OK! Enough chat...Starting a 1000g+ Reef

[Goodwin9]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9900756#post9900756 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hop
I'm looking at a stand alone unit now that does ac in the summer and dehumidifies in the winter. Basically I can keep it cool and vented in the summer and then in the winter when I want to be cautious as to how much cold air I'm introducing, I can use the dehumidifying capability. Or so it looks good on paper right now

I've got two that I would sell real cheap, 9000 BTU, they didn't work for me in my situation. Admiral, 9000 BTU I bought at Home Depot.

 

[jnarowe]

probably not big enough for me.

 

[tylorarm]

I just bought a Sharp CVP12LX Portable Air Conditioner. It'll be here in a few days. I let you know how it works out. 11,500 BTU with separate dehumidifier mode capable of 65 pints a day. I heard good things about it both noise wise and performance. $580 plus delivery.

 

[jnarowe]

I am very interested to hear how that goes.

 

[jnarowe]

so...the PLTA seems to be recovering well from her brush with the Vortech pump. It poked out above the rocks today and so I fed it some shrimp. It had a decent feeding response so that looks good. I also fed shrimp to the GBTAs and for the first time, to what I believe to be some kind of open brain.

This coral has been alive for a long time but hasn't grown very much. I have never fed it before but after reading Andrew Trevor-Jones' article on Coral Feeding, I decided to try it out. The brain took what I thought to be a too large piece of shrimp and folded over it rather quickly. The cleaner shrimp never had a chance!

I am looking forward to feeding my orange fungia next time.

 

[Hop]

Great news! I hate to say I thought things were not going to go well for the plta after hearing of it's expedition

 

[cbui2]

when feeding comes up again try to see if the brain really sting, hehe

 

[jnarowe]

Well, the shocker of Steve Weast's visit was he told me he got rid of his. I bought mine because of the awesome one he had, and his was doing exactly what mine is: Every so often it will decide to take a few laps around the tank tasting everything along the way. I was stunned to hear that from him too. And my buddy Sherman warned me about it but did I listen? No!! :lol:

And Bart, if I can walk though 3/4" of water while breakers are popping and smoke is a'risin', I doubt any little ol' brain is gonna hurt me.

I have a new dilema as I want to install a Vortech on the back panel but because of the overflow, I can't figure out a way to anchor the cord above the pump. I may try a reverse install and have the cord go down instead.

 

[mrcrab]

I have 2 on the back of mine. Why not anchor to the bottom of the overflow? Running the cords down will defeat the purpose of holding them in place if the magnets disconnect.

 

[jnarowe]

Well, I have not had ANY luck with those stick-on cord keeprs. They just don't hold up over time, so all my others have been zip tied to holes in my bracing. Can't do that with the overflow though. Since the motors would be mounted above the catwalk area, they would not fall far, and I could still zip tie the cords to hoses etc. to break their fall. No "easy" solution, but there never is!! :eek1:

 

[Hop]

Ahh. I was curious as to why the cords had to mounted a certain way. Makes sense I guess, but I would think that if that is the only reason they have to me mounted that way, numerous solutions cold be found in order to make them fit your application.

 

[EcoTech Marine]

Hop-

You got it. The cords are mounted up to use as an emergency catch should the pumps fall off. However, if you're creative, you can come up with a variety of ways to accomplish the same thing.

I highly recommend that you do have some system to catch the pumps because if the pumps do fall, its pretty obvious to us at the factory and it's not uncommon for bearings to go bad after a bad fall. This could potentially void your warranty and be cause for an expensive replacement.

-Tim

 

[jnarowe]

hehehe...Tim...I wouldn't break one and expect you to repair it for free!

I do have a couple ideas for mounting them and as I try them I will post about it. Since there are a variety of flexible PVC pipes 1" - 2" all along the back of the tank, I should be able to tether the pumps to those with no issue of having them fall too far and impact a surface. There is a catwalk along the back of the tank so in the event of a separation, the most they could fall untethered would be about 18" onto wood. I just don't want to take the chance though.

 

[Enderrea]

you call that a cat walk?? reminds me of hunting around Forks! more like Dog hair

 

[jnarowe]

James, you are one twisted MFer. No one knows what the hell you are talking about! :lol:

 

[jnarowe]

BTW, I took my kalk top-off offline today. My alk levels are still well above target and my pH is too high. I re-routed the top-off water so it is just plain RO/DI. I'll have to watch pH closely over the next couple of days to make sure it doesn't bottom out. It has been hitting 8.40 over the last few days and it's making me nervous.

 

[sherm71tank]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9924947#post9924947 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe
James, you are one twisted MFer. No one knows what the hell you are talking about! :lol:

:eek1: :lol: :rollface: :mixed: Ahhhhh you can always count on Jonathan for his honesty!!! I'll bring that skimmer over in a bit. I also have something I don't think you tried before as well!

 

[jnarowe]

I started the slow process of re-aquascaping the right side of the tank. I am trying to get more flow under the rocks. Of course I kicked up a nice storm and the tangs swooped in to eat whatever they could get off the rocks. I also saw the sailfin take some bites out of a poor, defenseless, aiptasia.

Alarms are going off now since the pH went over 8.41.

 

[Enderrea]

I do what i can! Dog hair = the nastiest thickest brush in the woods you have ever seen.

 

[jnarowe]

bang, bang.

So my acropora are growing like crazy...I switched out another lamp yesterday AM and was really surpirsed at how bright the new one is. I must have gone too long before changing it and since the degredation happens over time, I really didn't notice the decrease in light output.

The new one is majorly bright!! pH is still averaging higher than I like and I wonder if there is some way to bring it down. I switched the fuge lamp to opposite the daylight just to keep temp. in check, and last night I turned it off to help keep the cyano down. The reef overall actually looks very nice, if I ignore the montis! :lol: