Tswifty's Custom 40g Rimless Build Thread

[Tswifty]

Hey guys need some help... something is up with my Ca reactor... it's not filling completely???

Water is still flowing through it somehow, but the reactor is only 80-90% filled?

I tried disconnecting, and reconnecting the input side... water is flowing freely... so I'm at a loss here.

Any ideas?

[melev]

You need to bleed out the trapped air at the top. Let's see a picture.

[Tswifty]

^^^

Yep... that was it. I remembered back to a post BigJay made on Pete's build thread... He asked me how I ran that extra valve, and said the manufacturer recommended cracking it open a bit during normal operation.

Well I purchased mine used, so I assumed it was a bleed valve for when you needed to access the reactor for maintenance... so I kept it 100% closed. Anyway, I cracked it a bit... heard a whoooooosh of air... and sure enough, the reactor filled up again.

[Tswifty]

Now my pH probe was left exposed above the water line inside the reactor during this adventure... which could have been all day... I honestly have no idea since I wasn't around.

Is the a chance it's shot?

Regardless, I'm assuming I should recalibrate it?

[melev]

Just leave it be. It was in a very humid environment. What is the current reading?

[Tswifty]

6.88

[melev]

And your target is?

[Tswifty]

6.5-6.8

Solenoid shuts off if the pH drops below 6.5, then kicks back on once it rises back to 6.8.

[melev]

Check it again in an hour. Sounds like you are close to where it should be.

[Tswifty]

Will do... I'm planning on doing my weekly testing tomorrow as well... so I'll be able to see if anything moved as a result.

[GLino]

Tswifty i just would like to say that you have one of best tanks on on here imo, i cant wait to see this tank mature in a year.How do your anthias get along any agression?

[Tswifty]

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by GLino
Tswifty i just would like to say that you have one of best tanks on on here imo, i cant wait to see this tank mature in a year.How do your anthias get along any agression?

Thank you.

The Anthias have been doing well thus far. All 5 morphed to Male within a week or two, then I had 2 of them die. The remaining 3 seem to be getting along fine, which is why I opted not to replace the 2 that didn't make it. They will chase each other now and then, but nothing that ever causes me too much concern. Also, they haven't bothered any of the "smaller" livestock, which I was initially worried about, as I was told Bartlett's can be extremely aggressive towards more passive fish.

As far as feeding goes, I fed them 4 times per day when I first received them. I continued that for about a week or two while they were in QT. After I moved them to the display tank, I backed the feedings to 2 times per day, which is how often I currently feed the tank.

[HumanIMDB]

Originally posted by Tswifty
As far as feeding goes, I fed them 4 times per day when I first received them. I continued that for about a week or two while they were in QT. After I moved them to the display tank, I backed the feedings to 2 times per day, which is how often I currently feed the tank.

T.J., are you still making your own food? Any tweaks to the recipe?

Right now we're just feeding Formula One and Two pellets and flakes three times a day with a half inch cubed piece of frozen mysis every other day.

Once the clowns and anemone come along, I think we'll start making the food and we'll feed the anemone a small piece of silverside every week or so.

And when the tangs come and there is no visible sign of algae in the tank, we'll add a piece of seaweed once or twice a day and/or the spirulina tabs that Scott (Capn) uses.

[Tswifty]

I haven't made any food for a while. Once my tank fully recovers, I have a few different recipes I am planning on trying out... but those will be targeted towards my corals.

Currently I just defrost enough food for a few days... a mix of PE Mysis Shrimp, Hikari Mysis Shrimp, Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp, and Cyclopeeze. Then I throw in some Formula 1 pellets every once in a while.

[melev]

You defrost food for several days? So it is kept in the fridge melted? I don't mind defrosting food earlier in the day, but I don't like using melted food days later.

[HumanIMDB]

What is the difference between PE Mysis and Hikari Mysis?

Marc, any changes to the food recipe posted on your site? Since that is the one I'll likely be using when the time comes.

[melev]

The only thing that is different is that I'm no longer using Golden Pearls.

PE Mysis is very oily, as the shrimp have been gut loaded with some serious stuff. It can shut a skimmer down.

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by melev
You defrost food for several days? So it is kept in the fridge melted? I don't mind defrosting food earlier in the day, but I don't like using melted food days later.

Yeah, I recently started doing it after talking to a local guy. I only do about 3 days worth.

Originally posted by HumanIMDB
What is the difference between PE Mysis and Hikari Mysis?

PE is very oily as Marc stated, so I give it a pre-rinse in RO/DI water. Also the PE Mysis is much larger. Some of my smaller fish (Clowns & Cardinals) won't take the larger pieces, so I throw some of the Hikari Mysis in the mix for them.

It's definitely a skimmer bomb... even with a rinse... the foam level in my skimmer drops for probably an hour or so after I feed.

[HumanIMDB]

Ah...I was going to use Coral Frenzy as I haven't been able to find Golden Pearls.

Hrm, good to know. Thanks.

[Tswifty]

Here are some pics I snapped of the recovering Red Planet. It's color seems to be coming back already... I really wish I could have gotten a picture of it when it was completely brown.

Ever hear a reef keeper complain about not getting a photo when his coral looked worse?

[Tswifty]

Here is the remaining Roscoe's Blue Acropora after hacking it in half due to STN. This was one of my fastest growing corals before the lighting/STN incident.

[Tswifty]

Picked up a new ORA addition tonight from AquaWorld. Sean's been in my ear about it for a few weeks... I finally happened to see it in person... and he was right... it sure is purdy.

Ended up getting a real nice sized frag of it... I'll post some pics tomorrow.

[Tswifty]

Realized I left the RO/DI on, so I ran down to the basement to shut it off. Luckily I didn't overflow it... again...

Anyway, while I was down there, I noticed a bunch of snails out cruising around in the ex-frag tank setup. So I grabbed a specimen cup, and plucked out 5 Super Tongan Nassarius Snails, 2 Stomatella Snails, 2 Adult & 2 Baby Trochus Snails... and dropped them into to the display.

[maroun.c]

Nice pics. love the PE on your Red Planet. for some reason mine seems to be showing less PE lately.