Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread

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I'll do that this week. There's also an acro that has done very well that was attached to a plug, but the picture was terribly blurry. I'll move everybody up and see what they do.
 
I had 3 of the blue gudgeon gobies in my tank. Beautiful fish. But like you said, very shy.

I had one jump, one disappear, and one die right in front of me (was incredibly discolored and corkscrewed until he stopped moving)...


:(
 
hey marc
check out the tds reading i got after swiching out the filters
my country water
P1000560.jpg


and after the rodi
P1000559.jpg


and yes i forgot about the sticker for my system
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12379875#post12379875 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by njdevilsfan
hey marc
check out the tds reading i got after swiching out the filters
my country water
P1000560.jpg


and after the rodi
P1000559.jpg


and yes i forgot about the sticker for my system

You need a sticker? PM me your shipping address or at least your real name and I'll get one out in the mail to you.
 
Those gobies look really neat must be cool to see them out together in a group.
sorry to hear about the cbb & anthia.
 
Quick question Mark,
I read a post of yours last week about gluing spa flex to standard pvc, and now can't find it. You recommended a pool/spa adhesive instead of oatey. What was the name again, where can it be found??

Thanks!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12380469#post12380469 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dazed
Those gobies look really neat must be cool to see them out together in a group.
sorry to hear about the cbb & anthia.

Here are 5 of them. :)

blue_gudgeon5.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12380610#post12380610 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drjuice28
Quick question Mark,
I read a post of yours last week about gluing spa flex to standard pvc, and now can't find it. You recommended a pool/spa adhesive instead of oatey. What was the name again, where can it be found??

Thanks!

It is the Oatey's solvent that has a red label at Home Depot. Read those cans carefully to double check.
 
njdevilsfan: I got you beat:D Just checked mine and have 478:eek: Yuck!

Those gobies are cool Marc! I guess being pictured in front of those contrasting colors helps quite a bit though;)
 
So do you think you are going to start vodka/vinegar/sugar dosing on your tank? I think your tank would benefit quite well from the dosing. Just remember, if you decide to dose to not let your alkalinity get above 9. A DKH of 8 is preferred. Alkalinity is the most important thing to watch while dosing a carbon source, because if your alkalinity is on the higher end of the scale, tissue necrosis will occur.

Here the basic layout for this diy carbon dosing:

Mix the following ingredients together in a bottle that can be sealed.

200ml of vodka
50ml of vinegar
1.5 tbsp. of sugar

The mixture will foam upon mixing.

Start out dosing .1 ml per 26 gallons of water per day.
This does not seem like much, but the v/s/v mixture is quite powerful.

Slowly increase the dosage based on the production of your skimmer. So, if there is no change in skimmer production after 3 days to a week increase the dosage of v/s/v by a very tiny amount.

Overtime you can increase the dosage based on how your tank reacts to the mixture. Every tank is different so everyone will end up dosing a different amount of v/s/v.

The trick with carbon dosing is patience and moving slowly. If you get impaitent and dose too much to quick you will probably get a bacterial bloom, which would quickly deplete your water of oxygen and kill all of your livestock. This is almost sure not to happen though if you are patient. It can take quite some time before you get the hang of dosing. After you have figured out a set dosing schedule for your tank it will pretty much be smooth sailing.
This is not any proffesional dosing thing that I got from somewhere. I actually got this dosing scheme from Glassbox-design.
All credit for this information goes to this webpage
http://glassbox-design.com/2008/achieved-through-observation-and-experimentation/

I hope this helps you get a better understanding of diy carbon dosing!
 
.1 ml per 26g ... My system holds about 330g of water, I believe. So that looks like about 1.2ml per day if I were do pursue this.

What happens when I'm out of town for a few days and am not able to get that amount dosed? Since it affects oxygen levels, is dosing preferred at the peak of the lighting period?

Thank you for chiming in on this topic, and for the link. I'll read it over now.
 
For the first 2.5 to 3 months of dosing is when the bacteria population becomes established. You must dose everyday for this time frame.
After that you can go about 3 days without dosing without any bad side effects. I mean it should not be too difficult for a tank sitter to dose for you while you are gone. You could maybe even figure out an auto dosing system for your tank, as long as the mixture is kept sealed. That could also be a possible solution.

I dose in the morning right when the lights come on, so the oxygen in the water is kept at an adequate level throughout the day.

Feel free to ask any other questions you may have!
 
Cool show, I especially like the "Putting it together" picture. I wouldn't mind one of those condos on the top floor. Do those gobies shoal or is it school, i cant remember :D
 
So I get an email (I'm on their mailing list) from www.zoanuts.com telling me about their current sale, and I decided on a whim to check it out and see what they've got.

I just bought a frag of purple rimmed efflo and a 20 ricordia pack. :D It'll be here Thursday. :D

I also ordered a Potassium Test kit from www.AquariumSpecialty.com last night so I can determine what the level is in my tank. In the Vodka thread, I've been musing on the idea that maybe my tank is lacking in this area and thus that is why Montipora don't fare well.

And lastly, I'm about to order Sodium ascorbate (Vitamin C) to dose my tank with that as well.

Just pourin' in the :inlove:
 
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Way awesome!

munn_5.jpg


NICE SHIRT!!!

Hey a local group did something similar to this pic
preston2.jpg

in this thread:
Thread
all you do is prolong your shutter speed and make your f-stop really small and move FAST!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12390697#post12390697 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kentanner11
Way awesome!

munn_5.jpg


NICE SHIRT!!!

Something tells me Marc wasnt taking a picture of himself ;)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12390697#post12390697 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kentanner11
all you do is prolong your shutter speed and make your f-stop really small and move FAST!

I'm just so amazed that he never appeared in that picture.

The thread link took me to the picture.

I like that shirt, and usually only wear it to MACNA. Still, it seemed appropriate for that day.

I wonder if it would be worth making a bunch of prints of some of my pictures and running a booth next year.
 
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