andrewkw Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Ive been running that red sea deco pico filter for the past 24hrs. The thing is an eyesore. It's small but still too big for this tank. There seems to be some unnessessary plastic so they probably could have made it smaller but just choose not to. Is the pico market that tiny that it's not worth making anything that works for them? I am surprised that the filter floss has pulled out a lot of detritus. I'm going to remove that today and then just run a polypad gfo and carbon. This filter will NOT be staying on. I'm just going to lower the phosphates polish the water, if this works I will put it back following feedings and remove it in the morning. The extra flow is nice but not at the cost of the inlet being in the tank or the filter hanging off the side since there is no room at the back. Wow it's really working. I was running my test while typing and today's phosphate reading is 0.15!!!! Link to comment
brandolando4 Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 What optic is ur led? I just ordered mine and it is 80.. How far off the water did you mount it off the water!! And idk If I'm blond but is there a picture of how u riggd ur light? Thanks Ps. Couldn't u buy a cheap canister filter and fill that up with gfo, carbon, and other phosphate destroyers.. Idk if u thought of that already but there are some pretty cheap ones!! Just thinking out loud!! Link to comment
andrewkw Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 What canister do you recommend? It has to be small, I'm not sure if I can squeeze the plumbing in. I'm going to take that hob off the side of my tank today. I'm curious to see what the phosphates will be when I test later today and then do a water change tomorrow. For now I'm thinking I'm going to reduce frozen food feedings to 1-2 times a week max and feed my poor goby and sexy shrimp pellets the rest of the time. As I mentioned before I just never feed my fish anything non frozen and those sexies love to eat corals when they dont get enough to eat. Tank is still a work in progress but is now almost 9 months old. The light is 60 degree optics I think, It's about 5-6" off the water and there should be pictures of how the light is hanging over somewhere in this thread. I'm going to have to go through it to show you, so you might as well just do it yourself Link to comment
jdl Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 ever had any bleaching problems that close? Link to comment
brandolando4 Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 the only reason i say canister filter is because i was reading around the web for mods and stuff to do to my tank, (fluval spec, roughly the same size) and some guy had a cheapo canister filter on his. It was a ZooMed 501, its meant for a terraium but he used it and i dont see why it wouldnt work, he amde that fit in his tank along with a skimmer and a heater, so im sure you can make the plumping work!! here is a link http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4=263602_304652 Link to comment
andrewkw Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 ever had any bleaching problems that close? Yes tons. The light is actually more like 4-5" above the surface. The bleaching and recovery is all documented in this thread. I'm still running that red sea hob on the side. If only the thing was smaller. Using it is really working and cutting down frozen food. There is a noticeable drop in algae on the side where it was growing and today's phosphate reading is just 0.10 if it drops a couple more points it will be in the acceptable range. I tried feeding the goby baby brine yesterday but he wasn't interested. I guess when you're going from PE anything is a step down even live. I'm going to try and grow some brine and maybe live will be better for the water then frozen. Link to comment
gabe_j Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 i agree with the canister idea. but why not just get a brs media reactor? $40 you just can't beat it.i've got one running GAC and fliter floss as a prefilter. i open it up 2x a week to pull the floss and shove some more back in and put it back together. haven't had any problems yet. only down side i could reasonably think of is i don't have another one. i'd like 1 for GAC and floss, and another for biopellets. but until i plumb in a sump i won't be getting a second one. Link to comment
andrewkw Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 i agree with the canister idea. but why not just get a brs media reactor? $40 you just can't beat it.i've got one running GAC and fliter floss as a prefilter. i open it up 2x a week to pull the floss and shove some more back in and put it back together. haven't had any problems yet. only down side i could reasonably think of is i don't have another one. i'd like 1 for GAC and floss, and another for biopellets. but until i plumb in a sump i won't be getting a second one. How am I going to use a brs reactor? There is no room for a feed pump and even an external pump will be tricky as there is very little room for and plumbing. Link to comment
brandolando4 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Hey Andrew, I was looking through your thread and idk if I'm just blind or what, but I couldn't for the life of me see a picture of the fixture it using for it bulb, and how much was it and where did u get it!! Link to comment
andrewkw Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Hey Andrew, I was looking through your thread and idk if I'm just blind or what, but I couldn't for the life of me see a picture of the fixture it using for it bulb, and how much was it and where did u get it!! Page 12... This thread has become too big for it's own good. Not singling you out but almost every question I've been asked has been asked before in this thread. The fixture cost $7 and it's a walmart desk lamp. I removed the bell, and attached the lamp base to cdr spindles with rubber bands to get it higher. Even still it is only about 4" above the water. Link to comment
brandolando4 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Sorry to bother you, I know u had mentioned it before, I just must have been blind!!! Lol i did notice while i was reading through your thread that people kept asking you the same questions over and over again!! Im a little confused when you say bundled to a cdr spindles, if you have time is there any way you can put a pic of that up?? Link to comment
andrewkw Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Today's phosphate reading is 0.11 just slightly higher possibly due to feeding pellets, or just the fact the photometer has a +/- of .04 Link to comment
brandolando4 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Thank you soo much!!!! Link to comment
jdl Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 my goby seems to want to eat more when i add some rogers reef to the cyclops. i think the garlic in the rogers really makes it hungry. just a thought. Link to comment
andrewkw Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Genius! It works, and it's behind my desk so you can't see it. I'm surprised my sexy shrimp is still carrying her eggs, they must be ready to hatch at any time. I don't think I will try raising them but I am somewhat thinking about it. Just catching her would be a real pain. Link to comment
pj86 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 andrewkw, so how is the reactor working? Are you going to keep it, or already thinking about other ideas? Link to comment
andrewkw Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 andrewkw, so how is the reactor working? Are you going to keep it, or already thinking about other ideas? I never used it. It won't fit in the back chamber. It's a fraction of an inch too big. Ive been running a red sea deco art hob filter. I like the extra flow but the thing is an eyesore. I wish they made a smaller hob. I am debating a canister but I need one that has very small plumbing and strong enough to pump up the 3 feet or so the tank is off the ground. Once the phosphates drop to 0.06 or so I'm going to take it off and then only bring it back when they rise again. Less frozen food and less food in general will hopefully help keep them down. I don't understand how you don't have a phosphate problem in your constant feeding pico... Link to comment
doppelganger Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 It works, and it's behind my desk so you can't see it. ya love it. I'm all about using whatever's lying around and making it work... or in my case whatever I can "borrow" from the office Your tank is amazing and truly an inspiration! Link to comment
PinkDamsel Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Andrew, are you still using the eggcrate to lower the light intensity? I have a PAR30 22.5" above the sandbed of my 3 gallon, and although I acclimated by screening, some corals STILL don't like the light. You've got quite a few low & medium light critters in there, just wondering. Link to comment
andrewkw Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 Andrew, are you still using the eggcrate to lower the light intensity? I have a PAR30 22.5" above the sandbed of my 3 gallon, and although I acclimated by screening, some corals STILL don't like the light. You've got quite a few low & medium light critters in there, just wondering. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. My green clown goby jumped when it wasn't on I guess he didn't like being featured on nano reef. I am only aiming to lower the shimmer. The intensity is fine. My light is only about 4" off the water, some corals bleached but they eventually bounced back. I believe there are some photos of this somewhere in the thread. I've been really sick for the past couple weeks and was away the week before that so I have not done a water change in 3 weeks. Nothing is showing ill effects, but a stupid starfish and the sexy shrimp managed to devour one of my florida rics. The starfish is now in the garbage but the sexy shrimp still pick at pretty much everything however it is rare they completely devour an entire coral. I am still adding alkalinity as that is the one thing that gets used up quickly and hope to finally get around to a water change today or tomorrow. Link to comment
andrewkw Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 A few new pics since I haven't posted any in forever. Stupid sexy shrimp have really been going after my duncans lately, so I broke down and fed them some PE. The mysis are almost as big as them. Originally one polyp that was a clean bandsaw cut and glue job one of the 2 original palythora grandis now has 2 babies that are almost full size crappy pic but the stylo is encrusted to the rock Sexy shrimp once again carrying eggs. One of these days I'll get around to catching her I really like how that hammer macro came out. The blue from the led's on the left and on the right the glow of the sun. I can't stress enough how much sunlight enhances the view of my tank. Another sunlight pic Link to comment
PinkDamsel Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Sometimes yes, sometimes no....I am only aiming to lower the shimmer. The intensity is fine. My light is only about 4" off the water, some corals bleached but they eventually bounced back. I have several that haven't bounced back after several months, not from bleaching but fom scrunching up. Given your & DulcyDoll's experience (another PAR30 inches above the water) maybe I need to consider other factors. I've been really sick for the past couple weeks So sorry, hope you feel better soon. Your tank is a real inspiration. Link to comment
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