180 build from scratch!

[Hop]

Can't help on the beads. Just have not seen a reason to play with ozone yet. On the plus side, the new frags look good and I like the RKE. I saw it at IMAC and am *thinking* about one for the wetroom. But with Neptune dropping the price of the ACIII I'm torn. Keep us updated!

 

[michika]

Thanks everyone for your comments!

Ah! The cyano, its invading! And, its already established colonies! I am looking at fixing some of the flow issues tonight, and starting on some plumbing for the returns. The sump will be built on Monday night as Kevin is working throughout the weekend.

I need to do some testing today, however I think when I do test I will find that my dKH/alkalinity is low. This was previously the cause of my other experience with cyano in our second tank, a 46g bowfront.

RKE is still running like a champ. I love it, even though I still haven't made time to play around with it and familiarize myself with it. From today at 6pm MST:
Temp 80.6
pH 7.98
ORP 371

The fish are grazing and generally being good. I have been keeping a tentative list of the length of the doctor tang. When I got it, it was 1" from nose to tail, today it is about half an inch, maybe less, smaller then the Naso tang. As of today the fish are:

Naso tang; 5"
Doctor tang 4.5"
Red Sea Sailfin tang 4.5"
Vlamingi tang 4"
Scopas tang 2.5"
Red Sea Raccoon Butterfly 1.25"
yellow damsel 1.75"
both small chromii are STILL 0.5" (been this small for at least a year)
mandarin (full size) 1.5"

I also happen to know that is Der_Iron_Chef's birthday today. I also happen to know he has a love of the Red Sea Sailfin tang, so some photos just for Drew on his birthday. I apologize for all the air bubbles in the water. The fish got a little on the excited side when I put the feeding stick in the water.

 

[melev]

Hey, go repost those in the Feeding thread I started.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=12938892#post12938892

 

[michika]

Nice thread! I'll post them shortly.

 

[jnarowe]

BTW, I am thoroughly unconvinced that flow really has anything to do with cyano. I hear that all the time, but have seen it growing in tanks that are like jetted tubs.

 

[michika]

I came home with another SPS colony and two more clams. The cyano was pretty bad this evening. I cleaned off the rocks, and I am preparing a WC for tonight or tomorrow. I am quite sure that there is a link to my low dKH.

My new (as soon as its emptied) dipping container for frags

A poor shot of the two new squamosas. They look amazing top down!

Our new SPS that we are calling "the bush", it has quite the growth pattern. It had blue tips at the store, and I think if I moved it under the 15K XM it would become quite blue. However for now its under the other bulb, whose name I can't remember.

And a close up. It got caught by a snail on the way down into the tank.

 

[jnarowe]

good possibility there is a crab or two in there.

 

[michika]

It would be nice if there was a good one inside. I looked over it quite closely before dipping it, but didn't see anything. It did however harbor quite a few pods.

 

[michika]

I am officially done with Salifert's testkits. There is just no way to consistently get the same amount of fluid in the syringe to add solution #3. Sometimes I have a huge air bubble, and sometimes I don't. I think its screwing with my test results. I want a calcium monitor, and I am hoping DA will put one out soon, or I will pick one up from American Marine.

Speaking of the RKE we have found 2 bugs, but cannot locate the Firmware update on their website. Bug #1: if you don't touch the buttons or scroll through the screens fro an extended period of time, the buttons will forgot what they are supposed to do. E.g. you will push enter and the controller will take it to mean you are pushing up or down. Bug #2: it keeps randomly shutting off the skimmer for a few brief seconds before turning the pumps back online.

We need another PC4 to bring the lights under the control of the RKE, however I am in no rush. I would rather wait until I hear that the bugs have been worked out that are associated with MH ballasts.

 

[jnarowe]

uh...those are serious bugs.

 

[michika]

#1 is pretty minor, once you push a few buttons it all goes back to normal. Its not like its randomly shutting off my lights or not turning them off. It does need to be fixed though.

I am also still waiting on a response from DA about Customs opening my package and forgetting to return the MLC certificate after they rifled through it. They are probably swamped with emails, so I'm more then willing to wait.

 

[jnarowe]

bummer you have to dea with that customs stuff. I mean, we are practically the same country only yours has healthcare.

 

[michika]

On that same hilarious note that Simpsons episode where the residents of Springfield come to Canada to get free drugs is on.

Customs is bad, but worse when they team up with FedEx, UPS, or DHL. They all conspire together to charge stupidly high "customs fees". I love USPS and Canada Post because they are so cheap. RKE was $35 ish or something close, any of the others would EASILY be $180-$250.

 

[melev]

With the Salifert tests, you don't need to worry about the air pocket in the syringe. You should have the pointy tip affixed first. Then draw up the solution into it, then push it out, then draw it up again until the plunger is even with the 1ml mark. That's all I do every time. The air gap can be ignored.

 

[michika]

I fixed the problem with my salifert Ca. test kit. Its the tip on the syringe. It isn't sitting well on the syringe anymore, and its causing the problems.

FTS from today, a pre-re-aquascape shot. I need to make more space for clams.

I wish I knew how to stitch pictures together, but starting from the left and moving right.

Clam close up

Some SPS photos

Fish are always in the way

Delicious skimmer!

We produce about 2L every 2 days now, plus what is in the collection cup. Since adding on the ozonizer, and the air pump that powers it, its made a huge difference in the skimmer's performance.

 

[jnarowe]

those clams are sweet Catherine.

 

[michika]

Thank you! I have a total of 10 clams in the tank now and one more on hold.

 

[psteeleb]

WOW - everything is realy looking great

 

[michika]

Thanks!

So a quick update as this is probably the only chance I will get to do so for the next couple of weeks.
- both jawfish died, both were found together, dead. I suspect they were not non-cyanide caught as boasted by the store they came from. I = not impressed, since they were fine one hour, and BOTH dead together, less then an hour later.
- RKE bugs are fixed, we did an update to the firmware, and disconnected the head unit from everything else. No problems since.
- I am seeing some really awesome growth on one of the colonies, and the colors are REALLY starting to pop as of tonight. Or maybe I see more changes since I'm out of the house all the time now.
- I am debating the addition of a SMALL frag tank in the soon to be fish room, I'm thinking maybe 10" tall, 24" long and 18" deep. I want small, so it can be powered by a koralia, and run with maybe a very low wattage MH bulb.

 

[mortonl]

Nice Thread. I have not read it all, but nice job. I recently built a 160g from scratch as well: 72x27x20 tempered 1/2 starfire pennisula tank.