Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14623494#post14623494 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tangalone
Marc.....Marc, Marc Marc...I didn't say "she's legal what were you waiting for," I said "SHE'S LEGAL WHAT THE EFF IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!" She's not going to throw out there that she "dates older guys" because she read it in a fortune cookie!

*sigh*shaking head*

You need to sit closer to me at the Bone Daddy's next time for some brush ups because there is no good reason you should have exited that plane without 1) her contact info 2) a flirty hug AND 3) a secret high five from the dude across the aisle.


And just to make this post mildly reef related...don't you use your manifold to run your carbon reactor? That is a good way to avoid the use of another power head. I just suck the detritus out of the sump with a shop vac during water changes.

See you at Bone Daddy's. :thumbsup:

And that is correct about the manifold on my system. The only pumps that are submerged in my sump are the two on my skimmer, the circulation pump on my calcium reactor, and the pump on the Red Sea skimmer. Everything else has been eliminated.

 

[ds4x4]

Marc about your carbon. Are you only using one reactor? I'm using two on my 220/75 sump, filled 3/4 of the way full with a slow/medium flow. Maybe I am wasting carbon but what do you think? i'm using Lignite carbon from Bulk Reef Supply as well, what are you using?

 

[melev]

One reactor full of carbon should be plenty. Three cups is a lot of carbon.

I'm using some E. Borneman-approved stuff I bought a couple of years ago. At that time, I bought a giant bag that weighed about 50 lbs that was unmarked, and rebagged it in individual 1g ziplocks to keep the majority fresh. A single bag lasts me about two months, I'd guess.

 

[ds4x4]

Sounds like i'll re-deploy the other reactor. How's your flow through the reactor and which reactor are you using a TLF?

 

[reidcrandall]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14623188#post14623188 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BigJay
How do I put this politely?

...

You don't talk to cute 21 year old college girls about fish tanks, not unless they bring up the subject.

Haha.. it was supposed to be a joke. I still haven't brought the whole fish thing up with my wife... well, maybe I have. But not til after we were married.

 

[melev]

While I was visiting a LFS in Michigan, I picked up a new API Nitrate test kit to see if it matches the one I use now. I'll post the results soon. Tonight, I did some necessary scraping and cleaning of the overall tank, trying to get it back in shape the way I like it.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

That's funny you say that because I just purchase another API nitrate kit and the new one reads about 5ppm lower. I wonder if it is because when I got the first kit I never shook part 1 (it doesn't say to) until I read a post that recommended doing it regardless. So I wonder which one to believe... I'm curious of your results.

 

[melev]

The kit I'd bought had a sealed #2 bottle, which I had to poke with a sharp object to get it started. I wondered if the bottle was putting out the right sized drops since there was no way of knowing what size hole to poke.

Perhaps they are even lower, right?

 

[kudora]

when ever i use drops on the test kits it always bugged me how the first drop always looked bigger to me when holding the bottle semi horizontally, now i try to go verticle so they all look the same. dunno if it makes a difference but it does make me feel better :smokin:

 

[melev]

One more thing, for all your Euro-reef skimmer owners. If you have a Sedra pump that makes a ton of noise but doesn't seem to be working correctly...

My CS 12-2 has the new Eheim and the old Sedra 5000 pumps. The Sedra was really not wanting to work lately. When I plugged it in, it chattered loudly, and water would pour out of the intake instead of sucking in water and pushing it with air into the skimmer.

I fiddled around with it for 10 minutes and got it to work. It worked fine for several days, but again last night when I turned it off, it wouldn't start up correctly. It made a racket, and I tried to coax it back to working-order. The impellar wouldn't spin when I removed the cover, but it made noise and seemed like it was trying to do something. After wasting my time for a few minutes, I pulled out the pump and removed the entire impellar to figure out what was going on. And discovered the needlewheel section had cracked where it slides over the impellar's shaft. The magnetic shaft was spinning, but the needlewheel part wasn't snug and thus didn't maintain the grip it needed to spin with it.

Since I'd recently removed the other Sedra (to install the new Eheim), I pulled out the good impellar and it is working perfectly now. The broken one was cleaned up, glued and clamped for the night, and is ready for whenever it is needed in the future.

All the Vortech pumps were cleaned this evening, and flow is stronger in the tank as a result.

While turkey basting the corals, I blew off the second AEFW in a week. *sigh* My fish were for the most part staying in hiding with all that I was doing in the tank, and no-one tried to eat that worm as it blew around in the tank, so for the second time in a week, I was able to slurp it out of the system with the turkey baster that set it in motion in the first place. Both were adult-sized. And both came off the Tyree A. valida (AEFW candy, imho).

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14626554#post14626554 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kudora
when ever i use drops on the test kits it always bugged me how the first drop always looked bigger to me when holding the bottle semi horizontally, now i try to go verticle so they all look the same. dunno if it makes a difference but it does make me feel better :smokin:

Time to confirm your suspicions.

Test Kit Guidelines for Better Results
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-03/nftt/index.php

 

[psteeleb]

bummer AEFW's - I hate those things, they are the worse thing to happen to a happy reef tank

 

[melev]

I've been dealing with them annually for the past few years, and it has never gotten out of hand. I just have to make the time to blow off the corals to get them out in the open, and if I do it regularly, my fish (in the past) were happy to eat them. I think they are simply out of practice because I've been trying to stay out of the tank for the most part.

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14626601#post14626601 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
I've been dealing with them annually for the past few years, and it has never gotten out of hand. I just have to make the time to blow off the corals to get them out in the open, and if I do it regularly, my fish (in the past) were happy to eat them. I think they are simply out of practice because I've been trying to stay out of the tank for the most part.

that is the key to success with those buggers, is routine displacement of the adults

I also believe in little hermits, I seriously believe they get in and around the base of the corals to pick the eggs and eat them. I also routinely pull and dip in ReVive the high suspect corals just to see what falls off.

 

[melev]

Oh yeah, that reminds me that I need to do a Keys Critters GB soon. Let me know if you want any astreas or tiny hermits. I'm probably going to get 100 Astrea, 100 tiny blue hermits and 100 tiny ceriths. I may even get a few Emerald crabs just to snack on the stupid bubble algae in the angled tank.

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14626667#post14626667 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Oh yeah, that reminds me that I need to do a Keys Critters GB soon. Let me know if you want any astreas or tiny hermits. I'm probably going to get 100 Astrea, 100 tiny blue hermits and 100 tiny ceriths. I may even get a few Emerald crabs just to snack on the stupid bubble algae in the angled tank.

I'll join in, just let me know when. I'm good for at least 50 hermits and 100 ceriths and will probably want some more astrea's. my wife and i were wondering what was going on with the snail population then one night we stayed up after lights out and pulled out 7 whelks

 

[melev]

Okay, I'll be sure to let you know the specifics. They usually ship for a Wednesday or Thursday arrival, so I'll touch base with Corrie and see what she says.

Chappy and BigJay were both interested as well, and we can keep this GB simple.

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14626731#post14626731 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Okay, I'll be sure to let you know the specifics. They usually ship for a Wednesday or Thursday arrival, so I'll touch base with Corrie and see what she says.

Chappy and BigJay were both interested as well, and we can keep this GB simple.

thanks :thumbsup:

 

[Micki]

Hey Marc, I'll go in on the GB with you guys! :lol:

 

[rEd86]

I'm in!

--Ed