An addicted reefer chic's 40B franken tank w/ 2 30g display macro tanks...

[MeanGreenEyes]

The catfish pic. is to funny,like your setup.

He is quite the ham. Thank you!

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Happy Holidays everyone!

Hooked up the continuous feeder yesterday...corals are loving it!! I was impatient and just set one of those little shelves bridged between the 40B and top 30G to set the mini fridge/pump above the tank. Shhh...lol. I'll fix it as soon as I find a viable non-ugly/ghetto solution.

The "Pappone" is being fed through one line and I mixed a small amount of Kent Marine Zoe and some AlgaGen Coral Smoothie in the second line for now.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Nice setup! Hope you pulled through the storm ok!

Thank you! I was one of the extremely lucky ones, there were so many here that lost everything. Many are still residing in hotels and such. I don't live right on the water. My lights only flickered a couple times, but I never lost power. The devastation is heartbreaking and the news/media outlets have already forgotten those victims for the next hot topic.

Happy Holidays!

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Love this chalice under actinics...

With flash...

 

[OzoneParkGuy]

Made some Pappone for the freezer with some scrap egg crate, a baking sheet coated w/ wax paper and some plastic clamps since the recipe makes way more than I can use for my system before it spoils in the fridge. Was able to make the cubes a little more uniform by tamping down the baking sheet and by using a small offset spatula.

Great job cookie... Loving the ingenuity !!

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Great job cookie... Loving the ingenuity !!

Thanks! :wavehand:

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

I have not been able to culture them but they do reproduce, just not fast enough for my needs as I use them every day. I built a worm keeper and I only have to buy a portion a week for like a buck. With the blackworm keeper they live and stay healthy unlike putting them in a refrigerator like most people do.


Worm keeper

Paul,

Could you please explain the details/setup of your worm keeper. If you were to build one again, would you make any changes/improvements? I want to build one asap.


Hope you and the family had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

 

[Paul B]

Green Eyes we just got back from Vermont, plenty of snow there.
If I were to build a new worm keeper I would make a modification from the one in the picture. I now use eggcrate as you have in your freezer for your feeder. I use it in the tray because I discovered that the worms love those things. I used to keep it in the tank below the tray (or trough) just to grow bacteria, but the worms like to congregate in the holes, so now I have a sheet of it in the trough itself. There is about a portion of worms in each hole. The water level in the trough should be just above the top of the egg crate by about 1/8". The worms like shallow, flowing water and they keep their heads near the surface where most of the oxygen is. The design of this device ensures that the water is well oxygenated. If you just put the worms in a tank, they use up the oxygen and you can't keep as many worms that way.
Also not shown in that picture is that the tiny powerhead is now in a small plastic container with holes drilled in it a few inches off the bottom. The worms do not swim, so they don't get sucked into the pump if the holes in the pump container are a few inches off the bottom.
I also put extra eggcrate in the tank to grow bacteria and whatever you do, don't clean this thing except the front glass if you like. Also change the water every couple of weeks depending on how many worms you keep. There is no smell.
I also installed a small container at the left side of the trough that is filled with cheap, freshwater carbon. The hose from the powerhead is inserted in a hole in the container that is filled with carbon and the water goes through the carbon and out through the holes drilled near the bottom of the container.
Remember, this thing needs to be cycled or it will become a smelly mess in a few hours.
Have fun

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Green Eyes we just got back from Vermont, plenty of snow there.
If I were to build a new worm keeper I would make a modification from the one in the picture. I now use eggcrate as you have in your freezer for your feeder. I use it in the tray because I discovered that the worms love those things. I used to keep it in the tank below the tray (or trough) just to grow bacteria, but the worms like to congregate in the holes, so now I have a sheet of it in the trough itself. There is about a portion of worms in each hole. The water level in the trough should be just above the top of the egg crate by about 1/8". The worms like shallow, flowing water and they keep their heads near the surface where most of the oxygen is. The design of this device ensures that the water is well oxygenated. If you just put the worms in a tank, they use up the oxygen and you can't keep as many worms that way.
Also not shown in that picture is that the tiny powerhead is now in a small plastic container with holes drilled in it a few inches off the bottom. The worms do not swim, so they don't get sucked into the pump if the holes in the pump container are a few inches off the bottom.
I also put extra eggcrate in the tank to grow bacteria and whatever you do, don't clean this thing except the front glass if you like. Also change the water every couple of weeks depending on how many worms you keep. There is no smell.
I also installed a small container at the left side of the trough that is filled with cheap, freshwater carbon. The hose from the powerhead is inserted in a hole in the container that is filled with carbon and the water goes through the carbon and out through the holes drilled near the bottom of the container.
Remember, this thing needs to be cycled or it will become a smelly mess in a few hours.
Have fun

Thank you for the response...hope you enjoyed your holidays and your trip.

Really stupid question, but do you keep these worms in SW or FW...I have an old 5.5g tank that I want to start to cycle today. I have extra egg crate, a small pump and fw carbon that I don't use.

Sad...I'm really excited to get some of these worms for my tank and for my mandarins, which I will be getting as soon as Coral Theory reopens after their move.

Have been really busy, so the tank has been coasting on autopilot and is about to get a water change today.

 

[Paul B]

Really stupid question, but do you keep these worms in SW or FW...

You need fresh water, the worms croak in salt water in about 14 seconds. They really hate salt and must be fed to the fish with a baster a few at a time or they will just sink and rot. My fish would never let a worm get by. When you put them in salt water they wriggle like crazy before they die so the fish can't miss them but some fish may need to get used to them. Out of my 27 fish there is not one that does not love them. Mandarins eat them but only while they are moving so you need to shoot them near the mandarin. The best food for mandarins is new born brine shrimp which is what my feeder is for. My female will spawn again soon, maybe tonight and she just spawned a few weeks ago.
You can get away with a 1 gallon tank for worms or even a small tupperware thing. 5 gallons is kind of large. The tank is really only so you have a place to put a tiny powerhead, the worms live in the tray part where there is the most oxygen and curculation.
Put a piece of paper towel or brown paper bag in with the worms, like a 2"X2" piece until it rots and almost disappears. It is organic and rots, they eat the bacteria that results from it. Sometimes I add a few flakes or Selcon but I can't say if it does anything.
I look at the worms under a microscope and really can't find a mouth but the entire body seems like a series of valves that pump water. This can easily be seen at a magnification of 50. The head seems to be porous so the water can enter but there is no real mouth. Facinating, but wierd creature.
But be careful feeding the worms or your fish may start spawning all over the place and you will have to expand your hobby.

which I will be getting as soon as Coral Theory reopens after their move.

My favorite store is here opposite where Fortunoff's was on Old Country Road. Of course you can't get there without a car and you don't live near me.
But they don't sell worms, for those I have to go to my friend's store in Franklin Square. They are $1.50 a portion and I buy 2 portions a week or so.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Haven't updated in a while because I've been really busy and also because I'm ****ed at my tank. I've been having problems with my ato since the morning of the swap. To top it off my aqualifter pump for the ato just stopped working...haven't had time to pick up a replacement so I've been topping off manually in the am and pm.

Since my system goes through 2.5g a day...the salinity has been fluctuating of course. I lost my Ora Scripps acro colony, but only that piece. Every single other piece of coral is doing amazing...setosa, pearlberry, purple tabling acro, garf bonsai, lps, softies and macro algae too. I haven't found any pests in the tank.

Just posting to keep track of my params to figure out a dosing regimen for my tank. Need to get everything automated again asap b/c I don't have time to sit and babysit the tank. Ordered the replacement diaphragm from Amazon Prime so that I can get it within two days. I guess I could hook up a maxijet, but I like the aqualifter's ability to top off in smaller increments since I put kalk in my ato.

Haven't had time to do a water change since 12/31...have some water mixing to do one tonight. Carbon and gfo were changed on the 31st as well. Skimmer is working great. Don't know what else it could be unless it was the fluctuation in salinity, and if it was...why would it only affect that one piece? Don't have any pest algae problems, either.

Out of Nitrate and Phosphate kits...gotta order more. :shhh: So I only tested Cal, Alk and Mg with the Red Sea Pro kits.

RODI TDS: 0
PH: 8.2
Salinity: 1.024
Temp: 78.6
Cal: 455
Alk: 9.2
Mg: 1320

What's the easiest way to figure out my dosing requirements? Specific time of day that is better to test? Right before and/or after water changes? How often should I be testing for this purpose?

Oh and I forgot to mention...I've been dosing kalk in the ato since the ato was set up at 1tsp/gal of ato reservoir...so at half dose. Will I need to stop dosing kalk to figure out requirements? Whenever I start dosing is it ok to continue with the with kalk in the ato?

 

[borderreef]

Just finished reading this entire thread. I love your system, and all the diy. You even got Paul B's attention! For dosing, I'd go to the BRS website and use their dosing calculator. You just input your water volume, current parameters, and desired parameters. Use your RKL to dose small amounts throughout the day. Testing should be done before water change. As long as your biological and mechanical nutrient export systems are working, the major function of a water change is to replace something that is low or missing ie; trace elements that can be tested for. Myself, I wet skim, and my ato is nsw. Keeps my parameters very stable. Randy Holmes-Farley has a very nice write up on water changes and methods. IME, running kalk in the ato is a good thing. I've done it for years. Once your Ca and dKH are where you want, kalk is a stabilizer.

 

[borderreef]

Updates! How are the new lights working out for you? Also, how's the auto feeder doing? I've seen several of these before and each one is a little different.
Subscribed!!

 

[borderreef]

Bumming that we haven't heard from you in a few weeks. You have a lot of projects going on that I'd like to hear some updates on.

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

Awesome setup meangreeneyes!

 

[Paul B]

Haven't had time to do a water change since 12/31...

That was only 4 weeks ago. You do not need to change so much water although many will disagree with me. I change water about every 3 or 4 months and don't have any problems but I did when I dosed Kalk. I don't have luck with that stuff and my tank never looked so bad and had the parameters so screwed up when I dosed it.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

New additions that I bought from Coral Theory for my birthday...

This last acro came with this adorable acro crab...

Cell pic of the top macro tank...it's extra blue and of course can't see the color/detail. I have to sit down and play with the camera settings when I have time to try to get some better shots of the system.

Yes, I removed my anemone's from the DT...now if only I could catch those damn clowns to toss into the macro tank...I'd be happy. I don't want to tear the scape apart to do it. I'll catch them or I'll make cat food out of them. lol

 

[Paul B]

Green eyes. I love the look of that gorgonian but I can't keep that kind for more than a year or so, I hope you have better luck with it.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Just finished reading this entire thread. I love your system, and all the diy. You even got Paul B's attention! For dosing, I'd go to the BRS website and use their dosing calculator. You just input your water volume, current parameters, and desired parameters. Use your RKL to dose small amounts throughout the day. Testing should be done before water change. As long as your biological and mechanical nutrient export systems are working, the major function of a water change is to replace something that is low or missing ie; trace elements that can be tested for. Myself, I wet skim, and my ato is nsw. Keeps my parameters very stable. Randy Holmes-Farley has a very nice write up on water changes and methods. IME, running kalk in the ato is a good thing. I've done it for years. Once your Ca and dKH are where you want, kalk is a stabilizer.

Thanks! I actually have enteral pumps for dosing until I get my GHL doser. I've been using the BRS calculator as well. Tank won't be neglected again love my hobby and stress relief too much to let the tank go down the drain...

Updates! How are the new lights working out for you? Also, how's the auto feeder doing? I've seen several of these before and each one is a little different.
Subscribed!!

I love, love, love my lights! Please remember the auto/continuous feeder is for coral food...not for fish...have had a few people get confused on this and look at me like I have two heads when discussing it. lol It's mainly for what will hopefully be a freakin' awesome NPS collection. I'm feeding the "Pappone recipe" with it in one line and phyto in the other.

Bumming that we haven't heard from you in a few weeks. You have a lot of projects going on that I'd like to hear some updates on.

Sorry as a Mom and a Reefer being a Mom takes priority...I really hate that life has kicked me in the @$$ lately but my kid's are my everything and come before reefing. Not giving up on the hobby...just have to take care of priorities...so I won't be on as much until I get some things taken care of.

Awesome setup meangreeneyes!

Thank you!

That was only 4 weeks ago. You do not need to change so much water although many will disagree with me. I change water about every 3 or 4 months and don't have any problems but I did when I dosed Kalk. I don't have luck with that stuff and my tank never looked so bad and had the parameters so screwed up when I dosed it.

Hi Paul...hope all is well with you and the tank. All this time without a wc did not make my little piece of reef happy. The topic of wc's seems to be yet another reefing hot topic that nobody agrees on. Once I get everything stabilized, happy and healthy again...I don't mind doing a little experiment with doing and not doing frequent wc's. I've always had a routine of doing 5g's a week. Everything just seems happier that way. I did a 20g wc last week and did another yesterday in an effort to re-stabilize params.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Green eyes. I love the look of that gorgonian but I can't keep that kind for more than a year or so, I hope you have better luck with it.

Since you mention this...I will give this gorg extra love and attention because I refuse to lose it...I love it too much. Can't stop staring at it. lol