two corals...

 

On 6/5/2020 at 5:44 PM, Jon Lazar said:

It's hard to resist adding fish and corals, but it's a solid approach to long-term success.

 

I would also consider adding live rock from the ocean for the added biodiversity.  You'll get all kinds of little critters that will spread throughout your rock and sand, if you give them time without predators.  And I'm not talking about live rock from someone's tank.  That won't be as good because competition, predation, and environmental events will have already whittled down the biodiversity.  Fresh live rock, shipped overnight, and dump it all in.

I know the biodiversity can only help but I had some not so great hitchhikers the first time I tried that. I’m also not looking to add anymore rock to the aquascape. I do have some copepods coming in this week though which should at least help some. 

[teamschreiba]

Well everything is setup and cycle is complete!  Added some zoas this week and they’re looking okay. I think the dips stressed them but I’m sure they’ll come around. I’ve been playing around with the settings on the xr15 but trying to keep the light very low with minimal white light to try and avoid algae. The new mobius compatibility with the mp10qd is also a lot of fun. Trying to dial in what the zoas like...

 

The only things I’m tracking hardware wise that are left:

 

1. Power bar for the GHL mini. The temperature seems to fluctuate from 78.8 to 80.1 with the heater’s internal control. That’s a bit more fluctuation than I’d like. 
2. Battery backup for the mp10. I’ve never had one before but it absolutely makes sense. 
3. Dosing pump. This is more long term but I like how the new ecotech doser looks and it seems like the kinks have been worked out. I’ll only need one since I intend on trying the TM all for reef once I’m at the point I need it. 
 

I’ll try and get a FTS up soon! 

 

Edited June 20, 2020 by teamschreiba

[teamschreiba]

Things are all going well. I’m not doing the best in exercising patience which I know is detrimental in this hobby...

 

The GHL power bar, battery backup, and some Tropic Marin all for reef are on order. Only other planned equipment purchase is an Ecotech Versa. Unfortunately they’re out of stock everywhere... I know it is early for that but I want to have all hardware on hand before I mount everything in the stand to have a logical and clean layout. 
 

On the livestock side, I added an ORA Orchid Dottyback to the tank and he seems to be doing great. I figured this would get me in a better routine than trying to dose N&P.  I also figured that the bioload from one dottback in a 17g is not too much.  Added a Red Sea screen top as well since I needed a notch area for where the Sumpless ATO box is.  I also added a small CUC from reefcleaners which crushed the small amount of diatoms I had.  I’m keeping up with the water changes to keep the parameters stable early on. 
 

Apparently this is paying off as I noticed I have coralline algae spots all over the rocks. They’re about the size of a pinhead but they are everywhere like the chickenpox.  I added the ARC Reef Purple Helix coralline algae about three and half weeks ago so I’ll attribute the great growth to that!

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

How does the tank look with the light over it?

[teamschreiba]

On 7/2/2020 at 9:18 AM, GraffitiSpotCorals said:

How does the tank look with the light over it?

 This was a couple weeks ago but it gives you an idea of the theme I'm going for.

 

[teamschreiba]

Also got the macro lens out today, it's been awhile...  I love these blue rhinos from @epleeds , they even have a pink skirt which is hard to capture in pictures.  You can really see how the coralline is taking off too.  Getting some green coralline as well.