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Jimroth's Big Ol' Tank
- Thread starter jimroth
- Start date
momof6kids
NJRC Member
New Pictures!! 
momof6kids said:New Pictures!!
^ +1
with regards to the cerith snails - is it possible they are still buried in the substrate? or perhaps some hermits are wearing the shells?
Most of my ceriths ended up involuntarily donating their shells to those blue-legged hermits (disregarding all the extra homes i gave them). My next tank will be crab-less.
phil519 said:with regards to the cerith snails - is it possible they are still buried in the substrate? or perhaps some hermits are wearing the shells?
Most of my ceriths ended up involuntarily donating their shells to those blue-legged hermits (disregarding all the extra homes i gave them). My next tank will be crab-less.
Yes, a lot of the bluelegs are dressed in the cerith outfits! And I really limited the number of crabs this time.
Not happy with the latest batch of photos, so I'm only gonna post the good ones and take some more today. Don't know why they came out blurry, I ought to build a top-down photo box. All of these things look better from above.
Pink and blue millie
ORA Rose Millie
Blue Millepora ala Ralph
ORA Cali Tort
Pink and blue millie
ORA Rose Millie
Blue Millepora ala Ralph
ORA Cali Tort
For a Frag of that table ill bring my camera with the dive case. I actually took these last night.
This is what i call towndown.
This is what i call towndown.
momof6kids
NJRC Member
jimroth said:
LOL, so true!! I have thought about getting one numerous times. Nice looking fish.
All my new frags are doing great. Even the designer acros are showing new axial coralites!
Been home sick so I had fun working on the tank with a head full of medicine and 100F fever. WooHoo! Oh wait, I think after what happened to WaMu, you can't say woo hoo anymore.
I finally set up my MRC Ca Reactor which had been lying dormant for 2+ years. I tried to set it up under the bench where it's supposed to go, and that angered the gods, who punished me with a small but disappointing flood. Turns out the MRC people had taped some, but not all, of the threaded connections. That fixed, it was on to the CO2. I plugged the solenoid into my AC3 and THEN went to the computer to switch on the outlet. KABOOM! Extra CO2 pressurized the unit and popped off the hoses, causing yet another flood. How can you even install one of these things in an aquarium stand? It was making a mess in my garage. After the smoke cleared, I realized to my distress that the bubble counter got back- filled with salt water. In the process of clearing that up, I managed to lose the rubber o-ring that seals the top. Gaah. Off to Shaeffer Supply who had a perfect replacement, 30 cents.
It's running now. There's a very slight drip from the manifold, which I'm hoping will clear up on its on. I did test the solenoid, which does a nice job of shutting off the CO2. I have it set to shut off if it goes below 8.0, I hope that's OK. It all seems to be one of the dark arts.
I finished my barrel rack and installed the Kent float valve I must have assembled the hose termination wrong, because when the barrel filled up and the float closed the connection, it sprayed the room with water, rather than the preferred result of shutting the water off. The rack holds the weight of the water just fine, but it's back to the drawing board with the float valve.
Ordered two new 10K 250W Ushio bulbs from HelloLights. I was going to stick with XM but I am changing to Ushio on the strength of a recommendation by Mr. MHeaven of Clifton NJ, coral farmer.
That's it for now. Next steps:
--Bring GFO reactor online
--Add temporary kalk dosing system
--Solid hose termination for sump
--Anthias group
--Anti jumping screen for anthias group!
Been home sick so I had fun working on the tank with a head full of medicine and 100F fever. WooHoo! Oh wait, I think after what happened to WaMu, you can't say woo hoo anymore.
I finally set up my MRC Ca Reactor which had been lying dormant for 2+ years. I tried to set it up under the bench where it's supposed to go, and that angered the gods, who punished me with a small but disappointing flood. Turns out the MRC people had taped some, but not all, of the threaded connections. That fixed, it was on to the CO2. I plugged the solenoid into my AC3 and THEN went to the computer to switch on the outlet. KABOOM! Extra CO2 pressurized the unit and popped off the hoses, causing yet another flood. How can you even install one of these things in an aquarium stand? It was making a mess in my garage. After the smoke cleared, I realized to my distress that the bubble counter got back- filled with salt water. In the process of clearing that up, I managed to lose the rubber o-ring that seals the top. Gaah. Off to Shaeffer Supply who had a perfect replacement, 30 cents.
It's running now. There's a very slight drip from the manifold, which I'm hoping will clear up on its on. I did test the solenoid, which does a nice job of shutting off the CO2. I have it set to shut off if it goes below 8.0, I hope that's OK. It all seems to be one of the dark arts.
I finished my barrel rack and installed the Kent float valve I must have assembled the hose termination wrong, because when the barrel filled up and the float closed the connection, it sprayed the room with water, rather than the preferred result of shutting the water off. The rack holds the weight of the water just fine, but it's back to the drawing board with the float valve.
Ordered two new 10K 250W Ushio bulbs from HelloLights. I was going to stick with XM but I am changing to Ushio on the strength of a recommendation by Mr. MHeaven of Clifton NJ, coral farmer.
That's it for now. Next steps:
--Bring GFO reactor online
--Add temporary kalk dosing system
--Solid hose termination for sump
--Anthias group
--Anti jumping screen for anthias group!
In interests of full disclosure: I had intended to roof the top of my cave with a flat "shelf" rock, but found non available. Instead I made a mesh of heavy duty cable ties (36") and used smaller rocks. Aesthetically it is good, but the heavy weight caused the front of the cave to droop over time. I think "rigid" PVC pipe is more flexible than it seems. Right now I have the back corner of the cave propped up with a stack of rocks, but maybe someday I can get a usable 12"X12" shelf rock and put it there. If it's light enough maybe I can get the cantelievered look I was shooting for. Plus the PVC in the back of the cave is very noticible, looks phony. That's on the to fix list.
There was a bad experience with a fish I bought which liked to eat coral. The full saga is here:http://www.njreefers.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=26&topic=12489.0. My tang died during the process.
As part of that, I had to reaquascape, so I think it's gonna be time for a new full-tank shot and some other pix. Also, new Ushio 10K bulbs are coming today!
As part of that, I had to reaquascape, so I think it's gonna be time for a new full-tank shot and some other pix. Also, new Ushio 10K bulbs are coming today!
Realized a funny thing today.
I had calibrated my pH probe when I installed my Ca reactor, but the readings still seemed funny, very high. And I used my last packets of calibration fluid.
So I ordered some more and when it came I checked my work. It turned out I had calibrated the ORP probe, the RED one, and should have calibrated the pH probe, the BLUE one. Why aren't they labled?? DUH. Now my pH shows as 8.0 spot on.
Almost all of my frags have decent growth. The pavona maldivensis from Pacific East looks like a spectacular little gum wad, who knows if it will ever grow? But it's a gem. All of them are showing the same or worse color, may have to do with the new Ushio bulbs. The ORA Pearlberry has gone quite brown, albeit with beautiful purple tips. The only one with spectacularly better color is the blue millie frag I got from Ralph, it's gone solid blue-purple, and it's growing. Busting the hell out of some of those frags probably didn't make them very happy. The only really bad thing is the pokerstars frag I got -- the polyps are receding like an old guy's hairline, I hope it stops and regrows.
This is all the color of those tips now:
Ca Reactor at last:
The Bubble Trap. I need to shorten the over part so the water doesn't drop so far.
Full-tank shot with new lanscaping after the Heniochus Incident.
All in all the tank is looking great. Water is very clear, and coralline algae is starting to spread and pop up on the glass, etc. Very happy with it today.
I had calibrated my pH probe when I installed my Ca reactor, but the readings still seemed funny, very high. And I used my last packets of calibration fluid.
So I ordered some more and when it came I checked my work. It turned out I had calibrated the ORP probe, the RED one, and should have calibrated the pH probe, the BLUE one. Why aren't they labled?? DUH. Now my pH shows as 8.0 spot on.
Almost all of my frags have decent growth. The pavona maldivensis from Pacific East looks like a spectacular little gum wad, who knows if it will ever grow? But it's a gem. All of them are showing the same or worse color, may have to do with the new Ushio bulbs. The ORA Pearlberry has gone quite brown, albeit with beautiful purple tips. The only one with spectacularly better color is the blue millie frag I got from Ralph, it's gone solid blue-purple, and it's growing. Busting the hell out of some of those frags probably didn't make them very happy. The only really bad thing is the pokerstars frag I got -- the polyps are receding like an old guy's hairline, I hope it stops and regrows.
This is all the color of those tips now:
Ca Reactor at last:
The Bubble Trap. I need to shorten the over part so the water doesn't drop so far.
Full-tank shot with new lanscaping after the Heniochus Incident.
All in all the tank is looking great. Water is very clear, and coralline algae is starting to spread and pop up on the glass, etc. Very happy with it today.
Once my pH probes were properly calibrated, I saw just how much the pH was dropping when the lights went out. Maybe this is a reason my frags have been turning brown. I quickly hooked up a temporary kalk dosing system, a bucket and a kangaroo dosing pump, and started adding kalk. It certainly boosts the pH in a hurry, even at only 150ml/hr.
Maybe it's my imagination, but things look better already, seems like more polyp extension. The pH is going up a hair now that the lights are on, like 8.05.
Maybe it's my imagination, but things look better already, seems like more polyp extension. The pH is going up a hair now that the lights are on, like 8.05.
Jim
I am talking to Glass Cages and they seem a little vague on the overflow. Was the horizontal overflow a standard option, or did you spec that for them?
After running your tank a little while now, would you have changed the hole configuration at all?
Also, I see your tank is euro braced, but no center brace, did they mention any limitations on height or width with the euro bracing? I have a feeling they let you go witout a center brace as your 25" in height
I am hoping to go 48 x 32 x 30 with euro bracing and horizontal overflow and would like to avoid a center brace if it'll work, but I'd take 28" tall if I had too to forego the CB, if I am stuck with the CB, I am going the full 30".
Thanks
I am talking to Glass Cages and they seem a little vague on the overflow. Was the horizontal overflow a standard option, or did you spec that for them?
After running your tank a little while now, would you have changed the hole configuration at all?
Also, I see your tank is euro braced, but no center brace, did they mention any limitations on height or width with the euro bracing? I have a feeling they let you go witout a center brace as your 25" in height
I am hoping to go 48 x 32 x 30 with euro bracing and horizontal overflow and would like to avoid a center brace if it'll work, but I'd take 28" tall if I had too to forego the CB, if I am stuck with the CB, I am going the full 30".
Thanks