Initial planning stages for tank and fish room

[ridetheducati]

Originally Posted by Bilk

Should look much better and I really hate cleaning the Tunzes.

If you hate cleaning the Tunzes, wait until you have to clean a Gyre. Spare parts are provided in case you break or loose a few items.

[markalot]

Love the FTS.

Did you see you can now buy the BML 20K with 3 channels, blue, violet, and white? I've got one on order, I could not resist.

[Bilk]

Originally Posted by ridetheducati

If you hate cleaning the Tunzes, wait until you have to clean a Gyre. Spare parts are provided in case you break or loose a few items.

Do you have any experience you can share? I haven't seen one other than online. I do see they have a spare parts section for them on CoralVue. Are the components that delicate?

What I don't like isn't necessarily the Tunze. It's the Tunze connected to the SeaSweep. Don't get me wrong, the SS is wonderful at creating random flow. The two of them have done a great job. The issue is the power cable for the Tunze is threaded thru the SS, making the job a PITA. The whole assemble needs to be removed. If I could just pul the powerhead, that would make the process much easier.

[ridetheducati]

I was visiting a LFS and the owner tried to sell me a Gyre. He attempted to show its capabilities, but the pump was failing with the red ring of death (ROD). He kept wiggling the wire to fix the error, after some manipulation it worked. I asked him how difficult is it to clean. To my surprise, he pulled the pump and began disassembling. He seemed very familiar with the process, but there were a couple parts that had to fit a certain way or the pump would cease if not done properly. Total time may have been less than 5 minutes. Compared to Tunze, the Gyre has a lot of parts.

The experience reminded me of an used car salesmen trying to sell a car that had a bad battery and front left tire was flat.

I did not see enough to bench my Tunzes.

[Bilk]

Originally Posted by ridetheducati

I was visiting a LFS and the owner tried to sell me a Gyre. He attempted to show its capabilities, but the pump was failing with the red ring of death (ROD). He kept wiggling the wire to fix the error, after some manipulation it worked. I asked him how difficult is it to clean. To my surprise, he pulled the pump and began disassembling. He seemed very familiar with the process, but there were a couple parts that had to fit a certain way or the pump would cease if not done properly. Total time may have been less than 5 minutes. Compared to Tunze, the Gyre has a lot of parts.

The experience reminded me of an used car salesmen trying to sell a car that had a bad battery and front left tire was flat.

I did not see enough to bench my Tunzes.

Yeah I can see there are a lot of small pieces. Mine arrived today. I have to say, it moves a whole ton of water I had it a few inches from the surface, set on pulse, and it made waves that were breaking enough to surf on LOL Still playing around with it. May need a second to fully take advantage of their capabilities. There are quite a few ways it can be configured. After running it for a few minutes, a whole ton of junk became dislodged and skimmer off thru the overflow. Guess we'll have to see what issues it will have down the road.

On another note, I have a new tank resident and he wasn't shy about being photographed.










Just a few more pics for posterity.








Anyone know what species this is? Been in the tank a few months and doing well. Just not sure what it is. In the sellers pic it was red and the reason why I liked it. It arrived brown and has now turned a silvery turquoise. It's been growing rather fast too.





...............................................................

[trueblackpercula]

The tank is amazing and can't wait to see it again.

[markalot]

Great pics, love all the fish.

[Bilk]

So I was playing around with the Maxspect Gyre today. Wanted to see what type of wave it could generate. I got a surprise response from the fish.

Instead of milling about the corals and rocks or begging at the glass for food when I was filming, they just hung in the water column and looked like they were enjoying the swaying the wave provided. I didn't really expect this. They do seem to be reacting to this in a positive way.

Well here's the video. Let me know your thoughts, good or bad *Oh watch it in HD. Not sure why it doesn't link in that format.




PS Not sure whether I should be concerned about structural safety with this wave action. Nothing but the water is moving, but I'm also not sure tanks are designed for this. Have to do a little research and of course I'm looking for input here. Oh and you get to see the Goldflake nipping my corals



.............................................................

[dave.m]

Great, natural looking colours.

I wouldn't worry about the waves. If the tank isn't moving at all it should be okay with the wave maker.

Dave.M

[markalot]

Great video, nice wave! Fish do seem to be enjoying it.

[Bilk]

Just a random pic ")

Made a change to the lighting. I removed the two Ecoxotic Cannons and replaced them with two 250w Radiums. I want to see if this improves colors and growth rate vs the ECs.

The Kessils, now 4, and the BMLeds remain. Running the Radiums for 4hrs/day right now and will slowly increase their photoperiod. So far the tank has only experienced 1 degree in temp rise during the time they're running. I'll have to monitor that when they are running longer that the current 4 hours.

Oh, the above pic was prior to the change.


.................................................................................................

[markalot]

Another all LED tank takes a pause to try an old technology.

I still don't have SPS colors as rich as I did with my Razors. If I can keep my nitrates reasonable I should be able to see what colors I can get with my T5's.

It will be fun watching how the MH work out for you. Hoping for the best.

[Bilk]

Originally Posted by markalot

Another all LED tank takes a pause to try an old technology.

I still don't have SPS colors as rich as I did with my Razors. If I can keep my nitrates reasonable I should be able to see what colors I can get with my T5's.

It will be fun watching how the MH work out for you. Hoping for the best.

There's still plenty of LED over the tank. Guess the remaining LED would still be enough for things to grow even without the Radiums. I just want to see how LED and MH work together and if I can get more growth and better colors. I'm running the Kessil fixtures heavily toward the blue end of the spectrum along with the BMLed that are also in the low nm range. The MH bring in a fuller spectrum so the tank isn't so blue. I tried just the MH but missed the shimmer from the LED. I have a few other bulbs to play with too.

After the hiccup with the busted return pump, things are looking good again. I'm hoping the MH gives things some juice. The par numbers are vastly different with the MH vs all LED. I know some of that isn't usable for growth, but I guess time will tell if this is better. The all LED had a year. Things grew and some colored up, but others didn't. Maybe the combination will work out better. There was only one way to find out

[trueblackpercula]

Hey Bill what's the par with just the radius on?

[Gondore]

Do you mind telling me what product you used for organizing your cords for your Apex?

[Bilk]

Originally Posted by Gondore

Do you mind telling me what product you used for organizing your cords for your Apex?

It's called wired duct. Comes in many different sizes. Off hand I can't recall where I ordered it from, but I'll search thru my emails for the name of the web site and post it. It can get somewhat pricey, but they had pretty good prices for the stuff. I purchased a case of it because it was such a good deal.

[Bilk]

Have a pretty cool visitor today. I believe it's a peregrine falcon. It's in my rear neighbors yard. I think he plans on making bunch out of one of the resident squirrels










It's 2 degrees outside so that sunny spot out of the wind probably feels pretty good too LOL


.......................................................

[pelphrey]

Originally Posted by Bilk

Stunning!

[Bilk]

Originally Posted by pelphrey

Stunning!

Well thanks. Not sure it's at the stunning stage just yet, but again thanks. Makes me feel better and I have to admit there's always some positive progress. But I feel my progress has been like the temperature probe chart from the tank - up, down, up, down. Lot's of bumps along the road; some avoidable and others not. Some corals are happy and others could be more happy. Some have grown rather fast only to have some issue and either receded or in some drastic cases and for undetermined reasons, die off and yet others growing unaffected by any of the issues. A pump failure caused some problems too. Lost a few corals and stressed others. I guess overall the progress has been forward.

I try to pay attention to details, but I'm really in awe of those people who are able to get their systems to appear as if they're running on autopilot, even if they're not. I know the system is only a bit over a year old now, so I hope I get to that promised land one day as well

[stonecold]

Originally Posted by Bilk

I try to pay attention to details, but I'm really in awe of those people who are able to get their systems to appear as if they're running on autopilot, even if they're not.

Possibly, you are paying way too much attention. IMHO, a lot of reading, researching and comparing is a wonderful thing. However, it can also play tricks with your mind. Example, that tank looks awesome so its params/lighting/equipments must be the perfect setup. Let me try to replicate that tank. Again IMHO, no 2 tanks will ever be the same. Bill, your tank looks nice!! Just keep up with your water changes, sit back and enjoy the ride.

[Bilk]

Originally Posted by stonecold

Possibly, you are paying way too much attention. IMHO, a lot of reading, researching and comparing is a wonderful thing. However, it can also play tricks with your mind. Example, that tank looks awesome so its params/lighting/equipments must be the perfect setup. Let me try to replicate that tank. Again IMHO, no 2 tanks will ever be the same. Bill, your tank looks nice!! Just keep up with your water changes, sit back and enjoy the ride.

Guilty as charged Nick But I also see errors I made along the way and try to correct them using examples I see in the forums. In some ways, because no two tanks are alike, in a sense, it's trial and error.

How's the new build coming? Hmmm? I'll have to hope over to the SPS forum and see

[rmgaspar]

Hello Bilk,

Great fish selection ... Congratulations.

In the video it show a big bow in the back brace. Is this normal?

Aren't you worried about that?

Also ... how the hell do you keep your sand so clean? is it sugar size?

And finally, sorry for the stupid question but what butterfly is that one. It's beautiful. I want one!

All the best,
Rui

[Bilk]

Originally Posted by rmgaspar

Hello Bilk,

Great fish selection ... Congratulations.

In the video it show a big bow in the back brace. Is this normal?

Aren't you worried about that?

Also ... how the hell do you keep your sand so clean? is it sugar size?

All the best,
Rui

Hello Rui. I see what you're referring to in the video. It certainly does look like a bow, but I can assure you there's no bow in the tank. That's somewhat of an optical allusion as there's a combination of things happening there. The black background panel is actually bowing out at the corners as it's not mechanically affixed to the tank. Also, the eurobrace was made from a single piece of acrylic. There are no seams around the top edge. The fabricator cut the opening into the tank with a router or jigsaw. The opening is somewhat shaped like an old CRT screen

The tank is only 24" deep but fabricated from 3/4" acrylic. If there were a bow in the tank the way it appears in the video, I can assure you the tank would be empty and at the curb for trash collection.

White sand? Isn't it supposed to be white? Actually that's one of my concerns with the way I set things up. It's oolitic sand and it blows around very easily. Algae forms on the sand bed in very few areas as the sand is constantly moving around. It's generally not blowing up in the currents of the powerheads, but instead of kind of whipping along the bottom. Every once in a while it will blow up into the water column. I'm trying to work this out. I don't like the sand blowing around in the tank.

[rmgaspar]

Originally Posted by Bilk

Hello Rui. I see what you're referring to in the video. It certainly does look like a bow, but I can assure you there's no bow in the tank. That's somewhat of an optical allusion as there's a combination of things happening there. The black background panel is actually bowing out at the corners as it's not mechanically affixed to the tank. Also, the eurobrace was made from a single piece of acrylic. There are no seams around the top edge. The fabricator cut the opening into the tank with a router or jigsaw. The opening is somewhat shaped like an old CRT screen

The tank is only 24" deep but fabricated from 3/4" acrylic. If there were a bow in the tank the way it appears in the video, I can assure you the tank would be empty and at the curb for trash collection.

White sand? Isn't it supposed to be white? Actually that's one of my concerns with the way I set things up. It's oolitic sand and it blows around very easily. Algae forms on the sand bed in very few areas as the sand is constantly moving around. It's generally not blowing up in the currents of the powerheads, but instead of kind of whipping along the bottom. Every once in a while it will blow up into the water column. I'm trying to work this out. I don't like the sand blowing around in the tank.

Good ...
Glad it's just optic illusion.

Well I ask for the sand as it usually it get patches of brown algae and detritus ... What cleaning crew do you maintain?

And what butterfly is that one. It's beautiful. I want one!

All the best,
Rui

[Bilk]

I'm glad it's not bowing too

The tank does get some brown patches of algae on the sand in areas where the flow isn't strong enough to displace sand. Wish I could get the flow I feel the corals need and not have the sand moving about. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. Odd thing is, it didn't really do that earlier on in the system's life. Now it's more pronounced, but I also have a bit more flow I think.

There are/were various crab species, various snail species, a few conchs and a few sea cucumbers. I need to replenish the clean-up crew as some of the crabs either cannibalized one another or died from a red bug treatment with Spectrum. There are only a few remaining. It's been bitter cold here and basically throughout the country so don't want to have livestock shipped during those conditions. I'll be restocking the CC once the weather permits.

That's a Muelleri Butterfly. Some feel it's not as pretty as the Copperband, but I liked it because it was different and I do think it's a pretty nice looking fish. It was easy to acclimate to prepared foods too, and it readily eats aiptasia. Though none are evident in the display, I have some growing in the overflow. From time to time I would scrape them off to try to get rid of them. Now I don't bother. I actually place some rock rubble over them in the overflow, hoping they will latch on to a rock. Once they do I toss it into the display and the butterfly picks that rock clean in a matter of seconds.