Wildeone's Newest Obsession

[DJGonzo69]

Duane- Like the eerie looking tank. That center rock looks like someones decapitated head ..lol

[kj_yoda]

Love the "just drop it in" type of aquascaping... it will look great soon enough

[wildeone]

It does look like a head doesn't it! Not for long, I am aquascaping tonight, my water has cleared considerably. Here is a photo of the way I would like my tank to look (only in reverse).



This is a photo off of a aquascape gallery at Reef Central. It was designed by a Chris Guerra. I really like the look!

[Scott]

That is a pretty neat aquascape....I may have to head over to RC to check out thier aquascape pics.

[pham411]

hey wild, what size drill bit did you get on ebay to make that hole for the bulk head. is that a 1" bulkhead? i was going to get a 22mm bit from here.
http://cgi.ebay.com/3pcs-22mm-Diamon...QQcmdZViewItem
also that adapter thingamagig u use with the puddy to hold the drill in place is called what and where can i buy it.
thanks

[wildeone]

That is the same guy I ordered from, but I ordered a 45mm bit. You want to drill a 1 - 3/4 inch hole to fit a bulkhead that will hold a 1" pipe (a 1" bulkhead fitting). 1-3/4" is equal to a 45mm bit.


As for the other thing, I grabbed it off of the workbench at work. I think it came with a Rotozip too to convert the rotozip to a drill, but I found this on E-bay and the price is right.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-CRAFT-DR...QQcmdZViewItem

I guess it is a drill guide for a hand drill. I would suggest you use an electric VARIABLE SPEED drill. I was lucky enough to have a drill that allowed me to "dial" in the speed that way no matter how far I pushed the trigger the drill remained at the same speed. You want to drill at a slow speed, I think around 500 rpm.

Hope this helps!

[wildeone]

Oh, the putty was simply plumbers putty from the hardware, aboiut $1.50 or so a container.

[wildeone]

Scott, here is the aquascape thread. It is 918 posts long and has been viewed over 167,000 times! Enjoy!

BTW, mine didn't come out anything like the photo above. I am much better at landscaping than aquascaping!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...ight=aquascape

[Scott]

Thanks for that link! I'm sure it will give me more ideas.

[pham411]

mahaloz wild

[gwen_o_lyn]

Also, I had a prawn in my hand and held it over the tank, but I just couldn't do it, LOL!

ha ha!! ............

[wildeone]

Well I have several photos to share, the water finally cleared up and I was able to move some rock around last night, and then make a few more changes tonight. I am not totally clear, but I am getting close.

First, for anyone interested, here is my tank reading from last night. I hope to find a spot where i can keep this on line in an excel spreadsheet so I can link right to it. That way when i am at work or elsewhere I will have access to it.

Water Temp: 80
Outside Air Temp 71
Specific Gravity: 1.024
Ammonia .05
Nitrite .1
Nitrate 2.5
PH 8.3
Alk 3.4

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a photo closeup of some of the rock. I thought the colors were nice already especially considering it is covered with sand:



Here is an overall photo of the rock after I finished today. I know it looks nothing like the inspiration photo above, but I learned new math when trying to aqua-scape:

INSPIRATION + PERSPIRATION = FRUSTRATION!

It was impossible with the rock I have to make the crescent shape in the 65 gallon tank and keep it 2 inches off the walls. So I went with what is best for circulation and not what is best for viewing.



I did take the time to make some nice hiding spots for all my new little family members:








I took this photo of the substrate. It shows the difference in the Aragamax and the Aragamax Select. The Select is on top (.05 to 1.5) and the Aragamax oolitic ( 0.1 - 1.0 mm.) is on the bottom. I have 120lbs of the oolitic and 30lbs of the select.



One question, if anyone can help, should I use a turkey baster to clean off my LR or just leave then sandy?

Later!

[CarmieJo]

I blow mine off.

[wildeone]

[Rob]

yep.. just use the turbaster to clear the rocks ok..
thats what i do..

[Scott]

the aquascape looks nice, I like all those little hiding spots too.

[gwen_o_lyn]

It's always good to blow your rocks with a turkey baster every now and then- or u can point a PH on them. If you ever have algae problems- do it a lot since it helps get the detritus in the water column and then sucked up by your skimmer.

Rockwork looks great- nice lookin rocks and great hiding spots!

[wildeone]

Well, my water is finally cleared up! Here is a photo without all the haze:




Detritus

I have a question about detritus and what it is. I think it is just debris waste material, but what does it look like? Is the darker sand in these photos detritus? If so, does this mean that I need to get more flow to those areas?






Skimmer

I am happy to see that my skimmer is working. I was worried a little bit because I didn't see anything in the collection cup since I fired it up, but there is stuff in the cup finally.




Levels

My levels tonight seem to be about the same as they were the last few nights. I actually think my nitrites have fallen to almost 0. I was expecting to see my ammonia climb at a fast rate, is that not normally the case?

Maintenance

I think in one of the podcasts, Rob mentioned that he cleans his powerheads , the waits 3 weeks and cleans his skimmer and return pump, then in three weeks he repeats the cycle. Since I am in the cycling stage, do I need to flow another schedule?

[wildeone]

Woohoo I am an Apprentice now! I am so proud! ops:

[Rob]

tanks looking great...
just wanted to jump in real quick about "detritus"
detritus - is a general term, not specific to aquariums, it basically means waste or debris of any kind.

in the hobby, we usually refer to biological waste (fish waste and such) as detritus

[JustDavidP]

And what you are seeing on the sand is dust and debris from the live rock. New live rock tends to break down a little after introduction to our systems. Once there is stability, it will get better. As a matter of fact, before long, the rock will be encased in coraline algae which will act as a coating of sorts and keep the rock from breaking down.

This is often a problem with fish only systems. Folks don't realize that just because you don't have coral, you don't have a calcium uptake in the system. Even in a fish only tank, the live rock, the fish, other hitchikers like tube worms etc. are all taking and using calcium. It is important to keep up good water chemistry in ANY type of system.

Dave

[JustDavidP]

You may also be seeing a diatom bloom. All expected in a new tank.

D

[gwen_o_lyn]

I think it is just debris waste material, but what does it look like? Is the darker sand in these photos detritus?

Detritus in the saltwater aquarium usually looks like gray fluffy "stuff"- you can sometimes see it when you blow the rocks. If you are having accumulations in certain spots, you have a dead spot and you do wanna boost the flow in that area.

I was worried a little bit because I didn't see anything in the collection cup since I fired it up, but there is stuff in the cup finally.?

It's perfectly normal for a skimmer to go through a break in period. It took about a month for my AquaC Remora to finally kick in. But it looks like yours is working fine. You'll be seasoning your steaks with that yummy stuff very soon!

I think in one of the podcasts, Rob mentioned that he cleans his powerheads , the waits 3 weeks and cleans his skimmer and return pump, then in three weeks he repeats the cycle.

Rob cleans much more often than I do, but here is what I do and it works. It's very important to clean your pumps because they will get CA buildups which will eventually burn them up if not taken care of. Once a year *every December* I buy about 10 gallons of vinegar. I fill the tub with the vinegar and an equal amount of water- whatever you need to cover your pumps. You should *always* keep a backup main pump for those just in case moments- WWYDIYPHBU??? *what would you do if your power head blew up? This is one of those times when the backup pump is very handy- throw that onto the tank. Get all your pumps in the tub and let them run- I usually let em go at least 24 hours. I run the entire skimmer setup- not just the pump. Gets everything nice and clean. I've read a few places "i never heard you are supposed to clean the pumps" - that will get ya in trouble!

Now my question for the experts: What causes the CA buildup on the pumps? Is it the heat generated from the pumps? The rapid movement of the propellers collects it?

[CarmieJo]

Gwen,

The bathtub?

Carmie

[wildeone]

Sounds like a great idea to me Gwen, but I will probably use a washtub er sumpthin'. I appreciate all of the infoo, I am ordering my 2 Seio 1100's tonight, so that should help with my dead spots in the tank that I currently have.

I noticed that the PH hit 8.6 tonight, what should I do to lower it? 10% water change?