Randy's Tank and Learn Thread

[KrisReef]

https://www.dhgate.com/product/jeba...EAQYAyABEgLr8_D_BwE&skuId=1362484190376058885
THis is not an endorsement of the above site.

check ebay for 8000, 50 in stock now in California.

 

[rishma]

I have decided I really like the Jebao dep 8500 pump, but curiously, the Amazon price a few days ago was $81, today it is $115.

That’s the RHF endorsement premium.

 

[Reefer1978]

Quarantined fish came in with velvet.

 

[Reefer1978]

I have decided I really like the Jebao dep 8500 pump, but curiously, the Amazon price a few days ago was $81, today it is $115.

Amazon price jumps all the time. Use can use camelcamelcamel.com to track price changes.

 

[jsmkmavity]

Thank you for posting the link to the diy alkalinity test. Hope the final leak test goes smoothly.
Has 1" pipe has flowed enough air for your humidity extraction in the past? The 6" fan will easily move 100cfm thru 6" pipe, 48 cfm thru 4" pipe but only 3.25 cfm thru each 1" pipe. That flow will be lower if using corrugated pipe. A 4" pipe can flow the equivelant of almost 16- 1" pipes.

 

[atoll]

Well, perhaps one of the more risky ones is trying to get a trio of clowns to settle into my future magnifica anemone. I really like the behavior aspect of watching a natural grouping.

I don't think I will get the clowns until the anemone is in place, and then I was thinking to get three tank raised, small, ocellaris. The hope would be that they all dive into the anemone and set up shop. That worked in my last tank (in a gigantea), and they stayed as a trio for as long as the tank was still up (IIRC), but I know it doesn't always.

Any advice folks have for optimizing the chances of getting a successful trio, I'm all ears. :)

Yeas ago I had a trio of common clowns in a beautiful magnifica. I introduced 3 immature clowns together and let nature take its course.
One became female, one male and the other remained a sub adult waiting for one of the other 2 to pass on. I had them for about 5 years until I had to break the tank down and move house.
I sold everything including the clowns. The sub adult hardly grew at all and of course the female was the largest. The female and male were prolific breeders and produced thousands of eggs in that time.
The female and male tolerated the sub adult and each knew their place in the pecking order so there was no aggression between the 3 of them.

 

[atoll]

On the subject of Magnifica's and water flow. I found that they don't need powerful flow as such. However, I find a Jebao gyer pump to be invaluable in providing the kind of flow they appreciate.

Magnifica's enjoy a rocking back and forth motion and placed on a plato as you have suggested. Once established in a spot they like they are unlikely to move away.

I very rarely feed mine directly, light is all they seem to need with the correct water movement to keep them healthy and happy.

You might find my video of what I consider the correct flow for a Magnifica nem.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yeas ago I had a trio of common clowns in a beautiful magnifica. I introduced 3 immature clowns together and let nature take its course.
One became female, one male and the other remained a sub adult waiting for one of the other 2 to pass on. I had them for about 5 years until I had to break the tank down and move house.
I sold everything including the clowns. The sub adult hardly grew at all and of course the female was the largest. The female and male were prolific breeders and produced thousands of eggs in that time.
The female and male tolerated the sub adult and each knew their place in the pecking order so there was no aggression between the 3 of them.

Good to know. That is my plan as well and I hope it results in a trio. :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Leak Testing Update

I got enough water made to send enough to the main tank to get some over the overflow. Results were pretty good.

1. All the bulkheads in the overflows are holding nicely. Not a drop of a leak after 12 h.

2. The straight down 3/4" bulkhead emergency drains allow too much sound to come back up the pipes from where they mix with the flowing drains. Going to put a durso type of top on each, with no air hole so they can go full siphon if needed. But this necessitates recutting the standpipes to ensure those are not filled first.

3. The tank has a very slight cant to the right that results in only one overflow getting water at the rates I'm using. I'm not concerned about the structural integrity since its only a couple of mm across the 4' tank, but I'd like at least a little water go over both so the less used one doesn't stagnate. I don't really see how I can easily level it better with this type of stand without stressing the stand unevenly, so I'm just going to cut some passages through the weir of the less used overflow so that it gets at least a little water during normal operation.

4. Folks who said that teflon tape is not the best for pipe thread to pipe thread connections were right. I have too many leaks of those sorts of joints (brass to brass, plastic to plastic, plastic to brass, etc.), necessitating large amounts of tape. I know that a pipe thread compound would work best, but I had some non-hardening plumbers putty (like for setting a sink) on hand already and I spread some on the threads and teflon tape on top. That worked fine. The most irritating leak yesterday was a threaded pipe section between 2 brute cans. After lowering the water level, I had to remove one bulkhead completely, remove the threaded pipe section from both bulkheads, then add the paste and more tape, and reassemble it all. But it worked well.

Only a couple of sections have not been fully leak tested, on the pipe from the skimmer Brute (#2) to the refugium Brute (#3) since I have not run water through the whole chain yet. Fingers crossed I do not need to repeat the bulkhead removal and retaping. :)

 

[KrisReef]

Too bad this is a family site. I find myself wondering what Randy's go to swear is when those funky frustrating pipe thread leaks made him want to sing out loud?

Nobody knows the trouble I seen.

Small leaks, no fun. :crying-face: :cool:

 

[BryanM]

Too bad this is a family site. I find myself wondering what Randy's go to swear is when those funky frustrating pipe thread leaks made him want to sing out loud?

Nobody knows the trouble I seen.

Small leaks, no fun. :crying-face: :cool:

It is clearly ****

 

[jsmkmavity]

I use blue monster teflon tape on everything but stainless. It is extra thick and very slick and a lot on a roll. If you are threading metal into plastic fittings they can stretch or even crack so it can be a good idea to put a hose clamp on the plastic first.

 

[Miami Reef]

Do you plan to use Ozone in this tank? Why or why not?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Do you plan to use Ozone in this tank? Why or why not?

Interesting thought. I did not plan on it yet one way or the other, but I wouldn't be starting it initially. I'll let the tank run a while and then see.

Current plan is GAC and skimming, and I'll see how that goes in terms of yellowing.

I do think that if I go with ozone, it will be even less aggressive than I have in the past. Just enough delivered in some undetermined fashion to eliminate yellowing. I do not consider any other aspect of ozone to be important.

Are you using it now?

 

[atoll]

Interesting thought. I did not plan on it yet one way or the other, but I wouldn't be starting it initially. I'll let the tank run a while and then see.

Current plan is GAC and skimming, and I'll see how that goes in terms of yellowing.

I do think that if I go with ozone, it will be even less aggressive than I have in the past. Just enough delivered in some undetermined fashion to eliminate yellowing. I do not consider any other aspect of ozone to be important.

Are you using it now?

Oxydator

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Status Update

1. All bulkheads and thread connections system wide seem fine. Something might arise, especially with some of the cooling system connections, but I won't retest that for quite a while since it should be an easy fix even if there is a leak. Victory!

2. Plan today is to get all of the Tunze products up and working, assuming I have time. The skimmer, the osmolator, the RO control, and the two stream powerheads.

3. The Tunze powerheads have both local and web-based control. I plan to use the powerheads via web control, primarily because it seems to allow more sophisticated control as well as timing of flow events, which in turn allows me to use lower settings in times like the very early morning when quiet operation may be more important than high flow. I have one powerhead connected to the Hub already, so that's a good start, but have not tried to set controls yet. I'm sure there will be a learning curve working with new software.

4. I think I might replumb the main drain from one overflow. I think I set it up poorly in terms of noise potential, having it ram head on into a T connection and then make more turns. A little replumbing and I think I can have it be a straight shot into the basement where noise should be no concern. Probably won't get too far on this plan today as I likely need some new fittings.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Oxydator

Not on the current plan, but for folks reading, what benefits do you consider that it will provide? :)

 

[atoll]

Not on the current plan, but for folks reading, what benefits do you consider that it will provide? :)

Ensures maximum oxygen levels, removes yellowing. I haven had an outbrake of itch in all the years I have been using oxydators about 40 with many reef aquariums and have never QTd a fish in that time. I haven't experienced any diseases either.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ensures maximum oxygen levels, removes yellowing. I haven had an outbrake of itch in all the years I have been using oxydators about 40 with many reef aquariums and have never QTd a fish in that time. I haven't experienced any diseases either.

Thanks. I'm not averse to trying it out at some point. :)

 

[Miami Reef]

Interesting thought. I did not plan on it yet one way or the other, but I wouldn't be starting it initially. I'll let the tank run a while and then see.

Current plan is GAC and skimming, and I'll see how that goes in terms of yellowing.

I do think that if I go with ozone, it will be even less aggressive than I have in the past. Just enough delivered in some undetermined fashion to eliminate yellowing. I do not consider any other aspect of ozone to be important.

Are you using it now?

Good idea. New tanks typically don’t have a high organic load, anyway.

I am on an ozone break for now. If I ever restart, it will be significantly less than what I’ve done in the past. I think I overdid it in the past, and I think some of the acropora suffered from it. I’d have to try it at a lower dose in the future and see if the same effects appear.

Would you consider calcium carbonate (coral snow) dosing in the future?