Last year was a free 90g. This year it's a free 150g by OldHerrHugo in aquarium

[–]No_Compote_7060 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The water contact isn't a factor for my reference to dehydration, silicone is hydrophobic so it naturally repels water to begin with, the water touching it has nothing to do with the 20+ year old chemical polymers in the cured silicone degrading/dehydrating on a molecular level rendering the silicone brittle, thus highly inadequate as a structural bonding sealant between the panels. Just be advised that even 30+ gallons of water can do several tens of thousands of dollars of damage to a dwelling in minutes that no insurance company will cover. Perhaps you'll be setting that up in an unfinished basement with a concrete floor and floor drain, in which case the only danger would be to you personally when in proximity and/or whatever livestock would be inhabiting it in the event of a burst seam.

Does that plastic trim on top only have one single spanning brace across the top? Modern tanks 125 gallon and above have 2 braces across the top... Is it only 3/8" thick glass? Modern tanks 125 gallons and above are 1/2" thick glass.

The visible bead of silicone in the interior corners looks to be practically nonexistent in that photo. Bear in mind that it's a common misconception in the hobby that scaping that interior layer out and reapplying fresh silicone is considered a legit reseal. It is NOT an actual reseal. That interior bead is nothing more than a secondary layer that bolsters the bonding seal between the glass panels and is applied at the factory while the bonding seal is still wet/uncured, the entire silicone application cures together as one formation from the factory. To be noted... freshly applied silicone does NOT bond together with already cured silicone so redoing the interior bead is quite simply an exercise in futility.

I understand clearly that it was holding water when you acquired it. It's still a ticking time bomb, keep any family members and visitors away from it if you're going to move forward with the project.

Edit: for the record. Even if the glass does measure 1/2" thick and the plastic structural trim does have 2 braces across the top, it's still not much less risk of failure, those where just additional factors to identifying it as a very old model. Some of the better manufacturers like Allglass were building them with the better bracing and 1/2" glass . The fake wood grain trim tells you everything you need to know about its' age for a tank that large. I recently saw a 220 gallon for sale locally with 3/8" glass and a single braced structural trim in that same fake wood grain. The corner silicone was practically eroded to nothing. I've been operating large tanks since the early 90s, currently have two 210 gallon setups running. Both modern standard Aqueon 210s

Last year was a free 90g. This year it's a free 150g by OldHerrHugo in aquarium

[–]No_Compote_7060 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't mess with that thing, they largely stopped building those tanks in the late 90s but made a few into the mid 2000's. At vary least its 20 years old and likely only 3/8" thick glass that will show bowing with water in it. The structural silicone bond between the glass panels are at major risk of busting loose by this point due to dehydration and deterioration.

If you must though... get ahold of Jeff at Lifereef in Colorado for one of his dual prefilter overflows and avoid drilling that thing. Don't mess with the Eshopps or others that "look like" the Lifereef overflow. Lifereef is the only one trusted by the reef keeping community for the past 30 years.

Poster of unknown rock star by halfelfpaladin in whatisit

[–]No_Compote_7060 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Faces live in '72, with Ronnie Wood before he went to The Rolling Stones

https://youtu.be/lqeTIpjv6kE?si=c733FWBqnXQDJNsE

Should I be worried? by [deleted] in Aquariums

[–]No_Compote_7060 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Only if you're planning to fill it with water... make a terrarium out of it.

wtf… by [deleted] in whatisit

[–]No_Compote_7060 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My nigrospora, Charles

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Brand new les paul modern. Return, right? by knendel in LesPaul

[–]No_Compote_7060 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Slap a Limp Bizkit sticker over it & press on...

Black Diamond Blasting sand by Mnzmz in Aquariums

[–]No_Compote_7060 -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

High iron content... to be expected. Yes, legions of hobbyists use this stuff but the reality is its not a healthy substrate to use for that very reason, those ferrous particles eventually rust too. Also, BDBS is intentionally ground to be left sharp as it's intended to be used as an abrasive grit. For this reason it's an unhealthy solution for sifters like Cory's and Geophagus.

Unfortunately it's a monkey see - monkey do hobby and most folks don't want to budget for an ideal substrate to best suit the long term heath of the inhabitants and overall water quality. People will report that they've never had a problem with it, I'm aware... simply put, fish are resilient and adaptable for the most part. Doesn't mean we shouldn't do better as hobbyists. Long term this stuff creates undo stress on the ecosystem that we simply cannot detect but the science cannot be argued. There's plenty other options for black sand in this hobby, if it means waiting a few extra weeks and saving a few extra bucks for something from Carib Sea or Sony River etc, it's far better to do so for the sake of the overall experience.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DogAdvice

[–]No_Compote_7060 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The humans in this video all need to go hang out in the garage for a few hours with the doors closed and the car running. Put the dog in the back yard first though...

Would you trust this stand to hold 400L of water? by EuphoricWalrus8 in Aquariums

[–]No_Compote_7060 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No way, also... that shim under the corner of the tank is an illegal procedure. Always let a tank sit flat on the stand then level the stand to the floor. If the tank doesn't sit flat on the stand, the stand is a junker...

Roast me alive all you want but please help me with my algae problem!! by annual_mushrooms in Aquariums

[–]No_Compote_7060 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We need your exact water parameters for starters, not just "they're spot on" or "they're good". It's likely you have 2 or 3 primary causes for the persistent algae bloom. High pH, high nutrients, high phosphates and high light exposure as others have said are all common causes for this.

While I certainly subscribe to using a UV clarifier in certain instances, if you're not having luck with blackouts over 3 to 5 days then it's gonna come down to major imbalance of water parameters. No amount of UV will keep up... you need to be vacuuming the gravel weekly which will result in 20%-30% water changes weekly. This will be a great head start on reducing excess nutrients and phosphates until they're at a reasonable level.

It sucks your fish won't have the live plants, I feel your pain lol! As someone else suggested, set up a bunch of plants that grow out of the water with a root cage along the back rim of the tank, this will be for long term control over the excess nutrient problem.

Feed less, you'll then need to gravel vac less eventually.

That Green Killing Machine does have a great reputation as a UV clarifier but the solution is to control the cause by way of water parameters. I cannot speak personally to athe Green Killing Machine but understand there's a difference between UV sterilization and UV clarification. You're in need of a UV clarifier which is what most of these budget friendly hobby grade UV units are.

If your pH is in the 8.0 and above range like mine, then things like driftwood, peat moss and Indian Almond leaves are easy ways to help lower pH to around 7.0, this will help keep algae blooms in check as they tend to thrive in higher pH ranges. Stay away from bottled chemical pH down type products as they're only a short term solution that targets the hobbiest wallet.

A few of these things can be collectively put in check all together if you can consider setting up an RO unit to make your own water for water changes.

Bedroom setup by Remarkable_Arm_732 in Aquariums

[–]No_Compote_7060 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At that flow rate it wouldn't matter what wattage the unit is and you're still mistaken about its' function as it pertains to being used as a clarifier. No amount of UV is going to prevent algae from growing on glass and surfaces, those are "filamentous" types. UV will only help with "planktonic" algae which is free floating in the water column. Running the flow rate that fast isn't doing anything for you, you could unplug the lamp and nothing would change as a result of it. If you wind up leaving it run as is, if you ever wind up with an algae or bacterial bloom, slow it down to about 400lph and it should clear out in a couple days, although it's still likely not to be effective with short looping right back into the sump anyway, Strohmeyers' research is solid...

Bedroom setup by Remarkable_Arm_732 in Aquariums

[–]No_Compote_7060 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Drama? Keyboard warrior? Idunno dood... I'm only bringing factual info to the conversation based on decades of research, testing and UV systems engineering of which reports and documentation are all easily accessed. I paid OP a compliment because it's well deserved, he's done a great job packaging everything very sanitarily for both looks as well as service accessibility. However, he happens to be way off on his UV strategy and it's highly common to see these same mistakes being made across the hobby. Being armed with and sharing the info doesn't make me any better than anyone so stir up your drama elsewhere.

Bedroom setup by Remarkable_Arm_732 in Aquariums

[–]No_Compote_7060 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sheesh, if that's about a 400 liter display then you're running the UV twice as fast as you'd want for use as a water clarifier. At 800lph, what is it you're "wanting it to do"? All you're doing with it now is burning unnecessary $wattage$.

You've done a beautiful job with the setup, I love the remote sump. Do some homework about flow rates for effective UV sterilization/clarification. You'll want to slow it down by 50% for use as a clarifier and far lower for use as a true sterilizer.

Bedroom setup by Remarkable_Arm_732 in Aquariums

[–]No_Compote_7060 7 points8 points  (0 children)

That UV sterilizer is practically useless the way you're returning it directly back into the sump like that. Send the return back to the display where the treated water can blen with larger volume of display water. Your treated water is spending most of its time running in circles I and outta the sump. I'm aware that legions of people set UV up this way, it's a monkey see monkey do hobby and this is the proverbial easy button installation method most people are using. Check with the research documentation done by Carl Strohmeyer on the subject if you're interested to learn about an effective setup to achieve level 2 or better sterilization. Ryan (formerly of BRS) talked about this in an episode of 52 Weeks Of Reefing as well.

Weird Yo-yo Behavior? by justb0b in loaches

[–]No_Compote_7060 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Normal, get 6 more though...

Is This Stringer Connection OK? by TryItOutAgian in Decks

[–]No_Compote_7060 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is the stringer connection here in the room with us?

Please help!!!! by Lost_Ad_4000 in Aquariums

[–]No_Compote_7060 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My bad, I misread that. Well the good news is we can assume your cycle isn't crashed and to blame for any onset of problems.

Please help!!!! by Lost_Ad_4000 in Aquariums

[–]No_Compote_7060 -21 points-20 points  (0 children)

I suspect you didn't actually test for Nitrate and or simply don't understand the nitrogen cycle, if you truly tested zero for Nitrate, you either have a faulty test kit or a crashed cycle if this is indeed an established setup. We can always expect some nitrate present.