michael_t

A Peninsula tank would be bad a$$ but I don't know how much room future residental places will allow. An external is what I am leaning with. I've seen some internal cali-flo types and like that but never an external. An internal kinda defeats the purpose of a sump. Go any good threads for me to look at?

I might hit you up this weekend. Will you be around?

I move at the end of July and while I had my tank broke down for moving I am wanting to drill it for a sump, which I will have made at a later date. So, I am looking for advice and help on placement, drilling, and sump incorporation. I have a 60 gallon Jebo acrylic tank. I think the acrylic thickness is 1/2".

Here are several pictures of my DIY Rock. It's a 30 lb rock. Before. Before. The 30 lb beast! In place. In place.

This post is like a striper on a brass pole, pretty to look at but frustrating as hell!

I've had my Catfish Lighting MH 250 watt 36" light for about three months now with out any problems. My only complaint is that the MH bulb is a little yellow for my tastes. I'll be upgrading the bulb in a few months so that's really minor. Also, it uses a newer electronic ballast, not like the emfamous ballasts from the old Odessy's. Michael

Found a pot that is wide enough to fit the rock in. Still interested in finding out more about the autocleave thing.

Thanks for everyones suggestions. Noodle, I have a magnet scraper. It helps, but not well enough. Someone should invent a motorized one! Headless, great suggestion. I will get out and buy some Halimeda asap! And some corals

I have out of control coralline algae. It’s a daily battle to keep my acrylic tank free and clear. Any suggestions on battling this beautiful menace? The tank is a 60 gallon with a generic 250 watt MH + 218 watts of PC Antic lighting. The MH is on from 2 to 7 and the Antics are on from 11 to 9.

Is that like a colonic? No, really, that's like a pressure cooker, right? The rock is 14" by 21". Will it fit?

Anyone have a turkey fryer I can borrow? I made a huge DIY Rock and need to boil it to kill the gunk it collected when it was curing in the creek. The base is 14" wide so I will need a pot that is equally as wide. Thanks!

I am wanting a bigger sump. Thanks anyways.

I might take that sump off of your hands. I have a 60 gal Jebo tank that is similiar to yours. Let me measure my stand tonight and I will get back to you.

Willow, those are way nicer than mine! Awesome style. Looks like I will be copying your design this weekend. Headless Donkey, I will take a picture of the piece the weekend of May 12th. That's the 30 day mark from it being in the creek. If I could get my hands on a turkey frier, I could get it done quicker.

Actually, I am using Quikrete. I tried the salt rock mixture again but in a reverse mixture of 4 cups of quicrete to one cup salt rock. Still retards the setting time by at least 2 x. I did not move this rock for a full 7 days. During that time I draped it in dampened newspaper. I stuck one corner of the paper in a cup of water to keep the entire area moist. The whole set up was covered with a large plastic bag to maximize the hydration of the cement. Seems to be working better than the first batch but I haven’t really handled it much. Now it is sitting in a certain creek here in town, leeching out the ph and rock salt. (Don't tell SOS!) When it has fully cured, I wonder if Aquatek will let it seed in one of there sumps!?!

got any pictures?

I am looking for an anemone for my false perc to host. Anyone have anything?

I have been making some DIY LR per the instructions on the Reef Central site, which is 2.5 parts salt, 1 part concrete. I found the salt has retarded the hardening time by a factor of 2. In addition most of the rock is crumbly. Concrete hardens by taking the hydrogen out of water and forming a bond with the concrete mix. Salt attracts water and I think inhibits the concrete from getting the hydrogen it needs to fully harden making the final product a little brittle. On my next batch, I abandoned using rock salt. That batch completely hardened in 48 hours instead of the 72 to 96 hours with salt. I do use the salt on the outside layer which makes nice holes and texture for bacteria and other little animals. The GARF site recommends using ice chips instead of salt, which might be a good idea. But where do you get the right sized ice chips? In addition, concrete needs to cure at temperatures above 40 degrees so I don’t know what kind of effect the ice will have on the stability of the rock. On the PH, I have soaked a rock I made in vinegar for 24 hrs instead of water and the Ph after wards was below 8. But the rock was crumbly afterwards. On the last batch I simply dipped the new rock in vinegar. I have yet had a chance to test the PH afterwards. Another option that I have been toying with is putting sulfur in the concrete mix to bring down the PH. I think over the long term the sulfur will all me to add more calcium to my tank for the corals and still keep the PH within range. However, this is only intuitive thinking and not based on any research or experience. If anyone can add anything I would appreciate it. Michael

Drew, I'll buy the 10$ Colony (small headss) Metallic Orange Rim, Silver Center Zoo (Not spoken for yet) and the 10$ Green Metalic Mush, or Whole Rock with all 4 items attached for 40$ (mush still avail.) Michael 699-6064

Would you want to part with the lawnmower blenny, the green star polyps, and the mushrooms?

Dh, would that stalk be for me? If so how much do you want for it?

I will be there.

I would like one as well. I'm new to corals so I don't have anything to trade unless you would like something from my website www.PaleRiderHatCo.com Otherwise I could give you cold hard U.S. currency! Michael

Looking for spare Maxi-Jet parts. I have a 1200 Maxi Jet and the bottom piece that attaches to the pump is broke. Please email me if you have one laying around. Thanks, [email protected]

Irish, I am getting a Bubble Tip and a Pink Tip. The Pink Tip was free! Should be in tomorrow. Can't wait. I took the tank over from a friend. He was getting bad advice from a LFS and he just had a baby so he did not have time to mess with the tank. I had more time to mess with it. Nitrates were in the 80?s and no amount of water changes would affect it. I did a lot of research and eliminated the wet/dry trickle filter and the enclosed bio balls. Purchased the Coral Life 125 Skimmer (wish I would have ordered it online) and that has helped. Nitrates hover at 12 ppm now. Just upgraded the lights on it too. It was a Jebo tank with crappy wet/dry filter and crappy 35 w pc?s. Some would say that the 35 w pc?s would not be enough lights for a 60 g but I have crazy coralline growth with the OEM hood. When it was time to change out the lights I decided to replace the metal plate since it was rusting out. I removed the metal plate and noticed that the diagram on the ballast read 55w bulbs and not 35 w. The bulbs were 16? on the 35 w and the 55 w?s I found were 21?. On the new plate, I realigned the holes and shoehorned in the 21? 55 w. So now I have 4 21?x 55w bulbs, that?s an 80 w and 20? increase over the OEM lights.