therootcause

Let’s build a wall. I started by calling the township to figure out some rules for building rooms in my basement. No bedroom, no rules. So here goes! Here is a simple 2x4 wall construction with a door to split the basement in half. I started by using construction adhesive to attached a 2x6 to the beam, then hung a plumb bob and snapped a few chalk lines. I need to get a laser level… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I welcome your comments, excitement, criticism, and assistance! I recently moved to Pennsylvania from Baltimore in summer 2022 which required breaking down my tanks and starting with no livestock in my new house. I set up my frag system in the fall along with the accompanying frameless cubes for clown pairs. Here’s what that system looks like. This build thread will be about my new fish room which includes the frag system, but more importantly the Reef 180.5 that I picked up from Trevor (WAMAS member) in February 2023. Simply put, my new house is too nice for me to put a saltwater system in the upstairs living space. I know that I will ruin the flooring through some mistake at some point, so everything is staying in the basement. With the help from Trevor and a few friends with borrowed suction cups we drove down to Maryland and picked up the system, which included: Waterbox Reef 180.5 Stand Plumbing and Sump Apex A2 KH Guardian MP40 2x Heaters with inkbird Duetto ATO Getting it into the truck required stand disassembly and creative thinking but we made it back, reassembled the stand, and set the tank in place. We also moved an even heavier Innovative Marine NUVO 170 EXT on the same day which I almost dropped. Luckily almost dropping it doesn’t count and all ended well. Here’s the tank: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you for sharing! I admire your ingenuity in creating the half cylinder baskets for rearing the fry. I don't have a 3d printer but with a Dremel and a five gallon pail I may be able to create something similar with mesh sides and base. I think you are really on to something and good luck!

These two sentences in the same post made me laugh. It's not what I was expecting at all - but WOW...great news. Would you mind sharing some photos of your overall setup, photos/sizes of the homemade baskets, various tanks, and mesh boxes? I really enjoy watching the close-up videos but would like to see the overall footprint of the setup along with the equipment that you are using to keep it all going if you don't mind sharing. If you already have it posted elsewhere can you share the link?

Hello, Was the calibration fluid brought to tank temperature during calibration? (I also have wondered if the refractometer needs to be brought to tank temperature during calibration. Example, my basement is 67 degrees year round. If I float a solution at 77 degrees then pipette onto the 67 degree refractometer, surely the liquid becomes closer to 67 degrees before I have a chance to even look through the viewfinder.) I think that it has been widely discussed that IO salt can have varying alkalinity but has been found to mix at 15dk. Could it be that your frequent water changes are actually the cause of the high alkalinity. Have you tested the salinity and alkalinity of newly mixed salt water at tank temp? -Adam Edit: I have submitted a product question to BRS regarding the temperature requirements in order to accurately use Pinpoint Calibration fluid. (fluid temp and refractometer temp)

Thanks for the info on the scopes. I was borrowing an Amscope and using a phone mount but gave it back when I moved. Wasn't a great image anyway. I'll keep an eye out on marketplace for something. I saw the Vossen trap on BRS a few weeks ago for $58. Yesterday it was on sale for $50 and I had a coupon code + free shipping so I bought it. Hopefully I can start up my own breeding threads again once conditions are right. Thanks again for documenting the journey!

Its been 6 months - any luck with the clowns?

I just read the ups and downs of the entire thread. Such heartbreak right now but still hope for the only baby left. Thank you for being so persistent with your phytoplankton and copepod cultures. I think it was @ScooterTDI who I got my parvocalanus cultures from. I kept them alive for months, sometimes just barely hanging on after several crashes. Eventually I lost them all. I'm glad to see you finally gave into trying artemia if they turned out not to be the correct food. I know the nutrition can be questionable at best - but the advice that @AlanM gave you regarding the hobby breader is sound! No air, no heat, and even works with old eggs - I'm using one now with eggs that were open at least 18 months ago and kept at room temp. When I was breading peppermint shrimp the artemia were the perfect food for them and I also used several types of artemia breading devices. Without a doubt the black tray hobby breader was the best for me. The artemia would hatch for at least four days, no cysts would be collected, and it was very clean. I could harvest as much as I wanted with the built in sieve or a pipette. With my aerated and heated artemia breaders all of the eggs would hatch at once and the water would foul very quickly. I used 5 gallon jugs that come equipped with a spout from Walmart ($12 in 2020) to gut load pods and artemia (ultimately with a self sustaining artemia culture to the point where I no longer needed to hatch from cysts). A few things I would like to know about your setup now that the male has sadly passed away. Is anything else currently spawning in the tank? What's the model of microscope that you were using earlier this year - and are now using? Did you purchase the larva collector from BRS - I've been shopping for one. Thanks, Adam

I’ve moved. Everything was dry for several months and is now up and running. Recent photos can also be seen on the WAMAS Facebook page. The system consists of several frameless cubes and one low boy tied into a single sump. In the future I would like to add a Rubbermaid tub for extra water capacity and a display upstairs that is plumbed to the entire system. This is located in my basement in Lebanon, PA and is very similar to how I had it set up in Glen Burnie. There are a few pairs of clowns in the system that I will attempt to breed over the next few years. My corals are all growing out at a friends place and I’m debating what I want to bring back into the frag tank or the display. I’m favoring a FOWLR setup. The fish are: Gladiator Davinci (left) Nakeds (center) Zombies (albino black clowns) (right) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome, post a tank shot.

I’ve recently added a few small frameless tanks, plumbed to the low boy return pump and returning to the sump. The tanks each have pregnant peppermint shrimp and will be used to attempt raising larva through adult. One of the tanks is also housing an ornery anemone. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

From the Tapatalk app you should be able to select this button. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’d be happy to donate live phytoplankton, a gallon of Copepods, and some macro algae. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you have any photos of the tank when it was set up over the past few years? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is the center of the star sunken (like dented in)? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Limited info but when they starve they disintegrate. Can you give a timeline as to how long you’ve owned it, how long it was in the display, and how long it has been in the sump? Adam Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is the flow of water into the reactor the discharge from the skimmer or does it have its own pump? What’s the piping run look like into the reactor? Is the (independent) reactor pump in a fixed location or could it be moved away from the skimmer discharge? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lastly, congratulations on your retirement! Woohoo! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/1-gallon-package-esv-b-ionic-calcium-buffer-system-bundle.html?dfw_tracker=43788-240138B&utm_term=&utm_campaign=EL+%7C+ACQ_Prospecting_Shopping+%7C+ROAS+%7C+All+Products&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=7373341438&hsa_cam=11496128324&hsa_grp=111757179109&hsa_ad=475916932266&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=aud-994717625468:pla-1061645494787&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxdSHBhCdARIsAG6zhlUJ0J7z3as8sng221VmVuSbPp746WN0rhUx9NMBjabb3tnGo-GLtXwaAvWqEALw_wcB Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s probably fine. Toss it in the trash. The new concentrated gallon size are $35 for the pair of calc/alk online. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for using the word “hooch”. Cheers! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good questions that could have a big impact on the work that needs to be down. I thought those siphon overflows in FW tanks were silent. I’ve drilled several tanks but that big boy would scare me. A lot harder to replace in a pinch than a 50g low boy. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is the colt a type of nepthea? Someone else that I know was asking if my blue nepthea was a colt coral. Any videos or photos? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think this carnation was from Aqua SD. About $35. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The flow rate into the NPS tank from the main system is .25 gallons per minute. A small pump inside of the tank keeps food circulating. The diluted food blend that drains from the NPS tank enters the sump in the skimmer chamber. You can view it live at twitch.tv/thetwitchtank Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk