Rebuild...

[tangboy]

So... my wife wanted me to keep the tank and not get rid of it cause of the stand we had built for it etc.

So it went from the living room into my "man cave" or "office" at home.

Since I tore it all down, I figured I might as well set it up instead of having to explain to company why I have an empty tank in my office.

I am gonna do it right this time, no custom overflow system! I had it drilled and a corner overflow made for it and am picking it up today! I redesigned my fuge to be at a lower level so I get less salt-creep and handle more water if needed on power shut offs. I also have it in my office so it cannot get any outside light to cause algae issues.

I just need to figure out how to get the bubble algae off the LR I have in the tub with a lid on it! Any suggestions on that part? I thought a couple months of LR soaking in a tub with no light would help it go away but I still see some.

Anyway... this will probably be a BB tank (love to get a zoa carpet going) with nothing but a tailspot, zoas, shrooms and a FS or 2! No more fish that require outside food sources

Comments, Suggestions, "I told ya you'd be back", etc are welcome!

 

[Steve W]

Reportedly, you can spot treat with 3% hydrogen peroxide and kill it. I've never had that particular problem but I recently tried it with hair algae and it seems to have worked.

Dip the area (or pour it over but dipping seems to work better) and let it sit for about 10 - 15 min before rinsing with salt water.

Good luck.

Steve W.

 

[cee]

Toothbrush.

 

[Spongie]

The only luck I've ever had manual removal. It is best done outside of the tank as the spores realeased when the bubble is broken can result in more "bubbles". Also more nutrient removal helps to prevent it's return (more frequent water changes or heavier skimming).

 

[tangboy]

Came in after PE yesterday to my classroom and smelled a very "electrical" smell. I found the smelliest area to be around my desk. So I checked my 8g BioCube and it reeked of electrical burn.

I checked all pumps, lights, and then lifted out the heater and it had exploded in one of the back compartments and was electrocuting all my corals and my clown fish. I quickly turned everything off, pulled the heater and all glass shards out and did an immediate water change. The only problem with that was I only had about 1 gallon worth of salt!

I came back this morning to find 3 dead snails, every coral slimming like it was the apocolypse, and my clown dead on the bottom. I bought some salt last night and did 5 gallon water change (pretty much all the water) and we'll see what happens.

*sigh* the joys of the hobby

 

[Runner]

Dang. Sorry to hear that. You just reminded me that I still do not have GFCI protection on my cube. That will be my next project this weekend.

I just bought a 100W titanium heater with an external controller for about $30. I know the damage is done in your case, but something like that might give you peace of mind in the future.

 

[planejane]

Double dang! Seems like one of the least expensive pieces of our equipment can be diproportionally responsible for losses. Twice I've had heaters get stuck on and "boil" the contents of a 10g!

Good luck with it and the rebuild. If you want a piece of the Green Slimer I got from you lmk.

 

[Steve W]

Triple dang! Been there, done that!

I was luckier that you, nothing died except a few snails, but it took weeks for everything to completely recover. Don't give up on your corals, they may come back. A LFS recommended putting a poly pad in the filtration to remove any residual heavy metals from the heater and if your snails died then it may be due to copper as they are veeerrry sensitive to copper.

Good luck.

Steve W.

No more glass heaters for me!~ This was twice that I've been "burned" by "cheap" glass heaters, once was in a freshie tank. I should have learned my lesson then, but all it did was overheat them. Lost about 1/2.

 

[tangboy]

Well nothing so far on the 8g BC at school, corals have stopped slimming but nothing is really opening up, will do another nice size WC. I'm sure there was a lot of micro die off that is why it smells pretty rough right now.

On the 40g, I have it on the stand, plumbed and now the back is painted. Need to paint the bottom so I do not have light leaking up through the bottom from the fuge since it will be a BB.

Leak test on the plumbing passed so now I will get things set up enough so I can start adding R/O water and salt. After that I will examine my LR and see how it is coming along, do a WC if I have to and continue to let it cook in its tub. If I am still having bubble algae problems, I will test some peroxide on a few smaller pieces of LR and see what happens.

Wish I did have the tank running so I could bring my corals from the 8g BC and have a place for them

 

[EvilMel]

I could probably shoot you some zoanthids when you get back up and ready to go at school.

PM me about it, if you want. I'm sorta intermittently checking RC as I'm way out of the habit of it.

 

[tangboy]

Well I went ahead and filled up the tank with some water to test for any leaks or weaknesses in the tank, new overflow, fuge etc and its holding water beautifully!

Now to get the water out of the tank (non R/O) and see how the LR is cooking!

 

[digidana]

oh man, that stinks! i had a cube heat up to 97 degrees...and it was on a temp controller. the controller went bad. cooked everything. i ended up shutting down and selling the cube.

as far as the bubble algae...i swear the emerald crabs wipe it out. i've had 2 outbreaks...added a couple emeralds and haven't seen any in 2 years.

 

[tangboy]

I may just need to pick up a couple emeralds and toss em in the rubbermaids with the LR that's cooking. let them deal with it in the dark so I don't have to try to remove them once I have frags in the display. Or I guess I could keep them in the tank since I won't have fish in there... ahh too many decisions...

 

[Steve W]

I have a large emerald in my tank with fish and no problems

Steve W
24 gallon nano w/150 w MH

 

[tangboy]

Hmmm question for some of you...

Last time I ran my 40g breeder with my 36" Nova Extreme T-5 setup with 4 bulbs. I also got a 250w Sundial HQI that has 2 32W actinic PCs in a pendant style set up.

I was wanting to give MHs a try just for kicks but have never hung one before. So the questions are:

1. How would you hang it without the original gear?
2. How high from the top of my tank would you hang it?
3. Should I just stick with my Nova Extreme T-5s?

Chew on it for awhile and let me know your thoughts.

 

[Steve W]

Don't know how to hang it, but you will want at least a foot of space above the tank. I love my MH, but they do get hot. My MH fixture (not a pendant) mounts about 6" above water in the tank, and that is too close. However, I was able to fight heat last summer by going to K-mart and buying a clipon fan and setting it to blow across the surface of the water. This meant I lost a 1/2 gallon a day out of a 24 gallon tank in evaporation, but it kept the temperature rise down to a couple of degrees or less. Without it, I was getting swings of 5-7 degrees (F)

I have never used T-5's other than actinic supplements, but I have a couple of other friends who say that the T-5"s are fine for mushrooms, zoas (not deep water), star polyps, and other low light species, but just not enough for the high light species. On the other hand, I have another friend who grows SPSs, goniaporas, montiporas, and pavonas under an 8 bulb T-5 fixture and loves them.

When I get rid of my MH, it will be to go to LEDs. I love the shimmer, which you get lot of under the MH and under the LEDs.

Good luck

Steve W

 

[tangboy]

I got the MH hung, my bubble traps installed, need to resilicone a small hole in my fuge (not a major concern, most of a bother), and am adding fresh R/O water in the display