Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread

[token]

Originally posted by melev
A dirt floor in a fish room. That sounds like a muddy situation on occasion. Did you put down some type of treated lumber decking in there to walk upon?

It has been muddy, but since I started the fish room, it has only been my doing once when the RO/DI shutoff failed. The other times have been when the water ran down the driveway and into the garage.... but plans are in place to fix that too.

I have debated with myself over what type of floor I want in there. I am leaning to pea gravel, since some has made its way there already, thanks to rain. If I did an elevated floor, I would probably frame it out of the reconstituted lumber rather than treated to avoid any VOC's and treat it like an outdoor deck rather than a solid floor. Too much "floor" of any kind, though, and I won't be able to stand.... the floor joists for upstairs are pretty low...

[melev]

Originally posted by 2farNorth
Without going back through mutliple splits, and what-not, and while were on the subject, what sand do you use? Also, does adding it cause any type of mini cycle?

Most of it is CaribSea sugar fine Fiji pink, plus I have some Tropic Eden coarser sand in there as well. The larger grain size helped keep it from blowing around in the flow made by the VorTech pumps. It is all aragonite based.

Originally posted by token
It has been muddy, but since I started the fish room, it has only been my doing once when the RO/DI shutoff failed. The other times have been when the water ran down the driveway and into the garage.... but plans are in place to fix that too.

I have debated with myself over what type of floor I want in there. I am leaning to pea gravel, since some has made its way there already, thanks to rain. If I did an elevated floor, I would probably frame it out of the reconstituted lumber rather than treated to avoid any VOC's and treat it like an outdoor deck rather than a solid floor. Too much "floor" of any kind, though, and I won't be able to stand.... the floor joists for upstairs are pretty low...

I would think the gravel would be tiring on the back, and you'd probably have to always wear shoes. I've seen what look like wooden deck stepping pads before. You might put them where you need them most, or make your own of course.

[melev]

Today as I ran out for a quick errand, I found a note on my door from the city. They are going to be redoing our street, and from what I understand that includes curbs, etc. I called the city inspector's phone number to find out if I can get a quote on replacing my driveway at the same time since it is cracked. It just seems if a truck full of concrete is already hear, maybe I can get some of it for a good price.

Have any of you done this before? Any suggestions or thoughts?

[Ziggy953]

New pumps. Whew that is a pricey fix. They were new when you got the skimmer weren't they? I would have figured the pumps to last much longer then 4 years.

[melev]

Yes, the skimmer was brand new, but as we know, nothing lasts forever. I've had this skimmer in use for about 3.5 years. Also, I'm upgrading from Sedras to Eheims, so the price goes up due to that as well.

[Hop]

Originally posted by melev
Yes, the skimmer was brand new, but as we know, nothing lasts forever. I've had this skimmer in use for about 3.5 years. Also, I'm upgrading from Sedras to Eheims, so the price goes up due to that as well.

I have to say that it was cheaper for me to order a new skimmer that swap to eheim pumps... So I ordered my new skimmer today

[reidcrandall]

Originally posted by Dyraxe
Man I love your tank! I had to go buy and aquacontroller 3 after reading your thread and I will use your excuse to my wife ( how I had it all along and now I am just fixing it) lol.

How did the excuse go over? I haven't gotten a chance to use it just yet

[jnarowe]

I have spent some time with Mr. Weast, both at my place and at his, and we all have to face the facts. Very few people are as detail oriented as him. It's a curse and a blessing at the same time. He makes a good living because of it, and is somewhat burdened by it in areas such a s reef keeping. I would guess that is the chief reason why he shut down while out-of state on a project.

True, the system size allows for his need for cleanliness, but to follow in his footsteps would be difficult for most. I buy into his reef keeping method, but have a heck of a time actually executing it.

In a nutshell, he vacuums regularly, and then as sand is dpleted, he replaces it. The benifits IMO are as follows:

1. A very clean looking reef;

2. A constant supply of new sand to bind pollutants;

3. A consistant supply of fresh buffering media.

The last of which should not be underestimated. Putting fresh aragonite into a stable reef has got to provide additional buffering and stability.

[jnarowe]

On the subject of Eheims, I cannot over-emphasize the value I place on them. I have one on my multi-media reactor and a couple of nights ago I noticed slightly out-of-tune numbers. I use AquaNotes and view it in my office, and saw that things where not entirely normal. The pH seemed to be vacillating far too much. So what did I do? I ignored it and went to bed of course!

When I got up I saw that the pH was still way too low, Typically it will be very close to the tank pH in the morning because the reactor has been shut down for most of the night. In bathrobe and slippers I went to investigate, a lo-and-behold, the reactor had cavitated, and stopped recirculating water. The pH probe was essentially measuring CO2 laden air and/or water.

That Eheim had been running sans water for over 8 hours straight. Negative effects? NONE. That's why I like them. Damn things can run dry for hours with no damage.

[jnarowe]

Put that in your Mag Drive and smoke it.

[spleen93]

Originally posted by jnarowe
Put that in your Mag Drive and smoke it.

I love Eheim pumps too and I'm stealing that quote, Jonathan!

[jnarowe]

Don't get me wrong Spleen, Mag Drives are great if you can't afford a heater.

[jnb]

I would be curious to know if ER uses metal washers in on their needle impellers - open up a regular ehiem and you find no washers - just the rubber ends that fit into where they should - open up the ehiem I had with my H&S skimmer a year or so ago and they had 2 metal washers on each end (the Euro version had 1 at each end - who knows) as part of the needle impeller mod. My washers did not have their hole drilled exact center I don't think which helped them wear away at each other faster than otherwise - but really, I did not like this part of the mod because I could hear the washers and they wore out about every 6 months disturbing skimming, making more noise and just a general pita - sometimes you could tell that the 2 washers would spin independently of each other and sometimes not - the difference made a difference in skimming - varying RPMs. I got rid of the H&S which had a wonderful reputation otherwise - a few others had this problem. So I have to wonder if ER's have this potential hiccup. I use ehiem (1262) for my main return - it just keeps going and going - I love it. But that modified skimmer ehiem really got me.

Originally posted by melev
Yes, the skimmer was brand new, but as we know, nothing lasts forever. I've had this skimmer in use for about 3.5 years. Also, I'm upgrading from Sedras to Ehiems, so the price goes up due to that as well.

[stunreefer]

Originally posted by jnarowe
Put that in your Mag Drive and smoke it.

.................

Couldn't agree more!

[Alaska_Phil]

Since I don't own either a Mag drive or Eheim I'm going to high jack Marc's thread for a moment. I'm setting up a 29 with sump, I want about 100 to 150gph return with 4' of head. Mag drive has a nice table giving flow at various head pressures. Eheim doesn't that I can find. So which Eheim will give me the flow I want?

Phil

[Hop]

I'm not Melev, but the 1250 would be a good choice. You may have to throttle it back a hair, but it is a great pump

[spleen93]

Originally posted by jnarowe
Don't get me wrong Spleen, Mag Drives are great if you can't afford a heater.

Which reminds me of the time when I used a Mag 7 to circulate water in a live rock cooking vat in a 30 gallon Brute. I was surprised when I lifted the lid a day later to check on things and found the water to be a balmy 95 degrees.

Originally posted by Alaska_Phil
Since I don't own either a Mag drive or Eheim I'm going to high jack Marc's thread for a moment. I'm setting up a 29 with sump, I want about 100 to 150gph return with 4' of head. Mag drive has a nice table giving flow at various head pressures. Eheim doesn't that I can find. So which Eheim will give me the flow I want?

Phil

Phil - I'm not Marc either but this graph courtesy of Marine Depot might be useful.



So it looks like the 1250 might be a good choice, just like Hop said.

[Kellsindell]

You don't think your sand is becoming fine from being blown around and that's why it's getting low?

Also, thanks for the update, tank is looking great and that toadstool makes Spock look small.

[jnarowe]

real aragonite sand will very slowly "melt" into solution. That's how reefs get their calcium to grow right? It's a loop. We just speed the process up in our reactors.

[Kellsindell]

makes sense.

[Alaska_Phil]

Thanks spleen, I couldn't find anything like that on Marine Depot.

Phil

[FroMan]

Originally posted by melev
12/12/2008 11:27 PM
"Btw - The pH measurement was from the AC3. The Pinpoint reads 8.09, which was recalibrated at the exact same time as the AC3. Guess I'll have to do that once more, but the Pinpoint is several years old and the AC3 is brand new. Also, the temperature is from the AC3, while the Pinpoint Wireless thermometer read 79.5F. Good times."

Marc -

One thing that you can do with a pH probe is recondition it. The lab grade units I use at work can be reconditioned by alternately dipping into 0.1M HCl (muriatic acid) and 0.1M NaOH. This helps to remove some of the contaminants that build up on the bulbs of the probes.

pH probes function by allowing ion exchange across a porous membrane. As the membrane becomes clogged it looses its efficiency. As a result the output data tends to shift over time.

[Mykel Obvious]

Originally posted by jnarowe
real aragonite sand will very slowly "melt" into solution. That's how reefs get their calcium to grow right? It's a loop. We just speed the process up in our reactors.

I'm not sure that is 100% accurate... Jaubert seemed to think so, but I believe that has been mostly refuted (at least in our sand beds anyway)... http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/eb/index.php

Thoughts?

[jnarowe]

Jaubert is right. Everyone else is wrong. The article does not really approach it from a macro standpoint though as it relates to my comment.

I have no real thoughts on the subject other than the fact that we know for sure that aragonite is a primary source of calcium for reef building corals. Where else would it come from? And hence, it must dissolve into solution at typical reef pH levels.

FroMan: Where do you get the lye?

[Reefski's]

it does dissolve over time, just not fast enough to keep up with calcium demand of stony corals in our tanks. aragonite dissolves faster than calcite, both are calcium carbonate but something about the crystal structure makes aragonite dissolve quicker at higher pH.

see Delbeek and Sprung "The Reef Aquarium" Vol III


Carl