Perseverance Reef

[Projects with Sam]

I finally got around to doing my first phosphorus test in my new system. It was off the chart. I got the good ol’ blinking 200. That means my phosphorus level is at least 200 ppb, which equals a phosphate level of at least 0.6 ppm. I’m not surprised though. The rock and sand have been through a lot.

I’ll start dosing LaCl soon to bring those levels back down to earth. I’m amazed though at how well my corals are doing with such high phosphate levels. My Duncans have been, and are still growing new polyps. There are at least 17 polyps on it now. I also have a cabbage leather and a Kenya tree soaking up nitrates.

I cut the fence pickets yesterday. Today I need to cut some furring strips and attach the newly sawn pieces to them and attach hinges to them and the doors will be done.

I also measured the distances between the holes for the closed loop. Today I’m going to cut the PVC pipes into the sections I need. The bulkheads have been shipped so hopefully they arrive soon. Once they do I’ll assemble the pieces.

The newly assembled pipelines are going to be heavy. They’ll need to be supported so I’m going to add supports for both pipelines. It’s especially critical that I build the supports because the weight of the pipelines might crack the glass if I don’t. While I’m at it I’ll make a spot for the pump on the supports so there’s less head pressure.

great idea! pics! I want todo closed loop when/if I upgrade!

 

[Fishy888]

Good news! My bulkheads will be here today! In preparation I cut some wood yesterday evening so I could insert the center legs before I fill the DT the rest of the way.

So these…..

Became this…..

This door isn’t quite done yet but I’ll resume work on them on Saturday. Today I’ll be cutting much PVC and doing the glue up. Thank goodness for table saws especially with the 2 inch diameter pipe. Tomorrow I’ll be filling the tank up to just below the topmost holes.

While the PVC glue is curing I’ll be inserting the center legs. The wood glue should be dry in time for the tank to be filled up. I took the sump out to clean it, insert the legs and to reach the center holes.

I’m thinking about several options for small shoaling fish. I would go with red dot cardinals but they don’t have them around here. Green chromis fish, say between twenty and thirty of them, are tempting and are on the short list of candidates. Fire fish are in the lead. If any of you have other recommendations please let me know.

 

[Fishy888]

After thinking about the plumbing for the closed loop and how to maximize the randomness of flow I decided to change my original plans.

There are two sets of four holes shaped like trapezoids. The flow will be set up like this.

O I - O I
I O - I O

O = flow out to the pump
I = flow in from the pump

The ninth hole will be another drain to the pump. There will be five 1 inch drains and four 1 inch returns. The drains will all go to one 2 inch pipeline and the returns will go from a second 2 inch pipeline to the four 1 inch pipes and into the system.

 

[Mschmidt]

I'm sure @Projects with Sam can get you some random flow generators to further help caotisize (it's a word now, I just made it) the flow.

 

[Fishy888]

It’s party time!

 

[Fishy888]

I knew there was paint in the holes in the glass but there was silicone too that I had to scrape out of the holes. In the process I chipped the glass in one hole. The good news is that there aren’t any cracks.

The chip isn’t as deep as it could have been but I’m going to have to use some epoxy to fill it. That or I’d have to install the flange and seal on the dry side. I’d rather have it on the wet side since I want to keep as low a profile as I can on the wet side.

I’m going to use J. B. Waterweld which is a putty style epoxy. It’s potable water tank safe and reef safe. I’ve used it in a reef setting before. It also helps that the hole in question is midway up on the back glass.

 

[Fishy888]

I took a couple of pictures of the chip, as best as I could get anyway.

Despite the depth of the chip at the “byssal” end of the clamshell chip it didn’t cause any cracks to radiate out. I looked and looked.

The epoxy I mentioned sticks to glass quite nicely. I would think that as long as the repair is flush with the glass there shouldn’t be any undue stress on the glass in that area.

All of the holes are cleaned up and the bulkheads fit perfectly in all the holes for the closed loop plumbing. I’ll have to do the upper holes too but that’ll have to wait.

Tomorrow Kathy and I have errands to run but I’ll still be cutting PVC pipe and assembling everything.

 

[Fishy888]

Here’s a closeup of the chip now that the lights are on. Because I took a closeup it looks worse than it is but there definitely aren’t any cracks, not even hairline. Admittedly I was quite anxious but now that the lights came back on I was able to get a much better head on picture and now I’m 100% sure there aren’t any cracks.

 

[Fishy888]

My nems gave me a scare today. I took a two hour nap this afternoon. Both nems were really close to one another before I went up, and when I came down there was one nem. It looked about as big as the original nem did before the split. I only saw one stalk/foot though so I looked all over for the other one. Well I found it. I suspected it was right up against the first anemone but I couldn’t see a second foot until a couple of hours later. It was slightly behind the first anemone but it moved just enough so I could see it.

I cut the PVC today. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get to assemble and glue everything up. Then I can fill up the tank.

 

[Fishy888]

I’m about halfway done with the PVC glue up. The rest will be done tonight.

I went to petsmart and as I went to price match like I always do, they’ve raised the price on salt to almost 70 bucks. Regular price is $110. SERIOUSLY?!? I knew the price would eventually go up but this seems like gouging to me. I might be wrong though.

Tonight I’m getting Dory and the frags. I’m excited about that! Hopefully she’ll start growing again but even if she doesn’t she’ll have plenty of room to swim and a good diet.

 

[Fishy888]

Well, I’m no longer finding Dory.

I’d say I found her and now she’s home.

 

[tbrown]

Well, I’m no longer finding Dory.

I’d say I found her and now she’s home.

Congrats!

 

[Fishy888]

Congrats!

Thank you all! She’s been out more today but she’s also hiding about half the time. She’s eating for me.thankfully.

 

[Fishy888]

So, to all you “Cronies” out there, how does one become a fellow crony? I’m just dying to know.

 

[Projects with Sam]

 

[fishguy242]

...

 

[Fishy888]

S

...

Sorry but I couldn’t resist.

 

[F i s h y]

So, to all you “Cronies” out there, how does one become a fellow crony? I’m just dying to know.

That's classified. You need a level of clearance that is hard to come by. And there are OG cronies... and 2nd gen cronies... if we did a new class recruitment it would be 3rd gen...

 

[tbrown]

That's classified. You need a level of clearance that is hard to come by. And there are OG cronies... and 2nd gen cronies... if we did a new class recruitment it would be 3rd gen...

That'd make me like a 6th Gen?

 

[F i s h y]

That'd make me like a 6th Gen?

Well.... if you are looking through the windows... would you even be a gen?




Nah probably 3rd gen maybe 4th...