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Dono
Feb 15, 2007

Freak the Fuck Out!
tbh, I like putting my heaters in my overflow (I'm not sure if you have the space in that drawing). Great second fail safe in case the heater(s) go crazy hot, it still gives everything a chance to cool down through the sump.

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Frozen Pizza Party
Dec 13, 2005

I may be able to lay it sideways.. Right now I have a 40w? in my 24 gal, so I'll be buying a new one for sure.

Also, for lighting on the new tank, I don't think my LED fixture will cover the whole thing, so I'm thinking of using my current fixture with a PAR38 bulb on each side. Input?

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEDxQui2bSw

Close enough to a snowcasso on the other juvie.

MKLKT
Oct 21, 2010

...armed with five-five-sixers, and pineapples.

SaNChEzZ posted:

I may be able to lay it sideways.. Right now I have a 40w? in my 24 gal, so I'll be buying a new one for sure.

Also, for lighting on the new tank, I don't think my LED fixture will cover the whole thing, so I'm thinking of using my current fixture with a PAR38 bulb on each side. Input?

Depends on what you mean, the PARs are good for macro algae growth and saving space in a sump but I'd imagine would look pretty ugly for display use. I don't know of any that are of the usual coral growing spectrum either, but I could be wrong (10k, 12k, 14k). What were you planning on having in the tank?

I don't really get the logic of putting the heater in the overflow, it just blocks flow and if your heater is efficiently part of the system it should be heating normally/the same no matter where you put it. I have a 150w and a 300w (replacement for the StealthPro "pipe-bomb" recall) and it's got a remote thermometer so I put that in a higher flow while keeping the full body of the heater in a quiet spot.

With the summer months here now I'm more tempted to look into getting a chiller to regulate my tank as now the temperatures are above where I want them to be anyway.

[EDIT] Come to think of it, the last place I'd probably want a heater to get super hot would be an acrylic/plastic part of my tank. Take that into consideration too, that's an area with a small amount of water to dissipate heat.

MKLKT fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Jul 7, 2011

Vitae
Apr 12, 2004

MECH VITAE is already stupid.
WELP!
I ended up getting that MH system from AquaTraders, and depending on their next response to the issue I've encountered I may or may not recommend them in the future.
I can understand getting a bad part here and there, and for the price I got the unit at I'm not surprised in the least something broke, here's hoping they replace it without any issues.
Basically, I got the unit in today, unpacked and connected everything, everything looked great, powered on and was very very pleased with the light output (holy crap I've never seen a MH system before, WOAH it was bright!)
Left it on for about an hour to check and make sure everything was working as normal, was farting around on Facebook and heard a loud POP and smelled burning.
Last time I remember that happening is when I plugged in a power cord backwards in a floppy drive, yuck.
I immediately turned off and unplugged everything, the ballast was so hot it burned my hands, and judging from the smell it's definitely a burned ballast. I've send an email to AquaTraders, lets see what happens.

The saying you get what you pay for, really really is true.

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice

MKLKT posted:

Depends on what you mean, the PARs are good for macro algae growth and saving space in a sump but I'd imagine would look pretty ugly for display use. I don't know of any that are of the usual coral growing spectrum either, but I could be wrong (10k, 12k, 14k). What were you planning on having in the tank?

I don't really get the logic of putting the heater in the overflow, it just blocks flow and if your heater is efficiently part of the system it should be heating normally/the same no matter where you put it. I have a 150w and a 300w (replacement for the StealthPro "pipe-bomb" recall) and it's got a remote thermometer so I put that in a higher flow while keeping the full body of the heater in a quiet spot.

With the summer months here now I'm more tempted to look into getting a chiller to regulate my tank as now the temperatures are above where I want them to be anyway.

[EDIT] Come to think of it, the last place I'd probably want a heater to get super hot would be an acrylic/plastic part of my tank. Take that into consideration too, that's an area with a small amount of water to dissipate heat.

The Par38 units we are talking about are the ones from Nanotuners and Ecoxotic, the ones that use a mix of cool white and royal blue CREE LEDs and are great for coral growth. They just have a terrible spotlighting problem and are not generally sufficient for large tanks unless in large numbers--say, 6+ of them for a 40b, which quickly gets really expensive vs. a DIY LED kit.

MKLKT
Oct 21, 2010

...armed with five-five-sixers, and pineapples.

Vitae posted:

WELP!
I ended up getting that MH system from AquaTraders, and depending on their next response to the issue I've encountered I may or may not recommend them in the future.
I can understand getting a bad part here and there, and for the price I got the unit at I'm not surprised in the least something broke, here's hoping they replace it without any issues.
Basically, I got the unit in today, unpacked and connected everything, everything looked great, powered on and was very very pleased with the light output (holy crap I've never seen a MH system before, WOAH it was bright!)
Left it on for about an hour to check and make sure everything was working as normal, was farting around on Facebook and heard a loud POP and smelled burning.
Last time I remember that happening is when I plugged in a power cord backwards in a floppy drive, yuck.
I immediately turned off and unplugged everything, the ballast was so hot it burned my hands, and judging from the smell it's definitely a burned ballast. I've send an email to AquaTraders, lets see what happens.

The saying you get what you pay for, really really is true.

Odyssea fixtures are pretty suspect in general. They're definitely in the "get what you pay for" category. I'd recommend anyone here to get involved in your national/local reef keeping forums as you can snag some wicked deals on used gear if you know what you're looking for. (i.e. I got 2x 400W MHs with electronic ballasts, 5 bulbs and LumenMax 2 reflectors for $150CAD.) Obviously it's not guaranteed with warranties though, so that has to taken into account.

Patience and research!

@arioch I should have gone back and checked, but I agree about the cost/coverage issue with that setup. I like that LEDs have advanced to the point where it's a viable option now and doesn't all cost $1,500+.

MKLKT fucked around with this message at 06:22 on Jul 7, 2011

porksmash
Sep 30, 2008
I'm having a bitch of a time finding a fitting/reducer to hook my Eheim compact 1000 pump up to my tubing. The pump itself has a 5/8" OD outlet and the tubing is 1/2" OD. I found this reducer which gets me two male ends of the same OD between the pump and the tubing, but there are no 5/8" OD union push-connect fittings (edit: made of plastic) on the planet. The compression type fittings, which there are plenty of, won't work with this hard plastic without cracking it.

porksmash fucked around with this message at 07:13 on Jul 7, 2011

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice
Have you tried doing some wacky thing with pvc and barb fittings?

Anony Mouse
Jan 30, 2005

A name means nothing on the battlefield. After a week, no one has a name.
Lipstick Apathy
I was messing around with my aquarium tonight and the furtive shape of some strange crustacean darting across the sand caught my eye. I tried to get a clear picture of it, but he was moving too fast. By the time I switched to video, he had pretty much disappeared under a rock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylNYsz7WQyI

Does anyone know what this is? I'm sure it's harmless, but I'm pretty curious now.

As a bonus: Copepod close-up! :3:

Trillian
Sep 14, 2003

Anony Mouse posted:

I was messing around with my aquarium tonight and the furtive shape of some strange crustacean darting across the sand caught my eye. I tried to get a clear picture of it, but he was moving too fast. By the time I switched to video, he had pretty much disappeared under a rock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylNYsz7WQyI

Does anyone know what this is? I'm sure it's harmless, but I'm pretty curious now.

As a bonus: Copepod close-up! :3:

It's an amphipod. My sandbed is covered with them until the lights come on.

porksmash
Sep 30, 2008

arioch posted:

Have you tried doing some wacky thing with pvc and barb fittings?
I ended up figuring out that in order to find push-connect fittings for 5/8" OD tube I had to search for 1/2" CTS (copper tube size) fittings designed for use with plastic pipe/tubing. Makes perfect sense!

I got a couple baby clowns and some frogspawn last weekend. The clowns are so small at this point they fit through the teeth on my overflow, so I fit a mesh media bag over it. Wouldn't want them to end up in my sump and get sucked into my skimmer or something. The clove polyps I got a couple weeks ago are already propagating too.

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice
Pictures of my new picasso pair:

First one, black showing on pelvic fins, black borders forming around white bands, color darkening overall where it will turn black:




Second one, still really young, barely has all its whites... and maybe not even all the whites:




And yeah, "pretty penny" just about begins to describe how much I paid for the two.

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice
New reality show:

http://realscreen.com/2011/07/06/animal-planet-looks-to-make-a-splash-with-tanked/

optikalus
Apr 17, 2008

Vitae posted:

WELP!
I ended up getting that MH system from AquaTraders, and depending on their next response to the issue I've encountered I may or may not recommend them in the future.
I can understand getting a bad part here and there, and for the price I got the unit at I'm not surprised in the least something broke, here's hoping they replace it without any issues.
Basically, I got the unit in today, unpacked and connected everything, everything looked great, powered on and was very very pleased with the light output (holy crap I've never seen a MH system before, WOAH it was bright!)
Left it on for about an hour to check and make sure everything was working as normal, was farting around on Facebook and heard a loud POP and smelled burning.
Last time I remember that happening is when I plugged in a power cord backwards in a floppy drive, yuck.
I immediately turned off and unplugged everything, the ballast was so hot it burned my hands, and judging from the smell it's definitely a burned ballast. I've send an email to AquaTraders, lets see what happens.

The saying you get what you pay for, really really is true.

Well, consider it a blessing :) Their ballasts are pretty junk (I had two 250s on my Odyssea dual HQI). Replace the ballast with a icecap and then replace the bulb with an Ushio or something and you'll have a great fixture. After owning an Odyssea for a few years, they're only good for their housing.

Frozen Pizza Party
Dec 13, 2005

MKLKT posted:

Depends on what you mean, the PARs are good for macro algae growth and saving space in a sump but I'd imagine would look pretty ugly for display use. I don't know of any that are of the usual coral growing spectrum either, but I could be wrong (10k, 12k, 14k). What were you planning on having in the tank?

I don't really get the logic of putting the heater in the overflow, it just blocks flow and if your heater is efficiently part of the system it should be heating normally/the same no matter where you put it. I have a 150w and a 300w (replacement for the StealthPro "pipe-bomb" recall) and it's got a remote thermometer so I put that in a higher flow while keeping the full body of the heater in a quiet spot.

With the summer months here now I'm more tempted to look into getting a chiller to regulate my tank as now the temperatures are above where I want them to be anyway.

[EDIT] Come to think of it, the last place I'd probably want a heater to get super hot would be an acrylic/plastic part of my tank. Take that into consideration too, that's an area with a small amount of water to dissipate heat.

Well the LED fixture I'm running now is 20k and the PAR38s are 14k I believe, I may just get another one of these fixtures I have now because they have power fittings to daisy chain them which is nice and clean. And thanks for the heater advice, sounds logical to me :)

Vitae
Apr 12, 2004

MECH VITAE is already stupid.

optikalus posted:

Well, consider it a blessing :) Their ballasts are pretty junk (I had two 250s on my Odyssea dual HQI). Replace the ballast with a icecap and then replace the bulb with an Ushio or something and you'll have a great fixture. After owning an Odyssea for a few years, they're only good for their housing.

I started reading more about their ballasts after that incident, been hearing the same thing from a lot of people, good fixtures but bad ballasts and bulbs. I still have a CF fixture I bought from them about 4 years ago which is still going great, so never thought anything of it when I bought this new fixture.
I hope they still send a replacement, but I probably will go ahead and invest in another ballast anyway.

Edit: Question, when I replace the MH bulb what spectrum should I go with? 10k 15k 20k?

Vitae fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Jul 7, 2011

MKLKT
Oct 21, 2010

...armed with five-five-sixers, and pineapples.

Vitae posted:

I started reading more about their ballasts after that incident, been hearing the same thing from a lot of people, good fixtures but bad ballasts and bulbs. I still have a CF fixture I bought from them about 4 years ago which is still going great, so never thought anything of it when I bought this new fixture.
I hope they still send a replacement, but I probably will go ahead and invest in another ballast anyway.

Edit: Question, when I replace the MH bulb what spectrum should I go with? 10k 15k 20k?

With bulbs in the 10k range I've heard you'll see great growth but can brown out SPS, 14k is pretty common for MH and 20k will give crazy colours and fluorescence but minimal growth because the spectrum is on the blue side which the zooxanthellae don't utilize much. If I had my frag tank actually running I could tell you as I have pairs of 10k, 14k and 20k. I saw someone who used strictly 20k and Actinics and it was crazy dark/glowing.

That's why you commonly see 10-12k MHs paired with Actinic T5s to supplement blue spectrum to get colouration as well.

My display tank right now has 4xT5 with a 10k, 12k, Fiji Purple and Blue+ which is pretty well as balanced as you can get.

Oh and depending on how deep your tank is the spectrum that reaches the bottom might not be exactly what you think (blue reaches the bottom easier than red).

MKLKT fucked around with this message at 01:40 on Jul 8, 2011

Dono
Feb 15, 2007

Freak the Fuck Out!

Vitae posted:

I started reading more about their ballasts after that incident, been hearing the same thing from a lot of people, good fixtures but bad ballasts and bulbs. I still have a CF fixture I bought from them about 4 years ago which is still going great, so never thought anything of it when I bought this new fixture.
I hope they still send a replacement, but I probably will go ahead and invest in another ballast anyway.

Edit: Question, when I replace the MH bulb what spectrum should I go with? 10k 15k 20k?

Those Pheonix 14k bulbs are really amazing bulbs and super popular among coral growers.

Frozen Pizza Party
Dec 13, 2005

Dono posted:

Those Pheonix 14k bulbs are really amazing bulbs and super popular among coral growers.

Amen to this, I put a phoenix 14k in my 150w and holy poo poo, it's a little more blue than other 14ks (which leads me to believe it's really like 15.5) but you basically get the pop of a 20k with the growth of a 10k.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

Help.

Some guy was looking for help setting up his brand new 55 gallon salt water aquarium. He's a raw beginner and I'm happy to help out. I sent him a bunch of links about aquarium keeping in general, some salt water specific stuff, advice, etc. I even sent him a nice little link with some beginner level fish.

He bought a Japanese Bullhead Shark and gleefully told me all about how he's going to shove this enormous shark in this 55 gallon tank, when it's not even cycled or set up or anything, and.. dear god. I'm trying to talk him out of it with food pricing and telling him how much room this big bastard will need at adult weight but I don't know if he's going to listen.

How else can I convince this guy that this is a really incredibly bad idea?

E: Yes, it's a Heterodontidae japonicus for sure.

VVVVV Ffffucckkkk. :smith: I really hope he listens. I don't want this shark to suffer, either.

Fluffy Bunnies fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Jul 10, 2011

Drumstick
Jun 20, 2006
Lord of cacti
Thats really about all you can do. If he wont listen to your advice then he is going to have an expensive lesson soon.

streetlamp
May 7, 2007

Danny likes his party hat
He does not like his banana hat
Where the hell does one even find a Japanese Bullhead Shark?

I can't even find anyone keeping these in a aquarium of any size. You have told him pretty much everything, the shark will die in little to no time. I'm sure like many sharks they are extremely sensitive and a uncycled aquarium that it barely fits in and run by this moron, it will perish quickly.

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice
LiveAquaria sometimes gets sharks like that on Diver's Den. For well over $1000. Perusing Diver's Den twitter, looks like they actually had one of these up in May.

edit: oh boy, palytoxin poisoning from boiling rock: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2042317

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Jul 10, 2011

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

streetlamp posted:

Where the hell does one even find a Japanese Bullhead Shark?

I can't even find anyone keeping these in a aquarium of any size. You have told him pretty much everything, the shark will die in little to no time. I'm sure like many sharks they are extremely sensitive and a uncycled aquarium that it barely fits in and run by this moron, it will perish quickly.

Petbox over here can get you drat near anything you want because we've got some really serious fish keepers on Okinawa and they try to keep them coming back. H.Japonicus requires at least 500 gallons for -bare minimum- and after that, you may as well start building your own holding tank. The guy is in an apartment and he wants to keep this bullhead and 'a few other fish' in that 55 gallon aquarium.

Thanks you guys. I hope he listens. If he doesn't, I'll be cutting contact.

Dono
Feb 15, 2007

Freak the Fuck Out!

arioch posted:

LiveAquaria sometimes gets sharks like that on Diver's Den. For well over $1000. Perusing Diver's Den twitter, looks like they actually had one of these up in May.

edit: oh boy, palytoxin poisoning from boiling rock: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2042317

Saw that. So terrible.Some other guy on RC recently had a tank crash from palytoxin as well. Ripped up his palys from his rock work and the concentrated juices melted his sps and LPS.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

Guy emails me and says he's going to listen to me. I say great! awesome! Go look at some gobies and firefish and poo poo like that. He says okay, he will.

Then emails my original reply to him with "Hey! Sorry I didn't get back to you! I want to put a japanese bullhead shark in my 55 gallon aquarium! Still want to help me?" kind of poo poo.

Because he thought I was a different person (same email and everything). I called him ten kinds of stupid and blocked him, because gently caress him, he's not going to listen to anything I say.

I feel sorry for that shark but there's not poo poo I can do except not get involved. :sigh:

E: And thanks for telling me there really isn't anything else I can do. It makes me feel better to know I did everything I could (which was basically just typed words on an email, but at least I tried)

Fluffy Bunnies fucked around with this message at 09:33 on Jul 11, 2011

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice

Dono posted:

Saw that. So terrible.Some other guy on RC recently had a tank crash from palytoxin as well. Ripped up his palys from his rock work and the concentrated juices melted his sps and LPS.

As things stand I don't really think I would boil/acid/whatever rock. I'd probably just go ahead and cook it. Significantly less chance of a mishap like the one in that thread.

MKLKT
Oct 21, 2010

...armed with five-five-sixers, and pineapples.

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

Guy emails me and says he's going to listen to me. I say great! awesome! Go look at some gobies and firefish and poo poo like that. He says okay, he will.

Then emails my original reply to him with "Hey! Sorry I didn't get back to you! I want to put a japanese bullhead shark in my 55 gallon aquarium! Still want to help me?" kind of poo poo.

Because he thought I was a different person (same email and everything). I called him ten kinds of stupid and blocked him, because gently caress him, he's not going to listen to anything I say.

I feel sorry for that shark but there's not poo poo I can do except not get involved. :sigh:

E: And thanks for telling me there really isn't anything else I can do. It makes me feel better to know I did everything I could (which was basically just typed words on an email, but at least I tried)

That kind of person doesn't deserve to own a Chromis never mind a shark. People make mistakes in this hobby for sure but willingly ignoring proper aquarium husbandry is shameful.

Dono
Feb 15, 2007

Freak the Fuck Out!

arioch posted:

As things stand I don't really think I would boil/acid/whatever rock. I'd probably just go ahead and cook it. Significantly less chance of a mishap like the one in that thread.

Dry Rock is so cheap right now, even with shipping, that if I was ever in a position to add old rock or have to cook rock to kill it, then I would just 5-10lbs. Not worth the rick to myself.

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice
No no, by all means, still cook dry rock. I don't mean actually sitting there and boiling it, I mean just putting it in a bucket with a powerhead and a heater without lights for 4-6 weeks.

Anony Mouse
Jan 30, 2005

A name means nothing on the battlefield. After a week, no one has a name.
Lipstick Apathy
What exactly is the point of "cooking" dry rock that is already "dead?" It's not like you have to cure it like live rock...

SniperWoreConverse
Mar 20, 2010



Gun Saliva
Yeah, is there really some spore or something that might still remain?

streetlamp
May 7, 2007

Danny likes his party hat
He does not like his banana hat
I dont get the point either, sure wash it over in RO water or something before putting it in the tank but surely no reason to cook it like live rock.

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice
It depends on the provenance of the rock. Any rock potentially carries a lot of dead matter and nutrients, even the fossil reef rock from the ground which can still have a lot of living or dead matter or phosphates and nitrates from the soil itself. The primary benefit of dry rock is no pests.

It's ultimately beneficial to make sure rock you put in your system are as full of beneficial bacteria and as low in nutrients as possible. Just putting in dry rock or even if you straight out cure it is not as good as if you cook it.

Dono
Feb 15, 2007

Freak the Fuck Out!
When I started my new tank, I put the 75lb of Marco Rock in a rubbermaid with a heater, 2 Koralia 4's, and hooked up one of my reactors with RoX Phosban from BRS for a week. Definitely did the trick and I agree with you arioch. I misunderstood in my other post what you were talking about.

the Pixies fukken SUCKED
Jul 16, 2003

Figure 2 in a series of 3
I started my new 90g with 100 lbs of Reefcleaners.org dry rock, and it's been doing alright so far. I haven't added anything to it except a pair of clowns and some random zoa frags. I am definitely not adding anything more demanding or more livestock for a few months.

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice
Blue Zoo Aquatics just put up a Facebook contest for a really bad-rear end looking rainbow yuma. I'm trying to win it, obviously. Please help me out by commenting in this photo thread: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=7538259&l=90ee37a907&id=653932851

:)

For reference, this is the yuma in question:

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE fucked around with this message at 22:48 on Jul 13, 2011

Dono
Feb 15, 2007

Freak the Fuck Out!

arioch posted:

Blue Zoo Aquatics just put up a Facebook contest for a really bad-rear end looking rainbow yuma. I'm trying to win it, obviously. Please help me out by commenting in this photo thread: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=7538259&l=90ee37a907&id=653932851

:)

For reference, this is the yuma in question:



Done, and that yuma is great. I wish my Nikon wasn't broken or I'd be asking the same thing!

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VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice

Dono posted:

Done, and that yuma is great. I wish my Nikon wasn't broken or I'd be asking the same thing!

Thanks, here's to hoping!

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