JBNY's 270 Ver2.0
- Thread starter JB NY
- Start date
Frags (and tank) looking great!
I have to ask, are you keeping those frags together in those groups just for acclimation and then will move them further apart, or are you trying something new and exciting?
A few of my frags end up that close to each other because there just isn't room in a 29g tank for me to put 30 frags without many of them being close together. I'm curious as to your thoughts on it. I'm hoping that I'll have excellent colors due to my LEDs (and maybe slow growth) so I get to enjoy these in smaller sizes for a few years, then when I ultimately move to a large tank I'll spread them all out and have them grow into their own spaces at full size.
I have to ask, are you keeping those frags together in those groups just for acclimation and then will move them further apart, or are you trying something new and exciting?
A few of my frags end up that close to each other because there just isn't room in a 29g tank for me to put 30 frags without many of them being close together. I'm curious as to your thoughts on it. I'm hoping that I'll have excellent colors due to my LEDs (and maybe slow growth) so I get to enjoy these in smaller sizes for a few years, then when I ultimately move to a large tank I'll spread them all out and have them grow into their own spaces at full size.
JB NY
Active member
Thank you!
That rock work really makes the tank, it looks massive and if I had to guess I'd say this was at least a 750 gallon tank.
Thanks, I think it also has to do with the fact that the corals are pretty small.
Thanks, I'm pretty happy with the rockwork, it is really open inside, fish are swimming through holes in the rock work all the time. I used lots of shelf rock to keep it open for the fish. for the coral I think it works for the most part. I have a few rock cliff where I can't really put corals anyplace other than the top, but it helps to keep the rockwork looking open so I just left it that way. Yeah, as soon as growth take off the tank should full up pretty soon.
I think it is looking the healthiest it has so far. I think turning off those ReefBrites during the day has helped a lot.
Thank you, lots of moving rock around in the beginning to get something I was happy with.
Thanks. Those frags are just on little ceramic holders that I use when putting new frags in the tank. It allows me to move them around to acclimate them to the lighting in different areas of the tank without fear that they might get knocked down. I start them on the sand and after they are good in a spot for a day or so I move them up till they are about the same level where I want to permanently attach them to the rock work. I think it is easier than playing with lighting schedules that effect all the corals.
thetedinator
New member
Looking good Joe. Thanks for keeping us up to date.
thetedinator
New member
I found my inspiration to get back in from looking at o2manyfish's tank and many others on RC. A lot has changed since 2008.
JB NY
Active member
Thanks, I can only hope to inspire you to get back in!
Dave has a great tank, between to two of us hopefully we can get you back in, yes a lot has changed since 2008 but not as much as you might think.
Hey Kevin, Thanks, patience indeed. I was planning on going to MACNA, had a last minute family event (good thing) that happened that forced me to cancel my plans.
I think it will look great once it all fills in, but you are right a lot of patience is required. The last tank really made me take a look back at reef keeping for me and the aspects of it that make me happy. What I found was that I didn't so much like the finished product as much as getting there. That is to say, watching it grow and to ups and downs of getting the tank to the finished state is what I really enjoyed. Once the tank was grown in I didn't enjoy the hobby as much. All there was left to do was frag colonies. And in the end I found that my enjoyment for the tank sort of waned, so this time I feel that there is no real rush to get to the finish line. Tinkering and watching it grow is the best time for me.
The rock layout really does make your tank look bigger, will be interesting to watch this one grow.
Hopefully it will look great as it does start to grow, thanks for staying with it.
JB NY
Active member
So a few updates, corals continue to do well. Things are really coloring up, and starting to see some growth, but they are still frags so it will take a while to really get anywhere.
But in the meantime, I have made a few changes to the systems, first up I had another power outage last week, a transformer blew at 3:30 in the morning and the outage lasted about 45 minutes longer than my battery backup for the tank, but when the power turned on the main pump did not turn on. So down to the basement I go to investigate and the Tripplite inverter/charger I use overload when the main pump tried to start, so I turn off the pump first, clear the overload, give it a few minutes and turn the pump back on and I am back up and running. This is the second time this has happened over the summer, the Tripplite unit is about 12 years old so I figured it was time to replace it. I put in an AIMS 1000w Pure Sine wave inverted/changer. The unit is really nice and I am very happy with it. Transfers the load back and forth with zero issues, and the pure sine wave it outputs means the pump will not even notice the power changeover. With the Tripplite's stepped sine wave the pump would make a load hum when on battery backup and a thump when it switched back. I played with the new AIMS unit a few times and it seemed to work great. Here is a shot of it mounted on the wall and up and running.
I have it in the garage on the wall shared with the sump room. I found out years ago it is better not to leave a UPS in the sump room. I think even a little moisture does not work well with batteries and the unit would start to corrode prematurely. Anyway it is hooked into a 95Amp hour deep cell battery and gives me about 75 minutes of power for the main 360watt pump.
But in the meantime, I have made a few changes to the systems, first up I had another power outage last week, a transformer blew at 3:30 in the morning and the outage lasted about 45 minutes longer than my battery backup for the tank, but when the power turned on the main pump did not turn on. So down to the basement I go to investigate and the Tripplite inverter/charger I use overload when the main pump tried to start, so I turn off the pump first, clear the overload, give it a few minutes and turn the pump back on and I am back up and running. This is the second time this has happened over the summer, the Tripplite unit is about 12 years old so I figured it was time to replace it. I put in an AIMS 1000w Pure Sine wave inverted/changer. The unit is really nice and I am very happy with it. Transfers the load back and forth with zero issues, and the pure sine wave it outputs means the pump will not even notice the power changeover. With the Tripplite's stepped sine wave the pump would make a load hum when on battery backup and a thump when it switched back. I played with the new AIMS unit a few times and it seemed to work great. Here is a shot of it mounted on the wall and up and running.
I have it in the garage on the wall shared with the sump room. I found out years ago it is better not to leave a UPS in the sump room. I think even a little moisture does not work well with batteries and the unit would start to corrode prematurely. Anyway it is hooked into a 95Amp hour deep cell battery and gives me about 75 minutes of power for the main 360watt pump.
JB NY
Active member
Also have been working on getting my Alk a little more stable using my CA Reactor. I have an MTC ProCal and it has worked incredibly well over the years, I think one of it's best features is it's ability to provide alk/ca/mg very easily with both small and large tanks that might have very high demand. But I think it's effluent control is both worlds better than anyone else's and it's only real weak point. It has a meter and micro ball valve that makes adjustment both pretty easy and accurate. Like most small valves on a reactor, it needs to be watched as periodically it can move or clog and either deliver too much or too little. This can lead to instability.
So I finally got around to adding a Masterflex Peristaltic pump. The pump is rated for constant use, in addition a lot of reefers have had really good success with these pumps. I just put it online last night, pretty easy. I just calibrated the pump, then set the amount of effluent you want, and let it rip. I had the MTC's effluent set to 30ml/min so I figured I would start the masterflex at 28ml just to make sure I don't over shoot. I'll check my alk tonight, last night it was at 7.3 dKh.
So I finally got around to adding a Masterflex Peristaltic pump. The pump is rated for constant use, in addition a lot of reefers have had really good success with these pumps. I just put it online last night, pretty easy. I just calibrated the pump, then set the amount of effluent you want, and let it rip. I had the MTC's effluent set to 30ml/min so I figured I would start the masterflex at 28ml just to make sure I don't over shoot. I'll check my alk tonight, last night it was at 7.3 dKh.
JB NY
Active member
It hope it will give me much better control over my effluent, before the smallest increments the valve and meter combo would let me go was in 5ml/min increments. With this I can get 1ml and it would never move, so it should make things incredibly stable.
At least that is what I am hoping for.
At least that is what I am hoping for.
Flatlander
Premium Member
Joe, your feeding your effluent into a dosing pump and then to the sump?
reefmutt
Active member
In had an MTC Pro Cal for years and it was the sexiest, most well built piece of equipment I ever had.... Besides my hsa 3000. Love the MTC gear. Unfortunately, they are both noisy.. But man do they do the job in style..
I switched to a Deltec reactor several years ago when I was involved (for a while) with the company that imported them to Canada.. Still use it.. Nice but not nearly as sexy as MTC.
That masterflex doser is interesting.. Always tweaking the valve can be tiresome..
I've always felt that a reactor was more reliable and easier to adjust than the idea of dosers... Not that I've ever used a doser..
I know the page is young but some more photos may be in order, Joe.
I switched to a Deltec reactor several years ago when I was involved (for a while) with the company that imported them to Canada.. Still use it.. Nice but not nearly as sexy as MTC.
That masterflex doser is interesting.. Always tweaking the valve can be tiresome..
I've always felt that a reactor was more reliable and easier to adjust than the idea of dosers... Not that I've ever used a doser..
I know the page is young but some more photos may be in order, Joe.
JB NY
Active member
Yes. The dosing pump is continuous, so it's not dosing at preset times. My ARID Reactor has a ca reactor injection port so the effluent goes into that, but it's the same thing as the sump. What ends up happening is you make your effluent incredibly stable, like it will always be exactly what you set it to.
In had an MTC Pro Cal for years and it was the sexiest, most well built piece of equipment I ever had.... Besides my hsa 3000. Love the MTC gear. Unfortunately, they are both noisy.. But man do they do the job in style..
I switched to a Deltec reactor several years ago when I was involved (for a while) with the company that imported them to Canada.. Still use it.. Nice but not nearly as sexy as MTC.
That masterflex doser is interesting.. Always tweaking the valve can be tiresome..
I've always felt that a reactor was more reliable and easier to adjust than the idea of dosers... Not that I've ever used a doser..
I know the page is young but some more photos may be in order, Joe.
Yeah the pump on the MTC can make some noise, all my equipment is in the basement one floor below the tank. So when I am in the sump room it's pretty noisy down there, but the living room that has the tank in it is almost perfectly silent.
I'll have to get around to taking some pics.
