I've been busy... (1 Viewer)

[JELP]

Well my 200 build is on a long term hold. Hello baby due oct 10th. Plus we just moved from white bear to hudson... and I'm going back to school. Since I couldn't keep my hands out of a tank I had to do something! Solution: Small peninsular... comparativly. I suppose the purpose is to use this to grow out stuff for my 200 while I wait. Maybe even making some frags along the way to add to the collection.
48"x24"x14" basically a frag tank with rock and sand, 44g or so.
Goal: use only equipment I already have.
Lighting: Using old lighting box from a tank that I put metal halides on.
4-54w t5
Skimmer: CPR bak pak, stolen off a tank I gave away... it still has the other one
Flow: Tunze 6100.10
BRS two part to maintain levels
Calc:430
Alk: Meter says 10.8 test says 8.2... getting some calibrating solution
Mag: 1400

 

[JELP]

Hood has been painted, the plain wood was kinda an eye sore. Went with some metalic black on the outside, and a shiny white on the inside. Looks pretty decent for a diy wood box I'll try to add some pics of the set up tonight.
It is all cycled and looking good now. I did have an interesting few weeks of very very cloudy water. Still have no idea what was the issue was. Upon testing everything was right where it needed to be. Best I could figure was bacteria bloom. The tank was partially stocked at the time, but coral and fish were happy as could be. If you have other ideas let me know!
PH tends to be sitting around 8.5-8.7, this is starting to annoy me as it prevents my dosing of alk (I have solution brs two part solution 1) I would rather figure out why it is there before I go buy recipie 2. I can't figure out why the ph is persistently in that range, but at least it is stable.

 

[Hellaenergy]

Are you sure your testing is accurate? Have you tried multiple sources? Good to see you back and congrats on the expected baby!

 

[JELP]

Are you sure your testing is accurate? Have you tried multiple sources? Good to see you back and congrats on the expected baby!

Yeah, just decided to hook up my controller to the tank. This thing keeps getting all my good stuff. Anyway, the controller reads 8.6 ish, did a chemical test... said 8.7, subjective to color, they agree to the same ball park.

 

[Hellaenergy]

Yeah, just decided to hook up my controller to the tank. This thing keeps getting all my good stuff. Anyway, the controller reads 8.6 ish, did a chemical test... said 8.7, subjective to color, they agree to the same ball park.

How's the air circulation in that room? What's in the system/tank so far?

 

[JELP]

The tanks sits on a counter between the kitchen and living room, so there should be plenty of air flow. As far as flow and agitation, i had to dial the tunze down quite a bit as it is over sized for the tank, yay for controllers! It is stable, so I might just try a little vinegar and see what happens.

 

[JELP]

Pictures!!! So here is my hood and some customization:nuts:

Here is my metalicy hood:beerchug:

And the whole thing

Since my mom is in this tank quite a bit I needed to devise a better method of lifting the hood as it is heavy and awkward.

Shiny white inside.

Mechanics

After setting it up, I wasn't liking the oils and random other things that would build up on the surface, so I found a couple pieces of acrylic and manufactured this. It skims very well! Plus is is held on by the pressure of the water against it so it is not actually attached to the tank, which makes adjusting water level and cleaning a breeze.:beerchug:

Lastly, still have some work to be done...

 

[JELP]

Well baby is growing and so it the tank here are a couple cool 1.5 year pics.

before:

and now:

 

[bkoppes]

Everything is growing pretty fast!! Thanks for sharing.