commod0re's UNS R90 Build

[commod0re]

well I was afraid of this but it looks like I did indeed wait too long to start a second culture of Isochrysis galbana so I'll be making a trip down to one of the shops this week to grab whatever phyto they have, most likely tetraselmis or a blend, to tide my pods over until I receive the new starter culture I just ordered. This time I'm going to try Rhodomonas lens instead, mainly because the isochrysis isn't in stock, but also why not? it looks like the nutrition profile is more on the protein side vs iso's high lipids, and it looks like it's possibly easier to digest (has higher absorption rates with at least some creatures) so I wanted to culture it anyway, in the future maybe I'll even end up doing both so I can blend them together!

 

[commod0re]

New coral day! UPS arrived nice and early so I’ve already got the devil’s hand temperature acclimated and in the tank

To help make the shipping worthwhile I also grabbed some stomatella snails:

which look to have brought along some spirorbid worms on their shells. Neato!
I’ve heard these guys are great at reproducing in the tank so looking forward to that

 

[commod0re]

That didn’t take long to start happening , nice!

 

[commod0re]

Kind of amazing how much it can change shape! Playing with placement a bit because I was worried the first spot I picked had too much light intensity, it had shifted all the green pigment down low and the finger appeared inflated, almost as if it was trying to shade itself, even with the lights turned down

In this spot it seems to have deflated its one finger and shifted the volume to the other part. The green is much more distributed now, which I assume is a good sign

 

[commod0re]

Almost immediately proven wrong, it did the same thing down here lol

 

[TheWB]

Almost immediately proven wrong, it did the same thing down here lol

That picture makes it appear that the Urchin is getting it.

 

[commod0re]

That picture makes it appear that the Urchin is getting it.

Hah I guess so, it has rotated since then lol

 

[jabberkaycee]

New coral - yay! It would be cool to have a time-lapsed video of the hand shapeshifting.

 

[commod0re]

New coral - yay! It would be cool to have a time-lapsed video of the hand shapeshifting.

I was thinking the same thing! I’ll have to try to set that up soon

 

[commod0re]

So I finally got sufficiently tired of the water level fluctuations and inconsistent ATO usage, and trimmed down my emergency drain stand pipe today. Getting it out the first time was the hard part. That should help keep the water level in the overflow where I actually want it, which should also help keep the water level in the sump return chamber more stable as well

 

[jabberkaycee]

I don’t notice any water level fluctuating. Maybe it is and I just don’t notice it. How much did you cut the pipe down?

 

[commod0re]

I don’t notice any water level fluctuating. Maybe it is and I just don’t notice it. How much did you cut the pipe down?

I mostly notice it after the pump power cycles, it often won’t return to the same exact level after feed mode or maintenance, or even just over the course of a few days, and with the stand pipe at the default height that’s enough volume moved up out of the sump that it pulls extra water out of the ATO and I notice that some days will drop less than 1/4 gallon out of the ATO and some will be as high as 3/4 gallon! It’s kinda wild

I think I cut a little over an inch off, it took me 3 cuts to get it right where I wanted it which is juuust below the overflow baffles, so that there’s a tiny waterfall going into the overflow but not enough to be noisy

 

[jabberkaycee]

I mostly notice it after the pump power cycles, it often won’t return to the same exact level after feed mode or maintenance, or even just over the course of a few days, and with the stand pipe at the default height that’s enough volume moved up out of the sump that it pulls extra water out of the ATO and I notice that some days will drop less than 1/4 gallon out of the ATO and some will be as high as 3/4 gallon! It’s kinda wild

I think I cut a little over an inch off, it took me 3 cuts to get it right where I wanted it which is juuust below the overflow baffles, so that there’s a tiny waterfall going into the overflow but not enough to be noisy

Now that you’ve had a few days with the cut that you made, do you feel you’ve got it at the right level? I’m thinking about cutting mine down today. Also, What type of return pump are you using and at what percent do you have it set? I’m playing with my levels, flow, and turnover today, and I just can’t seem to get it where I want. I think it is because of the emergency overflow pipe.

 

[commod0re]

Now that you’ve had a few days with the cut that you made, do you feel you’ve got it at the right level? I’m thinking about cutting mine down today. Also, What type of return pump are you using and at what percent do you have it set? I’m playing with my levels, flow, and turnover today, and I just can’t seem to get it where I want. I think it is because of the emergency overflow pipe.

Yes I am sure it was the right level, things seem more stable, I haven’t had to fiddle with the gate valve at all and it seems like my ATO usage rate has stabilized

I have a Jebao DCP-5000 in there and run it at 45%

 

[jabberkaycee]

Yes I am sure it was the right level, things seem more stable, I haven’t had to fiddle with the gate valve at all and it seems like my ATO usage rate has stabilized

I have a Jebao DCP-5000 in there and run it at 45%

Thanks!

 

[commod0re]

Copepod update: I checked on it today and the colony is thriving there are so many pods in there! The deep green has changed to a much lighter shade in the meantime as well so they’re making progress.
My wife ordered some things from BRS and grabbed me some reef flux to try out on my tank. I dosed 7 capsules of powder into some tank water and then poured that into the sump. Now my fingers are crossed that it helps lol

 

[commod0re]

Fluconazole update, day 4: seems like it's starting to work! these two spots were completely covered last week.

this one plus the GSP on it also had quite a bit last week

Still early in the treatment, but seems promising! hopefully this trend continues

 

[TheWB]

Fluconazole update, day 4: seems like it's starting to work! these two spots were completely covered last week.

this one plus the GSP on it also had quite a bit last week

Still early in the treatment, but seems promising! hopefully this trend continues

I've used it and had success. I think you'll be happy with the results.

 

[commod0re]

Wrasse update: still in wife’s little 10G and thriving. She’s starting to get used to me, I’ve been feeding her thawed frozen cyclops this week. She’s been quite the hider, the cyclops being in the water would bring her out but today she actually watched me pipette the food in and is now happily cruising the tank, eating cyclops, right in front of me! She even let me take a couple of decent pictures

Wife says she doesn’t want to “jinx it” by naming her just yet but I think she’s earned one so I’m starting to try to think one up lol

 

[commod0re]

QT update: progress! Finally printed my aio insert

I designed a very simple and low-profile 2-chamber aio area for this. Not intending to put much equipment in here at all, just a heater, a small return pump, and a basic rim-mount ATO

I had already printed a 3-part lid as well, here it is dry fit:

This tank was most recently used as a planted terrarium and I haven’t cleaned the rest of that up yet, but, it was enough to ensure that everything fits so I’m happy. I’ll need to get some large pipe segments to put in for hides

Fluconazole update:
Yesterday I went over everything in my display tank with the siphon, didn’t take water out just siphoned through one of the filter socks and man so much came off so easily, seems like it’s really working! No pics because the lighting isn’t good for it right now but I’ll take some later today. There’s still some algae but it’s supposed to take 3 weeks so plenty of time left lol

Gear update: once again and as predicted I have already grown tired of squeezing filter socks, so I ordered a Nature Dimensions N-Clear M dual-unit fleece roller setup. I like that it requires no modifications to the sump+plumbing and if two ends up not being enough I can add a third into the third filter sock hole later. I think two will be enough though. Very excited about that.