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180 Gal rebuild - Printable Version

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180 Gal rebuild - rott - 03-27-2016

I have a 180 gallon acrylic tank with angels and discus right now I am looking for plants from aquabid to buy to replant the tank right now it is just a mess full of java moss I am getting rid of all of that it just over grows every thing and kills other plants.
right now I am having an alkalinity problem I have to keep supplementing it to keep my Ph up or it will drop so low it turns acidic and kills fish I would attach pics but nothing to se right now till I replant it

Rott
AKA   Dale


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - Rob F - 03-27-2016

Hope you get that ph figured out, don't wanna hurt those little guys.


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - rott - 03-27-2016

I have no Idea I have taken all the drift wood out all the stones out nothing left but the pea gravel and that came from my old 125 water goes threw ro/Di unit I have taken the Di off line read that could cause it didn't work I have changed all the ro filters didn't work I don't really know what else at this point to do except supplement the ALK to keep the ph up around 6.5 6.7 and I am using a small ALK supplement bottle a month or less


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - Rob F - 03-28-2016

Maybe the next update will automate this until you solve it, hopefully you solve it first though... The idea is you could set a dosing pump to go off when the ph dropped below a certain level which would add the ALK. When it drops again it'll re-dose. If you don't have the dosing pump schedules on only the low ph will trigger the dosing pump. It wouldn't re-dose though unless 24hrs has passed after the first auto dose.


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - rott - 03-28-2016

I could use that the new box's for my lcd and expansion board come today I hope I got the expansion board box right


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - rott - 06-09-2016

haven't updated this in a while I got the Jeabo 4 doser and so far just doing ALK to keep Ph up still can not figure out what it is that drags it down


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - rott - 06-26-2016

Just trying to get the lights all figured out for the controller to take care of lighting for me. added a bunch of plants to make the fish happy and also got a bunch of Pristella Maxillaris nice small schooling tetra to be a clean up crew and I also have a army of Cory cats to keep the bottom clean

what is a good way to get green alage off acrylic I have tried scrapers most of them suck old credit card seems to work best is there any fish besides pleco I do not want some thing that will be a monster in a year


More later


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - Rob F - 06-26-2016

Need some pictures of the tank and fish...

I use those cheap green pads from the dollar store for cleaning the glass, they work great but maybe not good for acrylic.


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - Steve S - 06-26-2016

(06-26-2016, 10:21 AM)rott Wrote: Just trying to get the lights all figured out for the controller to take care of lighting for me. added a bunch of plants to make the fish happy and also got a bunch of Pristella Maxillaris nice small schooling tetra to be a clean up crew and I also have a army of Cory cats to keep the bottom clean

what is a good way to get green alage off acrylic I have tried scrapers most of them suck old credit card seems to work best is there any fish besides pleco I do not want some thing that will be a monster in a year


More later

When my focus was on my freshwater tanks, the hardest working algae cleaner by far was the Farlowella. I don't know what sub-species I had as I was at the mercy of the LFS and current availability. They are sometimes commonly called twig fish and although they can get long, they usually will not get a whole lot bigger than the largest of your typical Chinese Algae Eaters. Far more productive and NOWHERE near the bad attitude of those Chinese Algae Eaters!

From THF Magazine
"The Harttiini are primarily represented in the trade by various Farlowella species, usually called “twig catfish” without any attempt to tell the different species apart. A second genus, Sturisoma, is also quite commonly seen. It is very rare to see any of the other Harttiini in aquarium shops, though species ofLamontichthys and Sturisomatichthys are imported once in a while" 

Never had acrylic, so no direct experience although I know it scratches when you look at it!  Amazon has PLASTIC single edge razors. I wonder it anyone out there with acrylic tanks have tried them??

My GO TO has always been Mag-Floats which does come in an acrylic version.  For the tough stuff, like the corailline algae, I use a stainless blade scraper, although I'm sure that's NOT recommended for acrylic.  Also for my curved tanks and for that by hand finish, I have found that the Dobie pad from Scotch Brite works extremely well for me.  It's a sponge surrounded by a strong plastic scouring mesh that has never scratched. Maybe try that in a less conspicuous spot like the back, or low on the sides.

Good luck.


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - rott - 06-28-2016

I have a hammer head float cleaner for acrylic tanks thing is a beast and uses special pads on the inside and still can not get all the green off it is so strong it takes to hands to pull the out side magnet off


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - Steve S - 06-28-2016

I quit USING my Hammerhead as it took TWO hands just to use it on the front of the tank! Even with new pads!


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - rott - 07-20-2016

well got to take the LCD box back to work need to re-solder the buzzer back on and glue the screen back down guess I need to stop dropping it on the ground. :(

Rob I am ordering a new box that is a little wider than the one I have now for the expansion board my plan is to drill holes in front of each usb plug and run the usb wire threw it and solder the wires to the plug inside then just have a tail hanging out from the box. can you or some one tell me what the 4 pins are on the back of the usb I think it is

left to right pin#1notused ,pin#2 Data ,pin#3vcc ,pin#4 gnd
Just not sure if that is right


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - Rob F - 07-21-2016

Thankfully the case is keeping the screen safe, there quite heavy so that would be a hard fall. I think you have the pinouts correct but I don't want to say based on pin numbers as there not really marked that way. If you go in the downloads the pdf shows all the pinouts for the USB's and pictures of the plugs so you can visually see whats what, just don't want to confuse things as I'm not the best explainer. Good idea for the case, it's much easier to cut holes than squares. :)


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - rott - 07-21-2016

Monday Going to the beach for a week in north Carolina should be almost 100 F everyday and humid sounds great if I was a reptile ;)


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - Rob F - 07-21-2016

Nice, enjoy the weather, we never get 100, lucky to hit 80.


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - rott - 07-21-2016

I don't like nothing over 75

does the 2.3 update have all the need libraries and ino files need or should I use the 2.2 first then the 2.3


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - Rob F - 07-21-2016

Best to copy all the libraries to your documents/arduino/libraries/ folder and then upload all the sketches. Remember to update the images on the SD cards.


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - rott - 07-22-2016

Hi Rob I went to the downloads like you said I read Main Controller Explained V2 there is nothing in there about the expansion board or am I totally blind thee was just the power board and the board that connects to the LCD nothing on the newest member to the family


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - Steve S - 07-22-2016

Wait. WHERE are you guys talking about? Downloads.  The only download section I can find on the main site is under "My Account". You must be signed in.  Rott, I don't see where you are finding Main Controller Explained V2. the ONLY thing I have in MY downloads is the most current ver of Robo-Tank Software v 2.3 .  That WOULD have been helpful during the build!


RE: 180 Gal rebuild - Dom59 - 07-22-2016

hi guys,

on our download files, there is a one named "Expansion hub Rev B Explained"
you will see, what you need.

Dom.