the copepodgeeks new system and lab

[THEJRC]

alright guys, figured I'd post this up... still a work in progress but the project is coming along nicely!!! Already having success with the new system as I was able to watch one of my emerald crab specimens spawn last night!!

the whole rig is not really an in wall persay but a free standing floor to ceiling unit, power and water supply are pulled to the back of the lab and really the only thing missing is a proper drain (doh).

http://www.copepodgeek.com/pics/inwall/fullsetup.jpg

the 72 made it with no livestock loss

http://www.copepodgeek.com/pics/inwall/72-1.jpg

got us a new rack for the phyto

http://www.copepodgeek.com/pics/inwall/plankton-rack.jpg

some crazy plumbing control

http://www.copepodgeek.com/pics/inwall/crazy-plumbing.jpg

and a messy lab shelf

http://www.copepodgeek.com/pics/inwall/ro-lab.jpg

some diy bulb storage for the plankton bulbs

http://www.copepodgeek.com/pics/inwall/bulb-storage.jpg


It's coming along for sure! In the works are some major sump changes (funding pending) an arduino based custom controller (engineering pending) with solenoid valves and flowmeters.... scada gets expensive but man is it cool!!!

[PhotoJohn]

the system is looking great!

I have a question for you. I recently purchased the same JBJ ATO that you have and was advised to get an aqualifter pump to refill the system (by a LFS) in retrospect a small mag style pump would probably have been better. Do you know id the JBJ ATO has a time limit on how long the pump is allowed to run? Mine will run for a few min but then cut off even though the system has not been topped off! Couldnt find anything in the manual, thanks :)

what is the lighting in your system?

[THEJRC]

Theres no time limit on the ATO that I'm aware of and it will pump till the second float (in mode b) signals supply is low. definately make sure and turn it off for water changes!! All in though I've been extremely happy with it, I do have to be conscious about cleaning the float valves every so often but that's normal for any system. I use a simple maxijet 1200 to pump my water and have for just over a year now with no problems.

As far as lighting the 72 has an aquamedic 48" fixture with two x 250watt 14k ushio's and two 54watt T5 actinics, the bottom 33 has a single 250 watt 14k ushio in the picture and currently I've added a JBJ clamp on 75 watt to help balance the light... this tanks slated for new light later down the line. The top has a generic reflector sporting two 125 watt 14k ushio MH bulbs. All in all very happy with the lighting I may kick the top section over to a bank of 32watt NO flourescents later on so that I can work on a few experiments here and there as I keep bulbs on hand of various lower kelvin ratings (3200-6500) and the tanks are not destined for corals or anemones.

In edit I must say I'm somewhat excited and will probably update thread with new pics later on... this weekend the wife and I have picked out and ordered new furniture to match the rest of the living space with the tank and of course our asian themed decor. This includes a nice bench to sit in front of the tank for viewing. I'll have to post pics once it's all together. Given my job as an IT consultant I never schedule things for mondays (ala emergency calls) and thus far today nothings gone badly so I might wander on down to the local depot and look at some trim, I've been fighting with the thought of trim for this system off and on and I think I'm going to go ahead and slap some up.

[rayme07]

Awesome looking setup J. :up:

[CarmieJo]

Joe, it is looking great!

[Iron E]

What brands of microscopes do you use? What power range? Are they what you would choose now?

Oh, by the way, nice setup!

Tom

[lance]

great setup

However just be extremely careful with your algae and rotifer culture's so close to your other aquarium's. They are extremely vulnerable to protozoan contamination as well as other harmful containment's just make sure you check your culture's with 400X zoom for contamination. best of luck.

lance

[THEJRC]

Iron,

I have a Konus Opal 20x dissection scope that I am extremely pleased with for examination of larger objects (zooplankton) the other scope is a generic 400x hobby lobby model which works decently but all in all if I had the werewithall I would have picked up a model with a 100x oil immersion lens. Even so, it's decent enough that I can get my cell counts via hemocytometer and identify cells which is really it's sole purpose.

lance,

well aware of the contamination issues, this rack is more for standby cultures and available zooplankton growout (I'm more focused on the copepods and avoid rotifers like the plague) so contamination wont necessarily be such a large problem. There is a second rack in a back room for the bulk of my culturing. I have found that through the development of extreme habits regarding cleanliness even with cultures so close contamination problems arent too rampant. makes me wonder though how many people actually change their air filters and check valves often.... thanks for bringing that one up for everyone though!!!

[rroselavy]

Nice digs JRC. Looks like the mad scientist lair is really coming along. :tongue2:


I recently purchased the same JBJ ATO that you have and was advised to get an aqualifter pump to refill the system (by a LFS) in retrospect a small mag style pump would probably have been better. Do you know id the JBJ ATO has a time limit on how long the pump is allowed to run? Mine will run for a few min but then cut off even though the system has not been topped off! Couldnt find anything in the manual, thanks :)

PhotoJohn-

The JBJ has a useful "Float Fail-Safe" Time Duration so if your float valve gets stuck on, it will limit the amount of water it will dump into your tank. The Autolifter pump only pumps 3g per hour (at < 3ft of head IIRC), so it may not refill your tank in the default duration.

There are instructions for increasing that limit, up to a maximum of 14 minutes I believe. Instructions can be found here: JBJ ATO Info (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~dosing_pumps_top_off_jbj _ATO_water_level_controller_information.html).

The Autolifter's slow speed is a benefit. The JBJ ATO unit has an overfill feature as well, which keeps the power to the pump on for a few seconds longer than the float valve indicates. This reduced the amount of times the pump cycles ON/OFF during the day. The down side is that with a conventional pump, your sump's water level might fluctuate as much as 1/4" - 1" because of that overfill, depending on the size of your sump. The Autolifter's slow speed helps guarantee that your water level in your sump is more consistent, which is better for skimmer performance. The Autolifter's slow speed is also better if you are feeding it into a Kalk reactor for dosing.

HTH.

[THEJRC]

hrmm never thought of the kalk benefits of an autolifter....

***scribbles in notebook***

good to knows, good to knows

[Iron E]

THEJRC, Thanks for the info. do you by any chance know of an inexpensive source?

Thanks again, Tom

[THEJRC]

for microscopes? the hobby lobby model ran me a whoppin $99 with a coupon that they do every once in a while online. For the Konus I just hit Microscopes.com SALE Microscopes Microscope Accessories Microscopy Lab Equipment Laboratory Supplies Instruments (http://www.microscopes.com)

unfortunately they do get expensive... Every so often I'll see a local engineering firm selling off equipment due to either closing down or a merger or something, they typically use good dissection style scopes... every time I get half tempted to buy a second but to be honest I couldnt be happier with the konus, it's the compound I'm unhappy with. If you do get a dissection scope spend the little bit extra and get a stereo it's well worth it... I think I spent just under 200 for the konus, it wasnt bad at all

[Iron E]

I found the following two 'scopes at B+H Photo. do they seem to be decently priced?

Ken-A-Vision | T-1701C T-1701 CoreScope Microscope | T-1701C (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=workaround.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=501331&is=REG)


Konus | Opal 20x Stereoscopic Dissecting Microscope | 5458 | B&H (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=workaround.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=332053&is=REG)


Thanks, Tom

[lance]

Iron,

I have a Konus Opal 20x dissection scope that I am extremely pleased with for examination of larger objects (zooplankton) the other scope is a generic 400x hobby lobby model which works decently but all in all if I had the werewithall I would have picked up a model with a 100x oil immersion lens. Even so, it's decent enough that I can get my cell counts via hemocytometer and identify cells which is really it's sole purpose.

lance,

well aware of the contamination issues, this rack is more for standby cultures and available zooplankton growout (I'm more focused on the copepods and avoid rotifers like the plague) so contamination wont necessarily be such a large problem. There is a second rack in a back room for the bulk of my culturing. I have found that through the development of extreme habits regarding cleanliness even with cultures so close contamination problems arent too rampant. makes me wonder though how many people actually change their air filters and check valves often.... thanks for bringing that one up for everyone though!!!

Oh well then look's great in my view I like your concept with the shelf's built around the light's how they are what copepod species you going to breed? I have been breeding Tigriopus califoricus for over 2 year's great copepod to breed. I regularly change my air filter's and check valve's I even restart my culture's bi-monthly to keep thing's fresh and take time to view the culture's under microscope for contamination I do alot of breeding and research and want to make good practice with my culture's. I think it's great you ask that question and hopefully practice good culturing skills as well. Best of luck with your setup can't wait to see more photo's.

lance

[THEJRC]

he he Lance,

always good to see other pod fanatics... currently I'm working on acartia tonsa and parvocalanus but it changes from time to time. Depending on whim and what I'm interested in. I'm also working on a study surrounding the gammaridean amphipod species Isaeidae. It's simply

fun as hell....

god I'm such a geek

[CarmieJo]

For some reason this hobby attracts geeks like no other. Must be all that science stuff in it.

[lance]

he he Lance,

always good to see other pod fanatics... currently I'm working on acartia tonsa and parvocalanus but it changes from time to time. Depending on whim and what I'm interested in. I'm also working on a study surrounding the gammaridean amphipod species Isaeidae. It's simply

fun as hell....

god I'm such a geek

That's great to hear you should check out Reef Stewardship Foundation Forums (Formerly Project DIBS) - Powered by vBulletin (http://www.reefstewardshipfoundation.org/forums/) great site for breeding invert's. I breed amphipods, copepods, bristleworm's, and mysid shrimp and growing on the view of food breeding.

lance

[THEJRC]

he he lance, I've got a section up there as well... I'm actually working nassarius currently

[lance]

he he lance, I've got a section up there as well... I'm actually working nassarius currently

that's great to hear what is your screen name on the site?

lance

[THEJRC]

same screen name there as here "THEJRC" of course, if you go to the members projects section you can see a much earlier version of my rig for sure. The two tanks on the left were moved from the garage in for this new system and the third is emptied. the single tank on the right of course is the actual display, though who wouldnt want to display copepods.

[lance]

same screen name there as here "THEJRC" of course, if you go to the members projects section you can see a much earlier version of my rig for sure. The two tanks on the left were moved from the garage in for this new system and the third is emptied. the single tank on the right of course is the actual display, though who wouldnt want to display copepods.

I'll have to do that you can find me easily on there too I have same Screen name. Can't wait to check out your project.

lance

:showoff:

[sunny d polyp]

Hey JRC, very nice and now I understand why sometimes it takes you a few days to respond to my posts (jk). I took the plunge and added one more cope to my obsession, Tisbe., just got them yesterday and set them up in their new home. People ask me how much time I spend on my copes, phyto and tank, I tell them about half the time with them as I spend at work and I'm working on not having enough time to do both and give up on the working part. hehe. Again nice job on your endeavors.

[THEJRC]

he he curious where you picked up the tisbe at....

it's a time consuming hobby for sure, I think thats why so many people dont do it... but when you bring it up they all claim "it's easy". Especially when taken out of context.... growing Nanno or chlorella is easy... growing a few T. Cali's here and there is easy....

maintaining and growing multiple cultures of other species on a long term scale while avoiding cross contamination and lost cultuers... well thats not so easy. but the study aspect is just too much fun to give up!!

[THEJRC]

you toucha my chalice I breaka you face....

http://www.copepodgeek.com/pics/june2109/chairchalice-6-21-09.jpg

[CarmieJo]

Does the stary always hang out in the chalice?

[rayme07]

Great looking pic. :)