My 4 sq feet of ocean. And all my questions that go with it....

handbanana

handbanana

Member
Hi Everyone.

Ive decided to post this thread about my tank and all the questions that go with it. I dont want to start a new thread with every question I have since one or two people could answer them and that would be that. I like Discussion, even debate, What can I say?

Since I have yet to figure out how to post full size images most of them will be in thumbnail format. Unless someone shows me...
Anywho. I started about 4 months ago with a 60 gallon with no center brace that I purchased from CL for cheap (no wonder) and started on my way. Even drilled it myself. made a rockwall, the whole nine (for a compleate newb).
Well now I have a new tank that is not going to explode all over my living room and I got over the whole disasterous starting out and nothing going right phase. That actully took me leaving the tank alone, almost ignoreing it except for water changes (a few) for almost two months. That was hard.
But now...Awesomeness. I am amazed at how much this hobbie has taught me. Ive always loved science and chemestry and this is the perfict hobbie for both. It is Enrichining. I feel smarter than my FW friends.

so here it is. I have a LOT of questions, some legit some pretty foolish. I like looking down lengthwise into my tank forsome reason. tried to go with a sort of cove. More to come.



 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
so here it is. I have a LOT of questions
wow my friend where do i start. oh wait what are the questions

I what two questions of my own 1. are you planning on some type of tank cover ?2 what brand of acoustic do you play ?
 
handbanana

handbanana

Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3255132
something about guitars and tanks

Yup. I serrinade my fish with little dittys about them. It pleases them to see that I am 100% commited. or should be.
Dont tell me you dont sing to Lola...
Hey Joeyfine Your tank looks pretty d### good IMO.
 
joeyfine

joeyfine

Member
Originally Posted by Handbanana
http:///forum/post/3255170
Yup. I serrinade my fish with little dittys about them. It pleases them to see that I am 100% commited. or should be.
Dont tell me you dont sing to Lola...
Hey Joeyfine Your tank looks pretty d### good IMO.
all i have is a tank :( theres nothing in it yet. booo
 
handbanana

handbanana

Member
Oh hey Joe, Didnt see that edit.
I want to make a nice canopy but Im trying to figure the distance my lights need to be from my water. Those MH lights cause me ALOT of evap. Their hanging lights so now their about two feet above the water. Im not sure the next step. I need a cover tho. That Blenny looks like he wants out sometimes.
I play an Ovation Electric Acoustic. I have an Ibenez Electric and an Ibanez Bass too. But I love my ovation.
 
mrdc

mrdc

Active Member
Originally Posted by Handbanana
http:///forum/post/3255176
Those MH lights cause me ALOT of evap.
Yes they do. My old setup evap'd about 2 gallons a day. My current ones do about 1.25 gallons a day.
Hanging lights also scare me about falling into the tank. I just worry too much!
 
handbanana

handbanana

Member
+1 about the hanging lights. I saw that one of the drywall anchors coming out of the cealing yesterday. just about s#### myself.
 
joeyfine

joeyfine

Member
Originally Posted by mrdc
http:///forum/post/3255182
Yes they do. My old setup evap'd about 2 gallons a day. My current ones do about 1.25 gallons a day.
Hanging lights also scare me about falling into the tank. I just worry too much!

why not get a stud finder and some drywall screws? anchor those babies in and you wont have to worry about them falling!
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
egg create for jump prevention and a falling light
BTW you can paint the egg create black to blend in with the top tank trim
 
handbanana

handbanana

Member
Im getting my threads confused. sorry Joeyfine.
Anyway on to the questions. Im going to start with the basics and work into the weirder stuff.
First up. Skimmer.
I have a Corallife superskimmer. Thats what its called, I dont think its so super.
Now Ive heard people say you dont need a skimmer the first six months and I have a light Bio-load so maybe their right. However I have one now and I dont think its working propperly. Its more of a dirty water dispenser. I see others pictures of their skimmate and mine looks nothing like it. It just fills the collection cup with water that has stuff floating in it. Ive throttled down the pump according to the instructions. It says only to do this during the break-in peroid and use the adjustment knob on the skimmer itself after the first 48 hours.. this is what is being done.
So I adjust and adjust and I either get nothing, or a cup full of water, OR more frequently nothing at first and then when I leave the house it fills up the cup. There is no thick scum or even nasty stuff, sure it coated the inside of the funnel with scum but thats it in 3 months.
The instructions say " turn knob untill water rises into collection funnel 3/8 of an inch for wet skimming, 1/8 for dry skimming", or something close to that.
What is Dry skimming? Whats the difference? am I wet skimming? Ive tried both settings. nothing but a cup ful of water......
so there it is. the first question.
 
tim514

tim514

Member
Aren't you wasting alot of light with them 2 feet away from the tank? I have never used MH's but i would imagine that they should be like 10-12" away from the tank if the bulbs are open and maybe closer if they are protected from splashing. Any one else have any input? It just seems that you are lighting up the room more than the tank itself.
The guy at my LFS has them in his hood and they are exposed and are about 6inches from the water i would guess.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
IMO start skimming as soon as your tank is able to cycle organics. give you skimmer time to brake in. CHECK and make sure your return water lines from your skimmer are not clogged or crimped.
Dry skim-mate, darker color in your collection cup. wet lighter color and more water removal in your cup.
BTW just read the post under mine. you want your return lines always to be lower then the bottom of the collection cup
 
tim514

tim514

Member
is the height of the water in the skimmer adjusted correctly? you should be able to fine tune it so it does more of a dry skimming i would imagine. The skimmed stuff should be dark-ish. Not just dirty yellow looking water. Mine has an output tube on the side of the skimmer that I can raise up or lower. If i raise it up the collection cup fills faster with "dirty" looking water. If i lower it, it will take longer to fill up and the scum it collects will be dark.
 
handbanana

handbanana

Member
There are two knobs. one on the pump, and the red one on the skimmer. when I turn the red one nothing happens untill halfway. then it hits a point where it just fills up. If I have it down low it just sits for days with nothing in the cup. when I think I have it where the foam is about half an inch from the top of the funnel then it stays good for a while. then it overflows with water. does the water level affect the skim process? I recently converted it to a HOB to test this theory.
And as for wasting time with the lights that far over my fish tank, Im not peddeling a bike to power my lights so wasting time...No. Light and Electricty. . . .maybe.
My house plants are doing good tho
 
handbanana

handbanana

Member
Ok heres one thats out there.
Have you ever watched your fish sleep?
I Noticed that my clown made a little dipression in my sand directly under my moon light.
At night hes there presumebly sleeping.
So do fish sleep with one eye open so to speak?
I notice that he manages to keep himself in the same spot. sometimes he drifts away a little but he slowly wiggles back into place. and some times he will turn around, then turn back around to face into the current. sometimes it seems like he sees me hes just too sleepy or lazy to react. So is this clown sleeping? do they only half sleep to stay alert for preditors? Can they see all the time since they cant close their eyes?
Ive been wondering for awhile now,
 
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