Eric B's 125 Re-Build Journal

[eric b 125]

well, my skimmer has finally started pulling stuff out of the water! i had the water level set real high since it wasnt pulling anything out and yesterday i came home to a room that actually smelled like skimmate! it was unreal. i was starting to get nervous that the water level in my sump was too low. i have turned the water level down some since i like to skim a little on the dry side.

 

[eric b 125]

i really need to start updating more often, even if it's just for my records.
since the last post (nearly a month now) the asm g-2 hasn't pulled anything from the water. its really weird- the neck of the collection cup gets nasty, as well as the lid of the collection cup, but nothing collects in the actual cup. i'm also experiencing my first cyano outbreak. i think it is a result of a long photo-period. i still havent gotten timers. i've been spending most of my time (and money) on getting new windsurfing equipment. because of class and work, my lights are on for 14 hours a day. i think i ought to cut it down to 10 or even 8 hours for a while.

 

[eric b 125]

also, my buddy from work hooked me up with a nice LPS, some polyps, and some calurpa. i havent gotten any macro yet for my fuge, so this is perfect timing.

 

[eric b 125]

i've made some progress in the last month. i finally put all my lights and fans on timers. now that i have them i dont know how i went so long without them! i also added a light to my fuge and added some chaeto. the caulerpa that was given to me never saw my fuge because i didnt have a light at the time and i didnt want caulerpa in the first place. i've added some softies as well.
the other day i noticed a candy cane and some other LPS looking really shifty, so i mixed up 30 gallons and tested my water and my trates were at 80ppm. i got them down to 40 ppm and did another 30 gallon WC. will test again tonight.

 

[i<3reefs]

Yeah, it is amazingly fun and expensive to do these kind of projects. I felt like I was bleeding money, and still am after I realize different things I would like to adjust. Your plumbing, and tank look great.

 

[eric b 125]

thanks. i really would like to put a squid on my return. i have a mag 18, but it is a lot more pump than i need so i have it dialed way back. i might want to go to a mag 12. too bad i cant use the mag 18 for a CLS.

 

[eric b 125]

havent updated in a while. not much to report anyways. i picked up some hairy mushrooms today, and a little GSP that fell off the rock during shipping to the LFS. i'll have to take some pictures tonight and post them, i'm pretty happy with the way the tank is turning out.

 

[posiden]

Damn man, you put together a really nice tank. No one is showing you any love either. Things are looking pretty sharp too me.
Why can't you run the SWQ with the Mag 18? I don't know the specs off hand.

 

[jstdv8]

hey eric,
on page 4 you posted a pic of your plumbing and it goes up to a Y section about in the middle back of the tank. on top of the Y is a cap. whats the purpose of this? is there a siphon break right there or soemthing?
Looks really good man!

 

[eric b 125]

thanks guys! i'm shocked to have gotten any responses!
jstdv8: thats just a cap. i couldnt find a wye piece of pvc so i had to use that piece, which is a wye with an additional opening b/w the split. i had to cap off that additional opening. i just ordered a tunze ato and a 1" scwd so i'll be re-doing the plumbing.
posiden: good to see you back dude! i havent been visiting the site as much. last i remember you called it quits to swf.com. either way, i can run a scwd with the mag 18. the 3/4" scwd wouldnt accomodate the flow, i dont think, but now that the 1" is out it will work. i'd like to get a mag 12 since the 18 is dialed back so far. what i was saying was that it's a shame that i cant use the 18 for a CLS. i dont wont have use for it once i switch.
i cant believe i forgot to mention this earlier: a few weeks ago there was a real bad storm in pittsburgh and my power went out for close to 72 hrs. i bought a few battery powered air pumps and luckily didnt lose anything. some of my softies started dropping branches and some mushroom polyps fell off their rocks but nothing died. i was worried about a spike in ammonia from all the aerobic bacteria that could have died but daily testing didnt reveal any cycle. the same day that power was restored, some water got dripped onto one of my power strips and tripped the GFCI i installed. i'm so glad i took the ten minutes to install it, otherwise i'd be eric b sans house.
posting pictures in a few minutes.

 

[eric b 125]

i just uploaded a bunch of new pictures to my computer but i cant post them. when i click on 'manage attachments' all that happens is a blank screen titled "manage attachments" pops up. theres nothing on the page. any suggestions?

 

[meowzer]

If you are using internet explorer...turn off the compatibility view.....or download firefox and use swf thru that....

 

[eric b 125]

i'm on a mac, i use safari. i have to download firefox to upload pics to swf? that's kinda lame, eh?

 

[meowzer]

Originally Posted by Eric B 125
http:///forum/post/3280109
i'm on a mac, i use safari. i have to download firefox to upload pics to swf? that's kinda lame, eh?
Some stuff got messed up when they did the last upgrade....they are about to do a major fix, and add some much better stuff....they are just waiting to try to get it right the first time....you know this computer stuff is obviously iffy
I know nothing about mac....I just know there were some issues with IE and "for me" using swf in firefox fixed them

 

[spanko]

open a photobucket.com account
Upload the pictures to photobucket.
From photobucket copy the

 

[posiden]

Originally Posted by Eric B 125
http:///forum/post/3280100
posiden: good to see you back dude! i havent been visiting the site as much. last i remember you called it quits to swf.com. either way, i can run a scwd with the mag 18. the 3/4" scwd wouldnt accomodate the flow, i dont think, but now that the 1" is out it will work. i'd like to get a mag 12 since the 18 is dialed back so far. what i was saying was that it's a shame that i cant use the 18 for a CLS. i dont wont have use for it once i switch.
I pretty much did. I wouldn't say I'm back. I just drop in from time to time to do some reading and see what's going on with the crowd. I drop a few lines here and there. Things too me seemed to be getting snooty, made me think I was visiting the BIG site.
The 1" SCWD is why I asked about the Mag pump. I remember talking to you about it. It seemed to me that it would handle the flow.
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3280112
open a photobucket.com account
Upload the pictures to photobucket.
From photobucket copy thecode and past it in your thread.
+1 On this. This is how I post all my pics.

 

[eric b 125]

will post pics in a few days when i get back home. out windsurfing for a long weekend. i'm really excited to share the progress. i'm happy with the tank so far and have some plans for upgrades in the near future.

 

[eric b 125]

pics coming tonight. also, once i re-plumb my tank i'm going to place an order through my work for a bunch of corals. there's a 5X mark-up on coral and with a $400 minimum order, i'll be able to get $2000 worth of corals. i want to get a few clams pretty badly. we just sold a really pretty 6" derasa for $75. if i make a personal order through work, i would only pay $15!

 

[posiden]

Originally Posted by Eric B 125
http:///forum/post/3281859
pics coming tonight. also, once i re-plumb my tank i'm going to place an order through my work for a bunch of corals. there's a 5X mark-up on coral and with a $400 minimum order, i'll be able to get $2000 worth of corals. i want to get a few clams pretty badly. we just sold a really pretty 6" derasa for $75. if i make a personal order through work, i would only pay $15!
Do you drop ship? LOL.
Post the pics already.

 

[eric b 125]

well, i created a photobucket account, and now that's giving me trouble. i picked up a small yellow toadstool yesterday. i would really like to get these pictures up so that i can get some feedback on the tank. what a pain. i think i'm going to re-aquascape tomorrow. i've been looking at a lot of different tanks and i want to try something different with the rocks.