Sunroom Build

[CenlaReefer]

I made some concrete & PVC pillars to lift most of my aquascapre off the floor of the tank. This will allow me to take a powerhead and blow under all the rock to get rid of lots of detritus buildup.

I added smaller feet so that water can flow through them.

Here is one of the pillars at the back of the tank:

From the front view the pillars cannot really be seen. Please excuse the glare. I really want to keep this tank bare-bottom, yet I am not pleased with the very unnatural look of the floor of the tank. I will work on it. I am also considering getting rid of the large bare piece of live rock in the middle. I appreciate suggestions..

Here is a spongodes monti on the back wall. Just below it are the tubs stellata monti and orange setosa. I am thinking about letting all 3 colonies "duke-it-out" as they grow into one another. They will also have to compete with the mingling of the red and green plating monti to the right. What do you all think? This will be my first time growing 5 large colonies somewhat close to one another. I have seen some folks on YouTube with tanks packed with SPS that all must be growing close to one another. I am curious as how to prune them if the base of one is growing over and out-competing the coral next to it.

 

[CenlaReefer]

For my home internet, I have a cable modem and separate wireless router. Earlier this week I dug a narrow trench and ran ethernet line from my wireless router to the sunroom and to my Apex EL. I used electrical grade PVC conduit where the cable would be exposed to either water or sun including where it needed to be buried. It is nice to be able to monitor temp and PH and also have the fan function for cooling.

I have poor internet service outside, I was wondering if someone knows the best and least expensive option to get wireless service outside. Should I run a second wireless router outside? Can I run a wireless router off of a ethernet line coming from a wireless router inside the house? Is there some sort of booster device that has ethernet outputs I can send to the Apex and a laptop yet also have wireless signal output?

 

[clsanchez77]

I made some concrete & PVC pillars to lift most of my aquascapre off the floor of the tank. This will allow me to take a powerhead and blow under all the rock to get rid of lots of detritus buildup.

Smart

 

[clsanchez77]

For my home internet, I have a cable modem and separate wireless router. Earlier this week I dug a narrow trench and ran ethernet line from my wireless router to the sunroom and to my Apex EL. I used electrical grade PVC conduit where the cable would be exposed to either water or sun including where it needed to be buried. It is nice to be able to monitor temp and PH and also have the fan function for cooling.

I have poor internet service outside, I was wondering if someone knows the best and least expensive option to get wireless service outside. Should I run a second wireless router outside?

Wireless is not really the best approach for this as it is easy subject to interference. If you have no other choice, use the older 2.4GHz system over the 5GHz systems. The 2.4 is slower, but less subject to interference and covers longer distances.

Can I run a wireless router off of a ethernet line coming from a wireless router inside the house?

This would be my preferred solution. Basically you have two wireless networks. One covers in your home and the other covers the backyard, including Apex and laptops or anything else you want to use back there. I ran my house with 3 at one time, until we bought the bullet and upgraded to a mesh wifi system. I made the upgrade to the Eero mesh system when COVID happened. My previous system could not handle a 5-yr old, 2x9-yr olds and a 12-yr old all home schooling while the wife and me are working from home. The EERO network handles this well. It is a heavy investments, so not knocking anyone who can't swing it. But up until that happened, my home worked fine with 3 wireless networks all of one cable modem.

If you do go this route, you have to make sure only one wireless router is in "router" mode and the other(s) have to be in "bridge" mode. The instructions should walk you through it. If not reach out as Im sure there are several of us here who can walk you through it.

 

[CenlaReefer]

Update from tonight. For the first time in years, I actually have real estate for new corals.

These pics below were taken with an amber lens filter. They lookmore real-to-life:

Below are 2 mushrooms I scraped off some glass using a razor blade. Both attaced just fine to some rock. I glued the yuma to a larger rock so that I can hopefully grow nice cluster of these on my homemade, large concrete disk.

 

[dwebster86]

I really like what you did with the rock! That was nice!

 

[BluewaterLa]

agree, that tank looks sweet !!
Good job kevin

 

[CenlaReefer]

Thanks so much for the compliments!

 

[CenlaReefer]

I tranferred one of my favorite corals from the frag tank to the display cube. My idea was to have this as more of a display / show tank anyway. I really would like this coral to grow for a couple of years before I ever consider fragging it.

 

[CenlaReefer]

This favia had a sort of growth extending from the main body. I could feel a bony mass inside the growth. I cut it off with a razor blade. I am hopeful the frag will survive. The two pictures below have different lighting:

 

[CenlaReefer]

I am very thankful that I do not have much trouble with algae. I was concerned it could have been a problem because there is a decent amount of diffuse light coming into this sunroom. Adding mollies has helped prevent the problem which was only at a beginning stage. Also, I remember that natural light caused bacterial blooms for some. I guess it helps that some of my live rock has been in continuous use since the 1990s. I am sure I have a nice assortment of bacteria to keep everything in a more natural balance. It helps that I have a HUGE amount of charto in my sump and run the skimmer 24/7. If things remain good I may keep the shades up during the winter. 4 of the 5 windows have both frosting on the glass and light-diffusing shades. One window has neither frosting nor a shade so I can keep an eye out on the kids.

 

[CenlaReefer]

Here is an update tank photo from today:

Some of the corals on the the tank floor will not remain for the long term. I do have a question about adding a coral in the bare section of 3 layered Stax rock smack dab in the middle of the tank. The area is shaded by a rock overhang were I am trying out an encrusting monti to fill the top of that section of the plateau:

What do you all think about me putting this coral there in that shaded, bare area above? This one loves low PAR:

The coral above is not very flashy or exotic, yet I like it. That is what is important. Still, I am trying to plan for years from now if this tank continues to do well. Will there be trouble if this coral does warfare with the corals above and on each side? I thought about putting it on huge, flat yet irregular concrete disk. When making it, I thought about using a fiberglass rod to keep it in place. That should make it easy to remove for fragging. What do you all think?

 

[Cigmin]

Your tanks are always so clean


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CenlaReefer]

One thing I like about this setup is that my frag tank is only 29 inches from the door. When the weather is cool in the morning or evening, I keep this door wide opened. It allows lots of fresh air. With the window next to the opening, it sort of feels like I am doing my maintenance work outdoors.

 

[CenlaReefer]

I moved some corals around to fill in the bare areas of rock:

My plan is to allow some coral warfare. The purple and green LPS under the ledge is expected to fight with the blue and orange chalice-looking coral to its right. Neither have long sweepers. Do you folks think this is a problem? Here is a close-up:

 

[Humblefish]

Everything looks great, Kevin! Very healthy corals!!

 

[clsanchez77]

Is that center frag a Diploastrea? I had two of those in my tank, but they never really took off. Sadly I did lose them in Ida, as their health just was not very good.

 

[CenlaReefer]

Is that center frag a Diploastrea? I had two of those in my tank, but they never really took off. Sadly I did lose them in Ida, as their health just was not very good.

I think it is, but I am not sure. I have rarely seen this coral in our hobby. I got mine years ago in a mystery, multi-pack from Aqua SD. This coral is a slow grower in my opinion. It prefers rather low light.

 

[CenlaReefer]

Everything looks great, Kevin! Very healthy corals!!

Thanks!! Coral health and growth took-off after moving stuff to the sunroom. The pH stays from 8.0 to 8.4 with my dosing kalkwasswer at night until the morning- usually when the display lights are off. With the same dosing inside our home, I struggled to keep pH above 7.9. There is so much more fresh air and much less oxygen used-up from us humans out in the sunroom.

I have always kept chaeto in the sump on a reverse daylight schedule.

On a side note, I found a way to keep our rabbit away from any wires. The kids like to take our pet rabbit "Benny Snowball" to hang out in the sunroom while they play games. They also take one of our 2 outdoor cats in there. The only rule is NOT to keep a cat and the rabbit in there at the same time. This is for obvious reasons.

 

[smileyjoe]

Everything is looking awesome Kevin!!