shane 1111
Premium Member
Erythropodium caribaeorum, Encrusting Gorgonian
Randy's 180G Reef-Photo Journal
- Thread starter rdmpe
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rdmpe
New member
New baby??? Congrats!
With lights coming on for 2.5 hours each, the temps are going from just below 80 early morning to about 82.8 at the hottest. I still don't have any fans blowing on the water yet. Eventually I'll get that set up. I just have some other things that have to get done first...
My skimmer is in the same tub as my return pump pulls from. So the water level varied due to evap, wet skimming, etc. This was constantly causing the skimmer levels to change and I was constantly trying to tweak it...
So I used a smaller container (thanks Rock455 - it's the one you were growing macro in...). The tank drains into this container and the skimmer input and output are in the container also. So now I shouldn't have to fiddle with the skimmer all of the time...
About that Encrusting Gorgonian - I don't think it's doing very well. I'm not sure if it's the short light period or lack of feeding.
Anyone have a comment on feeding - should I be feeding more often? Everything else seemd to be doing OK except the Gorgonian...
With lights coming on for 2.5 hours each, the temps are going from just below 80 early morning to about 82.8 at the hottest. I still don't have any fans blowing on the water yet. Eventually I'll get that set up. I just have some other things that have to get done first...
My skimmer is in the same tub as my return pump pulls from. So the water level varied due to evap, wet skimming, etc. This was constantly causing the skimmer levels to change and I was constantly trying to tweak it...
So I used a smaller container (thanks Rock455 - it's the one you were growing macro in...). The tank drains into this container and the skimmer input and output are in the container also. So now I shouldn't have to fiddle with the skimmer all of the time...
About that Encrusting Gorgonian - I don't think it's doing very well. I'm not sure if it's the short light period or lack of feeding.
Anyone have a comment on feeding - should I be feeding more often? Everything else seemd to be doing OK except the Gorgonian...
shane 1111
Premium Member
they like high flow
rdmpe
New member
I have moved it to a spot that gets a little more flow. It is still sitting on the sand for the most part, on a flat rock. It's a spot where I often see little sand tornadoes so it should be getting some good turbulent flow there.
I have been feeding invert food but only a very small amount about twice a week. I really need some advice on how much to feed. I have "Formula" invert food (frozen green cubes) and I have Coral Vibrance (like Cyclopeze I think). I have only been feeding about 1/4 cube of the froze, and 1/8 teaspoon of coral vibrance, twice a week or so. I don't want to overfeed the tank and end up with an algae mess! Should I be feeding more given my light bioload?
I have been feeding invert food but only a very small amount about twice a week. I really need some advice on how much to feed. I have "Formula" invert food (frozen green cubes) and I have Coral Vibrance (like Cyclopeze I think). I have only been feeding about 1/4 cube of the froze, and 1/8 teaspoon of coral vibrance, twice a week or so. I don't want to overfeed the tank and end up with an algae mess! Should I be feeding more given my light bioload?
rdmpe
New member
Today the house got pretty warm, and the tank managed to hit about 84.5... It was a borderline airconditioner day here IMO. The thermostat in the house read 79. I think that once I have some fans going, it will be much better. Of course, then I'll have a lot of evap to deal with. Not sure what issues that might create in the house...
I went to a local surplus store www.skycraftsurplus.com and bought a bunch of junk! A couple of pieces of what looks like acrylic or plexiglass, just to use for makeshift baffles in the sump or whatever. I got two pieces, 24x12 or so, for $2 each. Also picked up some 12VDC transformers for the fans. I have two 120mm fans to vent the stand, and two 80mm fans to replace the loud stock fans on the maristar light fixture. I also picked up a 24" long acrylic rod, about 3/16" diameter. I'm going to sharpen it to use for a feeding stick ($1.50). I have one that I got at the LFS for $8
:lol: and a longer 1/4" diameter nylon rod to make a longer feeding rod. These things are great for "handing" a small chunk of silverside to my bristle and serpent starfish. I also picked up a really nice 50' black rubber sheathed power chord. I will cut it down to maybe 12' or so to replace the way-too-short power chord on the T5's coming out of the maristar fixture ($10).
Then on the way back, we drive right by Ocean Blue (LFS) so I had to stop to see if they had any "good" crabs. I got a dozen mix of Blue Leg and Zebra Hermits, and I bought two Emerald Crabs. Those Emerald Crabs are pretty interesting to watch (can you tell my tank must be boring?) I wish I would have bought a few more while I was there.
I have a Gorilla Crab in my tank. Any ideas how to catch him? I've read that they are not a good reef tank critter... I'm thinking I might put a silverside in a drinking glass and sit it against the rock that I think he's on, and see if he'll go for it? I'm not in a big hurry to catch him tho, I need to read a little more about them...
Putting the skimmer pump and output into a seperate tub that is at a constant water level has been a huge improvement. I didn't realize what a hard time I was having trying to tune the skimmer. Now that I made this change, the skimmer is super steady and I can really tweak it nicely.
Unfortunately I made this change at the same time as I doubled my sump flow by changing to the Dart return pump. The water pouring out of the skimmer tub into the main sump tub creates some bubbles, and the water is flowing fast enough that bubbles were making their way into the sump pump... It is also a pretty loud waterfall sound, especially right now when I have to leave the stand doors open for airflow. I think I have the bubbles straightened out for the most part, but I can see that I'll probably be reworking this sump some time in the next couple of months...
Water parameters have been nice and steady too. I haven't tested ammonia, nitrite, nitrate in a few days. But have been trying to bring the alk up a little relative to the ca. Last test it was 9.0 dKH and 450 calcium. Should I try to bring the alk up any more? I want to create good conditions for coraline. I'd love to see it start growing on some of my base rock and plumbing in the display tank. Photoperiod is still shorter than ideal though. The refugium on the other hand has lots of coraline showing up all over the place.
I went to a local surplus store www.skycraftsurplus.com and bought a bunch of junk! A couple of pieces of what looks like acrylic or plexiglass, just to use for makeshift baffles in the sump or whatever. I got two pieces, 24x12 or so, for $2 each. Also picked up some 12VDC transformers for the fans. I have two 120mm fans to vent the stand, and two 80mm fans to replace the loud stock fans on the maristar light fixture. I also picked up a 24" long acrylic rod, about 3/16" diameter. I'm going to sharpen it to use for a feeding stick ($1.50). I have one that I got at the LFS for $8
:lol: and a longer 1/4" diameter nylon rod to make a longer feeding rod. These things are great for "handing" a small chunk of silverside to my bristle and serpent starfish. I also picked up a really nice 50' black rubber sheathed power chord. I will cut it down to maybe 12' or so to replace the way-too-short power chord on the T5's coming out of the maristar fixture ($10). Then on the way back, we drive right by Ocean Blue (LFS) so I had to stop to see if they had any "good" crabs. I got a dozen mix of Blue Leg and Zebra Hermits, and I bought two Emerald Crabs. Those Emerald Crabs are pretty interesting to watch (can you tell my tank must be boring?) I wish I would have bought a few more while I was there.
I have a Gorilla Crab in my tank. Any ideas how to catch him? I've read that they are not a good reef tank critter... I'm thinking I might put a silverside in a drinking glass and sit it against the rock that I think he's on, and see if he'll go for it? I'm not in a big hurry to catch him tho, I need to read a little more about them...
Putting the skimmer pump and output into a seperate tub that is at a constant water level has been a huge improvement. I didn't realize what a hard time I was having trying to tune the skimmer. Now that I made this change, the skimmer is super steady and I can really tweak it nicely.
Unfortunately I made this change at the same time as I doubled my sump flow by changing to the Dart return pump. The water pouring out of the skimmer tub into the main sump tub creates some bubbles, and the water is flowing fast enough that bubbles were making their way into the sump pump... It is also a pretty loud waterfall sound, especially right now when I have to leave the stand doors open for airflow. I think I have the bubbles straightened out for the most part, but I can see that I'll probably be reworking this sump some time in the next couple of months...
Water parameters have been nice and steady too. I haven't tested ammonia, nitrite, nitrate in a few days. But have been trying to bring the alk up a little relative to the ca. Last test it was 9.0 dKH and 450 calcium. Should I try to bring the alk up any more? I want to create good conditions for coraline. I'd love to see it start growing on some of my base rock and plumbing in the display tank. Photoperiod is still shorter than ideal though. The refugium on the other hand has lots of coraline showing up all over the place.
rdmpe
New member
After changing from the Tarpon to the Dart for the sump return, I had plenty of flow available to increase the flow through the sump a little bit. Not sure exactly how much I have now, but I can see the water movement just a little. With the Tarpon, I never felt like I wanted to divert much from going back to the tank... Not sure if the Macro will like the added flow or not. It still isn't all that much so I think it is an improvement. The Caulerpa is growing pretty fast. I think I'm ready to take about half of it out already. The cheato is doing pretty well too but less noticeable. The mangroves are doing well also.
Here's the refugium...
And the happy skimmer
Here's the refugium...
And the happy skimmer
rdmpe
New member
Here's a little more info on what is going on with my "old" dart though...
I took it off the closed loop and put the new dart on the closed loop. I have not seen any reall temperature difference with the change though. So the new dart they sent me is on my closed loop. I took the opportunity to hook the old dart up to the sump return system to try it out there, and I like how it is performing there. HOWEVER - the old dart is occasionally making a disturbing "squeaking" sound from what sounds like the shaft seal at the back of the pump housing. So I think it may need a new seal? It hasn't been doing it very often, but once in a while I hear it chirp a bit...
I took it off the closed loop and put the new dart on the closed loop. I have not seen any reall temperature difference with the change though. So the new dart they sent me is on my closed loop. I took the opportunity to hook the old dart up to the sump return system to try it out there, and I like how it is performing there. HOWEVER - the old dart is occasionally making a disturbing "squeaking" sound from what sounds like the shaft seal at the back of the pump housing. So I think it may need a new seal? It hasn't been doing it very often, but once in a while I hear it chirp a bit...
tgunn
Active member
Here's a pic of the shaft from the motor to the volute:
Notice the black rubber washer on the shaft? I had a squeaking problem and it turns out this black rubber washer ended up pressed against the motor, which caused the noise. You can either use a screwdriver to move it over to the middle or if you can't get it take the volute off the motor and reposition the washer. MDM calls it a "flinger"; it's on the shaft to prevent any salt creep or water from going into the motor..
Tyler
rdmpe
New member
Well, I spoke to Luis at MDMSequence today. He was very helpful. I told him that instead of sending the old dart back, I decided I wanted to keep both of them :lol: 
so I just gave them my CC number and took care of it right then. We discussed both pumps and the fact that they both are running at similar motor temperatures and that the heat I'm seeing is probably the normal amount for this pump / application. He also confirmed that the squeaking is just the rubber ring that needs to be slid away from the pump or motor housing.
So... Does anyone want to buy a barely used Tarpon pressure rated pump? It can power 2, 3 or 4 penductors!
so I just gave them my CC number and took care of it right then. We discussed both pumps and the fact that they both are running at similar motor temperatures and that the heat I'm seeing is probably the normal amount for this pump / application. He also confirmed that the squeaking is just the rubber ring that needs to be slid away from the pump or motor housing.So... Does anyone want to buy a barely used Tarpon pressure rated pump? It can power 2, 3 or 4 penductors!
rdmpe
New member
OK - Who wants to see pictures of snails?
Don't all raise your hands at once now
I've been trying to verify that these are or are not Whelk snails (eat clams!) or nassarius or ???
So here are a bunch of pictures. Having seen these, I'm definitely leaning toward Whelk. What do you think?
So should I get rid of these or what?
Don't all raise your hands at once now
I've been trying to verify that these are or are not Whelk snails (eat clams!) or nassarius or ???
So here are a bunch of pictures. Having seen these, I'm definitely leaning toward Whelk. What do you think?
So should I get rid of these or what?
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