Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread

[melev]

No, it really can't. Imagine putting them in the frag/prop section of your sump. Any "nasties" can fall off and travel into the rest of the system.

I'm starting to consider enlarging my fishroom a few more feet just so I can incorporate a new prop/quarantine tank and keep my life somewhat simple at the same time.

 

[clkwrk]

Marc 1 bottle of TMPCC can treat a lil 10g tank packed full of acros.

Until you get setup you can take em out use egg crate or whatever to get the most in the tank as you can . Then take them out and place in rubbermaids or something with tank water thats where you should blow them off before replacing them into the display . That should put a good dent in them . Oh don't forget to scape off any eggs that you see.

 

[melev]

I talked with Marine Depot today about getting some TMPCC, so hopefully that will get shipped out pretty soon.

In the meantime, I need to read more about how to treat that stuff. I think this weekend will be when I have time to study up on this.

Btw, I hate the idea of tearing my tank apart to remove the acros. Heck, now I want another VorTech for the separate system, if I go that route.

I'm even toying with the thought of moving the wall in the fish room so I can enlarge an area to hold the tank and keep the system reasonably stable and yet near the reef.

 

[NexDog]

To TMPCC users. As a preventative measure, how many dips are required over what timeframe? For eample, say you get an order of new acros but can't see any AEFWs but still want to be sure. How many dips over how many days is safe?

 

[clkwrk]

once a week for 4 weeks ......IMO is the safest way

 

[NexDog]

Yikes. (Looks around room to place new 50g tank)

 

[melev]

So here is a view of the fishroom wall I'm thinking I might move. As you can see, two years later and it still is unfinished. Let's just assume I'm a pretty busy guy.

I think I could expand the wall more to the left after moving my stockpile of Kent buckets :lol: leaving the door where it is. It would create an alcove somewhat.

The other wall isn't really an option, unless I expanded underneath the A/C unit. The lumber is probably a little misleading, but it's just leaning there.

The big question is how many square or cubic feet can an 8000 BTU a/c cool? The room is currently 7 x 7 x 8, or 392 cubic feet. If I added a new 4 x 2 x 8 section, it would increase the room by 64 cubic feet, creating some extra space for a couple of options. Would that end up over-taxing the a/c unit at 456 cubic feet?

I've recently considered adding a dehumidifier to the fishroom to lessen the burden on the a/c unit as well as the help protect the house from moisture damage (I see rust on the home A/C duct vents), but don't know how much power one of those units pulls. The last thing I want to do is add more to my power bill. I was hoping they'd kind of work in conjunction and level each other out.

Please ignore the mess.

 

[steve68]

if i where u i would just move that whole wall with the door on it & get a bigger ac unit along with a dehumidifier, then i could see you not doing the wood work in front of ur tank for at least 2 years

 

[jnarowe]

That mess is ART!

Couple questions:

1. Where do you get your mag flake?
2. Is this side of the wall your garage?

If so, I would remove the wall and switch to an undergound cooling loop. That will cost a lot less in the long run and give you all the space you need.

 

[melev]

<b>Steve</b> - I can't remove the walls as the garage gets very hot.

<b>Jonathan</b> - The Mag Flake was part of a Group Buy DFWMAS did a few months ago. I just tested my Mg and it was 1380, so I still don't need to open the new bag quite yet. I don't even recall what I paid for it. Maybe $35 shipped for a 50# bag.

The fishroom is not against an exterior wall of the house. And the house is a slab foundation. The soil is not condusive to my digging up the yard for a cooling loop anyway, plus I enjoy that the fish room is pleasant when I enter it. It stays at a constant 78F all summer long.

<b>All</b> - any comments on increasing the room and having enough BTUs to cool it?

 

[jnarowe]

Hmmm...yeah sometimes my fishroom is up to 85F and a bit humid so it can be uncomfortable. My Mg has been right around 1500 and I am not dosing Mg...must be the OceanPure salt and the Kent Reactor!

Regarding the BTUs, have you tried getting the room down to 70F? If you can make that happen during the Summer, I would guess that you have enough BTUs to cover the additional space and maintain 78F. There must be a BTU calculator online somewhere...

 

[MPH]

Marc,

If your room enlargement does not increase the amont of wall exposed to the outside, your AC sound be OK.

 

[Cuby2k]

Very roughly you can figure about 400 SF per ton of cooling with one ton of cooling being 12, 000 BTUH. It depends on many things, the exposed wall / glass area, the internal gain such as equipment/people/lighting and infiltration.

Marc, is the room interior? I guess that's the same question from MPH but will it add more roof area (inside of the room?

For equipment figure 3.41 BTUH/watt of energy. So if you have 2000 Watts of equipment there's 6820 BTUH right there.

Is the rest of the house around it air conditioned? I assume the only wall to the non-conditioned space is the one to the garage with the wall unit in it.

But here is a very simple test; turn the room temp down to 72 deg and see if it holds that temp steady for a few days. If it holds then it's a safe bet that a few extra square feet of area won't bother it much.

 

[Tbduval]

Melev.. I just spoke with a HVAC tech at work and he agrees with MPH & Cuby2k. Hope everything works out!!!

 

[steve68]

Sorry Marc i ment that u should move the wall not remove it
move it back enough so u can have enough room to do what u want to do.

 

[raddogz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7876107#post7876107 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clkwrk
once a week for 4 weeks ......IMO is the safest way

I will starting my third treatment week probably will be going a slightly lower dosage.

My first two treatments were at double the recommened strength (2) squirts for two hundred millileters of tank water.

I had a pretty fierce investation on my first go around.

 

[melev]

I just got back from the LFS, as I wanted to see how much power his dehumidifiers pulled. Each one used around 750w of power, or 7.5 amps. :eek2: :eek2: I couldn't believe it. My window a/c unit pulls 800w / 8 amps. At this point, I don't see the benefit of adding one, from a monetary standpoint. I think the vent fan in the ceiling is the route I'll end up going.

The fishroom is in the garage area, which formerly was abutting to the livingroom and dining area walls. I walled it off two years ago, with sheetrock on both sides and insulation within the new walls.

Your suggestion that I lower the a/c to 72F or 70F would make the reef too cold, and I'd have to run heaters to compensate. Call me cheap if you like, but with my current electric bill at $480 and this being the hottest month of the year (in Texas, typically), I'm not willing to pay the extra for that test.

I have to say, it is quite tempting to extend the fish room wall out 3' all the way across, including the doorway. That would reduce the area in the garage further, and make the fish room 7 x 10 x 8 / 560 cubic feet. The benefit is a little more space to work in there, and I could have top off and mixing vats in the same room on a permanent basis. Not having saltwater mixing in the kitchen is very appealing, when you consider that I'm mixing up 55g in a big drum on a regular basis. Water temperature in the barrel would be virtually the same as the reef tank, as well as pH.

The house uses a central A/C unit, and I'm keeping that at 77F now. With our humidity, it is right on the edge of being uncomfortable. Fans help substantially. The reef tank isn't sealed off from the house since there is no woodwork.

For now, I'm just thinking out loud. No solid decisions are being made yet.

 

[jnarowe]

I figure if you can drop the temp. in the tank room temporarily to 70F that should be good enough for a test. Your bill is high (IMO) and I can understand why you are sensitive to that issue. I took electrical consumption very seriously when I designed my system and my cost attributed to the tank room is $70/month. Of course, I am in a temperate zone and your house is just this side of ingiting! :lol:

No need to take up space in the tank room for water. I have been thinking about moving mine outside to give me room for more tanks inside. WIth some clever plumbing you could put your barrels just about anywhere. Extending the room to store water doesn't make much sense to me, especially when there are so many other things you can do with the space. All I have is a 29 Tall QT and I could really use a frag tank too. Maybe you can figure out a way to lighten the electrical load?

 

[Zoom]

I will not use any dehumidifiers is no winning battle because if you vent them in the same room, they add heat to surrounding area so your A/C will work harder to keep the fish room at 78F.
As for the AEFW do you think it is a predator out there that can eat them? You have good size tank and treating all of the acros in separate tank is going to be a full time job for you , i hope someone comes up with something easy soon to kill those buggers.

 

[steve68]

i only use dehumidifier in the winter, i have a 2 car garage & i taped in to my AC unit & now the garage stays at a dry 80 & the house at 77 tank does not go any higher then 81 & this week we hit 100 up here & with a 100% humidity it felt like 115, i can only imagine my electric bill next month