Project5k and the new 75Gal salt tank

[project5k]

yea, remember when i said i had one picked out, well, its on that site,.. i was looking at the 0ppm $60 unit, there is also the next bigger one, the one thats on sale for $77 .....

i mean really, if it only makes 10 gallons per day, thats more than i'll ever use... so.... if i can go smaller, and save $$ then i say why not..

whaddya think?

 

[daugherty]

yea you can do that ten gal a day is not bad i got the 110 gpd because it is used for drinking water along with an auto topoff for my tank so i got the 6stage multi use with the pressure tank it was 140 and i have had it for about a year or so and my tds out of the di to my tank is still 0

 

[Bifferwine]

Your meter is not far off from the calibration solution. But there's something wrong with the RODI water you've been buying. If I were you, I'd run over to the LFS and check their water, or if you have a buddy with an RODI unit, test theirs. Just to make sure it's not your meter.

 

[project5k]

yea, i need some kinda "control" to make sure that the meter is right.. guess i'll put the meter in my pocket and take it to the lfs some day when i have time...

 

[project5k]

the short version of today, go to lfs for little things... end up getting first corals, zoas, also got first aipstasia, made second 1 hour 1 way drive to store, got aipstasia x, came home, administered meds, and now not sure if the starfish is reef safe or not... time will tell...

 

[Ted]

Nice looking zoahs. I am on my second bottle of aiptasia control its good stuff. Just wish I had know to kill the first one I saw back when I saw it. I even fed the dam thing until I joined here and found out what it was. :frustrat: Well live and learn. Did you see any damage on the zoahs from the starfish?

 

[project5k]

nope, it was funny tho, while he was crawling over them the first time, each time one of his little sucker feet would touch a zoa he would recoil back like it hurt him, then after 3 or 4 times of that, he just started walking all over them, and they didnt even close! well, some did, but some didnt, then after he moved on, i couldnt see where he had done any damage to any of the zoas, where his mouth was never actually was over a zoa, it was like he was after something that was between the little clumps of zoas...

I will say this, there are a bunch of tubeworms(little tiny featherdusters) on this rock, i just hope that there was only that one aipstasia and not other nasties....

this morning when i got up, my blue led's were on, and the zoas were either closed up, or about half closed... is that normal? do they kinda retract at night?

i cant wait till i get more blue spectrum light.. they are really gonna be awesome.. so now i have green, and some pale blue, now i want orange..... geez, i knew this would happen, now i'm hooked on corals, gee thanks everyone! hehehehehe

 

[project5k]

oh, learned a good one yesterday.. while at the lfs the first time, i got Jason to help me out with calibrating my ph and tds meters.. so ofcourse when i got home, i just had to try them out... the salt tank measured 8.2, man, am i glad about that, but i went ahead and picked up some buffering compound, just to have handy... and the other thing that i measured was my rodi water, that i've been getting at the water shed.. well, it reads 109! HOLY EFF"N S!.... so i had to go to walmart last night, so i thought, well, heck, i'll just get me a gallon of the culligan stuff and see how it measures.... 009. now, understand that the calibration adjustment on my meter is soo sensitive, that we couldnt get it any closer to the cal fluid than about 5 off, so i know my meter reads 5 points high... that means that the culligan machine water is really 004!!! now that's sometihng i'm willing to use in my tank... so, i guess its no more water shed, and back to the culligan machine, till i can afford my own ro-di filter... darnit, the watershed was so convienant, i could back the truck right up to the despinser, now i gotta cart all my buckets in and out of walmart...:frustrat:

 

[Ted]

Yes the zoahs close up at night. Thats good that you found out about the water shed not having good water. I am very fortunate the R2U is 3 minutes from my house I can get water from them for 25 cents a gallon.

 

[project5k]

thats what i was paying at the shed... the culligan is only 27 cents, i still think its too much, but.... you know, even tho the news isnt good, i'm much happier knowing for sure now, than not knowing before...

 

[Ted]

thats not to bad I have seen peoples post that where paying 50 cents or more.

 

[project5k]

i wonder, if with all the parts and stuff that i have laying around, if i could just distill my own water... hmmm

 

[tankedchemist]

Distilling is easy... But some ions would still be there and it definitely takes a while to distill. Just wondering-- what tds does your tap water come up as? Cuz mine's about 30... So that water shed must have been adding junk...or I have real clean tap water? :p

 

[dcantucson]

Wow tanked that's great. Our water here in Tucson measures at 350-400.

 

[winyfrog]

geez mine here in st george is 780

 

[dcantucson]

Wow! I guess I don't feel that bad then. :)

 

[project5k]

the water i got from the culligan machine in walmart reads 004, the water shed water i have reads 112, and the house tap reads 209.

soooooooo....

i was stairing into the tank today, and guess what else i found on my new zoa rock... i'll give you a hint, red/orange, and looks like a catapillar kinda sorta, or maybe more like a centipeed... yup... pantyhose with shrimp inside... waiting now... oh, and i found one weeee tiny aipstasia, right next to some of the zoas, so, now i also get to test the theory of if the aipstasia-x is zoa safe, cause some of the zoas got a good face full of the stuff...

 

[dcantucson]

Kill those aipstasia! I spent over an hour and a full bottle of X killing those things last night. Today I see probably 100+ that I missed. Don't let them live!!!

 

[project5k]

i'm killing em as fast as i can find em, but so far i've only found 2.... and both have been doused in the face with that stuff... the first one isno where to be found, and the second one is following the same fate so far...

looked in the tank this morning right before i left for work, and i didnt see anything on the panty hose... and the zoas that got aipstasia-x'd last night were still closed up tight...hope they are ok...

 

[winyfrog]

if the zoas ate any of the aiptasia X they will most likely die from it.

I think that your centipede looking critter is just a bristle worm, they wont harm your zoas and are actually a good invert for your tank, they eat waste etc.