Tedzilla
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- Mar 6, 2018
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Okay, so it's been a minute since I posted on my build thread. I've been talking elsewhere about it, but that does my build thread, zero help. And this is kind of like a journal/diary... which I've never kept one before on a tank. And it seems like a really good idea... So...
Anywho...
Having some acrylic left over (a lot actually- still do), I decided to make a quarantine tank.
It holds water all the way to the top, and hasn't broke yet. So that's cool. I am happy with it. I might put a piece across the top middle for more support though.
I was wondering what to do about my internal flow. I had a Hydor that came from the guy my sister got the stuff from in San Diego. It's okay, and does the random flow... But it's really weak. I have it in the QT, which is probably right around 13gal, and it's perfect for that. So I looked on Amazon. They had this dual head one that seemed to have high flow, good ratings, etc... But I just couldn't pull the trigger. It was $25. Not a big deal. I finally found a truly decent video showing what it flowed like, and how big it was in a 75gal tank, and I thanked myself for doing due diligence. I did see in the reviews, someone talking about Ice Caps gyre. So I decided to investigate. 72 hours later I was putting one in my tank.
At 50% power, I have 20x the flow. With my return coming in at a good clip from my sump... I now have my flow worries dealt with and over. At $150, this is number two as far as expense, after the Sunblaze t5 HO 6 bulb fixture (still need to get reef bulbs for it, which will push the cost of that up around $300. I mounted the control unit right out in front on the edge of the stand, so I could easily toy with it (I'll probably build an acrylic cover for it to protect it from an occasional splash).
And since most people have all their high tech buttons, gadgets, and doohickey thing-a-ma-bobs all nicely lined up, let me get you a better shot of what's going on by the gyre.
That box with the red light emanating from it, is 50 baby chicks.
Yep, that's my high tech control center, consisting of 3 switches. All various lights for the sump. Everything else is "manual". Lol
Man, I crack myself up. Okay, so moving on...
The Bio-spira and shrimp I put in WORKED. Like, I am seriously impressed. At this point, if someone were to tell me that if I drank a bottle I'd win the lottery... I'd start chugging. Not even a week later I had diatoms on my algae turf scrubber.
*A side note: Notice the return on the bottom of the ATS? The horizontal tubing section is missing the bottom half. Water goes out there, and the bubbles from the ATS continue on up through the tubing and dissipate at the surface, so no bubbles make it to the return pump.
It's hard to see, but the brown areas on the screen are diatoms ↑.
In just a few days!!
You can't see the color in this shot because of the light, but looking closely at the screen, and you'll see the algae filaments and what not ↓.
So, meanwhile... My sister just had a baby, and my old tank which is now hers- has been going neglected for a bit. I had my mom take a picture of it while she was there, and this red algae that was really beautiful- that grew in one spot and was just a few pieces... Is now this massive growth. So I flew out and harvested it; flew back, and put it in my sump (I fly for free- no big deal). It's been in there since the 28th. So like 4 days. Today, I go and inspect it, and it's crawling with copepods. That sounds like a cycled tank, does it not???? Here's a better shot of the red stuff.
Unaware at the time I took the photo (3 days ago)- the white specs on the algae are very likely copepods and amphipods.
The red algae needs to recover from being in a suitcase, and it looks way better under good lighting... But I am hoping it survives despite the ATS. And it should... Because upon inspection late tonight... I now have green algae growing. Yes... The 31st was the tenth day of my cycle, and at 11pm on the tenth day... I found teeny tiny bits on the ATS screen (I'll get a shot when they're big enough for my camera to pick up...) and also on the rubble in the refugium! Holy Kole tang, Batman!
So yeah, I have a cycled tank, and a QT that I need to get in shape, ASAP. I hopefully can have that 'fish ready' in a week or so, and start adding fish to the main tank in the beginning of May. I didn't plan on being this far- until the end of May- and planned on adding fish in July or August. I know people use Bio-spira all the time, and do things fast with real success... But... But... But I have COPEPODS; alive and well in the system! And since they were added 6 days ago, my tank was Nitricycled in less than a week. And algae cycled in 10 days. With dry sand and rock. ;Woot
Again, I'm impressed (with Bio-spira). And happily excited about my budget build progressing. ;Singing
Anywho...
Having some acrylic left over (a lot actually- still do), I decided to make a quarantine tank.
It holds water all the way to the top, and hasn't broke yet. So that's cool. I am happy with it. I might put a piece across the top middle for more support though.
I was wondering what to do about my internal flow. I had a Hydor that came from the guy my sister got the stuff from in San Diego. It's okay, and does the random flow... But it's really weak. I have it in the QT, which is probably right around 13gal, and it's perfect for that. So I looked on Amazon. They had this dual head one that seemed to have high flow, good ratings, etc... But I just couldn't pull the trigger. It was $25. Not a big deal. I finally found a truly decent video showing what it flowed like, and how big it was in a 75gal tank, and I thanked myself for doing due diligence. I did see in the reviews, someone talking about Ice Caps gyre. So I decided to investigate. 72 hours later I was putting one in my tank.
At 50% power, I have 20x the flow. With my return coming in at a good clip from my sump... I now have my flow worries dealt with and over. At $150, this is number two as far as expense, after the Sunblaze t5 HO 6 bulb fixture (still need to get reef bulbs for it, which will push the cost of that up around $300. I mounted the control unit right out in front on the edge of the stand, so I could easily toy with it (I'll probably build an acrylic cover for it to protect it from an occasional splash).
And since most people have all their high tech buttons, gadgets, and doohickey thing-a-ma-bobs all nicely lined up, let me get you a better shot of what's going on by the gyre.
That box with the red light emanating from it, is 50 baby chicks.
Yep, that's my high tech control center, consisting of 3 switches. All various lights for the sump. Everything else is "manual". Lol
Man, I crack myself up. Okay, so moving on...
The Bio-spira and shrimp I put in WORKED. Like, I am seriously impressed. At this point, if someone were to tell me that if I drank a bottle I'd win the lottery... I'd start chugging. Not even a week later I had diatoms on my algae turf scrubber.
*A side note: Notice the return on the bottom of the ATS? The horizontal tubing section is missing the bottom half. Water goes out there, and the bubbles from the ATS continue on up through the tubing and dissipate at the surface, so no bubbles make it to the return pump.
It's hard to see, but the brown areas on the screen are diatoms ↑.
In just a few days!!
You can't see the color in this shot because of the light, but looking closely at the screen, and you'll see the algae filaments and what not ↓.
So, meanwhile... My sister just had a baby, and my old tank which is now hers- has been going neglected for a bit. I had my mom take a picture of it while she was there, and this red algae that was really beautiful- that grew in one spot and was just a few pieces... Is now this massive growth. So I flew out and harvested it; flew back, and put it in my sump (I fly for free- no big deal). It's been in there since the 28th. So like 4 days. Today, I go and inspect it, and it's crawling with copepods. That sounds like a cycled tank, does it not???? Here's a better shot of the red stuff.
Unaware at the time I took the photo (3 days ago)- the white specs on the algae are very likely copepods and amphipods.
The red algae needs to recover from being in a suitcase, and it looks way better under good lighting... But I am hoping it survives despite the ATS. And it should... Because upon inspection late tonight... I now have green algae growing. Yes... The 31st was the tenth day of my cycle, and at 11pm on the tenth day... I found teeny tiny bits on the ATS screen (I'll get a shot when they're big enough for my camera to pick up...) and also on the rubble in the refugium! Holy Kole tang, Batman!
So yeah, I have a cycled tank, and a QT that I need to get in shape, ASAP. I hopefully can have that 'fish ready' in a week or so, and start adding fish to the main tank in the beginning of May. I didn't plan on being this far- until the end of May- and planned on adding fish in July or August. I know people use Bio-spira all the time, and do things fast with real success... But... But... But I have COPEPODS; alive and well in the system! And since they were added 6 days ago, my tank was Nitricycled in less than a week. And algae cycled in 10 days. With dry sand and rock. ;Woot
Again, I'm impressed (with Bio-spira). And happily excited about my budget build progressing. ;Singing
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