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DaveS

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Posts posted by DaveS

    Lessons learned from big tank owners

    in General Discussion

    I have a 210 with other accessory tanks tied together- probably 300G total.  Like Tom said, glass, glass, glass if you plan on doing SPS.  I had an acrylic 210 that I ripped out and replaced with glass.  Took tons of time, energy and money without changing tank size but I don't regret it at all.  Scraping now coralline takes 2 minutes instead of 2 hours.

     

    My tank is 30" deep which is annoying since my arms aren't long.  Also, when you get to that depth, T5's don't penetrate as much so you best options for growth lower would be LED or MH.  I'm off the LED bandwagon and back to 3x400W MHs.

     

    Others have given lots of good suggestions so I just recommend really going through what is being said and follow up to fully comprehend the advice. 

    Looking for a tank to put in a school

    in General Discussion

    Just a little update.  Thanks to the generosity of RW09903 who donated a 45 tank, stand, hood and pump and Phil at Reef eScapes who donated a sump, skimmer and lights we are off and running.

     

    The tank has been filled with water to make sure there are no problems.  I'll probably be doing some plumbing tweaks on it for a bit.

     

    We are still looking for a few items if anyone has them laying around.  They could use a decent heater, sand and submersible return pump.

     

    Also, the 45 is a good place for them to start but they will probably grow out of it very soon given it's height and small footprint.  If everyone could keep an eye out for a ~60 or standard 90 that would be great.

     

    Thanks to all of WAMAS for the generous donations.  I know the kids at the school are super excited.  We will get a tank thread going here very soon.

    Red filter for Gopro, which one?

    in Marine Photography

    If you are only snorkeling, your probably don't need one. The red filter only becomes important when you go below 15' or so and really lose colors. Most people when snorkeling only go down for short, shallow dives so the periodic light blue hue isn't much of an issue. Snorkeling with the filter, most of your video will actually have too much red while at the surface. It's when you are diving and spending the entire time at 30' or below that the filter helps.

    Graphs are fun

    in General Discussion

    very cool! Did your main lights come on just before 4p and go off at 12? what about your Refugium?

     

    Lights come on around 4:30 or 5 and turn off around 12:30-1am. No fuge. But this graph helps to explain why to switch the light for the fuge.

     

    Dave, do you see changes in pH when you are home vs when you aren't or when windows are open vs when they are closed?  

     

    Maybe your place is big enough to absorb those changes, but mine is very noticeable when we are home for a week with the windows shut or when the weather gets nice and we open them up.  I increase about 0.15 in peaks and troughs of pH when the windows are open.

    There is always someone here so I don't really notice a difference due to humans. But we have a ventless gas space heater/fireplace that is basically like a big gas stove. In the winter and it's colder downstairs, I can definitely see the pH curve change when that is turned on. The combustion from the gas fireplace increases CO2 in the ambient air which gets pulled into the tank. I showed ppl the change in the curve and how the heater affect ambient air and now the heater gets used a lot less...

    Graphs are fun

    in General Discussion

    Interesting.  As it loses buffering capability the diurnal swing gets bigger and bigger.  Very cool data.

    Yup, they say a picture is worth 1000 words. I figured this graph would be useful to help people better understand how pH changes during the day, how alk and pH interact and how coral consumption can be pretty significant as those little frag grow up.

    Graphs are fun

    in General Discussion

    So I took my CaRx and Kalk stirrer offline for cleaning and left it offline for a bit. Here is how my tank changed over a few days.

     

    37506069f03c2643f1ee39d0e5b456be.jpg

     

    Looks like my tank drops 1 dkh a day. You can see how the natural pH swings get larger each day. If I used Kalk only, I would need to evaporate 2.6 gallons a day.

    At point should you switch from 2-part dosing to kalk?

    in General Discussion

    The only issue with going calcium reactor only is that it tends to drive down pH.  I can not keep up with the coral demand with kalkwasser only so I run both a kalk stirrer and a calcium reactor.  I run the calcium reactor as a supplement to the kalk stirrer.  This way I keep my pH up.

     

    Bruce

     

    Bruce is right on this money with his advice.  I wish I read his article before I reinvented the wheel myself.  The kalk setup he describes is exactly what I did.  If you just run your ATO through the kalk, it's a risk of an overdose.  Been there, done that!

     

    As far as using a CaRx, keeping the kalk online will help keep your pH up.  It's more than just simple high pH kalk output negating low pH CaRx output.  There's some chemistry involved but the kalk ions really bind up the CO2 from the CaRx so they are a perfect match for each other.

    Fall 2015 WAMAS meeting?

    in General Discussion

    Based on my personal observations,Saturday meetings in VA have the largest turnout.  Nonetheless, I think there is a concerted effort to ensure same MD meetings as well as some Sunday meetings. 

     

    I seem to recall some general recipe of 4 meetings a year, 1 in MD, 1 in DC and 2 in VA (1 being frag fest).  I know DC locations are getting tough so maybe it's 2 and 2 now.  At the end of the day, the most important thing is for people to show up!  All the meetings locations are generally withing 20 minutes of each other so it in the grand scheme of things, the location doesn't matter much for the occasional meet.

    Looking for a tank to put in a school

    in General Discussion

    Still looking around.  I have gotten some very very generous offers and it just goes to show how great WAMAS is.  The school isn't in a rush so have some time to find the "perfect" tank.  Something like a 50 breeder is kinda feeling like it may be the right combination of depth/height for the footprint.

    Remote Reactors Return Line (Manifold?)

    in Do It Yourself

    If its all down hill and the pipe is large enough for gravity to get the water back, you could try an air break (this seems fraught with danger of water on the floor though).  Otherwise I think you are going to need separate returns or check valves.

     

    This is a decent idea that basically turn the return into a big sink.  But like a sink, if the other end of the pipe is clogged, things will back up and overflow.  My guess is that a 1"-1.5" would be big enough.  The less downhill, the bigger you would want the pipe to be.

     

    All of the devices you listed are fairly low flow.  You may be better off running 3/8"-1/2" polyethylene or PEX tubing from each of them back to the sump.  All 3 bundled together will probably be the same diameter as 1" PVC pipe.

    Looking for a tank to put in a school

    in General Discussion

    that is awesome of you to take on. what is the ideal size? i'll poke around to see what I can help with.

     

    Heh, the tank at her previous school was super popular and is still doing well so I figured we could try it again.

     

    The science teacher was saying "bigger the better" but the Headmaster wasn't so sure.  I know a 110 or 90 would fit in the footprint but something like a 40 breeder or 60G DD would be fine too.  The 48" part is pushing things a little bit.

    Looking for a tank to put in a school

    in General Discussion

    My daughter is going to a small private school and we just got the approval to install a reef tank there for their science program.  The preferred location can accommodate a foot print up to 48"x27".  That is the max size and nothing says we have to use the entire space.  Anyone have a suggestion for a tank to go in that space?  Acrylic would be preferred but not required.

     

    If someone has something for sale or to donate please let me know.  They are a charity and I can get you a receipt.

     

    Once I figure out the tank, I will likely ask for other equipment donations so hang on to that older equipment for a bit longer!

    MACNA 2015- Time to Sign Up and Volunteer!

    in General Discussion

    It's great to see how much everyone enjoyed the show. One of the main reasons for holding the show here was so that all our members could get a chance to experience it. Many people can't justify spending ~$1500+ between airfare, hotel, etc. to travel to one. By having it local it gave over 150 WAMAS members that experience. Personally, that's what made the show fun for me.

    MACNA - guide to free...yes free found free coupons for goodness

    in General Discussion

    Haha, Evan gets it.  A bunch of today's volunteers now get it.  Funny thing, at 10:45, 1.5 hours we told all the volunteers to go home, I came across 3 who were still hanging out looking at the tanks.  They had the biggest smiles on their faces. You could tell they truly had fun despite working hard.  They definitely got how fun and rewarding it is to help make this incredible event happen.  

     

    We need more of them! 

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