TristanC Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Thats strange, the plumbing on mine is spot on. Any pics of the possible aquascapes? Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 Thats strange, the plumbing on mine is spot on. Any pics of the possible aquascapes? I thought it was strange as well. This is what I mean. http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4738.jpg.html'> http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4740.jpg.html'> I took a few shots but it got really late and I tied on a pretty strong buzz by the end of it. http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4728.jpg.html'> http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4729.jpg.html'> http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4730.jpg.html'> http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4732.jpg.html'> Now that I'm looking back, I'm not really satisfied with these. Must have been the beer goggles. I'm finding it pretty difficult getting look I want with these display dimensions. One more. This is probably my least favorite. http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4726.jpg.html'> Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 You might want to try soaking the hose ends in boiling water to stretch them out. Just a thought. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 11, 2013 Author Share Posted April 11, 2013 You might want to try soaking the hose ends in boiling water to stretch them out. Just a thought. Well, the whole tube is too short as well. It's large for the pump and small for the elbow. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 12, 2013 Author Share Posted April 12, 2013 I spent $8 on new vinyl tubing. It turns out the fittings are, in fact, the same size but the tubing was just stretched on the pump side or something. I used a heat gun to straighten out a length of new tubing and to help fit it on the 1/2" barb fitting. I feel much more comfortable with this now. http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4741.jpg.html'> Finally got time to install a new outlet in the tank location. I also learned my exterior walls have sprayed-in insulation. http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4745.jpg.html'> Installed outlet! http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4748.jpg.html'> Success! http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4751.jpg.html'> Then I scaped it. http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4753.jpg.html'> Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 My lovely wife took me out for a belated dinner at or local sushi joint. They have a couple of JBJ Nanos there with a few corals and clowns in each. I think that was the first time I was able to get her really interested in my new hobby. I got up early this morning and started mixing salt and FINALLY got this thing set up. I left the water in the jugs outside last night so it was really cold. My RKL temp probe won't even read a temperature. I need to look at the range so I know it's actually working. Anyway, pictures... http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4757.jpg.html'> http://s852.photobucket.com/user/jrusiad/media/_DSC4759.jpg.html'> I didn't epoxy any of these rocks together. They seem to fit pretty snug. How worried should I be? Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Looking awesome! Are you going to add any live rock to get the cycle started? Just wonderering for selfish reasons. I think I'm going to use a mix of vida rock and live rock. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 Looking awesome! Are you going to add any live rock to get the cycle started? Just wonderering for selfish reasons. I think I'm going to use a mix of vida rock and live rock. Thanks. I'm not sure yet. I'm curious what the sand will provide to the system so I thought about just feeding it a little once it's up to temp and testing frequently. I didn't think the LFS liverock was very impressive. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 15, 2013 Author Share Posted April 15, 2013 I tested the "RO/DI" water with my fancy new HM TDS meter. 12ppm! I sent a message to the LFS so I will see how they respond. I checked some distilled water I have on hand and it is 1ppm. I sure don't want to replace this water, but I will if necessary. What are your thoughts? Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 17, 2013 Author Share Posted April 17, 2013 I got my dd ocean refractometer today. Tested at 1.021. I've been adding a tablespoon of salt to the display periodically (its still empty of course) and I'm nearing 35 ppt. I'm surprised its that low actually. This is a cool tool! Also, I've been feeding some mysis shrimp crumbs. Gonna pee in it this weekend. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 17, 2013 Author Share Posted April 17, 2013 I bought a couple of pounds of live rock from another LFS. It's a dark purple color. I'll use it to seed my dry rock. I'm not really digging the scape right now so I ordered some putty and glue to work out something more interesting later this week. Also tested their RO/DI water: 10ppm Link to comment
BadCrab Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 That seems to be a pretty common problem with LFS RO/DI (I assume they overuse the DI resin or something.. I don't know..) Buying my own SpectraPure RO/DI system is one of the highest things on my to-do list Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 17, 2013 Author Share Posted April 17, 2013 That seems to be a pretty common problem with LFS RO/DI (I assume they overuse the DI resin or something.. I don't know..) Buying my own SpectraPure RO/DI system is one of the highest things on my to-do list Indeed. I guess I'm just going to buy one. My wife will probably flip once she's aware of the waste ratio. We try to keep our waste to a minimum anywhere we can. I realize its the same thing as me buying it but I still hate it and so will she. I've been following your tank(s). Looking great so far! Thanks for stopping by my thread, it's been feeling a lot like a diary lately. Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 Looking good! I've been following along regarding your LFS ro di adventures! I'm really tempted to pull the trigger on my own system...the spectrapures don't have the 75% waste ratio...one has 66% annd their better unit is 50%. I'm heading to Peoria this Saturday to get my PicO...can't wait!!! Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 18, 2013 Author Share Posted April 18, 2013 Looking good! I've been following along regarding your LFS ro di adventures! I'm really tempted to pull the trigger on my own system...the spectrapures don't have the 75% waste ratio...one has 66% annd their better unit is 50%. I'm heading to Peoria this Saturday to get my PicO...can't wait!!! Awesome! Thanks for following along. I'm happy to share my experiences! I wish they were all positive but they be what they be. From what I've read on this site, (azdesert) along with supporting information, spectrapure seems to be the best option for me as waste is low waste is important. Have you started a build thread yet? Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 Awesome! Thanks for following along. I'm happy to share my experiences! I wish they were all positive but they be what they be. From what I've read on this site, (azdesert) along with supporting information, spectrapure seems to be the best option for me as waste is low waste is important. Have you started a build thread yet? Thought you might want to know...spectrapure has a refurbished 90 GPD RODI on their website for 130. Less than $150 with shipping. I just ordered one. Link to comment
BadCrab Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 You won't regret a SpectraPure. They are a local company here that's extremely involved in the reefing community and is very open about its product's specifications. AZDesertRat is the guy to talk to if you have any questions or problems, for sure. Link to comment
dhartmann Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 Very cool! I read a lot of AZDesertRats stuff and that sealed the deal for me regarding the spectrapure. I like the piece of mind that comes with knowing your water has 0 TDS and I have a meter to be sure. Link to comment
tigrtraps Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 I didn't epoxy any of these rocks together. They seem to fit pretty snug. How worried should I be? This build is coming along sweet, nice work so far . The need to epoxy will depend on your inhabitants. Gobies, Jawfish, even some wrasse can move a lot of sand out from underneath rock work. Since the rock is already wet I'd say stick with what you have as long as you can't rock any of the rock pieces out of their spots. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 This build is coming along sweet, nice work so far . The need to epoxy will depend on your inhabitants. Gobies, Jawfish, even some wrasse can move a lot of sand out from underneath rock work. Since the rock is already wet I'd say stick with what you have as long as you can't rock any of the rock pieces out of their spots. Thanks! As for securing the rock work, I decided to epoxy some pieces together and rescaped the whole thing. I guess I should update my FTS. I've been more focused lately on testing and equipment issues. My Redsea phosphate kit is reporting .08ppm consistently. I suppose this is to be expected at this stage in the game but I'd like it to be lower. I stopped feeding the tank after a day or two and picked up a couple small pieces of live rock from the LFS. With that came my first animal. A bristle worm. It's dead now. The nitrogen cycle is under way as I'm now getting nitrite and nitrate readings. Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 API Ammonia 0.5 ppm Nitrite 1.0 ppm Nitrate 20 ppm pH 8.1 REDSEA PRO Calc 410 ppm Alk 10.1dkh Mag 1400 ppm Phos .08 ppm Edit: fixed failed iPad formatting Link to comment
Passaggper Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 Aprl 27, 2013 Ammonia 0 (ish) Nitrite 0 (ish) Nitrate 20ppm Cal over 500 Alk 10.1dkh Mag 1600ppm phos 0.08ppm pH 7.8 temp 80.1 salinity 35ppt I've been topping off with salt water as I was trying to increase salinity to 35ppt using the refractometer. I guess this is why trace elements are reading so high? When I saw ammonia was zero, I added a hunk of freeze dried mysis shrimp to the tank. I haven't tested today, but I noticed a small diatom bloom across the sandbed and some parts of the rock. I'm actually very surprised at how quickly I got to this point. The tank is 15 days old today and was started with mostly dry rock, live sand and a small hunk of live rock was added a week later. Kinda bummed about my phosphate readings but they haven't increased so I'm curious to see the results of my first large water change. Also, I added a tiny Paracanthurus hepatus. Link to comment
jadedanime Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Also, I added a tiny Paracanthurus hepatus. Great build, looking forward to what you do with this cute tank. However, I really hope you didn't just put a tang in this tank.... 11 Gallons, not really enough room for that little guy. Link to comment
BadCrab Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Great build, looking forward to what you do with this cute tank. However, I really hope you didn't just put a tang in this tank.... 11 Gallons, not really enough room for that little guy. He said it's tiny though so it's fine. I heard that species likes to school too, and feels more comfortable in groups of 3 or 5 JP. Link to comment
jadedanime Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 He said it's tiny though so it's fine. I heard that species likes to school too, and feels more comfortable in groups of 3 or 5 JP. Lol tiny fish. heck he could get a dozen in there then. although better stick to odd number, so lets say 13. Link to comment
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