Barely made the club but time for my 180 upgrade (Warning: Progress may be slow)

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by SPotter

Now thats some serious flooring work there!!!!! what would you charge to come to NJ and do mine????

Steve,
You know you would get the good friend discount.

I am glad to see your tank project is moving along smoothly. You made me start missing my tank again. Now I have to make mine look pretty before you are all done...LOL.

[nightOwl]

General Updates -Flooring Done (well almost)

I have just about completed the floor now. There are two area near the bottom of the step I have to complete but I am happy. I put the vents back in place and they make a huge difference. My work was not complete without a new toy so I brought my own Brad Nailer that can shot up to 2-1/8" brads. After a trip to Home Depot and reading a few reviews I decided on the item below. I was able to nail and fill all the holes and it looks great.

General Updates - Algae Issues

Due to my algae issues I was forced to call in a "clean-up" crew of sorts. I have been battling the cyno and hair algae for a while now. I placed an order which arrived last Friday 2/3. At first I was a little nervous because the size of the box did not reflect what I had in mind. I ordered 50 Medium Blue Legs (Clibanarius tricolor), 100 Astraea Snails (Astraea tecta) , and 100 + 22 (by accident) Cerith Snails (Cerithium sp.). I can now say Astraea snails are becoming one of my favorite snails. Within 4 days they have mowed down the majority of the nuisance algae in my tank. They are even brave enough to venture on the Tunze guards and eat the algae while the pumps are on. They are pretty strong! They are not really concerned with the cyno but the hair they are wiping out. The packing job of the items was pretty good. It had been a while since I ordered a clean-up crew so I forgot most are shipped with very little water. I was concerned that there would be a lot of die off but followed the directions and I did not loose one critter. The place I ordered from is not a sponsor so I don't think I can say the name but they are based out of Florida and I will be ordering from them again. I like how I received multiple emails explaining their processes.

Small box full of hungry critters







Since my phosphates were testing zero repeatedly I thought there also might be some nitrate issues. I tested and nothing showed but just to be safe I added some more bacteria diversity to the tank. I have also stopped running both UV sterilizers for now. The next step is to send my pump back for repair. I was authorized to return the pump so that will be sometime this week.

General Updates - Whelk up-close

I think based on the pattern of the foot of my mystery snail its a a whelk for sure now.

[roni]

great to see you updating this thread again. the downstairs looks great. i think you can mention vendors even if they're not sponsors...at least i've never heard anything to the contrary.

i'm about to put in an order with reeftopia for some cleaners but haven't ordered from them before.

[SPotter]

What I really love about this thread is not only do I get ideas for my tank, I also can home improvement tool reviews as well

Your thread has been the inspiration for my upgrade which has turned into an upgrade on steroids!!!! My might be calling you for an explanation since I have placed all of the blame on you

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by roni

great to see you updating this thread again. the downstairs looks great. i think you can mention vendors even if they're not sponsors...at least i've never heard anything to the contrary.

i'm about to put in an order with reeftopia for some cleaners but haven't ordered from them before.

Roni - Thanks for the kind words. The place I ordered from was the place you are about to order from...Reeftopia. I was very pleased with the size of the critters. I have ordered from some other places and a medium hermit was more like a small if that. The quality of the items seem to be worth it. They are still mowing down the hair algae as we speak. I am pretty sure you will be pleased with your order and anything over $99 ships free woo hoo. Oh and one more thing I liked no stupid box fees or anything either .

Originally Posted by SPotter

What I really love about this thread is not only do I get ideas for my tank, I also can home improvement tool reviews as well

Your thread has been the inspiration for my upgrade which has turned into an upgrade on steroids!!!! My might be calling you for an explanation since I have placed all of the blame on you

Steve,
Thanks again man. You got me back to updating the thread again! I think new tools are the fun part to any DIY project. I realize upgrades never go as planned. The scope creep is crazy but in the end when you look back you will have a big smile plastered on your face. The smile will get even bigger when people visit and see your tank. Please tell the wife I deny all responsibility (it wasn't me) ...LOL.

[BowieReefer84]

Talk about improvements since I was out there last year. Very nice setup, and I really like you put the tank up closer to eye level. Nothing is worse than bending down to look at a tank imo.

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by BowieReefer84

Talk about improvements since I was out there last year. Very nice setup, and I really like you put the tank up closer to eye level. Nothing is worse than bending down to look at a tank imo.

Mike,
Thanks for the kind words. It's been a long time coming so I am pretty excited it has turning out as well as it did. I hope it ends up being the conversation piece of the room once all is said and done. I must soon revisit my list of fish and get to stocking the tank again.

[drcarr]

wow, the room and tank look great!
i bought a few frags off of you a year ago when you were just doing the layout of this new tank.
looks awesome!!

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by drcarr

wow, the room and tank look great!
i bought a few frags off of you a year ago when you were just doing the layout of this new tank.
looks awesome!!

Carrson,
Sorry for the delay. I have been traveling and have not had time to really log in and reply. Thanks for the compliments man. I remember when you stopped by it was just getting going. Now as you can see things are looking nice.

[nightOwl]

So I have been traveling again and during this time a few things have been put on the back burner. This past weekend I finally caught up with a few tank house keeping items.

General Updates - Missing Fish

While I was gone over the past few weeks I have not really been keeping an eye on my glass cardinals. This past weekend I finally took the time to count the number of them I have left. I had thought I had lost one but was not sure. I am now down to 6 of them. Once I am not traveling for few weeks I will try to get some new fish. I want a new flasher so that will probably be the next fish.

General Updates - Sump

A long while back I accidentally hit my sump with a 10lb weight and some how a small leak started. Well it was a pretty good leak but I did not have time to repair it. This past weekend I finally had a chance to take things apart and repair the sump. I ended up repairing the seams along the bottom and one of the side where I hit it. So far things are looking good and there is no sign the sump is leaking any longer.

General Updates - Skimmer Pump

Back in October my new Bubble Blaster pump started cutting on and off while running. It was also rusting on the screws which is never good. Due to travel, the holidays, and just being busy I was unable to send it back until this past Monday. Hopefully it will be returned quickly like the last time. This will be my third pump once this one is returned. Coralvue has been very good throughout this whole process.

[SPotter]

Its good to see you back in the game and moving in the right direction again!!!!! I have had similar issues with my octopus skimmer pump. When the screws rusted out they sent me a new cover and the same thing happened again a few months later. I am told that its not really rust...not sure what that means to be honest. And I was having the same problem with the pump randomly freezing up on me. Whenever that happens now I just pull it off and give it a nice vinegar bath. I also take that time to clean the "not really rust" gunk around the screws and housing.

I agree that coralvue is very good and responsive. Jeremy @ Coralvue has always responded very quickly to my inquiries and they have shipped parts to me very quickly as well. If the after sale service was not this good, I would have switched skimmers a while ago.

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by SPotter

Its good to see you back in the game and moving in the right direction again!!!!! I have had similar issues with my octopus skimmer pump. When the screws rusted out they sent me a new cover and the same thing happened again a few months later. I am told that its not really rust...not sure what that means to be honest. And I was having the same problem with the pump randomly freezing up on me. Whenever that happens now I just pull it off and give it a nice vinegar bath. I also take that time to clean the "not really rust" gunk around the screws and housing.

I agree that coralvue is very good and responsive. Jeremy @ Coralvue has always responded very quickly to my inquiries and they have shipped parts to me very quickly as well. If the after sale service was not this good, I would have switched skimmers a while ago.

Steve - I am glad to be back man. You have been making me jealous with your new tank build...LOL. I totally agree with you on Jeremy. He always responds fast and their customer service is top notch. Shoot him an email about the issues you are having and if you are still under warranty they will replace it with no problems. I have been putting it off so I am glad I finally did it.

General Updates - Skimmer Pump Update

So by next Tuesday I should have my new pump. I heard back from Jeremy today and they shipped my pump out today. I expressed my concerns that there was rust on my second pump and he informed me I should not have to worry about rust again. It turns out the reason my pump was not working correctly was due to depolarization of the magnet. They replaced the the volute and hardware to take care of the rust issue. They ran the pump for two days and the specs were on spot. So hopefully my new pump will come back and be ready to go to work.

[nightOwl]

General Updates - Skimmer Pump Update

I received my pump from CoralVue today and I will let it run a bit before I confirm it is working properly. I could tell the flute, propeller, and screws were replaced with new items. When I plugged the pump in it ran for about 2 mins and then the hicups started again . I will keep an eye on it for the next few days.

[SPotter]

So did they replace the pump or just the fittings and clean it up? I know when mine does that I just give a good vinegar bath.

[Kurtneb9]

love the setup, tanks gonna look great!

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by SPotter

So did they replace the pump or just the fittings and clean it up? I know when mine does that I just give a good vinegar bath.

Steve - They did not replace the pump this time only the fittings. I am a little bumbed because I need the pump to work so I can get back to feeding heavy again. My tank is starting to look a little skinny and I like all my fish plump. Before sending it in I gave it a vinegar bath for a full day and it was still cutting off in the bath . I will go down and check on things in a bit. I might carry the camera since I have not posted pics in a while.

Originally Posted by Kurtneb9

love the setup, tanks gonna look great!

Kurtneb9 - Thanks for compliments . Things are going slower than I had wished with regards to growth and color though.

[SPotter]

well if all else fails, do you have a hammer? give it a good whack!

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by SPotter

well if all else fails, do you have a hammer? give it a good whack!

Steve - I am hoping frustration does not set in and that becomes reality...LOL.

General Updates - Pictures

Nothing too exciting to report. As usual my common corals seem to be growing fast. I did some tests with my lux meter tonight and found that I am not getting as much light at the bottom of the tank as I had expected. I lowered the light about 2 inches and will see if it makes a difference. These were a few pictures I took yesterday. Some corals are trying to recolor up while others are just being stubborn .

[nightOwl]

General Updates - New Fish

It's been a while and I have been dragging my feet on playing with the tank. I did manage to get a a new fish a couple of weeks ago and she is still living so I decided to share. I have not been able to get a good picture of her for two reasons. The first is she is super tiny (under 1-1/2") but is growing. The second is she shy and does not stay near the front of the tank much. For the first week after I put her in I did not see her and thought she was dead. Then one day at feeding time she showed up. Not the best picture since I was shooting through the glass at an angle.

Spotted Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus)

General Updates - New Fans

The weather has been heating up the last few weeks and with that I have heard the chiller come on a few times so I ordered some supplies to finish my fan cooling project. The other fans were super quiet but did not move much air. These (AeroCool 140mm Shark) move more air and still are pretty quiet. I also ordered a Aerocool F6XT LED Display Fan Controller for the fans to adjust the speed. It can control up to 6 fans while adjusting the speed from low, medium, and high. The last part of the puzzle is a Coolerguys 110v AC to 12 / 5v DC 4pin Molex 2A Power Adapter. So I will not need multiple wall warts. I hope to get around to finishing this project in the next week or so.

General Updates - Pictures

My flasher has been seeking the camera the last few times I have had it out around feeding time so I snapped a couple of shots. I love the colors on this fish and pictures do not do it justice.

[nightOwl]

General Updates - Bulb change

Well I found out the reason why corals were not looking spectacular as they use to look tonight. One of my buddies SPotter let me borrow his Apogee MQ-200 meter. I never expected my lighting to be so far gone. My bulbs were reading @732 12" from the bulb above the water and 483 below the surface. The sand bed was reading @152. This was without any pumps on. I replaced the bulbs and the results are much better. Around 12" from the bulb I am getting @1168 then @824 just under the surface. The sand bed is reading @319. These readings were with the pumps on. So the readings should be higher with the pumps off. There was some drop-off once I put the wrasse screens in place but I think the corals will much happier in the coming months. Lesson learned no matter what when using MH change bulbs on a regular basis.

[gioNVA]

Nice! With that said, I'm expecting more updates from you

[SPotter]

thats some friend you got there im glad it worked out for you and i too will expect more updates. Forget about those silly dart frogs and get bsck in the game!!! remember its your fault i did my upgrade....your build was my inspiration.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

[toned]

great thread and setup! thanks for sharing

[nightOwl]

Originally Posted by gioNVA

Nice! With that said, I'm expecting more updates from you

Francis - Don't worry. I can now document how long it takes for things to color back up . Plus I have my eye on a new fish . Did you end up getting that new tank?

Originally Posted by SPotter

thats some friend you got there im glad it worked out for you and i too will expect more updates. Forget about those silly dart frogs and get bsck in the game!!! remember its your fault i did my upgrade....your build was my inspiration.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

Steve - I can not thank you enough. I really like the meter you sent . Like I mentioned to Francis now I can document the color up process so hopefully a biweekly or weekly update for a while.

I am glad I could inspire you to finally do the upgrade! You deserved it and your upgrade is sweet!

I finally finished one enclosure for the dart frogs so I can focus on this again. It sucks having multiple hobbies...LOL.

Originally Posted by toned

great thread and setup! thanks for sharing

toned - Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully something in here will help your avoid future issues or give you ideas.

General Updates - I Love New Radiums

Today when I came home and went downstairs the tank looked brighter I am once again excited. New Radiums are so nice to view your corals under. I choose a leather sectional for downstairs it has been down there about two weeks and I have not sat on it yet. The state of the tank was a downer. Tonight I enjoyed my tank for the first time in a while. I know now I have to bite the bullet and replace the VHO's that seem to have extra shipping no matter where you order from on line. The output from them has got to be just as bad.

[nightOwl]

General Updates - Bubble Blaster Pump

My pump is still having issues after a few emails back and forth and trying several things I will be sending it back in for a replacement. When I took it out I noticed the rust issue I was having seemed to be spreading and pump was still doing the cut on and off. I will put the pump in the mail this week and hopefully have a new pump sometime next week.

General Updates - Coral Snapshot

I carried the camera downstairs and took a few shots so that I can track the progress of my corals coloring back up. I have been increasing the time the lights have been on by a half an hour over the last week or so. I am not sure if it is doing anything but the cerith snails have been responding. The last day or so I have been seeing new eggs laid but they have not been as perfect as before so i think I will have to start feeding a little more.

Hopefully the colors will start to come back in the following corals.


Tri color


digi


Miami Orchard


Blue Tenuis


Leng Sy Cap


Pink Lemonade


Tyree Baby Blue Cap


Idaho Grape Cap


Unknown


ATL Tri Color