Juiceman Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 I'd say most don't use check valves at the end of the day in a saltwater setup. They are deemed unreliable and will fail eventually. I think your new plan sounds about right. I'd make a terrible plumber. I don't think I actually need a check valve, I have a ball valve right next to it. If I need to stop all the water flow I can just turn the valve. I think I can make a threaded bulkhead work now, just have to change my plumbing around a little bit. My check Valve is a waste of space... it never works unless i'm there to hit it with something to get it to work.... which is pointless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 5, 2016 Author Share Posted April 5, 2016 Panduit is your friend. Go take a trip to Altex and see what catches your fancy. Lots of management stuff to choose from. Cool, thanks for the suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 6, 2016 Author Share Posted April 6, 2016 Managed to get the canopy on last night. Its not too heavy but when you have to lift it 6.5 feet it becomes a chore! I also got all the exhaust fans wired and working as well as new t5 bulbs installed in each light fixture. Went with the following bulb setup to see how they look. If its too blue I may switch out some Coral Pluses for Aquablue Specials, which despite the name apparently don't give off too much blue. Blue Plus Coral Plus Blue Plus Purple Plus ==LED== Coral Plus Blue Plus Coral Plus Blue Plus 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 Managed to get the canopy on last night. Its not too heavy but when you have to lift it 6.5 feet it becomes a chore! I also got all the exhaust fans wired and working as well as new t5 bulbs installed in each light fixture. Went with the following bulb setup to see how they look. If its too blue I may switch out some Coral Pluses for Aquablue Specials, which despite the name apparently don't give off too much blue. Blue Plus Coral Plus Blue Plus Purple Plus ==LED== Coral Plus Blue Plus Coral Plus Blue Plus Are the t-5s supposed to be on in that picture, or are you just showing us the canopy? Yeah, I thought that was wierd too, Aqua Blue Special not being Blue... what a name.. I have some extra if you need to swap a few to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 6, 2016 Author Share Posted April 6, 2016 That's just the canopy. I didn't have time to install the lights last night, just got them all set up and ready for install tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 7, 2016 Author Share Posted April 7, 2016 I'm glad I upgraded to two new 20 amp circuits. Just the two 500W heaters pull 7 amps ! I haven't plugged in the Powermodules to apex to see how many amps they pull, but I'm guessing around 4 amps each when all the T5s are turned on. Luckily the skimmer and return pumps are pretty efficient, they draw less than 1 amp for both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 7, 2016 Author Share Posted April 7, 2016 Here's a picture with the Powermodules on. The iPhone isn't very good at taking pictures of blue light. I was able to program the older unit with the ATI light program, but the newer unit ins't being recognized by the USB. Have to troubleshoot that tonight. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 Mine had bad usb cords and I would have to jiggle and switch them around... Eventually I had to just buy a high quality cord from Best Buy and that was never a problem again. Try switching the cords and see if you gain access Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 Mine had bad usb cords and I would have to jiggle and switch them around... Eventually I had to just buy a high quality cord from Best Buy and that was never a problem again. Try switching the cords and see if you gain access Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Ah that was it. The USB cord from the older unit does not work with the new unit. The new unit's USB cord works on both though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 Everything is working great so far! Really impressed with the lights and skimmer. The tank is almost done cycling, on Friday a cleanup crew will be added. I'm going to try to get all the cleanup crew locally. I'm thinking something this for the first batch. Keep in mind that there isn't much in the tank yet, just tiny patches of algae that have popped up. 15 Cerith Snails 20 Nerite Snails 10 Nassaruis Snails Does that sound reasonable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 For your size tank, I wouldn't use any of them except the nassarius snails. The ceriths and nerite snails are just so tiny they wouldn't hardly make a dent in things. I use the mexican turbo snails, urchins, and the giant zebra turbo snails as my only cleanup crew. I did add emeralds and sea cucumbers as well but that's it. Anyway, just wanted to give you input. The ceriths and nerites will do their job either way so it doesn't hurt to add them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 Thanks for the input. Do you use anything that turns over the sand? I don't want a conch at this time so Nassarius and Cerith snails were all I could think of. I will be adding a tuxedo urchin, as well as moving my two Emeralds from my 75g. I'll probably add the urchin around the same time I add fish to the tank (in a week or so). I've never had good luck with the big turbo snails, they always died off after a couple months even though almost all my other snails are 1-2+ years old. Maybe with more area for them to graze in the new tank it will help them survive better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Only thing that turns over my sand are my nassarius, conchs, and sea cucumbers. The mexican turbo snails are great cleaners but I agree with you, life seems limited sometimes. The giant zebra turbo snails have been pretty rock solid in my tank but they are huge... so make sure things are glued down. I enjoy the larger snails more so because of their efficiency in cleaning and if they ever die, it's pretty easy to remove one giant shell than 50 small cerith shells littering my sandbed. Also, when viewing the tank, I'd rather look at only one giant snail on the glass than 30 small snails all over it blocking my view. Just personal preferences there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Get some Trochus. By far my favorite snails. Fast, sturdy, eat a lot, and can upright themselves. Plus added bonus, they don't get all huge and start knocking stuff over. Frankly a good mix is ideal so they all can do different things and provide a variety of services. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 Get some Trochus. By far my favorite snails. Fast, sturdy, eat a lot, and can upright themselves. Plus added bonus, they don't get all huge and start knocking stuff over. Frankly a good mix is ideal so they all can do different things and provide a variety of services. Cool, I'll definitely put them on the list to try out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 Doesn't look like much but I spent quite a bit of time this weekend trying to get the wires under control. Also got the first cleanup crew in. Ended up getting: 10 Nassaruis Snails 5 Large Turbo Snails 2 Smaller Conchs 10 Trochus Snails Tuxedo Urchin I had to turn off the T5's for now to try and slow down the Diatom growth and let the clean up crew catch up. Currently only running the LEDs at a lower setting. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Nice. Getting wires cleaned up is always a victory. That's on my to-do list and it's such a daunting task I think I'll keep procrastinating... Yours looks great though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 I like the repurpose use of the laminate boards! For diatoms, the conchs will destroy that stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 22, 2016 Author Share Posted April 22, 2016 Tuxedo urchin hitching a ride on the turbo snail! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Tuxedo urchin hitching a ride on the turbo snail! Ha! Is that also a little feather duster on the snails back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 22, 2016 Author Share Posted April 22, 2016 Tuxedo urchin hitching a ride on the turbo snail! Ha! Is that also a little feather duster on the snails back? Yep its a little feather duster on him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted April 27, 2016 Author Share Posted April 27, 2016 Looks like the tank is completely cycled. My readings yesterday were: Ammonia 0 ppm Nitrite 0 ppm Nitrate 10 ppm I'm still not able to crank up the lights without the diatoms going crazy. I'm currently only running the skimmer for filtration, but it may be time to move the biopellets over from the 75 gallon tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Nice! I'd go ahead and crank up the lights to let the diatoms cycle out of your system. Better now then when its full of fish and corals. They'll use up all the silicates that probably came from your sand and then be spent and go away. What's your plan for transferring everything to the new tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 Well things haven't gone quite as planned. The first things I planned to move to the 240 were the Blenny, Sunburst Anthias and Lemonpeel that were in quarantine. All the fish were looking very healthy, eating frozen foods and getting along. However, when I went to move the fish on Saturday I noticed the Lemonpeel wasn't his normal self. I watched a few minutes and the Blenny was showing some major aggression towards it, which was odd because they had been getting along fine the entire time. I went ahead and moved the Anthias and Blenny to the 240 and left the Lemonpeel in the QT hoping to give it some time to rest before moving him into the big tank. Unfortunately the Lemonpeel never recovered and slowly declined until this morning when he died. I think there is a good chance it wasn't the Blenny's aggression that killed him but more likely a disease. Not good since I have moved the others to the display tank. I feel bad because I did not give proper time to diagnose or medicate the Lemonpeel. Here is a link to the pictures I took after he passed. http://imgur.com/a/QliGI There are several red blotches on his skin and some obvious tail fin rot. He was listless since Saturday, but did not show any signs of heavy breathing or rubbing. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Linked image isn't working but it sounds bacterial which is always the #2 worry with QTs besides ammonia being #1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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