psteeleb
Team RC
Looks great Pete.How did you attach the frag plugs on the shelf rock, epoxy?
sorry - I should have specified I drilled a bunch of holes in the shelf rock to hold frags on plugs
Pete's 110 build
- Thread starter psteeleb
- Start date
sorry - I should have specified I drilled a bunch of holes in the shelf rock to hold frags on plugs
drummereef
Team RC
Oh, I see it now. :lol: I was going to say that's the cleanest epoxy job I've ever seen. I glob that stuff everywhere when I use it. Haha. Pays to think ahead.
psteeleb
Team RC
the nem moved into the space at the right between the 2 rocks and seems to be perfectly content for now
I'm looking for advice on suplimental LEDs
I'm now considering 12 XR-Es (blue) on a dimmer and want to get an early morning late night effect with them turned down low but I also want them to be strong enough when fully turned up to be able to provide a shimmer with my T5s on
or should I go with 12 XP-G's for the shimmer and forget about the early morning / late night dimmed lighting effect
I'm looking for advice on suplimental LEDs
I'm now considering 12 XR-Es (blue) on a dimmer and want to get an early morning late night effect with them turned down low but I also want them to be strong enough when fully turned up to be able to provide a shimmer with my T5s on
or should I go with 12 XP-G's for the shimmer and forget about the early morning / late night dimmed lighting effect
Taqpol
New member
Being able to see an LED's shimmer effect with T5s on the system really depends on the number of T5s, if I remember correctly. T5s are a very bright light source themselves, so while the color would shine through and mix easily subtleties of the LED, like shimmer, might get lost of you are running a small number of LEDs to a high number of T5s. That being said:
XP-G's do not come in blue colors, and even the cool white is extremely yellow to most reefer's tastes. XR-E's are great LEDs and they come in most colors including the Royal Blue. The Royal Blue still doesn't look like a normal actinic bulb but more like a blacklight in the way it makes fluorescent corals glow in what looks extremely unnatural to me. I am a big fan of LEDs and the colors you can get when they're mixed together, but separately I find both colors lacking.
I hope this helps at all...
XP-G's do not come in blue colors, and even the cool white is extremely yellow to most reefer's tastes. XR-E's are great LEDs and they come in most colors including the Royal Blue. The Royal Blue still doesn't look like a normal actinic bulb but more like a blacklight in the way it makes fluorescent corals glow in what looks extremely unnatural to me. I am a big fan of LEDs and the colors you can get when they're mixed together, but separately I find both colors lacking.
I hope this helps at all...
drummereef
Team RC
Sick! Can't wait to see them on the rock.
psteeleb
Team RC
Sick! Can't wait to see them on the rock.
not the best pictures but here they are
Meteor Shower
Tyree Pink Lemonade
Undata
ORA Pearlberry
Powder Blue Turaki
500$ Efflo
Rainbow Stylophora
Strawberry Tabling Acro
Chips
drummereef
Team RC
Great looking frags Pete. :thumbsup: A FTS is definitely needed. 
psteeleb
Team RC
I'll see if I can get a decent FTS shot later today when the lights come on
here is a videp of the sps under atinic lights
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here is a videp of the sps under atinic lights
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psteeleb
Team RC
the camera is a Sony HDR-XR150
it has a "one touch" white ballance (with several other options)
the "one touch" is probably the closest to a manual mode but it's a point and set
I'm still palying with the settings
here is the Meteor Shower
I had intended to include it in the prior clip
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psteeleb
Team RC
minor update
the new corals have been looking great - with no visable issues
the anemone has decided to move around a bit and seems to like hanging out under the upper shelf rock tha I plan on keeping my SPS on.
all the fish and other inhabitants have been doing well, no visable signs of stress and the communal fish (fire fish and grreen chromis) appear to be very comfortable with their surroundings - I'm a firm believer that providing proper fish habitat is essential for a low stress, healty life.
I started dosing 2 part a couple weeks ago, currently I am dosing about 1 oz every other day
The mandarins are both fat and have noticable growth since I bought them. I was a little concerned about the female as she was pretty scrawny whenI got her but she has fattened up and as grown about 1/4 her original lenght. I noticed the male eat frozen mysis the other day. The pod population remains healthy but it's always a good thing to see madarins eat something other then live pods
I bought a GEO 4x18 Ca reactor from a fellow RCer last night. It will need a little work but I think it will suit my set up better then the 6x24" one I was using on the heavy SPS populated 300g. I hope to get it in late this week so I can set it up while I'm home over the weekend.
I'm still doing research on LED's.
the new corals have been looking great - with no visable issues
the anemone has decided to move around a bit and seems to like hanging out under the upper shelf rock tha I plan on keeping my SPS on.
all the fish and other inhabitants have been doing well, no visable signs of stress and the communal fish (fire fish and grreen chromis) appear to be very comfortable with their surroundings - I'm a firm believer that providing proper fish habitat is essential for a low stress, healty life.
I started dosing 2 part a couple weeks ago, currently I am dosing about 1 oz every other day
The mandarins are both fat and have noticable growth since I bought them. I was a little concerned about the female as she was pretty scrawny whenI got her but she has fattened up and as grown about 1/4 her original lenght. I noticed the male eat frozen mysis the other day. The pod population remains healthy but it's always a good thing to see madarins eat something other then live pods
I bought a GEO 4x18 Ca reactor from a fellow RCer last night. It will need a little work but I think it will suit my set up better then the 6x24" one I was using on the heavy SPS populated 300g. I hope to get it in late this week so I can set it up while I'm home over the weekend.
I'm still doing research on LED's.
psteeleb
Team RC
I picked up an older model 418 GEO Calcium reactor from a guy on RC.
The orginal design did not have a Ph port or built in bubble counter.
The guy I bought it from indicated it was leaking at the pump and at a DIY Ph port and the union on the top was broken but glued
I removed all the old pipe and drilled out the return elbow that was factory glued to the top of the reactor. I also cleaned up an bunch of old silicone and other glue from the top piece. It looked like the top leak was created at the Ph port as the rubber gasket was overlapping the glue joint on the return pipe, creating a bad seal. I also noticed there was a glue globs underneath that overlapped the main chamber seal. After removing everyting from the reactor cover plate, I clean off all the old glue using a razor blade, then sanded and polished it back to a nice clear finish
I also built in a DIY self filling bubble counter on the return line like the ones GEO (and others) now install, and after replacing the MJ pump I gave the unit a leak test. After circulating water through it for about 4 hours all was dry, so I proceeded with a bleach and then an acid wash. After a final rinse it should be good to go.
With the installation of the bubble counter on the pump return line and this being a downflow Ca reactor I suspect I'll get a lot of Co2 bubbles on the top of the reactor. With the normal effluent line coming from the top it wil most likely vent more Co2 then I'd like, so I'm considering using the top connection as a vent and return it to the connection just upstream of the pump suction. I will then need to figure out a good place to install the effluent out connection.
The orginal design did not have a Ph port or built in bubble counter.
The guy I bought it from indicated it was leaking at the pump and at a DIY Ph port and the union on the top was broken but glued
I removed all the old pipe and drilled out the return elbow that was factory glued to the top of the reactor. I also cleaned up an bunch of old silicone and other glue from the top piece. It looked like the top leak was created at the Ph port as the rubber gasket was overlapping the glue joint on the return pipe, creating a bad seal. I also noticed there was a glue globs underneath that overlapped the main chamber seal. After removing everyting from the reactor cover plate, I clean off all the old glue using a razor blade, then sanded and polished it back to a nice clear finish
I also built in a DIY self filling bubble counter on the return line like the ones GEO (and others) now install, and after replacing the MJ pump I gave the unit a leak test. After circulating water through it for about 4 hours all was dry, so I proceeded with a bleach and then an acid wash. After a final rinse it should be good to go.
With the installation of the bubble counter on the pump return line and this being a downflow Ca reactor I suspect I'll get a lot of Co2 bubbles on the top of the reactor. With the normal effluent line coming from the top it wil most likely vent more Co2 then I'd like, so I'm considering using the top connection as a vent and return it to the connection just upstream of the pump suction. I will then need to figure out a good place to install the effluent out connection.
drummereef
Team RC
You are the man Pete, nice job DIY'ing that reactor. :thumbsup: What's your thoughts about having a second, "passive" reactor with just media in it to suck up the excess Co2? I've seen some people do this and they claim the media will dissolve, albeit slower than the "active" reactor - so they claim it helps absorb that extra leaky Co2. Thoughts?
psteeleb
Team RC
thanks Brett
and I do like the idea of a second reactor to help bring the Ph up closer to normal tank levels. I may come up with an open flow approach with media to help release Co2 / and allow for o2 exchange or just use a spare TLF reactor to do the job.
After a little more study into the design of the older down flow and newer upflow reactors I will definitly do something more to help circulate undisolved Co2 inside the main reactor. Right now I'm looking at one of two pretty simple mods ideas
Option 1) KEEP AS A DOWNFLOW - remove the bubble counter "T" on the pump return stand pipe and replace with a cross to include the bubble counter and a new tank water inlet (or feed). Then use the old effluent out that's in the top as a Co2 recirc vent that will feed back to the oringinal Co2 inlet just upstream of the pump. This will allow for the pump to churn up the vented Co2 in it's gasous stage to help it be absorbed by the tank water hense lowering the Ph. With this option the tank return (or effluent out) will be as far away from the high Ph zones as posible or at the port upstream of the Co2 recirc at the bottom of the reactor (botom right port in picture)
option 2) CHANGE TO AN UPFLOW REACTOR - still replace the "T" with a cross for the tank water inlet and bubble counter. Flip around the MJ pump so it's now pulling in new tank water, new Co2 and any excess Co2 gas from the top of the reactor into the pump suction, churn it up, and return the mixture to the bottom of the reactor. Effluent out can be from the top port / lowest Ph zone or it can be from the extra port at the bottom right if there is to much undisolved Co2 in the top of the reactor.
option 2) is how most new reactors are plumbed
crvz
Team RC
my wife reported that my mandarins have been doing a dance together after lights out
apparently they will swim together vertically for a few seconds or minutes after ligths out with only the moon lights on
yikes. I know what that means.
Tank is looking great, Pete!
