Integral9

When I used to mix salt in 5g jugs, I would get what I think you are describing. I believe it dissolved eventually. My fish would eat it too, but usually spat it back out. From what I've read though, i don't believe you need to be concerned. It's probably just calcium carbonate, which should dissolve eventually, just not easily.

In Russia, Aquarium Controller controls You! :p I can't believe no one jumped on that yet. hehe. I'm starting to get the aquarium controller bug. After reading about them, I decided to get my feet wet with an Reef Keep Lite. I got a decent package deal over the holidays and now that my 135 is getting wet (the system I bought it for), I can't wait to get into the insides of my RKL. So many things to control, such a little box. But now that I fully understand how much you can do with the RKL, I wish I had an RKE or at least an extra PC4 or two. With what I have though, I'm planning on controlling my kalk reactor, the auto top off, and power heads (gonna try the wave function). I would need a 2nd PC4 to get most of everything else plugged into it that I would want to control and monitor (main pumps, skimmer, heaters, etc). If I had the extra money, I could easily see myself going full "techno-qautic" with an RKE.

Unless someone PMs me about the fish, I doubt I will make it to the fragswap. Just got too much stuff to do this weekend. sry.

I've got a 3yr old mature black and white false percula that I've had since she was a juvenile. Most likely female. She doesn't have any orange left on her at all. bars are nearly perfect. only a small inclusion on the front bar. loves to host anemones. I'd like to trade her for a small RBTA or a couple of the RBTA frags. What ever is fair.

Tanks Shot Baffles in Sump Back of tank:

lol.

I have some kind of Kelp like thing growing on one of my rocks. It's green and basically one big leaf. I don't know where it came from. My scopas eats it, but won't eat all of it. Snails and hermits leave it alone. And it doesn't like poor water quality as hair algae and cyano will grow on it. When in good health, I think it's actually pretty nice and it's something else to watch move around in the current. That's why I hate mushrooms. I don't think you can never fully get rid of the dern things.

I recommend using tape; LOTS OF TAPE. Just be sure to pull the tape off before the silicon full hardens. And be careful not to let the tape touch anything while you are pulling it off.

I hope to get my plumbing done this weekend, but since I haven't anything else to say about the tank build and it seems that installing baffles is a recurring topic on forums all over, I'd like to share how I installed the baffles on my sump. With this method I was able to produce what I would call a near professional looking install. This was my first time installing baffles, but not my first time dealing with painters tape or caulking. After some debate I decided to go with the 1/8" acryllic as that is what is used in my acrylic sump for the baffles. Which there is some flexing, but the sump has been in use for years so I am not worried or even concerned. So I picked up some acryllic from HD and cut it down to size and sanded it until it had a good tight fit. Since this is going into a glass tank, I nipped the corners off at the bottom of the two outside baffles for a better fit. Next I put a line of tape around the sides of the baffles on both sides, leave about 3/8" of room on the edges for the silicon to hold on to. I then took a dry erase marker and a carpenters triangle (for a perfectly straight up and down line) and marked the sides of the tank where the baffles would go. Then I taped everywhere around those lines, above, below, around, and the bottom and about 6 inches on either side. There was a lot of tape on that tank when I was done. I left about 3/8" of room on both sides of the lines for the silicon. I then positioned the center baffle and put a couple of pieces of left over hardwood flooring under it for support. I also put a few small pieces of tape on the top of the baffles to help hold it in place (not very effective, but better than nothing). I then carefully applied the silicon down one side of the center baffle. After applying I ran my finger down down the silicon to smooth it out for a clean look. Once the silicon began to harden I pulled the tape off. I started with the tape on the baffles which was the most difficult as the baffles really want to move around. So with one hand I held the baffle in place and with my other hand holding a razor blade, I carefully pulled the tape up. Once I got enough up to grab a hold of, I used my hand to carefully pull the rest of it up. Patience is key. After that I did the other side of the center baffle in the same manner. Once the center baffle hardened, the tube said 1 hour to harden, but I was outside and it was sunny so the silicon hardened much faster, but I still waited the full hour as I knew I would be putting some pressure on the center baffle trying to reach the inside edges of the outside baffles. Since I was using a caulk gun and my hands are fairly large I had to leave about 3-4 inches of spacing between the baffles to reach the bottom. Even so, I couldn't reach the bottom on the insides of the baffles with my caulk gun so I had to put a glob of silicon on my finger and wipe it in place to reach the bottom of the baffles. Not the cleanest method, but a little rubbing alcohol is great for cleaning the silicon off your hands. Just remember to moisturize when you are done as the alcohol will dry your hands up pretty bad. Once all the silcon was in place on a side of each baffle, I ran my finger down the full length for a final smoothing. Then I pulled the tape off leaving a nice clean edge. Repeated that for each side of the outside baffles. I have to pull my couch out to snap a picture of my sump, so I will try to get one this weekend when I get into the plumbing. My only mistake was when I was pulling the tape off, I let some of the silicon covered tape touch the outside of the tank and that left a good mark. I'll have to get my razor blade out and clean that off. edit: 500th post!

Sicce My Italian coworker says you say it like this: See-chea

I have used the Silicone I before with success. everyone says silicon II is bad as the mold inhibitors leach anti-fungal agents into your aquarium. If you go over to where the acryllic sheets are in home depot, you can find the original "100% Silicone". That's where it is in the HD in Sterling, at least. fwiw: and iirc: I read somewhere that GE has a contract to provide "aquarium silicon" to a company and part of that contract states they are not allowed to say their other silicon products are ok for aquariums.

based on what I found here: http://www.angelfire.com/ca5/ethaslanguages/German.gerpron.html Tunze: Toonts-ae

Here's a link to a pic of my skimmer https://picasaweb.google.com/forrestd991/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCI71qbz_ifOzjgE#5620851963442029330

With my mini-g, I have to clean out the parts in front of the skimmer pump every time I empty the cup. If I don't do that, the performance is like what you are describing. The stand pipe is up to the bottom of the collection cup. That's been that way since I got it. Also, depending on how old the skimmer is, some of the parts may have come unglued. Some super glue will fix that. Mine is about 5 years old now and im still using the original pump. It sits in about 10" of water.

Well, I finally got the new frame onto the tank and test filled with water. looks good, if not for a little over use of silicon. Moved the tank back onto its stand and placed a peice of luwan (sp) under it to block out the light. But that raised teh tank up a bit too much which caused a bit of trouble with the trim around the stand. I will have re-attach that piece one day, but it's next to a wall and moving the tank isn't something I want to do again. Now for the sump: I picked up some acrylic and cut and siliconed it in place as baffles for my sump. I also attached my bulk heads with a bit of silicone and was about to start plumbing the tank when I had to start cleaning up as my boy woke up from his nap. Play time over, back to being a dad. After dry fitting some of the plumbing for the pump, I am having serious doubts as to whether my old fuge is going to fit under the tank as I had planned. I will know for sure once I get the iwaki plumbed in. As an alternative, I might be setting my fuge on a short table behind the tank and plumbing it in that way. As a last resort, I have an medium sized Aquafuge + PS on my 30g that I could hang onto my sump and use as a fuge.

Welcome to WAMAS, btw. I believe I am the current holder of the title of "Slowest Builder", but I welcome your challenge! lolz.

Interesting... I often have wondered what causes the pumps to die a slow death. I was considering replacing my mag7 due to a slowing of the flow. And after cleaning it, I couldn't find anything obviously wrong. I don't have any shrink wrap on hand but I do have plenty of teflon tape. Have you tried using that before? I understand If you wrap it the wrong direction it will probably make a big mess. Sent from my HTC Aria using Tapatalk

I believe there is a master on off on the panel, but I am not at home so i can't say for sure. One thing I've noticed about doing electrical work, you are almost always doing it in the dark. So when I by-pass the plug I'm going to use for the new circuit, can I just use wire nuts to pinch the two ends together? and do I need a seperate box to put that in, or can I use the existing box? I'd prefer to be as close to code as possible. No doubt. I had a little accident with the 240V when installing my water heater. I wasn't hurt, but my screwdriver was missing most of the tip and I was on the floor.

I talked it over with the wife and she wants to do the extension cord. It won't be that clean, but I won't have to tear out the walls and patch them back up. the ceiling is sheet rock / dry wall. I've never added a breaker to a panel, so there in lies my concern. I know there's 3phase-240V in there somewhere and I'd rather not find out the hard way.

Since I have a whole 2 15A circuits powering my basement which includes most of the things that I play with (TV, computers, & aquariums), I am basically tapped out. My basement is mostly finished and unfortunately, the breaker box is in the part of the basement that's finished. There is an outlet directly underneath my breaker panel that I can to use for this dedicated 15A circuit, but I will need about 10ft of extension cord to reach the tank. If at all possible, and I doubt it will be w/out major renovation, I'd like to use the outlet 10 feet away but I believe that will involve running a line through studs sitting behind wainscoting and drywall. Is this something I can DIY? or should I hire an electrician? I've done things like install wall sconce lighting and I replaced my electric hot water heater. So I am not totally new to AC, but I won't be getting a contractors license any time soon either. If DIY, is there a guide for doing this I can follow? thanks.

cutting LR is like cutting through a soap bar, so unless you have to have a perfect flat edge, I'd just use a wide putty blade and a hammer and chisel them apart. The rocks break apart very easy. You might also be able to use a hack saw, maybe even a regular wood saw.

Well, it looks like I'm going to be staying in the hobby for a while longer yet. WOOHOO! I finally got the top frame off the tank on Sunday, but had to stop due to rain. I should be able to clean off all the old silicon and slap on the new frame next weekend; provided the Avast / F&F party doesn't keep me occupied for too long. I will say this. Everyone who said taking it off was going to be in a PITA was 100% right. I doubt I will ever do that again. I got plastic in my eye, cut myself at least twice as did my helper and I'm pretty sure I gave myself a mild chemical burn with all the alcohol I used.... some good times, let me tell you what.... Anyways, here's what I tried and the order I tried it in. Method 1: Dremel Total fail. Started out with this method as I was hoping to get it done durring the week, which for me offers precious little free time except between the hours of 9pm and 11pm. Unfortunately, the plastic melts if you set the speed to high and you can easily scratch the glass with the cutting blade. Also, you can get plastic in your eye... that sucked. Method 2: Use alcohol to disolve the silicon to make it easy to peal off frame. This works, but unless you can get into the tank and get the alcohol down into the frame on both inside and outside edges, it didn't seem to help much other making it easier to slide the knife in between the frame and glass on the side applicated to seperate the two. All though I was able to remove another 2' section with this method, I had been working on this section with the dremel for a while. Mothod 3: Use alcohol and a "persuader" (and stay in the hobby / out of the dog house) This works especially well if your persuader is a pair of pliers. I don't recommend the other persuaders. I used the pliers to literally tear the plastic off. I would grab the inside edge of the top and break off a piece; usually a small piece. And repeated all the way around the tank. Sharp edges abound. After that I could use my fingers to reach under the outside edge (no sharp edges there) and pull off the remaining plastic frame around the outside and top.

I might add a small bag of live sand to jump start the bacteria farm

I've kept BTAs for years and never had one get sucked into a pump. my pumps are high up near the water line which probably helps as it seems to me that BTAs like to stick their foot into a hole where they can expose their tentacles to some decent flow as well as pull back into it for defense.