OP
OP
Few zoas
Reef Diaries: 56G Reef Savvy
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rovster
Well-Known Member
Dude, I tested your phosphate a long time ago and got a similar reading. But you didn't listen then. Glad you are seeing the light! GFO baby. A little goes a long way and work your way up. Pics look great. Your Miami Orchid is gorgeous. That thing is a producer for sure, LOL! My piece is looking great and is about to go to war with another piece!
Oh, and take this as CC as I know you know more about photography than me, but I noticed a lot of your pics could benefit from a larger F-stop, and try focusing on the object in the foreground. You are shooting with your lens pretty open, even if you have to bump your ISO a bit, I bet your pics will go to the next level.
Oh, and take this as CC as I know you know more about photography than me, but I noticed a lot of your pics could benefit from a larger F-stop, and try focusing on the object in the foreground. You are shooting with your lens pretty open, even if you have to bump your ISO a bit, I bet your pics will go to the next level.
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OP
OP
I'm a professional photographer! Why would I listen to a guy who enjoyed every bit of pulling my teeth?!
The way I shoot is just more then focusing on the subject, it's the whole picture, the bigger picture. It's what really makes a good picture. Sometimes colors of other corals/objects really bring out the subject. Don't make me enroll you and Eddie in the school of Reefer Eric Photohrahy School.
Chris155hp
Well-Known Member
Something tells me I can be a jeweler as well too. :tongue:
I'm just more of a hands on person and can learn quick.
OMG, I have phosphates!!!
Some of you might know the store with me and these Hanna checkers. My old one kept reading ZERO, I gave up and sold it. Just got this one recent and for the first time in months I have an actual reading! Time to work on keeping them lower so my SPS can color up. I'll have to update more in a little, need to file the taxes. :wink:
Is this the one with the scrubber on it?
OP
OP
Main tank, I'll do some testing on my RO/DI output and frag tank to confirm it's working correct.
OP
OP
I'll be dropping by today, took the day off just for you Rovi!
Maybe I'll work on my electrical board for the time being.
OP
OP
Things are looking really good!
Frags turning into mini colonies!
Incredible Hulk doing its thing
ORA Frogskin is shooting right!
Greg Hiller's Aqua Delight
Frags turning into mini colonies!
Incredible Hulk doing its thing
ORA Frogskin is shooting right!
Greg Hiller's Aqua Delight
OP
OP
Time for the frag tank update! Good news is that its going through the water test and leak check. 
Had to make stuff happen with limited space. :tongue: Fittings and union were cut down by 1/2" so that stuff would fit, worked out and best of all its hard as a rock and doesn't leak.
Ture union ball valve in place in case the chiller isn't needed or has to be serviced. Missed two fittings that needed to be glued, will have to fix when I tear down to put it in place.
DC12000 on the 2nd setting, this pump is a beast! I can only imagine on full blast with the main tank hooked up.
Sump running level, more then capable of both tanks if power shuts off for any reason. The check valve is insurance.
Behind this mess, the tank will go... top rack will have to get taken down or moved up higher, who knows. lol
The story is... the two holes on the left there is supposed to be an outlet but long store short I had to settle for the one on the right which works just as well. They are both on the same circuit anyways but most of the wires would have been hidden better.
Should be easy to run an electrical box and close up that hole. lol
Drywall back in place! I've already spackled it up. Some sanding and spray on texture will hit it. The wall will also be getting a clear coat to prevent salt and water from eating into it.
The tank has a few leaks that I need to take care of, very minor stuff. The biggest headache will be the drain bulkhead that might need a new seal.
New list of things to do:
1) Electrical Board - Mount Apex, Stenner, T5 Ballast, RapdLED Onyx Ballast, and whatever else
2) Electrical Outlet installation with GFCI
3) Close up holes and prep the walls for a clear coat of paint
4) Figure out a way to mount the light rack
Had to make stuff happen with limited space. :tongue: Fittings and union were cut down by 1/2" so that stuff would fit, worked out and best of all its hard as a rock and doesn't leak.
Ture union ball valve in place in case the chiller isn't needed or has to be serviced. Missed two fittings that needed to be glued, will have to fix when I tear down to put it in place.
DC12000 on the 2nd setting, this pump is a beast! I can only imagine on full blast with the main tank hooked up.
Sump running level, more then capable of both tanks if power shuts off for any reason. The check valve is insurance.
Behind this mess, the tank will go... top rack will have to get taken down or moved up higher, who knows. lol
The story is... the two holes on the left there is supposed to be an outlet but long store short I had to settle for the one on the right which works just as well. They are both on the same circuit anyways but most of the wires would have been hidden better.
Should be easy to run an electrical box and close up that hole. lol
Drywall back in place! I've already spackled it up. Some sanding and spray on texture will hit it. The wall will also be getting a clear coat to prevent salt and water from eating into it.
The tank has a few leaks that I need to take care of, very minor stuff. The biggest headache will be the drain bulkhead that might need a new seal.
New list of things to do:
1) Electrical Board - Mount Apex, Stenner, T5 Ballast, RapdLED Onyx Ballast, and whatever else
2) Electrical Outlet installation with GFCI
3) Close up holes and prep the walls for a clear coat of paint
4) Figure out a way to mount the light rack
OP
OP
At this point and time I would like take time out and talk more about tank parameters. Recently I've received a lot of questions on where I keep my levels at.
Calcium: 450
Alkalinity: 8-8.6
Magnesium: 1450-1500
Phosphates: .11
Nitrates: Untested
I am dosing 2-part using BRS stuff but making the switch over to generic stuff since the tank will eventually start to consume more. Dosing is done via Bubble Magus doser, only two channels are used.
Testing for alkalinity every 3-4 days, calcium 1-2 weeks and magnesium/phosphates every month.
Lighting:
ATI T5HO Powermodule 6x39w
Bulb Configuration:
ATI Blues Plus
ATI Blues Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blues Plus
ATI Blues Plus
Lighting Schedule:
2 Blues Plus come on for 12hrs a day.
The remainder of the 4 bulbs come on for 4hrs.
In total, 6 bulbs come on at once for 4hrs in a day.
Water changes:
Every week 10 gallons
Other weekly maintance:
Clean skimmer cup (dump and spray down the cup)
Clean glass
Siphon out any bubble algae and remove any undesired algae
Every other week I cut down a portion of my chaetomorpha so it can grow to remove more nutrients. The lighting cycle for this is opposite of my main lights.
I do not run any GFO, once in a while I will run carbon if needed.
Calcium: 450
Alkalinity: 8-8.6
Magnesium: 1450-1500
Phosphates: .11
Nitrates: Untested
I am dosing 2-part using BRS stuff but making the switch over to generic stuff since the tank will eventually start to consume more. Dosing is done via Bubble Magus doser, only two channels are used.
Testing for alkalinity every 3-4 days, calcium 1-2 weeks and magnesium/phosphates every month.
Lighting:
ATI T5HO Powermodule 6x39w
Bulb Configuration:
ATI Blues Plus
ATI Blues Plus
ATI Purple Plus
ATI Aquablue Special
ATI Blues Plus
ATI Blues Plus
Lighting Schedule:
2 Blues Plus come on for 12hrs a day.
The remainder of the 4 bulbs come on for 4hrs.
In total, 6 bulbs come on at once for 4hrs in a day.
Water changes:
Every week 10 gallons
Other weekly maintance:
Clean skimmer cup (dump and spray down the cup)
Clean glass
Siphon out any bubble algae and remove any undesired algae
Every other week I cut down a portion of my chaetomorpha so it can grow to remove more nutrients. The lighting cycle for this is opposite of my main lights.
I do not run any GFO, once in a while I will run carbon if needed.
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OP
OP
The weekend started out great, got out of work early and RAN over to Home Depot to get some stuff to finish of the outlet install.
Picked Up:
1) Romex Wire
2) Regular 2 Outlet
3) 4 Outlet Remodeling Box
4) 4 Outlet Cover
I also had a GFCI outlet already, its got a GROOVY LED built-in as a night light when its dark. I've changed outlets before but never ran an actual outlet box, etc. I would like to thank Google and YouTube for helping me. LOL
The regular outlet is wired in series with the GFCI (main feed in) so that if there is a problem causing the non-GFCI to short, the main GFCI will get knocked out as well.
Everything being put back together, nice and clean. The wall is getting the knockdown texture again before painting to prevent the water from deforming the drywall. More fun, yay!
In other notes, I've been busy getting ready for a frag swap so this was put on the back burner for a little.
Picked Up:
1) Romex Wire
2) Regular 2 Outlet
3) 4 Outlet Remodeling Box
4) 4 Outlet Cover
I also had a GFCI outlet already, its got a GROOVY LED built-in as a night light when its dark. I've changed outlets before but never ran an actual outlet box, etc. I would like to thank Google and YouTube for helping me. LOL
The regular outlet is wired in series with the GFCI (main feed in) so that if there is a problem causing the non-GFCI to short, the main GFCI will get knocked out as well.
Everything being put back together, nice and clean. The wall is getting the knockdown texture again before painting to prevent the water from deforming the drywall. More fun, yay!
In other notes, I've been busy getting ready for a frag swap so this was put on the back burner for a little.
OP
OP
LOL, thank you. I use to do professional photography so it carried on over for me.
OP
OP
FINALLY, I can update my thread! After the PBMAS Frag Swap, I'm toasted. It was an awesome swap, saw old faces and met new ones. Had a blast with everyone!
Today I got to work on one of the more important aspects of the tank, LIGHTS. Thanks to a great friend, Bobby an electrician by trade helped me big time with my way to hang the lights. Stopped by his shop and he bent up some aluminum real quick for me. I could never bend 3/4" for the life of me, always kinked them. lol
Initial install, one end was intentionally long so I could cut off whatever excess was not needed.
Held in place with conduit hangers, perfect spacing from the tank.
Used up the RapidLED hanging kits. Drilled the aluminum light rack to fit flush on the reverse side, gotta make it clean!
I had to shorten some of the cord so it would look right without too much slack. Just used crimped aluminum sleeves from Lowes. The balls were like that from RapidLED.
TADA! It's a bit messy but eventually I'll get it all cleaned up.
Not too shabby, that light rig weighs about 20lbs. I was surprised the 3/4" aluminum tubing held it with little flexing, of course we had tweaked it to offset. Still have a few minor tweaking to get it to hang perfectly with the tank but that will be another day.
Things to knock down over the span of this week:
1) Finish repairs on the wall and then paint it.
2) Electronic Panel
3) Repair minor leaks on plumbing
Today I got to work on one of the more important aspects of the tank, LIGHTS. Thanks to a great friend, Bobby an electrician by trade helped me big time with my way to hang the lights. Stopped by his shop and he bent up some aluminum real quick for me. I could never bend 3/4" for the life of me, always kinked them. lol
Initial install, one end was intentionally long so I could cut off whatever excess was not needed.
Held in place with conduit hangers, perfect spacing from the tank.
Used up the RapidLED hanging kits. Drilled the aluminum light rack to fit flush on the reverse side, gotta make it clean!
I had to shorten some of the cord so it would look right without too much slack. Just used crimped aluminum sleeves from Lowes. The balls were like that from RapidLED.
TADA! It's a bit messy but eventually I'll get it all cleaned up.
Not too shabby, that light rig weighs about 20lbs. I was surprised the 3/4" aluminum tubing held it with little flexing, of course we had tweaked it to offset. Still have a few minor tweaking to get it to hang perfectly with the tank but that will be another day.
Things to knock down over the span of this week:
1) Finish repairs on the wall and then paint it.
2) Electronic Panel
3) Repair minor leaks on plumbing
Genesis Corals
Genesis 1:21
Great work, looking forward to seeing some corals in it soon.
cougercruiser
Active Member
OMG, I have phosphates!!!
Your hanna checker is PPM, it's not as accurate as the Ultra-Low PPB. Your phosphates are higher than you think they are. Hanna Ultra Low Range Phosphorus Checker - Reef Central Online Community
Your hanna checker is PPM, it's not as accurate as the Ultra-Low PPB. Your phosphates are higher than you think they are. Hanna Ultra Low Range Phosphorus Checker - Reef Central Online Community
OP
OP
OMG, I have phosphates!!!
Your hanna checker is PPM, it's not as accurate as the Ultra-Low PPB. Your phosphates are higher than you think they are. Hanna Ultra Low Range Phosphorus Checker - Reef Central Online Community
I know that already, also the +/-.04 or whatever as well.
