336 Peninsula build

[Tub Life]

They are Oetiker clamps, make sure to get the crimpers as well.

Thank you for this info!

I managed to reuse the original clamp on my DIY replacement attempt. But moving forward, if these replacements work, I would like to use new hardware.

My first DIY Versa assembly replacement ended up a fail. The tubing split and I ended up with a bit of water on the floor.

Attempt number 2, with different tubing.
See pic below.
Left: used OEM tubing.
Center: new tubing; spec'd at 4.8mm ID and 8mm OD, slightly more translucent than the first tubing I tried.
Right: first tubing I tried this DIY with. 5mm ID, 8mm OD, slightly more opaque.
Fingers crossed!

 

[Tub Life]

beep... beep... beep...

So I had dusted off my Maxspect Gyres XF250s and tossed them in the tank to get things stirred up.
For a couple days I heard a faint beeping sound somewhere...

Welp, I found it.

One of the gyres developed a crack in the power cord at the motorblock. I hadn't noticed that it had stopped working. Oddly, I believe that the stray voltage may have caused excessive calcium precipitation in the tank.

What a shame, the XF250 motor block is a discontinued item. So the hunt begins for some alternatives.

 

[Tub Life]

Water sensor alarms!

Given that I've already experienced a tank leak, I decided to get a bunch of water sensors.
The sensor will warn me by email and audible alarm if it detects water.
There are sensors on the bottom, so if spills or leaks hit the floor, the sensor will trip.
There are also sensors on top, so if water drips on it, it will also trigger an alert.

Placed a few under the tank, and in the crawlspace where the sump, ATO resevoir, etc reside.
I also love the rest of my house so I put one by the laundry machine too!

 

[Tub Life]

slapped on silicone, cuz not feelin 100% on those bulkheads.

 

[Tub Life]

Threw some temporary standpipes in and let'er rip!

By temporary standpipe, I mean, whatever was already glued to the only 3 threaded adapters I had lying around!

 

[Janci]

How is the flow in the tank?
Rocks are still missing, but any idea yet what you will use as wavemaker?

 

[Tub Life]

How is the flow in the tank?
Rocks are still missing, but any idea yet what you will use as wavemaker?

The flow will initially be provided by a single Maxspect gyre XF250 on one end and 4 x Jebao SOW20s (currently running the tub) on the overflow end.

I had some gyre mayhem ruin my plans...
1 of my 2 XF250s died.
My attempt to purchase a new XF350 package on blackfriday failed.
Then a purchase of a used XF330 turned out a dud too.
So, I'll make due with what I have and make some decisions later based on how the aquascape dictates.

 

[Tub Life]

Animals

Having some fun building a little arch, and it looks like animals! lol

 

[Tub Life]

Got distracted making the arch and made this first...

in the tank

I needed to do something with the center boulder, I liked its shape as it has a cave, openings, and an overhang, except it didn't have many horizontal coral mounting options for how much space it would take up. So I grabbed some branch rock and this is what I came up with.

Excuse the random aiptasia, the rocks came from my sump. Once I move my fish over the copperband butterfly should eat them up.

 

[Tub Life]

Dirt cheap DIY Versa assembly replacements FAIL

Thank you for this info!

I managed to reuse the original clamp on my DIY replacement attempt. But moving forward, if these replacements work, I would like to use new hardware.

My first DIY Versa assembly replacement ended up a fail. The tubing split and I ended up with a bit of water on the floor.

Attempt number 2, with different tubing.
See pic below.
Left: used OEM tubing.
Center: new tubing; spec'd at 4.8mm ID and 8mm OD, slightly more translucent than the first tubing I tried.
Right: first tubing I tried this DIY with. 5mm ID, 8mm OD, slightly more opaque.
Fingers crossed!

No dice. The second no-name tubing developed a crack after a week or so.
The dirt cheap replacement option is a fail for me.
I will still be able to make replacements for about 1/3 retail costs though.
I've ordered some Kamoer BPT (4.8mm ID, 8mm OD) peristaltic pump tubing for $41.77cdn all in for 1m, enough for 6 replacements.

 

[Tub Life]

Bigger and Better

Was looking at the tub yesterday, trying to figure out how one of the larger rocks would be placed into the display and one thing led to another, and impromptu I made it bigger and better with some branch rock.

This thing is pretty massive at 3'.

 

[Tub Life]

Temporary Light Rack

Slapped together a temporary light rack.
2 x 96" steel slotted angle for the "rails" ; just over $40cdn all in from Homedepot.
Made the mounts with leftover 2 x 4s

This will do while I figure out a permanent solution.

 

[Tub Life]

Dec 16, 2023 Brittle star spawning

I have a healthy population of mini brittle stars and now and again I catch a spawning event. The stars all crawl out of the rockwork and "stand" on their "toes" and broadcast spawn into the water column.

 

[Tub Life]

Dec 31st, 2023 First fish in!

New Year's Eve 2023, moved the first fish into the display!
My copperband butterfly! Believed to have been originally acquired May 7th, 2019.

 

[lubeck]

Dec 16, 2023 Brittle star spawning

I have a healthy population of mini brittle stars and now and again I catch a spawning event. The stars all crawl out of the rockwork and "stand" on their "toes" and broadcast spawn into the water column.

I can’t see the video but I was able to see this happen in my tank. I have hundreds in my tiny Biocube.

 

[Tub Life]

Next in line to transfer over is this single blue/green chromis.
The sole survivor of a trio, also from 2019.

 

[Tub Life]

Here comes the Heteractis Magnifica! and accompanying clown pair!

Mag on the side of the tub.

Time to go! Used a razor to peel its foot off the tub. Would have been a breeze if it was on glass. But got it off with 99% ease. CAUTION of stings! BTAs I handle with my bare hands, but this Mag packs a punch! Gloves are a must!

Female Clown

Male Clown

Rock arch and Anemone tower, both about 9" tall.

All settled in!

The clown pair is from 2019. Survivors from a small short-lived harem that I believe got picked off by the female Maroon clown in the temporary tub. The aquascape was redone and I guess the Maroon decided it wanted more territory and became more aggressive.

The Heteractis Magnifica has been under my care since mid-2018. A buddy passed it on to me when he shut down his tank. He had it for about a decade.
It has also survived a bleaching event in 2019. It lost all its zooxanthellae and was pure white. Took nearly 6 months to fully recover.

 

[Tub Life]

I can’t see the video but I was able to see this happen in my tank. I have hundreds in my tiny Biocube.

Hmmm... my first time trying to post a vid. It uploaded fine. I'm not sure why it isn't working.

Yah, neat right?! I know they're just mini brittlestars, but still cool to see!

 

[Janci]

Here comes the Heteractis Magnifica! and accompanying clown pair!

Mag on the side of the tub.

Time to go! Used a razor to peel its foot off the tub. Would have been a breeze if it was on glass. But got it off with 99% ease. CAUTION of stings! BTAs I handle with my bare hands, but this Mag packs a punch! Gloves are a must!

Female Clown

Male Clown

Rock arch and Anemone tower, both about 9" tall.

All settled in!

The clown pair is from 2019. Survivors from a small short-lived harem that I believe got picked off by the female Maroon clown in the temporary tub. The aquascape was redone and I guess the Maroon decided it wanted more territory and became more aggressive.

The Heteractis Magnifica has been under my care since mid-2018. A buddy passed it on to me when he shut down his tank. He had it for about a decade.
It has also survived a bleaching event in 2019. It lost all its zooxanthellae and was pure white. Took nearly 6 months to fully recover.

Looking great.
How do you make your anemone to position and stay on that tower?

 

[Tub Life]

Looking great.
How do you make your anemone to position and stay on that tower?

It has been in its new home for only a few days now.
Turned off the flow for 10min while introducing it.
Let it get settled and allow it to attach its foot securely, then turn the gyre back on.

Other than that, if it's happy it will stay put.
Mags like good flow and high light.
It's placed near a gyre and it's directly below a light.
IME, if it's in a good spot, Mags won't move around as much as BTAs.