starting over-build thread - Page 2

Jrmass · 04-08-2009, 05:48 PM

Sounds pretty solid of a plan to me. Only thing I would do would be not to give yourself a timeline on adding the fish. This isn't how you go about doing that. You go about adding the fish by testing your ammonia/nitrate/nitrite levels and if the ammonia is zero and the nitrates/nitrites (most test kits read them as being the same thus I cluster them together here *but, for those who do not know... nitrItes are FATAL to fish and other things which nitrAtes are common in a tank. You do not want them... but, can be removed with various methods but, this is a totally different discussion*) then you can add additional fish. Wait your two weeks like you said test and if your levels are good then add again. If they are not good wait an additional week testing then. So on and so forth.

Just looking out for ya as I know how much of a pain this definately has been for ya and would really like it to work out this time.

Jas

tangmang23 · 04-08-2009, 08:18 PM

i appreciate all the help i can get, as other sites ive been on are not very informative lol. My plan is of course if the tank is ready. Judging by my past cycles in other SW tanks this was more or less a conservative estimate. also i have 160lbs of still fully cured rock, so once i get my source of ammonia, 5 big cocktail shrimp, ill be adding the rock around 5 days of the shrimp creating ammonia, so i can allow the sand to seed as much as possible. After all my levels are 0 with the exception of nitrate (shooting for around 10ppm) ill be adding my coral, testing daily for those two weeks, and then if all is well add my fish. What i really need to do is get a new/better test kit. Ive used API in the past and would like to try salifert. Aside from the cost i hear there a great kit, any back up to that??

Jrmass · 04-08-2009, 08:45 PM

I can vouch for them. I swear by them for the ones that I do use. (Which is Nitrate, Calcium, Phosphate). They are spendy I will not lie to you... But, as far as accuracy goes they are top notch. On that note I will say that I do carry a API test kit as well and on past occasions have tested the API vs. Salifert and found that the API kits (IF THEY ARE NEW *less than 6 months old*) were quite accurate *surprisingly accurate actually* but, after 6 months I began to notice significant variences against the salifert (which is good 1 year from the opening date). Just something to think about seeing when you get low enough nitrates (under 10 or so does it really matter if you get a rough 10ppm or an exact 7ppm?) Just something to think about. And a reason why you should not by used test kits from people unless they can varify the age seeing THEY DO EXPIRE!!!

Jason

tangmang23 · 04-09-2009, 10:47 AM

well ill get online and pick some tests up. ive only found seperate solutions, do they sell a common test kit, including ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and then ill buy PH and calcium, etc.....? The water is clearing up nicely, just about another 70 gallons to go, at 24gpd i should be full by sunday night as i have some saltwater i can use. all my pumps are cleaned to now, which was something i decided to do as of late last night. The skimmer has a bunch of crud buildup inside, hello vinegar.

if someone can help me resize photos, ill post some tonight, otherwise this might the most boring thread ever.

Jrmass · 04-09-2009, 06:06 PM

I'm not sure how everyone else resizes their pictures... But, I open MS. Paint and there they have the option to resize your pictures... You just need to get them to the size the website allows. (all depends on what format your pictures get saved (i.e. JPG, Bitmap, ect.) if you go to Manage Attachments there it says what is allowed for each format.

Open MS (MicroSoft) Paint
When you are in Paint you just Open the picture
Go to Image
Go to Attributes and this will tell you how large your picture is currently. I take a calculator and then figure out what percent I need to reduce the picture by taking the number you want to get your picture to and divide by the number that the picture currently is. This will give you the percentage you need to reduce the picture to achieve this (you need to round it DOWN to the whole number (i.e. 73.33% make it 73%).
Hit Cancel after you know the size the picture is currently.

After you have the percent you need to reduce the picture to Open Stretch/Skew also under Image and simply enter the percentage into both Horizonal and Vertical for STRETCH ONLY!!! (DO NOT DO SKEW). This will have resized the picture to the requirements needed for the site (this is how I resize ALL my pictures).

If someone has an easier method or even a program I'd be all ears but, it works for me.

Hope this Helps!

Jason

tangmang23 · 04-09-2009, 07:46 PM

testing lol. if this works, this is a pic of my tank, before the destruction.

Click image for larger version

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edit: okay cool it works, thanks jason

Jrmass · 04-09-2009, 08:11 PM

NP... glad I could help. would just be nice to know if anyone has a better way or do you have to keep doing it that way everytime? =)

carym · 04-09-2009, 08:12 PM

My software that came with my camera, does the resizing for me

Jrmass · 04-09-2009, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carym

My software that came with my camera, does the resizing for me

Well boo to you. Wish my camera would do that for me. Probably because I have my setting for best quality pictures. It's probably throwing my scales out of whack.

Jas

tangmang23 · 04-10-2009, 10:51 AM

the program i used actually worked really easy, just save the pic to my desktop, change the size to the size allowed and it worked perfectly, just deleted the pic from desktop after posting, that way its not taking up space.

Jrmass · 04-10-2009, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tangmang23

the program i used actually worked really easy, just save the pic to my desktop, change the size to the size allowed and it worked perfectly, just deleted the pic from desktop after posting, that way its not taking up space.

Well, I know it's not hard to use paint to change it (thus I figured I would share how I go about doing it) but, I just figured if there was a program that just automatically changed all your pictures to a postable size that would be easier yet.

Never hurts to ask if someone has a better way to do something.

Jason

tangmang23 · 04-11-2009, 09:35 AM

i hear ya there. What they should incorporate in the attachments file is a system that detects your type of pic (jpeg, etc....) and auto sizes it to the max allowed for you, that way you dont need to do anything. Another site im on, monsterfishkeepers.com does that, its so nice.

D.J. · 04-11-2009, 05:09 PM

you could store them on PHOTOBUCKET.COM thats where i store ALL my pics and it resizes them automatically....has different codes for different forms of posting pics and when you copy and paste the link the pic is already resized...

Jrmass · 04-11-2009, 10:02 PM

photobucket is fine as long as you never move or remove the pictures from photobucket otherwise the post is WORTHLESS because it just shows it as a missing link. Thus it's not a good way to go about adding your pictures.

schneijt · 04-11-2009, 10:08 PM

Well, uploading photos on here is the same way... Eventually you use up all your space and have to delete your pictures to put new ones in there, rendering your old photos "missing" in the old threads you posted them in...

The reality is that there's no perfect way to post photos here, but I prefer Photobucket because I just never delete stuff I upload there... Then I just use the IMG links to my pictures and I'm worry-free!

-Joe