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bqq100

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Posts posted by bqq100

    Help with an ID?

    in General Discussion

    The one guys has been growing on my live rock in 2 places for a while, figure it's about time to get him identified.  The other guy I found crawling on on my glass tonight.  He was really booking it...

     

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    Thanks!

    Chromis

    in General Discussion

    I sense that we may have a fish serial killer taking notes quietly in the background... :ph34r:

     

    You don't need clove oil to  be a fish serial killer.  All you need is some ignorance and stupidity.  I would know, i'm a rehabilitated fish serial killer  :lol:

    Kalk vs. Bubble Algae

    in General Discussion

    I may have to try this in the near future.  I have a little bit of red bubble algae i can't get rid of.  Not a ton of it, and it's easy enough to keep in check with manual removal once every month or so, but it would be nice to get rid of it for good.

    Build a sump

    in Do It Yourself

    2. Tank overflows:

    a) The overflow line to the sump clogs but the return pump continues to pump water from the sump into the main tank. (i.e. the tank can't drain.)

    b) The siphon breaks in the case of a HOB overflow, or the U-tube becomes clogged. (i.e the tank can't drain.)

     

    Mitigation methods include redundant overflows, screens to keep critters from getting into and plugging the overflow, having sufficient capacity in the main tank to absorb the extra water in the sump chamber with the return pump in it. This is the critical part: Limiting the water in the return pump chamber so that, if water stops flowing into the sump, this last chamber empties before the display overflows. Mind you, the return pump will "run dry" (unless you have some kind of level switch installed to turn it off on low sump level), but you won't have a spill.

     

    Also need to consider your ATO if you have one.  If the water is low because your return pump is moving water to the DT, your ATO could continuously add fresh water (which is then pumped up to the DT) and eventually cause a flood.  I have a low water switch which kills my return pump and ATO, plus only run my ATO a few minutes a night to limit the amount of water it could add in the case of a blocked drain.

    Scrap bin at Piedmont

    in Do It Yourself

    Piedmont does not maintain a public scrap bin.  They recycle their scrap and do not sell it by the pound or size.  However, they will "cut to order" pieces for you.  You will pay more per square foot to get it vs a full sheet, but you are also paying for the labor of them cutting it and having a partial sheet to deal with.  

     

    Also, for a sump that size, the .220 acrylic from Home Depot can work if you properly brace the top.  The acrylic is extruded vs being cell cast, but it will serve the purpose just fine for a small sump like that.

     

    Bummer, a post from a long time ago mentioned they had a scrap bin at the time  :sad:

    http://wamas.org/forums/topic/22473-wtb-acrylic-scrap-sheets-and-rods

     

    If the price for .220 acrylic in store is the same as online ($116) I think I'll end up using the glass I have around to build the sump.  If I fail miserably with glass, then I'll revisit using acrylic.

    Scrap bin at Piedmont

    in Do It Yourself

    OK, took me longer than I thought to get the measurements but I have:

    Four pieces that are :32 14/16" long by 7  1/4" wide by 1/8" thick; and one piece that is 21" long by 7 1/4" wide by 1/8" thick. 

     

    Looks like they may be a bit small for your sump, but they are yours if you want them. 

     

    Ya that's too small and thin for my sump.  Thanks for checking though.

    Scrap bin at Piedmont

    in Do It Yourself

    I have some acrylic you can have if you want. Not sure on the exact measurements, but I will measure it tonight when the kid is asleep and let you know. I got it from a scrap exchange in Durham NC, and have been keeping it around in case I run into a project... I have since come to the realization that I will never use it, and it is taking up space :)

     

    That would be aswesome!  Thanks!

     

    i have a 40B with a cracked 12" star in the back pane. that's a lot of useable glass if you want for free. i'm in silver spring, md. PM if interested. 

     

    Thanks for the offer, but I have a couple of glass tanks already that I'll break down if I decide to use glass instead of acrylic.

    Scrap bin at Piedmont

    in Do It Yourself

    What size pieces are typically available in the scrap bin?  I'm looking to build a small custom sized sump (~14 L x 10 W x 14 H) and I'm trying to find a cost effective source of acrylic.  I have a 20H glass tank I was planning on cutting up and using to build the sump, but recently I've been working with acrylic and I've found it much easier to work with.  

    ricordia yuma meltdown any ideas?????

    in General Discussion

    How did it look before melting away, did it lose color or shrink really small? That would be a sign of too much light.

    Started after a week or so.  Not much loss of color (at least until its final day or 2), but did shrink, eventually really small.  I did move it to a shadier spot, but it was already past the point of no return. 

    ricordia yuma meltdown any ideas?????

    in General Discussion

    Following along, since I also had a yuma melt away last week after having it for about 2 or 3 weeks (from ERC, not part of group buy).  I thought it was because i didn't acclimate it to my LEDs slowly enough or because I didn't target feed it since everything else is doing great.  I did dips in CoralRx and Melafix, but no Iodine and I didn't notice any brown jelly (although wasn't really looking for it either).  

    Favia growth question

    in General Discussion

    I have a favia frag that I want to attach to one of my large live rocks.  As it grows will the new skeleton fuse itself to the live rock making it impossible to move?  I'd like to have it on this rock, but if it means that I would never be able to remove it to frag, trim back, or dip for infection then I'd rather attach it to a piece of rubble and attach that to the live rock.  I don't think that would look as nice, but if thats my only option than so be it.

     

    Thanks!

     

    Let's talk Hanna Checkers

    in General Discussion

    I always use my phone as a stop watch, and start it once C1 is finished.  I then add the reagant, and then alternate between inverting the vial, and holding it horizontally and rolling it.  Once the phone says it's been 2:40 seconds I load it up and do the reading.  It's been pretty consistent for me. 

     

    When i first got it (the ULR one) I did some comparison between the 1 and 2 vial methods.  1 of them was consistently 10-15ppb higher (although i forget which one), so i decided to go with the 1 vial method to prevent any errors from calibrating with a different vial. 

    Lighting for a refugium

    in General Discussion

    Where do you buy the kit from? I might have to do that myself.

     

    Not a kit, purchased the LEDs/driver from mouser.com and had the rest of the stuff around the house.  

    • Cree Cool White MultiChip LED 
    • Cree Warm White (2700K) MultiChip LED 
    • MeanWell 120V to 350mA CC Driver
    • CPU Heatsink (I already had a similar one)
    • 5V Wall Adapter to power the fan (I already had one)
    • Thermal adhesive to attach the LEDs to the heatsink (or in my case thermal paste and superglue that I already had)
    • 2-prong power cord to plug the MeanWell into the wall (chop up a cheap $2 extension cord or old/broken appliance you don't use anymore)
    • I also used some 3 pin fan connectors I had around the house to make disconnecting the fan/LEDs easy, but you could just solder it all together.

    Lighting for a refugium

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by bqq100

    I used a clip on light, and standard home depot bulb for a couple of weeks, but my stand is really cramped and I felt like it took up too much space and was too awkward.  I ended up doing a DIY LED fixture thats much more compact and manageable.  Cost me $55 (although I already had a heatsink), but I get 3-4x the lumens and will never have to replace a bulb (plus I love tinkering with electronics). Just installed it yesterday, so no comments on how well it grows chaeto yet.

     

    Edit: 3-4x the lumens and 2x the watts.

    Tank is Dieing....

    in General Discussion

    When talking about the differences in wc's, the article seems to indicate that changing X% amount of water per month can either be once or multiple times that adds up to that X%. That seems to tell me again that it's not sequential, one after another but separated by day(s).

     

     

    Depends on how quickly the new water completely mixes with the water left in the tank.  Worst case, the new water mixes completely with the existing water instantly, in which case 4 10% changes 1 day apart, and 4 10% changes 10 minutes apart are basically the same (ignoring new contaminants added to the tank).  Best case, the new water mixes very slowly and your 4 10% changes 10 minutes apart is more like 1 40% change.  Somewhere in the middle lies reality (definitely closer to the worst case if your pumps are running).  

     

    If you have a large enough sump you can turn off your return, remove the water from the sump, add new water to the sump, then remove another batch of water from the DT, and then add new water to the DT tank.  In that case 2 10% changes would be exactly the same as 1 20% change.

    Raising pH with TLF CDX

    in General Discussion

    I think "OldReefer" uses it, maybe he'll chime in or you can shot him a PM. Keep us posted on how it works for you. Is the tank near an outside wall so you can run the skimmer intake outside? That helps to bring in some fresh air into the tank.

     

    Is your pH probe calibrated? What is your alkalinity?          

     

    Alk is ~9 based on the stupid API test kit.  I can't wait till I finish it and get a hanna checker.  pH probe hasn't been calibrated in a while, probably should do that.  I know that it's about right, and it's a CO2 issue because when the windows are open the pH goes up and stays around 8.2.  Tank is darn near dead center of the house so running a line to the outside isn't really an option.  I'm not too worried about chasing the perfect pH number, but i figured $12 bucks was worth seeing how well it works.

     

     

    I use it....my pH is low in summer. Definitely works for me. I'll probably stop using it until next June due to the weather getting cooler.

    Nice to hear that it does work in the long term too.  Have you ever compared it to soda lime?  Any ideas why it's only low in the summer?  

    Raising pH with TLF CDX

    in General Discussion

    Anyone else try CDX from TLF to raise their pH?  I have pretty low pH, sometimes hitting as low as 7.8 at night.  I was ordering some other stuff from BRS, and I decided to give CDX a shot.  For $12 i figured I didn't have anything to lose. 

     

    Well I rigged it up to my skimmer yesterday and it definitely seems to help a little.  My pH last night was ~.1 higher than the previous night without changing anything else.  Note, the yellow line is when my wife decided to open the windows, so any pH increase after that is probably from the open windows more than anything else.  We'll see if it continues to help once we close the windows again, and how long the 750mL of it lasts.  With the way I have it rigged up right now, it's only using a few spoonfuls for my 30 gallon tank.

     

     

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