Jestersix

Rygh's 250 gallon upgrade

I HATE CONCRETE :mad:
I made these rather cool rock structures, using dry rock, held together by concrete.
This week, another structure collapsed. Fortunately, no fancy corals on it, but
still a big hassle.

Not sure what the deal is, but the concrete has been slowly disintegrating in my tank.
A few years back a different one collapsed.
Most people have no issues, although some web searching has turned up a couple of others.
One theory was that using too much Acryl 60 polymer might be the issue, although I thought I
followed instructions carefully. No idea.

Oh well. On the plus side, I can do some new aquascaping!! :cool:
This time, I am using epoxy!
Real West System Epoxy, not that crumbly pink stuff with clay in it from the LFS.
I have some structures built with that, and they are doing great.
 
Mark, was the structure reinforced with rods? Do you get encrusting growth?

If you use epoxy, will it have to cure out of the tank? Shame to loose all the life on the rock.
 
aqua-nut said:
Mark, was the structure reinforced with rods? Do you get encrusting growth?

If you use epoxy, will it have to cure out of the tank? Shame to loose all the life on the rock.
Click to expand...

No, not reinforced, but it was made with lots of small pieces, so while it would have helped,
it would not really fix the issue.

Softies, frogspawn, and such, are on these big back structures. No encrusting corals.
And they inhibit light, so nothing much grows on the rocks themselves. No Coraline.

Yes, epoxy has to cure outside tank. These would be new structures using new dry-live-rock.
I will keep the old corals alive in DT + Fuge, then pop them off and re-glue.
So fortunately I don't think much will be lost.
 
Big Oops!!
Have a 14 dkh level. Corals unhappy.

I have been going after the Majanos in a big way lately with Joe's Juice.
It is basically Kalkwasser + other things. So can drive up Alk.
I had not tested Alk in way too long.
And last time I checked it was low, so I increased my doser.
BAD COMBINATION :oops:

First thing I noticed was some white tips on one of my really nice SPS.
I tested everything, and the problem is pretty likely the Alk.

I stopped the Alk doser, dumped in a bit of extra Calcium, and started doing
water changes.
Water changes will not help quickly though - IO has a dkH around 10, and my big 35 gallon
water change is only about 10%.
I could dose vinegar, but that seems like it could cause as many problems as it fixes.

I am glad my magnesium is a bit high....

At any rate : A reminder to all : Don't be lazy and forget to test!!!
 
Kensington Reefer said:
Smells like a healthy water change to rectify the issue
:)
Click to expand...
Yeah, in progress.

But really --- I need to rethink things a bit.
All the fancy DIY-tech I have for controlling everything, and my water change system is still about lugging buckets.
Sad....

And combined with a certain laziness, leads to rather poor results.
 
rygh said:
All the fancy DIY-tech I have for controlling everything, and my water change system is still about lugging buckets.
Sad....
Click to expand...

WC on a 250 using buckets! Oh, that makes my back hurt just thinking about it!

Let electricity be your friend. Use a pump! :)
 
aqua-nut said:
WC on a 250 using buckets! Oh, that makes my back hurt just thinking about it!

Let electricity be your friend. Use a pump! :)
Click to expand...

I need the exercise. ;)
To make it worse, my water system is in an outside shed, quite a ways from the sump.
I have been known to cheat and put buckets on a cart though.

At any rate ... yeah, I need to work on that.
 
rygh said:
I need the exercise. ;)
Click to expand...

I'm sure we could all use some exercise but lugging buckets of water is just grunt work! Do enough of that and your knuckles will start dragging on the ground. ;)

I use an incredibly simple system. At the tank, I 'tee' off the return pump with a quick connect. To that I connect a 50 foot Python. This pumps out the sump till the return sucks air. Just so happens it's about the 10% I want to change. Then I move the Python end for end and connect to another quick connect attached to a pump in the new SW container. Using an X10 remote I can watch and control the level as it pumped to the sump. When it's done, turning two valves and turning on the return I'm done. Takes me less than 30 minutes including cleanup. The only thing I carry is the Python.

Which reminds me, today is WC day!
 
aqua-nut said:
I'm sure we could all use some exercise but lugging buckets of water is just grunt work! Do enough of that and your knuckles will start dragging on the ground. ;)

I use an incredibly simple system. At the tank, I 'tee' off the return pump with a quick connect. To that I connect a 50 foot Python. This pumps out the sump till the return sucks air. Just so happens it's about the 10% I want to change. Then I move the Python end for end and connect to another quick connect attached to a pump in the new SW container. Using an X10 remote I can watch and control the level as it pumped to the sump. When it's done, turning two valves and turning on the return I'm done. Takes me less than 30 minutes including cleanup. The only thing I carry is the Python.

Which reminds me, today is WC day!
Click to expand...
That is just WAY to simple for me. :)

Good idea though, at least until I do something fancy.
 
New coral / live rock rack
A while back, I noted one of my concrete rocks in the back fell apart.
This is the replacement.
I made an acrylic rack, that hangs on the back lip of the tank.
Picture shows three shelves, but I changed my mind and removed the top one.
Then I epoxied dry live rock to the shelves.
Then I glued some softies to the rocks.
This is on the very back. Looks nice, takes up a lot less space, and is off the sand.

rack1.JPG


struct2.JPG
 
Some new additions!
They have been in the QT for a few weeks, and now freed in the main tank.

Cuban Hogfish. (Hope that goes well)
Two Bangaii Cardinals.
One simple clown fish. (One died a while back, and the other one seemed lonely)

chogfish2.JPG


bangaii.JPG


clown2.JPG
 
Kensington Reefer said:
Cuban hog will decimate your shrimp and crab population.
Click to expand...
Hmm ... you mean the fish and crabs I used to have before you got me that Mystery Wrasse. :p
Yeah, once I decided to go with all the Wrasse, I knew my tank would be "crustacean challenged."
It is a tradeoff.
I do miss the peppermint shrimp munching on the Aptasia though.

Kensington Reefer said:
And it's gonna get over a foot!
Enjoy it til you don't enjoy it anymore!
:)
Click to expand...
Hopefully not a foot in captivity. I had read more around 6-8 inches.
We shall see though ....
A foot would be a problem. It might eat the other fish as well.
 
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