filefish949's 5 gallon SPS LEAK AND MINOR FLOOD

[supernip]

you got an acjr?

[filefish949]

you got an acjr?

 

 

yea, I do not think SPS should be attempted with out a tank > 150 gallons and or a controler. things can just happen so fast. and when you add up all it does, it is cheep for $270

 

lighting timer: $20 (multi stage)

wave controler $80

2 stage temp control $80

pH monitoring/control $100

 

all adds up to $280... and you end up with a much better setup...instead of a bunch of junk taped togehter.. you just need to bite the bullet up front

[supernip]

Im curious as to why you didn't get a rk2. You prefer the acjr over it?

[filefish949]

Im curious as to why you didn't get a rk2. You prefer the acjr over it?

 

I have an ACIII on the main tank and the serial cable will reach my computer which already has the full version of aquanotes on it... I know my way around the Neptune pretty well I had one of the very first ACIIs as well

 

also the Neptune is WAY more flexible

[supernip]

oh. makes sense then.

[filefish949]

I temped in my ATO last night, I will redo neatly when I get my ACJr. I am dosing Kalkwasser and want the ACJr. to interrupt the ATO if the pH goes over 8.3

 

 

the $20 pump on a free Folgers can. it is important to keep Kalkwasser from fresh air, as we all know there is too much Co2 in the atmosphere and the kalk will bond to it and fall from solution

 

 

and here is my float, you can also my new larger fuge with the chato ball tumbling in it

 

[filefish949]

has anyone ordered from customaquatics.com ? I placed a order yesterday and I get the feeling they are not shooting straihgt

[filefish949]

Good news, my skimmer and ACJr. showed up... but I am stuck at stupid work and when I get home, my wife wants some "us time" ooh-la-la I may be up to puting the skimmer in later this evening but the ACJr, will have to wait. also, somehow a red muchroom showed up out of nowhere today, I will post a pic

[scarfish]

Every time I get a new toy my girl wants "us time". Tank looks great though.

[filefish949]

well, I got my skimmer and acjr.. the skimmer seems to be cool, but it just was not filling the chamber with milky white, so I did a mesh mod... I think we have a winner! the hard part was finding mesh, so i made some.. I will post picks and how I did it later.. nite all

[filefish949]

THE MESH MOD

 

 

 

First problem was finding suitable mesh, so i made some from this filter material. it is fairly common. I took a VERY sharp knife and sliced it as thin as I could

 

 

 

I ended up with a small sheet of mesh

 

 

the next step was to choose a portion of my sheet that was suitably thick and trim it as big as I could without restricting the impeller

 

 

 

 

next I used my thumbnail to seat the mesh between the needles, you could choose to superglue it but the impeller plastic is fairly waxy and I don't think it would stick

 

 

 

here it is, modded in the pump

 

 

my pump fit a Little loose so I put 1 tight wrap of 3M super 33 (very thin) electrical tape around the nozzle and trimmed it flush. this worked like a champ and it now fits as tight as a debutant on prom night

 

 

SUCSESS, here are my new bubbles

 

 

1258

[sammy113]

can't see the last pics of he skimmer that little power head have incredible power for its size. I have one Nice build

[Uhuru]

nice work, you are very resourceful!

[filefish949]

that last photo was a macro of the bubbles inside the skimmer, for size reference, the 2 dark lines on the left makeup the edge of the skimmer. the rectangle at the top is the par of the bracket that holds the skimmer off it is 1/2 inch across these bubbles are very small. the skimmer is making some very nice thick foam this morning

[filefish949]

nice work, you are very resourceful!

 

thanks!

 

foam is hard to photograph but here is my best shot out of 20, this is after 12 hours.. no fish in the tank, just a few frags

 

 

1364

[johnmaloney]

You are the MacGuyver of nano reefs.

[AcroporaLokani]

What brand of skimmer do you have?

[filefish949]

What brand of skimmer do you have?

it is pacific coast, there is a link to it on the first or 2nd page of this thread

 

 

You are the MacGuyver of nano reefs.

thanks ... I think

 

1629

[filefish949]

here are my first two victims.. er I mean stag-horns lowbudget over at RC was kind enough to give them to me Saturday

 

no PE on this one yet but I am on worried, it may be wild and I will only see it at night

 

 

this one had PE from a few minuets after I remounted it

 

 

1693

[dtfleming]

Looks good, just order that skimmer also. def be doing the mess mod.

[baj]

very cool and great solution for the mesh mod!

[filefish949]

Looks good, just order that skimmer also. def be doing the mess mod.

 

I am thinking I am going to add a drain tube to the collection cup. here is the problem, for the first few hours, before the foam gets thick, the bubbles splatter and splash water in the cup. once the thick foam is made and the skimmer starts skimming the GUNK, the cup is already 1/3 full. I am just a bit worried about drilling acrylic

 

1714

[Uhuru]

hopefully those guys will color up for you - my 5g started with free browned out frags that really ended up surprising me

[nanu-nanu]

Why didn't you use a thicker piece of acrylic for the divider in the tank?

Plan on painting the non-display section of the tank?

Maybe not paint, just a quick overlay or cover?

[filefish949]

Why didn't you use a thicker piece of acrylic for the divider in the tank?

Plan on painting the non-display section of the tank?

Maybe not paint, just a quick overlay or cover?

 

well, that is what HD had for acrylic, if I were to do it again. i would look for something thicker, but it worked fine. I thought about painting it, but it will be covered in Coraline soon enough. besides, this tanks main purpose is a quarantine and frag tank for my main display

 

as far as those 2 brown ones, I suspect they are wild grown and will take a few months to adjust to tank life.