Quiksilver's Ultimate 29g Tank Thread

[quiksilver]

The only other thing I bought was this little Ice Tube tray at Wallmart for about 2 dollars. The idea here was that with long cylindrical pieces of papone, I could cut it into coin like slits to drop in the reactor.

The Spirulina powder Marc already had was from brineshrimpdirect.com and can be found here.

The purple seaweed I used was Two Little Fishies and we already had that too.

I made Marc get us some of my favorite cider, Strongbow b/c it's just like papone for Quiksilver.

 

[quiksilver]

Next issue was the food processor. Melev's wasn't working so using a dremel, screwdriver and some JBWeld, I had to fix it. Maybe a couple of you have been to Marc's little insignificant thread on RC, but if you haven't here's the video he made about it.

http://www.melevsreef.com/video/cuisinart.wmv

Now it was time for the dirty work, opening all the crud with the oyster knife.

 

[quiksilver]

When oyster knife fails, use a hammer :hammer:

Time to pull the tail and shell off the shrimp.

MMMMMmmmm looks tasty....

Marc cried about the mess and garbage for sometime

I actually ended up straining the mixture at this point with a brine shrimp net b/c the juices didn't look like they were tank friendly.

Then the spirulina, sugar, and 200ml of RO/DI water were added to the processor.

 

[quiksilver]

The key now is blend 5 mins, rest 3 mins (to prevent it from overheating and beginning to cook the contents), 5 mins more, 3 off, then 5 more mins.

Marc's 4 timers in one device was perfect for this project.

Blendin!

A total of 15 mins will make it a powdered goo.

NOW THAT'S A TASTE TEST!

Time to package it all for freezing.

It was soooo thick it was hard to get into the ice tube tray. It's working well so far and I'll keep you posted with pictures of the effects.

 

[bdare]

MMMMM... Spinich Dip!

 

[quiksilver]

How do you say spirulina overdose in Italian?

 

[chrismunn]

very entertaining thread! ive never seen such a bad caulerpa outbreak! how long has it been since that happend now?

 

[fish4lyfe]

wow i am jealous of your set-up its crazy awesome

 

[quiksilver]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11735567#post11735567 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrismunn
very entertaining thread! ive never seen such a bad caulerpa outbreak! how long has it been since that happend now?

Thanks!
It's been about 2 weeks now. Everything is looking pretty good. I have a few tiny roots showing their ugly heads, but when they get big enough to pinch off I will remove them. You have to get all of the piece including the roots to keep them from growing back again and it's hard to do so unless they are big enough to get a good grip on.

I'm still debating on get a baby hippo like I used to have b/c he would just wipe the problem out for me.

 

[quiksilver]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11735637#post11735637 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fish4lyfe
wow i am jealous of your set-up its crazy awesome

Thanks! If you are ever in the Dallas area you'll have to come stop by.

 

[quiksilver]

Having a small clam issue even after a freshwater dip.

Check it out here

 

[quiksilver]

I have been keeping up with my Vitamin C dosings and last night was my second papone dosing this week.

Besides the clam, everyone else is doing so well that I decided to take some tank pictures after the lights came on this morning.

My pocillopora has absolutely loved the effects of papone so far and it has completely opened its green polyps after getting out of the LFS tank about a week ago.

I don't know if it's the new bulb or the papone, but a few things are shifting colors and my candycane is one of them. It used to be much more pink and now is getting blue/white in the middle. I really am liking the change.

This snail got lodged next to my milli a while back and I'm glad I didn't remove it. The milli is encrusting over the whole shell. In the upper right hand corner you can see my other candycane popped up another beautiful head.

This isn't the best picture because the shadows make it look like algae is growing, but it's not. My digi is recovering sooo well after being stung by all the caulerpa while I was gone. The white parts aren't RTN, just stings and the polyps are coming back out slowly.

And I stole one of Marc's huge pavonas. It likes my tank more anyways.

 

[melev]

Your corals look great. That Pavona has been in my tank for over 2.5 years, and grew into quite the colony. From that colony, it grew two more large patches, and I wanted it out of my tank to open up the sandbed a little more in the front of my tank.

It looks very happy in your tank with good polyp extension. Then again, of course it looks good since it still have a VorTech blowing over it. :thumbsup:

 

[quiksilver]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11747566#post11747566 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FlyboySMB
Nice sump/tank thred!
I am in the process of designing a sump for my 29 gal & had a couple of questions. Is there a web page with the design & build of the sump without the "other" replies from other reefers? I am looking for your dimentions of each section.

Marc has been bugging me about making exactly what you are describing. It should be up soon enough with more detail. I'll let you know.

Are you happy with you "bubble box" intake? How is the noise from your overflow down to your sump (I have to drill my plexi tank, it has built in wet/dry on the back & I am trying to figure out if I want to drill at the top of the overflow with a straight pipe to the sump, or at the bottom & put a Durso stand pipe in?

My bubble tower rocks. The noise is not bad at all, key being only putting your drain line .5" under water at the bottom. If you have an overflow that goes all the way to the bottom of your tank I would drill it underneath if possible. I couldn't as that tank is tempered glass on the bottom and a tall overflow would have taken up a lot of room.

Anything you would change?

The only thing I would change is to move my overflow box to the middle rear of the tank instead of the left corner. I think it would skim the surface better on both sides. Sounds like your overflow is already fixed though. And maybe I would change my Durso pipe to a Hofer gurgle buster because the first week or so when the plumbing wasn't broken in, it can get a little noisy.

I am using an AquaC EV-120 & the water level must be lower than 9 inches. Would you design the bubble trap for 8 inch water level & put the skimmer on the base of the sump, or design it deeper & put the skimmer on a stand (I have a couple of inches to play with, but not much more).

Great question. I actually made a stand for my RS-80 that is very simple out of acrylic as I had the same exact issue as you. You don't want to make your sump only 8" deep because if you have the room the whole point of the sump is to add more water volume. Don't limit your volume because of you skimmer. Just raise your skimmer a bit with a stand and it should work flawlessly.

 

[jrpdriver]

Tank looks awesome, great set-up, do you think the color change in your corals could be from the spectrum change on your lighting?

 

[fish4lyfe]

i love your tank, and hopefully in time my 29 gallon will look somewhat close to yours.

 

[quiksilver]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11747632#post11747632 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jrpdriver
Tank looks awesome, great set-up, do you think the color change in your corals could be from the spectrum change on your lighting?

Definitely. I think that the color change in my corals can be from a new bulb, different spectrum, better water quality, and more coral food. But there is now doubt part of the color change is for sure from spectrum change.

 

[harsh12ka4]

nice work man..

 

[quiksilver]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11747812#post11747812 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by harsh12ka4
nice work man..

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11747634#post11747634 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fish4lyfe
i love your tank, and hopefully in time my 29 gallon will look somewhat close to yours.

Thanks guys!

 

[Ziggy953]

That's pretty awesome! It always amazes me what can be done with a 29G tank. Nice job! I'm going to have to vist TX and meet you guys!