cypho's 36" DIY reef (1 Viewer)

[eschulist]

With the containers being air tight how are they going to refill with air once the water is sucked out? Can you install tiny air checkvalves or vacuum breakers on the lids?

If the john guest fitting isn't airtight that may leak in the tiny air needed to not create a vacuum.

 

[cypho]

With the containers being air tight how are they going to refill with air once the water is sucked out? Can you install tiny air checkvalves or vacuum breakers on the lids?

If the john guest fitting isn't airtight that may leak in the tiny air needed to not create a vacuum.

Yes, the bulkhead does not have an o-ring and seems to let in plenty of air.

My original plan was to add a check valve to let in air, but I tested by sucking on the tube and there was surprisingly little resistance so I decided that it was not needed.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/1-4-push-connect-bulkhead-tank-adapter.html

Note: These come with a plastic nut and do not come with a gasket. They are intended for dry applications such as running a tube through a tank stand, etc.

 

[cypho]

I got a new baby clam from New Wave this weekend. Next to it is the the clam I got at the spring swap.

 

[patent]

Mr Potter seems to have the blues.

View attachment 22086

Nice pic, nice fish. I really like the colors, coral beauty has always been my favorite of the pygmys, but that's right up there.

 

[cypho]

Nice pic, nice fish. I really like the colors, coral beauty has always been my favorite of the pygmys, but that's right up there.

Thanks, I actually wish he would either go back to being orange or decide to turn into the famous 100% blue potter. But for a fan of coral beautys I can see the appeal.

 

[cypho]

Why are blue clams so hard to photograph. I spent about 2 hours this evening trying to get a better pic of the new clam with somewhat accurate colors. This is the best I could do and I still had to tweak things a bit on the computer to get the colors right. And it still does not show the florescent pop quite right.

 

[cypho]

For some reason, when the relays cut power to the dosing pumps, it causes all of the other relays to freak out for a second or two. At first I thought it was a programming error, but it does not happen when the dosing pumps are unplugged so it must have something to do with the dosing pumps.

I ordered 2 more of the snubbers that I used to fix a similar problem I had with the ATO solenoid. Hopefully that will fix this problem too. For now I am only running the dosers at night so the freakouts don't kill the lights (which take ~15 minutes to reboot).

The snubbers arrived this week. I cut up a pair of extension cords and embedded the snubbers in them. It did solve the problem. Cutting power to the dosing pumps no longer freaks out the other relays.

I'm actually a bit surprised that it worked. It seems reasonable that a solenoid that is sold without a plug would require extra parts to work right, but the it really seems like the BRS dosing pumps would be meant to be plug and play and would anticipate the inductive kick issues. Dosing pumps should really have snubber circuitry built in.

 

[cypho]

Today's project was attempt-1 at a pH probe. I've had the parts for a few months, and this weekend I finally got around to putting them together.
Part list. MinipH i2c pH board and a pinpoint pH probe.

It almost works. If I place the probe in a glass of tank water, it gives a sane value. But when I place the probe directly into the sump it does not. So until I figure out how to solve this, the pH probe is back into storage.

__________________________

Last weekend I added 10 frags from reefking and a clam from New Wave. This weekend I added yet another clam and 3 frags New Wave. The tank is starting to look nice and full.



A happy clamily. The newest clam (on the right) is a bit greener than the other two. I'm setting myself up for a big problem when these guys start growing. The tank is not nearly big enough for 3 adult squamosas...New Wave, please stop getting in awesome clams, I have no self control.

 

[cypho]

My namesake (Cypho purpurascens)showed up on DD today. I jumped on it. Now I just need a female.

 

[jlanger]

Ya know... As soon as I saw that fish in the update, I said "I know someone that would want that fish!"
Great grab!!!

 

[cypho]

I can't get over how fat the belly is in that DD photo. If I did not know better I would think it was a gravid female. I guess we know it is eating well.




Here's the one I had ages ago. I hope this new one proves to be equally awesome.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[cypho]

Cypho (the fish) arrived on the Wednesday, just a few days before cypho (me) left town for Christmas. Not the best timing.

Upon arrival, the bag was very cold and he was floating on the surface noticeably distressed with what appeared to be an over-inflated air-bladder. He was fighting to stay down and shining a flashlight through him revealed that the giant belly in the DD photo may actually be a large air bubble. I was tempted to pierce it and release the air, but I did not. I released him into the tank (no quarantine) and he swam down into the rocks.

6 hours later he still had the large belly but was no longer fighting to stay down. His behavior seemed normal and he ate frozen mysis with gusto. Good news, but there was still the big question how he would handle a 1 week fast so shortly after shipping.

_________________


Well, I'm back now and everyone made it though the fast just fine. However there were a few interesting developments while I was gone.

Even after fasting for a week, the dottyback still has a huge belly. He's no longer having any trouble staying down so I don't think it is an air-bladder problem. And it's obviously not full of food after not eating anything for 7 days. So why does he still have such a huge belly? Could he really be a she who didn't get the memo about changing colors?

Cypho is new but is already asserting himself. The smaller swalesi basslet is missing half of his tail. The larger swalesi basslet's tail is split and the blue tang has 2 marks on his side. The smallest fish in the tank, the aurora gobies, seem to be the best at fending him off. Instead of running in fear, they puff up their mouths and face him straight on. After staring at each other for a few seconds the dottyback swims off looking defeated. Only the clowns and angels seem to be completely immune from his aggression.

On the plus side the basslets seem to be hanging out in the open more as they are now more afraid of what is lurking in the shadows than they are of me. I'm hoping that now that I'm back and feeding the tank again he'll lay off the basslets a bit and their tails will heal.

 

[marty9876]

You didn't feed yourself for a week? That's just mean.

 

[cypho]

You didn't feed yourself for a week? That's just mean.

Cypho the human did feel a bit guilty feasting all week on christmas candy and extravagant meals while cypho the fish was fasting.

But what comes around goes around. Now it's my turn to shed all those christmas pounds. :cry:

 

[cypho]

I think I solved the mystery of the still-fat-after-fasting dottyback. Both of the peppermint shrimp are missing.


I had some fun taking videos.

Cypho trying to eat Byssus filaments
https://goo.gl/photos/8YBiKCpK8SM5Bnoy9


Larger Aurora goby showing off.
https://goo.gl/photos/PiAZ9TxSUmmNWhyR8

Aurora goby feeding the pistol shirmp. Notice how the goby calls the shrimp by quivering and then holding perfectly still. The shrimp almost always comes out right after the goby signals like that.
https://goo.gl/photos/rY3ppq9aGL45LTYA6

More gobies
https://goo.gl/photos/9tp9qs3seGR4TruD6


Feeding time
https://goo.gl/photos/txgMNspeXTko3S7m6

 

[cypho]

Today's project was attempt-1 at a pH probe. I've had the parts for a few months, and this weekend I finally got around to putting them together.
Part list. MinipH i2c pH board and a pinpoint pH probe.

It almost works. If I place the probe in a glass of tank water, it gives a sane value. But when I place the probe directly into the sump it does not. So until I figure out how to solve this, the pH probe is back into storage.

I added isolation to the pH chip and I'm now getting the same value in the sump as I do in a cup. Now I just need to figure out how to calibrate and turn the raw sensor data into a pH value.

 

[cypho]

I added isolation to the pH chip and I'm now getting the same value in the sump as I do in a cup. Now I just need to figure out how to calibrate and turn the raw sensor data into a pH value.

I measured the raw value of pH 10.08 and pH 7.04 calibration solutions as 1902 and 2045. The raw value I get with the probe in the sump is 1999.

If I assume the correlation between raw sensor data and pH is linear, that comes out to a pH of 8.02 in the sump.

That sounds like a reasonable number for first thing in the morning. I think it's working!

 

[cheezybuda]

That's great news, William!
The mV reading and pH are a linear relationship.

 

[eschulist]

My namesake (Cypho purpurascens)showed up on DD today. I jumped on it. Now I just need a female.

It's been awhile since I've caught up on the tank builds. I saw this fish go up on DD and instantly feel in love. I have too many fish already or I would have wanted it too.

Glad it went to someone in the club.

 

[cypho]

It's been awhile since I've caught up on the tank builds. I saw this fish go up on DD and instantly feel in love. I have too many fish already or I would have wanted it too.

Glad it went to someone in the club.

He's definitely living up to his reputation as very aggressive. At the moment both clowns and the blue tang have open wounds on their sides and the two basslets are tailless.

I have to imagine it would be 7x worse in a tank 1/7th the size. I bet I could have gotten a great deal on him after he started killing all of your other fish.