Carl_in_Florida
Active member
I don't think the temp drop will affect anything.
Carl
Carl
Mikeeal's 20
- Thread starter Mikeeal
- Start date
I dunno. They're weird and I've never quite figured out what they are, even though I had been looking before in the like 6 marine aquarium books that I've got. I really want to find out what they are. They're not causing problems, but they're just very weird and awkward being in the tank and me not having any idea what they are.
BTW I LOVE the refugium on the back of your tank. It's such a great idea
I think doing it on a 20L for another project would be cool because it would be shallower and require less light for the plants in the back.
I don't know if you're just a fan of cheato or what, but I've been using grape caulerpa, and that stuff grows like a weed in my tank, and I have it in the display.
Great tank man!
BTW I LOVE the refugium on the back of your tank. It's such a great idea
I think doing it on a 20L for another project would be cool because it would be shallower and require less light for the plants in the back.I don't know if you're just a fan of cheato or what, but I've been using grape caulerpa, and that stuff grows like a weed in my tank, and I have it in the display.
Great tank man!
Carl_in_Florida
Active member
reefwreck - time to drop the nr sig
Mikeeal
Same avatar since '05
ReefWreak, thanks for the compliments. If you find anything out, let me know because I'm curious. I used cheato because that's what they had at the LFS, plus I've heard of people having problems with some of the other ones.
I would like to share some pics of the finished skimmer I built. At first I didn't complete it because I wanted to make sure it was gonna work. Everything looked good to me, so I finished it up.
This is the hanger set that came with a MJ.
Then I attached it to the skimmer.
And then inserted the hanger.
Now I can adjust the height of the skimmer depending on the water level.
Here's the whole thing.
At the bottom, you can see that I also attached some more acrylic strips, and tapped them for the nylon screws. Now I can level it out.
Next up I need to work on the canopy. I might wait for the lights to get here though.
I would like to share some pics of the finished skimmer I built. At first I didn't complete it because I wanted to make sure it was gonna work. Everything looked good to me, so I finished it up.
This is the hanger set that came with a MJ.
Then I attached it to the skimmer.
And then inserted the hanger.
Now I can adjust the height of the skimmer depending on the water level.
Here's the whole thing.
At the bottom, you can see that I also attached some more acrylic strips, and tapped them for the nylon screws. Now I can level it out.
Next up I need to work on the canopy. I might wait for the lights to get here though.
clown fanatic
New member
wow nice skimmer design, cant wait to see how it works
Mikeeal
Same avatar since '05
I made a quick video of the skimmer in action. Watch when I move down to the neck/body transition, you can see how the bubbles are getting stuck and forming really big bubbles shooting up the neck. That is why the skimmate is popping up and down, not stable at all. I'm going to take it out and try slipping a bottle top in there, like I did to the Sea Clone.
http://media.putfile.com/skim76
http://media.putfile.com/skim76
Mikeeal
Same avatar since '05
Ok, I put in the bottle top. It helped out quite a bit. Not exacly professional grade, but it gets the job done. Here is a couple pics.
Here is a video with it installed.
http://media.putfile.com/skim2
I had to raise the skimmer up as I high as I can get it. It's still shooting some large bubbles, but not nearly as many. Maybe the wooden block will break in??? I have the pump restricted as well, hoping to get the bubbles smaller. Looks like once it breaks in, it'll do ok....I hope.
Here is a video with it installed.
http://media.putfile.com/skim2
I had to raise the skimmer up as I high as I can get it. It's still shooting some large bubbles, but not nearly as many. Maybe the wooden block will break in??? I have the pump restricted as well, hoping to get the bubbles smaller. Looks like once it breaks in, it'll do ok....I hope.
Mikeeal
Same avatar since '05
OCDep, thanks. It's funny, most of the stuff I use, is stuff I have laying around the house. Lowe's is thirty minutes away, so I'd rather search the house.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
CYANO. This stuff is nasty and it really upsets me. I thought this is why I cooked my rocks.
Is this stuff gonna go away with WC's? I'm gonna do a large one tomorrow. I have plenty of flow, skimmer is skimmin, what's up? I'm even getting some nice coralline growth, you can see in this pic....
All different colors and it looks good, but this dang cyano, I hate it. Is there anything else I should be doing?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
CYANO. This stuff is nasty and it really upsets me. I thought this is why I cooked my rocks.
Is this stuff gonna go away with WC's? I'm gonna do a large one tomorrow. I have plenty of flow, skimmer is skimmin, what's up? I'm even getting some nice coralline growth, you can see in this pic....
All different colors and it looks good, but this dang cyano, I hate it. Is there anything else I should be doing?
Mikeeal
Same avatar since '05
That is very refreshing to know. I was convinced it was cyano. So, does it make sense it is starting at the top, closest to the lights? This is the reason I took down my 135G FOWLR. Two months and it never went away. I will be getting some cleanup critters on Tuesday as well.
The refugium is fine I guess. The cheato looks nice and green, but I can't tell if it's growing or not. I also put some LR rubble in there from when I broke up the one rock. There is a layer of crap in the bottom, that I will siphon out with the WC. I'm still debating on whether or not to put 10lbs. of live sand in there or not. What'ya think? Any benefits?
The refugium is fine I guess. The cheato looks nice and green, but I can't tell if it's growing or not. I also put some LR rubble in there from when I broke up the one rock. There is a layer of crap in the bottom, that I will siphon out with the WC. I'm still debating on whether or not to put 10lbs. of live sand in there or not. What'ya think? Any benefits?
Testhead1313
New member
These are foraminiferans... Harmless filter feeders.
Chris
Mikeeal
Same avatar since '05
Thanks Testhead. They seem to have died back, and haven't come back yet. I do have some sponge polyps though. I've read that they are harmless as well.
I am having a problem now....
I don't know what lights to get. At first I wanted VHO's, but I think I might have changed my mind. I'm looking at PC's. A 4X55W retro to be exact. What I really like about the PC's is that I can make my canopy nice and small, which I wouldn't have been able to do with VHO's.
220 watts of PC's over a 16" tall tank. How's that sound??? Any suggestions, comments, opinions, experience, I would be very greatful because I don't think I can figure this one out on my own.
I am having a problem now....
I don't know what lights to get. At first I wanted VHO's, but I think I might have changed my mind. I'm looking at PC's. A 4X55W retro to be exact. What I really like about the PC's is that I can make my canopy nice and small, which I wouldn't have been able to do with VHO's.
220 watts of PC's over a 16" tall tank. How's that sound??? Any suggestions, comments, opinions, experience, I would be very greatful because I don't think I can figure this one out on my own.
Jordan55
Premium Member
Thats sounds good. I had 260 watts in my 55 and I could keep LPS and softies.
Depending on what you wanted to keep.... it sounds good. IMO though T-5's are better because you do need to change the bulbs so often. With PC's you can go a year without changing the bulbs.... but every 6 months is ideal. With T-5s you could last almost 2 years I think and they are pretty close to MH in quality.
Depending on what you wanted to keep.... it sounds good. IMO though T-5's are better because you do need to change the bulbs so often. With PC's you can go a year without changing the bulbs.... but every 6 months is ideal. With T-5s you could last almost 2 years I think and they are pretty close to MH in quality.
Mikeeal
Same avatar since '05
Jordan, yes, T5's are nice, but I can't seem to find any decent retro kits. I'll keep looking though, I almost bought the 4X55W PC's, but figured I'd wait a little longer.
Well, diatoms are still in the tank, so I haven't posted any progress lately. I did a 5G WC yesterday, and then went to the LFS. The plan was to buy stricly cleanup critters. Well, I bought 6 mexican turbo's, 1 nassarius, and then this little guy.....
Fifteen bucks. I thought it was a fair price. He's about and inch long, and hid all day yesterday. This morning when the lights came on, he came out from under a rock. I dropped in some mysis and he took it. He's pretty cool. My clown wants to play with him real bad, but he isn't having any part of it.
Well, diatoms are still in the tank, so I haven't posted any progress lately. I did a 5G WC yesterday, and then went to the LFS. The plan was to buy stricly cleanup critters. Well, I bought 6 mexican turbo's, 1 nassarius, and then this little guy.....
Fifteen bucks. I thought it was a fair price. He's about and inch long, and hid all day yesterday. This morning when the lights came on, he came out from under a rock. I dropped in some mysis and he took it. He's pretty cool. My clown wants to play with him real bad, but he isn't having any part of it.
Mikeeal
Same avatar since '05
I just wanted to show a couple pictures of my snails going to town on my rock.
I think they are full now. For the first couple of days, they were all over the place, mowing this stuff down, now they've just been chillin. I'm gonna go buy maybe six or ten more. Also doing another 5G WC tomorrow.
I think they are full now. For the first couple of days, they were all over the place, mowing this stuff down, now they've just been chillin. I'm gonna go buy maybe six or ten more. Also doing another 5G WC tomorrow.
Mikeeal
Same avatar since '05
WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!
WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Yay for me, I bit the bullet and bought a 175W halide from http://www.hellolights.com/index.html. I am very happy with it, and the customer service. I got the package in two days, and it was packed extremely well. Anyway, I got the XM 15,000K with it. I like the color so far. When the the time comes to get a new bulb, I might get a 10,000K, and a couple of PC actinic's, so I can do dawn/dusk. I installed two 80mm computer fans my dad-in-law gave me, and the tank has stayed pinned at 80.1-80.9 for two days. I'm real happy about that. Here is a pic of the hood with fans and all.
And here is some pics of the tank. As you can see, the snails polished of all the diatoms and HA, so I think I'm ready to start stocking with some corals.
What's funny is the last three pics are all taken with the same settings on the camera, and they all look different. My camera doesn't have any manual settings to fix that, so I don't know what I'm gonna do. The second pic is closest to what it actually looks like, but not quite.
Well stay tuned, hopefully next time I post I will have some CORALS!
WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Yay for me, I bit the bullet and bought a 175W halide from http://www.hellolights.com/index.html. I am very happy with it, and the customer service. I got the package in two days, and it was packed extremely well. Anyway, I got the XM 15,000K with it. I like the color so far. When the the time comes to get a new bulb, I might get a 10,000K, and a couple of PC actinic's, so I can do dawn/dusk. I installed two 80mm computer fans my dad-in-law gave me, and the tank has stayed pinned at 80.1-80.9 for two days. I'm real happy about that. Here is a pic of the hood with fans and all.
And here is some pics of the tank. As you can see, the snails polished of all the diatoms and HA, so I think I'm ready to start stocking with some corals.
What's funny is the last three pics are all taken with the same settings on the camera, and they all look different. My camera doesn't have any manual settings to fix that, so I don't know what I'm gonna do. The second pic is closest to what it actually looks like, but not quite.
Well stay tuned, hopefully next time I post I will have some CORALS!
fishes2889
In Memoriam
sweet tank!!! keep us updated when u put the corals in.. what corals are u going to put in?
