Share my tank..help me build - Page 5

navychief · #**101** 12/19/2007, 09:58 PM

Not a whole lot has changed since the last pics. I have a new piece of LR that has some feather dusters and some Zoa. As far as inverts, I did get some Turbo Snails today to help clean the LR. As you can see, the dreaded brown algae.

Skepperz · #**102** 12/20/2007, 06:33 PM

Hmmm just a suggestion, i think you should loose the coral background and put in a blue or a black one :-)

navychief · #**103** 12/20/2007, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skepperz
Hmmm just a suggestion, i think you should loose the coral background and put in a blue or a black one :-)

Kinda looks too 70's eh? I've been debating that. However, I did get rid of the brass fitting on the spray bar

navychief · #**104** 12/20/2007, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jcpatella
Navychief! What's that blasted shiny brass connector to the left of your skimmer cup??!!

Oh, and congratulations on correcting the skimmer problem.

JC. I found the connector I needed thanks to Shawnz28. All the brass is gone and the tank seems fine.

jcpatella · #**105** 12/20/2007, 07:30 PM

Great! So you've added another piece of live rock. I hate purchasing live rock. It is extremely beneficial and necessary, but I hate spending at least $5/lb for a ROCK!!!!

Anyway, how is that skimmer working?

Skepperz · #**106** 12/20/2007, 08:09 PM

Haha u know how much it costs for live rock from a pet shop here in Tasmania Australia? if you want on peice........it is $26 a kg lol what a joke eah!!

jcpatella · #**107** 12/20/2007, 08:44 PM

What! That's a shame. DIY live rock = aragonite sand + cement!

shawnz28 · #**108** 12/20/2007, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by navychief
Kinda looks too 70's eh? I've been debating that. However, I did get rid of the brass fitting on the spray bar

I like painting the outside back of the glass but for something like this that is up and running blue or black poster board works well. and if it gets wet or fades etc... cheap to replace. I like a black background as makes the coral and fish stand out... well till the corraline covers the back anyway lol

jcpatella · #**109** 12/20/2007, 09:05 PM

If you're interested, I used limo tint. $10 and 1 hour.

Rustylugnuts · #**110** 12/20/2007, 11:09 PM

Base rock is another good way to save money. It fits in between the LR and the man made LR (MMLR). I made up a small batch of the 1:0.5:2 cement sand rocksalt stuff and its almost ready to use (custom shapes a big plus,biggest benefit the 50cents/lb price) . The cool thing about base rock is that the shipping is WAY cheaper than what you find with LR and since its dry you get much more for your money (25 lbs ought to do it and you already have some LR to seed it with the organisms you need) .

Eco Rox

Marco Rocks

navychief · #**111** 12/21/2007, 06:42 AM

Yea. the paying money for rock sounds really crazy, and quite frankly is at this point in my tank development. I guess it pays off when you start seeing all the little critters growing on it.

I believe I will eventually replace the background with something plain. I never thought about how that background would wash out the real part of the tank. Why make the background look nice, it's the foreground that counts! lol

Well, the RO/DI filter is next. It really sucks that I live in a townhouse right now so that limits me in what I can do.

KD9RG · #**112** 12/21/2007, 06:53 AM

From your lasst post I would guess your using straight tap water.....another no no. Need to get yourself a RO unit as soon as you can. Even if its one that screws on to the tap. Need to check your skimmer and make sure that its skimming ok. I would get some snails and crabs to start working that substrate. Mike/KD9RG

navychief · #**113** 12/21/2007, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KD9RG
From your lasst post I would guess your using straight tap water.....another no no. Need to get yourself a RO unit as soon as you can. Even if its one that screws on to the tap. Need to check your skimmer and make sure that its skimming ok. I would get some snails and crabs to start working that substrate. Mike/KD9RG

Yea. I really do need to get a RO/DI filter. This is what I wonder. My LFS is a small privately owned fish and reptile store. I've talked to the owner a number of times about the water he uses. His tanks (salt) all look great and he doesn't use a water purification system, just the local water supply in our small town. Is this possible?

Another question. Has anyone ever heard of using a UPS to keep a pump (tank) running in the event of a power outage? I don't have a check-valve at this time and my LFS and hardware store don't carry the size check valve that I need. My next internet order I plan on buying one, but is it really necessary if I use a UPS or would it be recommended to add the extra redundancy?

Chief

jcpatella · #**114** 12/21/2007, 10:21 PM

The problem with check-valves is that they're not always reliable. You'll only know when they're not good anymore when you have a huge spill...

Also, UPS systems work alright, but aren't meant to last for an extended period of time. If you have a power outage for more than an hour and your UPS ran out of juice, you'd be out of luck.

I can't see the return plumbing very well from the above picture, but if you drilled a hole above the tee, but below the water line, enough air will enter the line and break the siphon if the return pump failed (or loses power).

navychief · #**115** 12/22/2007, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jcpatella
The problem with check-valves is that they're not always reliable. You'll only know when they're not good anymore when you have a huge spill...

Also, UPS systems work alright, but aren't meant to last for an extended period of time. If you have a power outage for more than an hour and your UPS ran out of juice, you'd be out of luck.

I can't see the return plumbing very well from the above picture, but if you drilled a hole above the tee, but below the water line, enough air will enter the line and break the siphon if the return pump failed (or loses power).

OK. I'm with ya. That's a helluva good idea. I'll put a hole in the spraybar I built since the bar is about 3 inches down into the water. I figure that about a half inch or so under the water should suffice.

Apercula · #**116** 12/22/2007, 02:12 AM

Dont know if you have looked around for an RO/DI unit yet, but Buckeye Field Supply is a Reefcentral sponser and has pretty good feedback here. http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/sh...ry=167&Sub=166

navychief · #**117** 12/22/2007, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Apercula
Dont know if you have looked around for an RO/DI unit yet, but Buckeye Field Supply is a Reefcentral sponser and has pretty good feedback here. http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/sh...ry=167&Sub=166

Great. Thanks for the link. I'm looking for the best deal as one would expect.

Merry Christmas.

navychief · #**118** 12/22/2007, 12:36 PM

Well, today I bit the bullet and ordered the SpectraPure MaxCap RO/DI w/ Pressure Gauge & Purity Monitor as recommended by AZDesertRat. I convinced the wife that we can save money in the long run by using this to fill our drinking water cooler containers instead of buying the water at a store AND keep the fish healthy...all two of them! LOL

Am I evil or what????

Rustylugnuts · #**119** 12/22/2007, 12:44 PM

Dude that has to be the best excuse. Seen it used several times ( it worked with my wife!). Only thing that sucks is the place I live in now doesn't have the water pressure to run the thing and I can't afford either the booster pump or a 75 gpd membrane. Luckilly the lab I work at on campus lets me bring as much of their 18.2 Mohm water home as I want.

navychief · #**120** 12/22/2007, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rustylugnuts
Dude that has to be the best excuse. Seen it used several times ( it worked with my wife!). Only thing that sucks is the place I live in now doesn't have the water pressure to run the thing and I can't afford either the booster pump or a 75 gpd membrane. Luckilly the lab I work at on campus lets me bring as much of their 18.2 Mohm water home as I want.

I have no idea how much water pressure I have. I know that it comes out of the faucet like a raped ape. Hopefully I will not need the booster.

More to follow....

BTW. Bough a piece of LR with a bunch of Zoa on it. Need to determine which ones they are.

cravinmohead22 · #**121** 12/22/2007, 04:08 PM

very helpfull thread for me. thanks guy keep it coming.

navychief · #**122** 12/23/2007, 04:36 PM

Hey everyone...

My specific gravity is reading at a level of 1.021 at 81 degrees. Is this a good level. I'm using a cheapy floating arm hydrometer.

chief

jcpatella · #**123** 12/23/2007, 04:46 PM

I keep my salinity around 1.025 at 79 degrees.

I, too, use a hydrometer, but I just placed an order for a refractometer 2 minutes ago!

navychief · #**124** 12/23/2007, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jcpatella
I keep my salinity around 1.025 at 79 degrees.

I, too, use a hydrometer, but I just placed an order for a refractometer 2 minutes ago!

you think i'm ok at this lvl or should i raise a smige?

jcpatella · #**125** 12/23/2007, 04:59 PM

It depends on who you ask. One of my LFS keeps their stuff at 1.021 and said 1.026 is ridiculous. Most other people will tell you that 1.025 - 1.027 is perfect for a reef tank. There's an article by Randy Holmes-Farley that explains why this higher salinity is beneficial for a reef tank. Hopefully someone can point you toward it.