55 to 75 upgrade

[redfishbluefish]

Loving that DIY overflow….nicely done! Is it truly quiet like they claim?


Wow! You got that up and running quick. Is that a big leather on the right third of the tank? Any cycle involved and/or did you use some denitrifying magic juice?

 

[dirtycontour]

Loving that DIY overflow….nicely done! Is it truly quiet like they claim?


Wow! You got that up and running quick. Is that a big leather on the right third of the tank? Any cycle involved and/or did you use some denitrifying magic juice?

Thank you. The overflow is every bit of dead silent. Now if I can quiet down my return pump.

I've had that toadstool for about three years. He is part of the reason for the bigger tank. No cycle or "magic" juice. The transfer took about two hours. Everything out and everything back in. It was a mad scramble to get the powerheads and heaters hooked up when everyone was in their new home. I just got my ATO hooked up and I'm done for the night. I still have a couple odds and ends to clean up but besides breaking my skimmer all is well.

 

[AnthonyJerseyShore]

Holy damn. That is a huge toadstool. Have you thought about fragging it a bit? They sure are a awesome coral. Mine, fully extended, is about the size of a golf ball. Can't wait till mine is that big haha

 

[dirtycontour]

Holy damn. That is a huge toadstool. Have you thought about fragging it a bit? They sure are a awesome coral. Mine, fully extended, is about the size of a golf ball. Can't wait till mine is that big haha

Thanks Anthony! He is about a foot in diameter. He was touching both sides(front and back) of my 55g. He's got a couple inches on either side now. I hope that gives him a couple more years...

I don't want to frag him. First, just because I love his shape and wouldn't want to compromise that. Second, I've read they release toxins when cut, and it's a pain to get out of the tank. He has connected to two separate rocks and weighs at least 10 awkward pounds.

 

[AnthonyJerseyShore]

I see, fortunately, mine is attached to a pretty tiny piece of rubble that I buried in the sand haha . I'm going to cut mine in half, and then half again after a while. Mine is easily removed though . Four heads like that will look pretty sweet

 

[dirtycontour]

I see, fortunately, mine is attached to a pretty tiny piece of rubble that I buried in the sand haha . I'm going to cut mine in half, and then half again after a while. Mine is easily removed though . Four heads like that will look pretty sweet

Mine came on a tiny rock and as it grew it attached itself to two decent sized rocks. Mine actually dropped a couple buds about a year ago. I found two of them and grew them out a bit before giving them to my LFS.

 

[dirtycontour]

Got a lot done today. I'm using a six gallon sterilite container for an ATO reservoir and a 5.5 gallon Petco for my kalk reservoir. I built a "stand" for the kalk res out of 1/2" plywood.

BRS doser hooked up to the kalk res. I'm not dosing yet, I have to get the lid for the res still.

All my fancy toys mounted.

One more FTS

 

[dirtycontour]

Got my carbon reactor hooked up running off of the return.

 

[dirtycontour]

Everything has been up and running smoothly for the past week or two. I had a small diatom breakout on my sandbed that lasted a few days. All is back to normal now. Here is a quick video of the beananimal overflow action.
[video=youtube;kw47nYGlrlw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw47nYGlrlw[/video]

 

[dan_k]

Nice set up really like the kalk dosing set up. Can you tell me more about how you are going to use that?are you going to make up a couple gallons and pour in? Are you going to just fill up the tank with RO and add the right amount of kalk? if so are you going to have a power head in there to keep everthing moving around sorry for all the questions thinking of doing something like that

 

[dirtycontour]

Nice set up really like the kalk dosing set up. Can you tell me more about how you are going to use that?are you going to make up a couple gallons and pour in? Are you going to just fill up the tank with RO and add the right amount of kalk? if so are you going to have a power head in there to keep everthing moving around sorry for all the questions thinking of doing something like that

I pumped RO/DI in from a 5 gallon bucket, scooped the desired amount of pickling lime into a red Solo cup and poured it in the tank, put a small powerhead in the tank and put my acrylic lid on the tank. I let the powerhead run for 5-10 minutes and then removed the powerhead and placed the lid back on so it is somewhat air-tight. Done deal.

When the kalk tank gets empty, I can remove the whole tank, wash it out and fill it back up again.

No need to keep the kalk moving after the initial mixing. I'm basically dosing as most do with their ATO. I just didn't want my evaporation rate to dictate how much kalk gets dosed. It's probably overkill, but it is what I wanted. I'm happy with the set up.

Questions are great, ask away

 

[dan_k]

Thanks for the info last question could fill the tank all the way up as in 5 gallons my tank goes through about a gallon of evap a day so what i have been doing is I use KENT kalk mix take 1 teaspoon of mix and a gallon of ro/di mix let set over night when i get home next day check alk if ok pour in gallon and make up a new batch for tomorrow. If i could do 5 gallons at a time i wouldnt have to do it everyday I would have about 5 days of not going anything is that what you do or just what your tank goes through in evap a day?

 

[dirtycontour]

Thanks for the info last question could fill the tank all the way up as in 5 gallons my tank goes through about a gallon of evap a day so what i have been doing is I use KENT kalk mix take 1 teaspoon of mix and a gallon of ro/di mix let set over night when i get home next day check alk if ok pour in gallon and make up a new batch for tomorrow. If i could do 5 gallons at a time i wouldnt have to do it everyday I would have about 5 days of not going anything is that what you do or just what your tank goes through in evap a day?

I have my kalk tank hooked up to a BRS doser which is hooked up to my Apex. I'm dosing a little bit every hour, 24 hours a day. I have my Tunze ATO hooked up to a separate reservoir.

I don't see a problem with you making up 5 gallons of kalk for the week. Just make sure to have a cover on it and try to keep it as air-tight as possible.

 

[dirtycontour]

Peppermint Adventure

Two nights ago, I was pruning my chaeto and cleaning my skimmer cup when I saw something move in the sump. To my surprise my shrimp took a ride down the drain pipe.

On another shrimp related note, I have a perfect view of his home in the DT. If anyone has kept peppermint's, you know you might see them once a month. I guess I got lucky, I can see him everyday. I'm excited by the little things...

 

[SirFragalot]

So you put him back in the DT? I think since I've had this 58 up and running, 1/3 of my snails have made it down to my sump.

 

[dirtycontour]

So you put him back in the DT? I think since I've had this 58 up and running, 1/3 of my snails have made it down to my sump.

Yup, back to the DT. I haven't had a snail venture to my sump yet. They like to hang out in the C2C overflow but haven't made the trip yet.

 

[SirFragalot]

I had ordered my CUC from Reef Cleaners since those guys ship you a ton more than you order. I ordered the package for a 58 gallon (no crabs). I got (stopped counting at 102) dwarf ceriths as part of the order. Those are the ones that have made it down to my sump because they are so small.

 

[dirtycontour]

That's a crapload of snails! I think I have maybe 8 in my tank. Turbos, cerith and nessarius. Do you have a lot of die off with so many? I would like more but I'm afraid they wouldn't have enough to eat.

 

[SirFragalot]

ZERO DOA.... Since they have been in my tank, I see maybe a few empty shells. But I will tell you this, I have only had to clean my glass ONCE since setting up. Those little ones swarm the glass at night time. Plenty of snail eggs too. LOL I had cut back on my feeding in prepping for SPS but since my Phos is at 0 with my reactor set up, I have bumped the feeding up slightly to counter act for the cuc.

 

[dirtycontour]

Good stuff, thanks for the info. No SPS for me. I have more of a lagoonal type tank. I feed pretty heavy, probably 2 cubes and some worms daily. I may have to give reefcleaners a try.