Scott's 4 gallon pico reef build

[Bearchumjs]

Originally Posted by scottayy

Challenge accepted! Won't test till Monday.

I'm not buying a fish until you test your levels.

[scottayy]

Originally Posted by Bearchumjs

I'm not buying a fish until you test your levels.

This is bad news too, for my light

Scheduled Delivery:
Thursday, 09/20/2012, By End of Day

I can't wait 5 days.

[Bearchumjs]

Oh no! That's forever away!!! But at least you won't have to wait for the clamp!

[scottayy]

OK.. interesting observation. Evaporation barely occurs at all with the lid on. It condensates and then (probably) falls back down. Another thing, with the lid on, the temperature will stay warm even when the room is cool. My water was staying at 82 even when the room was at 72 (heater is set for 76). I guess the only way the water can cool is through evaporation? which didn't happen with the lid on. With the lid off overnight the water has cooled and I noticed a water level drop.

[Bearchumjs]

I get no evaporation with my lid on. My temp stays at about 78 though. Possibly because the lid had holes drilled in it? I don't know. I like not having to worry about top offs though. It makes things easier!

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Too bad about the light dude :/ gives you a reason to look forward to thursday.... Cmon, who likes thursdays? Lol

Evaporation is killin me.... Gallon top offs all the time! Keep that glass top on! Lol

[Bearchumjs]

Originally Posted by Nu-Nu the eel

Too bad about the light dude :/ gives you a reason to look forward to thursday.... Cmon, who likes thursdays? Lol

Evaporation is killin me.... Gallon top offs all the time! Keep that glass top on! Lol

Get a lid Nu-Nu! You have a chiller so you should be able to control the temp, right?

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Haha i actually do have a lid.... There is literally no where for evaporation to escape.... Not sure how it happens! Lol the chiller is awesome.... Keeps my tank alive!

[Bearchumjs]

Originally Posted by Nu-Nu the eel

Haha i actually do have a lid.... There is literally no where for evaporation to escape.... Not sure how it happens! Lol the chiller is awesome.... Keeps my tank alive!

Do you have a sump?

[Bearchumjs]

Sorry Scott- nu-Nu- let's move his convo to your thread.

[Jimbo7]

Originally Posted by scottayy

OK.. interesting observation. Evaporation barely occurs at all with the lid on. It condensates and then (probably) falls back down. Another thing, with the lid on, the temperature will stay warm even when the room is cool. My water was staying at 82 even when the room was at 72 (heater is set for 76). I guess the only way the water can cool is through evaporation? which didn't happen with the lid on. With the lid off overnight the water has cooled and I noticed a water level drop.

You should try to run without a lid. Evaporation is annoying and salt creep is even worse, but a good amount of surface area should be exposed to facilitate oxygen exchange. This makes sure you have good O2 levels for your fish to live, but more importantly makes sure that your pH levels aren't swinging all over the place. If you have a sump with a powerhead pointed towards the surface of the water, you can probably lid up your DT. If you just have the DT I would highly recommend running no lid.
If you have wrasse or other jumpers, you can use bridal veil and pvc to construct mesh screens to keep them in.

[scottayy]

Interesting enough, the lid didn't have salt creep. It was all evaporated water which was sans salt. The lid has slots and holes in it so gas exchange can still occur.

I'm just experimenting with what I like right now. #1 priority will be keeping the kitties off and out of it.

[Bearchumjs]

Originally Posted by scottayy

Interesting enough, the lid didn't have salt creep. It was all evaporated water which was sans salt. The lid has slots and holes in it so gas exchange can still occur.

I'm just experimenting with what I like right now. #1 priority will be keeping the kitties off and out of it.

This morning I had my lid off for a second to test my salinity and my kitty jumped up and licked the water. She's a psycho. And that explains why she threw up this afternoon...

I think with the slots and holes, gas exchange should be fine. My lid doesnt get salt creep either, which is nice. It did when I had my airstone on, but now that it's turned off it doesn't get that salt creep anymore.

[scottayy]

ammonia: 4
nitrite: 5
nitrate: 80

lots of everything.. moving along nicely

[Bearchumjs]

Originally Posted by scottayy

ammonia: 4
nitrite: 5
nitrate: 80

lots of everything.. moving along nicely

Pretty colors! I'm glad you FINALLY tested!

[scottayy]

Originally Posted by Bearchumjs

Pretty colors! I'm glad you FINALLY tested!

You may get fish now!

[Bearchumjs]

Originally Posted by scottayy

You may get fish now!

I'm going to have to test my nitrates. Might as well do it now, eh? Maybe I will go first thing in the morning!

[scottayy]

Well I received my light fixture (thanks bearchumjs!).



And testing an incandescent bulb. My par38 bulb comes on thursday.

[Bearchumjs]

Originally Posted by scottayy

Well I received my light fixture (thanks bearchumjs!).

And testing an incandescent bulb. My par38 bulb comes on thursday.

You're very welcome! It going to look great with your par38.

[scottayy]

Is there a lot of light spillage from the par38 or does it direct most of it downward?