Dan H Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 He looks big enough that he may accidentally damage the coral, but I again don't think it's intentionally trying to eat your acro. I probably should have documented our nasty acro-eating crab when it happened. Would have been useful for others to see what that looked like. I actually had to stab him with tweezers to get him out. Lil stinker was running from 1 acro to the next beating up on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 He looks big enough that he may accidentally damage the coral, but I again don't think it's intentionally trying to eat your acro. I probably should have documented our nasty acro-eating crab when it happened. Would have been useful for others to see what that looked like. I actually had to stab him with tweezers to get him out. Lil stinker was running from 1 acro to the next beating up on them. I agree, he wasn't actively eating it. I was surprised that he was even picking at it after being a model citizen for the past 2 years. I am more worried that he may not be getting enough to eat and is "trying" new things. Last year I had a little acro eating crab that came in on a maricultured piece that took out about 2 inches overnight. I had to stab mine with a toothpick to get him off. The emerald crab is no danger at all compared to this bugger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Lol. Should have put him on the live rock to serve as a warning. Crab on a pike. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 I decided it was time to bite the bullet and get a par meter. I figure since I have invested so much in the lights and coral frags, it is pretty easy to justify the cost of a par meter to identify when I need to change out the T5 bulbs and ensure the corals are getting the light they need. While doing research I looked at the following 3 par meters: Apogee SQ-520 Pros: Designed to accurately read blue light, most popular hobby grade brand Cons: Most expensive Apex Par Monitoring kit Pros: Comes hidden in some fake live rock so you can monitor par long term Con: Comes with the last gen apogee meter Seneye Pros: Cost, very accurate when compared to $2,000+ equipment (see Bulk Reef's videos), option to use it as an ammonia monitor Cons: Doesn't seem to be very popular, hard to find reviews from hobbyist on the par meter It really came down between the Apogee and Seneye. During my research I watched Bulk Reef's videos where they compared the readings from their high-end par meter to the Seneye and the results were almost identical. The accuracy plus the low price of the Seneye convinced me to go with it. The Seneye should be coming in this week, I'll be sure to post how it works and what I think of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted September 13, 2016 Author Share Posted September 13, 2016 Finally got the Seneye up and running. For some reason its not compatible with a Surface Pro 3, I had to bring out a 10 year old laptop that it works fine on. While playing around with the meter, I noticed there is a significant difference in PAR based on if the Gyres are running or not. I think the surface of the water getting choppy when the Gyre is running causes the difference. I took these readings with it running which is why there are some pretty big ranges. I also need to make some kind of holder for the Seneye. Its very unwieldy to hold it in the tank and try not to block any of the light. I actually broke a big piece of my digitata off trying to get a reading From what I've tested so far the absolute minimum par is 275 at the bottom of the tank. The top portions reach up to the 700's when the Gyre isn't running too hard. The LEDs are set to 70% at peak and are at peak for 6 hours with a 2 hour ramp up and ramp down before and after. The T5 are on for 8 hours. The readings were taken at peak light time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 That's some pretty good par there sir. If your acros look light to you on the top of the rocks, you might want to turn it down a bit. It's very similar numbers I have in my tank except I've added T5s since then so I'm curious what it is at now. Either way, looks like lighting won't be an issue for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 Another Vectra failure! This was the final straw, I ordered a Jaebo DC12000 to replace it for now. I'm thankful the failure happened to today and not tomorrow, I'm heading out of town for the weekend! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Wow! I have a Sicce Synchra 12.0 return pump just sitting around if you need something to hold you over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Yikes. That looks messy. At least the tank got a skimmate treat. I like how you put the float valves in the dosing container. I may do something similar on mine. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 Wow! I have a Sicce Synchra 12.0 return pump just sitting around if you need something to hold you over. Thanks for the offer. I have a Lifegard pump that will get me through the weekend if I can't get the Vectra running again tonight. I think its the build up on the shaft again so once I clean it, it should be good for the weekend. Yikes. That looks messy. At least the tank got a skimmate treat. I like how you put the float valves in the dosing container. I may do something similar on mine. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I caught it before the skimmate bubbled out of the sump, so the mess wasn't too bad. Thanks, the float valves work good so far. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 You should move a float valve to your sump and program it to turn off the skimmer when it gets triggered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 You should move a float valve to your sump and program it to turn off the skimmer when it gets triggered. I've been planning on doing that for awhile, just haven't gotten around to doing it. I need to make a bracket for the float valve. Maybe I can come MacGyver a solution for this weekend. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Old MacGyver or new MacGyver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 Didn't even know there was a new one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Didn't even know there was a new one!I thought you were hip Hula! [emoji12] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted September 30, 2016 Author Share Posted September 30, 2016 So the issue is heat from the build up on the pump shaft again. The issue has to be a bad o-ring, so I will replace that. Then the Vectra will be the backup to the Jabao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 So the issue is heat from the build up on the pump shaft again. The issue has to be a bad o-ring, so I will replace that. Then the Vectra will be the backup to the Jabao What an interesting world we live in when the Vectra is the backup to the Jaebo. [emoji23] 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted October 6, 2016 Author Share Posted October 6, 2016 Is Jecod the new name for Jaebo? The pump I received today is different than the one I ordered, but I think it may be the updated DC-12000 pump... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 6, 2016 Share Posted October 6, 2016 Yes, same manufacturer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted October 10, 2016 Author Share Posted October 10, 2016 Not tank build related, but with building our new house I wanted some decorations to go in the office that will have the fish tanks. I tested this design and style out and think it turned out pretty good. I want to do one for each fish I have. I'll need to invest in a scroll saw, cutting the smaller parts on the band saw was a little dicey! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Creepy without an eye for now but very cool man! That's some talent. Can I get a tassled filefish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 That is very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted October 10, 2016 Author Share Posted October 10, 2016 Creepy without an eye for now but very cool man! That's some talent. Can I get a tassled filefish? Thanks. I need to get a black paint pen for the eye, a sharpie wouldn't work. And no, no tassled filefish! Unlike your band saw, mine will defiantly cut fingers! That is very cool. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasReef Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Very nice woodwork! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted January 27, 2017 Author Share Posted January 27, 2017 Wow time flies! Thought I would do a much needed update. Our new home is nearing completion, we are scheduled to close on 3/15. It'll have a semi fish room behind the tank with a utility sink, water source/drain for the RODI filter, and separate drain for saltwater that ties into the water softener drain. We are beyond excited to move! The tank is doing okay. I still have a big issue with the golden/clear algae, to which I am admitting defeat for the time being. I'm almost certain the issue is Chrysophyta, which seems to be a more uncommon problem. There are a few threads of reef2reef about it that I have been following but so far no consensus on how to get rid of it yet from what I can tell. Here is a video of it, I only showed what grows on the glass, but its on the rock too. These pics were taken at 900x with a children's microscope. The colors and focus were impossible to get correct, but I guess its better than nothing. The conclusion so far is the algae doesn't care about nutrients. I reduced and maintained nitrate and phosphate to undetectable levels for over two months with no reduction. The side effect of this is I lost several corals to the low nutrients and the ones that survived had a major reduction in color. The lights out didn't seem to have an impact either. I didn't black out the tank with cardboard on the sides though, so I may try this again. After the tank move I plan on: Set up refugium with macro algae Add some actual live rock to get more bio-diversity into the tank Possibly: dose hydrogen peroxide and/or add UV filter Add a lot more fish and corals to the tank! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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