MrZ2u

In my battle against the GHA outbreak of late I had cause to examine some of my daily habits and how they might be contributing to the phosphate and nitrate that was clearly fueling this issue at least at some level.  The API kits show neither in any measurable amount which could mean that its all being consumed by the GHA so it seems that it is clearly there at some level and point.  Feeding the fish  is without a doubt a source so I had cut back on that a bit.

 I alternate between NewLife Spectrum and Omega one pellets only and I was looking for one of those little floating rings all over town with no luck.  Last stop was Aquadome before I resorted to the box stores.  It was at Petco where I got turned on to the idea of frozen to control the nutrients.  Fella there said that what they do at his store because he is in charge and its what he does at home… thaw it out, rinse it well with RO water and feed.  The rinse he claimed removed a lot of the nitrates/phosphates that would be there if you just tossed the cube in as is...seems reasonable enough.  I only have two small clowns, a Banggai and Pajama cardinal and a Filefish so I don’t need a whole frozen cube…in fact, one would last several days.  If I could thaw and wash a whole tray of frozen whatever and make smaller cubes that would be awesome.  This method sounds like a small hassle it sounded like so I thought I might try a variation on that and see how it works.


So, to do that I found these and they are I think just about perfect, they are silicone so it should be easy to get the cubes out and the three of them were like $11 on Amazon.  They can be had cheaper but this was the best value on prime and I am not in the mood to wait on shipping out of China.   One tray holds about 4oz of liquid and each cube is looks like a little less than centimeter cubed…or, in my case, one feeding. 


This is the first experiment with this process so this is two rows from each container seen above.  I will wrap this in foil cause, yeah, its not a smell I want in the freezer.  In a couple hours I will see how this works out and post a picture of the results 

Thats one of their smaller desktop types...bed is only 12x18 so that limits things.  I dont recall if that one lets you feed larger material from the outside or if the whole bed is captive. 

It would be great for media baskets, skimmer boxes and such though.  

Why option two by the way...I have been struggling to understand what that baffle would really do...its a common theme but why?

2 minutes ago, jolt said:

I like the second post or else option two in the first post.  The ATO is nice to have.  That's big enough to go a couple of days between refills probably for that size tank.

Oh, more than a couple days...I have a 3-gal jug under there right now and it lasts 2 weeks give or take.  Kinda why I am shooting for the 3 gal mark since I know how it behaves.  Of course adding the sump will add surface area too so it will surely change.  I think I would plan to cover as much of the bottom as I could to help prevent that...the whole back of the stand is open but flush against the wall minus a but in the back where things come down from above.  I think I would end up putting a vent on the stair side and maybe a 6in computer fan on the other blowing thru to move out whatever gets in there.  On the top shelf is a UPS that probably would not like condensation much.

And the other option is to make one from scratch that would look more like this...top down.
This one would be 20x20 footprint...could go 21x21 probably if more space makes sense.  Thinking a total of 16in tall so I have room above it to move around above it (although not much, 4in perhaps) and for the ATO volume but only 12in deep in the main sections.  Might even have it on a heavy duty drawer slide bottom...which would take an inch give or take.

This would give me more total volume for sure and a lot more space for the chaeto to grow and maybe even grow enough pods to have a mandarin up top.  Feels like maximizing the volume of the fuge is preferred.  

Still could shrink the intake space like above...no bigger than it needs to be and make the fuge that much bigger...

  

Been thinking of drilling my lagoon 25 and putting a sump underneath.  Space I have to work with is 21x20in  x 16 tall (depending, the upper limit is 20in in reality)

Couple ideas tumbling around in my head on how to do this.  I have two 10 gal glass aquariums laying around so I could just put up some baffles and call it good.   Some ideas I had on how I might slice that up.  The first one seems to me like it ought to be just fine but it seems like all the ones I find pictures of are more involved...but why? 

The intake side in this case would be first big enough to take most if not all the tank overflow and/or wide enough for my skimmer (which only needs like 2.5 in, Tunze 9001)
The pump side would match for the most part but not be enough to flood the tank if for some reason the drain clogged.


Thoughts?

 

Which one?

23 hours ago, mFrame said:

For most jobs you're better of having someone do it for you.  Have you checked with Regal Plastics (https://www.regal-plastics.com/)?

Just checked with Regal on prices and apparently they are getting further and further from wanting to deal with the small public.  I asked for a quote on 4 pieces of 3/16 at 10x11 in... $126.  I asked twice...INCHES, not feet.  Yep.  Uhhh, thanks anyway.

Austin Plastics on Kramer was $7 per piece...then I called Polymershapes in P-ville...TONS cheaper in general but they also will sell from the drop/scrap pile for real cheap.  Now I am thinking about a totally custom sump/fuge vs making a 10gal glass one work.

These guys are the place to go it seems!  Can even do custom cutting for over flows and such if you like though I didnt price that.

2251 Picadilly Dr #150a, Pflugerville, TX 78660
512-687-0771

3 hours ago, Dogfish said:

When you buy your laser cutter let me know. I got stuff to cut *-}

I was going to say dont hold your breath but there are some out of China that are not too terribly expensive...so who knows.  Probably cant hold your breath even that long though so, yeah, dont
 

Overflows, Sump/Fuge.  My algae issues of late have me wanting to drill my AIO and get a sump.  The stand I build is 22 wide between the 2x4's inside so just a bit short for the 20gal aquariums out there so I either go with a 10gal and not have as much space as I would like in the fuge section for what I think I want to do or go full custom and make it just like I want it to be.  I can cut acrylic well enough with my table saw but man, the laser is just so clean and you stick a sheet in there and 10 minutes later the whole project is cut perfectly and clean!  

Honestly, the 10gal would probably be enough but I am exploring options.  Having access to a laser is one of the check box things in the consideration of the overall project.

I have in the past and they were a little pricey for cutting and last time I was in there they had raised the minimums up quite a bit.    At the time TechShop was still open and $65 got me three days use on theirs...or $99 for a month.  Course they are shut down and all the gear is taunting me from the window...sitting there idol for over a year!

Does anyone have access to or know where one might rent time on a laser cutter?

I have been dealing with some algae issues in this thread...which has got me to thinking about my setup.  Really considering a media reactor as well as a algae reactor.  Have been thinking about cutting out some baffles in the back of my Innovative Lagoon 25 (see other thread) as well to make more usable room back there.  The guys at IM said the glass is NOT tempered and they do have people ask about drilling all the time...only caution was "voids warranty" which is irrelevant to me as I am out of warranty anyhow.   Thinking if I drill for a sump and return it would open up a lot of options for me down below.  Could move every eyesore I have down there and make the above projects much more feasible.   


Please talk me out of or into doing this with your opinions.

 

I may be rounding the corner...cant say what is helping.  I nixed the lights for yesterday and went out of town.  I have had lights on a ball of chaeto in the back running 24x7 for about five days now...that is just the cheap light that came with an old 3.7 gal petco AIO from my previous project  low watts I am sure and 12 white with 4 blue. 

I just got back and the glass looks cleaner.  Hard to believe one night of no light was all it took.  I am also starting week three of the Fritz treatment.  I gave it a dose Friday night so it had Saturdays lack of light perhaps to work a little harder?  Dunno.  During the dosing I have also been on the three day 25% change cycle as well which I have since slowed/stopped and the last change was a week ago...the water in there now has had two Fritz doses.  It occurred to on my drive that I may have been inadvertently hindering its ability with the water changes because they were out of sync with each other with a dose and then a change the next day.

Think I am gonna leave the lights off tonight as well for good measure...maybe for a few days just to see how it goes.  Next dose for Fritz is Monday...I have two batches of water ready so I plan to scrape glass, vac up the scrapings and gravel in general and refill...dose and three days later use the last of my mixed water and dose again.  Then leave the water alone for a bit.

Fingers crossed.

2 hours ago, Reefpuck said:

but if you're already debating it...I'd take it out or move it. 

Yeah, I have decided to take them out...the only question is how to do it because its tight quarters in a few places.  The drawing I found above does not do justice to just how close that bottom piece of the baffle is to the floor itself.  I need to modify a blade on my xacto and extend the handle and BE PATIENT!  Need someone with tiny hands and good motor skills...any of you dentists?

6 minutes ago, Sierra Bravo said:

...but I don't know how well it works in a small space like your AIO.

That is partly why I am considering removing the second baffles (the ones that say 4" in the pic).  Its very cramped back there with the skimmer and pump in the center section  and those two spaces do not seem to serve any real purpose.  Their website refers to them as dedicated skimmer and heater columns which might be great if my skimmer would fit in one but thats a nogo and just by a tiny bit too.  In addition they have a floor on them that seems even more pointless and honestly, is just a trap for crap that is very difficult to clean in any meaningful way.  It would sure give me a lot better room for things back there than I have right now.   Not really part of this topic but it kinda ties in a little  


 

I have two packs of nano sized ChemiPure Blue in there right now and will continue the water change intervals.

The starvation route is doable for sure but I wonder if any would lay dormant.

More to the question I kind of started with ...lighting the chaeto.  Or the chaeto itself.  Is it worthwhile to have or is it a unnecessary element?  

Just now, mFrame said:

Sorry, I meant a UV sterilizer.

ahh...negative.  No and I dont see where I would even put one if I wanted to

Just now, mFrame said:

Are you running UV?

yes but there are only two UV LED's in my fixture among 55 total and they are not new to the setup

.
 

The second partitions next to the skim intakes seem pointless to me and I am thinking of removing them to be honest.  That will give me a lot more room for the skimmer and return pump and let me put a screen over it so I can house a larger amount of chaeto 

With an API kit...0 on both.

Not only that...I have done probably 8 25% changes over the past two weeks.

Just now, jolt said:

You are seeing the green algae become hard within 24 hours?  As in coralline algae hard?

no, just hard enough (maybe sticky is a better word)  that the mag float alone really doesnt do much...gotta really scrub it back a forth a lot to make a dent.

I had a green hair explosion in my tank a little while back.  Manually took a lot out and got a sea hare in there munching on the rest.  He is still pooping so there must be some to eat still.  Watching for him to be done so I doesnt expire.  No detectable nitrates or phosphates using API test kits.  

There is a green slime that forms on the glass constantly.  I can do a water change, razor the glass and in a couple hours its coming back.  If I dont run the mag across it 2x a day it gets so hard the mag doesnt work well.  Been sifting the sand with the water changes and doing 25% every other day as well as doing Fritz algaecide and its really not getting any better...the glass that is.  There is another green algae that isnt hair...it looks like the fake bushes they use in model train set ups.  They are stiff and hold their shape when removed from water.  Sea hare doesnt seem to eat them...maybe yet?

Bubble stuff isnt that bad but its in there.  The red stuff comes and goes as a dust of sorts on the sand...might just be dead green stuff too.

Bought a ball of Chaeto the other day and I have it in one of the chambers in the back of the tank (nuvo lagoon 25, #2 in this pic ) I have pulled the black cover off the back on mine so I can see to clean it and now so light can pass thru.  I was thinking of a simple plant light back there.  Thinking if I can get that thing to dominate maybe it will starve the rest? 

Anyone think a single stick of these would be sufficient to light that chaeto?

 

Sorry about this being my first post...I know some forums kinda frown on this but I am not in the hobby anymore, just have some stuff to sell and a friend told me this was a good place to post

I have a bit of stuff from a project that I never really got very far. I was planning on building a small reef but taking my time about it…then we got pregnant with twins and that squashed this project right quick.

Now all this stuff has been sitting around taking up space and I think it is time to find it a new home. It is all 100% new and never used with one exception.

1 Oceanic (pre all-glass merger for those that care) it 36L x 18W x 21H so that's what, 58? …still has the stickers on it even.

1 SCWD current director

6 - pair of IceCaps T5 end caps with mounting stand offs

6 - 36 inch IceCaps single lamp reflectors

3 - two lamp T5 HO ballasts

2 Giesemann Powerchrome T5 HO in AquaBlue Plus

1 Giesemann Powerchrome T5 HO in Pure Actinic Plus

1 Giesemann Powerchrome T5 HO in Actinic Plus

1 Giesemann Powerchrome T5 HO in Mid day

...yes, five bulbs, I broke one

I also have a 25 tall that I was going to use for the sump, its used but perfect for that application.

Asking $450 for all of it…

Call Jeremy @ 658-1223 Its very likely that I will forget I posted here so its probably best to call. I set my profile to allow email so thats also a good option.