Jimroth's Big Ol' Tank

[JRWOHLER]

Thanks for the pics, hope I wasn't too demanding. ;D
Everything looks great you did a super job on the landscaping, you managed to make some pretty unique shapes....your right it does look like a castle with towers and everything.

You are probably right with those being your only two fish not much danger. Though I would be careful your bioload is getting pretty heavy now.

 

[jimroth]

I insulated my sump with 2" pink styrofoam from HD, surprisingly easy but only good for an additional 1 degree F so far. Maybe I need to add styro under the table the sump is on. Really should cover the sump. Added another 250W heater last week, one with a badly spliced cord, so watch out!
Brought my GFO reactor online.
Almost ready to use the kalk reactor I built in another thread (see DIY Forum). Waiting on a second solenoid and a 1/4" ball valve from HD.
Coral colors are improving gradually or maybe I'm going blind. The Pohnape Birdsnest from Ralph is just starting to show the characteristic yellow color and pink tips, when viewed from above. The blue mille frag I got, also from Ralph, is an incredible scrapper, it's about 1" and already fully encrusted on its rock and branching in 2 directions. Plus very blue. The Dr. Mac Pink millepora is in an area of very high flow, right in front of a vortech, and is actually anastomosing, ie, the branches are fusing and forming extra terminal polyps.

More frags 'n' fun coming from the swap this weekend, he can't help himself.

 

[momof6kids]

Your tank looks great, but....

I don't know how you were able to go so long without fish.

See you on Saturday.

Erna

 

[magic]

Jim

Nice rockwork!

Bob

 

[jimroth]

I am just loving my tank these days, I have rediscovered the nirvana phase, or at least satori.

I have a top secret theory and that is that staring into a well-lit reef tank counteracts Seasonal Affective Disorder even better than staring into those lights the doctors prescribe. More entertaining, anyway.

I added a bunch of frags from the swap, they can be seen here: http://www.njreefers.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=13095.0.

Still having trouble keeping the temps up. I cut a cover for the sump out of scrap acrylic, very quick with the right tools. I put up a tarp across the garage to separate the sump area in the back from the front where the big door is. Couple degrees warmer but the tank still got down to 77F last night. I need to tighten up the insulation and get insulation onto the top and bottom. I raised the target temperature to 79 so that when the lights go out it's starting from a higher temperature. Do I really need to insulate the skimmer?

Some snails in my tank have been getting seriously busy, I have hundred of little black-and-white snails everywhere. Also the stomatellas someone gave me are getting much bigger. Those things are weird.

 

[Phyl]

I think more than the temperature bottom, I'd be concerned with the swing. I think if you kept it consistantly at 77, 79, 81 (whatever) rather than the radical shifts between day and night. In addition to the tarp, you may want to look at hanging blankets or drapes (heavy, not curtains). How about putting a feed from the heating system into the tarp "room"?

Make part of your sump/fuge a frag tank and throw a MH over it?

What about those walls mentioned earlier in the thread?

 

[jimroth]

I think more than the temperature bottom, I'd be concerned with the swing. I think if you kept it consistently at 77, 79, 81 (whatever) rather than the radical shifts between day and night. In addition to the tarp, you may want to look at hanging blankets or drapes (heavy, not curtains). How about putting a feed from the heating system into the tarp "room"?

Make part of your sump/fuge a frag tank and throw a MH over it?

What about those walls mentioned earlier in the thread?

Those are some good ideas.

1) There's bottoms and then there's bottoms. I don't think anyone thinks having a constant 68F is a good idea for indopacific stuff. (Although there would be lots of oxygen in the water!)
2) I think the tarp sort of proves that a wall wouldn't have quite the effect I thought it would, since it's an unheated space. I have purchased more 2" styrofoam, I'm going to concentrate on getting every face of the sump covered, with 4" if necessary. At some point it will hold the heat. I can still add an additional heater too.
3) Since my house has electric heat, a feed would just be an electric heater. My (electric) dryer exhaust passes through that space and I have bought a gizmo which will let me divert the dryer exhaust into the garage if I want. I thought I would just run it without clothes in it at night when the temps drop in there.

 

[ds4x4]

space heater or a electric radiant heater would probably be cheaper to run.. I mean if you are drying clothes then i would do that..

 

[Baxreefs]

These newer oil filled radiant heaters with the T-stats are the poop! Very efficient! ... For an electric space heater.

 

[Phyl]

If you add extra heat be sure to have a governer on it. Belt and suspenders, so to speak. You'll want it controlled with a thermostat, plugged into an aquacontroller, with a Ranco to stop any craziness... ya know? Because one thousand watt heater, given the right (wrong?) circumstances can be lethal.

 

[jimroth]

Hey, who's making chowder?

 

[ds4x4]

(in my best Brian voice) "Peter, Peter! I need you to hold my ears!"

 

[Baxreefs]

If you add extra heat be sure to have a governer on it. Belt and suspenders, so to speak. You'll want it controlled with a thermostat, plugged into an aquacontroller, with a Ranco to stop any craziness... ya know? Because one thousand watt heater, given the right (wrong?) circumstances can be lethal.

Word!

My temp probe is toasted on my RK. I walked in this morning to 82.7 throughout the system

Not leathal to most but yieks!!!!

Nothing to limit those big heaters !!!

There are three 250 watt stealths in the display and three more in the fuge and sump!!! Apparently at last one is running a muck!

I'll be ordering a probe today! :

 

[jimroth]

So you're running 1500W total? Man, maybe I should start by buying more heaters!

 

[Baxreefs]

So you're running 1500W total? Man, maybe I should start by buying more heaters!

Yes, but keep in mind, my tank is this old industrial building. It get freakn cold i here at night! Burrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

And, my tank is in an open, very drafty area. So, I have 3 in the display for redundancy and no one unit is too much in case it goes batty. One in my sump and two in my fuge.

After looking into my temp situation a little furhter, I did notice that in both my display and my fuge, my temp probes had managed to snug right up against the body of the stealth heaters. Move them across the tank and the temp was a more acceptable 80.7 whew! :

 

[Baxreefs]

I was by Jim's ... to pick up my $50/50 winnings! ... I NEVER win anything!

... Anyway his horizontal overflow is like a silent sheet of water, ... just a fantastic surface flow!

Here's a pic ...

And, an FTS, Jim has done a great job with this build

 

[jimroth]

Thanks Bax, one does try.

I have added another 300W heater and that seems to be making the difference in the heat battle.

The coral coloration thing is a mystery to me though. I need to do a serious water change and maybe start testing for magnesium. I also have made arrangements to supplement my corals with some piscine excreta *hrmmhrm*anthias.

Some of my coral frags have come in with a kind of pestiforous red fibrous algae Eric Borneman had a huge problem with, so I've been killing the little patches with Joe's Juice

 

[jimroth]

Added a male and female square anthias a couple weeks ago, and my new powder blue tang is in, um, quarantine. Very fat happy fish, all said to be from Bali. Anthias just want to eat all the time.

 

[pnoyreefer]

Added a male and female square anthias a couple weeks ago, and my new powder blue tang is in, um, quarantine. Very fat happy fish, all said to be from Bali. Anthias just want to eat all the time.

Very nice .. I like Anthias but have to agree they like to eat lol.. I feed my tank twice a day to amke them happy...

Tank is looking good Jim

 

[jimroth]

Jimroth's Big Ol' Tank Photos

Added some new fish, plus a some coral growth photos!

The Fish Store had a big quantity of square anthias, big and fat, so I bought a couple. I went back for more females, only little ones were left!

Later I picked up a "Yellow Coris" wrasse at Ab Fish, since I think I have spotted some flatworms and I have seen that wrasse eat those hated planarians. Plus, it's all cheerful and yellow, very nice tank citizen.

Finally I saw some super fat and happy powder blue tangs and bought one, fullfillment of a lifetime dream. Doing fine, had a little ich outbreak after a few weeks, but it's clearing up now.

I love the square anthias, whata color combo! I should wipe the pods off the glass before I take pictures.

Female is nice too...

Hard to get a good photo of the PBT, he's always moving.

I have never seen a fish eat so much, tons of mysis, nori sheets, pellets. It's impressive.

Another shot of the male anthias:

Everyone together for a group shot!