Tank Thread Tank reached 38 years old...in 2009!

[Pedro Nuno Ferreira]

Hi Paul
Very interesting test readings

I now have filters designed specifically designed to remove lead and zinc so it should not be a problem again but regular ro/di does not remove enough of these elements if the initial supply is very high.

What exacltly are these filters, can you please describe them. Thank you

Concerning this

my iodine is zero which surprised me being that I dose Lugols Iodine

Do you use large amounts of activated carbon? If yes, then that could be the reason or one of the reasons as activated carbon is particularly efficient in adsorbing Iodine

Iodine Number

Many carbons preferentially adsorb small molecules. Iodine number is the most fundamental parameter used to characterize activated carbon performance. It is a measure of activity level (higher number indicates higher degree of activation), often reported in mg/g (typical range 500-1200 mg/g). It is a measure of the micropore content of the activated carbon (0 to 20 ?, or up to 2 nm) by adsorption of iodine from solution. It is equivalent to surface area of activated carbon between 900 m?/g and 1100 m?/g. It is the standard measure for liquid phase applications.
Iodine number is defined as the milligrams of iodine adsorbed by one gram of carbon when the iodine concentration in the residual filtrate is 0.02 normal. Basically, iodine number is a measure of the iodine adsorbed in the pores and, as such, is an indication of the pore volume available in the activated carbon of interest. Typically, water treatment carbons have iodine numbers ranging from 600 to 1100. Frequently, this parameter is used to determine the degree of exhaustion of a carbon in use. However, this practice should be viewed with caution as chemical interactions with the adsorbate may affect the iodine uptake giving false results. Thus, the use of iodine number as a measure of the degree of exhaustion of a carbon bed can only be recommended if it has been shown to be free of chemical interactions with adsorbates and if an experimental correlation between iodine number and the degree of exhaustion has been determined for the particular application.

Cheers Paul
Pedro Nuno ;-)

 

[Paul B]

Pedro I don't use large amounts of carbon but I was using carbon in a canister when the water in my tank was collected for the test.
That could be the reason for a zero reading. Thanks

I got the RO cartridge and resins from "The Filter Guys" I told them of the problem and they sent filters for that purpose. I think lead is the main metal these filters are supposed to remove. I will try to find out which filters I am using

 

[Paul B]

I aquired another bumblebee gobi today and am aclimating it now.
I also tried frozen baby brine shrimp for the first time and my fish don't know the difference. I wanted to try them for when I go on vacation and someone feeds my tank, I can't expect people to hatch shrimp for me and feed the fish. The frozen baby brine work fine.

 

[Paul B]

 

[Paul B]

 

[Arati]

do those gobys stick together, school, shoal whatever its called. do they like to group up?

 

[Paul B]

They don't like each other

 

[Paul B]

Here is another pregnant gobi. I don't think she is too pregnant and I diden't even think the pair was the same species but I guess they know better than I do.

 

[Paul B]

I also have an update for these tiny pieces of colt coral that have spawned from the parent.
I lost one of them. It diden't croak but it got loose in the tank.
I have no idea where it went as they float pretty far. I had them in a small container in the tank and it made it through the holes.
I still have the other one in a smaller container sitting on the bottom. It seems to have grown and the polyps are extended all around, it looks like a sattelite. I wish it would attach to something before it too takes a walk, or a float

 

[Paul B]

I just dropped almost a whole can of flake food in my tank.
I love when I do that and I don't even hardly feed flakes. I use them to get some cod liver oil into the fish.
I have an automatic feeder that puts three or four flakes and some pellets in the tank for one feeding the hippo tang. I soak the flakes in Cod liver oil
I was filling the thing and OOPs
I turned off the pumps and got most of it out. Luckilly it floats. The rest got caught in my overflow which has a screen in it so I was able to get almost all of it out.

 

[Paul B]

Tonight I received new MH lamps that I ordered from some place for just about half price. I was leary that they would even work but I ordered them anyway.
I had 10,000K lamps but now I have 14,000K for a change.
Of course the new lamps were a couple of inches larger than my old lamps and would not fit in the fixture. No problem, I figured I would just drill a large hole inside the housing to allow the bulb to fit.
I opened it up and found the ballast was right there and I also found everything melted. There was almost no insullation on most of the wires. I am very surprised the thing worked. Luckily, none of the bare wires were touching anything.
Now being I am an electrician I can't put the thing back together like that so I had to go to Home Depot to get some fixture wire which I am surprised they had.
I removed the ballast and mounted it on the outside of the fixture in a seperate box. This way it will run much cooler, not being above the lamp. I also drilled a 2" hole in the back of the fixture to allow some heat to escape and I made all my splices outside the fixture outside that hole, which is a violation but it will work. Whats the sense of being an electrician if I can't install a few violations.
I put the thing back together and it works beautifully.
There are no flames but it looks very blue which I am not used to . The tank used to look like that but not in a couple of years.
In this picture the 14,000 lamp is on the left side and the 10,000 lamp is still on the right.
I will have to do the same thing with the other fixture as soon as I get a chance. I am sure that one is all melted also and the lamp does not fit in it anyway.
These are fixtures I took home from lighting up the Plaza Hotel.
They came with oval shaped lamps and these are tubeular shaped
My old lamps were in there since 2004
.

 

[Paul B]

It is very wierd with those two hermits. I know they don't exhibit parental care or even care about each other but these two are always together.
Sometimes they are almost in each other's shells and I don't know what they are doing :inlove: Now the female (I think) is walking out on the end of a broken bottle and the male is having a hard time getting there as he is much larger.
They follow each other all over the place which I have never saw with crabs.
Maybe after ten years together they qualify for benefits :tongue1:

 

[duke62]

your old lights looks like it covers more of the tank.i also like the old fixtures whiteness.just my opinion

 

[Paul B]

Yeah I know what you mean. It was white for many years, now it's blue.
As long as it lives I am happy

 

[Paul B]

I contacted Ocean Nutrition foods that make a variety of frozen and dry foods to see if they could manufacture a feed specifically for fish with smaller mouths like copperbands. I told them about a tiny fish I sometimes get in Asian markets to feed my fish but those fish, which are baby anchovies are dried and hard for fish to eat unless they are soaked for a long time.
I also told them that we could use frozen blackworms for people who do not have access to live worms.
They called me right back and are giving me some samples of new foods they are making and they like the idea of the tiny whole fish for food.
They are comiing to my home next week to discuss these foods and give me the samples.
They said they know of me. I must be famous

Maybe we could get some better foods for copperbands and other fish.
They also sell frozen worms in Europe and will look into the possability of selling them in the states if there is a large enough market.

 

[Killerdrgn]

I bet some of those guys are lurkers here on the forums.

 

[Paul B]

I bet they are

 

[Paul B]

To update these guys, all 5 of them are doing real well. Now they swim in the front but not always. I saw all five of them just now so I know they are still OK

 

[Paul B]

I took some pictures with the new 14m,000k lamps as opposed to my 5 year old 10,000K lamps.
I like how you can see all the scratches on my old glass

 

[CHEMCHEF]

looks nice with new color bulbs. how old is that cardinal