Lunchbucket's New 58gal RR inprogress - LOTS OF PICS

[otolith]

At the rate I'm going, it should only take me 2 years to hit the second thousand posts.

[melev]

If you help Eric get this thread to split, you can speed that up considerably. 25 posts per page, 40 pages.... do the math.

[asnatlas]

Originally posted by melev
If you help Eric get this thread to split, you can speed that up considerably. 25 posts per page, 40 pages.... do the math.

25 posts * 40 pages = 1000 posts * 2000 threads... Looks like Marc is behind

Shawn

[Lunchbucket]

Calling a Manager of Powershop Gym, Masters of Science - Exercise Physiology, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), Personal Trainer lazy seemed funny, at least to me.

ok now that my meathead slowness got the joke it was funny i chuckled

otolith - melev is in a world of his own so someone has to amuse him

melev - now we KNOW why you have 15 bugillion posts....w/ all the quality ones i have gotten in this thread

Lunchbucket

[Lunchbucket]

ok on a more serious note and a new post

i got the replacement top for my Ca Rx today and got it all hooked up. ALL BETTER..no leaky leaky thank God. now i can run it like it's supposed to be run. i'm only running .02L/min though and at 6.7pH. i don't want to add TOO much to the tank right way. i'll lower the pH in the reactor if i need an alk boost in the next coming days. then when i get to 6.4 or so i'll start upping the effluent.

nice thing is w/ this precision needle valve and the effluent meter i can up it just .01L/min and KNOW that i only upped it that much. w/out an effluent meter i would only be guessing and it would take longer to balance out my Rx to my tank

earlier today i was at my parents insulating thier garage and my wife called and said that my female b*tch clown was beating the snot out of my firefish. she was chasing it around the tank. finally it was back behind a heater i have by my overflow getting some protection. bad part is i have NOT seen it all day. my wife and i cannot find it AT ALL now. i searched in the overflow, behind the tank in case of carpet surfing an in the rock all over. i know they hide well but it hasn't hidden yet untill now. so i hope it is ok

the bangaii is fine and no other fish bothers him. only bad part is he hides in teh back of the tank so i hope he comes out front soon

i NEED my new RO unit to get here. i'm running 34ppm OUT OF MY RO MEMBRANE and 4ppm out of my DI!!! needless to say my membrane AND my DI are toasted. my new unit was supposed to be here already but i am not sure where it is at. i emailed the guy and he is getting the tracking and helping find out where it is.

i am getting a little diatoms on the sand and i am wondering if this is due to the Ca Rx switch over or the ro/di water. it only starting coming about after i added the new Ca Rx and had it running full bore (no co2 through it) was wondering if some of the dust or dosing a little potent effluent from the old reactor would be the cause???

long enough post? do i get credit for 100 of melevs??
Lunchbucket

[melev]

You know, if you keep taunting me, I may outpost you in your own thread! You cracked me up with your comments above, but the biggest laugh came from your wife's calling you about your _____ clownfish.

Have you changed out your prefilters on the RO to lower the TDS coming out of the RO? TDS of 4 coming out of the DI isn't the end of the world. I pretty much set a goal that if it is over 10, then I'll change out the filters. I need to see where I am, but I just replaced them a month ago and it should be nearly 0.\

The diatoms could be coming from the noodles perhaps. That is your new addition. Raising alkalinity does help kill off nuisance algae, and you can do this with baked baking soda. Mix up a cup of RO water with a teaspoon or two. Then pour it in an area of high flow and watch your pH meter closely to avoid spiking the tank. A couple of years ago, I just poured the cup in the tank and watched the pH hit 8.9 or so, and all my SPS started sliming instantly. I just sat there in front of the tank in horror for probably 2 hours, feeling pretty helpless. Now I know better, and add stuff in smaller doses over time to make sure the tank can handle the change.

Your needle valve and effluent meter sound really neat. I'm going to be ordering some stuff from Aquaticeco.com, including some needle valves. That should be great on the output of my Ca Reactor, instead of the pinch clamp I've been using for the past year. I just need to get the right size one for that tubing.

I hope you find your Firefish. Did you get a red one or a purple one?

[Lunchbucket]

melev - LOL yeah i laughed too when she called.

i have changed out the pre filters. same time as the DI cart. maybe 3-4months ago. i could check my paypal or my email where i have the reciepts. yeah i know 4ppm isn't the end of hte world but i strickly run ZERO. always have. i didn't even know my membrane was shot till i checked my TDS...i dont' to that often it is an inline one...i guess i should check it agains my Hana handheld TDS to be sure

well i used the same type of noodles before in my old reactor. used them since the last fill up on my old reactor. i could have been from my alk being up and down i guess?? no idea. my alk did get to 7.0 and 7.7 for 2-3days. i checked yesterday and it was 9.0 or so...back to normal.

if i need an alk boost i'll mix up some kalk in my dripper i have for back up. safer IMO. but i have used baking soda and kalk the way you have described (not together but on seperate occations)

the needles valves and effluent meter ROCK. i can't eplain how much i love these two accesories. they really make a reactor more of a pleasure and less of a chore when dialing them in. i would highly suggest getting them paired together. a pinch clam!! that is so last year and SOOOO ghetto whatever works but this is way easier and you can tell how much your tank is getting. mine is a 1/4" RO tubing valve just like a JG sized.

i got a plain one aka red one. and i still haven't found it hope it didn't die and is rotting in the tank. i'm sure my big skimmer and all my peppermint snails, the few hermits i have and my cleaner shrimp can do away w/ it before it causes problems in teh tank but i think these are some of the coolest fish out there and i dont' like loosing them

Lunchbucket

[Lunchbucket]

ok just had a scary moment!! my wife was watching Lord of the Rings...no biggie but she went to shut off my reciever and it tripped the power in the living room! that powers my ca rx pump, co2 silenoid, ACII, 20k MH, tunze, fans to cool, heaters to heat, and my pH controller. nothing terribly important but still this is the FIRST time this has happend. i'm guessing it just surged when it shut off or something? i've had all the lights in teh living room, the tank lights and fans on, and a DVD playing full bore and NOTHING has happend. bad part is i HAVE to have some stuff running on this outlet as my apt is wired all screwy like that. i do have a 20amp dedicated outlet that i run all of my other stuff off of.

werid

well the firefish is ALIVE. my wife and i spotted him hiding inbetween an intank heater and my tunze's magnet holder. i think it looks like his back fins are TRASHED. but it could be that i didn't get a good angle on him and they are just clamped up from being in a tight spot. hope the beatings from mrs. clown stop soon don't think he can take much more

Lunchbucket

[Toddrtrex]

That is odd that it tripped turning it off, would have expected it to happen when you turn it on. Heck I can hear a difference in my light's fans when I turn on my power amp.

[Lunchbucket]

it made a wierd noise when it turned off. maybe it turned off and then turned right back on...i've had it do that before. something w/ my remote i think.

when my wife fires up her hair dryer all the lights dim in the apt

Lunchbucket

[Toddrtrex]

That sounds like a possiblity. I have a voltage meter on my surge protector for my home theatre, it is scarey to watch it drop when I turn on the power amp.

BTW --- The tank is really looking great, puts my 58 to shame

[Lunchbucket]

i'm thinking that is a possibility. i've had it do that before WITH the halide running but he never know why it sucked more this time. not really anything to worry about IMO.

thanks for the compliments! i really need to get all these nice corals to grow out..then it will be super nice. i'm sure your 58gal is just dandy. any new pics??

Lunchbucket

[Toddrtrex]

Here is one from about 3 months ago, might take a new one tomorrow. I changed a few things, and the frags have grown abit. I know what you are saying about getting them to grow. The only time I notice anything is if I am out of town for any lenght of time. I have got to get better about taking growth pictures.

[Lunchbucket]

i better not show that pic to my wife as she wants a flame and a tang and since you have both she will be on my butt about it

Lunchbucket

[Travis]

Sorry to hear about the problems with your firefish. I've never had luck with them in the past in my tanks or my mom's. They hid 95% of the time and all eventually ended up jumping to their death.

So did you ever get credit back or anything since both of the CBB's died?

If you would have made it to the LFS sooner you could have picked out a much healthier tang. I would wait until you can get one as soon as they get it in. The longer fish sit in their tanks, the more diseases they are going to have on them when you put them in your tank.

[thereefmaster]

nice melev...

[Lunchbucket]

Travis - only had one other firefish in my time and it died in my 10gal tank.

i got credit for the 1st one that died which i used to ship the 2nd one. then that one died..no idea why. but they ONLY give credit for one replacement. so my credit got all used up

yeah i wish i would have gotten there tues but after that long day monday and not being able to get off work on tues i figured i would just wait. if all else fails i could get one on thrusday when they get their shipment in again. SL had a NICE yellow eye when i stopped on my way home. i just about pulled the trigger and bought him on my way home but 3 fish adding to my 3 fish would be TOO many. it's either the bangaii and firefish or the yellow eye tang..not both.

i'm still undecided if a yellow eye kole tang is right for my tank or not. i know they are one of the smaller tangs and i've had one before but not sure if it is too much for my tank or the tank is too small for it

Lunchbucket

[Toddrtrex]

Originally posted by Lunchbucket
i better not show that pic to my wife as she wants a flame and a tang and since you have both she will be on my butt about it

Lunchbucket

LOL, those two are all that remains of my ex-wife
But I love those fish, also have a pair of saddleback clowns and a Lemonpeel angel. A bit overcrowded, but I have had them all for several yrs now, too attacked to them. I snapped a few pictures of my fravorite frags. ( left out one that fell into my Haddoni, opps, doing fine but lost some of its color, but still has good PE. )

[Lunchbucket]

geeze. nice color on those corals buddy!!

Lunchbucket

[Toddrtrex]

Thanks alot. Believe it or not the first one is a frag from a larger one that is in my 75g with "only" 330 watts of PC and that tank is beyond overstocked. That coral is a slow grower, but in the 75 it grows about a CM a year ONe of these days I will move it to the 58g. ( 2 * 175 HM + 2 * 96 PC )

[Lunchbucket]

update - haven't seen the firefish in 1.5days or so. not sure where he is but the spot he was hiding in we could not see him unless he came out...and we would see him at least once a day. now we haven't seen him. checked all over in the tank and behind and all over around the tank.

also my alk is stable at 9.5. i've lowered the pH a little more to boost my alk up a little higher.

Lunchbucket

[Travis]

I bet you'll find that firefish again. If it is not dead on the floor it is probably just hiding deep in a hole somewhere in the rocks.

[Lunchbucket]

i'm thinking the same thing. i had a firefish one time before and i couldn't find it in a 10gal tank...let alone my 58 that i have now.

hope i see him come out and eat and not get beat up by Mrs. Clown as my wife and i call her

Lunchbucket

[Dudester]

Lunch, how did you lower your pH (just curious)?

[melev]

PSA:

Just 37 more pages until the next split.

END PSA.