Perseverance Reef

[Stang67]

There's a lot of *ahem* innuendos in these forums. @Stang67 was holding back.

I didn't want to scare him. Or scar him for life. He's still new and learning :)

 

[Mschmidt]

I didn't want to scare him. Or scar him for life. He's still new and learning :)

Too kind of you.

 

[Fishy888]

I didn’t get to test phosphorus yesterday. I will do that today though.

I looked into the compartment that houses the capacitor and part of the transformer. Everything looks good. I still need to get my DOM out and test the resistance. It should start out with a low resistance but it will climb if the cap is good. If it’s shorted you’ll see a low resistance which may climb oh so slightly. If open you’ll have high resistance at the start and the finish.

The lamp I bought should arrive on the third. Since it’s coming soon I’ll start working on the canopy. I also need to get the RO/DI / dosing station cabinet built too.

Tomorrow my scp-120m Wi-Fi pump tomorrow. Major upgrades are happening here at Perseverance Reef.

 

[Fishy888]

I just started a thread in the lighting forum. Even though one would expect that a polished reflector would lead to higher par than the same reflector unpolished would; I want to be sure about it before breaking out the sandpaper and buffing compounds.

The reflector is 15 inches in diameter. The DT is 29” x 29”. The fixture doesn’t seem so tall on the ground but it’s 27” tall. It turns out that more than 2 inches up will be an issue. I have an idea that would help however. Thankfully I can separate the lamp and reflector from the transformer and capacitor. Thankfully I know a thing or two about electricity. I could mount both the transformer and cap on the side of the canopy and just wire in an extension that would allow me to raise the dome reflector and lamp as high as they need to be.

As for testing phosphorus it’s going to be a bit but of course I’ll post the numbers.

 

[Fishy888]

I forgot to mention earlier that I have a horizontal reflector or two on watch in case this reflector doesn’t pan out. I’ll still keep the ballast and it’s housing since it’ll be easy to mount. More importantly it’ll shield the ballast from spray and/or salt creep.

I never got the phosphate test done today because I have a head cold that’s gotten worse by the minute. Hopefully it’s just a 24 hour bug because I have things to do lol.

 

[tbrown]

I forgot to mention earlier that I have a horizontal reflector or two on watch in case this reflector doesn’t pan out. I’ll still keep the ballast and it’s housing since it’ll be easy to mount. More importantly it’ll shield the ballast from spray and/or salt creep.

I never got the phosphate test done today because I have a head cold that’s gotten worse by the minute. Hopefully it’s just a 24 hour bug because I have things to do lol.

I just ordered my phosphate checker. My wife has one of those head colds too, which makes her a little less than approachable so she's mad I spent more money on the tank...

 

[Fishy888]

I just ordered my phosphate checker. My wife has one of those head colds too, which makes her a little less than approachable so she's mad I spent more money on the tank...

I’m about to spend another $10 for those iron oxides. I will have spent about $160 this month but it’s stuff that’s needed and these are things that should last a very long time.

 

[Fishy888]

Here’s one last look at the DT with the old circulation pumps.

Out with the old, in with the new!

This is with the new pump. I thought I got a picture of the pump itself in this picture when I took it. Once I get back home I’ll get a picture with the pump in the DT. Anyway the flow is tremendous! I have it dialed back and there’s way more flow now than there ever was with the two circulation pumps together.

Now comes the fun part. Jebao Aqua, the wireless controller app, needs a 2.4 GHz connection to the network. The XFi gateway supposedly auto switches between 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz automatically for devices that need it. There was a medical device that needed a 2.4 GHz connection on the gateway. Comcast basically shrugged their shoulders. It took the support team from the medical device company 2 hours to get it working :D I’ll get that figured out though.

 

[Fishy888]

Now that I’m home my iron oxides are temperature acclimating. In a few more minutes it’ll be time to acclimate the new kids on the reef.

 

[Fishy888]

In a few minutes I’m going to start on the canopy. I decided I’m keeping the MH transformer in the cabinet I’ll be making for the electrical side. There won’t be too much difference resistance wise with running the lamp a longer distance from the transformer. Maybe an ohm or two. I did that the last time I had MH and it worked out quite nicely. I’m going to leave the transformer in its housing if I can help it. That’ll help cool the transformer along with fans.

Doing it that way will make the canopy lighter. With the transformer farther out from the tank and higher in the cabinet it will be well protected from any leaking. The cabinet will be well ventilated and the heat will be able to escape.

The new lamp comes Wednesday. I’m going to use the one I have now to make sure everything is working properly. Even though the lamp is shot it’ll still give me an idea as to how well everything is working. I’m getting a horizontal reflector most likely next week. It helps when you can sell things that are taking up space lol.

 

[Fishy888]

Well I got some wood cut last night. I still need more so I’ll grab some from storage.

As for the flow I got it dialed in now. I am getting “the wave” and the turbulent flow. It was blowing almost straight on the xenia when I took the picture in the last post. The flow looks perfect right now. Not too little and not too much.

As for the iron oxides they started opening in the bag as I was acclimating them. They closed up when I put them in the tank. I touched the polyps by accident. About five minutes later a hermit crab walked on them while they were opening up again. They were slightly open again. I went to look and I found

I guess there were some morsels there, most likely of the pod variety. Either that or the hermits wanted to give it their seal of approval.

So I did my phosphorus check last night. I got 5 ppb. Not 55, not 155, but 5. That’s 0.015 ppm phosphates. I’ve increased feedings a bit and cyano is forming in the sump so I need to clean it out again.. It’s pretty much gone in the DT though. I’ll drop one of the old pumps in the sump. I know my chaeto is also growing. I’m going to cut its light hours back. That will help lower the phosphate and nitrate consumption a bit. The lights will only be on 12 hours a day when all is said and done. If my system responds badly to that schedule I’ll bump it back up to 18. I admit they’ve been on 24/7. I’m going to cut it back gradually starting today..

 

[Fishy888]

The last time I got zoas they closed as soon as I put them in and melted a couple weeks later. I never saw them open again. Fast forward six or seven months and…

They’ve been in the tank for about 16 hours now.

The sand is much cleaner today. It aught to be. It’s been getting pushed all over. The new zoas and the duncans were both laying face first in the sand. I got them standing up straight in places that are better protected. After I placed them the zoas closed briefly but opened again within 5 or 10 minutes. I took the zoa picture once they reopened. As for the flow I might have to turn it down slightly.

 

[tbrown]

The last time I got zoas they closed as soon as I put them in and melted a couple weeks later. I never saw them open again. Fast forward six or seven months and…

They’ve been in the tank for about 16 hours now.

The sand is much cleaner today. It aught to be. It’s been getting pushed all over. The new zoas and the duncans were both laying face first in the sand. I got them standing up straight in places that are better protected. After I placed them the zoas closed briefly but opened again within 5 or 10 minutes. I took the zoa picture once they reopened. As for the flow I might have to turn it down slightly.

I have to say, ever since you were talking about your Duncans and new heads...

And there's like 3 or 4 more under there!

 

[Fishy888]

I have to say, ever since you were talking about your Duncans and new heads...

And there's like 3 or 4 more under there!

Your duncans are beautiful! Congrats on the baby polyps. They look like mine did when I discovered the two babies on my own duncans.

I just discovered a fifth and possibly a sixth polyp on mine but they’re barely buds right now. I might be wrong about number six but we shall see.

 

[Fishy888]

The flow from my new circulation pump is amazing. I’ve had to turn it down almost halfway. It was so strong that during the peaks it could move some sand and then some. It still moves some sand but I’ll evaluate it more tomorrow. It’s good to know that when I get more rock and corals, especially SPS, I’ll have plenty of flow and few if any dead spots.

The zoanthids are doing great. Even after being knocked over by the flow they closed briefly but opened up within minutes after I placed them upright.

Tomorrow I’m going to glue both the older GSP colony and the zoa frag down. I’ve needed to get the GSP glued down for about a month now but I just never got it done. Now that I have the iron oxide frag I have every excuse to get both glued down.

Among the victims of the sandstorm in my tank was my coralline shell. To my surprise the coralline actually looks even more purple and has grown even more. Clearly it’s a low light species so I have to find a place where it can be protected.

The RO/DI unit will arrive Tuesday and my 6000k lamp arrives Wednesday. My wife and I have some errands to run tomorrow but I should have plenty of time to work on the canopy and the RO/DI and dosing cabinet. It’s not that I’ll be dosing much of anything immediately but it’s good to have a place for pumps and reservoirs when the time does come.

 

[Fishy888]

My phosphorus read 2ppm. That translates to 0.006 ppm of phosphates. There’s been a bit more cyano buildup and the chaeto is doing well so that’s a good thing.

I didn’t get my reefing goals done yet and tomorrow we have errands but if all goes well I’ll at least get started. Thankfully the RO/DI unit arrives tomorrow morning so I’ll be able to get it in before we leave. I’ll also get back in time to set it up.

I’m going to flush the membrane for an extended time. Of course I’ll use cold water to do so as well as to make RO/DI. I don’t want to melt the membrane.

I disassembled my highboy today. I’m going to keep the ballast in the electrical cabinet. That way there’s less heat over the DT and the canopy isn’t super heavy. It’ll require an extension of about three feet. Not too bad with the right wire.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Merry Late Christmas!

 

[Mschmidt]

Merry Late Christmas!

Thanks! it's still Christmas season too.

 

[Fishy888]

I got the RO/DI unit today. I’m going to order the chrome sink adapter from BRS. I live in an apartment though so even though I could easily install it under the sink; I don’t want them blaming my installation for the price of eggs in China if you know what I mean.

The aerator appears to be 5/8” inch male and it might even be metric. I think the BRS adapter goes to a 3/4” faucet so if I find an adapter that goes from 5/8” to 3/4” I should be set. I’ll have to see if ace hardware can get me an adapter to go from the BRS adapter to the threads the aerator screws into. If they don’t have it or can’t get it there’s a plumbing supply store in town that might have it. If not I’ll have to find someone online who has it but one way or another I’ll get it to happen and fast. It’ll be awesome to not have to buy distilled or rely on someone else’s “RO/DI” water that has twice the TDS of our tap water. Thank you again @Lost in the Sauce!

The flow is much gentler on the sand bed now. I turned it up a notch and though small amounts of sand get blown around it isn’t like at the maximum where one minute sand is at the proper depth and six hours later all my corals are buried and there are four inch sand dunes to the sides.

The zoanthids sure do live up to their names. They are the color of iron oxide. If I didn’t know any better I’d say they grew some in the short time I’ve had them.

The MH lamp comes tomorrow. We’ve got some things we need to get done but I hope to get the lights wired back up tomorrow or Thursday.

 

[fishguy242]

pick up 3 quarter inch shut off valves "plastic" ,so you can stop making water and leave unit primed at all times... ;)