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Post by angelminx on Jul 7, 2016 12:22:49 GMT -5
Hi, Carl--and anybody else who may be able to help. I had a few things I wanted to ask about, but in the "middle" of going through some of the different posts, I got a call-back I was waiting for (I got disconnected and had to call back again and wait for another call-back--which came in the middle of typing this) . . . . and so my mind is a bit jumbled right now. Anyway: 1) Later today I will be testing the tank water and doing a water change in the 10G (since I'll be removing the water from the 55G on Tuesday I won't be changing it today, but will test it), and I'll take a sample of tap water on Sunday, to test 24 hours later (for Tuesday's procedures). I always wait about 24 hours between drawing the water and testing it, because I find it's had a better chance to settle into its "normal" parameters (I don't know the optimum amount of time to wait, and I've always found it easier to keep track of if I wait 24 hours. At the end of May, for about a month or so, my source (tap) water went from an average of 7.5 (pH) to 7.8 (one time it was 8.0), between one set of tests, and the next. There is no problem when I am just doing a normal water change, but if this should happen again at the time of the break-down/re-set up of the 55G, I was wondering how to handle it, being that there will be such a large amount of water involved? I would hate to keep all the fish crammed in the 10G for more than a day. 2) I have some extra airline somewhere that I was going to use in a couple of buckets during the repairs, but can't seem to find it, so I placed an order for some from you today. What I was would like to know is, I have a little bit of "turquoise" silicone airline that I am using in the 10G right now, and I began to wonder if plastic or silicone makes a better airline--or if it even matters? I usually prefer the silicone, because it doesn't get stiff over time. 3) I saw a piece of driftwood at Petsmart the other day that was probably around 25" long; I don't plan on getting it, but was wondering, how do you cure such a "big" piece of driftwood? 4) As far as I know, there will just be one maintenance guy coming to work on the leak (I told them I would need help moving the tank--55G), and was wondering if you think the 2 of us should be able to move the thing, or should I try to get my Mom, and/or someone else, to help? It's one of those things were there is no definite time that they will arrive, but they want the tank broken down by 9 AM, so I don't know when to have someone else (besides my Mom) come. My Mom lives near-by, and anyone else I can think of to help lives at least 10 miles away, and probably won't want to sit around waiting till maintenance gets here to move the tank . . . and then either wait around, or come back at an unspecified time to move the tank back. I like your idea of moving it and the stand at the same time. When I remember the other questions, I'll post them. Thanks for your always helpful advice  . Angelminx |
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Post by angelminx on Jul 7, 2016 12:44:36 GMT -5
Just remembered "one" of the other questions:
This is in the future, but because I am transitioning over to catfish I would like to get a couple of the Flexi LED strips that Carl sells, to use for nighttime viewing.
When I was growing up, we used to spend a lot of time at the San Diego Zoo, and they had some "nighttime" exhibits that used the red lighting. It's been over 30 years since my last visit there, so my memory is a bit hazy. For viewing, do you recommend the red lighting over the blue? Is one better than the other, or does it really matter to the fish/plants? Should I experiment and try one on one side of the tank, and the other on the other side? How should the daytime lighting be adjusted for the ("intermittent") use of nighttime lighting? Also, do you have a suggestion on how to connect the 2 strips together to be able to use one outlet? I am very limited on electrical availability: only 2 separate standard outlets between the 10G and the 55G--and one of them is connected with an extension cord to "bring it" within reach; the next closest outlet is almost 15' away from that one, on the opposite wall from the tanks.
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jul 7, 2016 13:06:31 GMT -5
At the end of May, for about a month or so, my source (tap) water went from an average of 7.5 (pH) to 7.8 (one time it was 8.0), between one set of tests, and the next. There is no problem when I am just doing a normal water change, but if this should happen again at the time of the break-down/re-set up of the 55G, I was wondering how to handle it, being that there will be such a large amount of water involved? I would hate to keep all the fish crammed in the 10G for more than a day. Not sure if I understand the question here, but if your worried about a change in pH from your current tank to the next fill up of the 55, just do a slow accumulation and they should be fine. 2) I have some extra airline somewhere that I was going to use in a couple of buckets during the repairs, but can't seem to find it, so I placed an order for some from you today. What I was would like to know is, I have a little bit of "turquoise" silicone airline that I am using in the 10G right now, and I began to wonder if plastic or silicone makes a better airline--or if it even matters? I usually prefer the silicone, because it doesn't get stiff over time. I'm actually not sure, but would think plastic would last longer 3) I saw a piece of driftwood at Petsmart the other day that was probably around 25" long; I don't plan on getting it, but was wondering, how do you cure such a "big" piece of driftwood? In a large tote or cut the piece up and repiece it back together in the aquarium 4) As far as I know, there will just be one maintenance guy coming to work on the leak (I told them I would need help moving the tank--55G), and was wondering if you think the 2 of us should be able to move the thing, or should I try to get my Mom, and/or someone else, to help? It's one of those things were there is no definite time that they will arrive, but they want the tank broken down by 9 AM, so I don't know when to have someone else (besides my Mom) come. My Mom lives near-by, and anyone else I can think of to help lives at least 10 miles away, and probably won't want to sit around waiting till maintenance gets here to move the tank . . . and then either wait around, or come back at an unspecified time to move the tank back. I like your idea of moving it and the stand at the same time. I'd think you and the maintenance man should be able to move it. A third person would be nice, but if they're not able to lift, it's not going to make a difference. I assume your taking everything out? That be best. |
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jul 7, 2016 13:11:00 GMT -5
Just remembered "one" of the other questions: This is in the future, but because I am transitioning over to catfish I would like to get a couple of the Flexi LED strips that Carl sells, to use for nighttime viewing. When I was growing up, we used to spend a lot of time at the San Diego Zoo, and they had some "nighttime" exhibits that used the red lighting. It's been over 30 years since my last visit there, so my memory is a bit hazy. For viewing, do you recommend the red lighting over the blue? Is one better than the other, or does it really matter to the fish/plants? Should I experiment and try one on one side of the tank, and the other on the other side? How should the daytime lighting be adjusted for the ("intermittent") use of nighttime lighting? Also, do you have a suggestion on how to connect the 2 strips together to be able to use one outlet? I am very limited on electrical availability: only 2 separate standard outlets between the 10G and the 55G--and one of them is connected with an extension cord to "bring it" within reach; the next closest outlet is almost 15' away from that one, on the opposite wall from the tanks. All preference. You could just dim the GroBeams down to make a true white moon light. Is moonlight really blue? |
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Post by billyk on Jul 7, 2016 13:21:44 GMT -5
Hey!
Cannot help to much with some of the specific fish keeping but general electric stuff I am a fair hand at.
I use a 24/7 light that varies color and intensity throughout the day and is never really off. It has been on my tank for about 6 weeks now and I have not noticed any issues with the livestock or plants, algae gets going once and a while but not terrible. Hope that helps with lighting.
Electric, I don't know what all you have plugged in. That is most important. Need to not exceed the rating for the circuit and the cords. The best thing to do is look at everything you want to plug in for your setup(s). There should be a wattage rating as to how much each device requires. Add all that up. In the US the average voltage is 110 so for ease of math round down to 100. Now take the added up number from previous. As an example let's say it added up to 1000 watts. Ohm's law says that Power (watts)= Voltage x Current (amps) so to use a bit of math to find the missing bit, Current = Power/Voltage or 1000/100 so that would give us a 10 amp current requirement. Now that we know that we can look at how best to distribute the load. You mentioned the outlets that are close to your gear. What we really need to know is how many circuits are available and what is on them! (You still with me??) IOW what goes off when the circuit breaker is off. You can map this out if you already don't know this. Carefully turn off each breaker one at a time and check what is off. Please be careful not to shut off anything that should not be. If in doubt, just don't there are other ways. Why is this important? We don't want to overload a circuit, like connect an air conditioner to the circuit you use a hair dryer on, almost guaranteed to pop the breaker.
OK so all that was to identify how much power you have to work with at the outlets available to you. If you have plenty, you can plug in a power strip with multiple outlets and as long as you don't exceed your power budget you can plug in as many thing as you like. Other than a mess of wires it's really not how many things as much as how much power they use.
Sorry for the long post but it is a hard thing to impart knowledge of something that you know instinctively to someone that you don't know how much they know!! I am sure Carl can speak to that!!!
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Post by angelminx on Jul 7, 2016 14:32:32 GMT -5
Thanks! I'll see what I can figure out (me and math don't get along too well  ). I don't remember off hand, but I think some of my equipment is old enough that it either no longer has the "tags", or never had them in the 1st place--I only remember seeing them on a couple of the items. I have a grounded multiple power outlet screwed into both original outlets, but because the one is so far away, I have the (heavy duty, but flat) extension cord extended over to the aquarium, and a grounded power strip plugged into it. I don't know about the circuit breaker info at the moment, but the outlet by the 10G has the 100 watt heater; the 10-20G-rated Whisper air pump; the Whisper 20 HOB; and the power cord for the GroBeam 600 Ultima (2 units that were purchased as a connected unit for the 55G, and that are plugged into a timer). The 55G is connected to the extension set-up. In the power strip is: the (cheap Marineland LED) light for the 10G (plugged into a single power module with a on/off switch so it can be manually operated independently from the rest of the strip); the Whisper 60 HOB; the Vecton 2 UV; the Rio 1000 pump and (2) 150 watt Eheim heaters (one at each end of the tank). The heaters were finally unplugged from the tanks for the summer, until about a week and a half ago when our temps dropped down to the low 60's to the low 70's (temps went back up to the 90's 2 days ago, but yesterday went down to the 70's again . . . they're supposed to go back up Saturday or Sunday  ). The only other thing plugged into that outlet is a (twin-sized) Sleep Number bed (which is rarely adjusted--in fact, to be on the safe side, I usually only plug it in when I think I may be going to adjust it). |
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Post by Carl on Jul 7, 2016 18:32:36 GMT -5
Great electrical explanation Billyk! Not much I feel I can add at this point other than one reason the zoo used red lighting is while not as natural as Devon pointed out, it allows us to view better without much disruption to the animals being viewed (think also night vision goggles) With nocturnal fish I have observed normal behavior using red lights that under other light sources would make the fish less likely to come out. As for the tubing, the silicone tubing resists oxidation much better than standard tubing and is what we recommend and use fr Ozone Generators for just this reason Carl |
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). The only other thing plugged into that outlet is a (twin-sized) Sleep Number bed (which is rarely adjusted--in fact, to be on the safe side, I usually only plug it in when I think I may be going to adjust it).
