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MrX
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Sorry, by clean I meant what you said: clean, bleach, sun dry. Nuke it I should have said.
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MrX's 120G Build
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Sorry, by clean I meant what you said: clean, bleach, sun dry. Nuke it I should have said.
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MrX
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Today I removed the GFCI outlet from behind the tank and replaced it with the original outlet. Any time I tried to plug the LEDs into it directly, or to the Apex connected to it, the breaker would trip on it. Last night I took on of the LEDs into the kitchen and tried on another GFCI and it worked just fine. So either I screwed up the wiring for the outlet or there is something wrong with the GFCI itself; I lean towards the latter because it works fine for everything else. The circuit breaker in the basement is already GFCI so I probably don't even need it on the outlet itself. I'll check with my brother-in-law the electrician and see what he thinks.
I bought some 1" flex tubing today at lunch to cover/organize all the wires from the LEDs. Looks much better now. Speaking of the LEDs, now that the regular outlet is back in the receptacle I was able to connect the other four wires (whites/blues) to a powerstrip and connect that to my last Apex outlet. Now my lights are on the following schedule:
Day time
*Outlet on from 07:00 - 20:00 - by turning off the outlet I stop the fans from running constantly
SunRise: 07:00 - 11:00
MidDay: 11:00 - 16:00
SunSet: 16:00 - 20:00
Night time
*2 leds per fixture
Moonlights: 8pm - Midnight
Darkness: Midnight - 04:00
Moonlights: 04:00 - 07:00
The clowns are finally exploring the tank and not just swimming side-to-side in the front. Makes me want to move my desk so I can see them more directly. hehe
The cleaner shrimp is mostly hiding out in two caves: one is under the top rock in the tower near the center of the tank, the other is under the big clam-shell shelf piece to the right of the tower. I didn't see it all day and thought maybe the crab got him, but he was just hiding. Last time I saw them both they were right next to each other in the clam-shell cave.
I bought some 1" flex tubing today at lunch to cover/organize all the wires from the LEDs. Looks much better now. Speaking of the LEDs, now that the regular outlet is back in the receptacle I was able to connect the other four wires (whites/blues) to a powerstrip and connect that to my last Apex outlet. Now my lights are on the following schedule:
Day time
*Outlet on from 07:00 - 20:00 - by turning off the outlet I stop the fans from running constantly
SunRise: 07:00 - 11:00
MidDay: 11:00 - 16:00
SunSet: 16:00 - 20:00
Night time
*2 leds per fixture
Moonlights: 8pm - Midnight
Darkness: Midnight - 04:00
Moonlights: 04:00 - 07:00
The clowns are finally exploring the tank and not just swimming side-to-side in the front. Makes me want to move my desk so I can see them more directly. hehe
The cleaner shrimp is mostly hiding out in two caves: one is under the top rock in the tower near the center of the tank, the other is under the big clam-shell shelf piece to the right of the tower. I didn't see it all day and thought maybe the crab got him, but he was just hiding. Last time I saw them both they were right next to each other in the clam-shell cave.
The tank is coming along very nice!
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MrX
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Went to Petco today in Auburn to see what they had for small tanks and if they knew when the $1/gallon sale was happening again (guy said maybe June). While I was there I saw they had some "Deluxe Kits" on sale (40% off with Pals card):
10 gallon - $41.99
20 gallon - $59.99
29 gallon - $79.19
Seeing as how I had two $5 PalRewards certificates I bought the 29 gallon kit to use as a QT tank. This gives me a tank/hood/light/heater/net at a decent price.
10 gallon - $41.99
20 gallon - $59.99
29 gallon - $79.19
Seeing as how I had two $5 PalRewards certificates I bought the 29 gallon kit to use as a QT tank. This gives me a tank/hood/light/heater/net at a decent price.
jt628
Non-member
I disagree, Anytime I have ever had Hair Algae, I made sure my parameters were in check, relocated rubble rock into sump, and let nature take over, I have only had hair algae in my refug briefly since taking on this method... Tangs, hermits, and snails prevent any unnecessary "nuking"... JMO
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MrX
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Nope. I'm not that much of a DIYer. We just bought this house about a year and a half ago and the wife picked out that granite. Builder/installers did the rest.
jeremy052274
Non-member
I bought that same HOB filter separately for my frag tank and love it. That (seemingly) silly blue plastic add-in they have on the return prevents strong, direct current from returning to the tank. It's nice.
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MrX
Non-member
Did you add any extra bio-balls or anything?
I figure when I want to QT I could do the following:
- Mix/heat a batch of new salt-water
- Fill QT half-way from sump/DT
- Fill QT rest of the way with new salt-water
- Pop in a piece of live-rock and some pvc for hiding places
Am I missing anything else?
jeremy052274
Non-member
I just added live rock for my frag tank For a QT...you'll get better responses from others. My guess is you'll want to use floss, but not much else to monitor how the new addition is doing.
For a QT...you'll get better responses from others. My guess is you'll want to use floss, but not much else to monitor how the new addition is doing.
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MrX
Non-member
Moved the QT tank to the basement. It fits perfectly on the stand I built. Now I can have the QT and frag on the same stand.
To make it work so I can fit both tanks I'll have to turn the frag tank 90 degrees and put it on an extra piece of 3/4" plywood. There will be a couple inches of the plywood hanging over the sides of the stand top, but it should hold up just fine. This also means I'll have to redo the input/output lines on the frag tank, but that's easy stuff.
Mixing up some more saltwater now so I can get the tank up and running.
Saturday the kids and I are going to see Michele at "Oceanus the Inland Reef" this Saturday to check out their Cardinals and other stuff.
To make it work so I can fit both tanks I'll have to turn the frag tank 90 degrees and put it on an extra piece of 3/4" plywood. There will be a couple inches of the plywood hanging over the sides of the stand top, but it should hold up just fine. This also means I'll have to redo the input/output lines on the frag tank, but that's easy stuff.
Mixing up some more saltwater now so I can get the tank up and running.
Saturday the kids and I are going to see Michele at "Oceanus the Inland Reef" this Saturday to check out their Cardinals and other stuff.
Looking good! What do you plan on getting next for fish? I'm picking up a new family member myself on Tuesday 
A small Copperband Butterfly. He's on deposit at the LFS so they can make sure he's healthy and eating (well he's already eating, but they want to make sure he keeps eating). I'm hopefully getting my LEDs soon too, so you and FamilyX will have to come check it out once it's all together...
A small Copperband Butterfly. He's on deposit at the LFS so they can make sure he's healthy and eating (well he's already eating, but they want to make sure he keeps eating). I'm hopefully getting my LEDs soon too, so you and FamilyX will have to come check it out once it's all together...
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MrX
Non-member
Looking good! What do you plan on getting next for fish? I'm picking up a new family member myself on Tuesday
Going to "Oceanus the Inland Reef" tomorrow with the kids so we might pick out some Cardinals if there are any available.
What did you decide to get for LEDs? I'm sure the kids would love to see your tank, I think they'll get a kick out of the blennies.
I havent ordered them yet (Waiting 'til I have a bit more extra money set aside), but I think I'm going to go with the AI Sol Super Blue. I'll probably just get 1 unit and see how it goes, since I don't plan on keeping SPS. Hoping to have them ordered around mid-May. Then I'll get the canopy finished up, hang the lights in there and it'll be done!
Cardinals are a good choice. Mine is so cute to watch hover around the tank and pretend he's a clownfish from time to time. If they don't have them at Oceanus, KCA has a few for $14.99. I almost picked up another one, but I don't know if the one I have is male or female so I held off...
Cardinals are a good choice. Mine is so cute to watch hover around the tank and pretend he's a clownfish from time to time. If they don't have them at Oceanus, KCA has a few for $14.99. I almost picked up another one, but I don't know if the one I have is male or female so I held off...
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MrX
Non-member
Earlier today myself and the kids stopped over to visit Kiah/Michele at "Oceanus the Inland Reef". She has a ton of great stuff to see and the kids had a great time. SonX proudly wore his "Reef Police" pin all day long.
We went there to check everything out and possibly get some Banggai Cardinals. Michele had a small pair, only a few months old, that I was interested in. She's going to hold them for a while longer and then I think they'll be coming home with us.
We couldn't leave empty handed so we got a couple corals. SonX picked a frog-spawn and DaughterX picked out a cabbage coral. I think she wanted that because Michele mentioned the clowns she had in the tank were hosting it.
Next up was lunch and then a trip to Boston's to check out Skipton's (see me Vendor Experience thread). We bought some additional cleanup crew: 5x Red Banded Trochus, 5x Astera, and 6x small blue-legged hermits.
After we got home from Skipton's we dipped the corals and got them ready to go into the DT. The frog-spawn livened up pretty quickly. No clue how to tell if the cabbage is happy or not.
Cleaner shrimp came out of his cave under the clam shell to see what was going on in his tank:
We went there to check everything out and possibly get some Banggai Cardinals. Michele had a small pair, only a few months old, that I was interested in. She's going to hold them for a while longer and then I think they'll be coming home with us.
We couldn't leave empty handed so we got a couple corals. SonX picked a frog-spawn and DaughterX picked out a cabbage coral. I think she wanted that because Michele mentioned the clowns she had in the tank were hosting it.
Next up was lunch and then a trip to Boston's to check out Skipton's (see me Vendor Experience thread). We bought some additional cleanup crew: 5x Red Banded Trochus, 5x Astera, and 6x small blue-legged hermits.
After we got home from Skipton's we dipped the corals and got them ready to go into the DT. The frog-spawn livened up pretty quickly. No clue how to tell if the cabbage is happy or not.
Cleaner shrimp came out of his cave under the clam shell to see what was going on in his tank:
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Love going out to Michele's, always has an amazing assortment of corals and yes never go home empty handed.
Know she did some changing around of the tanks, when you go for your Cardinals let me know, might tag along.
Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk
Know she did some changing around of the tanks, when you go for your Cardinals let me know, might tag along.
Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk
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MrX
Non-member
Sure thing man! Hope you're better behaved/less fidgety than the kids.
When she pings me that they are ready I'll let you know and we can figure out a time to head out there.
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MrX
Non-member
Yesterday I bought a Yellow Tang and a Longnose Hawkfish from the LFS. Both are settled in nicely in the QT tank. The Longnose is eating very well. The tang is still being a bit shy and skittish, although tonight while I was putting the 40B frag tank back on the stand it was out swimming around a bit. It was swimming the length of the tank and kinda bumping its nose against the glass (gently). I plan on keeping them in the QT for about 2 weeks, if the YT keeps up with the bumping behavior then I might move it to the DT sooner so it doesn't hurt itself (assuming it looks otherwise healthy).
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MrX
Non-member
Yesterday I bought a Yellow Tang and a Longnose Hawkfish from the LFS. Both are settled in nicely in the QT tank. The Longnose is eating very well. The tang is still being a bit shy and skittish, although tonight while I was putting the 40B frag tank back on the stand it was out swimming around a bit. It was swimming the length of the tank and kinda bumping its nose against the glass (gently). I plan on keeping them in the QT for about 2 weeks, if the YT keeps up with the bumping behavior then I might move it to the DT sooner so it doesn't hurt itself (assuming it looks otherwise healthy).
