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Origami

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Posts posted by Origami

    Grounding Probe....

    in General Discussion

    Are you kidding? With all that electricity going into your tank, somebody's advising you NOT to get a grounding probe? Get a grounding probe. It could save your life. It's as simple as that. And, yes, they can work with just a plain old outlet. It's really nothing more than a titanium, or non-corrosive probe, that plugs into the earth ground of an outlet to keep any electrical potential from building up in the tank.

    120 System for sale

    in General Discussion

    iwantaneel, I've been to Bob's (lanman's) place and his 240 is as quiet as he's saying. Frankly, I was amazed when I saw it a few months ago. I'm sure that he'd be happy to show you his setup so you could get ideas on how to quiet your system down a bit.

    Euro reef RS 80 skimmer ?

    in New to the Hobby

    If it was dry sand, pre-rinsed or not, I probably would have rinsed it at the start. You still have the chance. If you've already seeded it with some live sand, you don't want to rinse it with tap water, though. Even with well rinsed sand, however, you'll still see some cloudiness in the water initially that will subside over a few days.

    How YBeNormal helped saved my marriage

    in Do It Yourself

    · Edited by Origami2547

    Yeah, the panel bits I was most interested in were the bigger ones that came with a 3/4 inch shank. I considered the smaller ones with the 1/2 inch shank but decided that I'd forego the compromise. I also considered trying to get a larger collet to retrofit on one of the other two routers that I have. No luck. In the end, I just built the cabinet door frame using the smaller face-frame biscuits and shaped the inside and outside edges using a simple round-over bit. I came so close, though, to talking myself into a bigger router just so I could play with the rail and stile bits. May still do it someday - just to play, you know?

    How YBeNormal helped saved my marriage

    in Do It Yourself

    · Edited by Origami2547

    Thanks Bob & James. In doing my cabinetry, it's nice to know there's an option like that available. In building my stand, I did my doors myself not knowing that I had such an option. However, not having a 3/4" router to go with the matched panel, rail, and stile bits that I was looking at (I have two 1/2" routers, but neither would take the larger bits I was looking at and both were undersized for the job), I decided to use my biscuit joiner for the door joinery and to use a flat, rather than a shaped panel. I like the doors you chose, James. You've got a beautiful stand.

    Cruises and seeing Reefs

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by Origami2547

    Trancefusion, I've cruised RC 5 times now - in the Med, Alaska, and the Caribbean. My experience has been that they keep a pretty tight rein on their excursion contractors. On the cruise that took me to Cozumel, one excursion contractor took you on a small boat out to the Palancar reef off the SW side of the island where you could snorkel over relatively shallow reefs (from 10-25' down) and out over to the drop-off (where you could view the corals going down the wall). Having had some experience over and against reefs (both snorkeling and scuba), I didn't consider that particular excursion second-rate in any way. Sure, you'll pay a little more (after all, RC is getting a cut of the action), but the benefit is that you'll have RC doing a bit more in the way of quality control. Since it's a group thing, though, you'll have far less flexibility.

     

    By the way, the excursion over the Palancar is a drift dive. That is, you'll be drifting over the reef with the current. The benefit is that you'll get to see more reef below you but you won't be able to dwell as much to inspect things you find exceptionally interesting (no dwelling to watch the hermit crabs like you might in your aquarium!). Also, it saves your energy so you can focus more on enjoying the sights. Also, if you happen to prone to sea sickness, you may want to start the morning out with some dramamine before getting on the small boat that takes you out (just in case the seas are a little rough that day).

    Cruises and seeing Reefs

    in General Discussion

    Certification is nice, but I think you'd enjoy the reef off Cozumel even if you're snorkeling. I enjoyed Palancar reef while there last, which was maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I've heard that the Belize is wonderful as well. If you can get yourself certified, great. If not, you'll still enjoy the snorkeling. The main thing is to have fun. I've cruised with RC many times over the years. I'm sure that you'll enjoy the whole trip.

    skimmer help

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by Origami2547

    Ah, new skimmer. I agree, it needs to break in. It should only take a day or so to get a film going that will settle things down. My first skimmer had me very worried the first time that I installed it - it was overflowing everywhere. What a mess that was!

     

    Anyway, I've read that others have had trouble tweaking this model to get consistent production, but I've not personally had that problem. I have both of my flow-control valves (I think that aqua-medic calls them "throttle caps") pretty much set to point 90-degrees from the direction of the water flow and, for the most part, that's where I leave them. The cup pretty much fills on my 90 about once a week with a nice dark sludge.

     

    Please note, though, that I have a slightly different model than you have. You have the Turboflotor 1000 and are using it in-sump while I, not having as much room in my sump, got a Turboflotor 1000 SL Multi hanging on the outside of my sump but drawing water in from a separate pump hanging inside the sump. You may find that you have to set your "throttle caps" differently. Once you get your ball valve set about right, you'll probably be able to fine-tune the level in your skimmer using the throttle caps so you can skim wetter or dryer at your discretion and not your skimmer's.

     

    As for "bubble production," I'm no skimmer expert, but I suspect that bubble production is only part of the equation and is, at least in the short term fixed by the pump, method of bubble production (bubble size), and its air uptake capability. The other part of the equation is the time the bubbles are in contact with the water. I think the latter is set more by the flow (fast or slow, smooth or turbulent)through the skimmer body. The smooth or turbulent part, I figure, is part of the skimmer design and I don't have much control over it. The "fast or slow" part, though, is where I do have control and that's done, in my case, by setting the depth of my skimmer pump and adjusting the throttle caps.

     

    Hope this helps in some way. Good luck!

    skimmer help

    in General Discussion

    Have you cleaned out your air line recently? I have the hang-on version of this skimmer and noticed that I had a salt plug developing at the point where the air tubing enters the pump (just inside the removable pump housing). The salt plug that formed there slowed the air flow into the pump, resulting in increased water uptake. This in turn led to higher water levels in the skimmer, and overflow. It's easy to check and just as easy to fix.

    Do you carry it?

    in Blue Ribbon Koi

    Have you tried calling them? Here's some contact info from their website (www.blueribbonkoi.com):

     

    Shop Hours: Thursday 10-8 -- Friday 10-8 -- Saturday 10-6 -- Sunday 10-5

    Phone/Fax: 703-753-7566

     

    (Just thought you might get a quicker response this way.)

    Another skimmer question

    in General Discussion

    It's not uncommon for a salt plug to form in the airlines of a lot of skimmers that draw air in using venturis. This build up starves the skimmer of air, eventually leading to no bubbles. In this case, you need to perform periodic maintenance on your skimmer airline to remove thet build up. If the air line is still basically open, for example, you can dunk the end of the airline into a cup of clean fresh water and have the skimmer suck up the water to dissolve any partial build up. Or, in cases of a complete clog, remove the air line and soak it clean. How often you do this depends on the skimmer and your situation.

    When Making RO/DI Water what do you do?

    in General Discussion

    I had a similar problem after making RO/DI water for a while and storing it in a Rubbermaid trashcan. What I did to address the problem was to take the trashcan out and give it a good scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad and clear water, making sure to give it a good rinse afterwards. I've not had the problem since. My guess is that something began to grow on the walls of the trashcan and I just had to remove it.

    3g Pico

    in Dedicated Tank (Build) Forum

    Nice job. You've managed to squeeze a lot of cool things into a small space to keep it interesting. How are your water parameters, generally speaking? How much do you change out every 2 weeks?

    55 gallon plastic drums

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by Origami2547

    No luck at tractor supply for anyone else looking. I thought about the Brute thing, but I really want something I can seal the lid on a little better to prevent evaporation.

     

    While at the DMV in Leesburg back in late January or early February, I noticed that they ( the Tractor Supply Company, TSC, next door) had some pretty large (100+ gallon) storage tanks in back. They were very similar, if not identical, to the kind that Dave Lin has for mixing and keeping his saltwater. The container looks to be a heavy duty polyethylene container and it does have a screw on lid. Dave modified his with a bulkhead and some plumbing so he could attach a pump and pump the water out into his tank(s).

    product comparison

    in Air, Water & Ice

    Jamal, I bought my Typhoon III last fall and it came with a pressure gauge. I don't recall if the website showed it or now. It might be worth a call to clarify if they still have it on their product. I have good pressure in my house so I can fill a 30-gal brute trash can in probably about a half-day which is more than enough since I typically won't use that much in a week.

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