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I would move the rocks on the far right off the glass, give it 1-2" of space like it's got on the left. Again, it's a huge factor in aquascaping and being able to get to the glass.Henchman 21 posted:Want to see a grown man cry? Drop his two week Old Radion in his tank. Want to see him cry twice? Show him the pack of cigarettes that have been soaking in the water for the past hour and a half that he's been ripping apart his Radion. poo poo man, salt water and electronics. Good luck. 
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Dec 4, 2013 20:56
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api call girl posted:I would move the rocks on the far right off the glass, give it 1-2" of space like it's got on the left. Again, it's a huge factor in aquascaping and being able to get to the glass. Thanks, I have my fingers crossed. It didn't submerge totally, and I spent an hour cleaning all the boards with qtips and alcohol. Hopefully it's ok tomorrow after it's rice bath is over. It was still lit when I killed the power so here's hoping!
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Dec 4, 2013 21:03
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New article on Advanced Aquariast about coral feeding, water flow and quality: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/12/aafeature I can't summarize the entire thing yet as there is just too much discussed, including calculated data on how over-skimming can rapidly deplete a system of *coral nutrients*.
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Dec 4, 2013 23:48
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Interesting article. Can someone please convert "5 to 10 cm s-1" to some kind of figure that makes sense to a non lab-type? That is apparently the ideal water flow rate for several species. The whole thing about skimmers pulling out nutrients too quickly especially during feedings is kind of troubling. Having to turn my skimmer off and back on every time I want to feed is a bit of a pain in the rear end but losing 90% of your coral's food to filtration is pretty rough. I wish raising live food at home wasn't so much effort. Live refrigerated food fed via a peristaltic pump really does seem like the ideal option but a lot of work and money. visuvius fucked around with this message at 07:51 on Dec 5, 2013 |
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Dec 5, 2013 07:34
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s-1 = 1/s, so "cm s-1" would be "cm/s", a measurement of speed. Probably. If that's the case I'm having a hard time conceptualizing the units for the prey capture rates in that graph, though.
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Dec 5, 2013 08:41
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I've moved my live rock around to allow for the magnet cleaner to fit on all sides of the glass evenly. Even found two rocks that are shaped by coincidence to support the big rock, so I was able to lift it up. Now there's some cool little spaces to watch fish swim through or something I guess. Waiting on my last little batch of shipments - a new media basket for the nano cube from InTank and a JBJ fuge light. After reading I'm up gonna go with chaeto after all. Filter floss in the first chamber and then chemi-pure / chaeto in either the third or second chamber depending on how the magnet for the light fits in the side chamber. I think I'm finally set to just ride this cycle out for a few weeks and I'll have mostly everything I need for maintenance once I have a bio load in there. Nice!
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Dec 5, 2013 16:50
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Good choice on the inTank basket, it's one of the best things I ever got for my old biocube and my new office tank. I've never tried the fuge light, but I'm considering it for my 20gal at home (the mantis tank with the poorly thought-out back chamber sizing), so let me know! Chaeto is a great choice, one of the most effective means of chemical filtration. Properly maintained (and if the fuge light is up to snuff).
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Dec 5, 2013 17:08
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Welp shes toast, sent it back to echotech to see about cost of repair. Remember kids make sure you're mounting into a stud when you hang your lights.
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Dec 5, 2013 19:58
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In regards to the prey capture stuff - the flow velocity recommended, 5 to 10 cm/s, is really low. Conversion chart: Now compare this with the pump of your choice from the Advanced Aquariast article on measured flow output: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/7/aafeature Say I've got an MP10:  On Reef Lagoonal mode the flow is on average 60% of max so the flow velocity from the main cone of the MP10 will be 1.4ish ft/s or 36.6 cm/s. I run my MP10 at about 50% of total power cause my tank is cramped and mostly LPS, so I'm maybe looking at 18 cm/s. Which is still on the high end... Also, look at the prey capture numbers as a percentage since they give the initial concentration of 20/L and 200/L. The right vertical axis only applies to Galaxea fascicularis, the red diamond data points. (Note: I took some liberties with this conversion since I can't see how they went from prey per liter to prey-capture per square-cm-hr. I assume they had a known area of coral colony and measured capture for an hour.)  Sooooo don't point your powerheads anywhere near your corals and try to get a whole-tank-gyre thing going on at 5 to 15 cm/s. Will detritus stay in suspension at that flow rate? I better end this post before I dig too deep.
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Dec 5, 2013 20:12
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Sorry to hear about the lights - makes me glad they are built into the hood for me. Though there is a scent of heated plastic that comes from it... This is basically what I plan on leaving it looking like. I've read that snails can knock stuff over when snailing around but everything seems pretty much in place (rock at the top jiggles a bit). The heavy branch of rock holds those two supporting rocks in pretty good. However, what I thought was just random coloring on the large rock may be something more annoying:  It is sort of hard to see in the photo but it looks like it could be gelidium algae:  What matched it up for me were the little runner strands that were coming out of the coloration just like this photo. Apparently this is a nuisance algae that can be difficult to remove (nano-reef recommends a dental pick and patience). Since I'm still just cycling maybe the chaeto could starve it out when I set all that up? I got the last half of my live rock from a bigger store since the small business I normally go to is closed for a move for a little while. Looks like they might not have put the same amount of care into their selection. Should I just wait and see how it (if it is anything) does? Apparently it can spread around if I try and scrub it off which is why a dental pick was recommended.
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Dec 5, 2013 22:19
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Do all the fish in the tank need nicotine patches now? 
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Dec 6, 2013 01:52
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SynthOrange posted:Do all the fish in the tank need nicotine patches now? Hah, they don't seem phased by it but I did do a 80% emergency water change right after I pulled them out
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Dec 6, 2013 02:30
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That algae that came in on my rock seemed pretty much on its last legs and is now disappearing altogether. However, that seems to be because I now have a shitton of Bryopsis in my tank: I just got my intank media basket in and set up a good sized chunk of chaeto with its light in my sump yesterday. My plan is to sift out everything I can find with a net from the sand and keep the lights off. I think I'm going to start water changes now as well. Since I don't have a bio load besides my live rock and sand, now seems like the best time to buckle in and get rid of this stuff. I've read about magnesium working wonders, but don't know if that is going to screw with all of the beneficial life I've been building up. I'm going to wait it out for a few weeks with the lights off and keeping the chaeto lit 24/7 and see where I go from there
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Dec 11, 2013 19:15
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I would vote don't start dosing stuff you can't test for. I fought and fought with different types of algae. It was obnoxious. It seemed like once I got rid of one type, a different one would step up and start growing. I finally just broke down and purchased a giant HOB skimmer and the problem is slowly going away.
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Dec 11, 2013 22:32
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Incredulous Dylan posted:That algae that came in on my rock seemed pretty much on its last legs and is now disappearing altogether. However, that seems to be because I now have a shitton of Bryopsis in my tank: I did the Kent Tech M dosing to get rid of my bryopsis infestation and it does work. It contains only magnesium; so, you can test the levels with a regular magnesium test kit. It takes a lot of magnesium which may be cost prohibitive for you depending on the size of the tank. And, you need to keep the levels elevated for months. I did it for two months and it completely cleared all visible algae; however, I have small amounts growing once again. I would say you would need to keep the levels high for longer than two months to outlast its reproductive cycle; but I don't know how much longer. And, on the downside the next time you add something it can come right back. Looking at the totality of the experience, I wouldn't recommend dosing magnesium right off the bat but it could work for you. I should also note that magnesium has been reported to act as an anesthetic for snails but I didn't have any snails so I can't speak to that possibility except to say that it didn't bother my other livestock.
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Dec 11, 2013 23:11
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I also had good results to report with Kent M. I had fixed my nutrient problem in the meantime (multi-phase process, culminating in the installation of a water softener for the house) so all the bry was completely starved out and never re-established. The house plants are suffering a little bit, though.
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Dec 11, 2013 23:20
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Hah, hopefully it doesn't come to that. I'm going to take the opportunity to just battle it with nothing in the tank. I bought some magnesium at the LFS and some Mexican turbos. Gonna see if the lighting off in the main tank, 24/7 chaeto lighting and some snails do the trick before I start adding magnesium. Since its just a 29 gallon hopefully the bottle I bought will mostly cover me if I start dosing. I've got a red sea magnesium test kit already, luckily. Edit: good sign. The first thing the big mexican turbo did was cram a big bunch of bryopsis into his mouth. Get em! Incredulous Dylan fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Dec 12, 2013 |
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Dec 11, 2013 23:59
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At this point I think my tank clarity issues are being caused by my percula clown pair. Removing the pistol shrimp didn't do anything and neither did the filter floss. I've tried everything but the diatom filter and that's because I don't think it will work. The clowns stir up enough sand nesting in the front corner of the tank that I guess it just creates like a constant state of slight cloudiness. I think I'm going to try moving them into my sump for a couple of days to see if it clears up.
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Dec 12, 2013 03:55
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Ok, I've been turned on to the religious experience that is the use of an acrylic scraper for cleaning film and coralline algae from my tanks. gently caress credit cards, gently caress the Kent pro scraper, gently caress those floating magnets that you have to go back and forth like a billion times with. Regular film algae? One loving swipe. Coralline? Like 2, 3.
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Dec 13, 2013 08:56
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api call girl posted:Ok, I've been turned on to the religious experience that is the use of an acrylic scraper for cleaning film and coralline algae from my tanks. gently caress credit cards, gently caress the Kent pro scraper, gently caress those floating magnets that you have to go back and forth like a billion times with. Mister Clean Magic Erasers.
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Dec 14, 2013 07:01
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Dont use those if you've got an acrylic tank, you'll gently caress it up.
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Dec 14, 2013 12:12
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SynthOrange posted:Dont use those if you've got an acrylic tank, you'll gently caress it up. According to articles and forum posts magic erasers should be acrylic safe. Is there a source that's saying otherwise? Genuinely interested, for those hard-to-reach places I want to put a head on the end of a stick to get to...
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Dec 14, 2013 16:35
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SynthOrange posted:Dont use those if you've got an acrylic tank, you'll gently caress it up. False. Source: a year of scrubbing an acrylic tank. They're particularly good for corners and rounded corners. (I have a biocube.) Note: they have to be original regular erasers. All of the bathroom, kitchen, etc specialty versions have cleansers impregnated into them. Only the regular ones are plain melamine foam.
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Dec 14, 2013 16:40
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api call girl posted:According to articles and forum posts magic erasers should be acrylic safe. Is there a source that's saying otherwise? Genuinely interested, for those hard-to-reach places I want to put a head on the end of a stick to get to... Well, if Yenko says he's been using it on his tank without problem, I'll take his word on it, but I also used it to scuff up sheet acrylic for a craft project to substitute for a frosted glass look. vOv
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Dec 15, 2013 09:02
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Ya double false, I use magic erasers like they are going out of style and my acrylic is damned near pristine. Only issue you'll have is if you get sand between the pad and the glass. The abrasive qualities of them actually will polish out micro scratches in your tank.
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Dec 17, 2013 00:55
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Does anyone use a UPS for power failures? I am thinking I can get a nice sized one that can keep my pump, filter, skimmer & maybe a backup heater running. In my area, power failures are about 3 hours so i figure I get one that can run about that long. I just can't keep my 300w heater up and running for three hours without spending a small fortune on a server class UPS. I know the Vortech line has their own dedicated solution but i don't have Vortech pumps so i'm out of luck there.
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Dec 17, 2013 18:06
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You can probably ignore your heater for 3 hours, just keeping your return pump going is almost certainly good enough. The APC Back UPS Pro 1500 ($180) says it should be able to run 200W for 33 minutes, so figure out how much your return pump might be able to stretch it out to: so for example, I use a mag 5 and the above UPS, which iirc is like 45W, which should give me 2 hours comfort zone for an outage. For $500 you can buy an APC UPS that'll last a mag 5 like 7 hours. VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Dec 17, 2013 |
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Dec 17, 2013 19:37
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I use the backup batteries for my Vortechs and they have saved my tank more than once. Paid for themselves.
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Dec 17, 2013 22:03
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The Back UPS Pro 1500 is probably the best of the bunch - you can stack a second external battery on it for 150$ and run the 200 watt load for ~ 100 minutes. 45 watts you'd get ~250 minutes. I for the life of me could not find it any cheaper than Amazon - you can buy both shipped to your house for 328$. (Buying direct from APC they wanted $469(!)) API call girl, do you mind sharing the model you found? Don't get me started on tripp-lite's 3U solution!
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Dec 17, 2013 23:06
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LordHop posted:The Back UPS Pro 1500 is probably the best of the bunch - you can stack a second external battery on it for 150$ and run the 200 watt load for ~ 100 minutes. 45 watts you'd get ~250 minutes. I think I was looking at and eyeballing the numbers on this thing: APC Smart UPS SMT1500 http://www.amazon.com/APC-Smart-UPS-SMT1500-1500VA-System/dp/B002MZW5JU/ Seems excessive.
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Dec 17, 2013 23:44
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For that money, you could buy a Vortech MP10 and a battery backup for it, which is claimed to last 72 hours. I was wary hooking up a UPS to my big tank -- too many GFCIs to potentially trip and mess things up. Turned out the batteries lasted about 4 months and the UPS was useless anyway.
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Dec 18, 2013 01:38
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optikalus posted:For that money, you could buy a Vortech MP10 and a battery backup for it, which is claimed to last 72 hours. IDK, that doesn't help my sump/fuge out at all and THAT poo poo dying was what crashed my tank the last time.
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Dec 18, 2013 03:20
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See the thing that I like about the BR1500G is it has a surge suppressor side - It looks like both sides of the SMT1500 are UPS ports. With the BR1500G during a power failure, I can have my lights switch off, and my main heater turn off, and keep the power draw to an absolute minimum. I also like that I can buy the BR1500G, and then in a few months come back and buy the extra battery stack. Replacement batteries for the BR1500 are 64$ wheras the SMT1500 they are 261$
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Dec 19, 2013 16:17
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Ok guys... My tank is a couple months more than a year old, and I'm having some issues. All of my soft corals are doing fine, but not growing. My one SPS, a pocillopora, bleached out and died over a few days, despite a large water change, and all of my LPS corals are slowly receding. All of my water parameters are testing fine, salinity, ph, alkalinity, nitrates, nitrites, phosphate, ammonia, calcium. I've even had the water tested at the store, to make sure my kits aren't screwy... I can not figure it out, and it's driving me crazy-nuts. Any ideas?
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Dec 19, 2013 22:41
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MrYenko posted:Ok guys... My tank is a couple months more than a year old, and I'm having some issues. All of my soft corals are doing fine, but not growing. My one SPS, a pocillopora, bleached out and died over a few days, despite a large water change, and all of my LPS corals are slowly receding. Lighting changes, flow changes, unknown chemicals (non-testables), copper, electricity leech?
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Dec 19, 2013 22:42
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SaNChEzZ posted:Lighting changes, flow changes, unknown chemicals (non-testables), copper, electricity leech? Bulbs are CF, and started to get old around June, leading to a cyanobacteria outbreak that I fought off after bulb replacement. Makes them 5-6 months old, time to start thinking about replacement again, but last time, the corals were all fine, just smothered in cyanobacteria. They had a good time of it after the cyanobacteria defeat, as well. Flow is the same, I figured it might be a little low, so I took the pump and powerhead out and cleaned em, slightly more flow, no change. The negative turn started right after I started running carbon and GFO in a reactor. It ran for maybe three weeks, and I started to see receding corals and the begining of my pocillopora die-off, so I removed the reactor from the system and did a ~40% water change. No change. Theres never been any copper in the system, and as I said, the inverts and softies are all fine, if not growing very fast. The only other variable is my skimmer stopped skimming very well. Ill get small spurts, but I just cant get it dialed in like I used to be able to. I'm getting frustrated, at this point; its a similar time-frame and circumstance to when the same thing happened to my last tank, and I quite the hobby for eight years.
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Dec 20, 2013 03:55
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With the skimmer, have you cleaned out the pump and paid special attention to the impeller wheel? I find that usually takes care of whatever problem I've had with mine. e: since I no longer run a lighted fuge in that system I also never have problems with coralline buildup in the skimmer body so I haven't bothered cleaning it out with vinegar in a year. Hey. VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Dec 20, 2013 |
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Dec 20, 2013 04:57
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MrYenko posted:Ok guys... My tank is a couple months more than a year old, and I'm having some issues. All of my soft corals are doing fine, but not growing. My one SPS, a pocillopora, bleached out and died over a few days, despite a large water change, and all of my LPS corals are slowly receding. Can you provide actual numbers for your water parameters? Sometimes I've found that things I've thought were "fine" actually tipped other people off about what was actually wrong with my tank.
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Dec 20, 2013 05:07
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Specific gravity is 1.025, measured with a refractometer, ph is ~8.0, alkalinity is 8.9 dKH with a salifert kit, nitrates, nitrites, phosphate, and ammonia are all 0 or too low for my color-card kit to show, calcium is at 420ppm, also with a salifert kit. I don't bother testing magnesium or other traces, because my bio load is rather low, and I do rather frequent water changes. (Water comes from my local fish store, and has since I filled the tank.)
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Dec 20, 2013 05:19
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I'd get that up to 1.026 personally. Also, is your refractometer calibrated? Just a thought
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Dec 20, 2013 05:38
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