TheClark

Interesting... Lithium..(scratch) Does that mean that the fish in US tanks are more chill!(laugh)

Haha right?!

I wise person once told me...

If you fill it with salt water, it will fill with frags.

and

Frags will consume all available space, no matter how big the space.

So true.. This is a serious addiction we all share DOH!

It is intriguing that 80-80% of US tanks supposedly are coming back with high levels of lithium. There are so many little bits of data now, more new information to take in and learn from.

Also the whole Barium and Montipora Digitata using it, very interesting.

Did the frag tank too, lots of good storage area underneath that is no longer an eye sore...

Great talk, the guys is interesting to listen to.

I am thinking V2 will be made by someone more mechanically inclined, perhaps in CAD, perhaps 3d printed. Who could do such a thing I wonder? Someone local, someone I know... heheheh

That's a nice piece congrats!

She's a beauty congrats!

It is geared down down to 10 RPM. Seems to do a good job but time will tell! Too much fun not to try

Well here it is, the pre-alpha v0.1 neck cleaner!

The wet neck isn't quite square, but it should do the job.

Motor is 12v.

Mounted on standoffs made of 3/8"s pex.

Reused wetneck to mount squeegees.

Cut squeegees with miter saw to make them fit inside the neck.

Back to the cleanup

Interesting... been wanting to fab up a neck cleaner for a while!

Me too buddy, the 1 dollar neck cleaner pushed me over the edge along with this phosphate battle from hell...

Pretty rough looking but should do the job.

Its all hooked up, time to clean up the project mess...

What did you end up using for a seal?

Ahh, this skimmer had an old fashioned 'wet neck'. So it had this fitting through the lid, that was designed to spray water and spin around.

It didn't work well or really at all.

But.. the bones were good. I attached the motor to the wetneck shaft, and the squeegees to the pvc pipes that sprayed water.

I would imagine for the DIY manual cleaner, a person could put a piece of 1/2" CPVC through the lid and mount the squeegee to that if gluing to the lid like the video is not an option.

I am surprised how many wildly successful reefers do not do water changes (kudos Brad and Mattv).

Definitely will compare this against the things I can test, but there are quite a few elements they test for that just cannot be done at home.

In a few years we may be able to point back to some real break through moments in the hobby that were enabled by people having their data compared to NSW.

Exciting stuff!

Now to add two more squeegees, silicone up the stainless steel and hookup the timer.

It works!! Check out the gunk on the squeegee!

Eagerly awaiting your results (popcorn)

Me too! Vials should come in a few days, maybe 3 weeks from now will have numbers.

I've been following that thread-makes me feel good about me not doing water changes-

 

How often you going to test?

Thinking of just getting a baseline for now to see how out of whack I am... I mean my tank is... At 50 bucks a pop it won't be a weekly or even a monthly thing that is for sure!

Good read if you are curious on reefbuilders:

http://reefbuilders.com/2014/05/26/triton-reef-elementz/

I love data, Triton is exciting to me. Going to do a baseline test on the system, will post results.

There is quite a bit of buzz already on reef2reef about it.

UniqueCorals has it available now for 49 dollars...

Triton Labs Reef Aquarium Water Test- Single Test Vials with Return Shipping- "Empowered Reefkeeping" is at the core of "The Triton Method" , and it all starts with information about your aquarium's water. For the time ever, reefkeepers have access to the most detailied analysis of aquarium water ever developed. Developed over several years at his facility in Dusseldorf, Germany, Triton Labs founder, Ehsan Dashti has developed customized protocols to utilize Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emmission Spectrometry analysis (ICP-OES) to iterally rip molecules apart with plasma that is heated to 10,000 degrees Kelvin for analysis. The ICP-OES machine has been adapted by Ehsan to test seawater for the ultimate in accuracy. Water is tested for precise concentrations of lesser known elements found in seawater that are either essential and missing, or detrimental and building up to high levels in the aquarium. The elements being tested for include Na, Ca, Mg, K, Sr, B, Br, S, Li, Be, Ba, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Al, Si, As, Sb, Sn, Cd, Se, Mo, Hg, P (PO4), Pb, I. AVAILABLE HERE OCTOBER 15TH.

 

The results provide you with the most detailed analysis of marine aquarium water you've ever seen, enabling you to understand exactly what's missing, what's excessive, and what to do about it. The results of Triton Reef’s testing are reported back to you online in a simple, easy-to-understand format. If you need to add trace elements, Triton offers ultra-pure trace elements to adjust defficiencies in your quarium. The benefit to you is being able, for the first time, to add exactly what your corals require for long-term health and growth, or knowing exactly what is building up to potentially detrimental levels. The possibilities with the "Triton Method" include being able to precisely replicate natural the water chemistry conditions from reefs around the world, as well as creating higher potential for success with the information provided by the ICP-OES analysis.

 

ReefnJunkie convinced me... built an auto version of this for about 20 bucks with eBay motor, 12v power supply and three squegees. Going for the ultimate clean neck will squuegee the inside and outside of neck, and the cup itself.

Waiting on Amazon for the squeegees

Well, if you check out the bean animal article wannareef linked:

http://www.beananimal.com/projects/silent-and-fail-safe-aquarium-overflow-system.aspx

Part of the success and silence of this system is the full siphon. If you are doing bean animal then definitely you want one of the lines to have a valve on it so you can get the full siphon without any air in the line.

One tough part to find will be that pvc gate valve.

A ball valve works for the full siphon but they are sure tough to get dialed in as compared to the gate valve.

I use true union/ball valves for that reason but in a perfect world would choose gate valves.

Otherwise Lowes seems to have a decent selection of true unions which is sure nice. My local home depot does not.

Looking forward to seeing Charles' handiwork pics.

Good luck have fun despite the losses.

Think he meant Zoas.. There is only pink or white xenia that I know off.. Unless it's xanthella or cloves

I think so too, had to razz him a little!

I figured share the love

 

http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/sps-grow-out-challenge-acros/index3.html

 

http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/sps-grow-out-challenge-acros/175844-reefnjunkies-grow-out-acropora-coral.html

 

http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/lps-grow-out-challenge-acan-lords/

 

http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/lps-grow-out-challenge-acan-lords/176655-reefnjunkies-acan-growout-entry.html

 

and for you colored xenia lovers

http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/zoanthid-grow-out-challenge-zoas-palys/

 

Homie don't play that game (nono)

Way to represent! Good luck, will be watching.

Colored Xenia lovers!!??

Hey timmylucas,

Lots of good advice in this thread.

Here is a really good read from Mr. Saltwater Tank, check it out

Deleted... he charges 37 bucks for the information. Way too much money, I can see 5 bucks!

So' date=' my skimmer has a rubber o-ring at the top of the neck. It's always how I've had it. Is that not supposed to be there?[/quote']

 

Pics?