Monday, August 25, 2008
Another trip was added to my site recently: Peppermint Shrimp Collection Trip
I've had a few emails come in asking about how the Vodka dosing is going. I've been dosing daily for six weeks as of today. The last test results I took showed Nitrate at 25ppm, and Phosphate at .25ppm - so I'm still not to the point of making these numbers drop quite yet. However, during that time period, I didn't do any water changes because I wanted to see what the vodka could do, or not do. In all that time, I would have expected both of those numbers to rise quite a bit. As of tomorrow, I'll be dosing 5ml per day for a solid week. For more reading about Vodka Dosing, refer to this article in Reefkeeping Magazine: August 2008 issue
Here's a picture of my 5 year old Ocellaris. It was tank-raised by a DFWMAS member years ago, and has been happy in my reef tanks ever since.
I've had a few emails come in asking about how the Vodka dosing is going. I've been dosing daily for six weeks as of today. The last test results I took showed Nitrate at 25ppm, and Phosphate at .25ppm - so I'm still not to the point of making these numbers drop quite yet. However, during that time period, I didn't do any water changes because I wanted to see what the vodka could do, or not do. In all that time, I would have expected both of those numbers to rise quite a bit. As of tomorrow, I'll be dosing 5ml per day for a solid week. For more reading about Vodka Dosing, refer to this article in Reefkeeping Magazine: August 2008 issue
Here's a picture of my 5 year old Ocellaris. It was tank-raised by a DFWMAS member years ago, and has been happy in my reef tanks ever since.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
It took a while to get the images edited and the page complete - My trip to Cleveland:
Cleveland Ohio
I'm testing out a new skimmer by Red Sea called the C-skim 1200.
It is a recirculating skimmer, and I'm using a Maxijet 1200 to feed water into it.
You can read some of the facts about this skimmer here: Red Sea C-skim 1200
Cleveland Ohio
I'm testing out a new skimmer by Red Sea called the C-skim 1200.
It is a recirculating skimmer, and I'm using a Maxijet 1200 to feed water into it.
You can read some of the facts about this skimmer here: Red Sea C-skim 1200
Monday, August 11, 2008
Doing a little math to see what it costs to run my tank...
3 MH bulbs - 900w x 6 hrs per day
2 VHO bulbs - 187w x 11 hrs per day
Return pump - 141w x 24 hrs per day
3 Vortech pumps - 63w x 24 hrs per day
Calcium Reactor - 65w x 24 hrs per day
3 Fuge lights - 62w x 8 hrs per day
2 Skimmer pumps - 116w x 24 hrs per day
Prop light - 147w x 7 hrs per day
2 Icecap Fans - 12w x 7 hrs per day
All of the above runs 19.3 kWh per day, or 579 kWh per month.
Take that number times $.124375 and it adds up to $72 of basic operational cost.
Not included are a handful of tiny pumps running the suncoral tank, phosban reactors, flow in the prop section and refugium, which is probably around 100w for about $9 a month more, which puts the tank at $81.
In the winter, I run a couple of heaters which definitely cost me money. I only use two and they don't have a lot of wattage, thus they run longer than they should have to trying to bring the tank temperature up to 79.5 so they can shut off again. I probably need two 500w heaters so they can do the job quickly and save money, but what I have is a 300w & a 250w heater. That's something I'll need to resolve this fall, and make sure the DJ power strips can handle the extra wattage load, if they were to kick on during the lighting period. For now, the heaters are turned off for the summer months. My tank doesn't drop below 78.5F at night.
The window A/C unit definitely adds to the monthly expense during the hot months. If the circulation fan is running, it uses 116w of power. When the compressor kicks on, it uses 727w. If the garage is closed, it works even harder and uses something closer to 780+w of power. Last year, I measured the window A/C with a Kill-o-watt for two weeks straight to find out how long the compressor was on versus how long just the circulation fan was running, and it was pretty much 50/50. I hate to even calculate this one. 303 kWh equaling $38 a month.
During June, I was been able to turn off the window a/c during the late night hours, and turn it on daily around 1pm. One day I forgot and didn't turn it on until 3:30pm, after the lights had been on for some time and the fish room was getting toasty. However, the tank was 79.8F, which is due to the fact that my lights are 18" off the water. I don't really want to test the theory of what will happen if the A/C unit is off for the full day with the fish room closed up, but I do have the Aqua Controller II set to turn off the lights if the tank reaches 83F.
Add on the live rock cooking vat and the quarantine tank of 36 kWh and the angled tank of 73 kWh, and it looks like my little hobby is soaking up 1063 kWh per month, which is about $132 per month. My electricity rates are about to jump up slightly, which will put it around $149 per month in total electricity usage.
My three Vortechs combined use $5.64 of electricity a month to provide all the flow in my reef. The one Vortech on the angled tank costs $0.62 a month at a mere 6 watts of power. :)
3 MH bulbs - 900w x 6 hrs per day
2 VHO bulbs - 187w x 11 hrs per day
Return pump - 141w x 24 hrs per day
3 Vortech pumps - 63w x 24 hrs per day
Calcium Reactor - 65w x 24 hrs per day
3 Fuge lights - 62w x 8 hrs per day
2 Skimmer pumps - 116w x 24 hrs per day
Prop light - 147w x 7 hrs per day
2 Icecap Fans - 12w x 7 hrs per day
All of the above runs 19.3 kWh per day, or 579 kWh per month.
Take that number times $.124375 and it adds up to $72 of basic operational cost.
Not included are a handful of tiny pumps running the suncoral tank, phosban reactors, flow in the prop section and refugium, which is probably around 100w for about $9 a month more, which puts the tank at $81.
In the winter, I run a couple of heaters which definitely cost me money. I only use two and they don't have a lot of wattage, thus they run longer than they should have to trying to bring the tank temperature up to 79.5 so they can shut off again. I probably need two 500w heaters so they can do the job quickly and save money, but what I have is a 300w & a 250w heater. That's something I'll need to resolve this fall, and make sure the DJ power strips can handle the extra wattage load, if they were to kick on during the lighting period. For now, the heaters are turned off for the summer months. My tank doesn't drop below 78.5F at night.
The window A/C unit definitely adds to the monthly expense during the hot months. If the circulation fan is running, it uses 116w of power. When the compressor kicks on, it uses 727w. If the garage is closed, it works even harder and uses something closer to 780+w of power. Last year, I measured the window A/C with a Kill-o-watt for two weeks straight to find out how long the compressor was on versus how long just the circulation fan was running, and it was pretty much 50/50. I hate to even calculate this one. 303 kWh equaling $38 a month.
During June, I was been able to turn off the window a/c during the late night hours, and turn it on daily around 1pm. One day I forgot and didn't turn it on until 3:30pm, after the lights had been on for some time and the fish room was getting toasty. However, the tank was 79.8F, which is due to the fact that my lights are 18" off the water. I don't really want to test the theory of what will happen if the A/C unit is off for the full day with the fish room closed up, but I do have the Aqua Controller II set to turn off the lights if the tank reaches 83F.
Add on the live rock cooking vat and the quarantine tank of 36 kWh and the angled tank of 73 kWh, and it looks like my little hobby is soaking up 1063 kWh per month, which is about $132 per month. My electricity rates are about to jump up slightly, which will put it around $149 per month in total electricity usage.
My three Vortechs combined use $5.64 of electricity a month to provide all the flow in my reef. The one Vortech on the angled tank costs $0.62 a month at a mere 6 watts of power. :)
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Ten days ago, I started dosing with Vodka to see how that does at lowering Nitrate and Phosphate levels in my reef. I'm taking a very slow approach to this to avoid harming the livestock. It will probably take another week to determine if it is having any effect at all.
Water parameters have been updated.
I discovered this bright orange worm in my reef. It eats both snails and clams. Its body seems to have legs on the sides like a millipede, rather than bristles like a bristleworm. During the latenight hours, I could find them with a flashlight. They retract like lightning, using a mucous to slip out of sight. The mucous is used not only as a means of travel, but also to stun / poison the animal it is about to devour. Plus, it doesn't seem to mind climbing out of the water! I've removed four so far, and each of them were easily 8 to 12" long. Click these four images for larger one.
The woodwork around the tank is completed. The column on the right side of the tank holds the Aqua Controller II.
And in June the light was finally suspended over the angled tank, something I'd put off for almost a year.
The reef is doing well. Here are a few shots from July.
Water parameters have been updated.
I discovered this bright orange worm in my reef. It eats both snails and clams. Its body seems to have legs on the sides like a millipede, rather than bristles like a bristleworm. During the latenight hours, I could find them with a flashlight. They retract like lightning, using a mucous to slip out of sight. The mucous is used not only as a means of travel, but also to stun / poison the animal it is about to devour. Plus, it doesn't seem to mind climbing out of the water! I've removed four so far, and each of them were easily 8 to 12" long. Click these four images for larger one.
The woodwork around the tank is completed. The column on the right side of the tank holds the Aqua Controller II.
And in June the light was finally suspended over the angled tank, something I'd put off for almost a year.
The reef is doing well. Here are a few shots from July.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
A new page was put together about resizing images so they actually fit the screen -- which allows us to see the entire picture on our screen and prevents text scrolling offscreen like it always does.
Image Resizer Tutorial
Image Resizer Tutorial
Sunday, May 25, 2008
I just got back from my trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. The weather was wonderful, and the club there was a happy group of hobbyists. I look forward to visiting the Cincinnati Reefkeepers Society again one day. Here are some pictures from my trip:
My Visit to Cincinnati, Ohio
And some eye candy, just because...
My Visit to Cincinnati, Ohio
And some eye candy, just because...
Monday, May 12, 2008
