400 gallon project

[untamed]

I got tired of removing the skimmer cup every time it got full....so I put this little modification on yesterday. A little 1/4 inch line with a valve on the end so that whenever the cup looks a little full, I can drain it without shutting down the skimmer.

I'll put one other bulkhead in as an emergency overflow. Emergency overflow will just fall back into the tank. If the cup gets too full, the skimmer starts percolating like a coffee maker.

[Norstar]

Brilliant!!!

[Jason McK]

Sorry Brad finally took my OM appart. Been busy helping people move entire stores full of Photo labs

Here is my Modified drum

[untamed]

Yes, I can see the difference in that drum. Paul should make that a standard issue. I suppose mine will eventually wear out and I'll have Paul make my new ones with the "McKenzie Mod".

[untamed]

(**UPDATE**) The following mod was later removed from the filter screens because it clogged up nearly every day. Once the tank sand settled, there proved to be no need for these filters in any case. (**UPDATE**)

Here is the result of my DIY solution to preventing sand from going in the intakes of my CLs. I wanted to achieve 3 things:

1) Not make anything that was too ugly
2) Increase the surface area of the intake so as to reduce suction and make the intakes generally safer for critters and fish
3) Prevent sand from getting through

Here's the result. Original intake screen on the left, new modified screen on the right. Now...if only I could find black coarse foam.


I'll post more detailed photos on the DIY thread if anyone wants to see exactly how these were made. Here's the link to that thread:

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/sho...136#post243136

[BCOrchidGuy]

Oh My GOSH, it looks so amazing. What more can I say, amazing.

Doug

[untamed]

I think that I can now say that I actually have an aquarium. Still no fish, but yesterday was a significant one. Another run to Seattle and I have my first load of real, aquacultured Live rock.

This is about 1/2 of the rock that I will need overall. I haven't done any kind of aquascaping...just get the rocks into the tank so they can recover from the trip.

Here's what the tank looks like as of a few minutes ago. Even with the rocks just laying around the bottom, the tank depth makes it quite visually interesting already. The tall gorgonians help out a lot.


Here's a closer shot of one of the rocks. It has a 20"+ coral growing on it. I think it is a gorgonian of some kind.


Here's a close up of that branching coral pictured above. Can anyone identify what this is?


Here's another shot of another interesting rock. This one has about 15 good sized gorgonians (purple w/white, cream w/gold). They have had polyps extended since the moment they went into the tank. I need to do some research on care/feeding of gorgonians....


Finally, identified hitch-hikers included about a dozon large crabs, countless starfish, 1 large hermit and about 6 small ones, at least 3 pistol shrimp, and this porcelin crab. No mantis were seen, but they are being heard!

[ensquire]

[quote=untamed;242243]I got tired of removing the skimmer cup every time it got full....so I put this little modification on yesterday. A little 1/4 inch line with a valve on the end so that whenever the cup looks a little full, I can drain it without shutting down the skimmer.

I'll put one other bulkhead in as an emergency overflow. Emergency overflow will just fall back into the tank. If the cup gets too full, the skimmer starts percolating like a coffee maker.




Enjoyed your journal immensely and it was very informative. You have a beautiful tank and basement setup. Congratulations
Where can I get one of these fitting, I need one in the worst way and of course Yellowknife would never have anything like this.
This would do the same thing for me, drain skimmer,one with a 90 degree elbow would be better but I could make this work.

[untamed]

Very sad news, I'm afraid.

Freckles (vlamingi tang) is not doing well. About 3 days ago, I first noticed a white-grey-ish area on his lower right side. At the time, he seemed to be his usual hungry self.

However, over the next two days the area spread in all directions and now covers a significant part of his lower right. A 2nd lesion has now appeared on the upper right, now a third on his upper left. In each case, the lesion seems to have a starting point spreading outward from there. The smaller lesions have a distinct fan shape as a result.

By Day 3, the largest affected area is now showing three very reddish areas along his bend lines. Since this characteristic developed later, I don't think that any physical injury is to blame..athough it looks like he has been scratched by some three-toed beast.


He is now hiding most of the time. When he is tempted out with food, he seems prone to sudden outbursts of very violent and dangerous swimming.

Most concerning is the fact that this looks VERY similar to whatever killed my gold-rim tang nearly 2 years ago. That was a horrible, decaying death which I don't want to see on the scale of Freckles!

He is still eating, so I've been able to get a good bit of Seachem Kanamycin into him.
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/sc...+-+5+Gram.html

I have no idea if this is a proper medication for this particular problem. As I read the instructions for differing medications, none really seem to recommend feeding the medication directly to the fish. As of now, there is still no chance of removing Freckles from the tank for external treatment.

I have some Maracyn as well....but the instructions don't say to feed to the fish.
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/md...16+Packet.html The ingredients say it is Erythromycin, so that could be effective internally...but I have no idea what might be a safe or unsafe dose.

Any suggestions?

[MitchM]

Any chance of getting him into a quarantine tank with UV while you treat with antibiotics?
Are the 3 slash marks a result of scratching the affected area, or is the white patch a result of something spreading from them? Is he rubbing against objects?
Not nice to see.