ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

[ToeSloth]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

I can't figure out what is going on then with the pictures...I did why BigAl told me and I had the one at the top of the third page working then bam red X. I see the one I just posted fine...I did it the same way so I'm not sure what is going on. I copy the URL from picaso by right clicking the image and then put

brackets around it.


ToeSloth, see if this helps:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/reefsanctuary-tips-tricks/40936-linking-picasa-web-album-images.html

I read this finally this morning. This is how I had tried it and still no luck. Weird thing is that I had it working then it stopped after the about the third set of pictures I posted. I posted the pic, I saw it, I refreshed...and it was red X and gone forever. No matter what I have tried in editing the images links on previous posts or creating new ones worked.

Thanks for the help!

One thing that I have noted since posting on here is how much I would like one place to post public photos that all the social aspects that I use could consume. Facebook, Photobucket, Picasa and Live....they are all separate. It's getting tough to show my new RSM to all my friends as they are all spread out on these services.

I will stick to PhotoBucket for now on here as it works!

 

[ToeSloth]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

Chris, now the more water changes you do the faster it will cycle. Also, more life will be saved on and in the rock as well! Every water change you do will knock down ammonia levels!
Do water changes, keep the skimme running optimum and change your carbon after about 2 weeks with fresh carbon.
I bet in about 3 weeks the tank will be cycled and ready to go!

So how often on the additional water changes and how much...

Random question...how long can I have a bucket of SW made and sitting around not doing anything before I shouldn't use it? or is always good as long as I heat and aerate it out before using.

Not sure I have the Skimmer locked in optimum yet...It's making foam just not as much as I though. The inside of the adjustable neck was really dirty when I cleaned it last night so I guess that is a good sign it is removing stuff from the water.

Best

Chris

 

[Reefmack]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

On the water changes, I've seen totally opposite opinions - some say don't do a water change till the tank gets the cycle under control and no ammonia or nitrites, and some say do the water changes. As with redseareef I lean towards doing water changes during cycling, to remove excess nutrients that may be coming from some dieoff on the rock, etc. As to how often to do them, JMO but if the tank isn't experiencing a cloudy bacteria bloom, or green cloudy water maybe once a week? Good question with no totally definitive answer!

On the SW - I make mine up a week ahead as SW is supposed to age 24-48 hours to stabilize the pH, etc. and to be sure all the salt is totally dissolved. I'm not sure how long it will be good, but I'm guessing for at least a few weeks if it's in a capped/covered container. I'll skip a weekly water change at times and have seen no problem using SW that's 2 weeks old (and as you said, heated and aerated first).

On the skimmer, I'm not familiar with the new 130D skimmer but it sounds like the water level in back may not be high enough, or the cup not low enough, to allow the foam to get up into the cup. That was the problem with the old 130 skimmer - the gunk deposited in the cup neck and the upper skimmer chamber and wouldn't make it up into the cup. If the neck has a lot of gunk deposited on it, then it's skimming, just not putting the gunk in the cup.

 

[MatthewJ]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

I read this finally this morning. This is how I had tried it and still no luck.

For some reason, the links you've using sometimes result in "401 File Not Found" errors being returned by Google, and sometimes not. I have no idea why that is, but I've got a network trace to prove it They're different than the requests I've observed too (they don't have the size parameter). Not sure if that has anything to do with it, but the image links you provided that DO have a size parameter all seem to work.

Here's one of the URL's you provided(I've inserted a space after "http" to prevent the forum software from horking up URL):
http ://lh4.ggpht.com/_ImTny_j4wIo/SVGxsN1OdeI/AAAAAAAAAkE/pyoIaZSplG4/DSC00612.JPG

The only different I can see is that the "/s800/" is missing. What I expected was:
http ://lh4.ggpht.com/_ImTny_j4wIo/SVGxsN1OdeI/AAAAAAAAAkE/pyoIaZSplG4/s800/DSC00612.JPG

I suspect that something on Google's end is broken such that when no size is specified, it sometimes results in a "page not found" error.

I will stick to PhotoBucket for now on here as it works!

can't fault you for that. If you ever do want to figure out why picasa wasn't working for you, let me know.

 

[Reefmack]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

Matthew - I can get the first link to work if I just paste in Explorer:

lh4.ggpht.com/_ImTny_j4wIo/SVGxsN1OdeI/AAAAAAAAAkE/pyoIaZSplG4/DSC00612.JPG

And your second link works as is, but gives me a smaller picture. s800 = 800 pixels?

I used to know a little bit about html, but have pretty much forgotten it all.

 

[MatthewJ]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

Matthew - I can get the first link to work if I just paste in Explorer:

yep. works for me too. I've only seen it fail when the request was a result of an embedded image tag. When you enter the address on the address line and click GO, it's technically very different than the same request that results from an image tag in a page.

And your second link works as is, but gives me a smaller picture. s800 = 800 pixels?

yep, that's the size in pixels. It's actually kind of cool I think. For now, I would say always specify the size in the URL and it should work.

 

[ToeSloth]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

Starting CUC research tomorrow if you have good links or would like to pass along experiences good and bad, shoot away!

Best,

Chris

 

[Reefmack]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

Have you got any algae or anything going yet to feed the CUC? If not, some fish food will keep them going. I had great luck with a few turbo snails, a few Astreas, and a half dozen or so nasarrius snails. I used to have quite a few hermits but they really tend to wipe out the small snail population. My emerald crabs did a good cleanup also. And serpent stars do a great job too. Lots of choices - not an easy decision. I added my CUC a bit at a time, as more algae became available.

 

[ToeSloth]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

Still waiting for a good algae bloom...After seeing SteveH's thread and pictures from a few months ago I'm wondering if somthing isn't right unless my rock is fully cured...I know that it had been at the store in a tank for three weeks before I got it. The other thing I have been doing and I don't think I should have is actually cleaning the skimmer cup with water and rubbing the skimmate off rather than just emptying the cup.

I tried posting my numbers for the week but the format was killing me!

Temp S.G. pH Alk Ca2+ NH3 NO2 NO3
Day 1 78.5 1.022 8.4 2.8 450 n/a n/a n/a
Day 2 78.5 n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.25ppm >1ppm 20.0ppm
Day 3 78.5 1.022 8.4 2.8 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Day 4 78.0 1.021 8.4 3.0 n/a 0.25ppm >1ppm 20.0ppm
Day 5 78.0 1.022 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Day 6 78.5 1.022 n/a n/a n/a <0.25ppm 0.2 ppm 5.0ppm
Day 7 78.8 1.024 8.4 3.0 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Day 8 77.5 1.025 n/a n/a n/a <0.25ppm 0.1ppm 5.0ppm



Here are some pictures.

 

[redseareef]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

Chris,
VERY NICE!!! I love those lighthouse pictures!!!! I have all the Thomas Kincade lighthouse collectables. Hand painted, and the windows light up when you turn the little switches on underneath! There is something just so peaceful about lighthouses I think I could live in one.....LOL!
Your tank looks great! Nice cave and rockwork!!!!! IT's going to look really nice once you start adding fish and corals! You got me on the mutilple caves!!! Looks really nice! The fish are going to love it!
Lookin good!

 

[Reefmack]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

Love the rock scaping, and as RSR pointed out the marine based pictures on the tank wall. I don't see that you're doing anything wrong cleaning the gunk out of the cup, as long as you only use water and no soap. I've always heard that the brown crud that builds up in a skimmer cup neck should be removed, as it provides friction and breaks the bubbles on their way up. I just use hot water & a paper towel. I always get better skimming with a clean neck than I do if it gets a build up of crud on it.

That's weird - I see your readings in the notification email, but not in your post. Maybe you edited them out after the email was sent. They were a bit difficult to read in the email.

 

[mbdave]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

If the rock was in a tank in the store 3 weeks I would say its probaly cured or very close.

 

[Reefmack]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

ToeSloth - mbdave made a good point. The rock probably is fully cured, and with no die-off on the rock and no fish or critters, there may not be enough bio-load in the tank to provide a stable foam. That could well be why you don't get anything into the cup.

 

[ToeSloth]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

Thanks for all the great comments and feedback! The excel to text formatting isn't being kind to the eyes. I did put the numbers back in but they are hard to read.

Temp S.G. pH Alk Ca2+ NH3 NO2 NO3
Day 1 78.5 1.022 8.4 2.8 450 n/a n/a n/a
Day 2 78.5 n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.25ppm >1ppm 20.0ppm
Day 3 78.5 1.022 8.4 2.8 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Day 4 78.0 1.021 8.4 3.0 n/a 0.25ppm >1ppm 20.0ppm
Day 5 78.0 1.022 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Day 6 78.5 1.022 n/a n/a n/a <0.25ppm 0.2 ppm 5.0ppm
Day 7 78.8 1.024 8.4 3.0 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Day 8 77.5 1.025 n/a n/a n/a <0.25ppm 0.1ppm 5.0ppm



So if the rock was almost cured...Should I still see a big algea bloom? I mean no real reason to get the CuC if I have nothing really to eat. I guess I could pick up a few snails to see what happens without harming anything.

RM - How do you get the Hydor Flo on one the the fittings (like on pump 2)? Is there a link around here for a mod? I tried a few things without getting it to fit.

Ok on the skimmer - I was just using regular tap, so no real harm there.

Best,

Chris

 

[Reefmack]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

You may still get the algae bloom, even with well cured rock, but the chances are lower. You should see a brown diatom bloom on the sediment and rock soon though - that typically precedes the green algae. Looks like you ammonia and nitrites are decreasing - good sign. You may need something in there soon to keep the bacteria fed and multiplying. Even a bit of some fish food till you get a few snails. Some put a piece of cocktail shrimp in to test the cycle. I was very lucky and never had a measurable cycle so I'm not the best person to give advice on that.

On the Hydor Flo I twisted around a large screwdriver on the largest adapter till it got enlarged enough to tightly fit on the powerhead fitting. Unscrew the powerhead and work on it out of the tank - easier & no pressure on that back wall that way. Mine gets slimed up with coralline and comes off pretty easily if I bump into it with my hand in the tank, but otherwise it stays on. Some have just replaced the powerhead fitting with one of the Hydor Flo adapters, but I'm not sure how well that works, plus you lose the ability to be able to aim the current when you want it. Maybe putting the adapter into hot water would make it more pliable? I never tried that.

 

[ToeSloth]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

RM - Thanks for the ideas.

Going out tomorrow Caps vs Flyers (free box seats) - first night out without taking care of the new baby!

Numbers for the evening Temp 77.9 - S.G. 1.026 - Calc 425 - Alk - 2.8

Emptied but didn't clean the skimmer - I want to see what that does. I used the last 35ml of the NitroBac as well. I guess I should pick some more of that up. Topped off with RO water as well.

CuC - maybe a few snails Wednesday night on the way home. I will pick up some fish food as well to make sure there is something bio related in the tank.

Best,

Chris

 

[redseareef]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

Go Flyers...........................

 

[ToeSloth]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

Go Flyers...........................

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

I though you and I were getting along so nicely!

 

[redseareef]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

LOL, who won that game?????

 

[ToeSloth]

re: ToeSloth's Serenity! RSM 130D

LOL, who won that game?????

The game is tonight...I know you and I are on seperate coasts but gheez!

RSR - Thanks for looking at my spreadsheet! I feel like there is so much to do that I may miss something.

Chris