. . . da RC Artsy-Cube project - - - Picture Intense

[cerreta]

Linda, it is a Tunze. Send me a PM and we can work it out. This skimmer rocks and will produce very wet skimmate at times after feeding and introduction of chemicals as all good skimmers will.

Crappy skimmers do not fluctuate that much, because well, they are not that good.

If you are having tempermental problems it is likely to be caused by feeding or adding chemicals. Is this the case?

Marc, the skybox is made by Aquarium Specialty. Cost is $35. You should try to make one of these things. It is not an underwater SLR case, as those are >$500.

This is a small acrylic box that you attach to your SLR camera. It lets you take top down photos of the aquarium by dipping the protected lens under the water surface. This allows you to avoid the glare from lights that reflect from the water surface.


Details:
The adjustable Aquarium Specialty camera box. Can be used with SLR cameras and cameras with SLR style lenses. Includes adhesive dots to protect the acrylic lens. Camera mounts to the box for ease of use.

Take great looking top down photos!!!

http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=115_222&products_id=1144

 

[cerreta]

The StevieT skimmer cup is a perfect fit. Thanks Steve, now I can get a lid over the top of the sump section. I did not have to do any adjustments to the skimmer. It started producing skimmate in about two hours.

Here are same tank photos from today.

 

[STREAMLINEGFX]

Awesome build. I will keep my eye on this one.

 

[cerreta]

Here are a few photos of Phlegmming. His color is a black-cherry color. He seems to be holding this color for the last couple days. I like it a lot, hopefully he settles there.

He continues to eat well. He has no troubles swimming any more and seems to be walking more comfortably too. He rarely gets lifted even with the high flow on. I removed the eggcrate from the back wall last week and he is no longer getting stuck to the intakes. If he gets close, he will put his fins down and walk along the wall away from the suction. All is well after surviving the first few days of being afraid that he would not survive.


It's feeding time. I'm not sure who enjoys this part of the day more, Phlegmming or the office staff.
His lure is white and looks like a Pom-Pom. He is sticking it right in front of his mouth.

Now he is raising it up high.

When the lil fishy gets close, he waves it around like a little Pom-Pom. In this photo you can see the blur from frantic motion. it really is amazing to watch him eat.

The fish swim much faster than the lil ghost shrimp. Plus, they are a bit more timid of the lure. The shrimps just race right to it when waved around and gulp! He can catch those in less than 3 minutes. the fish will often last about half an hour of hunting.

In these pictures,you can see the great coloration of his flesh. You can also see that he became impatient after twenty minutes of hunting. So he walked to the highest point of the rock and began waving his Pom-Pom like a mad-man!!! It worked :thumbsup:

Does anyone know how to post video clips to this site? I was thinking of recording him eat. I use photobucket. What file type should I use? Hmm, maybe I should post to YouTube and put a link here. Will that work?
Cheers

 

[cerreta]

Thanks Streamline. welcome to the thread.
Cheers,
Scott

 

[NemusMaximus]

You can just upload the video to photobucket, and they will provide the code so that it displays as a video when you paste it here.

 

[cerreta]

Linda, this is the skimmer cup before feeding the corals.

This is twenty minutes after feeding the corals with Photoplan and cyclopeeze.

This is a great skimmer and it is hard to beat its performance for tanks smaller than 30 gallons.

 

[xskyzx]

cerreta, do you have a glass shield under the DE MH bulb? i heard that If you do not have a UV shield, you will burn your corals with DE MH bulbs .?
oh yea, thank you for showing me link to buy the light fixture lol,

 

[cerreta]

Yes it does come with a glass UV shield. That is a good value, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. I do suggest you replace that crappy 14K coralife lamp.

 

[xskyzx]

Yes sir, will do tha I followed your advices lol

 

[Eklikewhoa]

That angler is awesome!!!!

 

[cerreta]

So the lid for . . . da Artsy Cube arrived. Thanks for making this Marc. It is a perfect fit and I did not even have to move the Solana pole as previously thought.

THANKS!!!


Here are the recent mods I have made:

The original Tunze collection cup was too tall

This is the custom made StevieT collection cup to fit perfectly in the sump area. An

I moved all the power cords back through the standpipe inside the sump. They come out of the bottom of the tank so the custom built lid by Melev will fit. Another RC-connection-made product.

Now the tank really looks like a toilet bowl. I should add a handle to the front for visual effects

Hell, everytime something dies, I can just hit the flusher to represent more money flushed right down the drain Gotta love this hobby.

I had a specific mission that you may recall from the begining of this thread. One major facet to this project is to use relationships developed on Reef Central to build . . . da Artsy Cube. The collection cup and lid are just another example of how valuable Reef Central really is. Where else would I be able to get a custom made acrylic collection cup and sump lid? No where!

For a couple years I only used RC to read, read, read. Then I realized how valuable it is. So, I became a member and paid the small dues. I highly recommend that you support RC too. Then you will get a cool little "I support RC" logo (not to mention all the advanced search options and higher speed).

The members make this forum what it is, an elaborate web of resources to feed your addiction. . . I mean hobby. :thumbsup:

 

[melev]

That looks great. I'm really glad it fit. Looks pretty snug.

 

[cerreta]

Yah, it is very snug. I was scared at first. The sump suction is not perfectly square, because. . . well, because I cut the glass by hand. I'm no pro, just a hobbyist with too much free time. That is kinda scary.

 

[lilfishbigreef]

Kudos!, looks really great!

Love Phlegm!

 

[JimKelly12203]

what an awesome tank. Very unique and modern looking. Bravo!

 

[xskyzx]

O yea cerreta, how do you keep up with the temp? What's ur office ac temp @ the office? Thanks

 

[cerreta]

Office temp is 72-74 during the day and 78 at night.

Temperature control is one of the beautiful aspects of this design. I have always had some heat issues when using sump systems. Heat is added when channeling wter through PVC pipes and extra pumps.

Closed systems always run cooler then sump systems. The water temp has never been over 80 degrees even in the middle of the day with the light blazing on the surface.
Cheers,
Scott

 

[wilson0204]

bump any updates?

 

[cerreta]

The tank went through an algae bloom while using Prodibio. That is the second time I have used that stuff with negative effects. I won't be using it any longer.

Pleghm is growing. He is also as black as the center column. It is amazing to see how he changed from orange to that black color. It is very hard to even see his eyes.

I lost one sps coral and the others have lost color. The tank seems to be stabilizing now and the algae is gone. I'm going to wait a bit longer than find a replacement coral. I also added a clean-up crew.

Nothing new on the equipment end. I do have three powerheads in use now, so the flow is strong.


Cheers