milesmiles902

Wow! Thanks all for the quick reply. I have seen many larger copepods, but never this small. They have to be no more than 2 mm in length. I'll keep it in mind that AEFW tend to live on tissue. It was just odd to only find them on the plugs with acros.

Hey everyone! I might have a pest problem. To begin, there were two Acropora's in my tank that lasted a while and immediately died off. I know I had a bit of an alkalinity problem, but anything that was damaged came right back. After about 3 weeks of keeping the Acropora where they were (hoping they would come back), I decided to examine them up close. I found some bugs, that aren't on other pieces of coral. If I do a quick google search, they do somewhat look like other Acropora eating bugs. What should I do about them? There aren't any other Acropora in the tank right now, but some SPS, more LPS.

Ditto. Sounds like a good event.

If you have time, go check out the Murano Glass Factory. You'll like seeing the level of craftsmanship put into each individual hand crafted piece. It's pretty insane.

Edit: Never-mind.

I might try some evaporative cooling techniques. They seem to work for larger greenhouses, but use tons of water. I should start collecting rain water now. Haha. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some commercial products like that. I know you can do it with an arduino, which is something I might try. Just need to wire together some relays and get a PAR meter. I only have a lumens one right now and they correlate, but are not a true correlation. Day: I lost track So I wanted to get my greenhouse done by January, but because there were some set-backs it is not quite there, but i do have some cool progress. My dad came by for the holidays and saw that the structure wasn't level and we tore it down. He was so right. We reused a lot of the material and I saved all the insulation for my new structure. I advise everyone to keep a level structure. It makes building so much easier and it really adds to the quality. Here is a picture after we took down the endwalls and built a new frame. He also said my structure was too heavy for what I wanted to do. My dad really helped me build a level structure, then I added the rear end wall. After making a level structure you can see how off the bricks were from being level. If I want an aquarium in there, the ground better be close to level...or else. I went and added some spring lock (I like to call it wiggle wire) to the structure. It is around the trim of the end walls and the base of the structure. I think it is a great product and would suggest it to any person building a greenhouse. I was able to easily install the plastic and remove it in a matter of seconds without ruining it. Here is what it looks like up close. The stuff is cheap and re-usable. I spent probably 9 dollars per 6ft of the stuff. With the channel and wiggle wire included. I went and added some plastic to the structure yesterday and installed my fan. I haven't cut the wiggle wire or plastic quite yet. The issue is with one person it is kind of hard to pull the plastic taught. So, I am going to wait to cut both of them when I find another person to help. I started doing the brick, but really felt like I could just do it later. I went and installed a fan to blow a layer of air between the folded over piece of plastic. I have a regulator around, which I will probably use because the fan is too strong. The fan is 12watts, which adds up to ~4.50 per month if I ran it. Not too bad for what it does. My favorite part of the whole system is I went and dug up a contraption I built during the summer. Originally it was going to be a weather station, but now it is going to be a greenhouse controller. Reloading all the firmware was worse than doing a software update on the international space station. It measures temperature, humidity, relative pressure, lumens and calculates heat index altitude. Then streams them live to my website: http://localdatacenter.org/ The arduino collects data, which goes to the raspberry pi and emits the data wirelessly to a web server every five minutes. The web server hosts the website and relays any incoming data. The case is a pelican case, which is semi-waterproof, but there is wires coming out which break the seal. it does some other neat stuff, but a lot of it still needs polishing. It measures lumens, rather than par, which is kind of a problem. **Note the current max/min values are a little off because it was in my room last night and was being turned off and on*** My next few goals: Lay out the brick and figure out what to do with the pond. I extended the pond probably another 6 ft and has a volume now of 300-500 gallons. I am not sure if I should add an opening into the greenhouse for the pond. I know I want to attempt to do some aquaponic/vertical grow towers inside the greenhouse and that would require piping from the pond. I just think it is going to let in too much cold. Edit: Due to unplugging and replugging in the power for the raspberry pi. Data values might be inconsistent with true values because it doesn't want to restart with the same ports etc.. Its a work in progress.

Higher Thinking speaks the truth. Those corals look awesome!

Thanks. I was just curious what levels you were achieving with that type of dosing.

This is some good information. What is your normal Alk levels with dosing 4.5oz per day?

To allow us to compare, I am going to make a graph of what users answer to this question. What do you test in your saltwater aquarium weekly? I tried to find an embedded graph where users could click their answer, but I couldn't find it without leaving the forum. My say: Alkalinity, pH. I haven't had a need to test calcium or magnesium weekly, quite yet. The once a week water changes help with most issues. I don't really have to worry about phosphates or nitrates with the bio-load and only test them periodically.

I'll check it out. Thanks!

Personally, I have had troubles with fine sand. Whenever I use fine sand, I always notice detritus forming in low current locations and it bothers me. If I try to increase the current, all the sand gets tossed around. As a general rule of thumb, I think choose a sand for the type of corals you want, or the current they prefer.

What type of doser are you currently using? "Prestone Driveway Heat (de-icer)" I love it when people re-purpose common items for other chemistry purposes.

Merry. Merry Christmas.

Just keep your head up and everything will work out. If you are afraid about the harshness of the new water, maybe ask a friend or local fish store for some cycled water. I bet you'll find someone who is willing to help out. It's the holidays. I can always bring 15 gallons up north if you need it. I only have three buckets, or it would be more. :P

How are your corals doing?

I realized today that when I read a DIY, I read it to learn something. Thus, I am going to try to add more facts or things I learned in the process of this build. I have been building more, but not enough to post pictures. It has been raining a lot. I didn't know anything about R values before either, but it is a pretty easy concept. A R value is the ability of an object to prevent heat transfer. Different things, have different R values. I was strolling down the insulation aisle in home depot and they are all over. Values ranging from 0.9 all the way up to ~30 for foam. It is pretty interesting how someone put in the work to go and measure thermal resistance for all types of objects. Also, I encountered so much frustration today. I don't know what kept me building. GRRR!!! For all those that are going to build something, make sure the frame is aligned from the beginning. Due to the frame being uneven, every single board has to be uneven. It is a systemic problem that I have learned about the hard hard way. Measure twice, cut once. *sigh* Thanks for the support. It helps. I think it would help if I added maybe two 55 gallon barrels that were painted black. Even 5 degrees or so. Many greenhouses online do something of the sort, but I am unsure about how efficient it is. The funny thing was at home depot I had a conversation with a worker about using the canned spray foam as insulation. We thought that a single can may have done 15sq ft at 6 inches deep. So, I went and bought a few cans. To find out, it doesn't do that much. It maybe did 4sq ft at 3 inches deep. Now I just use it to seal any large cracks in the frame. It works really well for that. I did go with a polystyrene insulation. The R value is 13 for the thickness I am using, and it was cheaper than fiberglass insulation. The advantage of the polystyrene was that it is relatively waterproof. If the fiberglass got wet from either the rain or humidity, it wouldn't be as effective. Wow! 200 par? That is amazing. May I ask what type of corals you have in your greenhouse? That really is a good idea. Although, I would have to hardline it below the house to the garage, and I would have to do it when the roommates aren't around. Another problem is, my roommates don't really want to pay to heat the house during the winter, or cool it during the summer.....just another thing I have to battle. Water volume seems to make sense, but I need to figure out a way to effectively use it. After adding the plywood to the back wall, and not being able to see the pond's outside portion. I might throw some type of thermal covering over the outside it when winter comes. That way there is less transfer to the outside world, and it probably would stay somewhat warmer. I am really trying to make the end plates both water proof and air tight. My dream is for it to be so sealed, that there is a pressure difference between the inside and outside. :P It's ok to dream, right? I think spit balling is a good idea. I appreciate it.

Some of those pictures remind me of when a coral is in the sand bed for too long. You had said that there was a bit of a sandstorm, which may have caused some hydrogen sulfide to be kicked up. Especially, with sand beds that don't get turned over too often. I was curious about what hydrogen sulfide does to corals, and came along to this paper: http://www.pnas.org/content/109/24/E1558 There is some interesting stuff in there, but I guess a common thing with sediments, corals and hydrogen sulfide is there is somewhat of a cascade. As some tissue dies on the coral from being in the sediment, it lowers surrounding pH, causing more hydrogen sulfide to be produced by microbes. Maybe do a good sized water change, but in my opinion it looks like some sediment might have hurt them.

"Other than PHP" :P That is funny. I know more people that don't do PHP, than do. What languages are you dealing with?

I didn't know there was a possibility of "too thin" of glass. I thought it would make it easier. what is minimum thickness? I was going to attempt to drill some of my own tanks and I am curious.

Those are some amazing pictures. Makes me feel like I was there. Thank you.

Well. I may have figured it out....if there was an R value of 2.0 m2K/W and the inside temperature was 22°C (76°F) and it was 0°C (32°F) outside. In the end I would lose 11watts/m2...the total area of the middle sides and roof is 252 ft2 or 76m2. I would lose 844 watts in total (Joules/second, in reality per second). I have a space heater that is 1500 watts. Maybe just a space heater would work XD I guess with these R values, you can go and calculate all side and figure out heat loss in total. What a nifty thing. ***My question still stands. Edit: Price of electricity here is: 0.1076 $/kW*h, so I would pay 67.96 a month. If I ran a 844 watt object for a month, non-stop. I would pay ~65.00, which isn't too bad...maybe the free light will work in my favor.

Thanks for the tip. I'll see if I can find it locally. That is very interesting. I imagined it would cost a lot to heat, but not that much. The one I am building is roughly 8'x12' or 96sq. ft (Depending on inner or outer dimensions). Hopefully it is only 1/5 of the price of your greenhouse. I can handle that. :P I was thinking that any water container would smooth the temperature swings throughout each day. Whether it is hot or cold, it would help get closer to the daily average (Whatever that may be). I appreciate the comments. They help a lot. Day 4/5 With my lack of carpentry skills...I began building the end walls. To my dismay, the metal frame is not perfectly square and because of that I couldn't build the end walls all at once, but rather screw stuff in and then cut. Something I realized along the way was the quality of my carpentry skills is treehouse grade, definitely not commercial. I have a door ready, but I have not screwed it on. I went and swept sand into the cracks of the brick to prevent wobbling. Seems to have worked, but I might go and add more. The wall on the back got put together, but I ran out of screws before I could put the plywood on. So, I decided to just lay them along the frame. I have enough wood lying around to double layer the walls. I am unsure of whether to stuff something between the walls for insulation. The middle will be entirely double layer plastic that is blown up. I read a paper that said the R value ranges from 1.7 up to 2.0 for polyethylene, depending on the separation between layers. What I really want to know is how much a difference between the outside temperature and the inside is possible. That is my question for all of you, if the walls were perfectly sealed (maybe insulation...maybe), what kind of temperature differences do you think I could achieve? I want to use electric heaters of all types. Also, I have some acrylic lying around from when I built my sump, that I might put up to the ponds edge. If I fit it snug enough, I might be able to create a seal with the water line and the wood frame. If that makes sense. There was a moment along the way that I thought about giving up, but I am not going to. I will make a greenhouse and I will attempt to grow coral!!! Now whether it grows or not, that's another question.

Guh...why did I have to move out of Washington.... So....far...

I'm drooling. Is this for real? That first one looks radioactive.