Lightsluvr's 340G Upgrade

[Lightsluvr]

Putting on the fritz...

Putting on the fritz...

The Koi return pump used 1" tubing, so I removed the old barb fittings and installed a 1" to 3/4" adaptor:

...with 3/4" barb fittings to fit the hose from the frag tank overflow. The tubing from the left comes from the tank and the elbow then dumps the water back into the Rubbermaid sump through a filter sock:

If you look at the tubing when the room is darkened, you can confirm that the UV bulb is burning... a gentle glow tells the tale:

The Sterilizer is fastened to the Rubbermaid sump with reliable tie-wraps, nothing fancy, but yet effective - Another view of the location - maximum use of available space:

We'll see if this helps with pests in the Marine aquarium. It was purported to help control algae in a fresh water pond... I was skeptical that it was doing much in a 1000G pond... maybe it will make a difference in this 500G system...

LL

 

[Lightsluvr]

Reactin'

Reactin'

I did the usual 55G water change yesterday morning with water that I had buffered for higher ALK and CA.

Last evening, I did my water testing and got the following results:

ELOS KITS: ALK - 9.0 __ CA - 450 __ MG - 1100

SALIFERT KITS: ALK - 9.6 __ CA - 390 __ MG - 1080

After 72 hours, it appears that the CA reactor is doing its thing.

pH2 is the pH of the effluent in the CA reactor. If I reduce flow of the effluent leaving the reactor, I expect that number to drop slightly.

LL

 

[Rickyrooz1]

Did the tank come with a black piece of acrylic to cover the external overflow? If so how well does it hide the plumbing and does it look flush with the surrounding black backing?

 

[Lightsluvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15736598#post15736598 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rickyrooz1
Did the tank come with a black piece of acrylic to cover the external overflow? If so how well does it hide the plumbing and does it look flush with the surrounding black backing?

No... when the algae and cyano is gone, your can see the black standpipes and gray return pipes in the overflow... At the back of the tank, it's hard to tell what you're looking at - I tell people it the "Ruins of Atlantis" back there...

Look carefully and you can see the "ruins"...

They were more noticeable during the fresh water test, with ceiling lights burning above he tank:

From outside the oveflow - you can see the clear right into the tank:

I'm not really concerned about it - when the back is clean, it looks "cool" - when it's covered with coralline, it won't make any difference anyway...

LL

 

[Lytehouse]

update

update

George,

shouldn't have thrown pics up, makes me wonder about growth shots. Any updates?

 

[Lightsluvr]

Re: update

Re: update

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15738786#post15738786 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lytehouse
George,

shouldn't have thrown pics up, makes me wonder about growth shots. Any updates?

This was a busy night, installing a WaterBug sensor system in the fish room bteween DWTS... I'll get some growth pics tomorrow and get them posted...

LL

 

[Lytehouse]

Like to take pics together sometime

 

[Lightsluvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15740216#post15740216 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lytehouse
Like to take pics together sometime

Get your camera and come on over!

LL

 

[strout]

In the first pic, what type coral is that on the rock on the right side of the pic, the green ones, a Duncan?

 

[Lightsluvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15740941#post15740941 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by strout
In the first pic, what type coral is that on the rock on the right side of the pic, the green ones, a Duncan?

Yes...it is one of the two Australian Duncan colonies I have in the tank... here is what it looked like when I got it two years ago:

And a year later:

Needless to say, it's grown a little. It's about 6" across now, and I can't count all the heads on it...

LL

 

[Lightsluvr]

Looking back through some old photos of early coral we acquired - I found this old picture of our "kryptonite" candy cane when we bought it. It had two heads...within a day, a third head popped out; I thought that was so cool.

You can see it now in the new tank - it's about 4" across and again, I can't count how many heads on that puppy...

These pics make me want to break out the macro lens...

LL

 

[aquainas]

That candy cane sure did grow and still has it's "Kryptonite".

 

[Lightsluvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15744719#post15744719 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aquainas
That candy cane sure did grow and still has it's "Kryptonite".

Yes, we are very happy that our Duncans and Kryptonites have survived all my miscues and flubs over the years... I wish we had been that successful with some of the SPS we used to have in our tanks...

LL

 

[Lightsluvr]

Fish story

Fish story

We got a few "snaps" of some fish this afternoon:

Here is the female black & whote ORA Ocellaris hanging out in the large mushroom toadstool:

Charley the Vlamingi Tang has his eye on you... snapped this as he was following me around the front of the tank as I was taking pictures of various coral:

...and the Copperband Butterfly who is thriving on real food after devouring the few remaining aiptasia in the tank:

All's good...

LL

 

[Goodwin9]

Great shots! :thumbsup:

 

[GlassReef]

When, in relation to your other fish, did you introduce your Copperband? Any problems with the Tangs bullying the Butterfly? I'd love to have a Butterfly but my Purple Tang scares me - he's a mean son-of-a-gun.

 

[Lytehouse]

Wonderful shots.

Thanks

 

[Lightsluvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15750487#post15750487 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GlassReef
When, in relation to your other fish, did you introduce your Copperband? Any problems with the Tangs bullying the Butterfly? I'd love to have a Butterfly but my Purple Tang scares me - he's a mean son-of-a-gun.

The Copperband was introduced very recently - just before I was given the behemoth Vlamingi. The DesJardin Sailfin Tang chased him around for a day or two, but they share the same cave space now...I heavily feed the tank, so there is little aggressive battling over adequate food... that might help.

LL

 

[Lightsluvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15750934#post15750934 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lytehouse
Wonderful shots.

Thanks

Thanks Lyte. You got PM.

LL

 

[Lytehouse]

got it, will do