MaeganWink

Someone donated to me a 24 gallon nano cube made by JBJ in 2005. Problem is, they didn't donate the pump or the ballast for the lights. The pump is an easy fix, but I've been having issues with the ballast. I tried to order a replacement, but when it came in, the female receiving part did not match the male pins. It had the right NUMBER of pins, but not the right configuration. I've been searching for any other type of ballast that would fit, but I'm having no luck. I tried emailing JBJ about it, but I'm not hopeful; they never replied to my last inquiry months ago when I first ran into the ballast issue. Anyone have any ideas on what I could do? I'm trying to avoid buying a whole new lighting system, since that would obviously eat a lot more of my class budget than most replacement ballasts or parts.

I'm going to try to get my students to do upsidedown jellies this year. Supposedly you can convert over a regular tank for those, unlike most jellies that need the specialized tank. I'd love to see what you learn if you give it a try! I just definitely do not have it in the budget to get a specialized jelly tank for the school.

Is it just the clown in there, no coral or anemones or anything? It's certainly something easy enough to take on. I have a happy pair of clowns in a similar setup in one of my classroom tanks, though they also have a bubble tip and some coral. Where are you located?

One of the school tanks donated to me a few years ago was a Red Sea 250. The lights on it went out a couple of weeks ago and I assumed it was the bulbs...but I got new bulbs in today and nothing. The hood fans still run, as do the tiny moonlights. So I'm assuming it must be the ballasts... Now I am NOT a light or equipment expert, far from it. Should I look into getting new ballasts and try replacing them? Is it something a beginner diy person can figure out? The tank does not have any coral or anemones or anything in it currently, so it is not something I have to rush to fix necessarily.

That video is so amazing, thank you so much for sharing! Also I love reading about this process, so I look forward to further updates!

@mogurnda I didn't know urchins eat hair algae?

My mother thought she was helping when she was visiting my classroom today and washed my skimmer with soap while we were moving the tank it goes to. I've put it to soak in a half-and-half mixture of white vinegar and R/O water for now but...anything else I should be doing with it? Luckily the system has nothing in it right now and won't for a few weeks, but I'd hate to have lingering soap kill things introduced once we get it going again...

The two smaller tanks are running at about 80 degrees right now...I try to keep them at about 76-77. They do both have hoods with lights built in.

Hey everyone, I wanted to know if anyone had any good tips for cooling smaller tanks during the warm months? My large classroom system has a chiller, but I wouldn't be able to buy a chiller for every single tank I have, especially the really small ones. Right now all I've come up with is frozen RO water in the smaller systems to bring the temperatures back down... EDIT: And yes, I know ice cubes will lower the salinity. I've just been doing that instead of a top off while I freeze some water bottles instead.

I don't know why it uploaded those sideways. Here, I cropped it. Still there, doesn't seem to be doing anything really.

Had to move the rock closer to get a better picture, but I managed it!

Saw this thing in one of my school tanks this morning...have no idea what it is. Looks like a white fuzzy Q-tip end on a flexible stalk. I've included the best pictures I could manage. I think it's pale coloration make sit hard for my camera to focus on it. And yes, I know I have bubble algae and aptasia in there. My never ending battle!

I honestly would love to borrow him! Two of my school tanks have GHA that I've been battling. Do you have a "rental fee" for him? xD

They are back to normal now for some reason. I'm putting in a new skimmer today too. At this point I'm stumped. I'll keep a close eye on them.

Not that I know of, unless the skimmer working differently/not working would affect flow from the sump?

Hello everyone! I have a connected system with two 55 gallon tanks, 1 frag tank, and a sump all connected. For almost a year now I've had anemones in both 55 gallon tanks and they have THRIVED. They've grown and split and always look happy. Recently, however, the anemones in one of the 55 gallon tanks have gotten super angry. They'e shrunk and even moved around like they're unsettled. The anemones in the other 55 are all happy, open, normal. I've tested the water parameters (Nitrates, Ammonia, Salinity, pH) and everything is normal. The tanks all share the same water anyway. Temperature is normal and the two tanks literally use the same light fixture. I feed all the anemones once a week, but from the same food source as well. Any idea of what could be pissing off my anemones or what else I could test? The only thing that has changed recently is I think my protein skimmer isn't working (I'm getting a new one), but again, they all share the same water, so why would that affect one side but not the other??? I'm stumped.

Trade it to someone who wants the rock with mushies for a rock without mushies. xD

So I found out reef escape is only doing the first 10 gallons of water for free. So @BtmDweller if you can do more than that, even at a better price than $1 per gallon, that would be helpful. @ImGoingCoastal We have the R/O system set up in the classroom, yes. So we store water in a big 30 gallon trashcan, but like I said, I don't make much water in an hour and we've had issues with flooded previously when the system was left on by accident. I'm on the second floor, so it's even worse because it can get into the classrooms below me if we flood.

I will say that, at the moment I've been very lucky in that my school is letting me in twice a week to take care of the critters, including the saltwater tanks. However, even with that I'm running into some problems and I want to see if I can set up some contingencies if worse-case scenario happens and I won't be allowed back. Problem 1: My R/O system doesn't make water fast enough to allow me to compensate for the amount of evaporation my tanks experience when I'm only allowed in twice a week for an hour each visit. We are looking to see if can let the system run and have a custodian shut it off in the early evening/late afternoon, but if that doesn't work, we're going to need another source of water. Is there anyone in the northern va area willing to give me water if this happens? Look for fresh only. I'm not sure we'll be able to afford to "buy" water long-term, though I may do it in the interim. Problem 2: If I am no longer allowed in the building, I have a HUGE amount of livestock that will need to be moved. -Is there anyone who has the room to essentially "board" livestock for me until the time I could set up the systems again? (I know this is unlikely, but I'll still ask it first) -Is there anyone who can take free livestock in worse-case scenario where I have to get rid of them quickly? My most difficult thing to home would likely be my mantis shrimp, so especially if anyone knows they could take him in a worse-case scenario, please let me know! If anyone has any other suggestions for either problem, please let me know. Thanks for all your support this past year and a half. I'm hoping this pandemic won't bring all our hard work to an end, but we have to do what we have to do.

@zygote2k This would be 100% last resort for most of us in schools. It's very hard for us to get funds/donations to get these tanks together. So if we don't have to and we can keep everything alive and well, even at some hassle to us...we will.

I will say if you have an ATO that takes care of your biggest issue. I have to replace water in my school tanks every other day usually, so even the weekends are a bit of a stretch sometimes. If schools close for me I'm going to need to get into the building or buy an ATO myself which I'm hoping I won't have to do... I use autofeeders over the summer for my tanks and they all do fine. I honestly have more trouble with overfeeding with autofeeders than anything else. The fear of the pump breaking there isn't much you can do about...besides getting a new, maybe more reliable pump if yours isn't great.

@MKaehny No worries, they're just sitting in the storage room, haha. Would you rather a long or a tall?

If you wanted a bigger tank, I have two spare 55 gallon tanks with hang on the back filters that were used for saltwater. @MKaehny

My classroom clowns laid legs, but it's on a giant rock and so I'd have to catch the fry when they hatch and god knows when that will be since I don't know when they were laid over the weekend and I'm not there at night...xD Otherwise this would be perfect.

@AlanM Trust me I wish I could, it would save me so much time and energy! Haha.