Wow, that does seem high. IMO though, in and of itself, the number shouldn't cause you concern if the livestock appears otherwise healthy and happy and whatnot. Ie. I think people tend to focus too much on things like "Oh no! My tank's pH is 8.1 and everyone else is at 8.4, I should add some pH up or something" - which is folly because the pH itself is only a summation of other variables at play. And of course, if the tank is doing fine at 8.1 then one shouldn't worry about it not being 8.4.

But, I have to say I'm a bit surprised to see those numbers if you're running a calcium reactor. I thought running a reactor tended to pull the #'s downwards. For example, on any tank I run, typically I see pH swings around something like 8.1 to 8.5 without a reactor on a tank, and about 7.8 to 8.2 when there is a reactor on the tank.

Sooo anyhow I have no idea what to make of your #'s, that is interesting indeed, although like I said if your livestock is otherwise doing fine I wouldn't sweat it too much.

Maybe because your tank volume is so large it has an easier time shedding any excess CO2 from the reactor?

No fancy photos in this update...

I was able to download a free version of "LogMeIn" and install it on the aquarium computer. Combined with my new home wifi network, this has now enabled me to access the Aquatronica remotely over the internet. I have full control over all aspects of the controller just as if I was standing there.

While I probably won't do much controlling remotely, it can certainly give me piece of mind to see the tank temp and pH are OK.

Now I'm really keen to get a webcam installed.

"Now I'm really keen to get a webcam installed."

Not as keen as I am

coooool, man i would love to have the peace of mind to be able to control my tank remotely. and best of all it was free! now that's not something you see often in this hobby.

lol, agreed! if you get a webcam on this tank, would you post the live feed to the public (ie. us schmucks)? it would save you from being pesterd all teh time for a new fts... speaking of which, fts!

Oh, that would be a great idea, then we can bask in the glow of your tank :D

I've got my head around adding a webcam...but it would be only visible to me. Right now, making the camera visible to everyone is beyond my understanding. I'll try.

Bump
Haven't seen much on the new tank lately. How are things progressing?

Death in the family...
 

Woke up this morning to find the Leopard wrasse in serious trouble. On his side, breathing heavily. He only lasted about 2 hours before he died.

One of those things, I suppose. All the other fish seem quite healthy and happy. He was completely fine when the lights went off the night before.

He is the first fish to die in the new tank...and it wasn't the one that I expected. I have a Pacific Blue Tang that came in a couple of days ago as a gift. He looks terrible and hasn't eaten since his arrival. I've done everything I can, but I'm positive that he isn't going to make it.

The Pacific Blue is the 2nd fish to arrive in the tank looking like skin covering bones. Both came from the best shop in town, but there really should be a "If you think you can save it...discount". The other skinny fish is going to survive and once she fills out a bit, I'll announce her on this site with her own photo.

Hi Brad

It is amazing just how fragile the life forms from the worlds oceans are. They do not give you much of a chance to save their lives. They are here today gone tomorrow. A coral can RTN from top to bottom in 12 hours while the coral next to it is as happy as the days it stood in waters of Fiji.

Tom R

Another death in the family...
 

Today, I lost my 2nd fish. It was the small goby that hitchiked in with the live rock. He was always an extremely fat, healthy fish. Today, he just didn't report for dinner.

No body has been found yet, and likely never will.

I never did get a good picture of him. It seemed like there was always tomorrow...sigh.

Same thing with my fire goby(except he wasn't a hitchhiker) no body, didn't come to eat, not out side the tank nor in the sump. Mind you gobies can go missing for months on end and then eventually come out.

New resident
 

Time to introduce the world to another fish. I've actually had her for about a month, but she was in such poor shape when I purchased her that I wasn't sure she would make it. Fortunately, she was interested in food. I had to hand feed her for the first week that she spent mostly laying on the bottom of the tank.

This is the wife of Zues...so naturally her name is Hera.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0346.jpg

She is a bit smaller than Zues. So far, he has paid little attention to her.

You know...the fish shop should sell fish at a deep discount once they hit a certain stage. A sort of "if you can save it" special price. I'm quite pleased that I saved this one.

You can still see that she is a bit thin looking (you can see how sculpted out she looks on her back and cheeks). But she is getting at least 1/2 of all the food that goes in the tank now, so I'm sure she'll fill in. Between the two triggers, feeding time is becoming a bit like a shark feeding frenzy....you don't go putting your fingers in there .

About Algae
 

This isn't the first reef I've ever run, but it is proving to be different than my previous effort.

When I planned this, I attempted to just do everything as I had always done...just bigger. This has now proven not to work. The reason - bigger fish. In particular...Tangs.

My previous tank was much too small to house any Tangs. I grew lovely macro algae and harvested it as necessary to maintain balance. I like the look of macro algae in the display and figured I would do the same thing in the larger tank.

Moe (the Naso Tang) ate all the macro algae.

One of the golden rules of aquarium keeping is "Algae will grow". It's either nice algae that you like or nasty algae that you don't like. Since all the nice algae was being eaten, the hair algae took over.

Attempting to keep control of hair algae by weeding it from a 400 gallon tank is well...impossible.

Refugium
 

How to rid the tank of hair algae?

The first thing is to eliminate Phosphates from the system. Twin phosban reactors have been running for a month now. I can't yet measure phosphate accurately enough to know if they are working or not, but the theory is solid.

Grow algae somewhere else. I have now added a refugium to the system. The idea here is to run the light over the refugium nearly 24 hours/day so that this algae uses up the available nutrients first. Because this algae is in one spot, it is easy to harvest as it grows. (all this explanation is because I have non-aquarists who enjoy following my tank saga)
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/100_0343.jpg

Finally, you have to go on the attack to eliminate the hair algae from the main tank. To that end, I have added two sea hares and some more urchins. The sea hares are very effective at mowing hair algae. (photo to follow) Should the sea hares ever successfully eat all the algae, I'll return them to the fish shop so that they can help someone else out.

Sea Hare
 

This is what a sea hare looks like. It took a while before he got himself into a photographable position. There are two of them in the tank. The really surprising thing is how difficult they are to find when they aren't actively eating. They seem to have a real talent for hiding. This is the larger of the two.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/100_0354.jpg

Tank shots
 

I took a few shots today because I realized that my coral was growing, yet I had no photos to refer to. For no reason, here you go.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/100_0362.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/100_0364.jpg

Nice shots!

I hope the seahare works out for you. Are you seeing a lot of cleaning action from your urchins?

Two seahares...and so far I'm impressed by the job they are doing. While I like the urchins, I would not say that they are very effective at eating hair algae. I think the urchins prefer coraline algae.

Wow, that is exactly the opposite of my tank. I have a seahare and it barely makes a dent in my GHA, while my urchin on the other hand goes to town.

I always look forwards to your tank updates!

hey brad, i was thinking today about sea spiders and i remembered that you had one (the only one i know of in a tank). just curious as to whether it's still around or not. is the gorg it was feeding on still okay?

The sea spider began to fly around the tank. It seemed to be doing this on purpose as it would deliberately let go of a particular perch....fly around...then fold it's legs and drop to another perch.

It did this continuously for about a week before disappearing. I haven't seen it in months and I assume it is gone.

The Live Rock supplier supports the observation that he sees the spiders on his dives in the spring, then they are gone. I may have witnessed the method by which they leave the area.

The coral it lived on has had some die back as it fought hair algae. It's still alive and I hope it will return to it's former glory someday.

Updated tank views
 

Here's how things are looking today. It is difficult to get a good overall tank view.

Front view
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/000_0150.jpg

Side View
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/000_0152.jpg

Here are some shots of three interesting anemones that were hitchikers on the LR. Each is about 6" in diametre.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/000_0157.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/000_0155.jpg

In this last shot you can see just a bit of my green carpet anemone, which is now about 18" diametre. It has grown remarkably since moving into the new tank. I think it gets a LOT more food than it used to.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/000_0153.jpg

Crazy!!! I love how its coming along. Can we see a couple shots of the fish room too Please?

nice job i pipefit golf courses for a living and i think you beat me. looking forward to seeing the finished product. Kris

You could be looking for a long time....

Tank Webcam Operational!!!
 

OK world...here is the tank. If the hosting service for this webcam has a limit as to how many people can be simultaneously viewing...I suppose they will tell me about it!

Current operating hours 12:30PM - 10:30PM PST.

When you first connect, you'll need to load a Panasonic plugin for Internet Explorer. Go to the tab called "single". No need to login.

http://brads-aquarium.viewnetcam.com:50000

The world says hi back! :D

Man, watching that tank, I wish I could have done the same kind of tank depth. I went 30" depth on a 6' tank, now I wish I could have done 6'x6'. Thanks a lot for making a 280g look like a chump tank! :p

I think your trigger has lost his mind!!

Crazy
 

Well Id like to say that the webcam has nothing on looking at it in person.That tank is huge and with any luck and a lot of begging Im gonna have 1.LOL.Thanks for showing it off and I will get some pics up of your hex when my brother gets some more life in there.Clint

Yes...possibly. He seems a bit obsessed by the front of the tank. For a while, he was obsessed with the back...He also seems not to appreciate his female partner too much. He's taken a few bites out of her fins.

I certainly wouldn't call them a happy couple yet.

Possibly when his interest turns to love, he might be less interested in trying to wear away the front of the tank!

Hmm. I can never seem to see the video!

Brad, very cool camera. And you looked like you were doing a good job cleaning the tank too.

Kinda creepy that I could watch you doing that...lol.

That is so cool.

Hmmm...no creepy is you describing it! (ha..ha..) I feel like I'm starring in the Truman Show.

Haha....very funny. lol

Nice tank and a very cool setup on the camera. Does the software come with the camera for web-broadcasting?

Yes, it is an all-inclusive product from Panasonic. I got it at London Drugs. All you need is a home wireless network. They provide all the website hosting and functions that you see on the webpage.

If one had the skills and time, you could also build your own web page with the camera image as part of it. Maybe someday...

Tune in often for updated camera angles!

LOL, this is fun. Can you see the camera move if someone clicks on the directional buttons? I like how you can get into arguments with some unseen person over what to look at. "I'm moving the camera here!" "No! I'm watching something over .. HERE!" "No you're not! We're looking THIS WAY now!" :lol: