Fishroom Reality Check

[User]

So, got a couple little things done- in between feeding and naps for the baby

1) added weatherstrip around the fishroom door- in the few hours that’s been sealed, humidity has gone up to 80% and temps are 7 oF above ambient basement temp at 73oF.time to get the fan and ventilation hooked up, and lids made

I’m thinking once I fire up the fridge and the freezer, that’ll add a few degrees. My heaters won’t have to work as hard as I thought, so that’s good.

Added Edpm backer foam around the inside lip of the living room picture frame, in anticipation of caulking.

Clown QT has had 4 doses of copper power at this point, all looks good, Hanna is reading at 0.62 (should be 0.7 at this point). I’ll compensate with tomorrow’s AM dose to catch up to 0.875ppm

Tonight, I might make a few adjustments to the water change station (I screwed up a hose attachment and have been dipping buckets into the barrel in the interim)

Tomorrow I’m hoping to get the sump online, then Friday rockwork repair!

 

[User]

Sadly, Leo the skunk cleaner shrimp passed over night. No ammonia in tank, salinity at 1.023, temp at 78 oF. He did molt 6 days ago, then I did a water change 2 days ago, but parameters where matched prior.

I think I screwed up doing a wc so soon after his molt, but idk.

Petco are going to refund the cost, I just have to bring them the carcass. I think I’ll stock up on a variety of food for the Clowns instead of getting another shrimp so soon.

Copper after 5th dose is at 0.82ppm, just a little shy of where I expected. Will be up to therapeutic 1.75 ppm by end of Saturday

 

[User]

I just noticed I haven’t shared my proposed stocking list. In no real particular order , although the YT and PT will be introduced small at the same time, and the PBT will be small-ish and very last (about a year away) due to his general territorial douchyness

Onyx Picasso clowns (qt now)

Magnificent Foxface

YT and PT

Pink spotted goby and pistol shrimp

Green mandarin pair (only after I have s successful phyto and pod cultures going, and my fuge is teeming with pods)

Powder blue tang

7-9 school of ignitus Dispar anthias

Maybe a copper band butterfly

Thoughts? Concerns?

I did want a longnose hawkfish, but I really like the cleaner shrimp commensalism relationship with the other inhabitants , so he’s out.

I’m a little apprehensive about the QT of a school of anthias, but I might pick up another 20 long so they have space. Won’t be doing those until maybe March April anyway, so I have time to get a plan in place

 

[User]

So, I did the scape repair with 3 sticks of JB waterweld, 6 tubes of gel superglue and my FIL who I had to bribe with tacomac and free access to cable news.

When we started moving stuff, he thought we were throwing out the old rock and tossed it into s bucket, where the fragile pukani bust into 4 pieces. So I had to use some left over pieces and done brs reef saver instead of what was there originally

I dropped the water level, saving the 100g in two blue barrels, then draped the scape in wet paper towels to help preserve the bacterial colony as much as possible. Then placed the new ‘leveling rocks’ until I thought we had something that would work, then FIL got to kneading the epoxy putty while I coated the base rock with superglue, placed a dollop of putty, more glue, then rock on top. Then I worked it into the cracks and voids and tried to ‘enclose’ the rock in it for attachment.

We did this fur 4 contact points, let it cure for an hour then filled the tank back up just above where the plate sits. Fit the plate back on top, checked for stability — as stable as before, maybe a hair of space so it rocks slightly side to side— then finished the refill

Tank currently has a heater and the fire going at 30% to keep things suspended. I’m hoping to get the sump online this evening and get the skimmer going to remove any nasties from the water.

It now sits an inch higher than before, is more level and has a nicer more substantial swimthrough, as well as a bit more separation from the column, giving what I think is a pretty cool looking ‘fissure’

Hopefully it’ll hold and I won’t have to do that again...

 

[saintsreturn]

This is an awesome idea and i love the shelf look in there!

 

[User]

This is attempt 2. I’m hoping using epoxy vs hydraulic cement is the key.

It’s weird though- all the hydraulic cement I used for the other structures is fine. Just the stuff I used from a second container to mount the shelf turned to dust. Bad mixing ratio maybe or not enough cure time

 

[User]

This is an awesome idea and i love the shelf look in there!

I got to the post in your build thread where you replaced the janky red pieces from your skimmer with the blue.

I love it!! How much do you want for a set? Lol

 

[User]

My invert 10g QT just sprang a leak. I have a slow growing pool of water coming from a lower corner. Uugghh.

Off to petco for $/g replacement. It finishes tomorrow so that was lucky.

 

[Dubs83]

My invert 10g QT just sprang a leak. I have a slow growing pool of water coming from a lower corner. Uugghh.

Off to petco for $/g replacement. It finishes tomorrow so that was lucky.

Agh. Annoying. You do anything special with the invert QT?

 

[User]

So- 2 weeks ago I got 2 dime- sized purple short spine hairy urchins from petco, fur $27.99 a piece.

While in there tonight, they had two 4” diameter purple short spines under a $7.99 sku... I talked to them, pointed out that it surely must have been a mistake, but was told “no, those are in that sku, they are $7.99.”

So, obviously, they took a ride home with me

Just spent the past couple hours switching out the 10g tanks, got my invert qt back up and I’m acclimating the big purples. I know 4 is too much for the 180, but I might move 1 small one to the sump, and try to sell the other small one on.

Reminds me- need to order chaeto and get my fuge light going.


They also had this guy for $6. No idea what it is, but I’m sure it’s a mis-price too. Didn’t bring him home, but he is kinda pretty

 

[nickkohrn]

They also had this guy for $6. No idea what it is, but I’m sure it’s a mis-price too. Didn’t bring him home, but he is kinda pretty

I believe that’s a Chalk Bass.

 

[User]

Agh. Annoying. You do anything special with the invert QT?

Right now, it’s set up for urchins and shrimp. 10g, aquaclear 20 hob with cycled filter and carbon, heater and an air stone and a 3” pvc elbow.

Shrimp basically go in until they molt, and it was a holding tank for the urchins until I got a chance to rinse them off (remove freeswimmers in the water layer) and put them in the DT.

I have a second identical set-up except it has a lump of rock and about 3/4” sand in it. This is currently holding 120 assorted snails, and a floating isolation chamber with 18 hermit crabs. I throw a few algae wafers in there every few days for food.

The crabs and snails graduate out of QT on December 18th, after 76 days in the tank. I’m not risking any possibility of ich or velvet getting into my DT

I’m holding off until after Christmas before I set up coral QT— 20long with hob and powerhead. Still need to research the latest coral QT strategies, but I’ll be following them to the T.

 

[User]

I believe that’s a Chalk Bass.

You’d be right, and $18.99 on liveaquaria.

Petco’s pricing is so whack.

 

[nickkohrn]

You’d be right, and $18.99 on liveaquaria.

Petco’s pricing is so whack.

Our local Aquarium Adventure has them for $48. Everything there is expensive. Possum Wrasses are $110.

 

[Janci]

Great updates and I love the fish selection!

 

[User]

Great updates and I love the fish selection!

Thanks!

 

[User]

Some of the inmates...

 

[User]

Uuggh, buddy, I’m gonna needs that back bro...

 

[Janci]

Uuggh, buddy, I’m gonna needs that back bro...

I love urchins but I hate to pick up frags and coral after they went through the rocks or frags rack.

 

[User]

Love the build! Make any progress diluting things down and bringing the sump online over the weekend?

So, I got s little time this evening to get my sump back online. I’ve had the water in there recirculating with a couple pumps (actually my reactors without any media in them) in order to prevent stagnation.

Right now, my return terminates in a 1” elbow, which should be fitted with a 1” RFG nozzle. However, random also includes ‘enough splashing over the side’ that I need to figure out a siphon break so I can lower it another 1/2”. I originally had a couple 1/4” holes drilled in the connector elbow, but all that did was spray water over the end of the tank (poor planning). Right now, I back siphon almost 17 gallons into the sump, due to the 28 feet of 1.5” pvc, and the 1” depth of the RFG. Right now I might put a short section of rodi tubing with a backwards check valve on it into a hole in the return line just above the surface, so that it’s closed with the pressure of the pump (so no little water jet coming out) but will open as the siphon drains back on shut down. Kinda like how an air admittance/studor vent in a bathroom works.

My wife isn’t keen on the RFG though. Says it looks like a big butt rocket. just sitting in the corner. I said it’s that, or another $200 gyre xf250. She doesn’t hate it that much after all, apparently

I let everything run for a few hours then tested parameters. I couldn’t be happier-

Salinity 1.022
pH 8.2

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0-5 ppm

Phosphate (hanna ULR) 35ppb/ 0.035 ppm

Plan is to try and remove some microbubbles and get a handle on my ‘system running’ water level. It might be a touch low and causing occasional cavitation in the pump. Once I stop the pump, the sump Is probably 80% full, so I have space to add some water to raise the level, but I’m not 100% sure I like a 95% full sump on shutdown.


Algae is coming into its own, and I have a dusting of diatoms. Since I have another 3.5 weeks until CUC graduate QT, I’m going to stop running my lights (5-6 hours a day so wife has something to look at while in calls) until they are transferred. Don’t want the gha to get too crazy before they can deal with it