along with some of the decapsulated artemia cysts by Algagen:
After much discussion with Dan at Seahoese Source, I decided to hatch in a feeder, pull 1/3 of the nauplii and all unhatched cysts and feed to my 65 tank. Then I an going to grow out the other 2/3 of the nauplii and feed with the phytoplankton I am culturing.
After 7 to 10 days I will filter the adult brine and feed to the reef. So I think will feed nauplii once a week and adult brine the next week. I am not sure how often I will end up feeding this in the end but I think that is a good start!
not only is the post count growing, hense the learning factor! but the views on this thread are orsome!
congrats W1, ur doing well, ive liked the tank so much ive hijacked the starting pic & posted them on another thread, which i might add a question in regards to the plumbing is waiting to be answered! blubber will show u the way if u dont see it, cause im useless & cant remember which one it was....lol,
By the way...those are sponges on the power head. They are commonly called pinapple sponges. They are common in tanks that are "maturing" and their populations will decline as the tank matures. They are Syconoid sponges.
this has been an awesome thread, wildeone.....thanks for sharing.
3 questions: first, how was it that u started with a black stand and went to a white stand and no one noticed?. second, what ever happened to the test kit u paid for but never received from the ebay seller?. and lastly, what happened to the bed on the left of your tank? .....hehe, i hate cliffhangers! lol
Thanks for the compliments blubber! I actually formatted it after another thread I read on RC. It was the first journal I read and it was packed with details! It is unfortunate that I cannot locate the source right now, but I will continue to look and see if I can't locate a link.
To answer your questions:
I painted the stand with 3 coats of paint and 2 coats of poly. I posted a hint to that in post #28, but I didn't elaborate. The black just stood out real bad on my off white walls.
I eventually got the test kit (you must be really into details) after I filed a complaint with PayPal. I got the kit 2 days later and left negative feedback. And in typical fashion he left me negative feedback, which is the one thing about E-bay that I don't like is that retalitory negative feedback can be left. I failed to bring it up too loud here because it is a Hagen test kit (notice how I disguised it). I actually like it better than my red sea and it seems to give me good readings. The only test I don't like is the calcium which I use the red sea for that.
Many nights I thought the wife was going to drag a bed to the basement for me to "sleep with the fishes", but it has not happened yet. That is actually a couch and not a be and it is there, I just moved it down a bit.
Hopefully that will put an end to the cliffhangers for now, but I'll bet there will be more!
thanks for the endings to the mysteries. i am by nature (selectively) detailed. that's what i do for a living........reading it.....reading it....thinking....reading it.......,
you get the point, hehe. keep this thread up, wildeone.....it is inspirational.
I finally got up the initative to actually follow through and tie my reef controller into my PC. Now using www.logmein.com I can remote into my PC and control my tank and check on setting from anywhere I have internet access. This will be handy during my occasional out of town trips.
In addition, by tying it to the PC I can pull reports and have full control over my lighting, pumps, and basically anything tied into my tank. I will also receive low/high temp and low/high PH alarms via e-mail and my cell phone / pager. Here is a sample chart. I will let you know how it turns out.
I am running XP home and itis running fine. If you want to run an actual webserver to shove the information to the web I am told you need to be running XP pro.
After listening to the Podcast on safeguarding your system I decided to take a little action. Since I am currently using Rio pumps and some failures have been mentioned, I did a little E-bay shopping and found a $70 fklow switch for $5 brand new. I still have to buy a few fittings, but I plan to install this switch in my main return line. If for anyreason, the Rio looses flow (pump failure, power outage, etc,) it will cause this switch to change states and in turn transmitt to my home alarm/automation system which in turn will page my phone with a specific code alerting me to a pump failure.
The only issue I have is that the flow switch is only a 1/2" hose connection and I have a 3/4" line. I hate to restrict it down to 1/2" through the switch, but I am going to give it a shot. I even got lucky and got the 90 degree switch, so it will just replace the elbow that is currently in the line. Please note, the switch is all Polypropylene, not metal. Don't put a metal one in your tank setup! I am still checking to see if the spring unit or plunger is metal. I don't think it is as these are used in chemical applications.
cool. a few years ago i saw a system that allowed you the access all info and control on your cell phone. i don't think they are around anymore.......too early for their time....no blackberries available then.
I was out of town this weekend to attend a wedding. It was a little test for me to see how my tank would do unattended for a few days. I got a C- on the exam.
When I got home, we must have had a power blip.
My Seio pump didn't restart. Only flow I had was my return and 2 powerheads that are on a random on/off cycle. I dont think anything was harmed, just my pride. But you can bet it will be worked out before my next out of town trip!
I will definatly get a UPS and set my powerheads to run full time for the duration of my vactaion.
HA, duration of my vacation...I'm a poet and didn't know it!
Moments ago I went to feed my tank and the one guy who always came to diner was not present. Joe, my cleaner shrimp was no where to be found. I looked high and low for him. A couple minutes later I found him being drug around the tank by 4 of my hermit crabs. It seems they were eating him. I will assume they were picking off of his dead body, but it almost looked as though he was still alive. I reached in with my turkey baster and brushed them away. His body floated away, but once again he looked a little alive. Just then he was pulled into my powerhead and he is inside the powerhead now. I guess I need to get him out.
He was my first real inhabitent, I hope something isn't wrong with my tank as I noticed a hermit crab carcass in there last night. I am n
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