chippwalters Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 I'm thinking of add a sump to this design with the intention of wanting to add significantly more water, and easier overall maintenance. Currently I have a snail tank (Walmart special) sitting right next to my Pico, and I can't help but look at it and think to myself how great it would be if both water volumes where managed as one. Here's my first crack at a design and would love to have comments-- as I'm not sure I'm doing everything right. If you have some time, please take a look a the design: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=288968 Link to comment
metrokat Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Hey Chip, did you get the inline dimmer for the LED's yet? Link to comment
chippwalters Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 Hey Chip, did you get the inline dimmer for the LED's yet? Yep. My LFS had one and I went down and bought it. It works great with my 50/50 PPro and dual actinic Stunners. I find I can drop the lighting down a bit, and it makes for better pics. Like your new setup! Let me know when you start a new thread on it. Best of luck with it and the millions of frags you have Here's a video I did with my iPhone 4S and the new lower light settings. Link to comment
TinyGiant Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 pretty sure that "gsp" is actually an encrusting gorgonian.. the poylps have the little fins on them. and they are a thinner than gsp polyps. they spread a lot faster too Link to comment
chippwalters Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 pretty sure that "gsp" is actually an encrusting gorgonian.. the poylps have the little fins on them. and they are a thinner than gsp polyps. they spread a lot faster too Interesting. Yes, the damn stuff does grow really fast. Just moved two 'groups' of it to another tank today. Seems fairly hardy as well. The LFS that sold it to me called it GSP. Link to comment
TinyGiant Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 get a picture of it closed I can definitely tell you for sure when its closed Link to comment
chippwalters Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 I'm thinking about adding a display fuge ABOVE my tank using this design: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=3651488 I've ordered some parts and will see what happens when they come in. I'll post results here. Link to comment
chippwalters Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 get a picture of it closed I can definitely tell you for sure when its closed Here are three pics: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3788438/Aquarium/P...6%2009%20AM.jpg http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3788438/Aquarium/P...6%2034%20AM.jpg http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3788438/Aquarium/P...6%2058%20AM.jpg Let me know what you think. Link to comment
TinyGiant Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 yeah its the gorg.. at least i'm like 95% sure also note the oral disk in the middle of GSP and its not there in gorgs its more of a tight dot Link to comment
chippwalters Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 yeah its the gorg.. at least i'm like 95% sure also note the oral disk in the middle of GSP and its not there in gorgs its more of a tight dot Yep, you're right. I took a two large frags of it (each about 2"x2"x1"H) to my LFS and traded them and 30 nassarius snails for 5 gallons Saltwater, 5 gal RO, and 2 Turbos. The LFS guy was nice, but seemed unimpressed, though he never did see the color. I've never seen GPS or Gorgs at his place-- and I wonder if he just would rather not sell the stuff-- as it can take over a tank pretty quick. Thanks (belated) for you help Link to comment
metrokat Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 love your signature icons! Link to comment
chippwalters Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 love your signature icons! Yours too. Nothing like a hot pink pair of Alexander McQueen stilettos to liven a thread up! Link to comment
chippwalters Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 Tank update. Video: Started dosing with dKH and both the Acro and Candy Canes *finally* started growing. BTW, what IS the best way to clean the outside aquarium glass? I think it's quicker for me to wax my car than get this darn glass clean! Link to comment
chippwalters Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 OK. I've gone all Frankenstein on my Pico. The goal is to add a 'same level' sump, with a home-made siphon overflow to see if I can get it to work. The problem is when I change water in my tank, my corals are exposed to air and sometimes they take a day or two to recover-- and I'm thinking with a same level sump I can move all my equipment to it, add an ATO, and create an overall better environment for my Pico critters. Plus, I can have Chaeto and other live rock in it to help with the water quality. I've done a bit of experimenting with my Walmart Pico and have found the Chaeto, LR and Nassarius snails have done a monster job of keeping the water quality high in that little aquarium. OTOH, my aquarium has had numerous algae outbreaks-- and I suspect it's because I don't change the water but 50% every two weeks. Any more than that and it seems like my corals don't recover well. FWIW, I'm only moving about 2/3 gallon per minute, which gives me a full tank water swap every 4.5 minutes. Here's a video of the whole shebang. Remember, it's a proof of concept and not a final design! And some pics... Link to comment
castiel Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Wow that is quite the plumbing job! Link to comment
Primitive Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 The aquarium is a most unique Bending Glass Tank AQUA H20 AQ-35 3.5 gallon aquarium. It was the last one at the LFS, and had been sitting on the shelf for quite some time. I cannot find mention of another one like it anywhere on the Internet. Has anyone else seen this one? I think I have the same type of aquarium! If so I love it, very unique. Corners are rounded in the front and squared in the back? Check out my thread! Link to comment
Houdini Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I don't see where anyone addressed your glass cleaning question from Jan 30. I always get compliments on my clean pico glass and I use Scott paper towels (no scents or chemicals that tend to streak) and distilled water. I either soak and pretty well dampen with distilled water depending on salt creep. Then use another paper towel to dry. Or if it is not to bad and to detail clean I use a microfibre with a little distilled water on it to buff. BTW you have a cool tank. I've had a fluval spec for over a year and love it with a pistol goby pair. In process of going nano also with a Nuvo 16. Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 really like some of your new corals there guy.so it seems youve done pretty well so far.its not that hard of a hobby.does anyone from your family stop by to see your tank .......or freinds?if so what do they think? Link to comment
chippwalters Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Wow that is quite the plumbing job! Thanks. I took quite awhile to figure it all out. One of the neat things about it is the return line from the the pump overflow works great for providing a tumbling action for the Chaeto. Here's an explanation of the tumbling action: The aquarium is a most unique Bending Glass Tank AQUA H20 AQ-35 3.5 gallon aquarium. It was the last one at the LFS, and had been sitting on the shelf for quite some time. I cannot find mention of another one like it anywhere on the Internet. Has anyone else seen this one? I think I have the same type of aquarium! If so I love it, very unique. Corners are rounded in the front and squared in the back? Check out my thread! Yep, I really like it, too. It's a nicely proportioned tank. My LFS finally got in more, all at different sizes. If I wasn't so gung ho on an ADA, I'd probably consider it next. I don't see where anyone addressed your glass cleaning question from Jan 30. I always get compliments on my clean pico glass and I use Scott paper towels (no scents or chemicals that tend to streak) and distilled water. I either soak and pretty well dampen with distilled water depending on salt creep. Then use another paper towel to dry. Or if it is not to bad and to detail clean I use a microfibre with a little distilled water on it to buff. BTW you have a cool tank. I've had a fluval spec for over a year and love it with a pistol goby pair. In process of going nano also with a Nuvo 16. Great. Thanks so much for that tip. I'll try it out! really like some of your new corals there guy.so it seems youve done pretty well so far.its not that hard of a hobby.does anyone from your family stop by to see your tank .......or freinds?if so what do they think? After cutting back my massive water changes to once per 2 weeks and then adding kH dosing, my corals have finally started to take off. I'm forever having to prune back the encrusted gorgornian (NEVER attach it to your LR!) but the torch, candy canes and esp the acro are doing great. Now, I hope to get the water quality under control with this new refuge/sump and hopefully things will turn out great! My wife and daughter really like spending time with the tank. I keep it right next to my computer so I can stare at it whenever. Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 thats nice to hear Link to comment
chippwalters Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Only 1 day w/new Sump and the corals seem to be loving it. Everybody's out and as plush as ever. I swear my sponge grew 1/8" overnight. Maybe it was due to the change in direction of the water flow? Anyway, here are some new shots: Link to comment
chippwalters Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Oh, and I did create a snail guard today from a piece of 1 1/4" PVC (the tubing in this project is 1/2" PVC). Link to comment
xxbrianxx Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 hey chipp, that's a really cool lookin overflow. I checked out your video too and it looks great. I'm not sure if it's been addressed yet, but I feel like it's a bit abnormal that your corals close up for days after water changes. I don't think it's the fact that they're exposed to air since I used to have a 2.5 gallon that I would completely drain for water changes, but all corals would be open again within a few hours. What kind of salt are you using? And you might want to test parameters of your tank at the end of each 2 week period between water changes because parameters swings is probably what's doing it. Link to comment
Builder Anthony Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 unless salts not mixed long enough Link to comment
chippwalters Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 hey chipp, that's a really cool lookin overflow. I checked out your video too and it looks great. I'm not sure if it's been addressed yet, but I feel like it's a bit abnormal that your corals close up for days after water changes. I don't think it's the fact that they're exposed to air since I used to have a 2.5 gallon that I would completely drain for water changes, but all corals would be open again within a few hours. What kind of salt are you using? And you might want to test parameters of your tank at the end of each 2 week period between water changes because parameters swings is probably what's doing it. Hi Brian, They don't actually close completely up for too long-- but then they didn't seem to grow much or act very healthy. It might be a function of the kA, though I'm just not sure. In anycase, changing a high percentage of water volume does seem to mess with a lot of stuff-- the encrusted gorgonians do stay closed for at least 24 hours as they are exposed the most. The acro never did grow at all-- thought it was dead for awhile. The candy canes did nothing at all for the longest time, and I couldn't go too low as the blue sponge cannot be in air at all. Plus, I had a whole slew of snails die off. So, I just thought it would be a good idea to have a sump which I can use to top off and change the water weekly, and then clean the DT every now and then. We'll see how it goes. I also want to get my HOB and heater out of the DT as well. Plus, I noticed how adding chaeto to my little Walmart Pico changed everything. It was having a hard time and my sick corals in it didn't do well, then adding a ball of chaeto cleaned things up nicely. I was actually looking for a way to use my Walmart as the sump, but it's just too small. I'll keep my eyes open for a nice little sump tank. I don't know if I've ever seen a 'same level' sump/fuge before. I like the idea I can view the sump/fuge at night when the DT is off, and vice versa in the day. Still have some technical work to do before I can start thinking of the final design. unless salts not mixed long enough I've always bought my water from a reputable LFS so I don't think that's the problem. Link to comment
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