Beware the Shallows

[jedimasterben]

I put the 20v chips back in my Tunzes and ordered the 7096 controller for them. At full blast, they are too much for 24/7 usage. With the controller, I'll be able to program them how I want.

 

 

And WTF. Remember when I had two neon gobies in my tank, what, a month and a half ago or so? After two days of putting them in, they were gone. I found one today! Belly was a little sunken in, but I don't know where the hell it would have been hiding all this time. Every neon goby I've ever heard of has always been out and about all day.

[BattleAthletics]

Eh, maybe. It takes a whole lotta time to put these together, and since I don't have access to wholesale prices, the cost is more than normal DIY (but I guess without the work, that kinda makes up for it). I could use BXRA chips to make a 'mini' evil cluster, but the cost reduction would be slim.

 

It wouldn't cost too much if I used non-dimmable drivers, Meanwell LPC-35-700 are around $16 each, or if making a more complex array with multiple strings, LDD are $7.33 each and a power supply is around $30-35.

When I read this I thought about Channing Tatum in 21 Jump Street:

 

"One particle of unobtanium has a nuclear reaction with the flux capacitor, carry the two, changing its atomic isotope into a radioactive spider. #### you science!"

 

[jedimasterben]

So, after feeding the tank last night, I realized something. My leopard wrasse appears to be what would be considered morbidly obese. Her belly is not just round and full - it is over twice the size of her body. WAY over twice. Looks kinda like she ate a balloon and somebody started blowing it up

 

 

All occupants are doing well, but had a pretty bad mishap sometime Monday night. My mesh filter sock, which i got specifically because it wouldn't clog and overflow... clogged and overflowed. And despite having it angled into the sump, preparing for it to defy everything and overflow anyway, it managed to worm its way to the side of the sump a bit more so that instead of flowing into the sump, water flowed right out of it. Only a little bit at a time, but over the nights time, I lost around 15 gallons or so of water if my calculations are correct (maybe not). I only found out because my return pump gurgled one time RIGHT before I walked out the door on my way to work. So, already late for work by a minute, I had to take the filter sock out, dump the water out of it, since it was basically water-tight at that point, and managed to get skimmate foam from skimmer bubbling like a madman on my arms, so I was stinky when I got to work I added a couple of gallons of DI water to at least get the sump flowing again without the return pump gurgling, and made 15g of water and mixed it last night. It was very clear this morning, but I'm waiting til tonight to add it to the tank just in case.

 

 

Moral of the story, no more filter socks for Ben.

[Polarcollision]

 

 

 

This thread is now about bunnies with pancakes on their heads.

 

 

Didn't want to contribute to Nano's thread being moved to the lounge, but had to say I Looooooove this photo! It's in my office at work just cause it makes me smile. :-)))))

[metrokat]

Didn't want to contribute to Nano's thread being moved to the lounge, but had to say I Looooooove this photo! It's in my office at work just cause it makes me smile. :-)))))

Which thread got moved to the lounge?

[MGDMIRAGE]

So, after feeding the tank last night, I realized something. My leopard wrasse appears to be what would be considered morbidly obese. Her belly is not just round and full - it is over twice the size of her body. WAY over twice. Looks kinda like she ate a balloon and somebody started blowing it up

 

 

All occupants are doing well, but had a pretty bad mishap sometime Monday night. My mesh filter sock, which i got specifically because it wouldn't clog and overflow... clogged and overflowed. And despite having it angled into the sump, preparing for it to defy everything and overflow anyway, it managed to worm its way to the side of the sump a bit more so that instead of flowing into the sump, water flowed right out of it. Only a little bit at a time, but over the nights time, I lost around 15 gallons or so of water if my calculations are correct (maybe not). I only found out because my return pump gurgled one time RIGHT before I walked out the door on my way to work. So, already late for work by a minute, I had to take the filter sock out, dump the water out of it, since it was basically water-tight at that point, and managed to get skimmate foam from skimmer bubbling like a madman on my arms, so I was stinky when I got to work I added a couple of gallons of DI water to at least get the sump flowing again without the return pump gurgling, and made 15g of water and mixed it last night. It was very clear this morning, but I'm waiting til tonight to add it to the tank just in case.

 

 

Moral of the story, no more filter socks for Ben.

Free half of a water change!

[Arkayology]

So, after feeding the tank last night, I realized something. My leopard wrasse appears to be what would be considered morbidly obese. Her belly is not just round and full - it is over twice the size of her body. WAY over twice. Looks kinda like she ate a balloon and somebody started blowing it up

 

 

All occupants are doing well, but had a pretty bad mishap sometime Monday night. My mesh filter sock, which i got specifically because it wouldn't clog and overflow... clogged and overflowed. And despite having it angled into the sump, preparing for it to defy everything and overflow anyway, it managed to worm its way to the side of the sump a bit more so that instead of flowing into the sump, water flowed right out of it. Only a little bit at a time, but over the nights time, I lost around 15 gallons or so of water if my calculations are correct (maybe not). I only found out because my return pump gurgled one time RIGHT before I walked out the door on my way to work. So, already late for work by a minute, I had to take the filter sock out, dump the water out of it, since it was basically water-tight at that point, and managed to get skimmate foam from skimmer bubbling like a madman on my arms, so I was stinky when I got to work I added a couple of gallons of DI water to at least get the sump flowing again without the return pump gurgling, and made 15g of water and mixed it last night. It was very clear this morning, but I'm waiting til tonight to add it to the tank just in case.

 

 

Moral of the story, no more filter socks for Ben.

Ya, I would agree with no more filter socks for awhile lol.

[jedimasterben]

Free half of a water change!

Meh lol

[metrokat]

[jedimasterben]

Well, the tang went from healthy, to not eating, to dead in less than 12 hours. WTF. I think I'm done with tangs for a while. This one was treated with Cupramine for 3 weeks before I even got ahold of it, and ate like a pig. Le sigh.

[Lalani]

Sorry about the tang.

Tangs suck anyway.

 

And love the layout of the tank, but forchrissakes the frag city needs to go! Glue that shit on the rocks.

[jedimasterben]

I've got almost everything up onto a frag rack now, removed a lot of stuff that had died and whatnot. Looks a lot better, but I still don't have room for everything on it. Some of the frags are not mine, so I'm pretty much just waiting on everything to open back up to figure out which are mine and which aren't, that will thin it out some.

[Lalani]

Ah alright, well good luck with all that.

[jedimasterben]

So I got my Tunze controller. The program you use to send the data is probably one of the worst-written programs I've ever seen, and their instruction manual is just as awful.

[jedimasterben]

I think I got it, maybe. They're set to 'interval', where one pulses at a 0.37 second frequency from 50-100% while the other is at a flat 30%, then switches every 5 minutes. Night mode and moonlight are both on, the controller comes with a tiny white LED with a photosensor on it, when it detects the main lights are off or very, very low, it switches the pumps to night mode, which is flat 50% on both, and activates the little LED. Took some playing to find an ok spot for the LED in the lighting hood where it wouldn't just spotlight one place, but it is difficult to have distributed light from a single LED.

[metrokat]

Where are you Benny?

[beebes]

Tank is looking much better! Pretty sure it's going to look straight up bad ass soon, keep at it.

[jedimasterben]

Finally got off my butt. I haven't slept more than just a couple of hours the past few week or so, not sure what's going on. As soon as I'd get off work, I'd go home and just do nothing cause I was so exhausted, but would just not sleep and get nothing done. Last night I got 8 hours of sleep exactly, and felt pretty great, despite the terrible weather.

I cleaned the glass, got the new larger frag rack put in and got the rest of the frags onto it (it's all filled up). Still need to get my goniopora off of the sand and onto a rock, apparently this species is Goniopora stokesi which cannot be on the sand, which explains why it has receded around the bottom. Still haven't gotten the tank really to where I want it, the rocks still need to get shifted around and I need to get my new lighting finished, but other than that, it's getting better and better.

My gorgonian needs to get cleaned off again, but some of the bits that are away from where it had receded are starting to get polyp extension again, and I'm glad. Didn't want to lose it, and can't wait for it to open up fully again, it's beautiful, the purple stem and white polyps

My skimmer keeps overflowing, hardcore. I had to turn it down around 20% of the adjustment knobbity to get it to stop overflowing, but it still is sending foam blowing out of the top and it's getting everywhere and stinking up the place. Algae scrubber is getting browner every day. I hung the light up a few inches higher to reduce the light that it gets and it seems to have helped - 800 PAR is just too much light for a new screen. Now that I think about it, I think I also forgot to take a blade to it and rough up the screen... doh!


Took pics to appease Lani





















You'll probably be able to pick up a couple of new additions that I got to test the waters with. I swear, clams are an addiction.

[Lawnman]

Ben how much was your tank when you bought it?

[Deleted User 4]

 

 

 

 

 

 

You'll probably be able to pick up a couple of new additions that I got to test the waters with. I swear, clams are an addiction.

 

I spot an aiptasia.

[Lalani]

Like

[jedimasterben]

Ben how much was your tank when you bought it?

I think I paid $265 after tax, something like that. I got it for $20 over cost.

 

I spot an aiptasia.

There are dozens, unfortunately. It's what I get for being nice and holding my friends' corals.

 

Like

[Deleted User 4]

... Friends...

 

 

 

[eitallent]

I like that rockscape, Ben.

 

Sorry about that Tang.

However, slowly but surely everything is getting back on track!

[Spirofucci]

I just got caught up in here........nice job Benny! I like the scape!