Randy's Tank and Learn Thread

[stE25wy14]

can we get a full tank pic please :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Stress Test

For me and the tank setup. lol

Talk about stress! Record setting heat when I’m not home and house is closed up without air conditioning. I’m sure it got over 90 deg F in the room with the tank since outside temp was over 100 yesterday and has been very high for days.

Four of my inkbirds report temp remotely as well as whether the cooling system has been running. It has, certainly, and all four inkbirds have been reporting temps in the 79-81 range, so that seems good.

I realize a flaw in my plan for remote monitoring is no wifi probe in the display. The ambient air in the room monitor has not been connecting, adding to my stress.

The risk is the return pump failing to bring cool water to the display. The only way I can tell is to listen for the overflow gurgle in the web cam. Going to have to improve that monitoring situation somehow.

I’ll be at the tank a little later this morning, so hopefully I won’t find any serious problems with systems I cannot see, but the fish in the web cam are acting normally. :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

can we get a full tank pic please :)

Sure, I’ll do that later today.

 

[rishma]

Stress Test

For me and the tank setup. lol

Talk about stress! Record setting heat when I’m not home and house is closed up without air conditioning. I’m sure it got over 90 deg F in the room with the tank since outside temp was over 100 yesterday and has been very high for days.

Four of my inkbirds report temp remotely as well as whether the cooling system has been running. It has, certainly, and all four inkbirds have been reporting temps in the 79-81 range, so that seems good.

I realize a flaw in my plan for remote monitoring is no wifi probe in the display. The ambient air in the room monitor has not been connecting, adding to my stress.

The risk is the return pump failing to bring cool water to the display. The only way I can tell is to listen for the overflow gurgle in the web cam. Going to have to improve that monitoring situation somehow.

I’ll be at the tank a little later this morning, so hopefully I won’t find any serious problems with systems I cannot see, but the fish in the web cam are acting normally. :)

recognizing the flaw without experiencing a disaster is education without tuition!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

recognizing the flaw without experiencing a disaster is education without tuition!

ha ha, yes. Back and there are no system malfunctions. Room temp is 86 F now, but the tank is fine. Glass urgently needs cleaning and I'm sure the yellow tang wants algae. I quick put in some nori, and he pulled the suction cup off the tank side and now its on the bottom.

Luckily, I took some earlier advice and now have a grabber tool to get the algae clip without going for a swim. I got a cheap one for $10. Since I cannot tell what its made of, I won't leave it in the tank for more than quick grabs, but I suspect it is aluminum with some sort of stainless wire covered in plastic down the middle.

Amazon.com

 

[rishma]

ha ha, yes. Back and there are no system malfunctions. Room temp is 86 F now, but the tank is fine. Glass urgently needs cleaning and I'm sure the yellow tang wants algae. I quick put in some nori, and he pulled the suction cup off the tank side and now its on the bottom.

if you are as smart as we all think you are, you’ll fix the vulnerability before you forget about it :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

if you are as smart as we all think you are, you’ll fix the vulnerability before you forget about it :)

In this context, smart might be fighting against lazy. lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Parameters Today

Alkalinity 9.1 dKH
pH 8.0
Salinity 53.4 mS/cm = 35.3 ppt = sg 1.0266
Nitrate 11 ppm
Phosphate 0.31 ppm

The used VWR conductivity meter and probe that I got off eBay worked perfectly. I calibrated it in 53 mS/cm sodium chloride, then measured tank water in a plastic cup (same water for the pH and alk titration).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Coralline is starting to grow in the glass. You can see small spots along with pods nearby.

I’m disappointed that the Tunze scraper cannot get the green algae residue off the glass, but a razor blade works well. Might look into getting a sharper attachment for the Tunze. Anyone have a suggestion?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Oops, I forgot that the Tunze came with a metal blade too. I’ll try that later.

 

[twentyleagues]

Oops, I forgot that the Tunze came with a metal blade too. I’ll try that later.

I have found that the plastic blades are pretty much useless when it comes to getting "real" algae off the glass. I get why they put them in the kits, acrylic. I have never completely set up a tank that was acrylic that I worried about being clean, sumps to me dont count.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Refugia

The gulf macroalgae that I added to the refugia have grown like crazy, especially the ulva. Looks like the yellow tang and the incoming one spot foxface will be getting a steady diet of it:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have found that the plastic blades are pretty much useless when it comes to getting "real" algae off the glass. I get why they put them in the kits, acrylic. I have never completely set up a tank that was acrylic that I worried about being clean, sumps to me dont count.

Ok. Hopefully I can find the metal one. lol

 

[rtparty]

I’ve found the Tunze metal blade to work really well. If not, @Sisterlimonpot makes a ceramic blade attachment that is supposed to be wicked sharp

 

[Mickey]

Coralline is starting to grow in the glass. You can see small spots along with pods nearby.

I’m disappointed that the Tunze scraper cannot get the green algae residue off the glass, but a razor blade works well. Might look into getting a sharper attachment for the Tunze. Anyone have a suggestion?

I have found that the Tunze's just aren't strong enough for that tough green algae, even with the metal blades. Neither are the Flippers and I even tried oversizing them. The best is the Algae Free magnets with the additional razor blade attachment. The included metal blade is fine if you do it frequently and catch the small green bits early. But if you want, you'll need a razor blade. I love the Hammerhead for my tank. I leave the included metal blade on most of the time and leave it in the tank, then break out the razor blade attachment when needed. The razor blades can't be kept in the tank. After rinsing off I rotate the blade to a new edge so I can get at least two uses out of a blade and sometimes 4 depending on how lazy I was and how much of the hard green algae accumulated.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Metal blade on the Tunze worked much better. Only place that did not get fully clean is the rough patch I tried (and failed) to polish before filling the tank. I can still see green on it. A razor might not be better there since it may be embedded in tiny depressions.

 

[jonelder68]

Refugia

The gulf macroalgae that I added to the refugia have grown like crazy, especially the ulva. Looks like the yellow tang and the incoming one spot foxface will be getting a steady diet of it:

How are you liking the Ulva? I was thinking about trying some out mainly for tang food.

 

[FishLvR]

I've never had coraline algae. I wonder if I just suck at the hobby. People just grow it all crazy and wild and I never had it. Not in 17 years ever. I think maybe once I had one spot and an urchin ate it.

 

[twentyleagues]

I've never had coraline algae. I wonder if I just suck at the hobby. People just grow it all crazy and wild and I never had it. Not in 17 years ever. I think maybe once I had one spot and an urchin ate it.

If you usually keep urchins this may be why. They may be eating it before it really gets to take off or you notice. I have heard people say this before though. I dont know how its possible tbh.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How are you liking the Ulva? I was thinking about trying some out mainly for tang food.

So far, so good, but let’s see if the yellow tang finishes it off tomorrow. It certainly grows well.