Rebuild and recovery of a dead tank

[Paul B]

I must conclude that they are complaining about the RUGF

No, they are cheering.

I can't make a list like that. I built everything and I don't know what half the animals are called.

OK let me try

A skimmer made out of PVC and acrylic.
2 Plaza Hotel sodium lights converted to MH
5 antique pumps.
Homemade auto fill
dolomite, I don't know how much, A bunch
Mud, Type New York
Rocks, some made out of PVC and cement some collected
Asphalt.
A bunch of fish and corals. Who knows.
Bottles, chains, cans
UGF fed with a home made system of bent pipes and containers
Algae trough made from fence post, cement and window screen
Ozonizer, someone on here gave me.
Auto shut off leak detector, (homemade)
Homemade stand in a home made house

Thats it
:smokin:

 

[jason2459]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15683552#post15683552 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul B
....
I can't make a list like that. I built everything and I don't know what half the animals are called.

OK let me try
....

It helps that I'm much younger and still have my memory. Oh, I suppose it also helps that I just put this tank together. :lol:


Crap, I forgot to throw in the asphalt.

 

[Paul B]

Jason, does your tank look likt this? It has to look like this because this is the secret. Even the fan suspended by string which I forgot to mention and that green thing which is the secret to the RUGF, or that white thing which is the algae trough

 

[jason2459]

I kind of have a modified version of each minus the dangling death trap (fan). LOL Is that a zip tie holding that plug in place?

That reminds me its been over a month now and I should clean those little RUGF pumps I've got going. I sort of have an algae trough in the HOB refugium. I'm just letting all sorts of algae grow and anything else that wishes to grow back there.

 

[Paul B]

I cleaned my RUGF pumps I think when Ford was President, 9He was after Oldsmobile) I don't really remember. If it aint broke, I aint fixing it.
That death trap fan was actually on when I took the picture, great camera. I installed it that was as an emergency when the other fan coroded away while dosing iron to the tank at the same time. I never took out this "temporary" fan because the fan season is almost over, but in the back of my mind I know it will be back next year the same way. :lol:

Oh yeah, that is a tie wrap holding that extention cord to the fan which really does not have a plug on it. I gust have the wires stuck in the plug. I am an electrician so it is OK

 

[jason2459]

Well, as long as you're an electrician... :strooper:


Threw caution to the wind last night and set the ozonizer up to 100%. The cyano bloom is still here and there in a few spot. I keep the rocks blown off pretty good though. That probably helps. Took some readings tonight as I'm going to do a water change tomorrow morning. I was very surprised with the calcium and kH readings and took them twice.

6:30pm Full set of Tests
Temp: 80.9
SG: 35
pH: 8.16
ORP: 205 (last night before adjusting from 50% to 100% was 142)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphates: 0
Calcium: 500 ( I really thought this would be lower)
kH: 10 (Thought this would be higher)
Mg: 1410 (Around where I thought it would be)
O3: 0 (taken from refug)

 

[Paul B]

The calcium is high, are you throwing sheetrock into the tank?

 

[jason2459]

LOL

Have no idea. The IO RC I tested in the mixing container and tested in that chemistry salt mix thread by other people was above 450 and under 500. I figured it would be near the lower end. I did come up with 500 each time right on the drop.

 

[jason2459]

Well, I went searching for that gramma as best I could minus ripping the rock apart and couldn't see that sucker. Went looking around the floor as well, nope. So, he's in the tank somewhere playing hide'n seek or playing dead.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15683765#post15683765 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jason2459
It helps that I'm much younger and still have my memory. Oh, I suppose it also helps that I just put this tank together. :lol:


Crap, I forgot to throw in the asphalt.

no its a good thing you are young and have a lot of time on your hands :lol:

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15683552#post15683552 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul B
No, they are cheering.

I can't make a list like that. I built everything and I don't know what half the animals are called.

OK let me try

A skimmer made out of PVC and acrylic.
2 Plaza Hotel sodium lights converted to MH
5 antique pumps.
Homemade auto fill
dolomite, I don't know how much, A bunch
Mud, Type New York
Rocks, some made out of PVC and cement some collected
Asphalt.
A bunch of fish and corals. Who knows.
Bottles, chains, cans
UGF fed with a home made system of bent pipes and containers
Algae trough made from fence post, cement and window screen
Ozonizer, someone on here gave me.
Auto shut off leak detector, (homemade)
Homemade stand in a home made house

Thats it
:smokin:

ugf:eek2: have you been converted by waterkeeper after his relentless badgering?:lol:

 

[jason2459]

Thought this would be nice on top of a page along with Paul B's....

Sure Here's a breakdown of everything.

Fish:
Bi-color Blenny
Mated Pair of Clowns
Mated Pair of Kaudern's (Banggai) Cardinals
Flame Angel
Royal Gramma (somewhere)

Inverts:
6 or 7 blue leg hermits (one I think is a zombie)
1 red leg hermit
11 Nerite Snails
25-30 Cerith Snails
1 Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp
1 Bloodred (fire) Shrimp
4 Peppermint Shrimps

Macro Algae (Both in the HOB Refugium):
Ball of Chaeto
Gracilaria

Food and feeding
Alternate feeding once a day either:
Aqueon mixed Marine Flakes
Spirulina Brine
Mysis
Fresh Hatched Baby Brine

Filtration:
75lbs of live rock (5lbs in the refugium)
50lbs of Dolomite on top of the RUGF
Eshopps PSK100-H skimmer w/ ozonizer and over flow bucket
HOB Refugium (algae listed above)

Maintanence equip
Vortex XL Diatom filter (use maybe once a month)
mag float (use once a day)
toothbrush
baster

Water Flow and pumps (Around 2475 GPH):
Eshopps Skimmer into Refugium back to Tank (around 300gph)
Two SEIO p530's
One SEIO m820
MaxiJet 1200 Stirring up the surface (295gph)
Two quiet ones 53gph into RUGF (can't really add this to total gph)

Lighting
Current Sundial 4 T5's w/ lunar lights (current has default 2x 460nm and 2x 10k lights. Going to play around with ATI Aquablue's, Blue Plus, and UVL Actinic White.) Wish I went retro. Once this fixture breaks I'll replace with a retro kit.

Some 18w fluorescence daylight/plant grow bulb over refugium

Temp Control
2 Rena heaters. 1 50w and 1 100w in tank.
1 300w in mixing container.

Backup Plan
APC SmartUPS 1500va with only the skimmer connected and two battery backup air pumps. Plenn plax (2xD cells) and Azoo(internal rechargable battery). Air pumps kick on when the UPS fails. UPS should last around 3-4hours and plen plax around 12hours and azoo 20 hours.

Car power inverter and long extension cord to tank

Saving up for a Generator

Water
BRS 5 stage RO/DI unit
Brute trash can for salt water mixing
5g bucket under stand for top off water

Supply lines to both brute and 5g bucket w/ float valves but still manually top off both. Float valves are a backup to me forgetting to turn the water off.

Magdrive 1800 to push water up to tank from mixing container for water changes. Empty tank direct into basement drain.

Aqualifter for ATO setup with float sensors in tank.

Chemicals and Additives
IO ReefCrystals salt mix

Testing
Calibrate everything that can be calibrated once a month
Refractometer
Hanna pH/ORP/temp probe
API Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate/Phosphate/Calcium/Alk
Salifert Magnesium
RedSea O3


I think that's it.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15688406#post15688406 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jason2459
Thought this would be nice on top of a page....

Sure Here's a breakdown of everything.

Fish:
Bi-color Blenny
Mated Pair of Clowns
Mated Pair of Kaudern's (Banggai) Cardinals
Flame Angel
Royal Gramma (somewhere)

Inverts:
6 or 7 blue leg hermits (one I think is a zombie)
1 red leg hermit
11 Nerite Snails
25-30 Cerith Snails
1 Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp
1 Bloodred (fire) Shrimp
4 Peppermint Shrimps

Macro Algae (Both in the HOB Refugium):
Ball of Chaeto
Gracilaria

Food and feeding
Alternate feeding once a day either:
Aqueon mixed Marine Flakes
Spirulina Brine
Mysis
Fresh Hatched Baby Brine

Filtration:
75lbs of live rock (5lbs in the refugium)
50lbs of Dolomite on top of the RUGF
Eshopps PSK100-H skimmer w/ ozonizer and over flow bucket
HOB Refugium (algae listed above)

Maintanence equip
Vortex XL Diatom filter (use maybe once a month)
mag float (use once a day)
toothbrush
baster

Water Flow and pumps (Around 2475 GPH):
Eshopps Skimmer into Refugium back to Tank (around 300gph)
Two SEIO p530's
One SEIO m820
MaxiJet 1200 Stirring up the surface (295gph)
Two quiet ones 53gph into RUGF (can't really add this to total gph)

Lighting
Current Sundial 4 T5's w/ lunar lights (current has default 2x 460nm and 2x 10k lights. Going to play around with ATI Aquablue's, Blue Plus, and UVL Actinic White.) Wish I went retro. Once this fixture breaks I'll replace with a retro kit.

Some 18w fluorescence daylight/plant grow bulb over refugium

Temp Control
2 Rena heaters. 1 50w and 1 100w in tank.
1 300w in mixing container.

Backup Plan
APC SmartUPS 1500va with only the skimmer connected and two battery backup air pumps. Plenn plax (2xD cells) and Azoo(internal rechargable battery). Air pumps kick on when the UPS fails. UPS should last around 3-4hours and plen plax around 12hours and azoo 20 hours.

Car power inverter and long extension cord to tank

Saving up for a Generator

Water
BRS 5 stage RO/DI unit
Brute trash can for salt water mixing
5g bucket under stand for top off water

Supply lines to both brute and 5g bucket w/ float valves but still manually top off both. Float valves are a backup to me forgetting to turn the water off.

Magdrive 1800 to push water up to tank from mixing container for water changes. Empty tank direct into basement drain.

Aqualifter for ATO setup with float sensors in tank.

Chemicals and Additives
IO ReefCrystals salt mix

Testing
Calibrate everything that can be calibrated once a month
Refractometer
Hanna pH/ORP/temp probe
API Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate/Phosphate/Calcium/Alk
Salifert Magnesium
RedSea O3


I think that's it.

start a blog---they have the advantage that you can edit them all the time--not just within the hour like a thread post
If you create a blog I will link it to the Capn's Log book blog

http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=346

 

[jason2459]

Took a recent full tank shot tonight. Don't think I've done one of those in a while. The GHA is almost non-existent. There's a very few scraglers left and they don't really bother me much. Tiny bits of cyano here and there right now but I basted them away for the most part tonight. Ended up just doing the water change tonight too.


Here's the FTS after the water cleared up after the basting.

Got a picture of the clowns going over and saying hello to the Angel.

Also, took this picture a little while back but never posted it. This is the Azoo backup air pump. Has an internal rechargeable battery and is suppose to work for up to 20hours as soon as the power goes out in interval mode. On for something like 50s then off for 50s.

This thing is a lot bigger then I thought it was going to be. Put a refractometer on top to give reference since I know EVERYONE on reefcentral has one of those.

 

[jason2459]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15688418#post15688418 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
start a blog---they have the advantage that you can edit them all the time--not just within the hour like a thread post
If you create a blog I will link it to the Capn's Log book blog

http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=346

Seems like a lot more work. I'm kind of partial to this thread now that I'm into it pretty far. I guess I could start a blog just for things like updated pictures and setup list like above.


I did try and start up a blog but I keep getting

"You do not have sufficient permissions to access this page."

I setup a profile and signed in too.

 

[Paul B]

Capn, are you typing on a typewriter? You do know that you don't have to copy the entire post to add something don't you?
My computer is running out of ink showing all of those boldfaced words. :lol:

Jason, everyone has a refractometer except me. It will not hurt and I know people like to be exact with this stuff and it is great for the economy but I just feel that the salinity varies so much in the sea that the exact measurement is not that important.
I do use one to check my cheap floating arm hydrometer though which is far off.
I put a line on it where the salinity should be. When I use NSW I need it because the water off NY is usually very low in salinity.
And I find that the Long Island Sound sometimes is practically fresh water
My salinity varies greatly over the year and the animals keep spawning and smiling so I personally don't get crazy over it but don't go by me. If everyone was like me, the economy would have crashed when Eisenhower was President. :smokin:
Being you installed a RUGF most of your problems are over.

 

[jason2459]

Yep, all problems are solved with a RUGF. I installed a RUGF and I no longer have to dose Calcium. In fact I better start adding corals before the Calcium levels get to high.


I tried the refractometer out this time around and found I like it a lot better then the swing arm but not because of accuracy. I'm very messy with the swing arm. Well, I'm just a very messy person I guess. I just try and keep it between 33 and 35 mark in the refractometer now.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15688823#post15688823 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul B
you don't have to copy the entire post to add something

better Paul

 

[Paul B]

Much.

 

[jason2459]

Well, the hydroids are gone. I'm kind of disappointed for some reason. Either the peppermint shrimp or the angel fish must have got to the baby hydroid patch that was growing. Feather dusters are still there which is what I thought the angel would have gone after. Finally saw the royal gramma tonight after the lights went out. I was ready to call him a gonner. Hopefully he'll start coming out during the day and I can get some pics of him.

Raised the temp in the house the other day and replaced the light fixture above the hob refugium. Temp in the tank tonight registered at 84.2f !! Yikes. The old florescence light was buzzing a lot and annoyed the wife. Found this really cheap hood that holds two regular light bulbs. I put in a couple 60w equivalent florescent bulbs. I wouldn't think it would put out that much more heat but in combination of increasing the house temp up a couple degrees added up.

I'm going to look into tearing the light fixture I have apart and retro fitting it into the canopy I have. Unfortunately the canopy is probably as old as the tank which I think was made in 1980 based on the manufacture date stamp on the inside rim of the tank. So, there's really not a lot of height to work with in there. Right now the light fixture is resting right on the tank so it's probably two maybe three inches at most from the water. If I can mount the reflectors right to the canopy I might get them 3-4in off the water. Don't know if that would help or not. But I would be able to open the canopy up top and be able to access my tank then. Right now to turkey baste the rocks I have to take the canopy off and the light fixture. Kind of a pain in the rear.