SkiCatTX Posted August 22, 2019 Author Share Posted August 22, 2019 On 8/21/2019 at 1:33 PM, Christopher Marks said: These are so beautiful, they're growing like crazy too! Thanks! Yes, they are. In fact I was just looking at them thinking that I might have to frag a few heads off, as they are starting to shade the frogspawn just below to the left of the colony. In such a small tank, it doesn't take many heads to fill the space... 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted August 22, 2019 Author Share Posted August 22, 2019 Storm and his green mushroom "anemones": 4 Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted September 3, 2019 Author Share Posted September 3, 2019 Painting my office this weekend (and for the next few weeks, one wall at a time...), so I had to move the tanks and furniture away from the walls. A good time to clean up things and tidy up the wires. You can see the salt and freshwater taps from the attic water station, the two GFCI outlets I added last spring, as well as the outside air tap for the skimmers. These will all be hidden inside the stand for the new tank. I also used the time to build a cardboard faux fish tank mockup of the big tank I'm considering. 60" x 30" x 21" (152x76x53cm) or about 165g (660l). This would be my biggest tank ever, I'd go larger, I really wanted 180 gallons, but I just don't have the room. I was mainly concerned about the shallow height, but I think it will work well. Really hard to get good pictures with the cabinets and tanks all over the middle of the room. It does stick out into the room a bit, but these pics kind of warp it a bit. However, there will be built-in shelves and cabinets around and over it, and I plan a frag tank on the right side next year, so I'm feeling good about it so far. Note the stand will of course be the same size as the tank...though the pedestal look would be pretty cool...if it were physically possible, and I didn't need the space for the equipment... 🙂 1 1 Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted September 4, 2019 Author Share Posted September 4, 2019 Started moving things back. Cleaned up all the electrical and put the UPS behind the cabinet instead of inside it. Probably a questionable situation if I end up spilling water...but it is at least up off the floor. Looks decent so far... The RB BTA is getting pretty huge...I hope it splits soon, or I may have to cut it, or move it... 2 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 On 9/2/2019 at 7:23 PM, SkiCatTX said: You can see the salt and freshwater taps from the attic water station This is the best thing ever! Your 60" x 30" x 21" custom tank plans sound really exciting, 30" wide would be epic! Have you tried standing in front of the box mockup and reaching 'into the tank' to the bottom and back corners? I am 'vertically challenged' so I'd probably still need a step stool, but it's always good to test out 'reachability' when planning custom tanks out. 3 Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted September 25, 2019 Author Share Posted September 25, 2019 On 9/23/2019 at 10:56 AM, Christopher Marks said: This is the best thing ever! Your 60" x 30" x 21" custom tank plans sound really exciting, 30" wide would be epic! Have you tried standing in front of the box mockup and reaching 'into the tank' to the bottom and back corners? I am 'vertically challenged' so I'd probably still need a step stool, but it's always good to test out 'reachability' when planning custom tanks out. Oh, I'm sure I'll need a stool, but I'm not worried, just during maintenance. Still working on the tank order, might be switching to another builder, as Planet doesn't want to make a 25" high tank...at least not in their Crystal line which is prefab and cut glass. Too bad for them I guess...hopefully i'll have the order in shortly...Then there will be an epic build thread... 1 Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted September 25, 2019 Author Share Posted September 25, 2019 Two new Storm pics, not much happening really. I took out half of his mushrooms it was getting a bit crowded, as well as a few of the leathers, and took them to sell. Along with some Acros, Candy Cane, and some others it was about $250, so not bad for a couple months of growth in two small tanks! Oh, and the Rainbow BTA that he was supposed to be living in split again. Soon it'll be time to sell off a couple, that should pay for some fish food... 🙂 3 Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 After months of planning, I just placed an order for a 180g Planet Aquariums tank! It will be a rimless 60" x 30" x 25" with 3/4" Sapphire and PVC bottom. I'm also working with Jeff at LifeReef for a custom sump, and Taylor at Exotic for a custom overflow, going to be epic...build thread to start shortly! 1 Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted October 12, 2019 Author Share Posted October 12, 2019 OK, new build thread is up! Lots of details of my plan here: Planet 180 Build Thread Note, I only just ordered the tank and some other equipment, so this tank and thread will continue well into next year, stay tuned! Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted October 17, 2019 Author Share Posted October 17, 2019 Grabbed this one after cleaning the tank this weekend. One of the Rainbow BTA babies! Fungia is pretty happy as well. RTAs in the background. Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted October 23, 2019 Author Share Posted October 23, 2019 ugh, Smart ATO sensor got stuck on and alarmed. Luckily I was home when it happened to deal with it, and that the device has a feature where it only fills for a short amount of time over what it normally runs, so it only added an extra inch or two to the back sump area...not enough to overflow, or cause problems. I took the sensor out and cleaned it. I'll put it back once the water evaporates back to a normal level, probably tomorrow... Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 I have been reasonably happy with my Milwaukee digital refractometer, however, I am tired of having to constantly calibrate it. Each and every time I want to use it, even if it is just a few hours later, it must be calibrated again or it will not read correctly. The process of dropping RODI water, wiping it, pressing the buttons, then getting a sample, etc. over months is just a pain. I decided to get one of these Hanna digital handheld meters: It has about the same accuracy rating, but much more precision in the readout. Also, I just need to stick it in water and it only needs to be calibrated monthly! Thing is, after calibrating it, it reads about 1.5 ppt lower than the Milwaukee. Interestingly, my Apex probe also read about that low when I last calibrated it, before it again went completely off like they tend to do... That makes me think the lower reading is actually correct. So, my water for the last 10 months or so is actually somewhere closer to 33.7, rather than 35.0 where I thought it was. It will probably mix my next batch of water at the higher level and gradually mix it in and raise my tanks. 1 Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 Haven't updated in a while, the tank is still going as the new 180 build is taking way longer than expected. Dealing with crazy algae problems and dinos still after over a year, really anoying. Did a round of ChemiClean, absolutely no change, then a round of Reef Flux, not much change hard to tell if it made a difference. Decided to do another blackout period followed by DinoX. We'll see if that helps any. No ill effects so far, just no improvement either. Parameters are reasonable, according to test kits. Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 I got a PAR meter for use with the new build and decided to take some readings in the current tanks. The numbers at the top are left, right, and center reading just under the water surface, and all numbers are taken at the max setting during the daytime lighting cycle. It goes to show that even at these lower numbers, the anemones and soft corals do just fine. These are the settings I am currently running. Quote Link to comment
SkiCatTX Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 New new tank is coming along, I'm currently working on the plumbing and just starting to build the stand. Check out the build thread below. Quote Link to comment
Lucasuka Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 @SkiCatTX what pump was that the 326 or the 500? I saw the 327 is 3.7 inches by 2.4 inches so I was wondering if it would fit without the mods Quote Link to comment
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