afboundguy's downsizing (or upgrading???) 25 gallon cube build

[afboundguy]

Finally got around to installing the new BRS 1.1 ml/min pumps just waiting for what seems like forever for them to prime up...

 

[Chris A.]

Hope your line is short lol

 

[afboundguy]

They just finished priming now I'm running them for 10 mins to get how much they're really pumping out... And they were about 3-4 feet... Seemed like it took 30+ minutes

 

[afboundguy]

Side note I was planning on running them at noon and midnight but think I'll do them just at night they're sort of loud and I feel like the wife might complain about the noise... I'll have to try running them with the stand shut to see how loud they are...

 

[Chris A.]

Make sure you calibrate what it actually doses in a minute. They’re not exactly 1.1 per minute

 

[afboundguy]

I ran them for 10 mins they did 11-12 ml

 

[afboundguy]

So the BRS pumps didn't meet the wife's quiet standard lol. I didn't even have her listen to them I made the decision on my own so I'll be swapping back to the Jabao dosing pumps again...

 

[afboundguy]

Today I split all my live foods for the first time... Started by splitting my white worm culture that was graciously passed along from another member... There didn't seem to be many worms near the top (food was gone) but when I broke the dirt down in two man was there a lot!

 

[afboundguy]

Also split my copepod and phyto cultures so now I have 2 of each...

 

[afboundguy]

I did end up ordering a better airline splitter as it took me 5+ minutes to try and dial down all the tubing that I kept T'ing off of...

 

[afboundguy]

Swapped out the ghetto fab airline tubing for the phyto and copepod set ups with a much better setup today and only took me 3 or 4 minutes to get all 4 lines going at the proper rate instead of what felt like 10 minutes the other day...

Also did a water change and hooked back up the 2 pump Jebao pump and set it to dose 3ml ten times a day 10 minutes apart...

I also started dosing phyto today and plan to keep that up now that I have a larger split culture...

Going to one of the big box stores to get some white 3/8" PVC to create the Paul B mandarin spot feeder. Not sure if I'll keep the white PVC piping but I want to get it in there so it can start looking like it belongs there...

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Looks like you are making your various food sources all sorts of happy.

 

[afboundguy]

Yeah I was a little worried when I split the copepods I wouldn't have gotten any in the 2nd jar but I just stirred it up a bit and poured half in I saw plenty of pods in the second jar so all is good!!!

 

[afboundguy]

Just fed the tank another dose of phyto today figured I'd do back to back on the phyto to start and then switch to every other day...

Also went to @LoveTheReef to snag some LRS food after starting @Paul B 66+ page thread from the start and got to page 50 last night at work. Fish loved it. Also threw some white worms in the mix as well and the fish and corals went berserk!!!

 

[afboundguy]

Also ended bringing both the dogs to @LoveTheReef as afboundguy's better 1/2 needed peace and quiet for some online class she had... This dingbat was a goofball the whole ride there...

 

[afboundguy]

Also started on the @Paul B spot feeder

 

[afboundguy]

Also got the brine shrimp hatchery the other day but I stupidly didn't buy it directly from the seller so I didn't realize my order didn't come with free brine shrimp eggs

 

[afboundguy]

And organized the downstairs fish area a little more after buying a few more containers...

 

[afboundguy]

And had this extra small dry erase board kicking around so I hung it up by the RO/DI to keep track of dosing and the cultures...

 

[afboundguy]

Tested water parameters after a few days of automated 2 part dosing (30 ml total spread out 10 times a day) and I tested a little high on the calcium (440-460) and alk was at 9/10 with it normally running at 8/9 (using API tests so it's not super accurate) so I lowered it to 20 ml total over 10 times a day and moved tubes so they're directly over the MP10 to get the best mixing when they dose into the tank. I'll retest in a few days to make final tweeks...

I also think I might end up buying some trigger pods (tigriopus californicus) and start cultivating them as well just to get more diversity. They are the bright red ones that swim in the open water column so we'll see how that goes!