Newb w/ Nanowave 9

johndestef

johndestef

Member
Greetings all! I've been lurking and reading for awhile, and have finally took the leap.
I took advantage of Nanotuners dot com free shipping over 200 bucks offer. Got me an AquaMedic Nanowave 9, timer fix kit, power strip w/ timer, heater and thermometer. All for less than $220 delivered from CA to FL. I think it's a nice package of goodies for a Newb.

I'm going to burn up this site's search engine even more, and soak up all of the hard work all of you have already done.
Nice job gang!!!
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
sorry to break it 2 you.
tht is gonna be a hard to take care of wtr changes every few days and maybe 2 fish if your lucky prolly only one
 
zjhoward

zjhoward

Member
You'll be ok, just don't add many things and do everything slowly. I personally think doing water changes more often is a God send in a small tank, if you do them right, but you always have an "expert" who says its too hard.
 
johndestef

johndestef

Member
Couple perculas with the reef will be all I need.
I was also hoping the fuge light and skimmer would cut down on my water changes... once every week, or perhaps every other...?
 
demartini

demartini

Active Member
hey John I just got your email last night. I like this tank a lot! You got a great deal on it. 2 little percs ( really small) will look so cute in it. I bet you could do a water change every other week, but test your water. I do a 10% water change once a week, but I don't have a skimmer.
 
bill109

bill109

Active Member
im sorry if i sounded like its going to be a compelte failure cus i didnt mean it just wanted you to know the caring for the tank,,,
a few percs would be awesome in there .. see if you can find the (wild one) they are a Real nice orange i dont know if they are good to have but they loook beautiful..
if not then a few percs or 2 clarkii clowns are nice. i saw one ht was all balck with with white stipes and orange fins.. it was the best looking fish ive seen..
oh yeah 4got to mention the most improtant part.... Good luck
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
How many gallons is that? Hopefuuly atleast 20+ if you plan on keeping a pair of clowns.
 
johndestef

johndestef

Member
It's a 9 gallon. One perc will be safe, two's pushin it.
Actually my puchase was not even $220, I got a used timer, and with no sales tax, I'm right at $200 delivered from CA.
I'm shopping tampasaltwater.com for their 10 gallon starter package, I'm just waiting on shipping costs.
 
johndestef

johndestef

Member
Test fill today.
It leaks.
Oh boy, nothin' like dealing with companies and their return policies. Anybody dealt with Nanotuners.com and defective merchandise?
 
johndestef

johndestef

Member
I've left the water in the tank to observe heat issues. Since Saturday, Dec. 30th, the water level has dropped/leaked an 1/8th to 1/4 inch. I moved the tank from my 3yr old's room and is now sitting in the kitchen on the tile counter with a towel underneath to absorb the leak.
Sunday, I recorded the temps with the lights on 10hrs from 9:30am to 7:30pm. The 5w fuge light and LEDs were on the night before.
8:00am - 77.8 deg
10:00am - 78.7
12:30pm - 81.7
2:00pm - 82.4
3:17pm - 83.9
5:36pm - 84.5
During most of the day the tank was tucked underneath the kitchen cabinets, which might have trapped the heat and lead to the high temps. That's when I moved it from underneath the cabinets and opened the lid for the tank to cool. The temp fell back into the lower 80's, and the LEDs/fuge light came on at 7:30pm.
I'll be looking into adding fans in the very near future (in the replacement tank lid). SolCal's mod for fans seem a bit large and I'm hoping to find perhaps 3 or 4 small ones to add.
My wife would like me to add an external fan to blow across the top of the unit. I'm afraid of that in my 3yr old's room and also that it will not be efficient enough.
Until later............. Happy New Year gang!
 
johndestef

johndestef

Member
I did drop at least half a degree Tuesday by moving the tank out from underneath the cabinets.
I'll talk with Chris at Nanotuners about adding a fan kit. I'm going to open up the existing vents and add more along the edges of the canopy, as Solcal did, on TOS, in his Modding the Nanowave 9 thread...
Attached pics are BEFORE and AFTER.
But I'm thinking about adding vents along the entire left/right edges of the canopy, to vent the sides of the lid. It seems the most heat radiates down from the CF lights inside the hood, so going to try and get the fans as close to those bulbs as possible.
The ballast does heat the outside of the canopy quite a bit, but I don't feel it on the inside of the hood as much.
---sigh---

 
johndestef

johndestef

Member
Chris at Nanotuners forwarded me to Kim at Aquamedic. She was very helpful and apologetic. A replacement tank is on the way to me today, from Colorado via DHL.
On the phone with Chris, he mentioned he is looking into SilenX 40mm fans for the NW9. Nothing in production yet. Heck, I'm almost up for adding an external cooling fan(s) on top of the canopy, centered above the feed lid, blowing in. Along with larger and longer row of vents and drill holes in the deflector, that *should* get me into the upper 70s/lower 80 degree range.
Chris also carries 24w 10k/7100kblue combo bulbs for the NW9. I think they'll be on my shopping list soon.
I just Paypal'd for a Nimble Nano, and a DigiMate. .....boy, I don't even have a fully functional tank.....
SilenX's website has a nice 80x80x15mm fan, @ 11dBA, and 18cfm. I'm wondering if that will fit in the canopy, cut into the area inbetween the mounted LEDs....? I need to find out if there's 15mm inbetween the deflector and canopy, and 80mm inbetween the LEDs...
SilenX does have the 40x40x10mm fan, but it's only 5cfm, and 14dBA.... More noise and a bunch less airflow...
Hmmmmmm these SilenX fans *seem* to be the slimest, quietest fans around. Anyone know of some others??
 
johndestef

johndestef

Member
OKAY............
Couple things here....! I was trying to get ideas/options on my new NW9 from a few different sites. BUT I've learned SALTWATERFISH.COM is THE site for the friendliest, most interactive chat about saltwater tanks.
Yay! I'm home..

Also, if you tank is leaking, DON'T leave the water in to observe the rate of loss (or to play around with water temps, ect.). The tank had a complete structural failure somewhere in the top half of the assembly. I awoke to my wife saying, "Honey, the tank is leaking very badly". Whew, good thing she had the munchies, and caught the leak. 5 gallons of water would have been on the floor in a matter of 15 minutes if she would not have caught it.
There's still a couple inches of water left in the tank, and it seems to be staying put. I just got tired of bailing out the water and put the tank on the back porch for the time being.
I'm hoping the replacement tank will arrive today. That's wishful thinking though knowing it is traveling from Colorado to Florida, and (supposedly) left on Tuesday.
Before I mod the hood to address the high temps, I think I should be only running the lights for 7 hrs or so. (vs. the 10hrs I was doing)
..........enough rambling............
 
johndestef

johndestef

Member
WOW, kudos to Aquamedic for getting me my replacement tank asap.
Talked the them on Tuesday and the tank arrives, from Colorado to Florida, on Friday.
I can't wait to set it up this weekend.
AFTER A TEST FILL WITH FRESH WATER
 
johndestef

johndestef

Member
Wow, funny how fast water pours through THE BROKEN GLASS WALL in the back of the tank.

DHL carriers has destroyed another shipment to me. The other was a video game console from Costco.com.
Geez, I'd really like to get started in the SW hobby.
I emailed Aquamedic with pics of the damage, and I asked for faster than asap shipping on my 2nd replacement NW9. Heck, they should bill DHL for my overnight delivery.
:mad:
 
johndestef

johndestef

Member
Jeremy @ AquaMedic contacted a local reef supplier to get me another replacement NW9, this way I'll *hopefully* avoid the pitfalls of shipping a tank.
David @ ReefCreations, is a Lee county wholesaler, and will be dropping off a new tank today, AT MY SHOP! Very sweet.
In the mean time, I'll be taking apart one of the extra canopies that I have, to see how much room is in between the LEDs, the reflector, and the hood. I want to get some SilenX fans in there. I have yet to read about someone who has a NW9 and runs their stock lights enough to grow a reef AND keeps the temp around 80 degrees.
 
johndestef

johndestef

Member
Okay, talking to myself is very therapeudic! I hope all of you are lurking, and might chime in if something strikes a chord.
I've established 40mmx10mm fans will fit in the canopy inbetween the LEDs without modding the hood. Adding fans to the Nanowave9 thread. I just have to mod the deflector to allow the entrance of air to cool the area which houses the bulbs.
My replacement NW9 was delivered to a LFS which I buy from. Got it home, test filled, and thank God, it's good to go. Third time's a charm. Huge kudos to the gang at Aquamedic, Jeremy, Jason, Kim, for getting me a flawless tank. They really worked hard and burned up the phones finding my one at a LFS.
Today I added 10lbs of live sand, live rock and SW from my LFS, and set the lights on the timer. I added a Hydor on a pvc 45 deg elbow, and a pump from one of the broken NW9s to increase tank circulation. And I'm back to the heat issues. The lights (and extra pump) heated the water from 80 degrees at 10am, to over 86 degrees at 5pm, and I keep my house at 73 degrees all day.
I'm going to add 4 of SilenX's 40mmX10mm fans.
sigh
But it sure looks nice... and I can introduce you to my son Aeden!
 
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