Aquabucket
Premium Member
Looking good! Dig the blasto. Sorry about your tang.
Electrobes' K.I.S.S. 40Br Thread
- Thread starter Electrobes
- Start date
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
Thanks Spike, the Blasto has been a weird one for me. It was way more red with very little green. Now I am starting to think it'll be all green at this rate... guess it's the VHO's magic?
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
Wow! Amazing to find your thread again...it was one of the threads i based a lot of my 'early' learning off from almost a year ago now
Nice setup btw!
Cool! Glad to see the thread helped out.
I went to your homepage and all I found were jeeps! Makes me miss mine.
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
Well yesterday night and this morning was a spur of the moment change. I re-arranged the tank getting some frags ready for my wife's tank, took some rock out to make room for one of my rocks to go in (It tested ready pH-wise). I also took out an Anthelia colony that was growing way outta control. It is at this point that I want to mention some of the other reasons for this change-over:
- I've had this stupid curse that has plagued me since I started reefing. It's all backwards... I started reefing with SPS corals. My friend who brought me into reefing was huge into SPS and taught me accordingly. For some crazy reason I was very successful with SPS but am so much more drawn to LPS and soft corals. Here's the kicker: I just don't seem to be very successful at soft corals. LPS are pretty average for me.. usually more on the plus side, but soft corals? Not so much. With leathers they just grow very slowly, with zoos and palys they'll do great for about two months then wither away or not grow at all... etc etc. It's really frustrating and makes me want to go back to the SPS route.
- The two MJ-900's just aren't good for flow makers unless they are modded. Unfortunately the modded ones (I have two used for, get this, mixing water in 5G buckets) are too powerful. I decided after the re-arrangement to try a Koralia 3 before purchasing a K2 (To which I would add a swirler-stein). I had one in the back and stuck it in. By the grace of God the K3 and it's placement is perfect! It's a little strong but my tank finally has appropriate flow.
- The rock I stuck in (Made by my company) looks great front and center. For now it's the odd child out until it loses its white color, but texture-wise it's gorgeous. I stuck a PPE paly and they immediately opened up and look good (For now.. freaking soft corals!). With the rock change-around I didn't make the two piles as symmetrical like last time.
I'll have pictures up once the tank settles down from all the mayhem.
- I've had this stupid curse that has plagued me since I started reefing. It's all backwards... I started reefing with SPS corals. My friend who brought me into reefing was huge into SPS and taught me accordingly. For some crazy reason I was very successful with SPS but am so much more drawn to LPS and soft corals. Here's the kicker: I just don't seem to be very successful at soft corals. LPS are pretty average for me.. usually more on the plus side, but soft corals? Not so much. With leathers they just grow very slowly, with zoos and palys they'll do great for about two months then wither away or not grow at all... etc etc. It's really frustrating and makes me want to go back to the SPS route.
- The two MJ-900's just aren't good for flow makers unless they are modded. Unfortunately the modded ones (I have two used for, get this, mixing water in 5G buckets) are too powerful. I decided after the re-arrangement to try a Koralia 3 before purchasing a K2 (To which I would add a swirler-stein). I had one in the back and stuck it in. By the grace of God the K3 and it's placement is perfect! It's a little strong but my tank finally has appropriate flow.
- The rock I stuck in (Made by my company) looks great front and center. For now it's the odd child out until it loses its white color, but texture-wise it's gorgeous. I stuck a PPE paly and they immediately opened up and look good (For now.. freaking soft corals!). With the rock change-around I didn't make the two piles as symmetrical like last time.
I'll have pictures up once the tank settles down from all the mayhem.
DeathWish302
Clown Hoarder
So what is your web address for the rock web store?
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
Hey y'all thought I would give an update on the goings-on of the tank.
Truth be told I haven't done much with it. I've added some frags here and there but it's pretty much the same tank. I have temporarily stopped water changes as I am dosing MB7 for the recommended two weeks, before going to a weekly dose. I have to admit this product seems to be helping the tank, just looking at the tank tells me that. I am NOT dosing vodka, just MB7 alone.
So the tank hasn't changed much... yet. You see folks I finally got started on something I wanted to do for a long time.. and the timing couldn't be better. In about a week and a half I will be crazy busy with stuff outside my city. So in the mean time, I am creating my personal rock wall. I am hoping to introduce rock walls as a possible addition to my company's product line... I guess we should see how good I am! :lol:
Here's where I am at this point.. the dotted parts of the cardboard are the elevated parts of the rock wall while the darker circles are where the nose of the koralias will poke out a little. The structure will be about 3.5 inches in front of the back glass to allow the skimmer's pre-skimmer and output to fit. It also hides most of the koralias and kills off the microbubbles produced by the skimmer. Should I choose to add the phosban reactor back into the mix... it won't show either.
I am really excited about this!
Truth be told I haven't done much with it. I've added some frags here and there but it's pretty much the same tank. I have temporarily stopped water changes as I am dosing MB7 for the recommended two weeks, before going to a weekly dose. I have to admit this product seems to be helping the tank, just looking at the tank tells me that. I am NOT dosing vodka, just MB7 alone.
So the tank hasn't changed much... yet. You see folks I finally got started on something I wanted to do for a long time.. and the timing couldn't be better. In about a week and a half I will be crazy busy with stuff outside my city. So in the mean time, I am creating my personal rock wall. I am hoping to introduce rock walls as a possible addition to my company's product line... I guess we should see how good I am! :lol:
Here's where I am at this point.. the dotted parts of the cardboard are the elevated parts of the rock wall while the darker circles are where the nose of the koralias will poke out a little. The structure will be about 3.5 inches in front of the back glass to allow the skimmer's pre-skimmer and output to fit. It also hides most of the koralias and kills off the microbubbles produced by the skimmer. Should I choose to add the phosban reactor back into the mix... it won't show either.
I am really excited about this!
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
Heard a funny: Someone joked that K.I.S.S. stood for (k)eep (i)t (s)umpless (s)tupid!
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
Hey J! Yep it's usually the re-bar of choice for rock walls.
I can't sign in on the other forum J.. has it gone down? I wrote two posts (Including the rock wall) and they just wouldn't show... weird.
I can't sign in on the other forum J.. has it gone down? I wrote two posts (Including the rock wall) and they just wouldn't show... weird.
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
I've been informed of this condition before.
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
So I've made a decision:
I am going to make a complete rock tank, meaning not only will the back and partial back be rock, but also the floor. The idea is to make it look like the side of a real-life sized reef wall.
Thus far I am thinking the base unit (Rock Floor, if you will) will have a PVC skeleton with eggcrate. I will be using the PVC to be output pipes to blow out the floor, so detritus doesn't stay there. The outer edges of the floor wall will have rock lips (via extending eggcrate), hiding the actual bottom from viewers. The rock wall unit itself will not be flat but varied, just like a real rock wall shelf.
The rock floor will be split into two individual pieces, each with an output on the PVC structure. This makes the total rock structure four pieces, and considering how lite my rock is, works out perfect for both assembly and dis-assembly. The four individual pieces are small enough that I can fit them into totes (With corals still attached) should I need to move the tank. What's neat about this is that I never have to worry about getting the corals used to the lights just because the tank had to be torn down and set back up again. No accidental destruction or anything like that. The con to all of this is that if choose to have a new structure (Be it for one or more pieces of the structure), I'll have to destroy the piece (To remove the corals) and build a new one. This doesn't bother me too much as the goal is not to mess with the tank too much anyway.
I now have to buy some wood to make a model 40Br to cast in. I need to make sure everything fits and simply going by measurements ain't going to cut it. I now have purpose while waiting for my experiment rock to finish, hurrah! I will be going to Greenville tomorrow, which means I can pick up some eggcrate (There is none here in my city). I'll hopefully have the skeleton pieces of the bottom done tomorrow. I'm hoping to cast both pieces in rock on Sunday (Warmer temps).
I am going to make a complete rock tank, meaning not only will the back and partial back be rock, but also the floor. The idea is to make it look like the side of a real-life sized reef wall.
Thus far I am thinking the base unit (Rock Floor, if you will) will have a PVC skeleton with eggcrate. I will be using the PVC to be output pipes to blow out the floor, so detritus doesn't stay there. The outer edges of the floor wall will have rock lips (via extending eggcrate), hiding the actual bottom from viewers. The rock wall unit itself will not be flat but varied, just like a real rock wall shelf.
The rock floor will be split into two individual pieces, each with an output on the PVC structure. This makes the total rock structure four pieces, and considering how lite my rock is, works out perfect for both assembly and dis-assembly. The four individual pieces are small enough that I can fit them into totes (With corals still attached) should I need to move the tank. What's neat about this is that I never have to worry about getting the corals used to the lights just because the tank had to be torn down and set back up again. No accidental destruction or anything like that. The con to all of this is that if choose to have a new structure (Be it for one or more pieces of the structure), I'll have to destroy the piece (To remove the corals) and build a new one. This doesn't bother me too much as the goal is not to mess with the tank too much anyway.
I now have to buy some wood to make a model 40Br to cast in. I need to make sure everything fits and simply going by measurements ain't going to cut it. I now have purpose while waiting for my experiment rock to finish, hurrah! I will be going to Greenville tomorrow, which means I can pick up some eggcrate (There is none here in my city). I'll hopefully have the skeleton pieces of the bottom done tomorrow. I'm hoping to cast both pieces in rock on Sunday (Warmer temps).
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Electrobes
Montipora type guy
Here's a pic of the rock wall skeleton split.
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
I have been doing a lot of reading behind the eggcrate debate. I am so mad I lost the info about a member who used lab tests to conclude that eggcrate does leech some phosphate, but barely anything worth worrying about.
It is suggested to either give the eggcrate a vinegar dip, grin and deal with it until the algae passes, and for others they just didn't have problems.
Other research indicates the placement and other properties of eggcrate also can help algae occur, though not be associated with the eggcrate itself.
I think I will do a wash down of the eggcrate. I am not too worried about algae blooms because it is typically only on the actual eggcrate itself that gets hair algae. Considering the eggcrate will literally serve as rebar for the concrete.. it will be completely covered and without open surface to have algae on it.
It is suggested to either give the eggcrate a vinegar dip, grin and deal with it until the algae passes, and for others they just didn't have problems.
Other research indicates the placement and other properties of eggcrate also can help algae occur, though not be associated with the eggcrate itself.
I think I will do a wash down of the eggcrate. I am not too worried about algae blooms because it is typically only on the actual eggcrate itself that gets hair algae. Considering the eggcrate will literally serve as rebar for the concrete.. it will be completely covered and without open surface to have algae on it.
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
Okay so I got to casting today but here's a warning I learned too little too late. If you are going to change something about your reef in a semi-dramatic way... tell/show your wife AFTER it happens. I was shopping at Lowes for PVC pipe and she asked why I needed it. I stupidly told her to make a rock floor, and when she asked about that, she found out I wasn't going to have sand in the system. Well that was just not flying for her.. she gave me the Bambi eyes, then the eyes that pierces souls. I then got the epiphany that not having sand was a terrible idea.
So I casted the rock wall today and naturally nothing went according to my 50's sitcom plan. Just about everything didn't go to plan.. like my cardboard layout for the wall. I made the first wet batch, and forgot where I stuck the stupid layout. I then had to be creative on the spot and just started casting. Six batches (Should equal out to about 56lbs of rock.. or 28lbs each piece) later I have my wall done. Here are some pics (The middle plastic is confusing.. the gap is no where to be seen.. what you see is the bag folded onto itself. All it is doing in keeping the pieces separated).. also as usual the rock looks flat but it ain't... it's pretty hilly:
So I casted the rock wall today and naturally nothing went according to my 50's sitcom plan. Just about everything didn't go to plan.. like my cardboard layout for the wall. I made the first wet batch, and forgot where I stuck the stupid layout. I then had to be creative on the spot and just started casting. Six batches (Should equal out to about 56lbs of rock.. or 28lbs each piece) later I have my wall done. Here are some pics (The middle plastic is confusing.. the gap is no where to be seen.. what you see is the bag folded onto itself. All it is doing in keeping the pieces separated).. also as usual the rock looks flat but it ain't... it's pretty hilly:
Electrobes
Montipora type guy
I wear a size thirteen! I hate shoe shopping.. if I find something in my size I basically buy out the store. :lol:
