jlylec
New member
then you, sir, are my new hero!
Lyle's 150H in-wall build (with pics)
- Thread starter jlylec
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then you, sir, are my new hero!
jlylec
New member
I got my fish trap built tonight. 2 liter coke bottle cut and inverted. I've read lots online that this does and doesn't work. I figured it was worth a shot. Wish me luck!
I also have some crazy egg strands in my tank. I guess some sort of snail but I've never seen rope-like eggs like this before. They look like pretty thick cotton thread just flowing in there.
I bought an overflow kit from Glass-holes.com to drill one of my 40b tanks. I'm going to initially tie it into the DT just to have somewhere to move the corals. Ultimately I'll take it off line of the DT to act as a coral QT or something. I have to say the quality of the glass-holes kits are really great. I haven't done it yet, but it seems really easy!
I also have some crazy egg strands in my tank. I guess some sort of snail but I've never seen rope-like eggs like this before. They look like pretty thick cotton thread just flowing in there.
I bought an overflow kit from Glass-holes.com to drill one of my 40b tanks. I'm going to initially tie it into the DT just to have somewhere to move the corals. Ultimately I'll take it off line of the DT to act as a coral QT or something. I have to say the quality of the glass-holes kits are really great. I haven't done it yet, but it seems really easy!
jlylec
New member
caught Dig's counter-part, Dug, this morning. One to go!
Last night I was messing with cleaning my skimmer and rearranging a bit in the sump and took my drain pipes off for access. Putting them back on I somehow sprung a leak on both at the bulkheads. I think I loosened them when unscrewing the drain pipes and then junk got under the seals on the inside so now they're dripping. Luckily I was able to divert the leak back into the sump but I certainly want to fix this.
What do you guys use for a bulkhead wrench? I know you're supposed to hand tighten them, but I have such a tight area under there I can only finger tighten and that's not good enough. I'm running to Lowe's to see if there is some sort of pliers with long, narrow, wide jaws or something to get up in there. Just curious what others use.
Last night I was messing with cleaning my skimmer and rearranging a bit in the sump and took my drain pipes off for access. Putting them back on I somehow sprung a leak on both at the bulkheads. I think I loosened them when unscrewing the drain pipes and then junk got under the seals on the inside so now they're dripping. Luckily I was able to divert the leak back into the sump but I certainly want to fix this.
What do you guys use for a bulkhead wrench? I know you're supposed to hand tighten them, but I have such a tight area under there I can only finger tighten and that's not good enough. I'm running to Lowe's to see if there is some sort of pliers with long, narrow, wide jaws or something to get up in there. Just curious what others use.
jlylec
New member
great job!!!
thanks man...I'm so psyched and glad I waited instead of tearing the tank apart! it was like early christmas last night which only you guys can probably understand.
jlylec
New member
Thanks so much man. I'm determined to not let it kill anymore fish in my DT! It's funny how little kids take stuff. She's really sad about it actually. She hates "Dory" now since she killed her fish! I didn't even really explain this to her, she just figured it out. She's 5. Fortunately (for me) it was the cheapest fish in the tank and easy to replace. I told her Swirly's cousin was waiting for us when I get the tank clean and healthy! This makes her happy but then she'll clinch her fists at Dory again!
jlylec
New member
Along the lines of never cutting another corner I have my QT/Treatment system just about done. The only thing I have left to build are the lights for the coral QT. I was going to tie the coral QT tank in the main system to use as a frag tank extension from the DT. But I've now learned that ich can come into the tank on coral, LR, snails, etc. so I'm setting up all QT completely separate from the DT. In this stack the top 40b is the coral QT, middle is copper tx 40b for fish, and the bottom tank is a 20L I'm using as the sump for the top tank. I drilled the top 40b with a kit from Glass-Holes which was so much easier than I thought it would be. This set up looks somewhat intense, but I had most of the equipment from smaller set-ups and the tanks I got for $130 total for all 3. Like I said the only thing I haven't figured out decided on is the light for the non-fish QT tank. It needs to be somewhat significant to support coral for 8 weeks of QT, but I'm really trying to keep cost to a minimum. If cost were no issue I'd buy another AI Sol (if I could find one) and tie it into my DT system as then I'd have no light acclimation to deal with. I can't justify another $500 though. I may try to build my own from RapidLED. Thoughts?
T Diddy
Happy to be here
Your coral/invertebrate QT can become quite an interesting display of its own. You won't need a great deal of lighting, especially on a 40 breeder. Technically, the whole tank would not have to be lit if used solely as A QT. If you are deffinitely planning on it doubling as a frag tank, then you may go the DIY LED route. It is really quite easy, and it would'nt take much. I'd try one of the kits that you mentioned...maybe 24 with the dimmable drivers. The daylight controller is a nice addition (from rapid). Its functionality is slightly limited, but I enjoy mine for the preprogrammed daylight periods with sunrise/set. You can control intensity of different colors independently, but the sunrise/set cannot offset different colors. In other words, you can adjust the intensity of your blues and whites separately, but if you want sunrise/set times to be different for the blues and whites, they'll need separate copntrollers. Work great though.
jlylec
New member
Thanks for the advice Diddy. I love your tank. The plumbing behind the rock wall is great! The light you built is very cool. So you think I could get away with a 4.25" x 23" Heat Sink and 24 LED kit? I'm thinking about getting a 24 LED kit but a tapped heat sink for 36 LEDs and buying 12 extra green and red LEDs to supplement the kit. Would the equipment in the 24 LED kit be able to run the 12 extra LEDs? I could build this for around $300. If I just go with the 24 LED kit and heat sink I could do it for about $250. Certainly cheaper than another AI Sol. Do corals benefit from sunrise and sunset? I would think they would since they're photosynthetic but who knows.
T Diddy
Happy to be here
Thanks for the compliments. I'm in the middle of building a new LED fixture to replace the hybrid one. It'll have 72 total. I think the 23" would be fine with 24 LEDs. 36 would be a little tight for my liking, but that's what fans are for I guess. You'd be able to run 36 off of the two drivers provided that one of the drivers ran two parallel strings of LEDs in equal proportion. 12 green/red LEDs might be a bit overpowering though. I can say with absolute certainty that the 1:1 ratio of CW/RB LEDs is missing something. The new build I'm doing has 2 different blues and 2 different whites in a 2:1 blues/whites ratio. I'm hoping this will fix the washed out look I've experienced. As for the sunrise/sunset, my corals seem to enjoy it. I suppose it gives them a smoother transition when 'waking up' in the morning or cueing the feeder tentacles at night. The controller I mentioned gives you three different daylight periods as well, so you can change day length with the season. Who knows, one day in-tank spawning may be commonplace. :beer:
jlylec
New member
I got my coral QT sump built. Same design as my main sump since it seems to work. I'll just have chaeto in the left side. Return in the middle and drain and skimmer on the right.
Still trying to decide what to do for the light. I've looked to buy a used T5 unit but can't get responses for anybody selling them. Weird! I want to try to build a LED unit but need something fast.
-Lyle
Still trying to decide what to do for the light. I've looked to buy a used T5 unit but can't get responses for anybody selling them. Weird! I want to try to build a LED unit but need something fast.
-Lyle
jlylec
New member
FTS:
QT Tank:
I'm thinking about fragging this green SPS WAY back. Would anybody be interested in frags of this? I may be able to get you some real big chunks if you are.
This one is weird in that it still hasn't colored up completely. The back side is nice and green and the front is brown and gross looking. Great polyp extension though so it seems healthy. Any ideas why? I may just cut this way back too.
QT Tank:
I'm thinking about fragging this green SPS WAY back. Would anybody be interested in frags of this? I may be able to get you some real big chunks if you are.
This one is weird in that it still hasn't colored up completely. The back side is nice and green and the front is brown and gross looking. Great polyp extension though so it seems healthy. Any ideas why? I may just cut this way back too.
jlylec
New member
This ricordia is loving being in this tank. It never looked this good in my nano.
Same with this guy. Hasn't colored back up, but the extension is ridiculous. Maybe it's looking for something:
And what are these things? They're really tiny little green polyps. Came with the coral from the nano, but never looked this good. I hope it's not bad. Doesn't seem to be spreading too much.
I know I have an aptasia problem brewing but I just bought 10 more peppermints from reeftopia.
Sorry for the long update but hopefully you enjoy the pics!
Same with this guy. Hasn't colored back up, but the extension is ridiculous. Maybe it's looking for something:
And what are these things? They're really tiny little green polyps. Came with the coral from the nano, but never looked this good. I hope it's not bad. Doesn't seem to be spreading too much.
I know I have an aptasia problem brewing but I just bought 10 more peppermints from reeftopia.
Sorry for the long update but hopefully you enjoy the pics!
Hey buddy :wave: nice pieces you picked up.
All the fish doing good in QT?
Hows the frag tank coming, did you get the new sump added to it yet?
:lol: Yea that green monster could use a trimmed up a bit. Can't remember how much longer you have for your Qt/ fallow period but may be a good idea to plan a head and have some fish ordered to go into Qt soon after your current fish go back to the DT so the bacteria pop is maintained. You can supplement the lack of fish with just feeding the tank too, but I know you're dieing to get some new additions. : ) Keep it up man.
All the fish doing good in QT?
Hows the frag tank coming, did you get the new sump added to it yet?
:lol: Yea that green monster could use a trimmed up a bit. Can't remember how much longer you have for your Qt/ fallow period but may be a good idea to plan a head and have some fish ordered to go into Qt soon after your current fish go back to the DT so the bacteria pop is maintained. You can supplement the lack of fish with just feeding the tank too, but I know you're dieing to get some new additions. : ) Keep it up man.
wantacookie
New member
The last picture looks similar to some colonial hydroids.
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