Greybeard's Wide, Shallow Peninsula

[Greybeard]

Quick update... few changes.

I put a Skimz macro algae reactor in the sump back before the new year. The major knock on these things is that the O ring is difficult to set in place. Yup. It's a pain. Not that big a deal, though. Aside from that, durned thing grows macro algae like a champ. I really like it, though I'd recommend a different brand, if anyone is considering one.

Mixing station changes: I had a single AC pump, forget the brand, about 800gph. Was using it as a mixing pump, then adding a hose, and using it for a delivery pump to refill the sump after a water change. Picked up one of the Sicce Zero whatever utility pumps. Now, the old AC pump is dedicated to mixing duties, and the new Sicce handles the delivery part. Both are plugged into a new 4 outlet strip with individual manual switches I mounted near the mixing barrel. Not a big deal, but it keeps my hands dry.

Oh, the new Sicce pump is LOUD. Since I'm using it to pump 20g of water once a week, no big deal, but yeah... loud.

Temp controller: Can't recall the name, but someone here recommended Bayite heater controllers. I've been unhappy with my BRS branded Inkbird since I got it. Too big a temp swing. Over a degree, and no way to close it up. Also, the hanging brick with the two plugs... less than ideal as a wall mount solution.

Bayite arrived yesterday. Comes with a stainless temp probe. I don't like stainless in a marine tank. Plugged in the old Inkbird plastic probe, works fine with the Bayite. Plugged in the old 500w Finex TH heater tube, booted up the Bayite, set temp, set range of .1f, and we're off and running. Wall mounts fairly easily, standard outlets for heat and cool on the face. Looks fine. Best part:

Temp swings of 0.2f. Oh, yeah

 

[najer]

Quick update... few changes.

I put a Skimz macro algae reactor in the sump back before the new year. The major knock on these things is that the O ring is difficult to set in place. Yup. It's a pain. Not that big a deal, though. Aside from that, durned thing grows macro algae like a champ. I really like it, though I'd recommend a different brand, if anyone is considering one.

Mixing station changes: I had a single AC pump, forget the brand, about 800gph. Was using it as a mixing pump, then adding a hose, and using it for a delivery pump to refill the sump after a water change. Picked up one of the Sicce Zero whatever utility pumps. Now, the old AC pump is dedicated to mixing duties, and the new Sicce handles the delivery part. Both are plugged into a new 4 outlet strip with individual manual switches I mounted near the mixing barrel. Not a big deal, but it keeps my hands dry.

Oh, the new Sicce pump is LOUD. Since I'm using it to pump 20g of water once a week, no big deal, but yeah... loud.

Temp controller: Can't recall the name, but someone here recommended Bayite heater controllers. I've been unhappy with my BRS branded Inkbird since I got it. Too big a temp swing. Over a degree, and no way to close it up. Also, the hanging brick with the two plugs... less than ideal as a wall mount solution.

Bayite arrived yesterday. Comes with a stainless temp probe. I don't like stainless in a marine tank. Plugged in the old Inkbird plastic probe, works fine with the Bayite. Plugged in the old 500w Finex TH heater tube, booted up the Bayite, set temp, set range of .1f, and we're off and running. Wall mounts fairly easily, standard outlets for heat and cool on the face. Looks fine. Best part:

Temp swings of 0.2f. Oh, yeah

That is great control, what do you have for cooling or just AC and stable house temp?

 

[Greybeard]

That is great control, what do you have for cooling or just AC and stable house temp?

Just home cooling. You could plug a fan or whatever into the controller, but I'm not doing so.

 

[Greybeard]

Oops.

I'm one that encourages people to post their mistakes... it's likely more valuable than posting your successes

So... I OD'd N03P04x last night. How? Well, I was cleaning the line on my 1.1ML N03P04x dosing pump hose. It gets crud built up on it, so I pull it and rinse it off once in a while. Anyway, I manually turned the pump on to prime the line. Walked away for a second... and promptly forgot what I was doing. Happily, it's a real slow pump. Not sure how much went in, maybe a half a cup?

Anyway, woke this morning to a cloudy tank, bacterial bloom. Imagine that, OD on bacteria food, you get a bacterial bloom. Go figure.

Tomorrow is water change day anyway, I normally change 16 gallons (about 10%) every Saturday. Did a double change this morning, about 32 gallons. Cleaned the skimmer (which was pretty durned full), swapped out my carbon bag.

Don't think I've lost anything... but here's Greybeard's advice on the matter:

Don't walk away from a dosing pump while priming.

 

[najer]

Hope all is well over the next couple of weeks.

 

[Greybeard]

No4pox all cleared up, no problems.

 

[Greybeard]

Getting sort of tired of having to restrict the animals I can house due to the bare bottom thing. Wife and I had a talk about it, she doesn't like the bare bottom either. I was hopeful that by now, the bottom would be fairly coral encrusted... not the case. Coraline, maybe 70%, but I've not had any luck growing corals on this plastic substrate.

So... made a minor change on Sunday.

Horrible photo, but you get the idea...

Spent two rather pleasant hours sitting on the back patio, moving a hose around in a 10g bucket, rinsing 80lbs of sand. Repeatedly, until the water was running clear. This was well water... not up to reef standards, but at least it's not full of chlorine, chloramine, ammonia, etc. Once that was done, I drained as much fresh water as I could, did a 20g water change, and re-rinsed the sand in the water change water.

Photo above was taken an hour after putting the sand in the tank... what little cloudiness I had was all cleared up by then. About as trouble free as it could have been, I think.

Now... let this sand 'dirty up' a bit, and I can get that pair of fighting conchs I'd been missing, some nassarius snails, maybe one of the sand sifting gobies... Hey, I miss my bi-color goatfish, maybe one of those.

Anyway, I'm no longer going bare bottom. It was a worthwhile experiment, but ultimately, just too limiting for me.

 

[Greybeard]

Just a quick update...

Sand's been in the tank for a month. Quite happy I added it... but with no sand critters of any sort, it's got brown diatoms and is already needing a good cleaning.

So, placed an order with Salty Bottom Reef. A dozen hermits of four varieties, two fighting conchs, twenty nassarius snails, half green, half brown, and a pair of zebra turbos. Bigger order of clean up crew than I'd normally add at once, but having as much open sand space as my tank does, and as quickly as it's getting dirty, well, it seemed appropriate.

Oh, I've somehow managed to let Aiptasia get started. Been handling it with F-Aip, but since SBR had Mottled Filefish for a reasonable price, I added one to the order. If he settles in and keeps them under control, great... if not, he's an interesting, if not necessarily attractive, addition to the tank.

They sent what I ordered. Added an extra fighting conch, and all three conchs are BIG. Three inches long at least. Order was well packed, and in good condition. Bottom of the box was wet, but hey, it rained all day. No leaks. Everything seems healthy so far, doing well. Filefish is real timid, but that's hardly unusual for the species. Nassarius snails disappeared into the sand bed seconds after release.

 

[Greybeard]

And, maybe a photo or two

 

[Zionas]

Awesome tank as always. Do you expect that any of your fish will have to be rehomed in a couple years?

 

[Greybeard]

Awesome tank as always. Do you expect that any of your fish will have to be rehomed in a couple years?

Not really. Yeah, I like big fish, but there's not that many larger fishes in there... and I'm not adding any more.

Scopus tang, Tomini tang, Spotbreast Angel, Lamark's Angel, and a Foxface.

So far, no trouble. Tank is quite open, with minimal rockwork. There's more swimming room in my 140g tank than in many 180s I've seen that are jammed full of rock.

All the same, I'll keep an eye on them. Scopas tang will get pretty big. If he starts looking crowded, I'm sure Bass Pro's world of wildlife would take him ;D

 

[Zionas]

That’s great to know.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I love this tank! @Greybeard any updates?

 

[Greybeard]

I love this tank! @Greybeard any updates?

Thanks

Updates? Nothing's changed lately. Summertime... I spend more time around the pool than around the tank

 

[Zionas]

Reef POOL anyone?

 

[Greybeard]

Reef POOL anyone?

A fond memory... Back in the early 80's, I was at Seaworld, San Fran. They had a U shaped pool, probably 12' wide, maybe 10' deep, naturally lit, direct feed of water from the ocean. Full of corals, fishes, inverts... You could put on a mask and snorkel, and swim the tank. I spent HOURS in that tank. Awesome experience.

I can wholeheartedly credit that experience with getting my PADI cert later in life.

Haven't been there in decades, no idea if that exhibit even exists any more. No mention of it on Seaworld's site.

 

[Zionas]

That’s awesome, I’m glad you have those memories and that they eventually led you to getting PADI certified. This is very broad but would you imagine most divers to have a fond opinion of what we do?

Glad your tank is doing well.

 

[Greybeard]

... would you imagine most divers to have a fond opinion of what we do?

Can't imagine a diver that wouldn't appreciate a nice reef aquarium.

What with the reduction in reefs across the globe, we may one day be putting corals _back_ in the oceans. Keeping as wide a variety of reef creatures alive through the current crisis seems a noble goal.

I suppose some folks might think we're adding to pressure on the reefs... but with the heavy emphasis reefkeepers put on captive bred critters and tank grown corals, I just don't see it.

 

[Greybeard]

Ok, minor update, along with a quick review.

Aiptasia infestation... was trying to get ahead of it with F-Aip, but it wasn't getting me there.

Figured now that true pepermint shrimp are being captive bred, maybe a few of those might help... so I ordered some, from Algae Barn.

Here's the review part...

Order came in today. Well packed. Ordered 2x 3 each units. $32 each... that's 6 for $64. I paid overnight, an additional $45. Yeah, pricey, but hey, 3 day shipping on live shrimp? No thanks.

2 of their trademark pint plastic jars -w- tin lids, plastic heat sealed under the lid. Bit of plastic mesh in each jar to help with stress during shipment. Cool pack, well insulated... arrived before 11am. Great.

Started looking at the shrimp. Not so great. Doesn't say anything about size, but these are small. Biggest two are maybe 3/8". Smallest two could have been mysis shrimp. Seriously. I had to get my reading glasses to even spot the little specs in the jar. Very likely they didn't make it through the first couple of hours in the tank. I acclimated them, released them while I was feeding the fish... saw at least a couple of them make the rocks, but I'm fairly convinced that I'll never see any of them again. Snack food... that's what they sent me. A one hundred dollar fishy snack.

Ad says "These peppermint shrimp are captive-bred, completely reef-safe, and will consume nuisance Aiptasia anemones." Guaranteed 100% arrive alive.

Gonna be tough to consume aiptasia after they've been consumed... Not like I've got a bunch of active shrimp hunting fish, I don't, but seriously. There's not a fish in the sea that wouldn't eat a little morsel like these. Don't know if I've got grounds to complain, but I'm quite unhappy. Waste of a hundred bucks.

Know what? I'm gonna post this on Algae Barn's forum here. See what they have to say.

 

[minus9]

That sucks! Whenever I used berghia in the past, I would keep them in the sump in a mesh container until lights out. I don't like to introduce live animals during the day, too many issues. Hopefully Algae Barn will help out?