2 x 250W heaters running all night didn't even warm the tank up from 67 F. I cranked the heaters to maximum, added another 150W of heaters, and turned the MHs on all day...

After 10 hours, I'm up to 76 F.

I may need bigger heaters, but once the lights are hitting rock things might behave differently.

Black Box
 

Today, I built a black box. (Yes, I know what you are thinking...this just gets more exciting everyday!)

Soon, this black box will actually be interesting because it will house the tank's Aquatronica brain....and I have some pretty cool plans for this...trust me.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0095.jpg

I think I may just be building stuff for no reason just to avoid taking the possibly heartbreaking step of actually putting life into the tank!

Is it an acrylic box?

Yes, smoky black acrylic. I'm no acrylic expert, that's for sure...but it will do the job I need it to do.

Well that's a darn nice black box:biggrin: Now get on with the process of getting some life in that tank! Why should you be spared the heartache that the rest of us have to suffer through with this dang hobby:mrgreen:
Seriously this is a great thread and your tank is going to be amazing with life in it.

Here's the results of the salt measurements:

Mg: 1350ppm
Ca: 440ppm
Alk: 3.0 meq/L or 8.3dKH

Those are certainly better numbers that I ever got from Kent.

The water is clearing up. Tonight, I added 4 large, very dead, tiger prawns. There is a bucket of bio-balls under one of the overflows. I'm going to cycle the tank using these bio-balls, so that when the LR comes in, there will be some bacterial support for the new rock.

Once the tank is stable following the LR addition, I'll remove the bio-balls.

Meanwhile, I've solved most of my skimmer problems. Capping my gate valve mod made it a lot quieter, and had the side effect of lowering the foam level to the point where the gate valve could now control it. I've never seen it recommended that you cap off the top of the gate valve mod, but it is working perfectly in this case. I'm going to have to glue the cone to the skimmer body because that seal just leaks too much for my taste.

Since I'll have some time to wait, I can start working on that black box...

If you don't mind me asking, where do you get your acrylic from? Do you pay for it or just search in th scrap bins? I ask because I don't live far from you (Port Moody)

The small acrylic work that I've been doing has always been from small scrap pieces. There's an acrylic place on the East side of Boundary Rd...between 1st and Hastings. Sorry, I can't remember what it is called.

They have some nice selection of rods, tubes etc....and they generally have a box of scrap that I've used to find the pieces that I need. They've even cut a couple pieces for me. The scraps aren't free, but they are pretty cheap!

Fiber Tek, just North of Kitchener on Boundary Road.

Awesome looking set up if this is the first thing you've built you're a natural and I know I'm not the first to say it but, WOW you have done an excellent job.

Doug

I've made enough headway on the "Black Box" to provide an interesting update...so here goes.

The box is mounted on the wall above the primary sump. This also helps hide a few power cords for the skimmer, Ca reactor recirc, and light lifter.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0180.jpg

Inside the box is the main powerbar for the Aquatronica controller. The controller itself is also inside the box, along with all the connectors for pH, ORP or whatever else I may add in the future. For now, there is only a pH reading from the probe located in the Ca Reactor. The flash lit through the smoky black plexiglas and you can see the powerbar inside.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0181.jpg

The reason that the Aquatronica is hidden away is that I rarely ever have to access it. All the input is handled by a 15" Touchscreen display that is mounted on a swing arm directly in front/below the rear centre viewing area.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0183.jpg

I won't attempt to turn this into a detailed discussion of the AQT controller or AQT software, but these are the things that the controller is going to be handling for now:

1) Heating/Cooling using 2 x 250W heaters and 4 fans

2) CO2 solenoid based on pH reading from the Ca Reactor

3) Ca Reactor flow rate via control of the Omega peristaltic pump

4) Movement of the lights up and down. (I need to do some more wiring to enable this, but once completed the controller will be able to start the lights in the morning at 2 feet off the tank surface and slowly lower them to the water surface for Noon...then back up again in the evening.

5) Kalk reactor flow rate via another Omega peristaltic pump that I have yet to purchase! (I haven't bought a Kalk reactor yet either!)
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0182.jpg

...Yes, the fish get to watch TV if they get bored.

The tiger prawns have been cooking in there for three days now, and I have yet to be able to measure any ammonia. Typical of this hobby...the one time you want to see ammonia, you can't get it!

The prawns themselves still look pretty normal. They haven't turned to mush or anything like that. Maybe I should have used a dead fish instead...

There is a distinct smell starting to happen...and the tank is getting cloudy, so there must be some progress being made. Sigh...patience....patience.

Does anyone have a Nitrite kit they don't need any more? I don't want to purchase one, but I would like to monitor this cycle. Free, hands on, guided tour to anyone who wants to drop a nitrite kit off!

holy hell! high tech. I got two words for you my friend: "dream tank." and that is one niiiiice black box:biggrin:

I put a dead frozen shrimp in my tank to cycle and i got no ammonia either. I think it may have been a cooked shrimp? By the time it was half decomposed (by half i mean half the body was gone) I just threw in a chunk of squid and a new shrimp that was bigger and uncooked. I also added about 40lbs of cured LR and about 7lbs uncured LR rubble. that got my cycle going.

ammonia
 

I've used pure ammonia from the grocery store to cycle my freshwater tanks before (with a fluidized bed filter). I would start off really small amounts and gradually increase until it was getting so efficient that I could dump in a table spoon of ammonia and get no reading by the next day.

6 days and still no measureable ammonia. That's it...tomorrow the prawns are coming out and I'm going to throw a large dead fish in there!

Did the "television" you got for your aquatronica controller come as part of a package or did you have to purchase that and set it up separetly?

It is more of a computer monitor than a TV... Aquatronica has an option by which you can connect the controller to a computer. In my case, that computer is an old laptop. That is an option that has to be purchased and it provides the connection cable as well as the computer software. You have to provide the computer.

The computer can be connected all the time, or just intermittantly when you want to make a change or update the firmware of the controller.

The Touchscreen is just an additional monitor connected to the laptop. I'm not aware of anyone else running AQT with a touchscreen...probably because touchscreens tend to be expensive. (I was fortunate to find one at a good deal!)

I like the idea a lot. Can I ask where did you get the touch screen?

I'm not going to be much help here....

A friend had piece of equipment that used this touchscreen and he decommissioned the unit. I got to take parts from it! (That's why it looks so unfinished around the edges)

I assume that they could be purchased from a computer hardware specialty company of some sort. Here's the company that made mine.

http://www.elotouch.com/Products/LCDs/default.asp

Thank you.
Do you know which model you have aquired? How do you like it so far? Any comments/complaints?

It's a model that has since been discontinued. It's a 1545L. I had to download the driver from their website.

No complaints with the monitor. It works perfectly. The driver allows "double-clicks" and "right-clicks". The only thing missing is a keyboard.

The AQT software wasn't written to be used exclusively with a touchscreen. There are parts that require a keyboard (like setting the temperature, for example). That is a limitation of the software, not the touchscreen. All in all, it is pretty rare that I have to haul up the labtop to input something.

As I get the system fully operational, I'll show some screen shots so you can get a better idea of what the software can do. There are graphs etc.

Little problems...Big solutions
 

When you have a big tank, even little problems require BIG tools! It cost me $20 to fix a nagging leak. I would have purchased a larger wrench, but couldn't find one. (If you know of a better place than KMS, let me know)

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0102.jpg

Wow that's a big wrench. Whatcha using it on??

...troublesome threaded fitting on a true union valve. I needed a 1-11/16" wrench for a 1" valve. I wouldn't mind finding one for a 1.5" and even a 2".

I looked at an adjustable wrench of that size..$250!!! Awesome tool, though.

There's no doubt that warm SW finds a way out where cold FW can't.

Man I see myself just busting the fitting if I tried using something like that. Also broke far too many tanks overtightening bulkheads too (mind you smaller tanks with 1/4 glass .. maybe 1/2" and up is not so delicate). Just a thought, if it's a union that's not sealing, could you see about a new O-ring maybe? (as an alternative)

hahaha that wrench is enormous! you could probably knock out a bear with that bad boy.

It's the threaded connection on the union, not the union portion itself. I was concerned about over tightening it, though. This enabled me to give it another 1/4 turn.

In most cases, I've found hand-tightening bulkheads to be sufficient as long as you have a nice smooth, flat surface to seal against. (Use good quality bulkheads!)

Oh ok, not the union itself, I see.

And yes, FWIW I agree, hand-tightening bulkheads should be all you need. :) I was just saying, you can crack glass by overtightening those.

However ....

You can still crack open a FNPT to MNPT connection if you overtighten. I was doing the exact same thing as you about a week ago on 1.5" pipe, I just used a pipe wrench, and that "extra 1/4 turn" was all it needed to crack open. Just sharing some experiences... trust me I've found lots of creative ways to break things. :)

Rock and Sand
 

Yesterday was a good day. My first shipment of LR and sand arrived in Seattle at about 8PM last night (shipped from Tampa Bay Saltwater). A quick zip down to Seattle and back got the rock into the sump and sand in the tank by midnight.

150lbs of sand...250lbs of rock... Yes, I'm in the tank at this point...
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0103.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0184.jpg

I threw one particularly large rock into the tank and 2 mantis sprang out. By the time I'm done, I bet there are 12 or more mantis in the main tank. My intention is to keep the mantis, but I may hunt down the crabs. (then again, the mantis might do that for me...)
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0104.jpg

thats awesome. feels good to finally get stuff in the tank hey. i hated waiting

sweet! something other than people are finally in there!

by the way in case you were curious about an ID of the mantids you have, my guess is almost definitely Neogonodactylus Wennerae. They are very common on LR shipments from tampabaysaltwater for some reason. I can't be surea bout your other mantis(es) but the one in the pic is a classic red morph of an N. wennerae.

Do you have any experience with these guys? I would give each mantis a separate tank. If you don't have room, please sell them, don't kill em.

That is cool! What kind of rock is it?

What... no cloudy tank shot? :mrgreen:

Thanks for the ID. I've kept a green one in a small 2 gallon system for a couple of years now. I find them so entertaining that my intention is to keep all the mantis I get IN the new tank. Don't worry...I won't be killing them.

What do you think will happen if I have 12 or more in the main display tank? Do they kill each other?

You know, there almost wasn't time. I went to bed and by the time I awoke, the tank had cleared.

I meant to post this one, but I forgot. Here is a tank view. You can see that I just tossed one extra rock into the display. That single rock contained 2 mantis. This first load of rock was supposed to be for the sump only, but I needed something to look at. I need a bit more sand, but not too much more since I intend to have the back portion of the tank bb.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0108.jpg

I have some work to do on the CL outputs. A couple of them are hitting the sand too hard. I need to adjust their direction before I turn on the CLs.

Dibs on any extra mantis you might end up with. :wink:

And everything is looking sweet.

was there any hassle bringing the rock accross the border?

did you have to pay duty?

i am looking at ordering some rock from those guys... was the shipping price fair?

:biggrin: nice to hear about another mantis lover.

12 mantids will almost definitely not coexist. If you wan't to have coexisting mantids make sure you have lots and lots of holes in your LR (wennerae chill in holes in LR, not sand) of DIFFERING size. The only problem i see you having is the fact that they are wennerae and are one of the more aggressive mantids. Don't expect great results, but in a 400gal with lots of holey LR i expect a few will coexist quite nicely.

Do you mind posting a pic of the green mantis you got in the 2gal? How big is the mantis? No fully grown adult species i know of are recommended in a 2gal.

No hassle whatsoever.

No duty..just PST and GST

My shipment was 300 lbs and cost $200 US to ship.

Who knows how many I might end up with in the next 400 lbs of rock?...If the average is 2 per rock, they must live in tight proximity in the wild. I might never know how many I actually have. There will certainly be lots of holes to occupy.

I doubt that my fellow is very happy in his 2 gallon. He's got enough space to zip around in there, but it must be pretty boring all by himself. He gets a hermit crab for entertainment every now and then. He's very tame, but I'm still not comfortable feeding him by hand.

I got him in March, 2004 in a shipment of Florida LR. He spent the first 6 months in my 30 gallon hex before I noticed him and moved him to the 2 gallon he's in now. Over that time, I think he's grown to be no more than 1.75".

He has tunnelled out a large portion of the rock on the left. His entrance is underneath it.

He'll move into the new tank as soon as it is ready.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/000_0265.jpg

One of his meals! This was just a terrible thing to watch and listen to. It went on for hours and hours with the mantis slowly whacking this crab into itty-bitty pieces.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/000_0385.jpg

I is confused. I want to say G. smithii because of the meral spot (white ring with dark purple centre) but G smithii don't live in Florida. Anyways, a full grown G. smithii is rated for 5 gal minimum. At 2 inches, 2 gal is fine temporarily.

Just keep in mind that you may lose him once he enters the battlegrounds we know as "400". i also wanted to point out that at the rate you're getting mantids in the tank and the amount of LR you'll have, you're obviously not going to be able to target feed all the mantids. This is going to cause fierce competition i think. This will lower the survival rate of your mantids in the 400 but i don't know what you could possibly do about it.

for future reference, the general set up for mantids is not BB. they usually need a sand bed, LR and rubble (small rocks and/or shells). wennerae chill in holes in the LR. not sure what G smithii do normally.

poor crabby. some mantids just like to play with their food. hehehe, yeah i wouldn't hand feed any mantis either.