Heat tape will work fine on PEX, but it is self regulating and only really gets warm when its below freezing out. It's meant to keep the water just above freezing, Normally, heat trace wont heat the water.

Aha, no controller/thermostat to dial in the temp. Thanks for that bandit.

Hey Myka,

I always knew that leaving SW would be a mistake for you.:lol: It's just too much fun!

As for those fans, if you mean the ones that I plan to put into that nano cooler that I still haven't built, then here is the link: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...re=Thermaltake

I've also heard great things on these:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...facture=Noctua

You'll need to cut the wires and re-wire them to a variable voltage resistor with enough mA to run however many you plan to put on the adapter. That way, you can control the speed of the fans and therefore the noise.

I used one of the Silent Cats on my PC and man was it quiet.

Mike, yeah I looked into those pipe heaters but found that they used too much electricity and were pretty un-controllable. This little cord for reptiles only uses 11w and I figure if I use it wrapped around the input line then it just might make the RO a little more efficient.

Thanks for the links Mark! I'm not sure I can DIY the fans like that. I have no clue about electricity. :(

Thanks Mark. There was a fellow on RC that posted a great idea that's a win win situation with regard to RO/DI production and cooling your tank. Instead of coiling extra RO/DI input line in a warm bucket as Melev suggested, this guy runs a length of his RO/DI input line thru his sump. This warms up the RO/DI input and cools his system water. Not sure how well this would work in our cool climate, but for those running high power lights and using chillers, it might be an option.

I had thought of this as well since Nigel (Gools) on here does it, but because of the length of input hose required to do this, he had to move up to a larger hose if I'm not mistaken. I just wasn't ready to do this until I build my new house.

Otherwise, I agree this makes total sense.

Tested the tank for the first time:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5 ppm
Phosphates 0.5

I'm happy to not see any ammonia or nitrite. This is promising. :)

The reading for phosphate should be fairly accurate since there is no nuisance algae growing, but with phosphate that high it sure will be soon!! :eek: I'm not impressed that the rock is leaching so much phosphate. I'm actually surprised because the rock is very clean of algae, has been cooking for about 6 weeks, and it has been 2 years since the rock was initially cured (I think).

Time to order a few pounds of GFO! :eek:

I found a crab that someone is coming to pick up for his sump today. I would have put him in my sump, but my sump is small and the crab would have been sucked up by the pump or something! Oh, I also found an old plastic button and some really heavy plastic fishing line. Both embedded in the rock and covered with coralline. :lol: I removed those too. ;)

I can't seem to find 1" slip unions or 3/4" bulkheads in the entire city. I have tried everywhere, so I will have to order. I can't plumb my sump in until they arrive.

I just added the rest of the live rock I had cooking. I was checking the rock out, and so far I have found:

1 Hairy crab (rehomed yesterday)
1 plastic button covered in coralline and calcified into the rock (pried out)
6" of heavy fishing line covered in coralline and running through the middle of a chunk of rock (pulled out with pliers)
3 little anemones (!!!) ...i haven't IDed yet, but I think they might be "Ball" anemones.
5 or 6 patches of hydroids :eek:
GHA starting (ack!)

I will test the tank tomorrow and see what the new rock has done to the water. Seeing as I have over 150 lbs of live rock I get to cherry pick my pieces and sell the rest. I'm pretty stoked on this as I have never in my life had excess rock. I put it all in the tank where I can take a closer look at it for pests, and get some aquascaping ideas.

The tank is still about 4" low for water which is where the overflow box has been drilled for a return line. I have to cut a bulkhead shorter to fit in there otherwise the end protrudes into the Herbie stand pipes.

BONUS!! After using the MJ1200 with the SureFlow mod as a salt mixing pump because it's so frickin noisy I have figured out how to quieten the thing! Turn it kinda upside down pointing at the surface. It's now fairly silent. Woo hoo! My tank NEEDS that flow right now!

So this is what a 90 gallon looks like when you cram 153 lbs of live rock in it. :lol:
I actually think it looks kinda cool. Some awesome caves goin on, but this is SO not how it's being left!!!
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4.../May272009.jpg

Here's an angle shot so you can see the cool caves. :D
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...May2720092.jpg

Wow, you cooked the rock for that long and STILL had hitchhikers? Goes to show you how tenacious some things are. I'll bet the fishing line that was through the middle of the rock has been embedded in that rock for like 50 years, laying on the bottom of the ocean has that effect on things :lol:

Looks full, but not bad at all. I like it, actually, even if you are planning on removing some of the rock. Which should come live in my rimless 29 gallon :mrgreen:

Oh you need to cook rock for several months to kill off all the hitch hikers. 6 weeks isn't even enough to kill GSP, polyps, or bubble algae. Although I think most/all of the hydroids are actually dead, and it's just the tubes left. I don't see any little heads poking out anywhere. Those nems still aren't out yet. I think I shocked the crap outta them though. That rock was in 1.012 (was in hypo at 1.009, but evaporation raised it), and the temp was 86. The tank is 1.026 and the temp is 78. So I don't think the nems liked the change. :lol:

The excess rock will be for sale in the next couple weeks for sure, if not sooner.

LOL, ya I think that fishing line is antique!! Maybe I will sell it on Ebay! ;)

Tested the tank just now:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5 ppm
Phosphate 1.0+ ppm (it's at least 1, but definitely not near 3...I wish the Salifert kit had some gradients in between)

Eep! :eek: Phosphate is even higher now, which is what I suspected would happen when I added the rest of the rock. I ordered some GFO from Bulk Reef Supply, but it won't be here until next week, so I'm going to see if I can go find some locally for a decent price.

So, of the handful of hydroid colonies I found it appears as though they are all dead since there are no little heads poking out, just the tubes. Weird. BUT GOOD!!!

I got a pic of one of the anemones. Definitely ball anemones. The balls look orange in the pic, but look bluish grey in person...that's weird too. I will try to get a better pic at some point, but for now this is what I managed:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4.../May282009.jpg

I added 5 Astraea snails today from Bayside Corals. There are 3 Astraea tecta, and 2 Astraea caelata, the latter of which I find to be the better algae eater, and super hardy. I also got some epoxy, so hopefully I will get going on the rock formations tomorrow. :)

Very cool. I'm looking forward to this.

And now your ahead :mrgreen:

Thanks Mark!

:lol: Too funny Blom!

Weird thing I've noticed is that the ball anemones dislike light. They come out at night, but even with just the natural light from the sunlight room they close up. Maybe they just aren't very acclimated yet. Tank lights are off 24/7 at this point since the phosphate is so high right now...trying to prevent some algae bloom.

Oh a bit of a setback, my livestock won't be arriving until Monday June 8th now.

Nice.... still a chance hah. Sorry to hear about that

Hahaha Blom!!

Oh wow was I ever frustrated lastnight!! I was trying to drill the rock, insert the acrylic rods, and create a nice rockscape...well, easier said than done! There were a couple pieces that are entirely undrillable (tried masonry and metal/wood bits), I think they were both Tonga branch. I don't know what they are made of, but holy cow they are tough! :eek: Anyway, that finished with me putting all the rock back into the tank and going to bed disgusted with it. :lol:

So, not much to update...so I will entertain you guys with a very tentative, very rough stocking plan!!

My idea is create a lot of different textures, so I will be looking for coral oddities as far as growth pattern goes to mingle in with the general broad spectrum of LPS I so adore that will make up the bulk of the coral inhabitants. I will also be including pretty much every colored photosynthetic gorgonian (gorgonians, gorgonians, GORGONIANS!!!!) known to man that I can find, which won't be many as most are brown. :lol:

Gorgonians (still working on learning the species myself, I believe all listed are photosynthetic):

Eunicea sp
Muriceopsis sp
Plexaurella sp (if I can manage to find a decently colored specimen)
Pseudoplexaura sp
Pterogorgia sp (if I feel confident in being able to provide it's needs, kinda of semi-photosynthetic from what I understand)
Gorgonia sp (if I can find some as I understand their collection is banned, so I would need to find cultured, which I think is rare)



A few of the more interesting LPS species (imo) planned:

Heliopora sp Blue Ridge
Tubipora musica Pipe Organ (white or pink polyps)
Cyphastrea sp including C. decadia, will have several different color variants.
Many various brain corals, as I have a "thing" for them.



A few select SPS species, with the Acro species being mostly deepwater:

Acropora sp 'Bali Tricolor'
A. lokani
A. suharsonoi
A. subglabra (maybe...)
Stylopora sp (looking for an outstanding color specimen)
Seriatopora hystrix Birdnest (of exquisite color).



Some fish plans:

True Percula pair (I have a loner already)
Banggai Cardinals (I still have a female, after the male was eaten by the bubble coral)
Kole Tang (the unusual colored one I already have)
Bellus Angel (that will hopefully keep the female coloring)
Wrasses (Carpenter's? Red Velvet? Long Fin? McCosker's?), either a pair, harem, or single male.
Blue Assessor (if I can find one)
Rainford's Goby (for algae eating)
Green Mandarin Dragonette pair (would like to purchase "used")
1-4 Pearly jawfish (I would like a small harem, but depends on how many other fish find their way into my tank)
Orchid Dottyback pair (maybe not with the Assessor...will have to check some info)

Who knows what else. Probably not even all of these...I will see how it comes together, and how the live rock manages to process the nitrates. I have more ideas, but that's all I can come up with for now. I would prefer to buy the fish from other reefers just because it's one less fish from the ocean.

Oh and CLAMS!!! Lots of em. By processing nitrates, clams may allow me to stock a couple more fish than I normally would as I refuse to keep a reef where I'm battling nitrates constantly.

If anyone has any experiences with a Bellus Angel in a reef this size I would be interested to hear.

Yoiks, a masonry bit should take care of most any rock like material! Have you tried or do you have access to, dare I say it, a hammer drill to use with the masonry bit? The hammering action can make quite a difference, although it might just shatter the rock too. I know some of my pieces are rather fragile and I've broken several just rearranging them in the tank. The stuff you're dealing with sounds bulletproof though.

Didn't you mention finding some fishing line on some of the stuff? That made me think, could it be that a previous owner of the rock used that to hold it together in some fashion? Anyhow, good luck with that, usally the next day, previous frustrations are forgotten and things tend to work better. You certainly have the build well planned with regard to where you're going and what livestock...

[quote=mike31154;425251]Yoiks, a masonry bit should take care of most any rock like material! Have you tried or do you have access to, dare I say it, a hammer drill to use with the masonry bit? The hammering action can make quite a difference, although it might just shatter the rock too. I know some of my pieces are rather fragile and I've broken several just rearranging them in the tank. The stuff you're dealing with sounds bulletproof though.


I found if you use a hammer drill, start with a small hole and work your way up through the bit sizes until you get to the hole size you want. Less likely to shatter the rock this way.

I do have a hammer drill, but I haven't tried it. Thanks for the idea! I will try on the tough rocks. There are only a few or a couple that are super hard, the rest are really easy to drill.

On my next attempt I will try to incorporate PVC structures and the big black zip ties I bought and forgot I was going to use.

I have a pretty good idea how I want the whole tank to look, so ya I have the inhabitants fairly well thought out. I have a few inhabitants that are "out of the box" for me like the Bellus Angel, and a couple of the gorgonian species that I am unsure about.

Sounds like a pretty wicked tank...on paper:lol: Dont give in to frustration...Im sure happy I didnt.

Ya Myka, the Hammer drill will make short work of Tonga, or any live rock. I've been using a Hammer drill all day, Bolting electric Switchgear to the rock wall in the mine all day LOL, So I know it'll drill a hole :D

Your only hope for Gorgonia sp. is from Cuba. The Reef Shoppe and Interior Reef have had them. I got mine from Interior Reef. Haha, maybe I should charge $100 per frag and slow down the financial hemorhaging this hobby causes me. :p

And .. speaking as someone who adores clams .. I don't think you can realistically expect clams to put a huge dent in your nitrate levels, unless you maybe have an otherwise *incredibly* small bioload.. Sorry - but if it were true, I'd have zero nitrates in my 110g right now and I can assure you that I don't - it's low, however, but I also use NO3 Destroyer...

Thanks Doug! I have been frustrated with this tank since day one...I think it's just because I don't like this part. :lol:

Dan, thanks for the tip! I will try the hammer drill on the tough pieces. :D

Tony the local gorgonian expert! :D I was reading about the Gorgonia sp and Julian Sprung said the same as you, that the Carribean Gorgonias are easier to keep. I think I will try the other species, and see how I manage before I attempt the Gorgonias. Although from my reading is seems like the differences in all the gorgonian species are like day and night. Some grow almost like weeds, and others are nearly impossible. Some light lots of flow, some like calm waters. Some need super bright light, and others require low light. They will be a very interesting addition. :)

I'm no clam expert (by far), but I have read a few articles about people adding nitrate since the clams require it as a food source; keeping NO3 at 5 ppm. So I figured if I had a number of large clams in the tank that is would have some sort of measurable impact on the nitrate. Maybe not...? If not, that doesn't bother me as I have always kept very small bioloads. I haven't had a mature tank with measurable nitrate in many, many years.

Myka,

In regards to Clams one of the local reefers here (NAS on Canreef) has to add nitrates regularly to his tank or the clams start to fade in color and don't fully expand out of their shells. I've seen the tank and he has lots of other stuff in there that should build their own nitrates but it's not enough.

I don't personally know a lot about clams but his are beautiful.

I think NAS's clam-to-non-clam ratio and fairly low overall water volume comparatively probably contribute to that.

I've read the same stuff about people adding nitrate for the sake of their clams and all I can say is I have never had the need to do so. I have 15 or 16 in my 110g, I've totally lost count, ranging in size from 2" to 15" and I have never had low nitrates, never. Fish load is fairly nominal, 5 fish in a 110, but even before when I only had 2 fish in there. Over ten years in the hobby I've only once detected a minor drop in measurable nitrates after adding clams, but it was a short lived dip because the levels returned to normal for the tank shortly after.

I'm not saying don't have clams, and I'm not saying clams don't reduce nitrate, I'm just saying it's hard to plan for a clam population for the actual sake of nitrate reduction in a tank. If you find that your nitrates are always zero then you can add some back to maintain say 5.0 and likely the clams will respond positively but I wouldn't be adding nitrate unless I found that there was literally an overconsumption of nitrate .. I myself can't say I've ever encountered that myself but like anything, "YMMV".

:)

"yymv"?

Your Milage May Vary (i think)

Yep, "your mileage may vary". Dealer may sell for less. Void where prohibited. You must be 21 years of age or older to qualify. No purchase required. Please enjoy our product responsibly. Etc. etc.

I think you have misunderstood me. I don't want clams for the sake of lowering nitrates, I want clams because I think they are gorgeous! I was just under the impression that having a considerable clam population would impact nitrate levels. For the last 10 years or so my tanks have always had undetectable nitrates once they mature, so I was more concerned about having to dose nitrate than anything, and maybe being able to stock 1 or 2 fish more than I normally would. Maybe not...as always I will plan, but in the end I will play it by ear. :)

I understood you wanted clams for the sake of clams! :) It's all good.

Sorry, I was just interjecting my own experience in response to what you said about them reducing nitrates. I dunno, maybe my tanks are the oddballs. I don't *think* I hugely overfeed, but .. uh .. who knows. :redface:

Oh I appreciate you sharing your experiences Tony!! Thanks for doing so! :)

So the 33 is getting packed up right now. In fact most of it it packed up already. It will be arriving tomorrow evening. :D Yay! Pretty stoked.

I also went today and grabbed some stuff off a guy out here who is shutting his tank down. I got a big finger leather to take up some real estate until I can get the tank filled up, a cool neon greenish yellow sponge that was spreading in his tank, so I'm hoping it will do well in mine. A small brain coral (might be Favia...kinda odd not positive on the ID yet), it's in poor condition with some mushrooms and GSP taking it over, so I will scrape those off, and I think it will perk up. Oh, and a huge Bangaii Cardinal that I'm hoping will be the opposite sex of my current one.

Did you tell him warm water in the bags....:redface: If he does that all should be good.:lol: Kidding asside, I hope the transfer goes smoothly for you.


And....where are the pics?:photo:...:mrgreen:

Oh!! How did I not see that!!!

:lol: Actualy, just packing peanuts and water from the tanks Doug! :lol:

Ok fine, here's a pic for the inquisitive of the greenish yellow tunicate/sponge I picked up today. It's about 3" the long direction:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4.../June62009.jpg

Nice pic! but its such a tease.:mrgreen:

That's all ya get until tomorrow.

Livestock is in transit right now!! Should arrive late tonight, so I will have pics tomorrow.

:whoo:

Can't wait for the FTS. :biggrin: