Dary's tank!

[Dary421]

It's been rather uneventful tank wise around here,..nothing really going on of note ( ... No news is good news)... But my brother al from Florida is out here for a mini vacation and he spent a hour or two to revamping how my tank receives its electricity,... He moved and added new outlets closer to the tank ,... It'll be a lot easier to plug things into a generator if and wen I lose power again....much cleaner looking and I'm sure safer too!!! Nice to have someone in the family who understands how to do these things....thank you al !!

 

[Gboy66]

Sweet Dary! How are those Martian Corals doin?

 

[Dary421]

Sweet Dary! How are those Martian Corals doin?

The Martians are doing great,..quite the conversation piece, they really brighten up the neighborhood ...the plate coral I originally purchased with the first Martian coral has been getting bigger and bigger,..tentacles are from a inch to two inches in length now,...really blew me away.
It's been really hot ( 95-100 ) and very humid out here in the inner section of San Diego for the last week or so,.. Boy am I ever glad that I bought my cooler for the tank and extra adult beverages for us to enjoy.

 

[Gboy66]

The Martians are doing great,..quite the conversation piece, they really brighten up the neighborhood ...the plate coral I originally purchased with the first Martian coral has been getting bigger and bigger,..tentacles are from a inch to two inches in length now,...really blew me away.
It's been really hot ( 95-100 ) and very humid out here in the inner section of San Diego for the last week or so,.. Boy am I ever glad that I bought my cooler for the tank and extra adult beverages for us to enjoy.

Awesome, i expected as much from you man.

I was going to say! That heat must be killer. I know its terrible up here in the OC

 

[Dary421]

Awesome, i expected as much from you man.

I was going to say! That heat must be killer. I know its terrible up here in the OC

Even brother al ( from Florida) says this weather sucks,... Hopeful all of our tanks will go thru this unscathed !! .... I just discovered that " my cooler" is dangerously low on beverages ,..so I guess there's an up coming run to the 7-11 soon. ,...wishing you the best !!!

 

[needmorecowbell]

Wow, your tank sounds great right now, how's the trigger? I have to live my dream of keeping a trigger through others tanks

I was thinking, why cant people just cool their tank with their refrigerator? I don't know how it would work, but it seems easier.

 

[Dary421]

Wow, your tank sounds great right now, how's the trigger? I have to live my dream of keeping a trigger through others tanks

I was thinking, why cant people just cool their tank with their refrigerator? I don't know how it would work, but it seems easier.

Hey there!! .. Mr trigger is doing nicely.., I found a loose sand crab this am and tossed it in the dt,..that took about three seconds before he tore it up!!! ..... Re.the coolers,..I think it's all in how the temp is regulated ,..your little home refrig or even the larger refrig ,keep the temp at around 40 * +- ,.even if you could hook up some kind of coils for the water to run thru to be cooled eventually your tank would end up at that temp. ,..the aquarium cooler only start its cooling process once your max preset temp is reached and shuts off after it cools the tank down,.. Saves a lot f energy that way and realistically it'll prob do a 100% better job of it....I'm sure there's guys out there that had an old bar refrig that they've converted thru trial and error,..but for me,.. I'm happy with what I got.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Oh yeah, that makes sense. Maybe a temperature valve could work, put one of them on that shuts the power to the pump off and on, keeps the tank at the perfect temp, although I dont even know if there is such a thing as a temperature valve lol.. And I'm happy the trigger is doing well for ya.

 

[Gregcoyote]

There are, many hot tubs have a continuous flow and diverts the water into the heater core when the temp goes down. More efficient way to engineer a system like that. Usually built into the heater core, it uses a automotive type thermostat to divert the water.

There have been several guys that wound their own heat transfer coils and used a bar fridge (or at least the compressor) to build their own chiller. Most modern chillers use a titanium coil as plastic or acrylic doesn't transfer heat well.

 

[needmorecowbell]

I have a feeling that would be for really big tanks, I don't see it being cheaper than buying a premade one.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Even little chillers use titanium. Using a fridge you can usually buy for a hundred bucks or less, it is possible to cool a smaller tank. Because their efficiency isn't close to a real chiller, I would still go with the real chiller, especially if you live in a warm climate and don't air condition. Part of the attraction of LEDs, a much smaller chiller is needed if one is needed at all.

 

[Jlsardina]

Hey there!! .. Mr trigger is doing nicely.., I found a loose sand crab this am and tossed it in the dt,..that took about three seconds before he tore it up!!! ..... Re.the coolers,..I think it's all in how the temp is regulated ,..your little home refrig or even the larger refrig ,keep the temp at around 40 * +- ,.even if you could hook up some kind of coils for the water to run thru to be cooled eventually your tank would end up at that temp. ,..the aquarium cooler only start its cooling process once your max preset temp is reached and shuts off after it cools the tank down,.. Saves a lot f energy that way and realistically it'll prob do a 100% better job of it....I'm sure there's guys out there that had an old bar refrig that they've converted thru trial and error,..but for me,.. I'm happy with what I got.

My brother in law converted an old mini fridge into a chiller/fridge. Coolest thing ever. Lol

 

[Sniperhank]

My brother in law converted an old mini fridge into a chiller/fridge. Coolest thing ever. Lol

I've seen this discussed before. As long as it could still keep beverages cold would keep it in the cool categeroy. If so, please post instructions! Lol.

 

[Keithhjs]

Hi. My apologies for hijacking part of this thread. I was looking at your chalice pic. Pretty sure I have the same type. Just wondering if you could tell me how big that is (looks like quite a few eyes), where you found it, and if not too rude of me asking how pricey? Piece looks great btw. Also, I had mine on the sand at first to adjust to my lights & after a week or so it started receding fast. I put it higher in tank but against the back (my lights are more towards the front) and instantly it started coming back, bubbling up, and adding eyes. First pic is day one, second is couple weeks later showing "bubbling".

 

[Dary421]

Hi. My apologies for hijacking part of this thread. I was looking at your chalice pic. Pretty sure I have the same type. Just wondering if you could tell me how big that is (looks like quite a few eyes), where you found it, and if not too rude of me asking how pricey? Piece looks great btw. Also, I had mine on the sand at first to adjust to my lights & after a week or so it started receding fast. I put it higher in tank but against the back (my lights are more towards the front) and instantly it started coming back, bubbling up, and adding eyes. First pic is day one, second is couple weeks later showing "bubbling".

Yup,..I'd say you got yourself a " Martian " too., ( at least that's what I call'em) ... My first one is probably five inches across and my second one is about four inches across,....I put my first one about midway down in the water column ( 135 gal tank) and the second one about a few inches from the surface , both under LED's ,...so far no changes in either one as far as I can see,.."the on site description said they were found all over the reefs, from the surface ,sides,bottom etc so I'm kinda experimenting at the moment......the first one was " on sale" for about $100 ., the second one was not ! :-/
Keep me posted on yours,..I'll be very interested in comparing notes.

 

[Dary421]

My brother in law converted an old mini fridge into a chiller/fridge. Coolest thing ever. Lol

Is that the one that contains your coral food and " ginger ale" ? .... How did he control the temp so the tanks water did not get too cold?

 

[Dary421]

I've seen this discussed before. As long as it could still keep beverages cold would keep it in the cool categeroy. If so, please post instructions! Lol.

Heck,..I'd buy one too.

 

[Keithhjs]

Thanks for the info. I think I overpaid for mine (but from a pricey LFS) lol. Mine is about 5-6 inches x 4-5 inches, so close to yours in size. I too keep mine under LED. I'll be curious to hear if yours ever bubble the way mine has been doing. Good luck with it.

P.S. Pretty wicked under heavy blue lighting.

 

[Dary421]

Thanks for the info. I think I overpaid for mine (but from a pricey LFS) lol. Mine is about 5-6 inches x 4-5 inches, so close to yours in size. I too keep mine under LED. I'll be curious to hear if yours ever bubble the way mine has been doing. Good luck with it.

P.S. Pretty wicked under heavy blue lighting.

Yeah,.but I didn't say what I paid for the one NOT on sale ( lol) ,...all this talk about chillers and protecting your tank reminded me that a couple of months ago I was going to order a battery backup for my ecotech 40 and never did,...I think that this'll be a good precautionary purchase ,..you may not always be home if the power goes out ,at least this way you'll have a lot of water movement until you get home and hook up your generator.....ecotech battery backup on the way.
I'm sure someone has made a better one out of a recycled car battery or something BUT at least I know this is made for the powerhead and should be an easy connect..... Next project ! ( canopy )

 

[Gregcoyote]

Dary... Are the Ecoteck battery backups any different than a regular APC UPS you can buy at Best Buy in the computer department? If it backs up a computer, it sure should run some power heads. That's what I am hooking up as I have some at my office. Let me know how the unit works for you.