Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread - Page 2

niteshado · 12/07/2005, 11:05 PM

Marc: on the tunk, I once had a tank connected with tubes (i think it was 55 gal) Just make sure that water enters one side of the tube and then exits at the other end. would make an interesting currect. the exit end will be where the debris end up (Found this out the hard way ) Good luck

Larry

melev · 12/07/2005, 11:24 PM

That makes sense, and that was pretty much the plan. A closed loop would be simpler, but I have to have a way to get air into the water, and some type of filtration.

Lunchbucket · 12/07/2005, 11:26 PM

glad your female is alive and well. how did she look?

later
Lunchbucket

melev · 12/07/2005, 11:40 PM

She was very hard to see, but her colors were vibrant. She never came out in the open, so I couldn't see if she was thin or fat.

kwl1763 · 12/07/2005, 11:51 PM

Yep you got it right. ~62 gallons

Sorry let me spell it out a little better.

For a tube:

Area = pi (just a mathematical number 3.1245....) multipled by the radius squared. Remember pi r squared? The unit of this will be squared inches for us. To get to a volume we have to go to cubic inches

Volume = Area multiplied by length. This gets us cubic inches. Then to convert that to gallons is just a straight conversion there are 231.62 cubic inches per gallon.

Hopefully that clears it up a little.

Spuds725 · 12/08/2005, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kwl1763
Area = pi (just a mathematical number 3.1245....)

Pi= 3.14159265 so you might be alittle off (not much)

Source= http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=pi

And if you want it more accurate... here are the first 10,000 digits of Pi.... http://www.joyofpi.com/pi.html

(the nerd in me escapes)....

McGinnis · 12/08/2005, 07:30 AM

Marc,
You don't think you could create acrylic boxes on either side of the tube to accomidate the flow and gas exchange? That was what I was thinking.

That is great to hear that your little Mandarin is still around! Hope she will come out into the open so you get a photo for us!

Snakebyt · 12/08/2005, 07:34 AM

I am starting to look for a female mandrin to go with my male, Cyclops, the one eyed mandrin

Micki · 12/08/2005, 07:39 AM

I've been hunting for a female for a while now. There are tons of males but the girls are hard to come by.

GregM779 · 12/08/2005, 07:44 AM

I had my female for months, I lost the pair right after I treated for red bugs, both were fat and happy. The stuff you use to kill red bugs also kills pods so I think it may have poisoned the mandarins when they ate them.

McGinnis · 12/08/2005, 10:32 AM

Greg,
You wouldn't think that could be a side-effect of treating the tank, but it makes perfect sense that it would cause the pods to be toxic to the fish that feed on them. I wonder if anyone has made any study of that?

Travis · 12/08/2005, 10:48 AM

Interceptor isn't toxic to fish. I don't remember exactly why but the active ingredient is only effect on certain "types" of animals. I don't remember what "type" that was but it is the reason that you can treat your tank and it will only kill certain things and not bother others. I think the info was explained in the original Interceptor treatment thread that Dustin posted on RDO.

A more likely reason would be that the interceptor took a hard hit on the pod population so it took a while for it to repopulate to levels that would sustain a mandarin.

McGinnis · 12/08/2005, 11:08 AM

If I remeber correctly, Interceptor is used by veterinarian to treat the larval stage of heartworm. So my guess is that it would target larval arthropods. My wife works as vet tech, and she gets calls from reefers on occasion wanting to get the stuff to treat their tanks.
Travis, I agree it is not toxic to the fish directly, but it has to be toxic to the microfauna in the tank, and if the mandarin are feeding on them, they could get exposed. I will agree that the pod population would be almost destroyed by the use of it, and that it would take a long time to recover.

Knyght · 12/08/2005, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Qwiv, do you know how cold it is outside right now? Even if I were to do the woodwork, staining and varnishing isn't an option. So it looks like I've got a 3 month reprieve.

It was 14 degrees here this morning with snow. Hmmmm maybe a 6 month reprieve

Lordhelmet · 12/08/2005, 12:30 PM

i had a friend when i was little whose grandparents had some custom made tanks that were connected to each other with an acrylic tube. I remember thinking that it was the coolest thing in the world when the eels they had would swim through it. of course this was the mid 80's and i was 7 or 8 so i dont remember much more.
If anyone could do it with acrylic you could Marc.

and Micki i posted on the SPS board but not sure you saw. I would bet on the clown goby. those little guys are terrible when it comes to nipping. i'm just looking for the best way to get mine out as soon as possible.

Chris.

Travis · 12/08/2005, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Knyght
It was 14 degrees here this morning with snow. Hmmmm maybe a 6 month reprieve

Sounds "tropical".

It was 19 below 0 here last night.

McGinnis · 12/08/2005, 02:27 PM

Well put Travis....it 4 here last night!

BrianPlankis · 12/08/2005, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by McGinnis
If I remeber correctly, Interceptor is used by veterinarian to treat the larval stage of heartworm. So my guess is that it would target larval arthropods. My wife works as vet tech, and she gets calls from reefers on occasion wanting to get the stuff to treat their tanks.
Travis, I agree it is not toxic to the fish directly, but it has to be toxic to the microfauna in the tank, and if the mandarin are feeding on them, they could get exposed. I will agree that the pod population would be almost destroyed by the use of it, and that it would take a long time to recover.

I did some testing recently on Interceptor and one of my test subjects were amphipods. 100% mortality on them after 24 hours of Interceptor treatment at the recommended dose to kill redbugs. Goes to show that it is extremely important to do water changes and run carbon to remove the poison from your tank or your amphipod population will be gone. I can't imagine the havoc it would create on smaller pods. Much better to use a QT and treat there IMO.

Brian

krajacich · 12/08/2005, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Travis
Sounds "tropical".

It was 19 below 0 here last night.

-26 here....can't wait for the warm-up they keep talking about

Marc- glad you finally saw your mandarin.

I remember seeing some aquariums connected by two tubes a few years ago for sale in a pet shop. I'm sure they'd look great but figuring out flow might be a bit difficult.

125swimmer · 12/08/2005, 04:44 PM

nice

Micki · 12/08/2005, 04:44 PM

Lordhelmet, Yes saw your post. But, I had this problem before I got the goby.

Thanks though...

DerekW · 12/08/2005, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
I like the idea of this tank because you can see the animals. I don't want to add rock for them to hide behind, but maybe I could put some small pieces along the bottom for them to hug.

ISince this is theoretical now, I'm open to suggestions. Even if the reply is "No, it can't be done for these reasons..."

As eels basically spend their lives with only their noses sticking out of the rocks, wouldn't this stress them out?

GregM779 · 12/08/2005, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Travis
Interceptor isn't toxic to fish. I don't remember exactly why but the active ingredient is only effect on certain "types" of animals. I don't remember what "type" that was but it is the reason that you can treat your tank and it will only kill certain things and not bother others. I think the info was explained in the original Interceptor treatment thread that Dustin posted on RDO.

A more likely reason would be that the interceptor took a hard hit on the pod population so it took a while for it to repopulate to levels that would sustain a mandarin.

That's what I thought also, it's just a guess but both mandarins which were very fat died the next day. It may have been something else but they didn't starve to death in one day/

arconom · 12/08/2005, 08:25 PM

Marc I'm waiting for your Calcium reactor Phosphate levels. I have to see where it's at after all that mess with the old media. Who knows maybe it was a bad batch.

melev · 12/09/2005, 01:34 AM

I've been updating that thread in the Chemistry forum. I tested last night I think.

PO4 in the tank - .1
Alk - 9.3 dKH

I'll test again shortly.

I thought I'd show you guys my new auto top off system. It isn't a huge change, but it is nicer than before.

First I went to Home Depot and bought more wrapping paper rubbermaid containers. At Walmart these cost $9.99, but at Home Depot they were under $5 each. I bought three, but after placing them in the fish room, they still took up a little too much space. So I used two, and the third one is holding wrapping paper at the moment.

I drilled a couple of holes in the front of each container, and inserted 1/2" bulkheads, and then joined the two containers with 1/2" PVC.

I put these in place, and they fit nicely against the wall out of my way. I may make an acrylic kickplate just to avoid hitting that plumbing accidentally.

Since the container aren't close enough to the tank, I have to stretch some tubing from the AquaLifter pump to top off the sump. I decided to drill a hole in the flange of the sump, then use a piece of rigid tubing to insert it, keeping it in place.

Now when I have to get over to the electrical panel for something major, I can simply lift out the top off tubing and set it aside, and once done, put it back.

Each container holds 10g of water, and my tank evaporates between 3 and 5g a day, depending on the time of year. So now I can have as much as 20g of water available. I still can add a third one later, if it seems necessary. I tried turning them sideways, but didn't like the way it looked. The way I did this tonight, they hug the wall nicely under the shelf with the test kits.

12/07/2005, 11:05 PM	#26
niteshado Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Oak Park,CA Posts: 223	Marc: on the tunk, I once had a tank connected with tubes (i think it was 55 gal) Just make sure that water enters one side of the tube and then exits at the other end. would make an interesting currect. the exit end will be where the debris end up (Found this out the hard way ) Good luck Larry __________________ trade frags and save a reef Current Tank Info: 130 gal reef, 35 gal sump, octo 150 recirc,SunBrite 60" LED F series lighting

12/07/2005, 11:26 PM	#28
Lunchbucket Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Brookings, SD Posts: 12,924	glad your female is alive and well. how did she look? later Lunchbucket __________________ Trying to lose weight by walking is like trying to bake a cake w/ a cigarette lighter - Lunchbucket - "Nancy-Boy Extraordinaire" - maxxII- Current Tank Info: 58gal Oceanic RR, 2x400w MH (20k XM and 10k XM), Deltec PF601 Ca Rx, Deltec AP701 skimmer, mag950 return, iwaki 55rlt w/ an Oceansmotions 4-way unit, Tunze 7300 and 6000 each w/ controller, fluidized po4 rx

12/07/2005, 11:51 PM	#30
kwl1763 Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 877	Yep you got it right. ~62 gallons Sorry let me spell it out a little better. For a tube: Area = pi (just a mathematical number 3.1245....) multipled by the radius squared. Remember pi r squared? The unit of this will be squared inches for us. To get to a volume we have to go to cubic inches Volume = Area multiplied by length. This gets us cubic inches. Then to convert that to gallons is just a straight conversion there are 231.62 cubic inches per gallon. Hopefully that clears it up a little. __________________ Keith Click the red house above to visit my thread Current Tank Info: 450G SPS tank and a 20G RBTA/Clown tank

12/08/2005, 07:30 AM	#32
McGinnis Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Burlington, Vermont Posts: 310	Marc, You don't think you could create acrylic boxes on either side of the tube to accomidate the flow and gas exchange? That was what I was thinking. That is great to hear that your little Mandarin is still around! Hope she will come out into the open so you get a photo for us! __________________ Matthew Kuhlmeier "Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it" Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: 90-Gallon AGA Reef-Ready, Converted Wet/Dry to sump/refugium, T-5 Lighing, Oceansmotion Squirt & Mag 9.5 Closed Loop, Ozone, and still counting..

12/08/2005, 07:39 AM	#34
Micki Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 7,163	I've been hunting for a female for a while now. There are tons of males but the girls are hard to come by. __________________ Micki... Western Ohio Reef Club Click the red house for my 125 progress! Current Tank Info: 125 gal. reef, 90 gal. sump, 10 gal. fuge, 40 gallon. 150 gallon fish only.

12/07/2005, 11:24 PM	#27
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	That makes sense, and that was pretty much the plan. A closed loop would be simpler, but I have to have a way to get air into the water, and some type of filtration.

12/07/2005, 11:40 PM	#29
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	She was very hard to see, but her colors were vibrant. She never came out in the open, so I couldn't see if she was thin or fat.

12/08/2005, 07:34 AM	#33
Snakebyt Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Lubbock Tx Posts: 2,141	I am starting to look for a female mandrin to go with my male, Cyclops, the one eyed mandrin

12/08/2005, 07:44 AM	#35
GregM779 Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: West Palm Beach, Florida Posts: 1,961	I had my female for months, I lost the pair right after I treated for red bugs, both were fat and happy. The stuff you use to kill red bugs also kills pods so I think it may have poisoned the mandarins when they ate them. __________________ Greg Current Tank Info: 125G Reef; SPS, LPS, and Softies; 3x150w 10k HQI MHs, 4x96w PC Actinics, 14 Moonlights; 25w UV Sterilizer; Euroreef Skimmer; Schuran JetStream 1 Calcium Reactor; Sealife Systems Sump; 10g Refugium

12/08/2005, 10:32 AM	#36
McGinnis Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Burlington, Vermont Posts: 310	Greg, You wouldn't think that could be a side-effect of treating the tank, but it makes perfect sense that it would cause the pods to be toxic to the fish that feed on them. I wonder if anyone has made any study of that? __________________ Matthew Kuhlmeier "Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it" Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: 90-Gallon AGA Reef-Ready, Converted Wet/Dry to sump/refugium, T-5 Lighing, Oceansmotion Squirt & Mag 9.5 Closed Loop, Ozone, and still counting..

12/08/2005, 10:48 AM	#37
Travis 10 and over club Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 5,525	Interceptor isn't toxic to fish. I don't remember exactly why but the active ingredient is only effect on certain "types" of animals. I don't remember what "type" that was but it is the reason that you can treat your tank and it will only kill certain things and not bother others. I think the info was explained in the original Interceptor treatment thread that Dustin posted on RDO. A more likely reason would be that the interceptor took a hard hit on the pod population so it took a while for it to repopulate to levels that would sustain a mandarin. __________________ TOTM August 08 An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Current Tank Info: 280 sps w/ 75 LPS, 75 refugium, 120 sump

12/08/2005, 11:08 AM	#38
McGinnis Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Burlington, Vermont Posts: 310	If I remeber correctly, Interceptor is used by veterinarian to treat the larval stage of heartworm. So my guess is that it would target larval arthropods. My wife works as vet tech, and she gets calls from reefers on occasion wanting to get the stuff to treat their tanks. Travis, I agree it is not toxic to the fish directly, but it has to be toxic to the microfauna in the tank, and if the mandarin are feeding on them, they could get exposed. I will agree that the pod population would be almost destroyed by the use of it, and that it would take a long time to recover. __________________ Matthew Kuhlmeier "Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it" Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: 90-Gallon AGA Reef-Ready, Converted Wet/Dry to sump/refugium, T-5 Lighing, Oceansmotion Squirt & Mag 9.5 Closed Loop, Ozone, and still counting..

12/08/2005, 12:30 PM	#40
Lordhelmet Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,008	i had a friend when i was little whose grandparents had some custom made tanks that were connected to each other with an acrylic tube. I remember thinking that it was the coolest thing in the world when the eels they had would swim through it. of course this was the mid 80's and i was 7 or 8 so i dont remember much more. If anyone could do it with acrylic you could Marc. and Micki i posted on the SPS board but not sure you saw. I would bet on the clown goby. those little guys are terrible when it comes to nipping. i'm just looking for the best way to get mine out as soon as possible. Chris. __________________ I need a new signiture Current Tank Info: 90 gallon, 14 gallon

12/08/2005, 02:27 PM	#42
McGinnis Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Burlington, Vermont Posts: 310	Well put Travis....it 4 here last night! __________________ Matthew Kuhlmeier "Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it" Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: 90-Gallon AGA Reef-Ready, Converted Wet/Dry to sump/refugium, T-5 Lighing, Oceansmotion Squirt & Mag 9.5 Closed Loop, Ozone, and still counting..

12/08/2005, 04:44 PM	#45
125swimmer Moved On Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Murrieta, California Posts: 2	nice

12/08/2005, 08:25 PM	#49
arconom Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Middletown, NY Posts: 2,126	Marc I'm waiting for your Calcium reactor Phosphate levels. I have to see where it's at after all that mess with the old media. Who knows maybe it was a bad batch.

12/09/2005, 01:34 AM	#50
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	I've been updating that thread in the Chemistry forum. I tested last night I think. PO4 in the tank - .1 Alk - 9.3 dKH I'll test again shortly. I thought I'd show you guys my new auto top off system. It isn't a huge change, but it is nicer than before. First I went to Home Depot and bought more wrapping paper rubbermaid containers. At Walmart these cost $9.99, but at Home Depot they were under $5 each. I bought three, but after placing them in the fish room, they still took up a little too much space. So I used two, and the third one is holding wrapping paper at the moment. I drilled a couple of holes in the front of each container, and inserted 1/2" bulkheads, and then joined the two containers with 1/2" PVC. I put these in place, and they fit nicely against the wall out of my way. I may make an acrylic kickplate just to avoid hitting that plumbing accidentally. Since the container aren't close enough to the tank, I have to stretch some tubing from the AquaLifter pump to top off the sump. I decided to drill a hole in the flange of the sump, then use a piece of rigid tubing to insert it, keeping it in place. Now when I have to get over to the electrical panel for something major, I can simply lift out the top off tubing and set it aside, and once done, put it back. Each container holds 10g of water, and my tank evaporates between 3 and 5g a day, depending on the time of year. So now I can have as much as 20g of water available. I still can add a third one later, if it seems necessary. I tried turning them sideways, but didn't like the way it looked. The way I did this tonight, they hug the wall nicely under the shelf with the test kits.