[Samper]

BTW I'm not choosing inhabitants for the vivarium. Some other grad students are in charge of that section of the display. They have plans to put a male and female Basiliscus basiliscus commonly known as Jesus lizards. This is because of their ability to run across water without breaking the surface tension. They're pretty neat looking and I look forward to watching them interract. I may also donate my Jungle Carpet Python to the display.

[charlie]

Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Things are looking good, nice to see a finished product, well you know what I mean. I am looking forward to the thread on the auto topoff, make sure you include some pics on that one too.

[Poseidon]

Originally Posted by Samper

I have it set on a timer and it starts feeding the Nilsen as soon as the lights go off and it stops feeding when they come on.

What is the gallons per hour Chuck? This sounds like it will add more then what evaporates.

[Samper]

It puts out around 10 mL a minute. If it does end up dosing more than I need it to I will know by the time rock arrives. Then it's a simple matter of changing the timer settings. Of course I have no idea what my evaporation is and unless I disconnect the ATO and the Nilsen ATO I won't know. I do have a line marked on the sump where the water should stay at. If it gets above that at any time it won't be due to the reeftek ato because of where I have the floats set. It would have to be from the Nilsen in that case.

[DonW]

Originally Posted by Samper

It puts out around 10 mL a minute. If it does end up dosing more than I need it to I will know by the time rock arrives. Then it's a simple matter of changing the timer settings. Of course I have no idea what my evaporation is and unless I disconnect the ATO and the Nilsen ATO I won't know. I do have a line marked on the sump where the water should stay at. If it gets above that at any time it won't be due to the reeftek ato because of where I have the floats set. It would have to be from the Nilsen in that case.

Its a easy fix. You can let in go all night to help keep ph up and use a little pc fan adjuster to slow it down as needed. Cost less than $10 and easy to hook up. Let me know if you need help. Here is a link to a decent one.

Newegg.com - APEVIA FC-01 Multi Fan Speed Controller - Retail


Don

[Samper]

That's roughly 2 gallons in a 12 hour period. I think that's a pretty good limewater addition every night. Oh and thanks Don

[Poseidon]

Only 2 gallons per 12 hours? Wow that is a SLOW PUMP!!! My dosing pump puts out .8 gallon per hour. I don't want to be a PITA, but are you sure that is all it moves?

[charlie]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

Only 2 gallons per 12 hours? Wow that is a SLOW PUMP!!! My dosing pump puts out .8 gallon per hour. I don't want to be a PITA, but are you sure that is all it moves?

Hey, the more you ask, the more I learn. Keep up the good work!!!!

[DonW]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

Only 2 gallons per 12 hours? Wow that is a SLOW PUMP!!! My dosing pump puts out .8 gallon per hour. I don't want to be a PITA, but are you sure that is all it moves?

Thats pretty close guess! They even make a slower dosing tube set for that pump.

7200 ml = 1.90203877 US gallons

[Samper]

I actually did the conversions in my calculator but thanks. I am pleased with this pump for this application. Once again I must give thanks to Don for turning me on to it. He really helped me line this Nilsen business out. I expect to replace the hoses in time but hopefully not for a few years.

[Samper]

The heater is already working a lot to keep a constant temp. The window behind it is going to be an issue as expected. What I'm going to do is wrap all the plumbing in that foam pipe jacket. Then I'm going to hang a huge piece of black canvas behind the display and in front of the windows. I may even cut foam and fit it to the inside of the window frames. I may get another heater also. Hopefully with all that the heater won't have to work as hard. Does anyone else have any other suggestions?

[charlie]

You need more halides.

I think what you are doing will be fine. I would get another heater anyways just for backup.

[Samper]

Charlie thanks for the reply. Another heater will be ordered when the next set of funds come in.

I spoke with Kevinpo the other day and he isn't able to get that rock at this time.

[charlie]

I wonder why not????

[Poseidon]

Chuck, I have 3 heaters in my sump. All of them are 200-300W each, and I find it really helps keep the temp consistant. When all 3 kick on at once, my lights dim... BUT that is beside the point.

I have a Hydor, a Visitherm, and an Ebo Jager.... I think.

[Samper]

I've only ever had one heater in my aquariums but I do keep a spare. I wasn't able to get a second one with the first order but will with the second. These funds coming are mainly for rock and livestock but I'll have plenty to tweak some things. I will still need aquacultured frags if anyone has any they want to sell. I'm looking for colorful softies and lps and don't mind making it worth anyones while willing to help me out. The idea is as much aquacultured livestock as possible. That rule will have to bend with some of the fish and the cleanup crew but I see no reason to not use aquacultured corals. I'm willing to purchase these depending on what they are and pay for shipping so guys please let me know if you can help me out. I'll get the funds next week and am going to find rock in that time.


The calcium chloride dihydrate and magnesium chloride hexahydrate are on their way. I'm following Randy Holmes-Farleys recipes and should have enough ingredients to make 2 part and the magnesium portion for a few years.

[Samper]

I just got off the phone with Gavin and Pacific Aqua Farms. He spent an hour with me discussing a bunch of stuff. The most interesting thing he said to me is that he keeps his reef tanks no higher than 76 degrees. He told me about their collection sites for acros and how the water there is between 65 and 68 degrees and that the divers have to wear 3mm wetsuits. Interesting... since 76 to 82 is pretty standard for most of our systems.

Anyway we discussed rock and he's giving me a heck of a discount for the school. He seemed to think that this combination would fit fine with the dimensions of the tank....seems like a bit much to me so I thought I would ask.
He recommended to get four 50lb boxes of Fiji regular. These will be a mix of large and medium sized pieces. This is the rock that most shops are now carrying.
2 88-90lb boxes of Kaelini. This is ultra rock and comes in large sizes.
1 50lb box of the ultra....there may be 4 rocks in this box.

All of it is cured.

This fits in the budget but still seems like too much rock.
What do you guys think?

I've decided that no matter what we choose to go with the order will be split over a 3 week period. A week and a half after the first boxes come in I will have the second set sent. I've already started the cycle process. The idea here is to preserve as much life as possible on each of these shipments and have a nice and proper cycle ending with a showstopping aquascape.

[charlie]

If it was me, I would go with the Kaelini and the ultra, but that is just a personal opinion. I think the shapes you will get and the porosity, (sp), of the Kaelini would be the selling point. How big is this tank again??

[Samper]

The display is 180 gallons. The idea was to cycle it as much as possible before the first shipment of rock. Then get the first shipment in and build up the base of the reef. Then when the second shipment comes in there will be significant populations of nitrifying bacteria already in play. Hopefully this will preserve more life on the second shipment of really nice rock because that cycle won't be near as bad.

[charlie]

He definitrly wants you to buy too much rock. I wouldn't put more than 180 lbs. maximum in there Chuck.