Austin goes Rimless - Dudester's 203g mixed reef
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martinphillip03
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Why was a CBB one of the first fish you added.
Marty
Marty
Dudester
Premium Member
A fairly productive day
A fairly productive day
Marty,
I chose the CBB for several reasons. For one, it's a pretty docile fish, and more aggressive fish should be added later. Second, it's known to eat aiptasia, so I figured it would control the development of this nuissance in my tank before it became a problem. But the main reason I got it now is because John (the Fish Whisperer) said this particular CBB was a great one. Not only did it have a great personality, but it ate aiptasia and mysis in his tank. For me that was a slam dunk. It's been in my tank for more than 3 weeks now and it's doing great!
Today was fairly productive. I fixed the 4-way and installed the new drum which will tolerate a little sand. Now I can remove the Tunze 6055. Paul instructed me on what to do to repair the 4-way. He is very smart, extremely patient, and overwhelmingly helpful. No problem seems too great for him to assist with on the phone. I'll be an Oceans Motions customer forever. He figured out that I had probably pinched the o-ring in the lid of the 4-way. He had me remove it, lubricate it with vaseline, then reinstall it ensuring there was no entrapment, and that fixed the problem right away.
I hooked up my Osmolator for ATO. This was delayed so long because I was waiting for a replacement peristaltic pump. I can't believe I've been dumping water from a bucket into the tank every day for nearly 2 months.
I also set up several more functions on the Aquatronica controller, including the lights, light fan, chiller and heater. The more I play with it the simpler it gets. I'm already almost out of room on powerstrip, but the second powerstrip should be on the way.
Next on my list of things to do is to add filter socks to the overflow drains, which should solve my microbubble issue, and install the calcium reactor. After that -- SPS here I come!
A fairly productive day
Marty,
I chose the CBB for several reasons. For one, it's a pretty docile fish, and more aggressive fish should be added later. Second, it's known to eat aiptasia, so I figured it would control the development of this nuissance in my tank before it became a problem. But the main reason I got it now is because John (the Fish Whisperer) said this particular CBB was a great one. Not only did it have a great personality, but it ate aiptasia and mysis in his tank. For me that was a slam dunk. It's been in my tank for more than 3 weeks now and it's doing great!
Today was fairly productive. I fixed the 4-way and installed the new drum which will tolerate a little sand. Now I can remove the Tunze 6055. Paul instructed me on what to do to repair the 4-way. He is very smart, extremely patient, and overwhelmingly helpful. No problem seems too great for him to assist with on the phone. I'll be an Oceans Motions customer forever. He figured out that I had probably pinched the o-ring in the lid of the 4-way. He had me remove it, lubricate it with vaseline, then reinstall it ensuring there was no entrapment, and that fixed the problem right away.
I hooked up my Osmolator for ATO. This was delayed so long because I was waiting for a replacement peristaltic pump. I can't believe I've been dumping water from a bucket into the tank every day for nearly 2 months.
I also set up several more functions on the Aquatronica controller, including the lights, light fan, chiller and heater. The more I play with it the simpler it gets. I'm already almost out of room on powerstrip, but the second powerstrip should be on the way.
Next on my list of things to do is to add filter socks to the overflow drains, which should solve my microbubble issue, and install the calcium reactor. After that -- SPS here I come!
fisheebill
Premium Member
Can't wait to see some more pics!
I hadn't had a chance to see this tank since I helped carry it in, and let me tell you- this tank looks awesome! The aquascape is very real in person and the depth of the tank can be better percieved than in pictures. Very cool setup with a very clean install! Such a cool light fixture! SOO BRIGHT!!!!
Love the tank dudester! Thanks for getting us the clean up crew too!
-Marcus
Love the tank dudester! Thanks for getting us the clean up crew too!
-Marcus
Dudester
Premium Member
Thanks for the compliments Marcus! For the benefit of everyone else, we got our clean-up crews today from Reeftopia. I really like ordering from them. Despite everything arriving quite cold, I had no losses as far as I can tell. The cerith snails are all in the same spot, even after being in the tank for 8 hours, but I'm pretty sure they're still adjusting and after a few hours of 'lights off' I think they'll start wandering around.
Also today I had to take the 4-way apart (again) as the drum had jammed. This is the drum that's supposed to tolerate sand. When I took it apart there was almost no sand that I could see, but when I put it back together it worked just fine. I think I'll just keep my Barracuda dialed down to ~50% for several weeks before trying to ramp it up again.
I also added the filter socks to the sump drains. What a huge difference in both noise reduction and tank clarity. This has almost completely solved my microbubble issue, although I still want to raise the baffle between the drain chamber and the return chamber, as this would likely completely eliminate all microbubbles.
The last piece of news is that the rest of my Aquatronica equipment arrived. I don't think I'll have time to situate all of it in the next couple of days, so this will have to wait a little while. I have no idea how Melev set up his system in 14 days. I'm over 2 months into this and I still have basic functionalities to set up, like a calcium reactor. Sheesh.
Also today I had to take the 4-way apart (again) as the drum had jammed. This is the drum that's supposed to tolerate sand. When I took it apart there was almost no sand that I could see, but when I put it back together it worked just fine. I think I'll just keep my Barracuda dialed down to ~50% for several weeks before trying to ramp it up again.
I also added the filter socks to the sump drains. What a huge difference in both noise reduction and tank clarity. This has almost completely solved my microbubble issue, although I still want to raise the baffle between the drain chamber and the return chamber, as this would likely completely eliminate all microbubbles.
The last piece of news is that the rest of my Aquatronica equipment arrived. I don't think I'll have time to situate all of it in the next couple of days, so this will have to wait a little while. I have no idea how Melev set up his system in 14 days. I'm over 2 months into this and I still have basic functionalities to set up, like a calcium reactor. Sheesh.
Dudester
Premium Member
I received my new Red Dragon 4.5m3 pump yesterday. Unfortunately it was shipped without any protective packaging and it arrived damaged. I can't believe anyone would hand over something that valuable to a delivery service without providing some form of extra protection. If I were the company that produces RD pumps and I found out that an item was damaged during shipping, and the item was sent without any extra packaging, I would not offer a refund to the distributor. At any rate, I've contacted them and hopefully they'll send me a new one in short order. The Mag12 is doing a good enough job for now as a return pump.
Chrisrush - pm on the way.
Chrisrush - pm on the way.
Dudester
Premium Member
Cubman777 - First off, thank you. I certainly am ready for more corals. I'll probably start adding SPS in a week or two.
I've never seen the CBB pick at the toadstool, and its polyps are almost always extended so I don't think the butterfly is up to anything sinister. I'm more concerned that the butterfly might nip at clam mantles once I add some clams. I'm a huge fan of clams, so even though I love the CBB, it would probably get evicted if I see it harm any clams.
I've never seen the CBB pick at the toadstool, and its polyps are almost always extended so I don't think the butterfly is up to anything sinister. I'm more concerned that the butterfly might nip at clam mantles once I add some clams. I'm a huge fan of clams, so even though I love the CBB, it would probably get evicted if I see it harm any clams.
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