ccapasso Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 Ended up getting a pulsing xenia frag for this tank and an acro for the 55g. I limited myself as could have easily spent a lot more lol. Link to comment
JR! Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 how did you like the gardens? sick hunnn Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 how did you like the gardens? sick hunnn It was very cool. Wasn't sure what to expect, but I did see the videos before going. I decided to hold off on getting more NPS for now until I see how this sun coral does. Btw, have fun on your vacation! Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 How's that majano holding up? Is it open now? Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 How's that majano holding up? Is it open now? It is open but still looks tiny. By that I mean it doesn't look like it is "puffed out" or "full". However, it did eat on Friday and will get more food today. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 It is open but still looks tiny. By that I mean it doesn't look like it is "puffed out" or "full". However, it did eat on Friday and will get more food today. It's probably got some healing to do. Removing it from the rock was a fairly traumatic process. Good thing they're hard to kill. :-) Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 I decided to feed the Mantis some frozen shrimp today in hopes to keep him preoccupied so that I could feed the sun coral in peace. Here is the video: (Make sure you have your sound on and watch in HD!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q55QWEFR6lc For those of you wondering; Yes...that smacking noise you hear is the mantis hitting the stick to free the shrimp. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Nice video. That dude is epic. Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Nice video. That dude is epic. Thanks! I can't wait to feed him some sort of live shrimp or crab and tape it. The only problem is figuring out what type of live shrimp/crab I can give him. I could get ghost shrimp, but those are tiny. I could do emerald crabs I suppose. Either way, I'm going to wait until he has completely depleted the tank of snails, which he is very close to doing, lol. He made the effort today to swim up on the rock and pluck a snail right from it. No effort at all. Link to comment
Tinola Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Hey, how's the skimmer so far? Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Hey, how's the skimmer so far? Sadly, I don't know yet. I needed longer tubing then what came with it and I just picked it up yesterday after working. I plan on trying to hook it up today. Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Hooked up the skimmer first thing this morning. I'm sure there is some tweaking I'll have to do, but here you go: Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Is the height of the airstone adjustable? If so, get it as low as you can without bubbles leaking out. You want the most contact time possible between the bubbles and the water. Then adjust the air so you're getting a tea colored skimmate. You'll need it re-adjust it a little bit for the first couple days of a new airstone as it gets waterlogged. Also, I bought some replacement limewood airstones on ebay for a buck each. The guy will make them in any size you want. I just got them yesterday and they look very good quality. I haven't tried them yet, but I'll give you an update when I do. You can take a razor blade and scrape the algae off the surface of the airstone when the bubbles start getting too big to be effective; you'll get a lot more life out of them. Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Is the height of the airstone adjustable? If so, get it as low as you can without bubbles leaking out. You want the most contact time possible between the bubbles and the water. Then adjust the air so you're getting a tea colored skimmate. You'll need it re-adjust it a little bit for the first couple days of a new airstone as it gets waterlogged. Also, I bought some replacement limewood airstones on ebay for a buck each. The guy will make them in any size you want. I just got them yesterday and they look very good quality. I haven't tried them yet, but I'll give you an update when I do. You can take a razor blade and scrape the algae off the surface of the airstone when the bubbles start getting too big to be effective; you'll get a lot more life out of them. It is adjustable. However it doesn't stay put once adjusted, lol. I tried moving the o ring but that didn't work. I basically need another o-ring on the bottom side to keep it in place. Some of the pictures that Chris posted show two rings, but mine only came with one. Hmm... Link to comment
avbarr11 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 It is adjustable. However it doesn't stay put once adjusted, lol. I tried moving the o ring but that didn't work. I basically need another o-ring on the bottom side to keep it in place. Some of the pictures that Chris posted show two rings, but mine only came with one. Hmm... How about a rubber band wrapped around the bottom? Also, that Mantis is beautiful, I love checking in on this thread and watching your latest video. Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Problem solved! I just cut a small piece of tubing and used it as the 2nd/bottom o-ring. Adjusted the height of the skimmer itself as well and now we have it near the bottom: How about a rubber band wrapped around the bottom? Also, that Mantis is beautiful, I love checking in on this thread and watching your latest video. Thanks! I really want to get a live stream up and going...but so far that is a no go... Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Went to get a bite to eat and came back to 3 packages! Tomorrow is going to be like Christmas! I am expecting 2 deliveries: 1. Majano from Islandoftiki 2. Pico Skimmer from PicoAquariums! 3. Dragon's Breath Macro from keydiver The Majano looks pissed (as expected) lol. It is floating. UPS can't read the words fragile when it comes to the skimmer but all looks ok. Dragon's Breath is floating as well. Is this the Majano you got : There are plenty and some are far more colorful than this one but many still consider it a pest ... as they tend to multiply real quickly Albert Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Is this the Majano you got : There are plenty and some are far more colorful than this one but many still consider it a pest ... as they tend to multiply real quickly Albert Nope. I got the green one with the red tips. Link to comment
albertthiel Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Nope. I got the green one with the red tips. Oh the one that was posted a day or two ago on another thread ? Check this link and you'll see hundreds of them including some other lifeforms http://images.google.com/search?tbm=isch&a...0.0.SQAek78Xw8k Albert Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Oh the one that was posted a day or two ago on another thread ? Check this link and you'll see hundreds of them including some other lifeforms http://images.google.com/search?tbm=isch&a...0.0.SQAek78Xw8k Albert Yes sir, that'd be the one! Some of them do look really nice. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Chris, You can also make o-rings with a straight razor and some air line tubing. Cut off little 1mm to 2mm lengths and use them as o-rings. They work great. Link to comment
Tinola Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Chris, You can also make o-rings with a straight razor and some air line tubing. Cut off little 1mm to 2mm lengths and use them as o-rings. They work great. isn't that what he just did? Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 isn't that what he just did? That's what I get for reading things too fast while I'm working and playing around on forums at the same time. lol.. Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 That's what I get for reading things too fast while I'm working and playing around on forums at the same time. lol.. Lol...no worries. I do the same thing often. So far this skimmer is working well. Bubbling like crazy and pushing down the tube into my collection jug (yes...a jug). Granted, there is no coloration to it yet, but I expect to see some in the next few days. I'll do a video of it working next week. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 The skimmmate from mine is a pretty light tea color. I skim pretty wet. I'm using a 1 gallon jug, so I only have to empty it every couple weeks. I'm interested in comparing notes on our airstone skimmers as there's not a ton of information about the ideal adjustments and whatnot. I don't think there's a ton to worry about though. One thing... If you're skimming really wet, keep an eye on your salinity. You'll be pulling out salt water and your ATO will be replacing it with RO/DI. Link to comment
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