Pete's 280 log

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14432057#post14432057 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BigJay
Yuck Pete, talk about "nutrient export".

How's the kole tang doing BTW? I imagine he's eating by now?

The kole is doing awesome. He's all over the tank, very fat and a ton of personality. I think he's my wifes new favorite fish. But I haven't seen him eat anything I put in the tank. That's perfectly okay, as I got him to pick on the rocks to keep the algea growth down, and that's exactly what he's doing

 

[psteeleb]

I bit the bullet and bought a calcium reactor setup. I go to the point to keep my alk at 8.5 I've been dosing 3 gallons of saturated limewater and 16 ounces(x 2) of 2 part every day

So I'm dosing more 2 part then I was before I added the kalc reactor last year. Demand must be over twice what it was.

I hope to get the new reactor in the next couple weeks. I picked up the aquaticsystemsdesign 6X24 (very simalar to a Geo), a reef fanatic regulator and a 10# Co2 bottle.

 

[chrismunn]

a new calcium reactor uh, that should be fun!

i just got in my 150w mh from marine depot this afternoon and it was broken!

i dont even feel like dealing with it!

 

[ReefEnabler]

chris I know how you feel. I wanted to try some giesseman 13.5k coral bulbs, ordered 2 from PA.

Couple weeks ago opened the box to find both bulbs broken up inside. Yesterday just got the replacement bulbs.... and they were... broken too but they weren't broken quite as badly ive ordered plenty of bulbs without issue before and now its a stroke of bad luck....



best of luck with the CA reactor pete.

 

[chrismunn]

ryan, i wish it were only the bulb, they're pretty cheap. it was the WHOLE fixture! i dont know what UPS did but they sure were'nt gentle about it! :lol:

 

[crvz]

I love my calcium reactor, makes things so much easier. I test every month or if warranted and don't manually dose anything to the tank. Once you get it set up, I'm sure you'll be happy about the purchase. It can take a while to tune in, but I'm sure you'll figure it out. One thing I didnt appreciate, though it was on a considerably smaller tank, was how easy it was for me to OD on alk (15+ dkh). I really think tank size is a variable in this, as when I did it I had a 60 gallon tank and a dual chamber reactor, and I've not seen the same problem on my larger setup. Just make sure you're testing every day for the first week or so (though at your alk uptake, I'd be surprised if you have the same issue).

 

[BigJay]

Uh-oh. This probably means that you're going to be working out of town frequently in the coming months, and I won't have anyone to go to fish stores with.

Glad you decided to pull the trigger, can you PM me where you bought it and how much the setup ran?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14432739#post14432739 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by psteeleb
I bit the bullet and bought a calcium reactor setup. I go to the point to keep my alk at 8.5 I've been dosing 3 gallons of saturated limewater and 16 ounces(x 2) of 2 part every day

So I'm dosing more 2 part then I was before I added the kalc reactor last year. Demand must be over twice what it was.

I hope to get the new reactor in the next couple weeks. I picked up the aquaticsystemsdesign 6X24 (very simalar to a Geo), a reef fanatic regulator and a 10# Co2 bottle.

 

[chrismunn]

i wish i had a tank big enough to run my reactor on. i bought this used DIY dual chamber reactor from a club member over here. the thing is freakin' HUGE! each chamber holds like 5 gallons of water! :lol:

pete, be sure you take pictures of the set up for us.

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14439217#post14439217 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by crvz
I love my calcium reactor, makes things so much easier. I test every month or if warranted and don't manually dose anything to the tank. Once you get it set up, I'm sure you'll be happy about the purchase. It can take a while to tune in, but I'm sure you'll figure it out. One thing I didnt appreciate, though it was on a considerably smaller tank, was how easy it was for me to OD on alk (15+ dkh). I really think tank size is a variable in this, as when I did it I had a 60 gallon tank and a dual chamber reactor, and I've not seen the same problem on my larger setup. Just make sure you're testing every day for the first week or so (though at your alk uptake, I'd be surprised if you have the same issue).

Thanks for the inforamtion crvz, I'll take it slow and probably test ever day for a couple weeks till it gets tuned in. I still plan on running the Kalc and between the two I hope my Alk and PH issues go away and over amaintenance becomes easier.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14440019#post14440019 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BigJay
Uh-oh. This probably means that you're going to be working out of town frequently in the coming months, and I won't have anyone to go to fish stores with.

Glad you decided to pull the trigger, can you PM me where you bought it and how much the setup ran?

Yep, I'll definiitly be out of state most of the year so I need to get things as hands off as posible. I'll send some data on the Ca setup.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14443870#post14443870 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrismunn
i wish i had a tank big enough to run my reactor on. i bought this used DIY dual chamber reactor from a club member over here. the thing is freakin' HUGE! each chamber holds like 5 gallons of water! :lol:

pete, be sure you take pictures of the set up for us.

wow that's huge :eek1:

I'll post some pictures of the system once I get it. I'll also post some pictures of what I plan to do on the left side of the tank. i want to build a table to hold both the Ca and Kalc reactors, and under it have a place to install a 45g water cahnge tank. I also intend to mount all my solinoids with lights and do some additional wiring mods on that side of the tank to clean things up some. I need to sketch somehing up so people can comment on it.

 

[chrismunn]

sketch away!

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14445764#post14445764 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrismunn
sketch away!

Chris - what are you using for your drawings?

 

[psteeleb]

I pulled my Closed Loop pump and SQWD apart to day to give them a good cleaning

dismantled

inside the sqwd

the pump housing

the pump impellor - it actually had somehting growing on it, like a barnicle

first soaking in bleach

after about an hour the parts got a brushing then a second soaking in a mild acid. while the parts were soaking I pulled apart the pump motor housing to give it a good cleaning, man was it gunked up with dust.

I also pulled the magnetic drive unit apart as it was making some rubbing noise. It looked like something may have gotten inside the housing a long time ago and basically ground itself into the magnet and housing. I cleaned it up, and when I put the housing back on I tested the rotation with it on to see if it was rubbing still, there was still a slight but detectable rubbing. I found that I could turn the housing 90 deg with the bolt holes and found an orientation that made no noise. When I got the pump back together and installed, it is quitter then ever.

 

[psteeleb]

I noticed my Kole tang was all scared up around its barbs. Both sides have sores about 1/2" in diameter and they are still fresh. Then I noticed one of my yellow tangs are missing, after looking for him for several minutes I se it hiding in the rocks. It kind of came out to eat but you could tell it was very nervous about something. Then later in the day I saw the Kole go down into the rocks and the two tangs were duking it out a bit. The yellow has some splits in his fins so they have been after it for a day or so. I just hope they settle down and find there pecking order.

The yellow tang is number 3 out of three yellows.

I also have a powder blue and regal. The powder blue is the boss of the tank and there is definitely an alpha and beta yellow. The Kole is the new kid in town and is probably just trying to work his way up on the pecking order.

 

[psteeleb]

Some pictures from today

A green Ric

And an orange ric with a green mouth

Servos' Unknown

And Marc's unknown

My main Chips colony (foreground right)

The small chips

 

[psteeleb]

the blob

Mako's Mille - it has taken off the past 2 months

Marc's Mille

green yellow stylo

 

[psteeleb]

A. Prostrata (Mille)

Microcladus (got trimmed last week)

Green Plate

 

[chrismunn]

i just sent you a pm pete.

 

[psteeleb]

banished to the refugium

this larger mithrax has been caught snipping coralites off sps and trimming my milles. He should be happy trimming the macro algae now. :lol:

jabba

blue legs doing there thing

 

[psteeleb]

My red planet was losing color; last night I decided to give it a ReVive dip as it always seems to perk my sps up. Today I came home and it looked even worse then before. I posted in the SPS forum and most seem to think it's a light issue as the ORA Red Planet seems to thrive best in a lower light. Unfortunately I'm certain the dip last night stripped the coral of some of its protective slime making maters worse. I did remount the coral and put it lower in the tank, now I can only hope I didn't over stress the thing to a point of no return

first day (4 weeks ago)

two weeks ago (2/11)

tonight 2/23

 

[psteeleb]

So while I'm dealing with the Red Planet I decided to do some other SPS hose keeping. My Prostrata colony is was mounted on a rock that had a small outcropping that was taking up some space, so I decided to trim the rock back some. Sure enough; pow, 3/4 of the colony breaks off. ARRRGG

After some consideration I just decided to mount the broken piece back to the same roc. I cradled it on top of the piece that stayed. It looks okay, but I may loose some of the lower section due to it being shaded.

here is a fuzzy coral I haven't posted in a while

and a couple of favorites trying to compete for the fuzz award