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#51
12/03/2007, 07:12 PM
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Hodge - by trial and error with several failures & successes, this is what I've been doing is (with corals that are on a piece of rock or rubble:
1) I find the gray epoxy stick is the best color, as the pink & white both show up too well in the tank if you have to use a lot and it will be in a spot that will be visible. 2) Dry off the coral rock base or rubble as well as you can with a paper towel, trying not to touch or press on the coral and coral flesh as much as possible. Most if not all corals can be out of the water for several minutes. 3) I guesstimate how much putty I need based on the coral base and where I plan to place it in the tank. If I'm going to mount it on a depression I may need more. If It's a big rock base then I mix up a couple balls of putty to place on more than one point. (small rocks or a piece of rubble base - smaller ball of putty). Keep in mind the putty cures pretty quick so in 5 minutes or so it will be too hard to use. I have to mix the putty with bare fingers - too difficult for me with gloves on. I usually throw caution out the door when doing all these steps with no gloves on, and I try to avoid being stung by things like the Eyphyllias or squirted in the eye by things like zoas or mushrooms (wear glasses or safety glasses). I don't worry about the leather corals, other than bristleworms that may be in the rock base. If you can do it with gloves on go for it! Don't scrimp on the putty- too small a ball and it won't fill in and fit the curvatures in the tank live rock. Better an excess than not enough - same with the superglue gel. 4) I then put a decent size blob of superglue gel on the dried off spot(s) on coral base where I want to put the epoxy putty, after which I press on the still soft epoxy ball(s). Hold each for a few seconds till the rock base, superglue gel, and epoxy get a chance to start bonding. (you could alsp out the SG gel on one side of the epoxy, then press that on the coral base). 5) Next, I quickly work the putty I just put on the coral base into a semi-pointed mound, so that I can use a fingernail to press an indentation into the soft putty deep enough to hold a nice size blob of superglue gel. I try to make a little cup shape to hold the superglue gel. Don't scrimp on the superglue gel blob. 6) then it's off to the tank, and I put the coral in the tank and quickly to the spot I want it and press it into place. Press it slowly down with a very slight slight twist to break the skin that forms on the superglue blob. Hold it a few seconds and let go. It's a one shot deal - you can't pull it off and try to do it again or it won't hold. If you mess up quickly pull it out and try to get the epoxy off before it sets really hard, and start the process all over again. Even with all that I've had frags come loose, but it's usually me that knocks them loose doing something in the tank, and not so much my critters doing it. Sometimes I get a really good bond, other times I don't. I guess the porosity of the rock may also have an effect on the bonding. Do the planning first - look at where you want to place the coral, what kind of surface it will go on (flat, bumpy, a crevice) to give you an idea of how much putty you'll need. And have at least a few superglue gel tubes handy in case one isn't enough - those dollar store type tubes don't contain much at all. Be sure it's the gel too - the liquid won't work. I've only done one zoa frag that had no base rock - on those just dry off the bottom of the zoa "skin" put some SG gel on and quickly get it on a rock in the tank, or on a piece of rubble that you'll be putting in the tank. SG Gel will heat up as it cures, so if you put it on bare zoa base you want to get it in the tank water and attached quickly to get it cooled down to avoid killing the coral. No guarantees, but that's what I've been doing and I've gotten better at it. One other thing - I once did a half dozen corals like this at one time and the superglue and/or epoxy released enough of something to have my RSM skimmer overflow with foam twice! No negative effect on fish or critters, but it put the skimmer on overtime for a while! Good luck!
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Excellence in reefkeeping is achieved by mastering the fundamentals, and learning from mistakes. |
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#52
12/03/2007, 07:57 PM
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hodge can u post some more pictures of your aquafuge setup i am thinking about doing one and man i spent the last week reading this thread and i am finally caught up lol here are some pictures of my new setup and here are my current parameters on day 2.
nitrate- 10ppm nitrite- .25-.50ppm ph- 7.8ppm (is that ok) ammonia- 1.0ppm    
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beer me! |
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#54
12/03/2007, 09:41 PM
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stephensturman - Welcome to our RSM "Club"! If you managed to get through all the parts of this thread from the beginning, or even just the last section, I congratulate you! I don't think I'd want to do it, or would have the time. Your rockscaping looks great - I really like that cavern under the bottom. Pretty nice! pH 7.8 is borderline low, but with that ammonia & nitrate reading you haven't yet got the cycle completed. I wouldn't worry about anything like pH, calcium, etc. till you get the ammonia & nitrites down. 1ppm ammonia is still pretty high concerning adding any new life to the tank, and pH 7.8 is not all that bad. By the way, have you got room behind the tank to hang the fuge? If not, it might be easier now than later to siphon out water & move the tank away from the wall - before you have fish & critters to worry about.
GDESQUIRE - nice to see another one of the "old timers" pop in here again! I hope your tanks are doing well.
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Excellence in reefkeeping is achieved by mastering the fundamentals, and learning from mistakes. Last edited by Reefmack; 12/03/2007 at 09:47 PM. |
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#55
12/03/2007, 10:03 PM
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REEFMACK - ya i have plenty of room thanks for the concern and i had a nano before this and just sold everything to get this but my ph was always about 8.4 so i was just wondering. and even with all the trouble people have with there skimmer mine works great. but i did do the silencer hose mod. does anyone have any rods onyx clowns that are on here i didnt see any with the rsm. once my cycle is through im going to have rod ship me a pair to throw in here i cant wait! as far as your tank goes i love it. what made u decide to put a tunze osmilator on the back instead of a smaller unit that wasn't made for a sump? and how do u like it because i am definatly going to be investing in a ato. thanks again.
GDESQUIRE - thanks lets see some pics of your tank!
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beer me! |
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#56
12/04/2007, 12:05 AM
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AIRBUBBLES FROM HELL! Someone help me. After three months of owning an RSM, I have suddenly met the million air bubble invasion. I know that they're caused by my protein skimmer, because when I turn it off, they go away. Also, my skimmer collection cup has been filling with clean water to the point of overflowing. Why the heck is it doing this? My questions:
1. What of the skimmer would be causing this? 2. How do I stop it? 3. Is it bad to not run the skimmer but run everything else? |
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#57
12/04/2007, 02:25 AM
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Hi RSM friends .
We are some RSM users from Greece and we would like to make an order of 60 pieces of ricordea florida and some zoas. I'm wondering if you know some good e-shop (exept ricordea-farm) that you can suggest me with p.m. |
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#58
12/04/2007, 02:26 AM
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tylt33
maybe try turning down your air intake, thats all i can think of at the moment, weird that its been ok for a while and just started doing it. and its not bad to not have the skimmer going some people run skimmers on timers for example 8 hours a day, it really depends on how much bioload you have in there.... goodluck mate. |
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#59
12/04/2007, 02:40 AM
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Quote:
Increase the water level. Cut the black sponge in half. Turn down your air intake , and good luck. Last edited by stathis; 12/04/2007 at 02:49 AM. |
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#60
12/04/2007, 07:20 AM
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stephensturman - good to hear you're not new at all this. I got the Tunze Osmolator, even though it was pricy, because it seemed to have the best reviews. I had some initial problems with the optical sensor becoming coated with microbubbles (my fault in where I placed my mechanical filter), and had one instance where my thermometer probe hung up on top of the secondary safety sensor (again my fault), but it's performed flawlessly ever since. The only problem I have now is when my big Blue Linkia star crawls up over the overflow gate and drops the water level in back, causing the pump to stay on (and microbubbles). But, I have the secondary safety float finally set so that the water level never goes beyond the bottom of the black rim. The lower cost double float ATOs would probably be fine to set up. What's critical is getting that safety float fine tuned so that the system shuts down before the tank level can get too high, or overflow. It's still scary when I infrequently hear that emergency alarm screeching, but it's always the Linkia blocking the gate, but that safety switch gives me assurance that the tank won't overflow. The extra 1/4 - 1/2 inch of water pumped into the tank has to drop my salinity a bit, but it's never had a negative effect on life in the tank - I just disconnect the ATO till evaporation brings it back down in about a day. I've seen a couple Osmolators in RSMs.
tylt33 - I can't add anything to what's already been said above about the skimmer. Have you by any chance superglued/epoxied a few corals in before this happened? The superglue and/or epoxy has had my RSM skimmer overflow in the past. Stathis - I recently got a few Ricordea floridas at a nice cost from Sea Life Inc., but there are a several other places. The problem you may find is that the majority of these places won't ship out of the USA. Too much paperwork and regulations on international shipping.
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Excellence in reefkeeping is achieved by mastering the fundamentals, and learning from mistakes. |
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#61
12/04/2007, 07:34 AM
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Just checking in and catching up. Reefmack, the fuge looks great, I'm glad it's working out for you. I miss it, but it really would have ruined the lines of my tank in the back since I still have the RSM hood.
I'm starting to get a bright green color on the substrate but that's probably due to neglect over the thanksgiving holiday. I'm doing a water change this morning. I got rid of my sea urchin last night. Now I won't be coming home to my mushroom knocked off the rock, and the urchin carrying around my queen conch and kenya tree. Keep up the good picts guys |
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#62
12/04/2007, 08:03 AM
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bookpile - I really do like the fuge - thanks! I guess the urchin was doing what urchins are known to do - knock everything loose. I guess they're mini-re-aquascapers
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Excellence in reefkeeping is achieved by mastering the fundamentals, and learning from mistakes. |
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#63
12/04/2007, 09:12 AM
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Thanks for the suggestions regarding the skimmer. I'm really kinda baffled as to what is going on. I first noticed a problem when I would get a white out of bubbles after I fed my fish each day. The white filter is gone, and the black filter is cut in half, water level is full and the little intake gate is all the way down. I did just epoxy in one coral... could that really be causing it? I'm going to try adjusting my air intake... weird that I would need to adjust it though after three months of perfect operation! I must say however, the tank is MUCH quieter without the skimmer running
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#64
12/04/2007, 10:00 AM
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Tylt33 - the only time the RSM skimmer did that to me was after using the epoxy putty & superglue. That may well be the reason you had the skimmer fill up. I left mine on when it happened to me, and I think I had to empty the cup 2 or 3 times that day till it had removed whatever gets released by the epoxy curing, and settled back down to it's usual poor performance
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Excellence in reefkeeping is achieved by mastering the fundamentals, and learning from mistakes. |
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#65
12/04/2007, 12:52 PM
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The wrasse seems to be spending more time out in the open and I actually saw it eat today (this was the first time he was out while I fed). I am starting to get concerned about the Gramma though, I have not really seen it since adding it to the tank on Saturday. I think I see its mouth in the cave coming out every so often, but it is a small cave in the middle of a single piece of rock, so I cannot really get it out without seriously disturbing it. It has not come out in the open at all.
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#66
12/04/2007, 01:28 PM
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Iostream:
Do not yet worry about the gramma. I have had one for a while, and they do tend to hide in the begining. However, you need to pay special attention that it is not getting harrassed or it will remain in hiding. It should also come out of hiding to feed. If you see a particular fish hanging around its cave home all the time then that is the problem. The gramma will vigorously defend its home and not leave it if it feels threatened or if another fish is encroaching. Just give it time and watch to see if another fish is bothering it. The gramma will display behavior of opening its mouth wide toward another fish when agitated. This is no big deal, but it shows that the gramma is not happy. If there is a lot of chasing and/or physical contact then you need to be concerned. The gramma is pretty much all bark but no bite. It displays a lot of aggressive mouth opening but retreats generally before physical conflict unless another fish enters its home. Also, the gramma will demonstrate a lot of flashing behavior, particularly in the begining as it establishes its home territory. Make sure you have plenty of places for the fish to hide so that the gramma can establish a safe home. If you do not have several caves, you may want to re-arrange the rock work a bit which will help the gramma aclimate and put it on an even keel in terms of establishing its territory with the other fish. Grammas tend to have problems with wrasses, hawkfish, and damsels. They can get along with some conflict in the beginning with wrasses and hawkfish, but my experience has been that they cannot get along with damsels. |
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#67
12/04/2007, 02:23 PM
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Well I am glad this thread split again so I can follow it. I am looking to start a reef tank in the future. It appears to me 30 to 40 gallons looks like the right size. Not to big, not to small. I wonder how many RSM owners have downsized to this tank
Marty |
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#68
12/04/2007, 02:30 PM
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Hi martinphillip03. I think some have downsized, some have moved up to larger tanks, and some moved up plus kept the RSM. I think the maintenance time and cost of a large tank have had some people opt for a smaller tank. Hopefully you'll get some replies from those have downsized or moved up in size.
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Excellence in reefkeeping is achieved by mastering the fundamentals, and learning from mistakes. |
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#69
12/04/2007, 02:37 PM
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I have been following LaurentSeattle thread. I think the RSM is all I can handle
Marty Quote:
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#70
12/04/2007, 02:59 PM
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Quote:
For me it's true - it's all I can handle, and the cost has already been more than I ever planned. The RSM is a nice sized tank, but some wanted more room for more rock, more corals, bigger fish. Bigger tanks can supposedly be easier to keep the water chemistry under control, but I've had no problems with the 34g in my RSM. On the other hand bigger tanks can have bigger problems too. I'll stay with my 34g RSM - it's a nice size and the tank fit in the one place I wanted one. I'm already a slave to my RSM at times and can't imagine trying to maintain anything larger. I need a liitle bit of R&R time left over, to just enjoy the tank, and then there's my wife, who already thinks the tank gets more of my time than she does, and she's probably correct on that! But she enjoys it too, so that helps.
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Excellence in reefkeeping is achieved by mastering the fundamentals, and learning from mistakes. |
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#74
12/04/2007, 05:01 PM
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Martinphillip03 - I have downsized, but that doesn't mean I will stay down sized...
Having said that, I think the RSM will keep me going for at least the next 2 - 3 years. I tried to take some close up photos of some of my critters for the first time last night & simply could not get the camera to focus on anything in macro mode. Mot sure if it is the camera or me, but I will keep trying to get a couple of shots. Reefmack - how is that pipefish going? I have been away a couple of days & missed your question on them when you asked. My 2 are doing fine in there, but they are the only fish, so there is nothing to hassle them. They remain very shy & spend most of their life hiding at the back of the tank. Are about 4 inches long & happily eating frozen mysis shrimp 2 - 3 times daily. Cheers James |
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