Tabasco's 45g cube build-finally!
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Tabasco1
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So it seems the curing is coming along. Trying to be patient. My amonia has been below .25 for the past 4-5 days, but won't turn the corner to zero. And in the past 5 days my nitrites have gone from 1ppm to .2ppm. Debating a water change, it's been 5 days. But probably best to leave it. I have started to lightly feed every other day.
Plan is to wait until the rock is fully cycled and then try to trap anything out that I don't want. I am starting to see little critters more, some brittle stars that are about an 1" long and a red mithrax crab about the size of a quarter. I'll probably keep him.
Plan to get the final cuts from my mis-measure on the acrylic sump done this weekend and get that built so I can get water into the 45.
Plan is to wait until the rock is fully cycled and then try to trap anything out that I don't want. I am starting to see little critters more, some brittle stars that are about an 1" long and a red mithrax crab about the size of a quarter. I'll probably keep him.
Plan to get the final cuts from my mis-measure on the acrylic sump done this weekend and get that built so I can get water into the 45.
Looks like things are going good. I dig the sponges that you got...it will add nice color to the tank! So whats the latest?
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Tabasco1
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Sponges are definately sweet. They are still looking really good. I was nervous about them at first, but so far so good. Same with the flame scallop, he's looking great. There is a serpent star and I have started feeding him by hand, it is pretty fun. He goes crazy. Won't be able to do that once he is moved into the DT.
Updates:
FINALLY saw some movement in my tests. Nitrate is about 20ppm, nitrite is .1 from .2 that took about 2 weeks, Amonia is still somewhere between 0 and .25. Really wish that would move to 0.
Still have to get the acrylic cut from where I mis measured. I am planning to get that done this week. As soon as I have that done I will put together the sump/fuge and set up the DT.
Updates:
FINALLY saw some movement in my tests. Nitrate is about 20ppm, nitrite is .1 from .2 that took about 2 weeks, Amonia is still somewhere between 0 and .25. Really wish that would move to 0.
Still have to get the acrylic cut from where I mis measured. I am planning to get that done this week. As soon as I have that done I will put together the sump/fuge and set up the DT.
Been almost a month....how are things going??
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Tabasco1
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Thanks for checking in! .. I know. Boo. June has been a bit nuts. One of my best friends got married so I had a bachelorette party to plan, a wedding to attend, then switch gears and travel to a family reunion, and just got back into town from a road trip.
BUT, rock is cycled! Tomorrow finally going to cut the mis measured acrylic and put together sump. Need to get this thing wet so I can get the huge bin of rock out of the downstairs bathroom.
Will update tomorrow with success or failure of sump. Really nervous about it really. Probably why put it off. Although plenty of excuses handy.
BUT, rock is cycled! Tomorrow finally going to cut the mis measured acrylic and put together sump. Need to get this thing wet so I can get the huge bin of rock out of the downstairs bathroom.
Will update tomorrow with success or failure of sump. Really nervous about it really. Probably why put it off. Although plenty of excuses handy.
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Good luck! I'm sure it'll turn out just as you planned, just take your time!
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Tabasco1
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Success!! Well partially. I've redesigned the sump a bit, but already have the acrylic cut.
Is there a compelling reason to have baffles between the fuge and return pump?? I know between the skimmer and return for micro bubbles. It would be great if I could eliminate the baffles between the fuge and return though to save space.
Any input would be much appreciated.
And there is water in the Dt!! Haha. Nothing in it yet though.
Is there a compelling reason to have baffles between the fuge and return pump?? I know between the skimmer and return for micro bubbles. It would be great if I could eliminate the baffles between the fuge and return though to save space.
Any input would be much appreciated.
And there is water in the Dt!! Haha. Nothing in it yet though.
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Tabasco1
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OK, finally finished the sump. I am pretty happy with it, could always be happier... I am a woman after all. But overall not bad for never working with acrylic. The hardest part was getting the baffles in. I started with the one that was raised cuz I figured that would be the most difficult and need the most room to work with. Those seems are not the greatest and I can see places in them that are not bonded, as it was difficult to get the bonding solution fully between the edges of the baffle and the divider, but I am not TOO worried about it. If they fail they are not going to put water all over my floor. Overall exterier dimensions for the sump are 22"lx13"dx16"h. There is 4.6 gallons in the refugium, so right at 10% of my tank volume. I was hoping to bump this up to 5 as I found another skimmer that has a smaller footprint than mine, but then realized that my dividers were already cut and so it was what it was. Total volume of water the sump holds is 12 gallons. There is room for 3.5 gallons extra if the power fails or return pump fails which is more than enough than will drain out from the DT.
But overall not bad for never working with acrylic. The hardest part was getting the baffles in. I started with the one that was raised cuz I figured that would be the most difficult and need the most room to work with. Those seems are not the greatest and I can see places in them that are not bonded, as it was difficult to get the bonding solution fully between the edges of the baffle and the divider, but I am not TOO worried about it. If they fail they are not going to put water all over my floor. Overall exterier dimensions for the sump are 22"lx13"dx16"h. There is 4.6 gallons in the refugium, so right at 10% of my tank volume. I was hoping to bump this up to 5 as I found another skimmer that has a smaller footprint than mine, but then realized that my dividers were already cut and so it was what it was. Total volume of water the sump holds is 12 gallons. There is room for 3.5 gallons extra if the power fails or return pump fails which is more than enough than will drain out from the DT.
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Tabasco1
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Crab catching will commence tomorrow. I have seen quite a few. There are a couple big uns in there, by big uns I mean their body is probably 1/2" wide. I have identified about 5 crabs I need to catch out, and I am sure there are more. So I will be posting pics of if I should keep them or not. I am thinking most of them no. I have seen at least one red mithrax crab that I will probably keep. Most of the others have one claw bigger than the other and if my memory serves I should not keep those. The big un seems like he might be a bit hairy, so he will likely get the ax.
What are thoughts about keeping them in the fuge?
Then the move of the critters/sponges/LR into the DT will happen on Monday. YAY!
What are thoughts about keeping them in the fuge?
Then the move of the critters/sponges/LR into the DT will happen on Monday. YAY!
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Tabasco1
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Well, I have had to put off the transfer. One of the baffles were not performing well so I siliconed that baby up, and just did all the seams for good measure since I was at it. It will be fully cured tomorrow. So if all goes well the DT will be up and running tomorrow night. i will probably give it a day or two of running before I transfer all the rock and stuff over, looks like that will happen on Fri or Sat.
I have caught 4 crabs so far though. There are about 4 more that I have seen running around that I know that need to be caught out. They all seem to be the same type of crab. Tan with black tips on the end of their claws and some hair on their legs. they range in size from tiny to small. Maybe the biggest one's body is 1/2". I think for the short term I will keep them in the fuge. If they cause any problems or as they get bigger I will take them out. I'm pretty sure they are gorilla crabs.
Rock looks pretty good. I am seeing spagetti worms, not too many though. different types of sponges encrusting the rock. A couple that look like little white balls, some that are red. A pretty good amount of feather worms. The rock came in with a ton of barnicles and I thought most of that had died off, but I noticed that I still have some colonies last night. I have started feeding liquid to stustain a flame scallop so when I fed last night I could see them extending out their feather like feeder thing. Kind of looks like a tounge licking out.
The big sponges that are independent of the rock all look great. I was kind of surprised, I thought they would die off. The red tree even got accidentally exposed to some air on a tip and I caught it in time. So all is well. I just can't wait to get it out of the tub in the bathroom and into the DT!
Oh, and ordered another skimmer that will fit into my sump a little better. It is not rated for as many gallons, but still rated for more than my system. We will see how it does. It is a knock of the Bubble Magus Cone 3.5. For $70, I couldn't not try it. I will write a full review once I get it this week up and running. Then I can set up a frag system with my aqua-c 120.
I have caught 4 crabs so far though. There are about 4 more that I have seen running around that I know that need to be caught out. They all seem to be the same type of crab. Tan with black tips on the end of their claws and some hair on their legs. they range in size from tiny to small. Maybe the biggest one's body is 1/2". I think for the short term I will keep them in the fuge. If they cause any problems or as they get bigger I will take them out. I'm pretty sure they are gorilla crabs.
Rock looks pretty good. I am seeing spagetti worms, not too many though. different types of sponges encrusting the rock. A couple that look like little white balls, some that are red. A pretty good amount of feather worms. The rock came in with a ton of barnicles and I thought most of that had died off, but I noticed that I still have some colonies last night. I have started feeding liquid to stustain a flame scallop so when I fed last night I could see them extending out their feather like feeder thing. Kind of looks like a tounge licking out.
The big sponges that are independent of the rock all look great. I was kind of surprised, I thought they would die off. The red tree even got accidentally exposed to some air on a tip and I caught it in time. So all is well. I just can't wait to get it out of the tub in the bathroom and into the DT!
Oh, and ordered another skimmer that will fit into my sump a little better. It is not rated for as many gallons, but still rated for more than my system. We will see how it does. It is a knock of the Bubble Magus Cone 3.5. For $70, I couldn't not try it. I will write a full review once I get it this week up and running. Then I can set up a frag system with my aqua-c 120.
Updates Updates...what has been going on??
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