And now for something a little different ...

[LBReefer]

Second project of the weekend was more successful. I replaced my ATI with the AquaticLife t5 combo. It will allow me to better leverage my kessil a360s and give better coverage around the center of my tank.

I've been holding off for several months on making the switch. Dealing with the mounting, assembling and cord management is daunting. So I kicked the cord management down the road.

Full photo tomorrow.

 

[LBReefer]

Apparently just reapplying the silicone to the outside of the overflow was insufficient.

I pulled it apart, scrapped off the old silicone and applied a new layer.

We will see how we do on round three.

 

[LBReefer]

So I thought I had found the source of the leak. I bought this tank used and didn't realize the overflow wasn't a factory part, but rather something of a DIY project. I think one of the seams is leaking:



So I tried to apply silicone all along the area. Based on the fact that dripping water tripped my breaker, I'm calling this fourth attempt a failure.

I'm most upset that I didn't buy an overflow to attach to my existing biocube. This would have been a lot cheaper and easier in the long run. Now I'm this thing for $75 for the tank, $80 misc plumbing and I'm looking at spending another $150 on an overflow/new plumbing.

This is not turning out to be the easy DIY project I had imagined.

 

[LBReefer]

I may be too stupid for this hobby

I received my new eshopps overflow and drilled the tank:

 

[LBReefer]

Only now I realized that I will end with two holes in the tank and will struggle to cover the top (original) hole.

I think I can use the internal portion of the overflow to cover the top hole, but that will mean gluing the thr internal overflow to the back of the tank. This may make future adjustments more challenging.

Alternatively I could go back to plan C and utilize the biocube ....

 

[LBReefer]

It's hard for me to admit failure - just ask my wife. Nonetheless, I'm calling it on my attempt to build an external refugium a failure.

I'm sure that my errors were simple and self generated, but they have compiled to the point of utter failure.

I found a way to keep the chaeto between the skimmer in the central chamber and the return pump in the final chamber. My skimmer is an old school wet/dry setup and has a series of baffles that seem to hold the cheato perfectly.

 

[LBReefer]

An awkward shot to be replaced.

 

[LBReefer]

Stubby lines were two of my several errors.

 

[LBReefer]

Updated FTS from my phone.

 

[LBReefer]

I took advantage of the new light mounting options and added another kessil to the mix. I'm curious if this will expand my center tank coral options or if the center brace will diffuse too much light.

 

[LBReefer]

I took advantage of the new light mounting options and added another kessil to the mix. I'm curious if this will expand my center tank coral options or if the center brace will diffuse too much light.

The additional lighting has definitely made a difference. The three BTAs have really perked up and the GSP has completely outgrown its rock. I trimmed it up today and took my first attempt at growing a few frags. We shall see how they plan out. I'd like to transfer a few to my office tank and try to get store credit for the other two.

 

[LBReefer]

I decided to take advantage of relatively lazy Saturday and catch up on some overdue maintenance. I'm cleaning my gyres. I tried following the online videos, but I had mixed luck.

Despite heavily overgrowth of coraline algae and vermitid snails, I was able to take the pump apart relatively easily.

 

[LBReefer]

These guys bounced back right away. I don't want to jinx it, but I'm looking at this as an early success.

Now if I could figure out why my salinity probe is going nuts. I panicked when I woke up this am - it read 40.1. I doubled checked it with my refractometer and found something closer to 31. Arrghh. Now I need to calibrate both.

 

[LBReefer]

After five days of soaking and rinsing, they are looking good. No grime left.

 

[LBReefer]

Breaking in a new skimmer. I got it for a song through a local marine depot sale. I'm excited to see what this beast can do. I've been running an underrated skimmer in this system since the beginning.

 

[LBReefer]

I tried my hand at making my own fish food this weekend. I tossed shrimp, calamari steaks, and tilapia into the food processor. The fish seemed quite interested, but I don't think I gave the block long enough to fully defrost.

My wife referred to it as disgusting fish butter.

 

[LBReefer]

I installed the new skimmer today. Its going to take some finessing to get the height just right. I probably should build/buy a stand for it, but in the interim its balanced across a few bonus rocks I keep in the sump.

 

[LBReefer]

I decided to give fragging another try and try to frag two of my leathers. I had mixed results at best.

I basically cut off all three of the crowns and left an ugly stump at the base. I hope they don't both die. I bought the coral off of cherry corals and I haven't seen this particular color in any of my local stores.

 

[LBReefer]

This frag process seemed a little cleaner. I am headed out of town for five days. Heres hoping that I come back to a flourishing and mother colony.

Mother colony

Frag

 

[LBReefer]

It looks like I still have some fine tuning to do on the new skimmer. I shifted things around so I could lower the water level in my sump. Apparently I came leave good enough alone.