Maroun 150g Build Thread
- Thread starter maroun.c
- Start date
maroun.c
New member
Great info,
never was really involved in Snails ID as we only get 2 types (Trochus or Astrea and Turbo snails) all the others hitchhicked. on the rocks. Will post better pics of the Trochus/Astrea for definitive ID.
Anyway will get rid of that Welk and keep the two small presumed margarita in the Refugium till they get bigger then post pics for ID before moving them to the tank. Hoping they will reproduce in the refugium as getting snails around here is very difficult.
never was really involved in Snails ID as we only get 2 types (Trochus or Astrea and Turbo snails) all the others hitchhicked. on the rocks. Will post better pics of the Trochus/Astrea for definitive ID.
Anyway will get rid of that Welk and keep the two small presumed margarita in the Refugium till they get bigger then post pics for ID before moving them to the tank. Hoping they will reproduce in the refugium as getting snails around here is very difficult.
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maroun.c
New member
Exact. I got the first one from a friend who was tearing his tank and it was in very bad condition. When it fattened and coloured up in my tank I started liking it. The cleaning it does is an added benefit. This is the first one I see with a Blue eye if I remember correctly. got this one from Dubai.
Its funny that the day the brisletooth was mentioned in this thread it disappeared from the tank. I looked for it for 1 hour and could not see it checked the oveflow disconnected the tubing to the sump... suddenly it just appeared in my pumps partition. weirdly it appeared to be swimming at ease with no signs of stress eventhough it was swimming against 1750 GPH of pumps. Shut them all down and took everything out to be able to net it. used it as an excuse to do the first cleaning for the pumps water inlets from the tank which were starting to plug.
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maroun.c
New member
Chrismunn Thanks for the link and the compliments.
I have no reactor so far on this tank and was considering seting up one to maintain my Ca and Mg levels should they fall while I'm traveling as I have ver frequent 4-5 days travel...
I'm currently trying to find a better reactor than the Azoo as it looks very small compared to what I've seen online however those are not available here and shipping them will make it very expensive. so far like I said I rarely have any drops in Ca or MG but I'm adding Purple up (hoping what it claims is true) and CA balance from two little fishies to maintain my levels. In the end I might just get the Azoo reactor as its much better to any DIY I could make and keep on dosing CA buffer and MG on half or even less than what I'm doing. As for my salt mix I don't know if it has higher levels of MG I'm currently using Sea crystals but last week I got a Bucket of Reef Crystals as Its reputed to be the bestaround here. I could use a mix of both salts or maybe do alternating waterchanges with each of them....
I have no reactor so far on this tank and was considering seting up one to maintain my Ca and Mg levels should they fall while I'm traveling as I have ver frequent 4-5 days travel...
I'm currently trying to find a better reactor than the Azoo as it looks very small compared to what I've seen online however those are not available here and shipping them will make it very expensive. so far like I said I rarely have any drops in Ca or MG but I'm adding Purple up (hoping what it claims is true) and CA balance from two little fishies to maintain my levels. In the end I might just get the Azoo reactor as its much better to any DIY I could make and keep on dosing CA buffer and MG on half or even less than what I'm doing. As for my salt mix I don't know if it has higher levels of MG I'm currently using Sea crystals but last week I got a Bucket of Reef Crystals as Its reputed to be the bestaround here. I could use a mix of both salts or maybe do alternating waterchanges with each of them....
maroun.c
New member
Insane clownfish
We need pics of that Laptop
RT6
Thanks. Checked your thread. wow thats a lot of aggressivity don't really know what happened inyour older thread to cause all this. hopefully its all under control now.
Edit RT6 I must have been reading the already closed thread. will search the new one hopefully it'll be a better end.
We need pics of that Laptop
RT6
Thanks. Checked your thread. wow thats a lot of aggressivity don't really know what happened inyour older thread to cause all this. hopefully its all under control now.
Edit RT6 I must have been reading the already closed thread. will search the new one hopefully it'll be a better end.
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maroun.c
New member
Update on electrical problems.
As per Marcs advice I had an electricial come and inspect the tank electricals to make sure everything is fine after I had multiple GFCI tripings.
The guy came on Friday morning and the 1hour scheduled inspection lasted for 3 hours with another visit today.
He inspected each and every line and connection I had made. Overall everything was done safely and right. He belives I overdid a few things but in a setup of electricity underwater this adds to safety.
Overall I have done everything right. I described the tripping issue and the burned powerstrip... he measured the tank elecrical consumption to around 7 amps with the halides running and as my GFCI was 20 he said that something is happening to trip the GFCI. we receonnected everything like it was and restarted the system a few time and left it running till today (Tue) and it never tripped again. Still he decided that dividing my load on 2 GFCIs is better and a safer bet for the tank inhabitants as not everything would shutdown in case of a trip. He tested my equipment for the electricity leak in the water and noticed that the highest contribution was from 2 of the pumps.Luckily the 2 were the 270 and the 160 GPH Eheim pumps supplying the 6 output CL and the Frag tank. those were exchanged yeserday by two similar ones and on checking them today they seem to be fine. I still have minor leak from the return pump and the skimmer pump but that is very minimal and two expensive to change for now. the guy said he's not worried about them a ot because of the grounding probes which are sucking all the electricity.
Whe I asked him about hte two theories:
-fish don't feel the current if there is no grounding probe
-I would become the probe if I reach into the tank and there is a short.
He said that both are true remember the pigeon on the electricity line, also if I'm not grounded (no bare foot and not touching the wall) I dont feel the current but if he touches me and he's grounded or if I'm bare foot or touching the wal lthen I feel the current. Placing the prbe in minimizes the electrical feeling a lot. conclusion: He'd rather have the fish feel a small current if any than me become te probe when I rech in the tank.
One final thing he mentioned is that we have lots of powerfailures around here the backup generator runs 2-3 seconds after the power failure. in this case and if this happens while the halides are on and hot they will not work for around 3-4 minutes till they cool down. at this time you hear a buzzing sound from the ballast and the electrical consumption is increased by around 1 1.5 amps for each MH. he is suspecting that sometimes this could cause a GFCI trip especialyy if the electricity goes of then the generator kicks in and if the electricity gets returned while the ballasts of the Halides are still buzing.
solution is easy luckily I will buy a device which will cut the current if the voltage drops below ceratin level ( Generator current is not that stable and it seems its voltage fluctuates. Will be solved by the maintenance team hopefully if not will add UPS ) Also I can specify the amount of time after which this device will turn the power to the device on again. I will set different times for all three MH this way they don't kick in at the same time as they cause an increase in powerconsumtion for some time while their starting up.
This will be a very easy fix and will not cost more than 40-50 USD.
On the positive side the guy was impressed with all the wiring and connections I made although they are very basic compared to the electrical setups I see on RC. Also I got a big dscount on the bill as the guy seems to be interested in the tank. he said this way I will not charge him when he asks for help on the tank he decided to setup...
Enough rambling for now. just a quick update on the tank conditions:
Water parameters seem stable for now, my old RBTA which was sucked int he PH is still attached to the rock the wound looks a bit better but its still keeping it's head on the sand. Wonder if I should try feeding it or increasing/decreasing the flow on it?
the new RBTA which has bleached ans shrinked is still fine colouring up a bit more still attached where I want it and feeding 2-3 times a week (fish Shrimp mussles soaked in fish vitamin and coral food for 2-3 hours before feeding.
All fish seem Ok Still struggling to catch the 2 htchhiker crabs I have. I'm hoping everything wil be stable over the nex two weeks as I have to travel to Switzerland for 5 days then back for 1 day and off to Turkey for 5 more days.
As per Marcs advice I had an electricial come and inspect the tank electricals to make sure everything is fine after I had multiple GFCI tripings.
The guy came on Friday morning and the 1hour scheduled inspection lasted for 3 hours with another visit today.
He inspected each and every line and connection I had made. Overall everything was done safely and right. He belives I overdid a few things but in a setup of electricity underwater this adds to safety.
Overall I have done everything right. I described the tripping issue and the burned powerstrip... he measured the tank elecrical consumption to around 7 amps with the halides running and as my GFCI was 20 he said that something is happening to trip the GFCI. we receonnected everything like it was and restarted the system a few time and left it running till today (Tue) and it never tripped again. Still he decided that dividing my load on 2 GFCIs is better and a safer bet for the tank inhabitants as not everything would shutdown in case of a trip. He tested my equipment for the electricity leak in the water and noticed that the highest contribution was from 2 of the pumps.Luckily the 2 were the 270 and the 160 GPH Eheim pumps supplying the 6 output CL and the Frag tank. those were exchanged yeserday by two similar ones and on checking them today they seem to be fine. I still have minor leak from the return pump and the skimmer pump but that is very minimal and two expensive to change for now. the guy said he's not worried about them a ot because of the grounding probes which are sucking all the electricity.
Whe I asked him about hte two theories:
-fish don't feel the current if there is no grounding probe
-I would become the probe if I reach into the tank and there is a short.
He said that both are true remember the pigeon on the electricity line, also if I'm not grounded (no bare foot and not touching the wall) I dont feel the current but if he touches me and he's grounded or if I'm bare foot or touching the wal lthen I feel the current. Placing the prbe in minimizes the electrical feeling a lot. conclusion: He'd rather have the fish feel a small current if any than me become te probe when I rech in the tank.
One final thing he mentioned is that we have lots of powerfailures around here the backup generator runs 2-3 seconds after the power failure. in this case and if this happens while the halides are on and hot they will not work for around 3-4 minutes till they cool down. at this time you hear a buzzing sound from the ballast and the electrical consumption is increased by around 1 1.5 amps for each MH. he is suspecting that sometimes this could cause a GFCI trip especialyy if the electricity goes of then the generator kicks in and if the electricity gets returned while the ballasts of the Halides are still buzing.
solution is easy luckily I will buy a device which will cut the current if the voltage drops below ceratin level ( Generator current is not that stable and it seems its voltage fluctuates. Will be solved by the maintenance team hopefully if not will add UPS ) Also I can specify the amount of time after which this device will turn the power to the device on again. I will set different times for all three MH this way they don't kick in at the same time as they cause an increase in powerconsumtion for some time while their starting up.
This will be a very easy fix and will not cost more than 40-50 USD.
On the positive side the guy was impressed with all the wiring and connections I made although they are very basic compared to the electrical setups I see on RC. Also I got a big dscount on the bill as the guy seems to be interested in the tank. he said this way I will not charge him when he asks for help on the tank he decided to setup...
Enough rambling for now. just a quick update on the tank conditions:
Water parameters seem stable for now, my old RBTA which was sucked int he PH is still attached to the rock the wound looks a bit better but its still keeping it's head on the sand. Wonder if I should try feeding it or increasing/decreasing the flow on it?
the new RBTA which has bleached ans shrinked is still fine colouring up a bit more still attached where I want it and feeding 2-3 times a week (fish Shrimp mussles soaked in fish vitamin and coral food for 2-3 hours before feeding.
All fish seem Ok Still struggling to catch the 2 htchhiker crabs I have. I'm hoping everything wil be stable over the nex two weeks as I have to travel to Switzerland for 5 days then back for 1 day and off to Turkey for 5 more days.
maroun.c
New member
One last thing I forgot to mention is multiple larvae that I'm seing on night inpsctions in holes in the rocks they swim in as soon as the light hits them, ar ea couple of mm long and hav a long tail. I have no shrimps in the system and am only thinking it could be the cardinals that have spawned ithout me noticing them? but how could the fish have lived without the needed smaller foods?
Will try to get a piture of them but it's very difficult as they swim in the rock holes and appear only briefly.
Will try to get a piture of them but it's very difficult as they swim in the rock holes and appear only briefly.
maroun.c
New member
Sonny,
You are welcome to pass by whenever you are around. Just inform me a few weeks in advance so I modify my travel schedule to be here when you are here. Glad to know you had a TOTM. Any build thread for your tank?
Actually there are two other guys I know here who have very decent tanks. one of them is way better than my tank (1500 L inwall...)
Will PM you my details so you can contact me when here.
You are welcome to pass by whenever you are around. Just inform me a few weeks in advance so I modify my travel schedule to be here when you are here. Glad to know you had a TOTM. Any build thread for your tank?
Actually there are two other guys I know here who have very decent tanks. one of them is way better than my tank (1500 L inwall...)
Will PM you my details so you can contact me when here.
InsaneClownFish
New member
Glad to see you received some piece of mind from your electrician. The "quality" of voltage from the generator does seem like a likely culprit. Although the pump issues is intriguing as Eheims are usually so reliable.
I had a conversation with Jesse from Elos about the electrical over in Italy where 400w mh are virtually unheard of because of the simple fact that housing over there is wired for such a low total current draw. We in the US tend to overdue it.
You don't want to see that laptop....trust me
I like the idea of splitting equipment across multiple GFCI powerstrips. This is something I want to do on my build thread because it affords me more control of my equipment. I've used these heavy duty Stanley(made by Belkin) GFCI shop style power strips on my last two builds. I want to use at least 2, and possibly 3, with my new build so that I can flip off all the circulation pumps simultaneously without touching any of the other equipment.
I had a conversation with Jesse from Elos about the electrical over in Italy where 400w mh are virtually unheard of because of the simple fact that housing over there is wired for such a low total current draw. We in the US tend to overdue it.
You don't want to see that laptop....trust me
I like the idea of splitting equipment across multiple GFCI powerstrips. This is something I want to do on my build thread because it affords me more control of my equipment. I've used these heavy duty Stanley(made by Belkin) GFCI shop style power strips on my last two builds. I want to use at least 2, and possibly 3, with my new build so that I can flip off all the circulation pumps simultaneously without touching any of the other equipment.
maroun.c
New member
I was intrigued too by the Eheims which were both new releasing electricity in the water. I konw the new ones are from the same batch as they didin't get any new shipments lately but these two seem to be Ok.
Our houses here are wired for much more voltage draw as people use lots of heaters in winter and also multiple ACs as we tend to avoid central system that will not be supported by backup generators.
As for multiple GFCIs for control of items per groups I already had a main GFCI CB and then non GFCI general circuit brakers for everything outside water, another onw for all circulation, another one for filtration followed by individual CB for each MH, T5, large fans, small fans...
Guess at least I know for now that everything should work fine.
Our houses here are wired for much more voltage draw as people use lots of heaters in winter and also multiple ACs as we tend to avoid central system that will not be supported by backup generators.
Now we're even more interested
As for multiple GFCIs for control of items per groups I already had a main GFCI CB and then non GFCI general circuit brakers for everything outside water, another onw for all circulation, another one for filtration followed by individual CB for each MH, T5, large fans, small fans...
Guess at least I know for now that everything should work fine.
melev
Well-known member
Sounds like you're getting some good advice. :thumbsup:
The fry you see zipping around - are they running on the surface or swimming in the water? If they are running, they may be mysis or mysids. Totally fine, I have tons of those in my system currently. Their eyes are bright silver from the beam of my flashlight.
Enjoy Switzerland for me when you are there, and get some Marzipan. Great stuff. Lackerli is good too, but you may have to be in Basel to get it.
The fry you see zipping around - are they running on the surface or swimming in the water? If they are running, they may be mysis or mysids. Totally fine, I have tons of those in my system currently. Their eyes are bright silver from the beam of my flashlight.
Enjoy Switzerland for me when you are there, and get some Marzipan. Great stuff. Lackerli is good too, but you may have to be in Basel to get it.
maroun.c
New member
Marc the fry I see are swimming in the water inside holes in the LR. I only see them inside the holes and at night time. Still not able to get any pics of them.
Have you been in Switzerland before? any fish stores or aquarium displays to visit? As for the Marzipan we have great quality here if that is enough to get you to visit?
Have you been in Switzerland before? any fish stores or aquarium displays to visit? As for the Marzipan we have great quality here if that is enough to get you to visit?
maroun.c
New member
Ok as things are quiet in my tank lately I'll start posting some pics of all the corals in my tank. Your opinions on specific care for each is welcome.
Pagoda cup coral. Got 2 large pieces conisdering fragging one of them when I have some decent lighting on my frag tank. seem happy in my tank under strong light and current. seems very good at catching food from the water even with the pumps running.
Few shots under actinics (still practicing actinic shots PP especially without T5 Actinic)
Scroll Coral
Looked a bit more greenish under the 20 K lighting at the LFS but looked more yellow in my tank even under actinics don't know if it shifted colours or not. I read some articel where it was classified as SPS?
Galaxea
Got one large piece and another one I got after having lost more than 90% of its polyps. Looks like the small one is improving will post growth pictures as soon as it's more evident. Keeping it under medium strong light and very strong flow.
Candy cane
Lost some heads after I got it and seems to be stable now.
Medium strong light and medium medium-low flow.
Under actinics
Pagoda cup coral. Got 2 large pieces conisdering fragging one of them when I have some decent lighting on my frag tank. seem happy in my tank under strong light and current. seems very good at catching food from the water even with the pumps running.
Few shots under actinics (still practicing actinic shots PP especially without T5 Actinic)
Scroll Coral
Looked a bit more greenish under the 20 K lighting at the LFS but looked more yellow in my tank even under actinics don't know if it shifted colours or not. I read some articel where it was classified as SPS?
Galaxea
Got one large piece and another one I got after having lost more than 90% of its polyps. Looks like the small one is improving will post growth pictures as soon as it's more evident. Keeping it under medium strong light and very strong flow.
Candy cane
Lost some heads after I got it and seems to be stable now.
Medium strong light and medium medium-low flow.
Under actinics
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maroun.c
New member
Lobophilia
The double eaded one on the left was classified as lobophilia don't know about the single headed one on the right whihc I got afterwards? Looks very similar with few differences.
Under actinics
Feeding
Montipora
Got it worse than this and seems to be improving with polyps now opening and small signs of growth. I was previously told that I should take out the dead pieces but I'm sure I'll endup braking the healthy ones so I'm letting it be for the time being.
And a Zoo colony
The double eaded one on the left was classified as lobophilia don't know about the single headed one on the right whihc I got afterwards? Looks very similar with few differences.
Under actinics
Feeding
Montipora
Got it worse than this and seems to be improving with polyps now opening and small signs of growth. I was previously told that I should take out the dead pieces but I'm sure I'll endup braking the healthy ones so I'm letting it be for the time being.
And a Zoo colony
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melev
Well-known member
You have lots of potential in the corals you have now. Each one is trying to hold its own, with some displaying good health where it wasn't doing well previously.
The scroll coral looks lifeless to me. Did you see any polyps in any of those holes?
I can't see the new growth you asked about on the Torch branches.
The scroll coral looks lifeless to me. Did you see any polyps in any of those holes?
I can't see the new growth you asked about on the Torch branches.
maroun.c
New member
Marc I remember seing polyps very rarely on the Scroll do you think it's already dead or could it still recover? ITs very weird how some corals are improving while others are not. here's the small growths I see on the torch when closed but I ever saw a new head forming before so I don't know how it looks like.
melev
Well-known member
Those are not Torches. Those are vermetid snails.
The Torch tissue should be encompassing the top 1" of skeleton, and babies would form on the tissue. These would grow over time until they make more branches. The picture above is an example of a coral that has potential, but currently isn't healthy.
The Torch tissue should be encompassing the top 1" of skeleton, and babies would form on the tissue. These would grow over time until they make more branches. The picture above is an example of a coral that has potential, but currently isn't healthy.
