Peace River's Found Parts Build

Peace River · Jun 22, 2020

spyder813 said:
Great. You should be proud to save that fish

Thank you Ruben. I hate to lose any fish, but these fish are ones that came from a spawn from fish that I had collected in Tampa Bay so I literally have raised them in my tanks from when they were eggs. During the procedure to remove the wood I had a bucket of saltwater and would work on the fish for a short period, submerse the fish, work on it some more, and repeat until the wood was clear. I was also trying to be careful not to splinter or chip the wood so that a small piece would be swallowed. It was not a quick process and I'm very glad that it worked out. The fish is now back to eating large pellets without issue.

Peace River · Jun 28, 2020

Not a lot of changes this week - just keeping up with water changes, general care, and other related maintenance. The one success was the two maroon clownfish that I have had for 6 months that would not pair (and even had to separate twice due to excessive fin damage) decided this week that they were ready to pair and are know interacting without aggression.

Mastiffsrule · Jun 28, 2020

You are like the superhero of the fish world. Great job.

Peace River · Jul 5, 2020

Black out! Yes, the found parts 55g which has been running flawlessly has been hit with a dark green algae on the wood and on the sand so I have shut off the lights to see if that will be enough to get this tank back on track. All of the other tanks seemed to have worked through there issues and the pair of Maroons that finally decided to be friends have been practicing their courtship and are currently the most amorous pair among the the seven different species of clownfish that I currently have (most of them are still growing out).

Peace River · Jul 12, 2020

The algae seems to be gone in the Found Parts 55g but I will still monitor and try to remove any new growth. My big news for the week is the arrival of two Hanna checkers - phosphate and alkalinity. Plenty of maintenance happening and hope to order some clowns from ORA soon. Stay safe and be well!

Peace River · Jul 18, 2020

I have really appreciated the new alkalinity and phosphate Hanna checkers so much that I ordered two more - calcium and pH. One note - a couple of the LCD bars on the phosphate checker were dim and Bulk Reef Supply's customer service was amazing with their gracious professionalism throughout the entire process to deal with the issue. This week I did two large water changes on the 75 and added some ChemiPure to bring down the phosphates. I also did a thorough cleaning of the sump and everything in it as part of a regularly scheduled quarterly-ish maintenance.

ScubaFish802 · Sep 20, 2020

Wow, this build thread is definitely unique! It’s nice to see something that stands out from all the more “generic” (I mean that in the best way possible) tanks. Would love to hear what’s happened since the last post. And I also want to see more pics!
I wish I was closer to the coast (and WWC lol) . Being able to explore areas like that is very lucky

Peace River · Sep 20, 2020

Thank you @802ScubaFish for your kind words! I have continued maintaining all of my systems during these unique times (not to mention the whirlwind of everyday life), but my plans for expansion and change have slowed. I just renewed my fishing license this past week (in Florida this is required even for dip-netting) so I hope to start exploring and collecting again soon (maybe October?). Additionally, I am hoping to move several other things in my fish room forward over the next few months.

Peace River · Oct 4, 2020

Lots of unfinished products at the moment - I'm trying to move things forward, but life keeps getting in the way. I recently added (2) 65g Norwesco tanks for a mixing station, an #IceCap Turf Scrubber, and a Octo Aquatics SHU O'Reily multi-purpose aquatics container (I was very impressed with the quality construction and versatility of the SHU). I need to build a stand, add a pump, complete the plumbing, and may be add a controller for the mixing station. Additionally, I am waiting on the pump for the turf scrubber to arrive. About a week ago I did start to rescape my 10g nano and need to add a better light before I start adding corals to that tank. Hopefully I will be able to get back to the coast to do some collecting soon as well picking up some coral from WWC.

Mastiffsrule · Oct 5, 2020

Time is cooking by, sounds like good progress.

Send some pics our way when you get some time.

Can’t believe you get to drive to those cool LFS places. Wife wants to move back to Ft Lauderdale, I want to move up to Philly. I guess we are staying in the neutral zone, NC.

Peace River · Oct 5, 2020

Ok, I’m sure you want to see the turf scrubber hooked up but since I haven’t been able to install it yet - here is a couple of unboxing pictures...

Peace River · Oct 13, 2020

The IceCap EVO pump, that will be using to power the IceCap Algae Scrubber, arrived today!

MERKEY · Oct 13, 2020

Oh man @Peace River im not sure how I missed this one but what a great build thread adventure!

You have definitely been busy. So cool to be able to go to the ocean and stock your tank with so many neat creatures.

Really sweet how you turned a parts build into a multi tank system build, thank you for sharing.

Definitely following!!

Peace River · Oct 18, 2020

The IceCap algae scrubber with the IceCap EVO pump are now up and running in the sump of the 5-tank clownfish system and the lights for the algae scrubber are set on a reverse lighting pattern of 8p to 8a. Additionally, I added a pair of clowns today that are currently in an observation tank.

MERKEY · Oct 23, 2020

Peace River said:
The IceCap algae scrubber with the IceCap EVO pump are now up and running in the sump of the 5-tank clownfish system and the lights for the algae scrubber are set on a reverse lighting pattern of 8p to 8a. Additionally, I added a pair of clowns today that are currently in an observation tank.

Definitely let us know how it works for you!!

Peace River · Oct 23, 2020

Surprisingly the two new ocellaris clowns (large and small) immediately took to each other and by the second day were already hanging out together in the clay pot. The male still has some growing before I can expect to see any eggs, but it is always nice when you introduce two clown to form a pair and there is essentially no aggression. I bought more parts this week for the mixing station so this weekend the project begins!

Peace River · Dec 7, 2020

The mixing station is finally ready to go! It has (2) 65g Norwesco tanks and is powered by a Varios-6 pump and controlled by a Hydros 2. The optical water level sensor is backed up by a mechanical float valve for redundancy. Additionally, there is a quick disconnect for the outflow hose.

On a separate note, this past week the pair of gold-stripe maroons laid eggs for the first time!

MERKEY · Dec 7, 2020

Peace River said:
The mixing station is finally ready to go! It has (2) 65g Norwesco tanks and is powered by a Varios-6 pump and controlled by a Hydros 2. The optical water level sensor is backed up by a mechanical float valve for redundancy. Additionally, there is a quick disconnect for the outflow hose.

On a separate note, this past week the pair of gold-stripe maroons laid eggs for the first time!

Thats excellent about the clowns!!!!

The station sounds like it will work out quite well for you! I'm still procrastinating on ours, the w 50g containers just stare at me everytime I go into the garage ;Hilarious

Peace River · Dec 7, 2020

@MERKEY - it took me about 40 years of fish keeping to get around to it and then about two or three months to put it together (including building the stand, assembling the plumbing, waiting on the back-ordered pump, etc.) so you are way ahead of me!!! It is definitely a nice upgrade from Brute cans!