JJ's getting on the wagon late - JBJ 45 Rimless

[JJ1234567]

Many years ago I had 6 tanks in my house. Small planted freshwater, brackish, and a full blown reef tank. I loved watching the little guys swim, especially the clowns in the reef, and the violet goby/GSPs in the brackish tank. I literally had just purchased an acrylic 65 gallon breeder for a new reef tank. Well. Life happens, and I started downsizing to just the reef. The final life change in '09 required that I had to take that one down and try different things.

Fast forward to early last year and I was in an a similar change phase, except this time moving back towards stability. I had been struggling with depression a bit. I was getting really tired of the "you just need to meet someone" or the "you should get a dog" comments. I recalled how much I enjoyed watching the fish swim, and eat, and just poke around their aquatic homes - so I determined that maybe I could be responsible for another living being again, and started looking at tanks. Because of the somewhat challenging layout of my house (and tick poor insulation) I gravitated towards AIO tanks, just for ease of set up and compact space. After completing my annual training requirements, and completing a school, I had a decent chunk of change in my pocket. So I snagged up the Fluval Evo 13.5. I agonized over actually going through with it or not, and eventually ordered some live sand off amazon, and googled for a LFS in the area. I found one in Mt. Pleasant, MI called AquaTails - guy runs it out of a converted garage. I drove the 45 minutes to try to find some live rock - and almost turned around when I got there. Looked completely sketchy. The guy that answered the door was wearing sandals, shorts, and a smile. However - after talking with the guy for a while, he had a definite love for fish, he had a great selection, and his prices were tough to beat. I ended up taking home about 16lbs of rock, and over the next 3 days filled that Evo. I cannot speak highly enough of the quality of that tank, if you are looking to go the nano route. It is a slick little unit.

Well. Here we are a year later. Ive had some ups and downs.

Mostly small downs:
-2 small algae blooms due to over feeding while the neighbor was feeding them for me
-a single coral not making it
-a pistol shrimp that decided he wanted to live in the overflow
-and Petco purple psuedo that didn't pull through (this one hurt)

But the ups -
-A happy little clown guy
-A happy yellow spotted goby that has completely tunneled the entire underside of the tanks
-Free hitchhiker feather dusters!
-massive growth on a leather coral
-A Blasto that finally decided it liked where I put it and has quadrupled in size
-Zoos that are spreading
-an orange Ricca that got into my tank and just started dropping babies and moving around

But, I figured it was time for something bigger. I wanted a bit more leeway with water parameters/changes. I wanted more room for coral growth (as that leather coral is dominating the center of the tank). I wanted to get a second clown, and maybe another swimmer fish. I did a lot of lurking/looking around the various forums online, browsed ebay, and the various aquatic websites. I had kept that 65 gallon until 13 or 14, and sold it for a stupidly small sum of money, boy was I regretting that. I was really close to nabbing a Nuvo during the last sale that BRS had on, but had seen the JBJ at the LFS I frequent now in Lansing, MI (Preuss Pets). I really liked the size of the tank, and felt it would fit well where I wanted to put it. I really waffled between the 45 and the 65 - but I felt the 65 would be pushing it for the space I had available.



On 27 July, I went and bought that tank. Two hour drive down to get there right when they opened, and a two hour drive home. I had to borrow my Dads SUV, thank goodness he was up from Florida. There was no way this was going to fit in my Jetta. I ended up getting the curved tank - I think it looks sharp (and its what they had in stock). I sincerely hope I don't regret it. However, most of the chatter online seems to be that the newer generation tanks are gtg if you do your bit.

Next day, with the help of my dad, I got the Evo drained mostly down, and moved to a stand on the far side of my living room to clear the space where the JBJ would be going. I had checked it in the store for any obvious signs of distress, as the box didnt look great. We gave it a better look over and didnt see any issues, so it got placed on the foam mat where it would be going. My biggest disappointment with the tank out of the box was how very DIRTY it was. The overflow required quite a bit of scrubbing, and the way its designed made it difficult to really get it all. I also made my first mistake here. I wanted to leak/weight test everything so I filled with tap water. My well water is awful, and just 5 short days is all it took for me to have to scrub it again to get all the calcium/lime build up off stuff once I drained it.

5 days with no leaks, no creaks, no settling of the counter (its got 2x4s on the inside holding it up - built like a tank - probably could have done the 65).

This is when the stuff started showing up. This wasnt like my Evo, that was basically ready to go. I had to order stuff! So. Much. Stuff. Heres where the equipment list/cost disclosure comes in. I did not bargain shop. I was not patient.

Couple things I bought I did not need. The black sand looked great at the LFS - but I read enough bad reports on it that I decided to just go with the regular. Now, of course, as this stuff is coming in my father is trying very hard to be interested in what Im doing (and he was SUPER helpful) and I snapped this shot. He literally just said "all of this is going in there?" It took us 3 days of just looking at cords to figure out what the next part of the plan was. Originally I was going to mount a strip along the wall horizontally for the cords ( using the outlet where that power box is now, next to the stove). Ultimately we determined it would be neater, plus look nicer, to go up. So we got the hole saw out, and cut some holes . One for the wiring, and one for a gravity fed ATO (still working on that one).

With a little help from the home depot, was able to tap into the wiring for the lights in the island cabinets, and put a power junction box in for the power strip.

From there we decided to mount the controllers all in the same place (as opposed to one on each side for the gyres) - so leveled those out left side of the tank. The cardboard was to keep wood bits out of the tank.

So far we have been working on just getting everything situated for about 9 days. Definitely not moving quickly, hopefully doing things the right way, and so that they last.

To Be Continued!

 

[WV Reefer]

Many years ago I had 6 tanks in my house. Small planted freshwater, brackish, and a full blown reef tank. I loved watching the little guys swim, especially the clowns in the reef, and the violet goby/GSPs in the brackish tank. I literally had just purchased an acrylic 65 gallon breeder for a new reef tank. Well. Life happens, and I started downsizing to just the reef. The final life change in '09 required that I had to take that one down and try different things.

Fast forward to early last year and I was in an a similar change phase, except this time moving back towards stability. I had been struggling with depression a bit. I was getting really tired of the "you just need to meet someone" or the "you should get a dog" comments. I recalled how much I enjoyed watching the fish swim, and eat, and just poke around their aquatic homes - so I determined that maybe I could be responsible for another living being again, and started looking at tanks. Because of the somewhat challenging layout of my house (and **** poor insulation) I gravitated towards AIO tanks, just for ease of set up and compact space. After completing my annual training requirements, and completing a school, I had a decent chunk of change in my pocket. So I snagged up the Fluval Evo 13.5. I agonized over actually going through with it or not, and eventually ordered some live sand off amazon, and googled for a LFS in the area. I found one in Mt. Pleasant, MI called AquaTails - guy runs it out of a converted garage. I drove the 45 minutes to try to find some live rock - and almost turned around when I got there. Looked completely sketchy. The guy that answered the door was wearing sandals, shorts, and a smile. However - after talking with the guy for a while, he had a definite love for fish, he had a great selection, and his prices were tough to beat. I ended up taking home about 16lbs of rock, and over the next 3 days filled that Evo. I cannot speak highly enough of the quality of that tank, if you are looking to go the nano route. It is a slick little unit.

Well. Here we are a year later. Ive had some ups and downs.

Mostly small downs:
-2 small algae blooms due to over feeding while the neighbor was feeding them for me
-a single coral not making it
-a pistol shrimp that decided he wanted to live in the overflow
-and Petco purple psuedo that didn't pull through (this one hurt)

But the ups -
-A happy little clown guy
-A happy yellow spotted goby that has completely tunneled the entire underside of the tanks
-Free hitchhiker feather dusters!
-massive growth on a leather coral
-A Blasto that finally decided it liked where I put it and has quadrupled in size
-Zoos that are spreading
-an orange Ricca that got into my tank and just started dropping babies and moving around

But, I figured it was time for something bigger. I wanted a bit more leeway with water parameters/changes. I wanted more room for coral growth (as that leather coral is dominating the center of the tank). I wanted to get a second clown, and maybe another swimmer fish. I did a lot of lurking/looking around the various forums online, browsed ebay, and the various aquatic websites. I had kept that 65 gallon until 13 or 14, and sold it for a stupidly small sum of money, boy was I regretting that. I was really close to nabbing a Nuvo during the last sale that BRS had on, but had seen the JBJ at the LFS I frequent now in Lansing, MI (Preuss Pets). I really liked the size of the tank, and felt it would fit well where I wanted to put it. I really waffled between the 45 and the 65 - but I felt the 65 would be pushing it for the space I had available.



On 27 July, I went and bought that tank. Two hour drive down to get there right when they opened, and a two hour drive home. I had to borrow my Dads SUV, thank goodness he was up from Florida. There was no way this was going to fit in my Jetta. I ended up getting the curved tank - I think it looks sharp (and its what they had in stock). I sincerely hope I don't regret it. However, most of the chatter online seems to be that the newer generation tanks are gtg if you do your bit.

Next day, with the help of my dad, I got the Evo drained mostly down, and moved to a stand on the far side of my living room to clear the space where the JBJ would be going. I had checked it in the store for any obvious signs of distress, as the box didnt look great. We gave it a better look over and didnt see any issues, so it got placed on the foam mat where it would be going. My biggest disappointment with the tank out of the box was how very DIRTY it was. The overflow required quite a bit of scrubbing, and the way its designed made it difficult to really get it all. I also made my first mistake here. I wanted to leak/weight test everything so I filled with tap water. My well water is awful, and just 5 short days is all it took for me to have to scrub it again to get all the calcium/lime build up off stuff once I drained it.

5 days with no leaks, no creaks, no settling of the counter (its got 2x4s on the inside holding it up - built like a tank - probably could have done the 65).

This is when the stuff started showing up. This wasnt like my Evo, that was basically ready to go. I had to order stuff! So. Much. Stuff. Heres where the equipment list/cost disclosure comes in. I did not bargain shop. I was not patient.

Couple things I bought I did not need. The black sand looked great at the LFS - but I read enough bad reports on it that I decided to just go with the regular. Now, of course, as this stuff is coming in my father is trying very hard to be interested in what Im doing (and he was SUPER helpful) and I snapped this shot. He literally just said "all of this is going in there?" It took us 3 days of just looking at cords to figure out what the next part of the plan was. Originally I was going to mount a strip along the wall horizontally for the cords ( using the outlet where that power box is now, next to the stove). Ultimately we determined it would be neater, plus look nicer, to go up. So we got the hole saw out, and cut some holes . One for the wiring, and one for a gravity fed ATO (still working on that one).

With a little help from the home depot, was able to tap into the wiring for the lights in the island cabinets, and put a power junction box in for the power strip.

From there we decided to mount the controllers all in the same place (as opposed to one on each side for the gyres) - so leveled those out left side of the tank. The cardboard was to keep wood bits out of the tank.

So far we have been working on just getting everything situated for about 9 days. Definitely not moving quickly, hopefully doing things the right way, and so that they last.

To Be Continued!

Welcome back to the hobby!

Can’t wait to see it all set up.

 

[JJ1234567]

Well. When we left off, our intrepidly inept heroes were attempting to get the wiring situation sorted on the tank. Before we can move forward on that though, the light situation had to be sorted. I knew upon purchase that the clip on brackets would not work well for the location of the tank; and I didn't want them clipped to the back of the tank, as I knew it would be busy enough with all the wires back there. I sourced the AI Prime HD pendants online, and probably should have just bought the hanging kits when I ordered them. However, I did not. I was still very much in the DIY mode. Why spend $25 on a bracket and a bit of wire!!!!

I discussed this with my father over a beer, and in his immortal words: "I don't see why you cant figure something out"

The man does his best thinking with a beer in his hands. I assume if he had not had to go home, he would in fact have done better than I did . As it was his help to this point was invaluable, and I am extremely thankful he was willing to help out while up visiting.

So off to the home depot I went, $5 in bits later, I had a bracket, some screws, and some washers. The brackets needed modification to clear the power wire on the back, so I ground off a bit. I then realized the largest bracket home depot had was about an inch too short to really have a good center of gravity on it. I also had not really figured out what to use to actually mount this thing up. I was leaning towards threaded rod, which would have been another $8. Given that I was rapidly approaching the cost of the hanging kit, and still would need to paint these things, and figure the mount situation out, I deferred to reason and just ordered the hanging kits.

Now I know what youre thinking. Its $25. And while the kits are fairly minimal, they are well finished. The ball joints for mounting well thought out, the brackets are the right size to capitalize on the center of gravity, and overall the bits are nice. I took a spare piece of trim, and cut it to the width of the tank. The intention being to have it somewhat balance with the tank, although in retrospect I could probably take several inches off each side without causing an issue. I may still do that going forward. I also pre-drilled several holes in the board, incase I want to move the lights in the future. Although where they are hung feels almost perfect.

I did have to DIY it a little, as the stock mounting bolts were not designed for this (at least I didnt think they were). I ended up going to the HD and finding a threaded bolt that fit right into the nice beveled bit, and allowed me to flush mount it to the board.

Got both lights mounted securely, and had to try em out!!!!

Notice the lime build up, still had to scrub the over flows and return nozzles off - ugh. But They are up!

Oh. My. Gosh. These things are bright! I did have some issues getting them networked together, the user instructions are less than perfect! Thankfully google brought me to some helpful threads, and I got it taken care of. The interface on your PC or cell phone is really slick. I was able to download and adjust a prelim program, and I let that run for the day. Its going to be so awesome not having to worry about turning lights on/off.

You can see in the above photo that I did elect to cover up the "whoops" holes. I had done the same thing with my Evo, and honestly didn't have to read to many stories about inverts struggling with these holes before I decided they needed to go. I used aquarium sealant and bits of the stock overflow bins to seal them off. House stunk for a full day, but they cured up nice, and are solid.

With the lights up, the gyres in, the return pump ready to go, the heaters ready, it was time to get these wires routed. Lesson 1: Start with the biggest plugs first! I had to take several wires out after I realized I couldn't fit the plug for the return pump through the hole anymore!

Apologies for the potato quality on the photos. But clearly, wires everywhere, it was just a mess! I ended up finding some cable clips at the store, and got some wire wrap. With everything routed, I think it cleaned up pretty well.

I ended up running the lights cords up along the underside of the lip on the cabinet. Things are really coming together now! Maybe I could put some water in this thing?


NOPE

I forgot to order a 3 dollar reducer y barb fitting. So, everything gets set aside while I log onto the internet and find myself a reducer barb! I managed to get new tubing from the ACE hardware in town (only place local that had 3/4" in less than a 25ft roll). so after paying for expedited shipping for the barb, I was able to put the plumbing bit together. I was ready.

I also managed to stab myself in the finger while cutting the hose, so that was fun. Oh well. They say no project is complete until you've poured a little blood into it right?

With the pump in, it was time to start moving some water from my mix can. I used one of the return pumps that came with the tank to pump water out of the can, so that helped it go faster!

Took about 10 trips back and forth to get the tank filled up, the extra rock I had purchased moved, and the sand in. It clouded right up.

Even the next morning it was still super cloudy! The sand I went with was a bit finer than I have used in the past. I do not know if that will end up being an issue or not. I hope it doesn't.

Finally when I got home from work that day it had cleared up enough I could actually see stuff!

The rock I purchased is actually really nice, if I had a 300 gallon tank. As it is, they are just huge rocks!

Everything seems to be running smoothly, the pumps are running with no issues. At this point I am ready to just run the skimmer to break it in, but I haven't actually gotten to that yet. The tank bleeds water! The evaporation factor will be much more than my Evo was. I will definitely need to get that ATO figured out sooner rather than later. I need to find a small float valve that will fit into the return chamber. I also am not happy with the rocks at this point, they are just lumps. Plus, when it comes time to move my other rock over, where will that really go? But the ideal of breaking these rocks up causes some anxiety. So, time to find another cold one, head over to the aqua-scaping forum and do some browsing.

We are making progress, but its going slow. At this point we are just about 3 weeks from purchase of the tank itself.

To Be Continued....

 

[JJ1234567]

And the journey continues.

At this point I had been sitting and basically dallying due to the anxiety caused by the thought of taking a hammer to those beautiful rocks. Those beautiful rocks. That just looked like lumps in my tank. Given it was really just a few large pieces, there wasnt even really room to get creative with them. So. I lurked in the aquascape forum. And then basically hijacked a thread, as user @Nicholas Dushynsky provided the catalyst needed to actually take action. The photos of his smaller tanks, and how he had taken that rock and made something AMAZING with it did the trick.

That weekend I grabbed a wide chisel from the HD, and went to work. My intention was to break it into smaller bits, but bits with character. So arches, strips, etc...not just smaller lumps. The first swing of the hammer hurt. Hurt my soul. But I kept on with it, and before long I had a swing of the hammer that hurt the hand. Be careful with hammers kids.

I got it broken down into nice pieces, and dropped it back in the tank to keep it wet/minimize any die off. The tiny bits that broke off got thrown into one of the overflow chambers in the back. The only bit I did not break up was the single larger pre-made arch I had purchased from the store in Lansing.

It took about 2 hours for the dust to clear, but once it did I was relieved. I literally was just dropping the chunks in to keep them wet, and it already look LOADS better than those previous lumps had.

Now it was time to figure out exactly how to make something that was as nifty as what had actually inspired me to break these rocks in the first place. So I headed back to the scape forum, and did reading on the various methods of actually attaching the rocks back together. It looked like my options were (and feel free to chime in if I missed one):

- Drill and Rod the bits
- Drill and use zip ties
- Epoxy
- Glue
- Cement
- Let it be (let it be, let it be, let it be, whisper words of wisdom, let it be)

Based on the hammer and the hand experience, I decided to avoid using power tools. Plus, the bits felt like they may be kind of small for that anyways. I almost went the glue route, but I read something that put me off it (not that I can remember what it was right this second). I tried to just move the rocks around to get an idea if Let it Be/Gravity would do the job.

My goal was to have a somewhat open spot front and center for corals to be put in the sand, plus have a place for the swimmers to showcase. I struggled with gravity because it felt like they went back to somewhat characterless piles of rock again. I dont have a good angle on the right side, but it did have a decent sized cave. Still. I ruled that out. I let it sit like this for about a week.

I sought guidance from south of the border.

I got judging stares from the television. Cant you just see them saying, "DUDE. You still haven't finalized that rock-scape yet? What are you doing with your life. You're never going to have a most triumphant tank if you don't even get the rocks put together."

So I stopped putting it off and moved on to the next part. I ordered the E-Marco 400, as it got the best reviews for something I could buy in the states (http://www.marcorocks.com/products/e-marco-400-aquascaping-mortar-complete-kit/). BulkReefSupply was extremely reasonable on the shipping rate for the 5lb kit. I cut up an old box to mimic the tank, did the grid squares from @Veganbrian 's pinned thread and went to town.

The kit comes with everything you need, except a funnel to pour water into the little baggy.

Luckily, I had one. They tell you to put a decent amount of water into the bag with the liquid agent. I should have taken a picture of the instructions, but it looks like a lot. It fits. I assure you. I had doubts when I started pouring, but it fits.

Actually. Im going to have to find the instructions and take a picture, because I am going to complain a bit. They warn you to work in small batches, as the mixture becomes unusable in approx 20 minutes, listen to them - they know what they are talking about. However, for the rest of the instructions, the gist is "mix powder in the bucket, using your water/bonding agent solution, until it is wet with no lumps. Add more powder or liquid as required"

Readers. I am not a particularly smart man. I am also not overly handy (I direct you back to the hammer/hand incident). I really struggled with what that meant. I tried looking on their website as they mention there are tips/tricks on there. I did not find anything at the time. My first attempt was too thin, although I did figure it out through trial and error. I would have liked instructions that were a little clearer (maybe even a picture??).

I pulled the rocks out of the tank, and tried to get them spread out, so I could get a feel for what I was working with. As I had gotten little/no inspiration from looking at them in the tank itself.

I was able to get something together that while it was more or less the footprint I wanted, didn't have the vertical definition I was envisioning.

So, with that in place - we started mixing.

You want it to be a bit thicker than this. I thought I had taken another photo, but this is the only one I can find. It felt thicker than actual concrete mix was the last time I used, with makes sense, as you want to be able to glop this on to something, and have it stay on its own, not run off. While I want to make numerous jokes about rubber gloves, remember kids, safety first!

I put the rocks back into the Styrofoam and got started on getting my footprints put together.

Notice that grey puddle on the right? That was when I realized it was not thick enough. At this point, I also came to another critical realization. I had nothing to actually hold my shaped rock in place while the cement dried. What I had anticipated being a 1-2 hour job just became a 5 hour job, because I had to let the various layers dry before I could build the next one up. They say 20 minutes is sufficient, but that did not seem to be enough the first time I tried so I adjusted to 30 minutes between iterations.

Stop #2

Stop #3

Guess I missed this one. Hmm.

Stop #4

Here I had intended to have another arch on the right side, but I ran out of mix. I also was getting to a point in the evening that I was tired. I started looking at rock and pulling things out at 5, and it was almost 9. This needed at least another hour to set, so I rushed the last bit and the arch fell apart. Don't be like JJ, be patient, its worth it.

Even with that arch not there, I am actually ok with how it turned out, as it is 100x better than the piles I started with.

The hair algae is a delightful addition - but I got the rocks back in the tank, and I think they look good. One of the rocks I thought was empty actually had a ricca baby on it, so that was a surprise when I put it back in the water. I think this scape will leave some room to move the rock/coral in from the Evo and it should still look good. Ill get a top down shot tonight.

The algae has been a thing - the bits growing out of the sand actually look kind of nifty, like little kelp stalks. I wanted to leave a bit, as I added a CUC. 2 Nassarius snails to stir the sand, 12 astrea snails, and an emerald crab. But, even with them in there, I hit the glass, and scrubbed the gyres with a tooth brush during the first water change.

For now Im testing and watching.

Last night Ammonia was between 0 and .25 ppm, with Nitrate/Nitrite both reading 0. So even though I want to consolidate to one tank, its just not ready yet.

To be continued...

 

[JJ1234567]

So - pause from the journey. I need a float for a gravity fed ATO. I really don't want to use pumps etc, does anyone have any recommendations for a small float valve that will fit in the back?

 

[BirdGuy21]

Really impressive and thorough build thread so far, I enjoyed reading though it! Sorry I cannot help with the float valve but looking forward to seeing your build progress.

 

[JJ1234567]

Really impressive and thorough build thread so far, I enjoyed reading though it! Sorry I cannot help with the float valve but looking forward to seeing your build progress.

Thank you. This is as much a catharsis for me, as it is a chance to write my mistakes down so I can see them. I will be doing my best to follow the journey as long as I am on it.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Good way to think about!

 

[JJ1234567]

Annnnnnnnd we're back.

Relatively unexciting update this week. Water parameters felt fairly stead for almost 7 days, with ammonia being at what I perceived as .25ppm, and nitrate and nitrite reading at 0. This really messed with my understanding of the world. I had algae growth, I had some live rock from the old tank in this one, there was no reason I should be having an issue!

Of the CuC I put in, I lost a single nassarius snail. No idea why. He looked like he had fallen over, so I flipped him back up, he started crawling up the glass, proceeded to fall off again, except this time he didn't move.

The astrea snails regularly crawl up out of the water, but then right back down into it. Until I took a tooth brush to the gyre pumps to deal with the long algae that had grown on them, they were congregating like cows in a pasture on them. It was actually somewhat entertaining to see 6 on a pump just kind of hanging out, which is why I waited as long as I did to clean them off. That was the last bit of long algae from the initial out break prior to adding the CuC.

The emerald crab has been about as shy as my last one, only coming out if I sit really still. It is kind of a fun game to figure out where hes hanging out, as there is a lot more real estate for him to hid in with the 45.

Since then I've had nothing except the usual cloudiness on the glass itself. The curves in the glass are pretty, but they are a pain to hit with the magnet cleaner. I bought a brush. I like the magnet better, but at least this can hit the corners.

I was 100% ready to move the smaller tank into the big one, until I realized the lid I ordered hasn't shown up yet. After checking their lead times, I realize I have another week or so before I can reasonably start to get impatient, so for now, the fish stay in the Evo with the majority of the live rock and corals. I don't worry about Clownfishguy, but I am concerned with how skittish Yellowfishguy is that he might make the leap. Id be really sad to lose him, so I don't feel bad about waiting. Even if it is starting to get cold in Michigan, and Id love to be able to use my fireplace. lol.

I did decide to start moving some of the corals over. This is a side view of Evo, and the leather coral that is the star of the tank has just completely dominated it. Given how quickly he seemed to be filling the space, I felt he was a prime candidate to get moved over first, along with a star polyp colony that just had not been growing. So I got a small bucket during my most recent water change and got myself mentally prepared to move him. He was actually attached to 3 separate rocks, and did not want to let go. I ended up taking a hammer to those rocks to leave only his nubs attached to basically a small rock and some rubble. I was quick about it, and he was only out of water for about 2 minutes. I got him back in the bucket and dripped him until the volume in the bucket had doubled, this took about 40 minutes. The morning after the move, he did not look too thrilled with the world (or me for that matter).

And at 2 full days post move he still is just kind of hanging out all small.

I am assuming that its not completely serious, since he is not throwing slime all over the place? I think hes just trying to get used to the higher flow rate. The lights are only putting out 50% of their power at full on the cycle I have them on, so he should not be getting too much light. I figure Ill give him another day or two, and if he does not extend out, then Ill try moving him to a lower flow area and see if that helps.

I was able to source a bracket and float valve, but now I need to find a proper bulkhead fitting for a 2 gallon Tupperware container I got from the Walmart. I have resolved myself that Ill need to do some sort of reducer, as almost all of the 1/4" bulkheads I have seen line all say not designed for holding water. So I am thinking Ill put a real bulkhead in with a barb, then reduce down to the RO size tubing. That might be a project for this weekend.

We are basically in a holding pattern on the consolidation until the lid gets here. I am also going to try to deal with a couple aptasias in the old tank, to avoid moving them over to the new one. The only one that really bums me out is in the middle of a very nice Yellow/Red Zoa colony. Oh well. Kill the best, they will grow back right?

To be continued....

 

[JJ1234567]

Well - Minor update.

Woke up this morning, and he still was not looking any better. So I am trying him in a different position. This is a bit lower in the water column, and further from the gyres. I actually hope this does not do the trick, because this really would not be a great place for him, as its towards the front of the tank/rock-work. We shall see. At the end of the day, if this does it, Ill deal, I just want him to be happy.

 

[JJ1234567]

Lets pick up where we left off.

I got home from work, and found him upside down in the sand bed, with the rock he was attached to holding him down. I could not anchor him in that spot any better than he was, so I am trying him someplace else. This looks a bit better, although I still have yet to see him really extend out after 2 days.

Although he does not look as scrunched as he did up higher. I am going to give him one more day here, and if he does not open, Ill try him down on the lower right side. The green star polyp that I moved has adapted splendidly, and actually looks better than it did in the old tank. My goal is eventually for it to grow up and start covering the rear bulkhead.

Also had great news today, the lid I ordered from ClearView will be shipping today! That means that maybe as early as next week I can get Clownfishguy and Yellowfishguy moved over from the little tank, and finally take that one down!

Last two tests show parameters in the 0- band on Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite. The algae growth is back down to what I expect, and the snails are doing a great job keeping up.

Other than the ATO things are really coming along, and its might be time to start thinking about additions to the tank.

 

[JJ1234567]

Well - Its been a fun two weeks.

Literal highs and lows.

The leather coral has not really improved. I have tried lowering the intensity on the lights a bit to see if that helps. Although, while he has not improved - he has not gotten worse either.

Water parameters are still testing within the norms - and I have gone to every 3 days testing.

However - this thing evaporates water like its a full time job. We are talking a full quart or more a day. It was ridiculous. I needed to get an ATO rolling, ASAP. After doing a lot of looking, I decided that the gravity feed option was really the route I wanted to go, rather than the more expensive pumps. If you recall, I had already drilled a hole in a cabinet to hold the reservoir.

After a trip to the local Wally World - I found a plastic container for 5$ that fit easily into the cabinet. And for a princely sum of 14 bucks, got a float valve with a hang on bracket. It actually exceeded my expectations for quality, although the screws and threaded holes were a bit rough.

I assembled the bits and bobs together, and as you can see from the extra junk on my counter, an upcoming trip was pushing my priority on getting this done. I needed to be able to be gone for 5 days, and only have my neighbor come in to top off the reservoir once.

Honestly, wasnt sure what route I was taking, but I cut a length of RO tubing, got the trusty DeWalt out, and started putting holes in things.

It was actually quite easy. The hole went in smoothly, and I only had to upsize my drill bit once. I still had my tube of aquarium sealant from the prior adventures with it, and proceeded to hit both sides. Boy do I love that smell.

I let this cure overnight and through the next day. Looked pretty good when I got home, so I did a test fill.

And then water started running all over my floor.

The darn thing leaked.

Well. We could not have that. I figured if a bit of sealant was good, then A LOT was probably better. I went ahead and put the better part of 3/4" thick on both sides. I let it sit over night, and it was still a bit soft, so I let it sit for a full 2 days.

The extra bit did the trick, and this time it held water!

I got the RO tubing routed, the float valve adjusted, and it looks like Im in business.

I let it run for 3 days, and it absolutely works! Total cost was right around 20 bucks, not counting the sealant.

I finished just in time, as the next day after I finished the trial period, I took of for one of my favorite states in the whole country, Utah.

Friend and I decided to torture ourselves and do the under the rim trial at Bryce Canyon. 2 days, 24 miles. I did not do my homework, and was completely unprepared for the elevation up and down. Oh well! Live and learn. The pain was worth this view at our campsite on the second night, even if it was in the upper teens over night.

The temperature change, and differential between night/day was about as extreme as the elevation changes lol. Started out in multiple layers and hats. As the low Saturday morning was 7 degrees, and the low Sunday morning was 19 degrees.

But by Sunday afternoon, it was in the low 60's and I was down to just a boonie and long sleeves to keep the sun off.

Overall it was a blast, and I would love to do it again. Next time I plan a trip like this, Ill do it over 3 days/2 nights, so I can enjoy the days more. 12 miles with a pack was a lot (at least for me). Especially that because of the cold and the extra bits I needed not to freeze my packed ended up at almost 40lbs.

When I got home, the overflow had done its job, but was bone dry. I decided that I needed to upgrade to something bigger. I found another container at the other local store, and upgraded from a 21 cup, to a 10 liter. The new one is a complete beast, and fills that space completely.

Tomorrow, Ill tell you the tale of the lid I ordered from Clearview Lids.

To be continued...