$50 craiglist 225 tank/cabinet/canopy DIY refurbish
- Thread starter CWO4GUNNER
- Start date
Yeah I know the plants like in live right? I can already picture them turning brown lol. Maybe that's way too ambitious, I mean if I cant even tackle a slime problem and keep my feeders from turning cross eyed perhaps Im not ready.
As you can see below the 244 tank is a slime fest, so much so it actually shut down my FX5, I mean complete flow stop and I had no choice but to clean it out and it was bad. You can see that the polishing pads I made too the brunt of the slime but probubly also caused the blockage. After an hour of cleaning in one treated bucket of water after another I placed it back in service and had to reverse flush the hoses that were caked solid with slime.
Lesson learned for cycling tanks remove the polishing pads just like I did for the sump. But even the 1400 power head got its intake plugged.
As you can see below the 244 tank is a slime fest, so much so it actually shut down my FX5, I mean complete flow stop and I had no choice but to clean it out and it was bad. You can see that the polishing pads I made too the brunt of the slime but probubly also caused the blockage. After an hour of cleaning in one treated bucket of water after another I placed it back in service and had to reverse flush the hoses that were caked solid with slime.
Lesson learned for cycling tanks remove the polishing pads just like I did for the sump. But even the 1400 power head got its intake plugged.
The feeders think its tasty. After cleaning out the filter in treated water ammonia spiked back up to about 1.5 PPM ever the slightest tinge of yellow-green, but this morning its back down to 0 along with nitrite which never did register at all which is a bit strange.
It appears as though no new slime is growing and that the long flowing stuff is getting shorter so Im going to take all the wood out and rinse the slime off with hot tap water which seems to make the stuff fall off. Then place them back inside the tank and see if its stopped Ill get out my 4 foot window sponge and squeegee and knock off all the rest so the filters can eat it.
It appears as though no new slime is growing and that the long flowing stuff is getting shorter so Im going to take all the wood out and rinse the slime off with hot tap water which seems to make the stuff fall off. Then place them back inside the tank and see if its stopped Ill get out my 4 foot window sponge and squeegee and knock off all the rest so the filters can eat it.
It very well my be a form a diatom from the new sand. I also had it when I cycled my 80 tank but because it was on a smaller scale diden't seem so bad. It really does a job on the sponges almost having to use bleach to get that stuff out which is like glue inside the sponge. But once its gone its gone for good has been my experience. I would just like to learn the remedy to avoid it in the future cycling a new tanks and sand. Maybe running the whole tank with some bleach in the water for the first 24 hours to sterilize the tank and sand using just a powerhead sponge filter.
The slim has all but disappeared and the tank is getting back to being high-Def LOL. As soon as I have it partially ornamented Ill post some pics.
The area that most don't discuss or show is under the cabinet. On my last DIY I felt that the unfinished wood inside made it look rather incomplete and shabby so I started staining and poly coating the inside. No preparation other then a wipe down and just a light washing of stain and poly just to give it something other then dry wood color. I also noted how dark the under cabinets were especially at night and got tired using flashlights to try and find something. So I decide to mount (Gorila glue) one of my unused 18" F-tube light fixtures. I probubly could have used something smaller at each end but why waste what you already have on hand not being used. In the photo's below you will notice the telltale sign of Gorilla Glue on the mounted power strips, the stuff really expands, holds fast and is waterproof.
The area that most don't discuss or show is under the cabinet. On my last DIY I felt that the unfinished wood inside made it look rather incomplete and shabby so I started staining and poly coating the inside. No preparation other then a wipe down and just a light washing of stain and poly just to give it something other then dry wood color. I also noted how dark the under cabinets were especially at night and got tired using flashlights to try and find something. So I decide to mount (Gorila glue) one of my unused 18" F-tube light fixtures. I probubly could have used something smaller at each end but why waste what you already have on hand not being used. In the photo's below you will notice the telltale sign of Gorilla Glue on the mounted power strips, the stuff really expands, holds fast and is waterproof.
