Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread - Page 22

Lunchbucket · 10/22/2006, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
Nope, you guys are way off. What do you think I'm working on?

better be some NEW podcasts!!!

Quote:

Originally posted by Lordhelmet
Your pecs?

melev's man boobs??? EEEWWW!!

working on my sump???!! YIPPIE!!

Lunchbucket

melev · 10/22/2006, 01:17 PM

Finally it happened to me as well. Fortunately, I knew better and didn't risk my reef.

I was standing in the livingroom and kept hearing a strange sound. I thought it was the door to the fish room blowing open and closed against a piece of PVC pipe, as I'm using fresh air to cool the reef now that the weather is nicer.

However, that door was not moving and the sound of it bumping PVC was not the source.

I stood there and listened again. Still I couldn't isolate its source. Bump-bumpbump-bump. What is that?!

It sounded like it came from the backyard, like someone was moving something on my deck. That's not possible. I look out the back door, and nothing is amiss.

Bump-bump-buzzzz. I look to my side, and the sound was coming from a trashcan filled with LR that I've had in darkness for about two months. I lifted the lid, and smoke was coming off the water. I quickly pulled the cord to the only thing in that barrel - a RIO 2100 pump.

For a long time, I've warned people about the risk of using a RIO in their reef, and those that chose to believe have avoided issues. Those that disagree and swear by their pumps due to long-term success have ignored the warnings. The fact is, there is an ongoing thread here on RC about broken RIO pumps. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...ht=broken+RIOs

I never use my RIO pump for my tank, but I will use it to mix a barrel of saltwater or to pump water out or into my sump when changing water. There is very little risk of disaster there. I know that if it burns up and spills its guts into the water of a saltwater barrel, I can throw away the water and make a new batch.

In my LR curing barrel, it was merely running circulation, and the rock isn't important because it was extra I had on hand. It appears I was there right as this occured, because the water essentially is clean. I'm going to do a water change today and run the skimmer to pull out what it can, and check the water's parameters for the next few days.

Add me to the list of Broken Rios. I'm just glad my livestock was never at risk. If you have one in your system, especially a 2100 or 2500, please remove it immediately from your tank or sump and replace it with something safe, such as a Mag pump.

melev · 10/22/2006, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jnarowe
Good points and about what I was thinking of doing. Currently I have about 90g RO/DI with a gravity feed to a mechanical float switch for top-off. I believe I am running about 8g/day or so but that is a very rough estimate.

My thoughts on setting up the stirrer is to switch to an electronic float valve to turn a dosing pump on and off, as well as using some code in the ACIII to stop and start the doser based on pH. Does that make sense?

Right now with my Ca reactor, my pH is averaging about 8.06 and I found it down to 7.98 this morning. I have the CO2 controlled by both the reactor probe as well as the tank probe, so when the tank gets down to 8.06 the CO2 will shut off. Rather than limit the Ca reactor more, I think adding a kalk stirrer will be a better idea. Particularly for the long-run when my reef CA demands escalate.

And BTW, I have rigged the skimmer collection bucket with an electronic float valve that shuts down the Alita 100 when the bucket is full. I have also super-sized my sumps to 200g so in theory there is no way to flood the room anymore. I also have a water sensor on the floor that will trigger alarms, email, and shutdown of the return pump. That could also trigger shutdown of the doser.

However, I run my tank salinity rich at 1.026 - 1.027 and only have 90g max available in RO/DI at any time, so if the entire vat of RO/DI was to be dumped into my 1,200g+ system, it would drop the salinity a bit and raise the pH a bit, but probably not at dangerous levels. Just a guess on my part though!

In order to get my pH up, I will actually need to run a fair amount of kalk.

What pH level are you trying to attain in the Calcium Reactor?

For years, I couldn't keep my pH higher than 8.1 and always attributed that to excess CO2 in my home. Well, all summer my house was closed up to keep the a/c trapped inside. My tank was reaching 8.3 each day without a hitch. My guess was the increased Magnesium helped, but I'm not positive that's the cure.

Everything you described sounds pretty safe to me. If you can stop the dosing pump from feeding water into the Kalk Stirrer, that will stop more water from coming out. Don't run the pump after the stirrer because it will likely clog up.

melev · 10/22/2006, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lunchbucket
better be some NEW podcasts!!!

melev's man boobs??? EEEWWW!!

working on my sump???!! YIPPIE!!

Lunchbucket

You guessed wrong three times!

What else do I work on when time permits?

jnarowe · 10/22/2006, 02:05 PM

I am trying to keep the Ca Reactor pH at 6.2 although it is tough because it keeps switching off due to the tank pH. I am using Schuran/Gen-X media so it needs to be a bit lower than the average Ca reactor.

I will install the doser about 20 feet in front of the kalk stirrer to avoid salt creep and kalk clogging etc. I would rather skip the doser but based on the height of the stirrer I would not be getting a great amount of siphon and as it is, if my RO/DI storage tank gets too low, I can lose the siphon totally. That doesn't happen often but it can.

melev · 10/22/2006, 04:42 PM

Three pictures, now that everything has been transferred over. The only bad thing was the new saltwater was relatively cold compared to the water that the rock was in.

You can see how the water looks a little smokey in this picture. I swished out the LR before transferring it, so this could be a little misleading.

The inside of the motor's coverplate isn't misleading.

And the motor itself, before it had a chance to full discharge its guts into the water.

jnarowe · 10/22/2006, 04:45 PM

OK, that is scary...but why did it happen?

melev · 10/22/2006, 05:14 PM

Because RIOs are tank nukers. They'll be fine, and one day blow up. They've also been referred to as ticking timebombs. When they do burn up, their contents ooze out in the water in a black oily mess. This pollutes the tank and kills everything.

bklynmet · 10/22/2006, 06:56 PM

wow.. good thing you were home..

jnarowe · 10/22/2006, 07:54 PM

Yeah but why do they do that? What is t about their design that makes them time-bombs, and why doesn't the company fix it?

original-reefland · 10/22/2006, 08:34 PM

Quote:

If I ever set one up, it will be a drip system, independent of any other part of my reef setup. I'll use gravity to feed RO/DI water to it in limited amounts (a week's supply perhaps), and use an auto top off system to replenish evaporation. [/B]

I have my kalkwasser dosing pump drawing from a standard 5 gallon water bottle. I have a length of rigid air-line tubing to draw water from the bottom with a float switch at the bottom to turn off the feed pump once it's empty.

I have a rotation of 5 gallon bottles on hand as needed. This limits how much kalk can enter the system, dose with a controller and float switch and doesn't need to be gravity fed (water bottle doesn't need to be near the system).

melev · 10/22/2006, 08:53 PM

TippyToeX showed me a Kalk Disaster link to show y'all, because she's playing Hide The Mouse right now.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...52#post8393152

melev · 10/22/2006, 08:56 PM

Pictures from Above.

I decided tonight was time for some fresh top down shots. So here are some lovely shots for you to enjoy. I'm going to start off with my beautiful clam, which reminds me of the old days.

original-reefland · 10/22/2006, 08:58 PM

Did we really need that many of the same pic?

Micki · 10/22/2006, 09:00 PM

I wondered the same thing!

melev · 10/22/2006, 09:06 PM

This acropora came from Keith well over a year ago. It's got small issues, but overall it is doing quite well. What I like is that it is a tabling acropora. I'd say it is about 4.5" long from end to end.

This is another piece of a tabling Acropora, and I think it is the same as the one above although from a different source. Some tips recently died for no reason. This happened on a couple corals while the rest did not suffer the same. I almost wonder if it is fish nipping at these corals and eating away the healthy tissue perhaps. I'm going to have to trim off the bad tips so the coral can heal up.

Acropora Tenuis. It is doing quite well, although the bottom branch bleached out and died.

This is the A. valida I dipped about 6 weeks ago. Looks happy and healthy to me. Better than the Tyree frag, that's for sure!

Speaking of which, here's an okay picture of the Tyree

This is another one where some tips died off, and Cyano decided it would be great place to set up shop. I'll take care of this one tomorrow.

Pink Milli. It's tough to take this picture as the coral is in the rear of the tank near the surface. It's done well since January when it was two twigs.

I love how the zoanthids are totally encircling this SPS. I believe Tucker used to mow them down, but they are finally happy and healthy an the rock is being covered up.

melev · 10/22/2006, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by original-reefland
Did we really need that many of the same pic?

It is sooo pretty, it bore repeating.

melev · 10/22/2006, 09:12 PM

Mean Greens!

And in the prop section, they are doing so well.

Acorpora nobilis. I love this piece, but it gets broken from time to time, and the fraglets never do well.

Have you seen my blue Maxima?

This branching pink hammer coral is larger than a softball. So pretty. Tyree to its right.

Another hammer in my tank is a small frag.

dez_2121 · 10/22/2006, 09:18 PM

melev did you change something with your site for some reason i can't get there anymore and i'm trying to get you mandarin dinner design and was woundering how you coached your mandarins to eating other food

melev · 10/22/2006, 09:24 PM

A long time ago, I showed you an aquacultured coral from Surabaya. Then after a while, all the branches died. I gave it a massive haircut, and some of you were stunned. Well, that coral didn't do all that well, so I moved it to the prop section. I think the surabaya Acropora decided it was time to take matters into its own branches. Note how the live growth is appearing everywhere, seemingly even willing to grow on top of cyano infestation.

This pretty favia is going to move up into the reef. I don't know why it is down in the prop section.

Red Ring zoanthids, growing alongside a pink Lavendar Frilly mushroom.

Acropora sp. This is a fast growing coral that I pictured recently encrusting an Acropora millepora (note the encrusted branch at bottom center). This coral is growing out beautifully, including the branch to the left that decided to rejoin the main colony.

The A. millepora I was referencing a second ago.

The huge toadstool leather has outgrown the lens of the top down box.

And a final Reef Shot of the BTAs.

melev · 10/22/2006, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dez_2121
melev did you change something with your site for some reason i can't get there anymore and i'm trying to get you mandarin dinner design and was woundering how you coached your mandarins to eating other food

No, it is on the exact same page where it always was. Here's the same article in Reefkeeping Online.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-02/nftt/index.php

dez_2121 · 10/22/2006, 09:28 PM

ok i'm about to go from fish geek to comp nerd cause i can't figure out why i can't see your sight or your pics thanks for the link IT CAME OUT FINE!!!! go figure huh
dez

jnarowe · 10/22/2006, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
TippyToeX showed me a Kalk Disaster link to show y'all, because she's playing Hide The Mouse right now.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...52#post8393152

Brutal. I appreciate you passing that along and in a sick way I am glad I am not the only one making major F ups.

That clam is too sweet dude and I love those zoa covered rocks. I am doing getting the Barr-Aquatic stirrer.

melev · 10/22/2006, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dez_2121
ok i'm about to go from fish geek to comp nerd cause i can't figure out why i can't see your sight or your pics thanks for the link IT CAME OUT FINE!!!! go figure huh
dez

Send me an email and I'll see if I can help somehow. melev@swbell.net

Snakebyt · 10/23/2006, 04:09 AM

great pics Marc... nice diversity in your tank

10/22/2006, 01:17 PM	#527
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	WOW! Finally it happened to me as well. Fortunately, I knew better and didn't risk my reef. I was standing in the livingroom and kept hearing a strange sound. I thought it was the door to the fish room blowing open and closed against a piece of PVC pipe, as I'm using fresh air to cool the reef now that the weather is nicer. However, that door was not moving and the sound of it bumping PVC was not the source. I stood there and listened again. Still I couldn't isolate its source. Bump-bumpbump-bump. What is that?! It sounded like it came from the backyard, like someone was moving something on my deck. That's not possible. I look out the back door, and nothing is amiss. Bump-bump-buzzzz. I look to my side, and the sound was coming from a trashcan filled with LR that I've had in darkness for about two months. I lifted the lid, and smoke was coming off the water. I quickly pulled the cord to the only thing in that barrel - a RIO 2100 pump. For a long time, I've warned people about the risk of using a RIO in their reef, and those that chose to believe have avoided issues. Those that disagree and swear by their pumps due to long-term success have ignored the warnings. The fact is, there is an ongoing thread here on RC about broken RIO pumps. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...ht=broken+RIOs I never use my RIO pump for my tank, but I will use it to mix a barrel of saltwater or to pump water out or into my sump when changing water. There is very little risk of disaster there. I know that if it burns up and spills its guts into the water of a saltwater barrel, I can throw away the water and make a new batch. In my LR curing barrel, it was merely running circulation, and the rock isn't important because it was extra I had on hand. It appears I was there right as this occured, because the water essentially is clean. I'm going to do a water change today and run the skimmer to pull out what it can, and check the water's parameters for the next few days. Add me to the list of Broken Rios. I'm just glad my livestock was never at risk. If you have one in your system, especially a 2100 or 2500, please remove it immediately from your tank or sump and replace it with something safe, such as a Mag pump. Last edited by melev; 10/22/2006 at 01:50 PM.

10/22/2006, 02:05 PM	#530
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	I am trying to keep the Ca Reactor pH at 6.2 although it is tough because it keeps switching off due to the tank pH. I am using Schuran/Gen-X media so it needs to be a bit lower than the average Ca reactor. I will install the doser about 20 feet in front of the kalk stirrer to avoid salt creep and kalk clogging etc. I would rather skip the doser but based on the height of the stirrer I would not be getting a great amount of siphon and as it is, if my RO/DI storage tank gets too low, I can lose the siphon totally. That doesn't happen often but it can. __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

10/22/2006, 04:45 PM	#532
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	OK, that is scary...but why did it happen? __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

10/22/2006, 06:56 PM	#534
bklynmet Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Elkhart Posts: 527	wow.. good thing you were home.. __________________ PBITAWA!!! Removing skimmate, scraping algae, now changing a new set of baby diapers... will the crap ever end? Current Tank Info: 75g, 16g Lifereef sump w/ Lifereef VS2-24 mag 7 return, 6x54w T5, Separate 20g RR Oceanic w/ 10g Sump, Separate 4g office pico tank

10/22/2006, 07:54 PM	#535
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	Yeah but why do they do that? What is t about their design that makes them time-bombs, and why doesn't the company fix it? __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

10/22/2006, 04:42 PM	#531
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Three pictures, now that everything has been transferred over. The only bad thing was the new saltwater was relatively cold compared to the water that the rock was in. You can see how the water looks a little smokey in this picture. I swished out the LR before transferring it, so this could be a little misleading. The inside of the motor's coverplate isn't misleading. And the motor itself, before it had a chance to full discharge its guts into the water.

10/22/2006, 05:14 PM	#533
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Because RIOs are tank nukers. They'll be fine, and one day blow up. They've also been referred to as ticking timebombs. When they do burn up, their contents ooze out in the water in a black oily mess. This pollutes the tank and kills everything.

10/22/2006, 08:53 PM	#537
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	TippyToeX showed me a Kalk Disaster link to show y'all, because she's playing Hide The Mouse right now. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...52#post8393152

10/22/2006, 08:56 PM	#538
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Pictures from Above. I decided tonight was time for some fresh top down shots. So here are some lovely shots for you to enjoy. I'm going to start off with my beautiful clam, which reminds me of the old days.

10/22/2006, 08:58 PM	#539
original-reefland Reefer Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: New York Posts: 2,177	Did we really need that many of the same pic? __________________ Rich Durso Visit My Chunk of the Ocean, click the Red House above. Current Tank Info: 180G Oceanic SPS/Clams/LPS, AB Aquaspace Light 3x250w AB 14K HQI with 4x24w PC Actinic, 2x80w T5, Dual Tunze 6100 and Vortec (10,000 GPH), Euro Reef RC-500 Skimmer.

10/22/2006, 09:00 PM	#540
Micki Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 7,163	I wondered the same thing! __________________ Micki... Western Ohio Reef Club Click the red house for my 125 progress! Current Tank Info: 125 gal. reef, 90 gal. sump, 10 gal. fuge, 40 gallon. 150 gallon fish only.

10/22/2006, 09:06 PM	#541
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	This acropora came from Keith well over a year ago. It's got small issues, but overall it is doing quite well. What I like is that it is a tabling acropora. I'd say it is about 4.5" long from end to end. This is another piece of a tabling Acropora, and I think it is the same as the one above although from a different source. Some tips recently died for no reason. This happened on a couple corals while the rest did not suffer the same. I almost wonder if it is fish nipping at these corals and eating away the healthy tissue perhaps. I'm going to have to trim off the bad tips so the coral can heal up. Acropora Tenuis. It is doing quite well, although the bottom branch bleached out and died. This is the A. valida I dipped about 6 weeks ago. Looks happy and healthy to me. Better than the Tyree frag, that's for sure! Speaking of which, here's an okay picture of the Tyree This is another one where some tips died off, and Cyano decided it would be great place to set up shop. I'll take care of this one tomorrow. Pink Milli. It's tough to take this picture as the coral is in the rear of the tank near the surface. It's done well since January when it was two twigs. I love how the zoanthids are totally encircling this SPS. I believe Tucker used to mow them down, but they are finally happy and healthy an the rock is being covered up.

10/22/2006, 09:12 PM	#543
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Mean Greens! And in the prop section, they are doing so well. Acorpora nobilis. I love this piece, but it gets broken from time to time, and the fraglets never do well. Have you seen my blue Maxima? This branching pink hammer coral is larger than a softball. So pretty. Tyree to its right. Another hammer in my tank is a small frag.

10/22/2006, 09:18 PM	#544
dez_2121 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: south holland il Posts: 405	melev did you change something with your site for some reason i can't get there anymore and i'm trying to get you mandarin dinner design and was woundering how you coached your mandarins to eating other food __________________ time to upgrade!!!!!!! Current Tank Info: 125 gal in wall, softy tank about to upgrade to stixs lol, 6* 80w ATI T5, reef oct 2000 skimmer,30gal sump all connected to 55gal planted tank

10/22/2006, 09:24 PM	#545
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	A long time ago, I showed you an aquacultured coral from Surabaya. Then after a while, all the branches died. I gave it a massive haircut, and some of you were stunned. Well, that coral didn't do all that well, so I moved it to the prop section. I think the surabaya Acropora decided it was time to take matters into its own branches. Note how the live growth is appearing everywhere, seemingly even willing to grow on top of cyano infestation. This pretty favia is going to move up into the reef. I don't know why it is down in the prop section. Red Ring zoanthids, growing alongside a pink Lavendar Frilly mushroom. Acropora sp. This is a fast growing coral that I pictured recently encrusting an Acropora millepora (note the encrusted branch at bottom center). This coral is growing out beautifully, including the branch to the left that decided to rejoin the main colony. The A. millepora I was referencing a second ago. The huge toadstool leather has outgrown the lens of the top down box. And a final Reef Shot of the BTAs.

10/22/2006, 09:28 PM	#547
dez_2121 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: south holland il Posts: 405	ok i'm about to go from fish geek to comp nerd cause i can't figure out why i can't see your sight or your pics thanks for the link IT CAME OUT FINE!!!! go figure huh dez __________________ time to upgrade!!!!!!! Current Tank Info: 125 gal in wall, softy tank about to upgrade to stixs lol, 6* 80w ATI T5, reef oct 2000 skimmer,30gal sump all connected to 55gal planted tank

10/23/2006, 04:09 AM	#550
Snakebyt Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Lubbock Tx Posts: 2,141	great pics Marc... nice diversity in your tank