[nightOwl]

General Updates

06/03/2018 - Lunch and Field Trip

So a few of my fish buddies and I try to meet periodically to just shot the breeze, visit each others tanks, or some type of fun activity. Richard - RJT, Larry - worm5406, and Tom - Tom39 and I started our tank visit group I think back in 2013. On Sunday Richard, Tom, and I met up for lunch and a field trip. Larry could not make this outing. We meet at Mike's American Restaurant then visited two local fish stores. Sometimes we have items to trade amongst ourselves so I managed to score a UV Sterilizer from Tom. He did not need two of the same. I picked up some PE Mysis from one of the stores and then some LRS Herbivore Frenzy from the other.

UV Sterilizer - Coralife Turbo-Twist Ultraviolet Sterilizer -36 watt
IMG_9842 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr

06/11/2018 - More Projects and Critter Transfer to Display

So I have been keeping a list of small projects I could complete in a few hours or less that would help make my life easier in the fish room. I figured I could start with the three below and make great progress in a short period of time.

1. Top-off Container for QT
2. Algae Reactor and Kalk Platform
3. Ecotech Controller Holder

While going through QT for my new fish I realized I needed a small top-off container for the QT. Adding water is boooooring. I keep scraps of acrylic sitting around so I cut the pieces for the top-off container. I will find time to assemble in the next few weeks but the step one is done. Once assembled it will go below the top tank in front of the bottom tank. When I built the collapsable platform to hold the tank I designed it so I could eventually have a small container that would hold top-off water.

When we got solar installed Solar City gave us a fancy box that held the gateway that gets connected to our router. The box was fairly fancy for what it was holding and very heavy duty. It just happened that the box was just the right size to be a stand for my algae reactor. When my Kalk Stirrer arrived I quickly realized I would need to raise it about the same height as the algae reactor to allow the saturated solution to drain into the return area of the sump. Once I measured the two base widths I calculated the overall dimensions and headed off to the garage.

Now that I have two Vortech pumps on the frag tank it occurred to me that I needed a new holder for the controllers. Currently the two controllers are just laying on the back table in a pile of cords. I had a little spill form the QT and came to the conclusion getting shocked would not be a good thing so they needed to be mounted…lol. I pulled the original off the wall by the display and carried it to the garage. Within 20 mins or so I had all my parts I needed.


While trying to remove the last of the critters from my old temp set up I found a starfish that I thought had died. I took a picture and it reminded me that I did not post a picture of when I transferred the first brittle starfish. To compare the two the first picture is of the most recent brittle starfish I transfer the second is Tiny. Tiny was in the main part of my temp setup and collected food daily. The other two that I transferred were in the 100 tub that I did not feed that often after I was down to only the clown fish. I guess you can tell when starfish are well fed.

Projects in Progress
IMG_9834 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr

Top Off Container
IMG_9835 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr

Kalk and Algae Reactor Platform
IMG_9836 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr

Before
IMG_9849 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr

After
IMG_9851 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr


Parts for WP Controller Holder
IMG_9843 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr

Assembled (New One on Top)
IMG_9845 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr

Last Brittle Star
IMG_9841 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr

Tiny
IMG_2911 by LifeThrough_TheLense, on Flickr