So, What other secrets are you all hiding from me???

[sdmike]

Man, I thought I was the only one...

Man, I thought I was the only one...

csmart,
or you could leave the return hose in the tank,
then place the intake near a bucket,suck on the
end of the hose (no worries about swallowing water,
the cannister still needs to fill up),once water
is pouring into bucket,stop it with your finger
place in tank,attach strainer,...done.
this is how i prime my vortex filter after placing
the diatom powder in the jar.

...still using a Diatom filter!

Good to know that there's still a few out there.

Mike

 

[sambo]

taggin'

 

[sdmike]

Take a film canister...melt a hole in the top with a hot skewer. Fill cannister with a good pinch of brine shrimp eggs and tank water. Seal with cap, lay on it's side behind rocks in tank. Brine will hatch, be attracted to the light through the hole, and swim out into the tank. Egg shells stay in cannister and may be discarded. This is a great feeding "extra" while on vacation, or when expecting baby fish... it's also a nice way of getting live food into the tank on a continuous basis - my fish and corals love it!!

India

Be careful with those film containers. I've heard that they have ALL KINDS of funny chemicals in them. Silver nitrate comes to mind off the top of the head.

Wash them, then do it again.

Mike

 

[skylergirl]

Take any old t-shirts you have and recycle them as your 'fish towels'. I use all my husband's old white t-shirts, the kind you wear under dress shirts. Make sure you use 100% cotton ones, the poly ones don't absorb as well.

Also, before you put them into the wash, flip them inside out so that the seam is on the outside. That way, when you are folding laundry, you'll know a 'fish shirt' from a good t-shirt because it will be flipped inside out.

 

[filishy]

I thought it would be a good idea to bump this thread back to the spotlight. It is so good and so full of info I always go back to it for more useful tips.

Hopefully it will be of great use to others.

Mary... :reading:

 

[Konadog]

Again, its been awhile so.............. what new things have we learned in the last few month?

 

[herbert4]

I just learned these the hard way

1) ABS (the black pipe used to plumb houses) and PVC require special solvent to join the two.

2) ALWAYS use primer when gluing PVC.

3) Keep a wet/dry shop vac handy when testing your plumbing for leaks.:eek2:

 

[vapovick]

 

[reefdood]

There's not much to contribute, much has already been covered. Here's mine.

1) CPR backpacks work IN the sump just as good as hanging on the back. I use mine that way with the only mods are a longer input tube that attaches to a maxijet1200.

2) home made needle wheel for maxijet 1200 in a backpack or whatever...
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=332391&perpage=25&pagenumber=40

3) Syringes for various uses in the aquarium can be bought at the pharmacy, no script needed. Just ask for insulin syringes. No I'm not a junkie, I'm diabetic.

 

[myakkareef]

The Dawn Power Brush...AAhhh scrubbing the tank has never been so fun...I saw this on R/C somewheres, tried it, and loved it...I always give alittle extra seal with a wrap of eletrical tape, but it is o-ring sealed and water proof...
Dawn Power Brush

 

[docott]

I use a narrow piece of bamboo (from Home Depot, for garden stakes) to flip snails back over, etc. I also attached a piece of tubing to the end of the stick with a rubber band. The other end of tubing I connected to a syringe. I use it to target feed.

 

[rayjay]

For cleaning glass that can't be reached to put the outside magnet on, or for speady light duty cleaning of any glass panel, I made this cleaner out of a swiffer copy purchased at the dollar store.
Not shown on the web site, is the extentions for the handle to go deeper where required. I was fortunate to have a three part handle that came with the cleaner.
I cut it down to make it thinner, as well as smaller in exterior dimensions as the original size was too large to be able to apply any pressure at deeper ranges.

SWIFFER TYPE ALGAE CLEANER

 

[Frick-n-Frags]

Wow, this thread has been around for a long time

Someone mentioned 5gal buckets from a restaurant like pickle buckets, but I really like getting those 5# cottage cheese/sour cream containers that hold maybe 1/2 gallon. They have a nice snap-on lid too(tho I pretty much end up losing all the lids )

Someone also mentioned a bamboo poking stick. I would be lost without my 3 or 4 various length thin dowel rods for poking around when I don't really have to put my hands in the tank.

 

[finding nemo]

This is one of the handiest things I have found, has three places to plug in heaters filters or lights and only takes up one space on the powerstrip, can be found any electrical supply stores.
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/karenssaltwater/cord.jpg">

 

[Fizz71]

For you fragging folks out there that prefer containers over bags, you can't beat the price of the disposable containers at the deli counter of your local super market. I have a "Redners" near me and they'll sell me how ever many I want of any size no questions asked. I generally pay $.03 to $.07 a container (with lid) depending on the size and who's on duty.

Don't waste your money on ziploc disposables..deli containers seal just fine considering I keep them in a cooler anyway, and the "1lb" variety is great for macro algea.

--Fizz

 

[Atticus]

I like to use the snack size Glad lock disposable containers. They are very small and just the right size for frags which makes shipping easier and cheaper.

 

[DrBDC]

Another about the 5 gallon buckets. Use your salt buckets. I'm using one for my return/skimmer feed area on my stock tank. Also on the return pump I'm using a Tidy Cat litter bucket with v notches cut in. I'll be changing that later to an Oceanic bucket on the return/skimmer because it's taller and a Coralife on the return pump.
I have my mangroves rubber banded to eggcrate from Home Depot which also makes a surface block for loose cheato and stuff from getting to the return pump area.

 

[Agu]

If you're using Rubbermaid type tubs as a sump/refugium leave the top on and cut a hole in the top. It gives it greater structural integrity, think eurobracing on a plastic tub.

Agu

 

[Adonis Mt]

Nalgene plastic stirrer


By far, the best method for mixing salt. I use seachem salt in my tank, and using a powerhead to mix the salt caused white salt "slime" to form on the powerhead and bucket. Now that i use the stirrer it doesnt happen at all, and mixes much faster (I can mix salt in under an hour).

You can get the stirrer at usplastic.com (Search for nalgene stirrer). Its a bit spendy for what it is ($16), but its worth it to me.

 

[stlouisguy]

tag