Mike's 140 Cubish Build - Page 14

miwoodar · 12/17/2008, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by crvz
Do you have something about spare parts tattooed on you somewhere?

Marc, you do harp on this a lot. And for good reason! Now, if you'll leave a used Mag Drive on the market long enough, I'll go ahead and pick up one of those too.

Steve - That thing is growing gangbusters right now. I'll definitely need to start taking frags in the near future. You're on the list!

Here's what it looked like in October during 'The Big Die Off'...

And yesterday...

melev · 12/17/2008, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by crvz
Do you have something about spare parts tattooed on you somewhere?

No!

LooseHip · 01/23/2009, 02:02 PM

How is the tank, any updates?

LooseHip · 01/23/2009, 02:02 PM

How is the tank, any updates?

miwoodar · 01/23/2009, 03:19 PM

Tank is great - full steam ahead. I pulled my calcium reactor last week and replaced it with a dosing pump pushing RFH's DIY two part. It has been pleasantly simple to dial in. Growth is excellent. Colors are good. Still laying off the carbon dosing for the time being.

Nitrates went down from 2.5 to ND on a new Red Sea kit as of last week
Phosphates went down to from .25 to ND on a new Red Sea kit at the same time (this was expected since colors have been getting better)

spleify · 01/23/2009, 04:20 PM

Glad to hear things are going good. What kind of dosing pump are you using MIke?
Any new pics?

Spleify

cashman95 · 01/23/2009, 06:06 PM

Can I ask why you pulled your calcium reactor and went 2 part? I am dosing 2 part with dosing pumps and was thinking of going the calcium reactor route!

crvz · 01/23/2009, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by spleify
Glad to hear things are going good. What kind of dosing pump are you using MIke?
Any new pics?

Spleify

I, too, would enjoy any pics. And good to hear things are doing well!

miwoodar · 01/25/2009, 01:12 PM

No pics right now. I was out of town for business all week arriving home last night (Saturday) and I'm flying back out first thing tomorrow morning. Today is the lil' ladies b-day so it's a non-tank day. Pics soon after I get back. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to take some better ones this time around.

I had been using the calcium reactor for a few years. It worked well but I was ready to try something different. I also wanted to save money. The reactor media was running ~$75/year. After CO2 the whole setup was costing ~$115/year. I switched to the DIY two part, stocked up on supplies, and I hope keep the cost below $50/year. I'm running full strength Mrs Wages to help further. I got a good deal on the dosing pump allowing me to pocket a small pile of cash after selling the reactor and bottle. The doser is not a 'reef' dosing pump. This is the only one like it I've ever seen on RC.

crvz · 01/27/2009, 10:09 AM

Wow, I'm surprised you were using so much media. I only use about $20 a year for my tank, and then CO2 is on the order of maybe 10 lbs (so another $20?). But, in any case, I fully understand the desire to lower sustaining costs.

miwoodar · 01/27/2009, 09:41 PM

I take the blame for my reactor running so much money. I was getting the media from an expensive LFS. I might have been able to get it down to $80/year with the reactor if I had been going online. I was out of media and was thinking about buying another bag when I happened upon the dosing pump so it was an easy decision.

No pics yet. I'm on the road again. It looks like next week might be trip number three in as many weeks. It's nice to be busy (especially in this economy!) but this is the busiest I've been in a while. I lead up the costing efforts on our proposals...it's no time to be turning away good ones.

Corndork2 · 01/30/2009, 06:37 PM

Dude your craftmanship is stunning

miwoodar · 01/30/2009, 07:42 PM

Thanks. Make no mistake though...I'm just a bumbling cheapskate fool who likes tools.

IridescentLily · 01/30/2009, 07:55 PM

miwoodar,
Those tank dimensions are perfection.
Thanks for sharing your awesome build.

Your tank is the lottery reef tank.
"If I won the lottery I would build a tank like...."

Cheers.

caribngg · 01/31/2009, 08:28 AM

Hey miwoodar, Great build i love the tank, But do you think that your problems with the dieoff could have come from toxins from the foam and paint that you used on your rock support stand ?

miwoodar · 01/31/2009, 08:45 AM

Thanks Lily, caribngg. I'm not worried about it. I had a PVC/foam structure in my prior tank for a year or more before switching to the new tank. The black structure posted earlier in the thread is now 100% covered in coralline. People (even a few seasoned reefers) have come over and didn't know it was PVC/foam until I confessed. Any little bits of concern I had are long gone.

miwoodar · 02/17/2009, 11:42 PM

Quick update...wife, kids, life, and the tank are all well. I have lots of openings to fill in the tank but haven't had a chance to fill them yet. Life goes too fast! The slow economy has not impacted my office too bad. In fact, I've been on a head-down trudge working some long hours the past few weeks. My only respite has been spending time on RC.

I just did the math on my switch to DIY 2 part + Lime...

I picked up 24 lbs of baking soda for $12 (Costco), 27 lbs of driveway Heat for $18 (Home Depot), and 10 lbs of Mrs Wages pickling lime for $30. It appears that this will get me through the next 12 months. I've calc'd my usage as shown at the bottom of this post. These numbers are still a little rough but are close enough for horse shoes. I think I'm going to make my $50 / year target. I definitely wouldn't have made it if I weren't buying in bulk.

* 14 lbs / year Driveway Heat
* 20 lbs / year baking soda
* 9 lbs / year lime

miwoodar · 02/18/2009, 12:12 AM

Oops, math errors...I should just keep this stuff to myself so I nobody knows about the egg on my face.

6 lbs Driveway Heat, and 8 lbs baking soda per year.

I would guess that these numbers are good +/- 20%

Anybody care to check the math? Please point out any errors if you see them.

erics3000 · 02/18/2009, 09:00 AM

Driveway heat...I had to check in on that haven,t heard that before. us Floridians...We would be buying ant killer instead. hheheheeheh

miwoodar · 02/18/2009, 09:30 AM

I'm not thinking it's going to be very easy to find in Florida. It's hard to find in Colorado outside of winter time. Also, not many places seem to carry that particular product. Maybe you could buy it online? I've seen it at Home Depot (cheapest) but also found it at Ace Hardware.

Ants suck.

Here's the lime dosage summary. All in, I'm definitely beating the $50/year target.

porthios · 02/18/2009, 10:30 AM

what are you using for kalk mike?

miwoodar · 02/18/2009, 11:04 AM

Mrs Wages. It's ~$3/can (1lb can) at King Soopers. I'm running it via ATO. I thought it was cheaper than the DIY A/B but I've just come to the realization that it isn't unless I can find it in bulk.
Using my current sources (again, assuming that I haven't made another boo-boo in my math for the A/B, I know the kalk is right)...

$5/year in Driveway Heat (Home Depot)
$5/year in Baking Soda (Costco)
$27/year in kalk (this is very surprising)

Man, I am a cheap skate!

erics3000 · 02/18/2009, 02:27 PM

Cheap skate???naw...Save pennies to spend dollars or more for corals...hhehehehe

miwoodar · 02/18/2009, 02:34 PM

I'm with you! Spend the extra dough on corals! I should prepare an annual summary of my cost savings measures and present it to the wife about two weeks before my birthday.

porthios · 02/18/2009, 02:55 PM

I've just come to the realization that it isn't unless I can find it in bulk.

yeah, that's where i was headed with the question. kalk, cheap as it is, is still the most expensive piece for me. was hoping you had a local source for it in bulk.

01/23/2009, 03:19 PM	#330
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	Tank is great - full steam ahead. I pulled my calcium reactor last week and replaced it with a dosing pump pushing RFH's DIY two part. It has been pleasantly simple to dial in. Growth is excellent. Colors are good. Still laying off the carbon dosing for the time being. Nitrates went down from 2.5 to ND on a new Red Sea kit as of last week Phosphates went down to from .25 to ND on a new Red Sea kit at the same time (this was expected since colors have been getting better) __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

01/23/2009, 04:20 PM	#331
spleify Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 9,579	Glad to hear things are going good. What kind of dosing pump are you using MIke? Any new pics? Spleify __________________ Make it a Great Day!!!! Current Tank Info: 60 gal SPS cube, with 25 gal refugium, 400W MH, DIY Lumenarc III, DIY skimmer, DIY stand and canopy. 40 breeder LPS with 40 gallon sump, DIY stand, 250W MH

01/23/2009, 06:06 PM	#332
cashman95 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Greenville, S.C. Posts: 810	Can I ask why you pulled your calcium reactor and went 2 part? I am dosing 2 part with dosing pumps and was thinking of going the calcium reactor route! __________________ SPS Tank with sump in the garage, 400watt Radium/Lumatek ballast,ReefKeeper2 controlling it all!! VHO actinics in the works! Current Tank Info: 24x24x20 Rimless Cube

01/25/2009, 01:12 PM	#334
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	No pics right now. I was out of town for business all week arriving home last night (Saturday) and I'm flying back out first thing tomorrow morning. Today is the lil' ladies b-day so it's a non-tank day. Pics soon after I get back. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to take some better ones this time around. I had been using the calcium reactor for a few years. It worked well but I was ready to try something different. I also wanted to save money. The reactor media was running ~$75/year. After CO2 the whole setup was costing ~$115/year. I switched to the DIY two part, stocked up on supplies, and I hope keep the cost below $50/year. I'm running full strength Mrs Wages to help further. I got a good deal on the dosing pump allowing me to pocket a small pile of cash after selling the reactor and bottle. The doser is not a 'reef' dosing pump. This is the only one like it I've ever seen on RC. __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

01/27/2009, 10:09 AM	#335
crvz Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: houstonia Posts: 7,989	Wow, I'm surprised you were using so much media. I only use about $20 a year for my tank, and then CO2 is on the order of maybe 10 lbs (so another $20?). But, in any case, I fully understand the desire to lower sustaining costs. __________________ -Chris- You don't win friends with salad. "Look! They're trying to learn for free!" ... "Use your phony guns as clubs!" Current Tank Info: rectangluar? wet?

01/23/2009, 02:02 PM	#328
LooseHip Foaming Conehead Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: CO Posts: 1,002	How is the tank, any updates?

01/23/2009, 02:02 PM	#329
LooseHip Foaming Conehead Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: CO Posts: 1,002	How is the tank, any updates?

01/27/2009, 09:41 PM	#336
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	I take the blame for my reactor running so much money. I was getting the media from an expensive LFS. I might have been able to get it down to $80/year with the reactor if I had been going online. I was out of media and was thinking about buying another bag when I happened upon the dosing pump so it was an easy decision. No pics yet. I'm on the road again. It looks like next week might be trip number three in as many weeks. It's nice to be busy (especially in this economy!) but this is the busiest I've been in a while. I lead up the costing efforts on our proposals...it's no time to be turning away good ones. __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

01/30/2009, 06:37 PM	#337
Corndork2 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Peoria, IL Posts: 511	Dude your craftmanship is stunning

01/30/2009, 07:42 PM	#338
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	Thanks. Make no mistake though...I'm just a bumbling cheapskate fool who likes tools. __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

01/30/2009, 07:55 PM	#339
IridescentLily Editor-Reefkeeping mag Join Date: May 2008 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico Posts: 3,858 Blog Entries: 5	miwoodar, Those tank dimensions are perfection. Thanks for sharing your awesome build. Your tank is the lottery reef tank. "If I won the lottery I would build a tank like...." Cheers.

01/31/2009, 08:28 AM	#340
caribngg Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: St Thomas Virgin Islands Posts: 101	Hey miwoodar, Great build i love the tank, But do you think that your problems with the dieoff could have come from toxins from the foam and paint that you used on your rock support stand ? __________________ geoffrey Current Tank Info: 75 gallon, 6-t5 w reflectors, 30 gal sump,AQua C ev 180 skimmer, Korallin Calcium reactor

01/31/2009, 08:45 AM	#341
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	Thanks Lily, caribngg. I'm not worried about it. I had a PVC/foam structure in my prior tank for a year or more before switching to the new tank. The black structure posted earlier in the thread is now 100% covered in coralline. People (even a few seasoned reefers) have come over and didn't know it was PVC/foam until I confessed. Any little bits of concern I had are long gone. __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

02/17/2009, 11:42 PM	#342
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	Quick update...wife, kids, life, and the tank are all well. I have lots of openings to fill in the tank but haven't had a chance to fill them yet. Life goes too fast! The slow economy has not impacted my office too bad. In fact, I've been on a head-down trudge working some long hours the past few weeks. My only respite has been spending time on RC. I just did the math on my switch to DIY 2 part + Lime... I picked up 24 lbs of baking soda for $12 (Costco), 27 lbs of driveway Heat for $18 (Home Depot), and 10 lbs of Mrs Wages pickling lime for $30. It appears that this will get me through the next 12 months. I've calc'd my usage as shown at the bottom of this post. These numbers are still a little rough but are close enough for horse shoes. I think I'm going to make my $50 / year target. I definitely wouldn't have made it if I weren't buying in bulk. * 14 lbs / year Driveway Heat * 20 lbs / year baking soda * 9 lbs / year lime __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

02/18/2009, 12:12 AM	#343
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	Oops, math errors...I should just keep this stuff to myself so I nobody knows about the egg on my face. 6 lbs Driveway Heat, and 8 lbs baking soda per year. I would guess that these numbers are good +/- 20% Anybody care to check the math? Please point out any errors if you see them. __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

02/18/2009, 09:00 AM	#344
erics3000 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Palm Bay FL Posts: 2,957	Driveway heat...I had to check in on that haven,t heard that before. us Floridians...We would be buying ant killer instead. hheheheeheh __________________ Eric (Red House for my 300 display 600 system) Current Tank Info: 600 gallon system with 300 display

02/18/2009, 09:30 AM	#345
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	I'm not thinking it's going to be very easy to find in Florida. It's hard to find in Colorado outside of winter time. Also, not many places seem to carry that particular product. Maybe you could buy it online? I've seen it at Home Depot (cheapest) but also found it at Ace Hardware. Ants suck. Here's the lime dosage summary. All in, I'm definitely beating the $50/year target. __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube Last edited by miwoodar; 02/18/2009 at 09:37 AM.

02/18/2009, 10:30 AM	#346
porthios Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: colorado Posts: 719	what are you using for kalk mike? __________________ - jason homepage -> build thread.. Current Tank Info: 525g display with several supporting subsystems..

02/18/2009, 11:04 AM	#347
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	Mrs Wages. It's ~$3/can (1lb can) at King Soopers. I'm running it via ATO. I thought it was cheaper than the DIY A/B but I've just come to the realization that it isn't unless I can find it in bulk. Using my current sources (again, assuming that I haven't made another boo-boo in my math for the A/B, I know the kalk is right)... $5/year in Driveway Heat (Home Depot) $5/year in Baking Soda (Costco) $27/year in kalk (this is very surprising) Man, I am a cheap skate! __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

02/18/2009, 02:27 PM	#348
erics3000 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Palm Bay FL Posts: 2,957	Cheap skate???naw...Save pennies to spend dollars or more for corals...hhehehehe __________________ Eric (Red House for my 300 display 600 system) Current Tank Info: 600 gallon system with 300 display

02/18/2009, 02:34 PM	#349
miwoodar Likey the bikey Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,371	I'm with you! Spend the extra dough on corals! I should prepare an annual summary of my cost savings measures and present it to the wife about two weeks before my birthday. __________________ Mike On hiatus. I'm either out riding my bicycle, playing with my family, or throwing ferts in my planted tank. Or working. I hope I'm not doing that though. Current Tank Info: 140 DIY Cube

02/18/2009, 02:55 PM	#350
porthios Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: colorado Posts: 719	I've just come to the realization that it isn't unless I can find it in bulk. yeah, that's where i was headed with the question. kalk, cheap as it is, is still the most expensive piece for me. was hoping you had a local source for it in bulk. __________________ - jason homepage -> build thread.. Current Tank Info: 525g display with several supporting subsystems..