+80g
- Thread starter houser
- Start date
Coral reefer
Past President
Good move. I feel like it is hard to throw out corals, but the one you see them on is where they came in on/the one they like to eat, and most likely to have eggs and the most worms. Nice work and good luck!!!
houser
Past President
FWIW I pulled about 25 acro frags. I'm lucky in that I have kept them on plugs and rods and rubble -and that the acros are still fairly small. Revived @1 cap/500 mL for 10 minutes. Basted throughout process. Did not see anything jump off. Nada.
So I'll lay low and watch. What was aefw life cycle again? I bet those bastards made it in as eggs as I didn't see momma and papa jump ship on entry dip either.
So I'll lay low and watch. What was aefw life cycle again? I bet those bastards made it in as eggs as I didn't see momma and papa jump ship on entry dip either.
houser
Past President
When I built the rack I planned to put some foam sheets on it to insulate. Plus with winter coming it's going to start getting cold. I got some more insulfoam last weekend from the ole depot and got busy cutting it this afternoon. A certain fellow and I were discussing insulation last night, and that was the final straw.
Here's a few pics. I think earlier in the thread you could see what it looked like from the side without the insulation.
I had been wrapping the tank with foam and blankets but now I'm essentially going to put the tank in a giant foam cooler. Remember, my problem is it's 99.99% of the time colder in my garage than the tank water. I'll be adding ventilation, etc... before I really cover up the front. The halides will warm up the enclosure yes, but there are some strategies for sinking some of that heat and sourcing it back when the lights go off. For now I'll just drape an old sheet over the front and it really helps keep it warmer at night. Sheet comes off in the morning. Worked great on my old rack with the hydroponic tray.
And no bad critters blown off any acros this past week. Haven't seen anything. This coming week I'll be adding a second MP40, ditching my remaining tunze 6100, and integrating some other new hardware into the mix. I'm sitting here in front of the tank right now drinking some kava tea and just relaxing. Enjoy the weekend.
Here's a few pics. I think earlier in the thread you could see what it looked like from the side without the insulation.
I had been wrapping the tank with foam and blankets but now I'm essentially going to put the tank in a giant foam cooler. Remember, my problem is it's 99.99% of the time colder in my garage than the tank water. I'll be adding ventilation, etc... before I really cover up the front. The halides will warm up the enclosure yes, but there are some strategies for sinking some of that heat and sourcing it back when the lights go off. For now I'll just drape an old sheet over the front and it really helps keep it warmer at night. Sheet comes off in the morning. Worked great on my old rack with the hydroponic tray.
And no bad critters blown off any acros this past week. Haven't seen anything. This coming week I'll be adding a second MP40, ditching my remaining tunze 6100, and integrating some other new hardware into the mix. I'm sitting here in front of the tank right now drinking some kava tea and just relaxing. Enjoy the weekend.
seminolecpa
Past President
Can you come to my place and do mine next? Nice work.
Tumbleweed
Guest
seminolecpa said:
Take him up on it Dave. There is always a few perks when you go the Bryan's house
screebo
Guest
Geeze, Dave........how did I miss this thread. I've got to pull my head out of the sand once in a while.
+1 on "good work"
Observation: Your cabinet is flying two flags familiar to me. Looks like you've caught at least one tuna and one sailfish today..............
Also, the cabinet looks like a hydroponic conversion to me. LOL 0
+1 on "good work"
Observation: Your cabinet is flying two flags familiar to me. Looks like you've caught at least one tuna and one sailfish today..............
Also, the cabinet looks like a hydroponic conversion to me. LOL 0
houser
Past President
Just spent 15 days on the road.
Came back to find Alk 8, Ca 420, ph ~8.2, salinity 1.025. Chemically quite fine. Evaporated over 20G of water since my kalk reservoir (25G) is close to empty.
I had portioned out food into little daily reminder pillboxes for those taking care of tank. Well I might have been a little overzealous because there is an algae outbreak in the tank for the first time. Asparagopsis I reckon (there had always been a few little tufts here and there).
To ensure my skimmer didn't go crazy I had dialed it down. So I've dialed it back up. Priority #1 will be to clean it since it's pretty damn dirty.
AFA inhabitants go I think it's a success. I can see a pico frag or two that aren't there anymore. Those would be the first loss since I set the tank up in July. And I never have seen so much PE on the acros. I've been wanting to dirty up my tank and I think this definitely did it
For whatever reason my clown is very drab almost nighttime colors during the day. Not sure what to make of that just yet. Did witness several territorial disputes last night between the clown and my tang though...
Came back to find Alk 8, Ca 420, ph ~8.2, salinity 1.025. Chemically quite fine. Evaporated over 20G of water since my kalk reservoir (25G) is close to empty.
I had portioned out food into little daily reminder pillboxes for those taking care of tank. Well I might have been a little overzealous because there is an algae outbreak in the tank for the first time. Asparagopsis I reckon (there had always been a few little tufts here and there).
To ensure my skimmer didn't go crazy I had dialed it down. So I've dialed it back up. Priority #1 will be to clean it since it's pretty damn dirty.
AFA inhabitants go I think it's a success. I can see a pico frag or two that aren't there anymore. Those would be the first loss since I set the tank up in July. And I never have seen so much PE on the acros. I've been wanting to dirty up my tank and I think this definitely did it
For whatever reason my clown is very drab almost nighttime colors during the day. Not sure what to make of that just yet. Did witness several territorial disputes last night between the clown and my tang though...
houser
Past President
So I've been playing around with the insulation box and it is working well. Temps in the fishroom have been cold lately but the box keeps it much warmer. First of all I noticed just over 1 degree F of ambient warming on average in the garage when the halides are on. The reflective surface of the insulation on the back wall of the enclosure would prevent it from just sinking into the wall. When I put the reflective covers on the front then the garage goes back down, and the enclosure heats up as you would expect. Tends to run the enclosure in the mid-upper 80's. There's still a high amount of heat loss (by design) to keep it from getting too hot but for example the tank rose from 77 to 80 yesterday with full covers and a fishroom that hovered in the upper 50's all day. With some ventilation fans and a little programming I think that I can also fully enclose the bottom of my enclosure too and my reliance on electric heat will drop. I need to keep moving in that direction before moving to a bigger tank so I can spend the $$ on lighting and not heaters
What else is new?? I tend to grow wicked stalactites off my kalk topoff tube when I forget to look at it/clean it for a few months.
I had some algae pop up during my last 2 week trip. But the asparagopsis is back in check. I know for a fact my kole tang eats it. I suspect my clown does as well due to clownfish mouth sized chunks missing off a few places near the nem. I sure don't want her to bite me as she has big ole teeth in there. I added 2 turbos for asparagopsis control but as turbos to they just knock stuff over.
And I think my tank has turned the corner now that I'm at the 6 month stage (of this tank) and things are starting to take off. Those brownout swap meet specials I have a propensity for picking are morphing :, dormant stuff is taking off, etc... Been taking it slow but I think I finally figured out a little chemistry-related issue that was holding me back a little :bigsmile:. Interesting to see if the system stays on the same trajectory for the next few weeks.
Might add some sand??
What else is new?? I tend to grow wicked stalactites off my kalk topoff tube when I forget to look at it/clean it for a few months.
I had some algae pop up during my last 2 week trip. But the asparagopsis is back in check. I know for a fact my kole tang eats it. I suspect my clown does as well due to clownfish mouth sized chunks missing off a few places near the nem. I sure don't want her to bite me as she has big ole teeth in there. I added 2 turbos for asparagopsis control but as turbos to they just knock stuff over.
And I think my tank has turned the corner now that I'm at the 6 month stage (of this tank) and things are starting to take off. Those brownout swap meet specials I have a propensity for picking are morphing
:, dormant stuff is taking off, etc... Been taking it slow but I think I finally figured out a little chemistry-related issue that was holding me back a little :bigsmile:. Interesting to see if the system stays on the same trajectory for the next few weeks.Might add some sand??
houser
Past President
OK insulation is killer. One thing neat about the giant foam cooler is the enclosure temps are up +10 degrees and my almost 2 yr old mangroves are starting to take off.
Everything is going real well.
So I'm going to rip her up here shortly and make some mods
I'll kill both birds here shortly.
Everything is going real well.
So I'm going to rip her up here shortly and make some mods
- I want sand (this was just a BB experiment for me).
I never actually "aquascaped" just piled rocks together.
I'll kill both birds here shortly.
Tumbleweed
Guest
Hey here at BAR we support the ethic treatment of animals.houser said:
No killing birds Dave...
houser
Past President
This past weekend I added sand to my tank. I'm not going to lie after the first session on Saturday I was having a few doubts there. But once it was cleared up on Sunday morning I was quite pleased. Then the second load went in yesterday and looked nice this morning. Since I did it with all the animals in-situ I did the right side on Saturday and the left side on Sunday. This evening I'll get in there and try to smooth it out somewhat and start to conceive a new aquascape, then start mounting some coral.
Then the fun comes in trying to learn how to manage/live with/accept the shifting sand. I have some coarser sand I can add for stability all ready to go, we'll see if I use it or not.
Give me a few days and I'll get a pic or two up. Got some classic sandstorm pics on the phone too.
Then the fun comes in trying to learn how to manage/live with/accept the shifting sand. I have some coarser sand I can add for stability all ready to go, we'll see if I use it or not.
Give me a few days and I'll get a pic or two up. Got some classic sandstorm pics on the phone too.
Tumbleweed
Guest
Don't worry Dave I have plenty of IC Gel for you. Your going to need it.
houser
Past President
Getting closer... This was after consolidating all the small frags to one side so I can scape up the middle/right side. That task alone took me last night. I had no idea I had so many. I do see a bit of brown creeping back into some of the acros since I've put them through hell and back the last 72hrs.
Now the sand is spread out so I think it's just a matter of time (tonight) to have a beer or three and put the rocks where I want them. That big pile in the back right will get creatively spread out to a predetermined pattern. Once they're down I can start mounting the coral.
Now the sand is spread out so I think it's just a matter of time (tonight) to have a beer or three and put the rocks where I want them. That big pile in the back right will get creatively spread out to a predetermined pattern. Once they're down I can start mounting the coral.
