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Jimroth's Big Ol' Tank
- Thread starter jimroth
- Start date
The 1000W works very fast, I was impressed. It's titanium, maybe heats faster than glass?
The messed up thing is this: I now have three thermometers on my system, and they are all giving different readings!
New heater controller (at sump inlet) 82F
Aquacontroller probe (at sump outlet) 78F (I suspect this one)
Digital Thermometer (in display) 80F
I'm fudging the heater controller to get the temp I want in the display.
I've been getting some minor coral death the last few days. One branch of my stalwart Miami Orchid, some patches of death on the sunset and orange monti. Ca and Alk are fine. Posisble candidates:
1) We've been burning the woodstove nonstop, I'm sure there are extra hydrocarbons and CO that build up in the room perioodically.
2) Temps have been unstable
3) My DI cartridge wore out and my TDS went up gradually to 13 on the TDS meter. I think this may be the culprit, so I changed the cartridge and disposed of a barrel of tainted RO, making some fresh. I also think it may be time to start running carbon again. Honestly I'm putting so little food in the tank I don't even want to test for phospates. I cleaned the skimmer the other day and there was very little gunk--not like the old days!
I dropped the hammer on three brand spanking new Ecotech Radion Gen 2 units! Take a while to actually get them (channels) and then mount them. I can't afford them, but I gotta have 'em!
The tank rebuild continues.
The messed up thing is this: I now have three thermometers on my system, and they are all giving different readings!
New heater controller (at sump inlet) 82F
Aquacontroller probe (at sump outlet) 78F (I suspect this one)
Digital Thermometer (in display) 80F
I'm fudging the heater controller to get the temp I want in the display.
I've been getting some minor coral death the last few days. One branch of my stalwart Miami Orchid, some patches of death on the sunset and orange monti. Ca and Alk are fine. Posisble candidates:
1) We've been burning the woodstove nonstop, I'm sure there are extra hydrocarbons and CO that build up in the room perioodically.
2) Temps have been unstable
3) My DI cartridge wore out and my TDS went up gradually to 13 on the TDS meter. I think this may be the culprit, so I changed the cartridge and disposed of a barrel of tainted RO, making some fresh. I also think it may be time to start running carbon again. Honestly I'm putting so little food in the tank I don't even want to test for phospates. I cleaned the skimmer the other day and there was very little gunk--not like the old days!
I dropped the hammer on three brand spanking new Ecotech Radion Gen 2 units! Take a while to actually get them (channels) and then mount them. I can't afford them, but I gotta have 'em!
The tank rebuild continues.
Skimmer pump failed, which ticked me off a great deal, since I am almost ready to switch skimmers but not quite. I got out my beat up spare Iwaki 100RLT and hooked it up. It's noisier than the one that was there, but it works fine. I don't know why these things get me angry: I set myself up to WIN, hooking the pump up with valve unions and having a spare ready to go but I still end up feeling P.O'd. I guess it would be worse if I had to cut the plumbing and buy a new ($450) pump. I'll have to tear down the old one and see why it's stuck,. maybe it just needs to be cleaned.
Coral death has slowed but not stopped. Working on tuning the chemistry.
LEDs are on order, and I added two battery backup units to the order, because why not.
Just bought my ticket to MACNA in Florida. I have an old friend who lives a couple miles away, too good a chance to pass up.
Minor shout-out to www.aquariumpart.com, who have a lot of those annoying hard-to-find little parts for filters and such. They have the replacement foam bits and internal plates for the PhosBan 550 reactors, which got messed up on my units.
Coral death has slowed but not stopped. Working on tuning the chemistry.
LEDs are on order, and I added two battery backup units to the order, because why not.
Just bought my ticket to MACNA in Florida. I have an old friend who lives a couple miles away, too good a chance to pass up.
Minor shout-out to www.aquariumpart.com, who have a lot of those annoying hard-to-find little parts for filters and such. They have the replacement foam bits and internal plates for the PhosBan 550 reactors, which got messed up on my units.
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I meant my MACNA ticket, I'm way too disorganized to have flights yet! That time of year they should be really cheap in any case. If I feel flush I might take an Amtrak sleeper, I really like that, and it goes pretty close to the site. Plus you could tote a ton of frags without a hassle. I might go down a few days early to Miami and see my friends there, then drive up for MACNA.
I'm in the same boat, tickets and hotel but no airfare yet! I say we charter a private jet and all fly down together.
I'm in the same boat, tickets and hotel but no airfare yet! I say we charter a private jet and all fly down together.
Sure, if you're buying
LOLI'm in the same boat, tickets and hotel but no airfare yet! I say we charter a private jet and all fly down together.
I saw his PA order! He can afford it!
I'm going to be hanging with the former nightlife editor of the Fort Liquordale paper, we can probably have some fun times!
Those Iwaki pumps are amazing, I tore down the hung up one and the motor is perfect, there is a lot of calcium in the volute but I think It will cleanup okay. the spare quieted down a lot after 24 hours. Like I said, those pumps are amazing.
I might have figured out one problem my tank had. My biopellet reactor was turned off but not empty. The contents tuned green and slimy and it filled with the most amazing goo. But the main thing is that it was making lots of hydrogen sulfide, from the smell of it, and bubbling that into the sump. Yuck.
Those Iwaki pumps are amazing, I tore down the hung up one and the motor is perfect, there is a lot of calcium in the volute but I think It will cleanup okay. the spare quieted down a lot after 24 hours. Like I said, those pumps are amazing.
I might have figured out one problem my tank had. My biopellet reactor was turned off but not empty. The contents tuned green and slimy and it filled with the most amazing goo. But the main thing is that it was making lots of hydrogen sulfide, from the smell of it, and bubbling that into the sump. Yuck.
Getting ready to switch from 2-part to nothing but still kalkwasser, vinegar, and some washing soda occassionally for alk. Thinking back, my corals really started to go in the dumper when i switched to 2-part from my Ca.reaction and kalkwasser. I recently learned that you can avoid the effluent valve on the the Ca reactor by using a dosing pump (DAMN!) instead. I would totally go for that, it might be a possibility.
Okay, the recovery starts today. Three brand new Ecotech Radions (XR30W G2) are onboard. Just have to figure out how to hang them and I'll be in good shape. Also bought two battery backup units (for the vortecs) to replace the old one that blew up.
Switched back to kalkwasser for calcium and alk, just making it up in a bucket for now. Did a 100+ G water change. Gritting my teeth and girding my loins for the sump replacement. Still can't get that dead heater loose, gonna be worth a photo when I finally pull it out!
Switched back to kalkwasser for calcium and alk, just making it up in a bucket for now. Did a 100+ G water change. Gritting my teeth and girding my loins for the sump replacement. Still can't get that dead heater loose, gonna be worth a photo when I finally pull it out!
Yeah, there's a lesson there. Going to swap my 40 breeder sump for 150G Rubbermaid horse trough. They're non-stick!
Installed the Three Radions. I was going to get fancy and then decided I wanted it in place sooner, so I just removed my Lumenarc reflectors from my home made lighting rack and mounted them there. I carefully cut and drilled two pieces of aluminum angle iron and drilled the right holes in it to put the rails into. They go back to front and support EcoTech's rail system. That worked great, except that the whole thing is heavier than the reflectors, and the light rack droops a little. I'm setting up a couple guy wires with turnbuckles so I can get the LEDs perfectly parallel with the water surface. I will prbably rig something more minimalist in the future but for now it's important for me to see progress. I think I can make a more simple aluminum rack that will attach to my shelf bracket system the same way. I know people like to hang these things from the ceiling, but the notion of a molly plug failing and dropping my very expensive lights into the tank is more than I can bear.
Initial impression is good. There is not the same spread as the 400W halides, but I knew that. Features are cool -- the lights communicate wirelessly right out of the box, and talk to the Vortechs as well. I haven't set up the internal computer stuff and lighting curves yet, gonna try that later today.
Did my heart good to drill out the never-used VHO endcaps I intended for my actinic lights.
Initial impression is good. There is not the same spread as the 400W halides, but I knew that. Features are cool -- the lights communicate wirelessly right out of the box, and talk to the Vortechs as well. I haven't set up the internal computer stuff and lighting curves yet, gonna try that later today.
Did my heart good to drill out the never-used VHO endcaps I intended for my actinic lights.
Got the lights programmed with my Macbook. It was pretty easy. I was hoping you could name the lights yourself, but they default to "Light 1, Light 2, Light 3." I was gonna go for Huey, Dewey and Louie or at least Left, Center and Right. There are six premade curves to choose from, plus options like moonlight with phases and having the light "travel" across the sky as the day goes on. When you initiate a thunderstorm from the laptop the units all do their "lightning" flashes in unison. Went for a simple growth-type curve for now, I'll try the "Natural Day in Sidipan Malaysia" at some time in the future.
The extra support went very well and looks cool, kind of high tech, and I can easily adjust the angle with the turnbuckles. The whole thing is level now. I will probably cut a couple more support ribs to support the rail system in the middle, it droops a few milimeters and I had to support it with cable ties, not very slick.
The extra support went very well and looks cool, kind of high tech, and I can easily adjust the angle with the turnbuckles. The whole thing is level now. I will probably cut a couple more support ribs to support the rail system in the middle, it droops a few milimeters and I had to support it with cable ties, not very slick.
The only lenses I've heard of is the ones they come with. It's fine, I have good coverage, it's just not the flood of light you get with the Lumenarcs. I could have grown cactuses behind my tank. One thing that "decided" me was the ability to change the whole LED puck in the future when LEDs are better and cost a nickle.