Black Mammoth
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Posts posted by Black Mammoth
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Looking good! Pretty soon you'll have pics with a finished product before me!! LOL
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Sweet pictures! Nice camera too! I just picked up a D200 really cheap from Best Buy....$499
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Sorry, I have to say it. Here is the better information. You don't want to use a dimmer. They either use a rheostat or a triac. There are several problems with this. One of them being is that you can damage the motor. Restricting the flow isn't a good idea either. The problem is that when you do that, you put extra resistance on the impeller (FYI if this was setup differently, that could damage the motor). Anyway, putting the extra resistance on the impeller could (usually does) damage the impeller. What you want is a variac, but it really isn't cost affective. Trying to modify the speed is going to a pain and not cost effective.
So what are your other choices? Well why is the flow a problem? Is it pushing everything around? If so, you could just diffuse the stream. My guess is that would work well for you. If you have too much turnover or flow, you could go with a wave maker. You could also combine that with the diffusing the stream concept. You could also aim your stream in a way so that it doesn't have a direct flow problem. For instance, you could aim it towards the surface.
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They seem to be fine and do great initially then for some reason they seem to develop a subtle white coloration possible bacteria, or fungus of some kind and die a day or two later.
Just by the sounds of things, it sounds like Marine Velvet is your culprit. How you got it, etc....I don't know. Pictures would probably help. Do you quarantine? If so, are you using hypo salinity? Velvet thrives in hypo. This is all a guess by what you mentioned; pictures would help.
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I usually buy mine from Dr. Foster and Smith when it is on sale. I usually end up paying around $38 or so for a 160g bucket. However, Sean at F&F did a group buy a few months ago for about $35 a bucket. He had a bunch left over and he still might have some. However, I'm not sure what the going price is.
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Like I said:
You see pics of ~3" of the tank. 3 crappy inches, the rest is fine. I spoke with Tom @ AGE and he is fabricating me a stainless steel trim to cover the bottom edge of the tank and the silicone. He is bending it (this will be 36x36) and shipping it to me all @ his cost. He is also sending me, again @ no cost to me, the black backing to add to the other side of the tank (against the wall) along with a custom cut piece of material to insert in the overflow box so you wont see my plumbing.
I can fix some of the sloppy part with a razor. I shouldnt have to, but I can.
Over all I'm 'satisfied' with the tank. That being said, for the price paid for a custom tank, there should be no flaws to be found anywhere.
Oh OK...I didn't realize it was just a small section. I misunderstood what you were saying. Well it sounds like he's trying to make good which is good to hear. However, it shouldn't be the case and hopefully you'll get that in a reasonable amount of time. It's interesting you didn't get the insert for your overflow to cover your plumbing. One came with mine. Maybe they forgot. Well I'm glad that you are satisfied with the tank. I wished that you were 'blown away,' but at least you are generally happy with it. Obviously it didn't live up to the hype :( Anyway, I'm glad it is in and I'll be back checking out more of your progress!
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Man... that's salty. But will it kill any attached corals as well?? Beneficial bacteria?? Starfish and worms? Feather dusters?
bob
I imagine that it would kill the corals. My understanding that the beneficial bacteria will still thrive in this environment. The worms, starfish, and feather dusters probably wouldn't make it either. When I got the rock, it had quite a bit of aptasia. I was thinking about leaving it out to dry to turn it in to base rock and then re-seed it. Sean recommended that I didn't do that because aptasia will shrivel up in the rock and try to find the moist areas and still live on. So you think that they are gone, but they've managed to stay alive. Whereas, the high salinity is everywhere and they can't escape it. Like I said earlier, this is probably isn't an option for him. I think it's a good option if you are 1.) Can remove all the rock for 2 weeks, 2.) Starting a new tank, or 3.) You want to add new live rock.
FWIW, I left mine for WAY longer than 2 weeks because I got caught up doing things. Although, I did notice that all of the aptasia was gone after 2 weeks. In just in case, because of my lack of keeping the rock in a good state, I reseeded the rock. A little Bio-Spira, rotting shrimp, and vodka should help out
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Wow...just wow! I don't know what to say.
1st I'm glad to see that you got your tank. And overall it looks pretty nice.
2nd I can't believe the seams that you got. I don't want to sound like I'm gloating, but your good silicone pic looks like the worst one on my tank...maybe. I don't know what is happening with them.
I had hoped that your frustrations would go away (like mine did) after getting the tank. I know that it is going to look awesome by the time you get done with it. Your overflow box is different than mine. I have adjustable weirs and I don't have that U section cut out. But then again, I didn't get a rimless tank.
Again, I'm sure no one is going to be looking at the seams when your tank is done :D As long as they hold, which they should, no one will notice.
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It's here.
Prove it! We need pics
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Joe's Juice works very well. The problem is that if you don't find all of them, they'll come back. So you will need some type of biological control to help.
Here is something that works GREAT. If you can take the rock out, put it in a bucket of water with 1.040 salinity with a heater and powerhead. Do this for about two weeks. I also suggest nuking as many as you can with Joe's Juice before putting it in the bucket. I bought a bunch of LR from someone on here that had quite a bit of Aptasia. All the aptasia is gone. I got this tip from Sean @ F&F. It worked great for me because I was setting up a new system. If you don't have the ability to take the rocks out, then this probably won't help much.
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I believe that you are thinking about ReefGeek
Greg will hook you up! Great service & prices. 10% discount on 12+ bulbs and 15% discount on 24+ bulbs.
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Very nice progress. Can't wait for the updated pixies. So, how many bags/buckets of salt have you burned through filling this monster up?
So far....2 buckets of ReefCrystals (160gal). But I haven't filled the sump up. I'll probably be around 2.5 buckets when done. Good thing I did a group buy of ReefCrystals and bought 10 buckets
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I hope so. I'll be pi$$ed if they forgot the top to the overflow.
Delivery is tomorrow - somewhere between 9 and 5 (Comcast must be dropping it off)
SWEEEEET!!!! Who is the carrier? As long as it isn't Estes....I think you are OK :D
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I've found that T5s seem to wash out the colors of my sps a bit. The corals in my main tank have richer colors under MH+T5 combo than the same corals (in the same system, in my frag tanks) under T5s alone. It could be due to other factors, maybe the flow isn't as good in the frag tanks. Also the combo of T5s (two ATI blue+, one ATI aquablue over a 30 breeder) may not have the right spectrum to really pop the sps colors. I got about 330 micromols on the bottom of the tank (12") with my par meter with this setup, which suggests the T5s are putting out adequate light.
This is a very good point. I forgot to mention this. Some corals look better under MHs and some look better on T5s. I'm not sure if it is the colors being used or what. For example, I bought some corals (I think from Moga) and when I put them in my tank....the ones that looked awesome in his tank looked OK...a bit washed out and color was a bit different. However, I also got some corals from him that looked so so...but when I put them in my tank they popped out and were very cool looking! I was seeing colors that I wasn't seeing in his tank. Some of it might be husbandry as well, but I suspect a lot had to do with the lighting.
Yeah, you won't have the shimmer with T5s, but it didn't bother me. I'm not really familiar with the fixtures since I have a retro kit. Make sure that the fixture you pick has individual reflectors.
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Is this beast wet yet?
Hey there! I haven't been on too much lately. I need to take some pics...the tank is filled with SW, LR and Tunzes. However, it doesn't reach the overflow yet because I'm still plumbing. I've been really really busy lately. The sump is in and 95% plumbed. It should be finished tonight and I can start skimming. I might snap a few pics before I go on vacation. My lights come in tomorrow. I still need to finish building the light rack. So many things to do and not enough time :(
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I disagree with zygote on MHs being better, but everyone will have their opinion on this topic. I have T5s on my main tank an a MH on my frag tank. I'm only using MH on the frag tank because I got it for $25
Anyway, both have pros and cons. You can keep the same things with T5s as you can with MHs....at least for tanks under 30". I'm sure you could light your tank with T5s using less watts. On top of that you won't have the same heat issues as you do with the MHs. The short of it is that you can keep the same things under T5s that you can under MHs....not unless you got a really crappy setup. Even at that, you will probably just have to put your clams and SPS up higher. I've kept clams and SPS on the bottom without any problems. -
I'm a big fan of ReefGeek as well. I have an order coming Wed for 24 bulbs, test kits, and some power cords.
FYI if you order 12+ bulbs you get a 10% discount. For 24+ bulbs you get a 15% discount. And of course you get Free Shipping for spending over a certain dollar amount. I've been using them for awhile and I've always been happy with them. Greg is a good guy and always willing to help.
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I had a Magnificent Foxface that would eat the stuff. Sean at F&F suggested some Blue Knuckled Hermit Crabs. I put 5 of those guys in and they destroyed that stuff almost over night. After a week it was completely gone and never came back.
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My overall experience with Marine Scene has been pretty good as well. In general, the people that work there are pretty good. Remember, they used to employ people like Sean @ Aquaco and Phil @ eReefScape. I stopped going to them because I found other stores I liked and they are A LOT cheaper than Marine Scene.
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I have been to a couple of local stores but they all dont seem to have a good collection of dry goods. Such as reactors,pumps, etc. I did go to one place and they have a lot for a local store but the prices are significantly higher than the net and that is including shipping.
Thanks for the help
I recommend talking to the people working there. I don't think that many of the local stores carry too much inventory. I think that part of the reason is that they probably don't want to have too much $$$ tied up in supplies that they don't sell too much of. Also, they probably can't sell enough to get a big price break like some of the online dealers. However, with that said, I found that some local stores will give you good deals if you ask about something, even if they don't carry it.
For example, I got my 90g at Scales when they had a sale. Mr. Coral used to (might still do it) sell tanks at distributor pricing. BRK sells T5 bulbs, plumbing and food for the same price online. Fins & Feathers has a smaller store and doesn't carry too many dry goods, but if you talk to Sean, he can order you anything. I got an A.G.E. tank, IceCap supplies, sand, etc cheaper than anywhere else. I also got Live Rock there for about the same price as online.
So there are 4 stores there that do have some good deals on dry goods. My suggestion is to talk to them. Some things they can help you out on and others not so much. Also, if you think about if a heater cost you $20 online and $40 in the store, it's probably close to a $10 difference after shipping. So then it comes down to how bad do you need it and how much is worth it to you in supporting a LFS.
Then again there are non-WAMAS LFSs that will just charge a lot. Just find a store or two you like and try to deal with them. I know when I was at Aquaco, Sean told me he doesn't carry too many dry goods because people can get them cheaper online and it isn't worth his time and $$. So some of them know that they can't compete with online vendors and I'm sure that they don't mind you ordering stuff online. At the same time, I don't think they'll turn you away if you ask them to order it. Most of the LFSs that support WAMAS are VERY accommodating. You will see a lot of good reviews for Mr. Coral, Scales, Aquaco, BRK, and F&F. And personally, I don't mind paying a little extra locally if I'm treated well. These are also the same guys helping me to learn and grow. I look at it for paying for both goods and knowledge. Don't get me wrong, if I can get something $100 cheaper online, I'm going to do it. But the local guys know I'm coming back for fish & corals. I suspect that they make more money off of fish & corals anyway.
It really depends on what you are getting. I ordered my first set of T5s from ReefGeek. But when I found out that F&F became an IceCap distributor, it was cheaper for me to get my new set of lights from F&F. I noticed that from time to time John has some killer deals on some skimmers.
I've rambled enough....I hope that this helps and good luck! BTW, I don't think anyone will look down on you for ordering some dry goods over the internet
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Wow Doug! I'm sorry to see that. I wish I could say I know what it feels like, but my tank crash and coral loss isn't nearly as bad as your loss. I remember you offering me some frags to get me back up on my feet. I would like to make the same offer to you. I don't have any right now as I'm virtually tankless for the next month or so. But when I get some corals, I'd be more than happy to help you out.
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Great Pics...
Sorry I missed this one too.. The tank looks awesome and the room is going to fantastic. I didn't relize you were doing it yesterday... Go Company 12.
Chris
Yeah man. I knew Company 12 was great before this, but this is icing on the cake
I have a funny story to share with you some time. Hopefully Mike passes it around to others. Again, if this didn't happen on Easter Sunday, I would have given you a call But then again, they may have put you to work -
Graet Pics Shaun!! I'm glad it worked out so well....now Angelique wants a 200 something AGE tank!! Lucky me!
I'm glad the tank is at its final destination...now the progress is all on YOU!
Sweet! I can help you get it moved in. I have a sled and ramp for any stairs that you may need to go over
Anyway, I'm going to stop by tonight, not unless that doesn't work for you. I meant to stop in Saturday and I didn't realize it was already 6pm :( -
sorry I missed all the fun.
I thought about giving people a call so they could watch, but I figured they had better things to do on Easter Sunday
We were going to try for Saturday, but the weather didn't really cooperate. Now I need to finish off the room so I can start putting everything together. Obviously, I need to finish the outside portion of the room as well.
Reefcentral = Toast.
in General Discussion
Wow...there is a lot of conspiracy theories out there. Why can't people accept the fact that sometimes crap happens. I like the site and it was one of my favorites. As long as you could tune out some of the people, it was a great place. I hope it comes back. It was really nice to go to one spot to talk to a bunch of vendors such as Roger, Curt, etc.