Finally found a few hitchhikers. Back at my LFG's place he found a little crab that he grabbed and put in his tank but that's all we saw and all I've seen since putting the rock in the tank. Maybe because the water parameters are getting better or they are just getting hungry but I've found two crabs and a snail savaging around.
The snail looks like a Nerite?
[IMG]http://i25.*******.com/2u70r41.jpg[/IMG]
One of the crabs is definitely a blue leg.
[IMG]http://i27.*******.com/b49bf6.jpg[/IMG]
The other crab I'm not sure. It's a bit bigger but looks more brownish. Can't be 100% but the claws look about equal in size. Hopefully it's a red tip. Crappy pic. I just have a cheap point'n shoot digital with no manual controls at all.
[IMG]http://i32.*******.com/2na4tpc.jpg[/IMG]
Very happy about those guys. Hope there's enough in the tank for them to eat.
I finally found a 1.25" bit I could use to drill a hole in the collection cup and got that plumbed to a bucket where I have a sensor on the bottom to turn off the skimmer. I like this switch as it automatically turns back on once dry. So, if by chance I'm gone for week or more and the skimmer overflows it will switch it off. As the water evaporates it will turn it back on. Takes very little water for it to react. Tested it out as soon as it was setup.
Uniseal worked great. 1/2in sch 40 pvc to a threaded/slip angle. screwed in a barb fitting and pushed in a 1/2in vinyl tubbing.
[IMG]http://i30.*******.com/25arbyb.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i28.*******.com/1427w4j.jpg[/IMG]
Got a Hanna instruments ph/orp/temp probe as I'm going to be hooking up the ozone to the skimmer at some point. Not sure yet on when the best time would be to do that. I was figuring on waiting until the tank fully cycled.
Another small water change this morning.
7:30pm Tests
Temp: 79.9 v (Hanna)
SG: 34 ^
pH: 7.9 ^ (Hanna)
ORP: 130mv (Hanna)
Ammonia: 0 v !!!!
Nitrite: 5 -
Nitrate: 10 v
Figured that my ammonia shouldn't be at 0 so fast so I dumped in a bit of Windex. Really glad I've been checking every night as it's given me good practice and a really good eye at determining between the different colors to match against and what the liquid looks like.
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rebuild and recovery log:
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You can check out my parameters at reeftronics dot net website and look for my username.
Current Tank Info: 180g mixed reef w/ a beananimal overflow to a dolomite RRUGF. | 20g long G. Smithii Mantis Tank
Last edited by jason2459; 08/01/2009 at 07:25 PM.
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