Pete's 210 build

[P.Kelly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13944498#post13944498 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mpoletti
It looks like the move went pretty well Pete. Are you still dosing a carbon source?

Yup, about 1.5ml of vodka daily. I haven't upped the dose any more that yet.

 

[Reef n' Madness]

Very nice Pete. The fish look good!

 

[P.Kelly]

Thanks Kay, we're loving watching the Tangs all shoal together around the tank. I had a little algae problem yesterday, its gone now...

 

[malate]

Awesome thread and very nice tank. I learned a lot about tank building in the 3 days it took me to read this =) Can't wait to see more pics!

 

[P.Kelly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13965029#post13965029 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by theJMGproject
Awesome thread and very nice tank. I learned a lot about tank building in the 3 days it took me to read this =) Can't wait to see more pics!

Only 3 days? Crap, I better get to posting some more.

BTW, I've started dosing potasium idodide (TLF brand reef iodine), 5ml daily along with the vodka (1.5ml daility) and 2 part.

Since my ability to take pictures sucks. I'm somehow hoping that buying a tripod and macro lens will make me better (silver-bullet methodology for any PMs out there ) and I can post some decent pictures. You'll have to trust me that I'm seeing my corals color up over the last 2 weeks. My superman monti is now a nice bright baby blue, my blue tip tenius finally has blue tips again, and my c-quarium unknown, which has never been an attractive coral in my tank, is starting to get all sorts of random colors.

 

[BigTuna321]

looks great man

 

[ricwilli]

Pete, the tank is coming out nicely..... Question, did you acclimate every coral you have with the water in the 210 or did you just put them in? That sure is a lot of corals to acclimate.

 

[Absolute Reef]

took me a while to read this useful thread, enjoy! I did.

Great work, nice family, and hopefully a wonderful tank in a very near future.

Keep it up!

 

[P.Kelly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13976219#post13976219 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ricwilli
Pete, the tank is coming out nicely..... Question, did you acclimate every coral you have with the water in the 210 or did you just put them in? That sure is a lot of corals to acclimate.

No, I did not acclimate the corals individually. Since I keep the parameters of my various tanks very similar, use the same salt and chemicals and use the same water source, I wasn't really worried about acclimation.

 

[binoy_415]

hey pete whats the name of the lfs you go to in sactown thanks,they have some nice tank(pics) on the begining of this thread..

 

[P.Kelly]

You know, it would be really helpful if I wrote down the order of the filters in my RO/DI unit... I'm glad I can "sometimes" search RC and find the original post where I was told what was in my filter.

# Stage One NSF rated 5 micron poly sediment filter
# Stage Two 5 Micron Matrikx NSF rated CTO/2 Workhorse carbon block
# Stage Three 0.6 Micron Matrikx NSF rated chlorine guzzler carbon block
# RO membrane 75 GPD Dow Filmtec
# Stage Five refillable cartridge with color-changing DI resin

So, I changed them all, as well as the DI resin, which on closer inspection didn't need to be changed (even after a year a half...)

Oh well, call me paranoid. Don't forget to backflush your membrane. Best I can tell once a month for 3-5 minutes will do the trick.

 

[P.Kelly]

December 28, 2008 - Better late than never

I think I told my wife that she'd get to use the fireplace by Thanksgiving. Well, I missed that date, and Christmas, but I did make it before New Year's Eve.

I took the frag tank and 92g out of the house and into the garage today!

Mark's stock tank is still in use in the middle of the room, maybe for another week or so.

If you know anyone looking for a 92g, this one is for sale...

 

[P.Kelly]

Here's my temporary water top off container, until I can do something more elegant, like build a container into a custom cat tree or something.

Oh, and the reason I'm doing this whole thread:

The right side is still very much a work in progress, and needs to be re-aquascaped, but it is in, and I'm moderately happy that everything seems to be doing well.

 

[mpoletti]

Good stuff Pete, good to see the tank is finally truly "alive". I would move those caps lower so they do not shade you tank as they grow out.
Your top off is a lot more high tech than mine. I got rid of my top off a few months ago once emma started playing with it

 

[P.Kelly]

Yup, everything is temporarily in place, until I can finish aquascapping the middle and right side. The caps will go towards to the left and right edges about 1/3 up or so. I'm going to just keep a select few caps at this point, and will probably get rid of few, or at least keep them heavily trimmed (if that's even possible).

What are you using for top off? The milk jug routine? I get tired of adding 3 gallons of water a day by hand. BTW, how much water does your 180 evap a day? I've always thought I evap more than most people, and I'm not sure why. I keep the tank about 77-78 degrees (no chiller at the moment, but I've got one handy for next spring/summer when needed.

I can't wait to get a decent lens, so I can start messing around with some macro shots, and cataloguing my pieces. I'm so embarresed of the junk pictures I'm currently taking.

BTW, that stock tank is almost empty, do you mind I keep it through next weekend?

 

[mpoletti]

Keep the stock tank as long as you need it.

I top off about 1-1.5 gallons in the morning and about the same in the evening. I am still using a 2 gallon white bucket to hand top off. I started making a cover for a top off res to match the stand and canopy, but then football season happened

 

[j4mypets]

WOW- your thread is truely inspirational!:eek2:

I really admire your patience. I got home from work tonight and read the entire thread. (my eyes hurt)

We are putting together a 180 and I hope to have 1/4 of the patience you have had (doubtful though)

We will definately be continuously using your thread as a reference.

Great Job! Stunning tank!
:rollface:

 

[P.Kelly]

I may have gone a little overboard on taking my time. Heaven only knows I haven't in the past. If you take you're time you'll be happier with the final result. if you don't already have a tank, setup a nano on the counter to play with while you work on the 180.

And thank you.

 

[P.Kelly]

Call me crazy, but I'm heading up to Chico tonight to pick up a very gently used lens for my D90, so I can take nice macro tank shots... Or take macro tank shots that look horrible at first, and hopefully get better as time goes on.

 

[P.Kelly]

Happy New Year 2009

Well, I need to make a ton of updates, but here is the short of it...

Macro Lens

leads to discovery of

Red Bugs

leads to treatment and this, my first decent shot of a previosuly infected Garf's Purple Bonsai.