seahorsejl Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 My only problem with mexican turbos is they don't seem to last as long in my tank. My regular turbos and astrea snails doo just fine. But the small mexican or black shelled turbos seem to have a higher mortality/short life span. Link to comment
travisurfer Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 ^thats why i HAD three i had one forever but a hermit ate it Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share Posted March 23, 2007 So I took the seahare back to the LFS yesterday. Once I got it out of the tank it became clear just how much smaller it had become since I bought it; almost half the size. It was still alert (if you can use this term for a sea slug) & active, but I fear the LFS won't be able to keep it alive. I gave them the heads-up that this particular species feeds primarily upon cyanobacteria & they were fairly suprised and gave me a "wow, you're a smart man" look. I'll keep an eye out for one that is more suitable, but I may not need it. I traded the hare for three mexian turbos & two astreas + $21 in store credit. Even though their stated policy is 1/3 credit back on returned sea hares, I didn't lose any $$ in the deal. I'm not sure if my guy just wasn't thinking or was being generous because I gave them some new info. In any case, the snails are in the tank and pushing all my frags around. The turbos are really strong & I am afraid they may destabilize some of my rockwork... I am not sure what I can do about it, short of re-arranging the rock-scape. Link to comment
travisurfer Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 cool, turbos are great ime. good luck Link to comment
bluebastion Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 The turbos are really strong & I am afraid they may destabilize some of my rockwork... I am not sure what I can do about it, short of re-arranging the rock-scape. Epoxy Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 Epoxy I don't have any reef-ready expoxy... Also, I borrowed the specrometer from the lab so I could capture a few spectrums... This is the emission spectrum of a new Luxeon star, 3300K "white", part# LXHL-MWGC: The emission spectrum of a new GE 15W T8 "Sunlight" full-spectrum lamp: The emission spectrum of a new GE 15W T8 "Plant & Aquarium" lamp: And a spectrum of a clear blue sky: I have a couple year-old GE lamps at the lab whose spectra I plan to measure & compare against the ones above. EDIT: to add additional identification info for the lamps. Link to comment
ezcompany Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 you can use home depot water putty instead of reef safe epoxy Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 Oh yeah? *thinking* Now the question is whether I want to rearrange or epoxy... Link to comment
supernip Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 that spike in the 150 range scares me Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 Eh? None of the scales go as low as 150 nm... Link to comment
supernip Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 my eyes must be playing tricks on me. I could have sworn I saw the luxeon and the full sun have spikes in the 100-200nm range Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 These are the GE lamps whose spectrums I have posted. They can be found in the light bulb isle at Walmart for ~$7 a piece. This is what they look like when they are on. I apologize that I could show the color difference better, but my camera really wanted to wash it out. They are both in $12 under-cabinet fixtures (magnetic ballasts). The "plant & aquarium" lamp is the one that looks more red. This is the spectrometer that I used. It is about the size of a deck of cards. Here are a couple real-worl spectra for you to compare the lamps against. This is the spectrum of a clear blue sky as seen in Columbia, SC at 9:44AM on March 24, 2007. This is the spectrum of the sun as seen in Columbia, SC at 9:47AM on March 24, 2007. This is a several month old GE 15W T8 "Sunlight" 5000K full-spectrum lamp. This lamp had been run on a 12-to-12 diurnal pattern. This is a several month old GE 15W T8 "Plant & Aquarium" ????K full-spectrum lamp. This lamp had been run on a 12-to-12 diurnal pattern. You can see that several (more than 6) months of use didn't substantially affect the spectral output, though it looks (to my eyes) as though it did affect the intensity. This particular device (Ocean Optics USB2000) is a lot more than just a simple spectrometer. I think I may be able to use the USB2000 as a lux meter, but I am still learning how to use it. Until I figure it out, I'm just going to run on what my eyes tell me about the intensity. Also, the "full spectrum" lamp looks as though it approximates the spectral curve of full sunlight better than the Luxeon, but that doesn't explain why it makes things look a little green. I have found that if I use both of these lights together I get light that looks a lot more like sunlight... As soon as I figure out how to use the software to add two or more spectrums together, I am going to add these together to see what the result looks like. In case your wondering why I chose to investigate these lamps, it is because these are the lamps that I have been using over my FW planted tanks for years. Additionally, I plan to use them over my soon-to-be-plumbed 10g sump/refugium. Link to comment
travisurfer Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 i saw a phillips daylight bulb at home depot for $8. it was around 5000-6000k. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted March 31, 2007 Author Share Posted March 31, 2007 I came home a couple days ago to find one of my GHA frags devoid of GHA. Apparantly one of the turbos finally decided to mow down on the odius microalgae. The other frags are still covered, but I have some hope now that the snails will take action. Also, the mag5 that I bought from Fishy Business finally arrived. This is the ATO that I bought from ProFlatlander. And this is the sump that they will be going in. As you can see from the pic, I am going to try out the "duplex" sump design. It sounded like a neat concept and it leaves plenty of room for chaeto and mangroves. Plus, I have a ready-made frag rack in case I need it. The "dead" area below the eggcrate is designed to encourage the growth of filter-feeders and detritovores. The smaller baffled area is where water will enter the sump and it will also house a skimmer. Too bad I won't be able to do anything with these materials for another 1-2 months... EDIT: The dates on my pics are screwed up again. I wonder why our camera keeps resetting its date...? Link to comment
travisurfer Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 Cool Mr. Fosi. Best of luck setting up the fuge. It looks like you have all the right equipment Link to comment
skillplyr55 Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 Fosi the sump design is great I have seen one like that in action The dead zone you are talking about really helps once it gets established well good job cant wait to see it running.. Link to comment
calvin Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Fosi: the sump design is really interesting. Looking forward to seeing how it works out. FYI: www.floridapets.com they're in SC now (Lancaster in upstate) and I bet you can get pretty darn cheap shipping if you call them and ask. they have small green sea hares and tons of other CUCish things. I keep wanting to give them a call and drive over to get some stuff but google says it'll take me nearly an hour to get there. (I really want to get one of the large gorgonians they have. I think it'll look cool in my 65g) Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted April 1, 2007 Author Share Posted April 1, 2007 skillply55 & calvin: I can't wait to see it at work either! I was turned on to the idea by bluebastion after he found it at http://www.reefvideos.com/. If you want to check it out, view the video titled "sump concept" which (when I just checked it) is second in from the left in the top row. I am nixing the UV sterilizer and aiptasia culturing area mostly because I don't care to buy another ($$$) piece of equipment that will complicate my setup. I also don't trust the sterilizer to remove all traces of the pest anemones and I don't want to kill any pods that make it through the impeller. It'll take a few months populate the sump with fanworms, q-tip sponges, and various non-tube worms but I don't mind waiting. I also have some LR rubble has been sitting around in a bowl of SW since I broke down the 2.5g and I will be distributing it (probably within the bottom layer) of the sump. I may also get some more LR rubble and add it as well, but I won't make a desicision on that until I get it plumbed and running. cal: Thank you for the heads-up! The new Fl-pets location is ~1.5hrs from me, which doesn't seem very far when you consider that they are selling green sea hares for $8.25! I bought that my former hare for $45 because I didn't want to pay shipping from someplace like Foster & Smith... It would cost me ~$10 in gas to get up there and back which makes them a great livestock alternative to the LFSs around here. Link to comment
travisurfer Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 wow, lucky fosi. what are you waiting for? Link to comment
calvin Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 cal: Thank you for the heads-up! The new Fl-pets location is ~1.5hrs from me, which doesn't seem very far when you consider that they are selling green sea hares for $8.25! I bought that my former hare for $45 because I didn't want to pay shipping from someplace like Foster & Smith... It would cost me ~$10 in gas to get up there and back which makes them a great livestock alternative to the LFSs around here. you should really call them and ask about shipping cost, though. It may only be $10, and then you've saved yourself a 3 hr drive (round trip). don't go by what the website says. they often will give a better deal on shipping IME. oh, and sign up for their email newsletter. you'll get 10% everything then. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted April 8, 2007 Author Share Posted April 8, 2007 I haven't called them yet because I have been crazy busy. One of the turbos died, but I still have some $$ in credit so I will probably pick up 2-3 more. Aside from the one frag, they still haven't touched the GHA. I think they just aren't hungry enough yet. Also, I started a little side project. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=116028 Link to comment
travisurfer Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 Cool, i wouldn't get any more turbos until their all gone. When they, see if you can just get one. for some reason they seem to last longer that way ime Link to comment
nanoty Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 Hey Fosi, I hope that takes care of your gha. My sea hare totally decimated all the gha in my nanocube in about 3 days and I think I am going to take him back tomorrow unless I can find something else he will eat. I would like to keep him around but I don't want him to starve. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted April 8, 2007 Author Share Posted April 8, 2007 I would like to keep him around but I don't want him to starve. I know the feeling... To bad I didn't have it after all my GHA was gone. I am probably going to take calvin's advice and ask floridapets about shipping. Link to comment
calvin Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 I am probably going to take calvin's advice Always a wise move! Link to comment
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