crvz's hole in the wall

[crvz]

Nice sump build Chris. Nice corals also, especially the Solitarius and the Green tip blue stag. I have the last one myself and it is definitely one of my favorites!

Leonardo

Thanks, Leo! There all doing pretty well, but I think they're getting a lot more light than where they're coming from. I'll have to keep my eyes on them.

Chris,
Sump turned out awesome and the frags you pick up look first class for sure!
Nice work. What is the flow like in the DT?

Rob

What display tank? I'll have four Tunze 6100s at a minimum. If that's not enough, I'll have to add a few things.

 

[Padrino]

You running a separate controller? I currently use the AC3 with an aquasurf. I really like the neptune controllers. I think ill upgrade to teh Neptune Apex for the new tank. Oh bought a house last Friday, now i need to figure out where i can put a tank. Not sure if i want it on the main floor or have it exclusively in the basement which is unfinished right now

 

[crvz]

You running a separate controller? I currently use the AC3 with an aquasurf. I really like the neptune controllers. I think ill upgrade to teh Neptune Apex for the new tank. Oh bought a house last Friday, now i need to figure out where i can put a tank. Not sure if i want it on the main floor or have it exclusively in the basement which is unfinished right now

I have the Tunze controller, so I'll probably just use that. I do want the Apex, but if I upgrade to that unit (I have the AC3 as well) I suspect I'll much more likely use the outputs for dimming the LEDs.

 

[crvz]

Did a bit of water testing today... my calcium and alkalinity were a bit low (350ppm, 6.5dkh), so I cranked up the effluent on the calcium reactor. As I mentioned earlier, I've been fighting low magnesium as well (around 1050ppm), so I got some magnesium chloride from bulkreefsupply this week and I've been dosing it. I also stuck some neomag in my calcium reactor to help long-term sustaining. Anyways, here's the other reason I'm trying to crank up my mag (the first being just to get it up to natural levels)... I have some turf algae/bryopsis on some of the old frag plugs that I had corals on. Example.

This is on only a few frags, and they're nice corals that I would love to recover and have thrive once again. That piece above, I hate to admit, is a german blue polyp acropora, which once looked like this (July last year).

 

[Padrino]

i love the look of that last coral. Its beautiful!!

 

[crvz]

i love the look of that last coral. Its beautiful!!

now you know why I'm trying to save it.

 

[drummereef]

Wow, you've done a lot of work since I checked in last! Great job on the sump and also the LEDs. Everything looks great.

 

[crvz]

Wow, you've done a lot of work since I checked in last! Great job on the sump and also the LEDs. Everything looks great.

You should stop by more often. Today was a lazy evening, so I knocked out a 30 gallon water change and drained the sump. The latter was considerably more challenging. 2 things I've noticed.

1 - The algae that I've had is literally falling off the rocks and frag rack... I was able to siphon probably 50% of it away without pulling. This I like, and I assume it is due to the increased magnesium content.

2 - The kole tang has significantly better coloration in the last week. The only new thing is the mag, so I dunno if that has anything to do with, but right now I'm presuming a correlation. We'll see if it lasts!

 

[gotfrogs]

What magnesium level are you running at now?

 

[crvz]

What magnesium level are you running at now?

I'm pushing it up to 1500... it was down around 1100 if not a bit lower. I don't plan on keeping it that high forever, but it is helping that I can tell so far.

 

[Padrino]

and this is kent tech m your using to do this ?

 

[crvz]

and this is kent tech m your using to do this ?

nope, I got scared of that. I read too many reports of folks trying to raise magnesium to over 1500ppm with kent tech-m only to have corals suffer. So, I'm using bulkreefsupply magnesium chloride and epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). I also added some brightwell aquatics neo magnesium to my calcium reactor, but that's just for long-term maintenance.

 

[crvz]

I saw marcorocks was offering free shipping on their dry rock, so I went ahead and placed an order. I probably won't need it for a while, but I'll be able to start curing it at least.

 

[Padrino]

I saw marcorocks was offering free shipping on their dry rock, so I went ahead and placed an order. I probably won't need it for a while, but I'll be able to start curing it at least.

Chris,
What are you thoughts on attaching corals to the rocks? Will you use a 2 part epoxy or pegging?

For those that aren't familiar with pegging, its when you drill 1/4" holes all over your rock before putting it in the tank. Then every time you go to affix coral, you would drill a 1/4" hole and use either a small piece of acrylic roc or airline tubing to keep it in place

 

[dbend2001]

Fantastic Thread!
Love the pics

 

[crvz]

Chris,
What are you thoughts on attaching corals to the rocks? Will you use a 2 part epoxy or pegging?

On the last setup I pegged almost everything, but I think my philosophy on the tank is different this go around. I plan on being very strategic with coral placement, as well as limiting total number of species, so I'll probably do more permanent solutions.

Fantastic Thread!
Love the pics

Thanks!

 

[crvz]

In other news, last night I noticed my AC was leaking. It's supposed to drain, but water was coming out of the casing. I always had my suspicions on the quality of this unit, as I was able to see broken insulation taped back together inside the vents. So while the packaging and external casing looked fine, and the unit works, it looks as if it was damaged/dropped during manufacturing. Well, now with this leak, and the fact it runs 9amps of current, I'm not running it any longer. I've contacted the place I bought it, and the manufacturer, but I don't know what options will be. I may have to call the credit card company as well. This morning I went and bought a sharp brand at home depot, which is far superior to the sunpentown I bought, but it does not have manual controls (so if power cuts out, this thing is not coming back on automatically).

But last night I was really irritated. As in, thoughts going through my head about just scrubbing the whole project. Extreme, I know, but it's hard when a hobby demands more resources (particularly time, as I was up late last night troubleshooting this AC unit) than I'm willing to give. Long term I certainly get so much joy out of it I knew it would be a mistake, so I did nothing drastic, but it was one of those nights.

 

[flipsideleo]

Sorry to hear that, Chris. I hope you are able to find balance soon. This hobby wouldn't be the same without cha'.

 

[Mr. Right]

In other news, last night I noticed my AC was leaking. It's supposed to drain, but water was coming out of the casing. I always had my suspicions on the quality of this unit, as I was able to see broken insulation taped back together inside the vents. So while the packaging and external casing looked fine, and the unit works, it looks as if it was damaged/dropped during manufacturing. Well, now with this leak, and the fact it runs 9amps of current, I'm not running it any longer. I've contacted the place I bought it, and the manufacturer, but I don't know what options will be. I may have to call the credit card company as well. This morning I went and bought a sharp brand at home depot, which is far superior to the sunpentown I bought, but it does not have manual controls (so if power cuts out, this thing is not coming back on automatically).

But last night I was really irritated. As in, thoughts going through my head about just scrubbing the whole project. Extreme, I know, but it's hard when a hobby demands more resources (particularly time, as I was up late last night troubleshooting this AC unit) than I'm willing to give. Long term I certainly get so much joy out of it I knew it would be a mistake, so I did nothing drastic, but it was one of those nights.

That's a bummer man. I hate those nights. I hope it all gets better for you. I've been in the hanging around your build to see the progress; and considering the old setup your new project will be great! Your 156 was the scale I used to grade my previous set up on.

Good Luck!...and I'm officially taggin' along :thumbsup:

 

[crvz]

Sorry to hear that, Chris. I hope you are able to find balance soon. This hobby wouldn't be the same without cha'.

That's a bummer man. I hate those nights. I hope it all gets better for you. I've been in the hanging around your build to see the progress; and considering the old setup your new project will be great! Your 156 was the scale I used to grade my previous set up on.

Good Luck!...and I'm officially taggin' along :thumbsup:

Thanks, guys. My pity party is mostly over. The manufacturer of my busted AC seems to be playing nice, I may have a new one in a week or so. My rock should be here friday, too, so that may recharge me a bit more. Some pics when it shows up.