Randy's new 120 gallon Reef - Page 5

boxfishpooalot · #**101** 02/10/2006, 08:09 AM

100!! ( sorry could not resist)

Hows the tank doing after the top off accident? Corals ok? Yellow tang still scrachting?

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**102** 02/10/2006, 11:57 AM

100 what?

The tank is fine. The fungia didn't survive, but I'm not convinced that has anything to do with high alkalinity.

boxfishpooalot · #**103** 02/10/2006, 07:37 PM

The number of posts was 100 when I posted.....

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**104** 02/14/2006, 08:26 AM

Oh, OK. I don't have my browser set to show the number of posts in a thread.

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**105** 02/15/2006, 04:15 PM

Here's a recent picture of the tank, from February 5,2006, 2 weeks after initiating ozone.

DrBDC · #**106** 02/15/2006, 04:47 PM

Do you feel visually there is an improvement in the 2 weeks and the 10 days since? Pics are so hard to tell sometimes. It looks good but without standing in front of the tank it can be hard. Have you seen any changes in your testing results? Or are those answers secret until the article?

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**107** 02/15/2006, 04:56 PM

I'm writing three articles on ozone (the first was submitted yesterday):

Ozone and the Reef Aquarium 1. Chemistry and Biochemistry
Ozone and the Reef Aquarium 2. Equipment and Safety
Ozone and the Reef Aquarium 3. Changes in a Reef Aquarium on Initiating Ozone

I'll show a bunch of measurements in the last, including some before and after pics down the length of the tank toward a white piece of plastic that do show a distinct difference (less yellow). The water was already what I would call quite clear, but it was event clearer after the ozone, and is now very clear. At the end of that last article, I'll discuss whether all things considered, I think ozone is worthwhile.

billrollo · #**108** 02/18/2006, 02:36 PM

What is your lighting set up? I have a chem question. I have a 90 reef. seems my kh and gh are sky high. I am talking way over 400mg/l for the gh and over 200mg/l for the kh. my ro test out normal. ca is 450. i have a tough time telling what my ph is because the purple color does not seen to match the back of the hagen chart. it seems to be in the high range as well 8.5 or above... like i said. the color is not dark blue. more like purple... help

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**109** 02/18/2006, 03:07 PM

I have 2 x 250 w XM 10,000 k double ended mh lamps, and 4 coralife miniaqualight fixtures containing a total of 3 x 10,000 k, 9 watt bulbs, and 5 actinic 9w bulbs.

I'll split the remainder of the question into another thread.

boxfishpooalot · #**110** 02/20/2006, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Randy Holmes-Farley
Here's a recent picture of the tank, from February 5,2006, 2 weeks after initiating ozone.

Tanks looking great Randy!

I really envy your rose anemone(is that it?) and that big yellow thing(sorry not good with names)

When did you put those sps in there? Are they growing fast?

Looks like you might need a dozen more snail grazers

heheh.(to keep up)

Keep up the good work!

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**111** 02/20/2006, 01:03 PM

Thanks.

I believe the anemone is a purple morph of H. crispa. Delbeek and Sprung show one just like it on p. 390 of The reef Aquarium, volume 2.

The rose BTA that I bought a while back crawled back into the rocks, and I can no longer see it.

Some of the SPS came from the the old tank, but most I got from Greg Hiller a few months ago. They seem to be growing nicely, with some faster than others as expected.

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**112** 02/24/2006, 08:33 AM

I picked up some new creatures yesterday, including a powder blue tang and 3 blue damsels (Chromis cyanea), all in quarantine and destined for the 120. I also bought a yellowtail damsel (Chrysiptera parasema) for my 90 gallon tank, but in the shuffle of so many bags, it got left at the LFS.

I also picked up a nice red open brain and a bunch of hermit crabs, and a cleaner shrimp.

boxfishpooalot · #**113** 02/25/2006, 09:26 AM

left it at the lfs! Ouch! I hope they put it back into their tanks.

Did go back and get it?

About the powder blue tang, mine always had ich spots. Untill I started feeding him nori seaweed(found in asian markets). I give him 1 piece (1" x 3" size) 3 times a day. After feeding him like this, his ich dissapeared!Never returned. I would say one of the fattest/healthest/durable tangs in my tank.Despite all the people saying they are hard to keep.

I just attach the nori with an elastic band to a small piece of pvc pipe, wich I hang from the top of the aquarium via fishing line and a heavy object on the other end to prevent it from floating away. Dont use those nori clips they sell, they break a lot. Or you could just dangle it from your canopy somehow. This allows not getting the hands wet when you want to add more nori seaweed(like a suction cup nori clip does). Also my ocastration cubicus boxfish(yellow spotted) relishes this nori also. As well as my yellow tang, naso tang, regal tang and unicorn tang. Quite the herbivores bunch!

Any pics of the new additions?

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**114** 02/25/2006, 09:48 AM

I called and they had already put it back in a tank.

FWIW, one of the blue damsels died in QT the first night.

No pics yet.

tryingsalt · #**115** 02/28/2006, 08:24 AM

Back to the ozone.. What do you connect the ozonizer up to? What do you run the air line to?

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**116** 02/28/2006, 12:00 PM

Right now, it is connected to a Coralife Ozone Reactor. Don't buy it. It is horrible.

As soon as some tubing arrives, I'm going to send water and ozone/air via venturi into a 100 foot coil of 3/4" HDPE tubing, and then over the GAC before getting into the tank. That will give a longer contact time and much better (hopefully) reliability of the device itself.

tryingsalt · #**117** 03/01/2006, 10:07 PM

So you are using a Ozone Reactor? I don't know if I should this here but do you think they work just as good as an electronic deivce?

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**118** 03/02/2006, 08:14 AM

The reactor that I am referring to is just a chamber where ozone is mixed with tank water. The ozone still comes from a standard electronic (Aquamedic) ozone generator.

DrBDC · #**119** 03/02/2006, 08:28 AM

Randy, what type of venturi are you planning to use? I've been thinking about something similar. Feed the tubing with a maxijet venturi adapter or a true venturi?

Do you plan on having it exit the GAC chamber similar to a phosban reactor where as it rises up through the carbon, all gas and water must flow through the carbon?

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**120** 03/02/2006, 10:14 AM

I have an old venturi that came with a skimmer that I bought from Thiel AquaTech 11 years ago. I don't know who made it.

I plan to let the effluent pass through a long column of GAC (a 4" PVC pipe filled with about 12-18" of GAC, the outlet of the HDPE tubing will be about 3 inches below the surface of the GAC).

cristhiam · #**121** 03/03/2006, 04:00 PM

Hey Randy your tank looks great!! I just upgraded to a 125 and I'm getting a cowfish

I have to try it. How's your cowfish behaving with your clams?

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**122** 03/03/2006, 04:37 PM

It doesn't seem to bother the clams....yet....

Thanks.

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**123** 03/03/2006, 04:42 PM

Randy, what type of venturi are you planning to use? I've been thinking about something similar. Feed the tubing with a maxijet venturi adapter or a true venturi?

I set up the ozone/air and water into the 100' of 3/4" HDPE tubing today. The flow is about where I want it (a little under 1 gallon per min; about 45 seconds of contact time), but the venturi is not sucking at that flow rate. If I remove the air line to it, water spurts out.

DrBDC · #**124** 03/03/2006, 05:00 PM

That long of a line is probably making too much backpressure. On this setup are you pumping air through the ozone or trying to use the draw from the venturi only? Could just be the gph vs. the venturi size. I'm sure there is a physics formula to use to determine the minimum gph for venturi action. I know a mj1200 will passivly pull air into my salt mix bucket but that would require a lot more tubing length to get the contact time.

Randy Holmes-Farley · #**125** 03/03/2006, 05:07 PM

I'm using an air pump, so it is going in just fine. From the look of the tubing it is about 1/4-1/3 air inside. The venturi is just a way to introduce the pressurized air.