let the insanity begin

[rick rottet]

It is a Current-USA 40w. Has a T5 bulb. The ballast is all sealed up inside a PVC cylinder. I don't think it's got a starter, but even if it did, I don't see any way to replace one.
Do you know if any 40w ballast would work on it, or does it need a speacial ballast to make the bulb emit the UV spectrum?

As an aside, I was out in the greenhouse late last night and the north end was mysteriously inflated again????????????? (Maybe it's related to barometric pressure???)

 

[maxxII]

Rick,
the mysterious deflation/inflation of the North end of your greenhouse is due to FM.

Freakin Magic.



Sorry, thought you might want a laugh...

I doubt barometric pressure could be repsonsible for one ond of the greenhouse deflating and inflating like that. I would think that would cause an almost universal deflating...

Nick

 

[rick rottet]

heehee

I would agree with that. In fact, I was figuring if any part of the greenhouse could lose the air between the layers of plastic, (for whatever reason), it should lose air from the whole thing since it's all conneected.

 

[boxer85]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6797048#post6797048 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rick rottet
It is a Current-USA 40w. Has a T5 bulb. The ballast is all sealed up inside a PVC cylinder. I don't think it's got a starter, but even if it did, I don't see any way to replace one.
Do you know if any 40w ballast would work on it, or does it need a speacial ballast to make the bulb emit the UV spectrum?

As an aside, I was out in the greenhouse late last night and the north end was mysteriously inflated again????????????? (Maybe it's related to barometric pressure???)

posssibly related to temperature, and expansion/contraction of material and air. hot air rises, so if it deflates when the temperature rises, then you might have a hole near the top of that side....

just a guess....???

 

[H20ENG]

So Rick,
Did clamping the pvc sheet when gluing solve all the previous problems?
Hope you havent replied in awhile because your busy in the greenhouse, not taking down the greenhouse....

 

[rick rottet]

clamps??? I just lay the sheet on top of the angle stock and let the weight of the sheet hold the pieces together. What seems to have solved the leaking was smearing the glue into a thin layer along the inside seam with a finger instead of laying down a thick bead along the inside seam with a turkey baster or large syringe.

Nope, not taking down the greenhouse. I'm just a little too stubborn for that. Some folks would call it recto-cranial inversion. :lol:

 

[jnarowe]

My name is Jonathan, and I have RCI. :rollface:

 

[H20ENG]

I thought the problem was the glue creating bubbles at the seam. Glad you got it licked!

 

[rick rottet]

That's correct. When I laid the glue in a thick bead (like caulking) along the seam(s) using a large syringe or turkey baster, there was so much glue that it allowed the glue to out-gas. The out-gassing created the bubbles. Smearing the glue into a thin layer with a finger "seems" to have eliminated the bubbles, and hence eliminated the leaks. I had two tanks in a row without leaks with the finger smearing method. I have four more built since then, but haven't filled them yet to test them.
I did move a bunch of zoos from quarantine into the 6th tank today. Tommorrow I will pull the zoos from my home tank to put out there too.

 

[rick rottet]

Here are some pictures of the Zoanthidae. This first pic is several different types. Top left are a brownish orange Protopalythoa, only about 7 polyps. Top right are four brown polyps, with buds growing on the undersides, from my home tank (Protopalythoa? Palythoa?). Bottom left are a dozen green center polyps (Protopalythoa? Palythoa?) Bottom right is a mix of Protopalythoa and Zoanthus, with the larger Protopalythoa being brown and the smaller Zoanthus being orange centered. The three colonies that aren't from my home tank were salvaged from a purchase of live rock from a local club member.

Some nice red Zoanthus salvaged from the live rock purchase. Less than 30 polyps.

I call these "blondes". Zoanthus also salvaged from the live rock purchase.

"Blue eyes". Zoanthus also salvaged from the live rock purchase. About 4" X 3".

Two trays full of frags of the "blue eyes" I was able to chip away.

Prized Zoanthus colony from my home tank. This was purchased in June of 2002 from Inland Aquatics as a tiny colony of four polyps.

These next two pics are colonies and frags that all started from one single polyp that was a hitchhiker on some live rock. The rock was put into my one of my home tanks in March of 2002 when I changed the tank from an UGF to LR. I can still remember my excitement when I first saw this little tiny nub of gray tissue sitting there on a piece of rock. It wasn't even developed enough to have an oral disk or any color. I have also taken several fully covered frags of this to LFS over the years. Remember, the squares in the eggcrate are 1/2". These greens absolutely explode under 10 - 20 K or actinic lighting.

NEXT....

 

[melev]

Woohoo - A Rick Rottet update! Nice pieces - it should be interesting to see how they do under the sunlight compared to tank lighting. Typically stuff is lighter, right?

I saw a small plastic greenhouse at Costco a few days ago. Just hardened clear plastic with a door and a roof-vent. I thought how funny it would be to put that in my back yard, stick a tank in it and post it in your thread.

 

[rick rottet]

Thanks Marc. Yeah, most stuff seems to lighten up a little in the GH. Maybe the sunlight is more stimulating so the corals don't need to hold as great of a quantity of zooxanthellae, or because my prop tanks are lower in nutrients than my well fed home tanks with fish. (nutirents= zooxanthellae fertilizer). Sarcophyton elegans which started out golden brown is now bright yellow, star polyps haven't changed much other than they only stay open for a few hours each day in the GH, as opposed to staying open all day in my home tank..

I say go for the GH man!!!

HMMMM.... seems to be a pic missing from that last post...

This colony was also part of the stock that grew from that single polyp hitchiker, it should have been the last pic of the post above.

 

[irishpete]

t-t-t-tag

 

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6885436#post6885436 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by irishpete
t-t-t-tag

 

[jnarowe]

LOL...I just don't get why people do that. Maybe it's a throw-back to the 80's?

 

[THE GIMP]

Fantastic undertaking Rick! "Nothin' to it but to do it" ... good words. I am inspired by your tenacity. I send good luck your way -you deserve it.

Nice wiring job by the way.

 

[rick rottet]

Well, I welcome all the first time posters to this thread. I am sure it is taking these folks quite some time to get caught up to this point.

asnatlas- very cool instructional picture there!

THE GIMP- thaks for the kind words, I hope that good luck you're sending finds it's way eastward. I don't know about the deserving part, but I will take all that will come my way!

 

[wildcats]

Has the GH continued to deflate, or have you solved that one?

Enjoyed the read, you are definately "determined"

 

[BlueCorn]

test

 

[BlueCorn]

Carry on, talk amongst yourselves.