Jacob's 360 Gallon Build

[Jacob D]

Wow that's a lot of flatworms.

That's nothing man, they really love one corner of my tank and just infest it. My wrasse has his work cut out for him. I might add another Halichoeres. It's funny because when I had all my other fishes (before crash) the flatworms disappeared. I'm not sure who was eating them, probably the butterflies. I got the fw's from Gina on some frags when I first started my tank. I didn't notice them in QT until it was too late :hmm5:

They don't bother me much though... free fish food

 

[Jacob D]

Update On ATO:

Since adding the ATO my water quality is noticeably clearer. I was wondering if this was some coincidence but I think it's actually that my skimmer is running better. I have my skimmer in the return pump section of my sump since there was more room there, so the water level can vary a bit. Sometimes I'd be lazy and not top off the evap for a couple of days which would drop the water level to the point that the skimmer wouldn't skim. There is still some fluctuation in water level but it only amounts to wetter skimming vs. thicker, no more interruptions. I really wish I would have had the ATO working a long time ago.

I might try moving the skimmer to the overflow compartment even though it's a tight fit. I could use the larger area for a fuge instead which would be better all around. I just need to build a box to protect the float switches from getting tangled with macro - the idea of that makes me nervous.

 

[Bdimas]

Yeah keeping the water level consistent really keeps your skimmer working good.

 

[Jacob D]

Yeah keeping the water level consistent really keeps your skimmer working good.

Yes most definitely. I knew this of course, but I think I had convinced myself that I was doing a good enough job keeping the tank topped up. I would usually keep 4x 5g jugs next to it, but of course those had to be refilled a couple times a week and it's easier to lift a beer than 20 gallons of water

 

[Bdimas]

Hahaha for sure!!!

 

[Jacob D]

Here's my next little tank related project. "The Disaster Preventer"

It's a backpressure valve I'm going to build to go on the outlet of my top off pump in case a solenoid valve ever sticks open this will prevent any flow (unless the pump is on). I've got all the parts on order so hopefully in a week or two it will be done. I put everything together in a new blog post here...

http://dinardiengineering.com/blog/?p=46

 

[Jacob D]

Here are some new friends. They spent the last 3 1/2 weeks in QT and went into the display last night. I snapped a couple of quick pics this morning when the sun came up (lots of the glare & reflection from the window)


G. watanabei (mostly male)

H. annularis

 

[RiOnRoxXx]

Nice additions Jake

 

[Bdimas]

Nice man. Is that wrasse picking off the flatworms?

 

[Jacob D]

Thanks guys.

Bryan, both of the Halichoeres wrasses are eating flatworms, and they pretty much hunt, pick, and dig all day long. I'm sure they're getting pods too but they eating the planaria for sure. Yesterday I saw the new one put his head against the front glass and swim down the length of the tank with his mouth chomping all the way; it was cool and funny too... I have a massive flatworm problem

I really don't care about the FW's I just don't want to see them on the glass. I'm hoping the two of them can get things under control... if not I'll probably look to add a third. There are so many to chose from and they're all very colorful.

 

[Bamm Bamm]

Looking good man.. How do you get a 1:1 or better ratio with your ro/di????? I don't know hat mine is I have a 8 stage 100gpd system I built by piecing two systems together I have a feeling I need a new membrane mine like 6 or 7 yrs old oh yeah and I'm running a booster pump as well I'd guess my ratio is probably somewhere around 1:5 or 5:1 forgot which order it goes in it's not a big deal for me now since I'm running it off very nasty well water that free but when I move in a few month and have to actually pay for water I want to get it more efficient also I don't have any pressure guages on it... Can you post a few pics of it also?

 

[Jacob D]

More fish pics...

Hunting for Snacks

Mean Mouth

Wrasse-ness

Garden

Tiny

Anthias Mouth !

Anthias Mouth !!

Most of the Fleet

It's really difficult to capture the color of the anthias. For some reason they seem to reflect the light differently and always end up over-exposed.

 

[Jacob D]

Hi Dan.

You get a 1:1 ratio by having something installed wrong It's bad for the membranes, they won't last long at all. I have the two systems tied together on the outlet and I believe it's too much back pressure and/or I need different flow restrictors. I really need to address it, I've just been lazy about it.

 

[Bamm Bamm]

Ahhhh i see i was thinking it's more efficient that way...

 

[Bdimas]

Great pics man! That last pic of the anthias with its mouth open reminds me of the alien from the movie Predator.

 

[Jacob D]

Haha... yeah I can see that now. Anthias are related to Bass and you can see it with that mouth! There are actually some sort of sea bass that are essentially huge anthias. I can't recall the species but imagine a black bass painted orange, pink, and red.


Hey man think it's time for you to upgrade, I just changed my signature from "think upgrade" but I'm hoping it worked its subliminal magic on you... I know it has on others :bum:

 

[Jacob D]

Well... I might be trying some SPS again. My water quality has really come back around since I've been putting lots of effort in post-crash. I still have a little hair algae and some bubble but it's clearing quickly (the hair anyway). I got a piece of the SandDollar monti from BrianBigoats I'm going to use as my test. If it works I might look for some easy SPS like the Ponape Birdsnest and Green Slimer.

I don't have much coral right now, just a colony of Tub's blues from Jesus and some red zoos I picked up from Kalypso a while back, and some AOG palys (I think) from Lak, my Tyree toadstool, and some misc gorgs that got badly damaged during/after the previous tank crash.

I'll post up a FTS later today when the lights are on, but the corals aren't even visible, it might as well be FOWLR

 

[Bdimas]

Great news Jake! You'll be switching to 400 watt bulbs soon! J/k.

 

[RiOnRoxXx]

Are pigs flying?!?!?! Jake is possibly going SPS again? Woohoo!!! That's sweet news

If you need some easy to care for corals. John (sfexplicit) has a ton of different colored digis and other easier to care for corals he's selling. From LPS, SPS and Softies...Might want to shoot him a PM and see if he has something in your likings.

 

[Jacob D]

Hahaha... you guys are too funny.

I'm going to try this one piece for a few months before deciding anything. I want to see how it does under my lights. Speaking of that does anyone around here have a PAR meter? I know of someone who does but I don't talk to him regularly.