whats up, sdreefs?

[solefald]

New member here with a BioCube 29 running for 7 days now. A friend of mine (also a member of these forums) helped me set it up and hooked me up with some advice, LR and sand from his tank. So far so good. Have purple ****trema Rubrum popping up everywhere, some tube worms and yesterday started a diatom/brown algae bloom and found an Asternia star. This morning there was more brown stuff, and a second Asternia appeared.

The tank has been completely gutted of stock components. Currently cycling with inTank media basket with only filter floss and a blue sponge between chambers 2 and 3 and the second half of chamber 2 if filled with 3 pieces of LR at the moment. This LR will be moved into a 10Gal LR/Fish-only tank


Apex AquaController
Koralia 240
Koralia 425
2 x 50w Hydor Mini Heaters
MJ1200 return pump.

Once cycling is done, AquaticLife 115 skimmer goes into chamber 1, inTank fuge into the second half of chamber 2.

Currently assembling my DIY dimmable RapidLED kit into something presentable (vs. tons of wires all over the place).
Wireless MP10 and Apex WXM module to come after.

Planning on also adding an ATO and Automatic Water Change systems.


http://i.imgur.com/iZlQkl.jpg (http://imgur.com/iZlQk.jpg)

****trema Rubrum
http://i.imgur.com/20q5Pl.jpg (http://imgur.com/20q5P.jpg)

Asternia Star
http://i.imgur.com/lJV6ml.jpg (http://imgur.com/lJV6m.jpg)

Tube Worm
http://i.imgur.com/Vp6l0l.jpg (http://imgur.com/Vp6l0.jpg)

[Vince]

pm sent

[bbandu]

Very nice, and welcome

[LotsaFishies]

Welcome welcome! Seems like you are off to a great start, and are doing your due diligence... Congrats and welcome to the hobby!

[slicktoppomp]

Welcome! Great starter tank.

[ajn81]

Welcome, looks like you are off to a great start! Aquascaping looks good. It's always fun to see what life starts showing itself during the cycle period of a new setup. I hope you enjoy the hobby moving forward and always remember that patience is key.

[solefald]

Thanks, guys!

Finished my RapidLED retrofit last night. So far I am not sure if I like it. I really liked stock T5 10k/Actinics, but LED is completely different color temperature,
plus this annoying "disco ball" effect. Changing surface agitation did not help much and raising the fixture is not an option on BC29.... Going to look for a diffuser of some sort.

But what bums me out the most, is that my Apex controller is busted now and its barely 2 weeks old. Hooked up variable speed ports to the LED ballast dimmers and everything worked great. Then 2 hours later my blue LEDs just shut down... After poking around, it turned out that Apex base module sends 20-22V to the channels 2 and 4 on variable speed ports, while channels 1 and 3 send the expected 10v. Contacted Apex this morning and they are saying I may need to send it in for repair... Screw repair, this thing is 2 weeks old. I want a replacement base module! Perhaps I should just return it to Marine Depot and get an RKE instead....

My Apex is fine. Amateur user error is to blame.

AMP male connector. Installed into the hood.
http://i.imgur.com/EYgOrl.jpg (http://imgur.com/EYgOr.jpg)

White Wire = White LED, Blue Wire = Blue LED, Violet Wire = UV LED.
http://i.imgur.com/vB7Gdl.jpg (http://imgur.com/vB7Gd.jpg)

AMP male connector.
http://i.imgur.com/1dBW0l.jpg (http://imgur.com/1dBW0.jpg)

All wired in!
http://i.imgur.com/ZdySql.jpg (http://imgur.com/ZdySq.jpg)

The Magic Box!
http://i.imgur.com/qRD2ml.jpg (http://imgur.com/qRD2m.jpg)

MOAR MAGIC!
http://i.imgur.com/BpqqCl.jpg (http://imgur.com/BpqqC.jpg)

Power cable connected to the hood
http://i.imgur.com/uYKrMl.jpg (http://imgur.com/uYKrM.jpg)

Internal Organs
http://i.imgur.com/WkYnPl.jpg (http://imgur.com/WkYnP.jpg)

Ready to go!
http://i.imgur.com/nZjAol.jpg (http://imgur.com/nZjAo.jpg)

Lights On!
http://i.imgur.com/XucJkl.jpg (http://imgur.com/XucJk.jpg)

Magic box (it ate my ballasts!) connected to the Apex AquaController for all your dimming needs
http://i.imgur.com/j8LdKl.jpg (http://imgur.com/j8LdK.jpg)

All lights are on. White, Blue and UV LEDs are all at 100% brightness
http://i.imgur.com/RDxSxl.jpg (http://imgur.com/RDxSx.jpg)

White LED only. 100% brightness
http://i.imgur.com/a5kOnl.jpg (http://imgur.com/a5kOn.jpg)

[solefald]

Wasted $40 and 2 hours last night to build a manual dimmer, just to realize that my Apex is not broken and that it was a complete user error... I feel sooo stupid. I guess I now have a spare dimmer.

http://i.imgur.com/Iv1b5l.jpg (http://imgur.com/Iv1b5.jpg)