Reef Envy 120

[superdragon]

A couple days ago I finished the panels. I got these magnets from a local crafts store for cheap.

[IMG]http://i44.*******.com/2cg076r.jpg[/IMG]

Next, I marked out the placement with my daughter's pencil and put the hot glue gun to some use. And snapped on the panels.

[IMG]http://i40.*******.com/o6bi4j.jpg[/IMG]

[houssic]

Those custom leather panels are out of this world. Really like how you included your entire home in this build and made this a piece of your furniture. Great job Super! We have the same goal in our household.

[superdragon]

Originally Posted by houssic

Those custom leather panels are out of this world. Really like how you included your entire home in this build and made this a piece of your furniture. Great job Super! We have the same goal in our household.

thanks, I got the idea being lazy on the couch. Most people treat their DT like furniture so... I gave it a shot.

[_ToXIc_]

wow nice setup.. 1 piece eurobrace and glass sump.. really nice..

[superdragon]

Originally Posted by _ToXIc_

wow nice setup.. 1 piece eurobrace and glass sump.. really nice..

Thanks, its really weird having a glass sump. I have to be careful with glass objects when filling the ATO.

[superdragon]

I have not had a heater fail until today. My RKE alarm actually went off and I was surprised. The heater flat out failed in the off position.

[_ToXIc_]

Originally Posted by superdragon

Thanks, its really weird having a glass sump. I have to be careful with glass objects when filling the ATO.

I bet. But it sure looks really nice tho.

[sahin]

Originally Posted by labixiaoxin

More and more dealers wholesale sexy lingerie from China instead of Thailand because of cheaper price and better quality. And it is not only opportunity but also challenge to the industry. Welcome to find cheap corsets on dear-lover and shiyingsexylingerie.

Very random...

[Dashylock]

Originally Posted by labixiaoxin

More and more dealers wholesale sexy lingerie from China instead of Thailand because of cheaper price and better quality. And it is not only opportunity but also challenge to the industry. Welcome to find cheap corsets on dear-lover and shiyingsexylingerie.

spam

[superdragon]

Thanks mods for killing the SPAM

[superdragon]

I've been battling my skimmer for weeks now, trying tame the dragon inside of it.
I have not been able to run the skimmer at full power [6/6] usually [4/6] because when adjusting the gate valve for bubbles near the neck, the skimmer would pulsate and fluctuate/chugging creating turbulance. I have played with the gate valve and rec. water levels. I have come to the conclusion that there is too much air draw from the pump for the body of this skimmer. This dosn't allow for a fine stream of bubbles from small to large, but a disorganized pattern of bubbles and the annoying chugging, like a old car that can't start.


Typically, the skimate at the top and bubble production is large and turbulent becoming more dry than wet with minimal control not allowing efficiency. I have restricted the airflow with a ugly expensive JG valve. I works but adding the JG valve creates another tinkering variable.


Again, with need comes invention. I took a red R/O tubing left over from another project and stuck it into the silencer. It restricts approximately 25% of airflow. Now I can run it at max speed [6/6], it's whisper quiet, and the skimmate is a "silky smooth" microfoam at the top. The best part is it goes into the skimmercup as a safety if overflowing to stop the air draw.


Simple Fix for a ridiculous problem
[IMG]http://i40.*******.com/xbkdic.jpg[/IMG]


I added a few fish lately and increased lighting from 50% to 75% since there are a couple corals now. Man, the Radion Pro's are bright even at sunset!
[IMG]http://i40.*******.com/2utoh7m.jpg[/IMG]

[superdragon]

I saw my cleaner shrimp setup a cleaning station, then it started to clean each chromis, yellow tang, and blue tang. I showed my daughter and she laughed.

[sahin]

FTS shot looks nice. How about some shots of the corals you added in. Be nice to see how they progress.

[superdragon]

Originally Posted by sahin

FTS shot looks nice. How about some shots of the corals you added in. Be nice to see how they progress.

Sahin, as crazy as this sounds I don't have much corals yet. I've been dialing my parameters and getting rid of cyano and dino's. With all my frustration and money spent (cyanoclean, coralsnow, etc.)

One day my dad came over, and in desperation I told him my problem with cyano, flow, and ich etc. I was adjusting the powerheads and he gave some suggestions (non-reefer) for positioning. The next day my cyano cleared almost immediately and I haven't seen it since. I did lose my yellow tang in the process somehow.
After getting my ORP probe, calibrated it, it went from 30 to 60, then to 120's in 3 days and 7 days later its now it's at 292. Dad knows best.

[superdragon]

I've been pretty busy with work and a scare lately...

My daughter (6) was jumping on the bed with my other daughter (1) and the one year old went flying 4ft and landed on her ankle. She couldn't stand or walk. Good thing I'm a foot and ankle surgeon. Dashed to the office for x-rays and everything checked out fine, she has a severe ankle sprain and nothing broken, growth plates are intact, a but my daughter now has a pink washable BK cast for Christmas.

[IMG]http://i43.*******.com/2rm5mhj.jpg[/IMG]

[Saltydrip]

If the magnets are coming into contact with painted metal I would put a piece of clear or black tape where the magnets contact. With use they will wear down the paint and that mild steal will rust really quickly. I would hate to see rust bubbles under the paint on such a beautiful setup.

[sahin]

Hope your daughter isnt in too much pain. Kids for you.

With regards to the Dino's: do this if you arent doing so already.

Cover the tank completely with dark paper etc, and let no light get in. Ensure that the sump area and skimmer has good ventilation.

Leave in darkness for 2-3 weeks. You can turn on light very briefly say 5 minutes to allow the fishes to feed etc. They will be fine. Buy bottled bacteria such as KZ Zeovit brand or another and dose every day.

After 3 weeks, remove the covers, let the fish adjust etc but dont turn the tank lights on for 3 days. After 3 days start the lights back on but very low levels and max an hour per day...slowly increase by each week.

The Dinos should have died out completely by now and the normal bacteria should have taken over consuming whatever the Dinos were consuming. This will swing the whole filtration round and Dinos shouldnt make a return. Same treatment goes for Cyanno.

[superdragon]

Originally Posted by Saltydrip

If the magnets are coming into contact with painted metal I would put a piece of clear or black tape where the magnets contact. With use they will wear down the paint and that mild steal will rust really quickly. I would hate to see rust bubbles under the paint on such a beautiful setup.

Thanks for your concern and info Saltydrip. The stand isn't paint. It's truckbed liner. I was debating truckbed liner vs. more costly powder coating during the build. It's slightly flexible and 5 coats over primer. It literally feels like bubble gum and very hard to scrape off when I tried early on. The truckbed liner does come in a spray can and it's not expensive at all as one may think from any local auto parts store. It does smell AWEFUL. Being a looky-loo I take the panels off all the time and don't have any scratches on the stand from the magnets.

[superdragon]

Originally Posted by sahin

Hope your daughter isnt in too much pain. Kids for you.
With regards to the Dino's: do this if you arent doing so already.
Cover the tank completely with dark paper etc, and let no light get in. Ensure that the sump area and skimmer has good ventilation.
Leave in darkness for 2-3 weeks. You can turn on light very briefly say 5 minutes to allow the fishes to feed etc. They will be fine. Buy bottled bacteria such as KZ Zeovit brand or another and dose every day.
After 3 weeks, remove the covers, let the fish adjust etc but dont turn the tank lights on for 3 days. After 3 days start the lights back on but very low levels and max an hour per day...slowly increase by each week.
The Dinos should have died out completely by now and the normal bacteria should have taken over consuming whatever the Dinos were consuming. This will swing the whole filtration round and Dinos shouldnt make a return. Same treatment goes for Cyanno.

Sahin, thanks for your concern I'm sure I have many more years of worries ahead. The pictures will explain everything at 6am today.
[IMG]http://i41.*******.com/2mecnc3.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i42.*******.com/2ntzn1x.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i40.*******.com/rmnx2d.jpg[/IMG]

I've battled dino's before in my office tank for 2 months at high pH 8.6. It worked but was annoying.

This time around I think I'm ok because hair algae is setting in. I did dose Cyanoclean for 4 days and 1 day of Zeobak. However, after changing the flow the response as almost immediate clearing.

I also got a ORP probe lately, calibrated it to 400 and hooked it up. It read ORP 30!! Is this real? next day it was 45! After a few w/c's its now at 300 a week later. I know the ORP doesn't directly mean much and probe takes time to set in, but it was shocking.

[sahin]

Well she sure looks cheeky! My 3 year old girl is quite the same.

Good to hear the Dinos are responding.

As for the extremely low ORP, I think that might be probe error or maybe it needs to be calibrated? The latest reading of 300 is more sensible though.

[superdragon]

General husbandry with slight neglect...
I don't know why I waited so long to export this macro, I had a good 5 gal bucket of it. I guess I just wanted more pods.

[IMG]http://i42.*******.com/2qbbuc4.jpg[/IMG]

Time to clean the skimmer today 4 days of buildup

[IMG]http://i41.*******.com/hvyxkn.jpg[/IMG]

A few frags to follow for growth. I'm noticing about 0.5mm growth per day. Wish I took pics earlier. I'm still deciding what corals do best where and color scheme. Taking my time.

Forest Fire Digitata in the middle, (Green Slimer, Aussie Echinata, Blue Tenuis, Watermelon Milliepora)
[IMG]http://i41.*******.com/2cootn6.jpg[/IMG]

German Blue Digitata
[IMG]http://i43.*******.com/mj73au.jpg[/IMG]

Marshall Island Tricolor, I think.
[IMG]http://i43.*******.com/vry7bk.jpg[/IMG]

[sahin]

Holy macro growth! Nice additions! Keep the progress going. Colours look well on your acros.

[salasaz]

nice looking frags! Tanks looking great

[superdragon]

Originally Posted by sahin

Holy macro growth! Nice additions! Keep the progress going. Colours look well on your acros.

haha, there was lots of macro very dense cheatomorpha.

I can't believe the colors either. Lately I saw this guy's tank that had outstanding colors to die for. I asked him his ~*secret*~. He said colors = lighting. I said my Radion Pros are like yours, what's your graph. He said, "Keep it Simple". Ramp up 2 hrs & Ramp down 2 hrs and 6 hrs straight 20k. I said ok and tried it and it worked I'm not a big fan of the bell shape graph.

I'm making this up... but I think colors = 59% light, 20% food, 10% water, 11% husbandry.

Keeping things simple, I turned off the night mode on my pumps. Didn't really make sense when I thought about it. Back to the basics.

Originally Posted by salasaz

nice looking frags! Tanks looking great

thanks, the zoa crew is coming in next week... a large pack. I'll get pics up soon.

[sahin]

Originally Posted by superdragon

.
I can't believe the colors either. Lately I saw this guy's tank that had outstanding colors to die for. I asked him his ~*secret*~. He said colors = lighting. I said my Radion Pros are like yours, what's your graph. He said, "Keep it Simple". Ramp up 2 hrs & Ramp down 2 hrs and 6 hrs straight 20k. I said ok and tried it and it worked I'm not a big fan of the bell shape graph.

I'm making this up... but I think colors = 59% light, 20% food, 10% water, 11% husbandry.

Keeping things simple, I turned off the night mode on my pumps. Didn't really make sense when I thought about it. Back to the basics..

Does your buddy have a tank thread on this forum or another forum? You can email me the link. Would love to see his tank photos.

I dont use the night mode on my pumps either.

Stick to the basics and the tank get reward you.