ReefWreak finally got an upgrade! - Page 4

soulpatch · 05/02/2018, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homer1475

Just for another option, pac sun(kore fifth company) is into CalRx now too. No idea how relaible thier stuff is, but they have a peristaltic pump designed for calrx setups for about $350.

I only know because I was on their site last night looking for software for the kore fifth.

That is a replacement pump for thier unit and not a standalone unless we looked at different items. They have an optical sensor and such built into their units which the pump uses. Their units are still a bit buggy from what I gather.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LQT

Rumor has it that BRS will be carrying a variable speed Kamoer peristaltic pump for CaRx use sometime soon. Also Spectrapure is supposedly working on a variable speed CaRx pump as well (heard that while chatting with Serdar from GEO at RAP and MACNA last year). When I had my CaRx set up, I was fortunate enough to pick up a Watson Marlow 505s variable speed peristaltic pump for just $250 from eBay. I was able to dial it in in 3 ml/min increments using size 25 tubing and it was dead silent.

It's funny as i was put into contact with Serdar from Slief when I was looking at other options of pumps as Slief knew he was working with Spectrapure. He is actually the one who told me to go with the ultra precise pump as it was what they are basing their newer unit off of. They will put in different rollers and remove the water height sensor obviously but it should be pretty similar to current pump. The new rollers will allow for continous duty as opposed to a certain amount of time in a 20 second interval. IE I run for 12 seconds and then off for 8 and so on.

homer1475 · 05/02/2018, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soulpatch

That is a replacement pump for thier unit and not a standalone unless we looked at different items. They have an optical sensor and such built into their units which the pump uses. Their units are still a bit buggy from what I gather.

No no it's a pump specifically designed for CalRx's. It's new.

http://pacific-sun.eu/shop/dosing-st...pro-controler/

soulpatch · 05/02/2018, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by homer1475

No no it's a pump specifically designed for CalRx's. It's new.

http://pacific-sun.eu/shop/dosing-st...pro-controler/

Interesting. I'd be a bit worried that it still has the logic and ports for the sensors and that they didn't totally test it properly to run for seperate unit.

homer1475 · 05/02/2018, 08:07 AM

Just an option and I have no idea how it works. Just saw it on their website last night.

ReefWreak · 05/02/2018, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soulpatch

I'd put the carbondoser on dual stage for the best of both worlds.

As for feed pump look at spectrapure ultra precise ato pump. It is what I use and it is able to be set for various feed amounts... it's awesome with 5 year warranty for like 250.

Aqualifter or such will get you going but using needle valve on effluent is not really precise and clogs over time.

The spectrapure is on the list for sure, they're just known for being excellent and reliable pumps. I'm not sure why, because when people say they're just the same rollers as the Jaebo or Kore dosers with USA packaging, it makes me a little nervous to spend that much, but I do know they have a fantastic reputation.

I'd love to keep the carbondoser and add it to the dual stage, but if I can sell it working for $150, that wouldn't be a bad call, and would offset most of the dual-stage regulator build.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LQT

Rumor has it that BRS will be carrying a variable speed Kamoer peristaltic pump for CaRx use sometime soon. Also Spectrapure is supposedly working on a variable speed CaRx pump as well (heard that while chatting with Serdar from GEO at RAP and MACNA last year). When I had my CaRx set up, I was fortunate enough to pick up a Watson Marlow 505s variable speed peristaltic pump for just $250 from eBay. I was able to dial it in in 3 ml/min increments using size 25 tubing and it was dead silent.

I've been salivating after I read your post from like November on R 2 R about the BRS peristaltic pump, but it still ain't here and MACNA came and went. (speaking of which, where the hell is the Neptune Trident - I know Soul will know more info)

Quote:

Originally Posted by homer1475

Just for another option, pac sun(kore fifth company) is into CalRx now too. No idea how relaible thier stuff is, but they have a peristaltic pump designed for calrx setups for about $350.

I only know because I was on their site last night looking for software for the kore fifth.

Kore fifth has been somewhat reliable, but for $350, that's Cole Parmer Masterflex territory. Would be nice to have something smaller though. I dunno, lots of options to explore. I appreciate everyone's feedback and recommendations!

soulpatch · 05/02/2018, 07:17 PM

Trident has been pushed to q3 fir insiders and q4 fir general purchase at the moment. I suspect 2019 at this rate.

For me personally I'm eyeing up for coralvue monitor more and more. The focustronic is promising but too expensive. Imho anything over 500 is too much for automated testing as it stands now. And with them all being new I wouldn't trust them to dose ar the moment.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Rakie · 05/03/2018, 02:39 AM

That dull spot in the middle of the tank kind of makes me wonder -- Is there a big bar in the middle, or just no light there?

I would still suggest getting the diffusers for the Radions. Maybe moving them both an inch towards the middle as well to get more light where it matters.

ReefWreak · 05/03/2018, 07:24 PM

It's neither. It doesn't look bad in person, the camera exaggerates it, and then having the eggcrate over the tank instead of mesh makes it look even worse. I promise it'll look okay once the tank is a little more developed.

Remember that eggcrate focuses the light straight downward because of it's cube shape, and diffuses a lot of the light above too. When I take the eggcrate down, my room gets significantly darker.

I emailed artfully acrylic 2 weeks ago now... :-/ No product, no response.

Rakie · 05/03/2018, 07:45 PM

I think BRS has a kit made just for all the red sea tanks. Check them out

ReefWreak · 05/03/2018, 07:46 PM

Yeah, they have the customizable tops, so does Red Sea. I already paid for the Artfully Acrylic, so hopefully it shows up... From their sponsor forum on that other forum I've learned not to expect much until it shows up, hopefully with what you've specified.

ReefWreak · 06/20/2018, 06:14 PM

Sorry I haven't updated with anything substantial in quite a while.

Life with the baby (now 1.5 years old!) and work being substantially more demanding have reduced my internet surfing time down to close to zilch, not to mention that it's summer and now I want to start BBQing more and smoking some BBQ meats as well. So there have been a lot of distractions.

But the tank. Tank is doing very well. I went through a phase of 2-3” long green hair algae. I had 15 snails by April, and then before I went away for a week, I added a tigertail cucumber, a conch, and 10 more banded trochus snails. When I came back from vacation, between the feeding every 2-3 days instead of twice daily, and the new snails, all of the algae was gone. It has since dwindled to only to hard algaes (still some of it green) on the rocks.

I’m adding kalk powder every few days in the morning since my calcium demand (hopefully) isn’t that high. The rocks are starting to grow purple coralline on them as a result. Still looks kind of bare, but that’s okay.

The SPS that I do have (Papa smurf, myagi tort, and a nice efflo that I forget what it is), they’re doing well, their colors are rich and deep (probably high nutrients). I just need to get a long-term calcium solution set up. I bought a GEO reactor, but I’ve had nothing but problems with the fittings missing pieces, and replacement parts being the wrong size, so I’m hoping to get a new reactor that is ready to roll this weekend before or after RAP, and be ready to fire that up with the Carbondoser. I built a custom reg, but I need to seal the fittings better, they’re leaking pretty considerably. I’d never build a regulator again. It’s just as expensive as a decent one on ebay, and while it’s huge e-peen, it’s a pain and frustration and you have to measure 3 times and order once, or else you’ll pay $$$ for a bunch of spare fittings that float around forever.

Otherwise, the tons-o-fish I have are very happy, snails are happy, I’m happy watching the tank. The elegance was NOT happy and moved on to greener pastures in the sky. I’m not that surprised because I can’t keep LPS, but it’s a shame because it was a spectacular looking coral. Medium-low indirect flow, medium-low light, and regular feedings weren’t enough.

I hope to see some folks at Reef-A-Palooza!

ReefWreak · 06/20/2018, 06:17 PM

Looks much better with the Artfully Acrylic cover (though you MUST build your own tolerances into the drawing, they cut EXACTLY to size, so if you don't add tolerances, the lid won't fit, ask me how I know....). Much more evenly lit.

Rakie · 06/21/2018, 12:35 AM

Good stuff, glad to see it's coming along well and all the fish are happy

homer1475 · 06/21/2018, 01:48 PM

Looking good so far. Now where are the SPS your known for? I see no coral in that tank.

Yes sometimes life gets in the way, completely understandable. One of the reasons I never had any rug rats.

soulpatch · 06/25/2018, 12:01 PM

In a way I wish I made the venture up to RAP just to bring you a bag of goodies. If you can find time to come down my way I can send you home with a ton of items. Or if you wanna pay for the shipping I can have some frags coming your way to help ya fill yourself out...

Tank is looking good!!!

ReefWreak · 07/09/2018, 08:49 AM

I'm trying to set up a weekend this summer when I'll be around so I can do a PA trip. Stop by Sesame Place, visit some family in New Hope, and stop by soulpatch's house to pick up some corals.

I also spent all of my money on corals this weekend. Went to someone's house and got a few frags, then AquaSD had a great ebay sale Friday, and then WWC had a great sale on Sunday. Once you buy one frag, you gotta keep rolling to justify that $40 shipping charge!

Feels good that I got a few frags that had historically gone for >$100 on their prior auctions for less than that. They also look stunning. Now I just have to keep their color up.

Speaking of keeping their color up, I still need to set up the calcium reactor. I did get the CO2 tank filled Friday AM, and the reactor is full of media. I want to do one more leak test on the DIY regulator (looks pretty spiffy, and should run 3 PSI with super-low bubble rate for daaaaays; Thanks again LQT!).

Also, I went on a fish spree, so lots of new fish. And a few anthias died and/or disappeared. Really bummed out about that since I was hoping that with my feeding regimen they would stay alive. I think that the week I was gone and had someone feeding every other day, with the autofeeder, wasn't enough, or they didn't get the food from the autofeeder, or something, because they all died within a month of that. None of them except the most recent one (who I was hoping would keep staying alive) showed any signs of malnurishment, they were all full and happy until they weren't anymore. The last one was skinny, and kept getting skinnier, despite me seeing her eat at every meal, so I dunno if she got pinched stomach that week, and then never recovered, or what the deal was. It's true, Anthias are hard. Even when you're feeding a lot.

I'll post more pics in the coming days as more frags are coming in. Then it'll be time to sit back and watch it all grow.

LQT · 07/09/2018, 08:54 AM

Nice progress... Looking forward to more pics! Helping you with your regulator build has given me the itch to build another one.

ReefWreak · 07/09/2018, 09:18 AM

Majority of the group:

ReefWreak · 08/07/2018, 09:35 PM

Whew, almost a month, but not quite!

I've been slowly setting up the full stock of equipment. Just setup the Watson Marlow 505du digital peristaltic dosing pump. Super quiet and nice digital interface.

The sps have not been doing well because the alkalinity has been up and down prior to the pump being added (hence what drove me to finally install it). Some of the corals have lost flesh, none dead, but none looking all too good. That's okay though, there's time to grow.

I also added Radion diffusers, and they look spectacular, and I can't explain it, and don't want to say it because of the hype machine, but when the lights are on uv/blue only, the fluorescent coral colors pop like VHO actinics. The rest if the lighting spectrum looks pretty nice and even, and for better or worse, the glimmer lines (and associated minor disco effect) are largely gone.

I'm pretty quiet still online these days, but in checking in on everyone's threads on RC (sorry mixed RtwoR crowd), even your fat thread five.five.six.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

homer1475 · 08/08/2018, 07:34 AM

Looking good!

Loving all the fish. I need to get a few more fish, but not decided on what to get yet.

ReefWreak · 08/10/2018, 09:33 AM

Thanks Homer. I really want to do a time-lapse over an entire day with the Go Pro. I think that would be a really cool 2 minute video and show the fishes in action, as they're quite attractive. Hopefully this weekend I'll have some time.

Rakie · 08/10/2018, 02:02 PM

Yeah nothing beats a good well planned mix of fish. They all act and interact well, don't pick on each other all day, and fill out the tank nicely.

ReefWreak · 08/28/2018, 12:54 PM

Almost a month since the last update.

I've had a lot of up and down with the calcium reactor. I think that the Apex tracking tool, while useful, makes you think that every parameter is the source of your problems. I'm a data person so I'm all too familiar with "lying with statistics", so an alkalinity swing from 7.5-8.5 looks like what you'd think a 6dkh to 11dkh swing would be. So I'm constantly fretting about my alkalinity. Doesn't help that the reactor either overshoots or undershoots, and I don't get bubbles from my bubble counter, I just get a low-pressure stream of small bubbles until I hit a high bubble rate.

My nitrates have also been bumping around the 10-20ppm levels. Salinity is rock solid. Calcium I rarely check, but it's usually 370-400.

But man, I've lost almost every SPS, and two clams. And it comes in waves too. No idea why, no algae, nothing other than they just start to bleach, die, and immediately turn purple with coralline algae. LPS corals seem to be doing just fine.

Fishes are doing well, most of the anthias had died off, but since then, one male and one female remain, and they seem fat and happy. Three happy tangs, three mostly happy wrasses, clown, and angel. Everyone is fat and happy. I see some small croppings of bubble algae here and there, but I do see the tangs pick on them so I'm hoping they're keeping it back.

Tank is as purple as can be. Pretty good for ~4-5 months from bleached rock.

It's just really frustrating for me and my wife to have invested a lot of sweat equity, time, and frankly $$$ into all of these acros, to see almost all of them go down the tube. I've spent a lot of time banging my head against the wall with figuring out this small bubble issue with the regulator. LQT has been really helpful with the regulator questions (though still nobody knows why the small bubble stream), and I do have a new regulator to swap out to see if it makes a difference, but I suspect it won't make a difference.

I also did finally set up the peristaltic pump, and while it is working great (and was super easy to set up), the dang fittings keep leaking. I was smart and placed a plastic tote cover upside down under the pump to catch any leaks, and between that and a piece of paper towel right underneath the fitting, the leak evaporates before it pools anywhere, but it's still annoying, and in a very difficult place to reach (the 20LB CO2 tank takes up a LOT of the space under the tank, making everything very hard to reach).

Overall, I'm still very happy with the fishes, and I'm glad I have some really nice alveopora and neat other LPS, but man, this has not felt good struggling so far with SPS. The only one barely hanging on, is my Pearlberry that looked dead from day 1, until it turned bright lime green, and has since stayed relatively dead looking other than being lime green and not covered in coralline.

I'll do some more water changes, I might even swap the regulator and CO2 tank out too. heck, I could even consider throwing the CarbonDoser on just to see if that helps.

LQT · 08/28/2018, 01:10 PM

Sorry to hear about your CaRx troubles. That stream of bubbles thing has me scratching my head as to what it could be. I wonder if it’s a check valve issue. Perhaps you could install a Fluval bubble counter between your regulator and CaRx to try to get an accurate gauge of what your bubble count should be. I plan on putting one between my regulator and my GEO 612 CaRx as their 1 psi cracking pressure “upgraded” check valve seems to mess with the the stock bubble counter as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Fluval-88g-CO...bubble+counter

Between the regulator and the Fluval bubble counter, I will also install a quality kynar check valve with a Viton diaphragm that has a mere 1/3 psi cracking pressure to protect the regulator and ensure the Fluval bubble counter reads correctly.

https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/it...7541&catid=489

As far as the leaking fittings on your Watson Marlow, make sure you put Teflon paste (I use Oatey Great White paste) over the threads of the 1/4” fpt John Guest quick connect fittings that attach to the 3/16” barb fittings.. If you don’t have any paste, at minimum, use Teflon tape.

ReefWreak · 08/28/2018, 01:27 PM

All good man, thanks again for your help, and thanks to Rakie for all of the encouragement!

I'll add a separate bubble counter and see if that's the issue. I also hear a gas leak somewhere, but have no idea where, so maybe I'll replace my tubing too. I'm not sure if it's the tubing on the calcium reactor itself, or if it's in the hose somewhere that is pierced. Who would ever thing to test each of these components separately before putting them on a tank...

I also did put teflon tape on the GJ to barb fittings, I can't tell if it's leaking from there (which was my first guess, so I taped them and wrenched them down), or if it's leaking from the actual JG fitting (one is leaking, the other is fine) from either the plastic tube being gouged or the fitting just leaking. I probably bought a 6 pack since it costs almost nothing additional, so maybe it's easy enough to just swap the whole assembly out. I'm also interested in trying out that teflon paste.

As always, thanks for your help.

05/02/2018, 08:07 AM	#79
homer1475 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 5,313	Just an option and I have no idea how it works. Just saw it on their website last night. __________________ 80G SCA Build: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2560256 Originally posted by der_wille_zur_macht: "He's just taking his lunch to work"

05/02/2018, 07:17 PM	#81
soulpatch Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Downingtown, PA Posts: 4,017	Trident has been pushed to q3 fir insiders and q4 fir general purchase at the moment. I suspect 2019 at this rate. For me personally I'm eyeing up for coralvue monitor more and more. The focustronic is promising but too expensive. Imho anything over 500 is too much for automated testing as it stands now. And with them all being new I wouldn't trust them to dose ar the moment. Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk __________________ 150 SC tank build: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2550948 Some have bar tabs. I have a coral tab at my LFS. Life goals.

06/21/2018, 01:48 PM	#89
homer1475 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 5,313	Looking good so far. Now where are the SPS your known for? I see no coral in that tank. Yes sometimes life gets in the way, completely understandable. One of the reasons I never had any rug rats. __________________ 80G SCA Build: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2560256 Originally posted by der_wille_zur_macht: "He's just taking his lunch to work"

06/25/2018, 12:01 PM	#90
soulpatch Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Downingtown, PA Posts: 4,017	In a way I wish I made the venture up to RAP just to bring you a bag of goodies. If you can find time to come down my way I can send you home with a ton of items. Or if you wanna pay for the shipping I can have some frags coming your way to help ya fill yourself out... Tank is looking good!!! __________________ 150 SC tank build: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2550948 Some have bar tabs. I have a coral tab at my LFS. Life goals.

07/09/2018, 08:54 AM	#92
LQT Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Fairfield, CT Posts: 1,516	Nice progress... Looking forward to more pics! Helping you with your regulator build has given me the itch to build another one. __________________ - Leon (aka - Water Dog) Deep Blue 57 Edge ATI Acro Garden Build Thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25573384#post25573384 Current Tank Info: DeepBlue 57 Edge

05/03/2018, 02:39 AM	#82
Rakie In Memoriam Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 3,059	That dull spot in the middle of the tank kind of makes me wonder -- Is there a big bar in the middle, or just no light there? I would still suggest getting the diffusers for the Radions. Maybe moving them both an inch towards the middle as well to get more light where it matters.

05/03/2018, 07:24 PM	#83
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	It's neither. It doesn't look bad in person, the camera exaggerates it, and then having the eggcrate over the tank instead of mesh makes it look even worse. I promise it'll look okay once the tank is a little more developed. Remember that eggcrate focuses the light straight downward because of it's cube shape, and diffuses a lot of the light above too. When I take the eggcrate down, my room gets significantly darker. I emailed artfully acrylic 2 weeks ago now... :-/ No product, no response.

05/03/2018, 07:45 PM	#84
Rakie In Memoriam Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 3,059	I think BRS has a kit made just for all the red sea tanks. Check them out

05/03/2018, 07:46 PM	#85
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	Yeah, they have the customizable tops, so does Red Sea. I already paid for the Artfully Acrylic, so hopefully it shows up... From their sponsor forum on that other forum I've learned not to expect much until it shows up, hopefully with what you've specified.

06/20/2018, 06:14 PM	#86
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	Sorry I haven't updated with anything substantial in quite a while. Life with the baby (now 1.5 years old!) and work being substantially more demanding have reduced my internet surfing time down to close to zilch, not to mention that it's summer and now I want to start BBQing more and smoking some BBQ meats as well. So there have been a lot of distractions. But the tank. Tank is doing very well. I went through a phase of 2-3” long green hair algae. I had 15 snails by April, and then before I went away for a week, I added a tigertail cucumber, a conch, and 10 more banded trochus snails. When I came back from vacation, between the feeding every 2-3 days instead of twice daily, and the new snails, all of the algae was gone. It has since dwindled to only to hard algaes (still some of it green) on the rocks. I’m adding kalk powder every few days in the morning since my calcium demand (hopefully) isn’t that high. The rocks are starting to grow purple coralline on them as a result. Still looks kind of bare, but that’s okay. The SPS that I do have (Papa smurf, myagi tort, and a nice efflo that I forget what it is), they’re doing well, their colors are rich and deep (probably high nutrients). I just need to get a long-term calcium solution set up. I bought a GEO reactor, but I’ve had nothing but problems with the fittings missing pieces, and replacement parts being the wrong size, so I’m hoping to get a new reactor that is ready to roll this weekend before or after RAP, and be ready to fire that up with the Carbondoser. I built a custom reg, but I need to seal the fittings better, they’re leaking pretty considerably. I’d never build a regulator again. It’s just as expensive as a decent one on ebay, and while it’s huge e-peen, it’s a pain and frustration and you have to measure 3 times and order once, or else you’ll pay $$$ for a bunch of spare fittings that float around forever. Otherwise, the tons-o-fish I have are very happy, snails are happy, I’m happy watching the tank. The elegance was NOT happy and moved on to greener pastures in the sky. I’m not that surprised because I can’t keep LPS, but it’s a shame because it was a spectacular looking coral. Medium-low indirect flow, medium-low light, and regular feedings weren’t enough. I hope to see some folks at Reef-A-Palooza!

06/20/2018, 06:17 PM	#87
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	Looks much better with the Artfully Acrylic cover (though you MUST build your own tolerances into the drawing, they cut EXACTLY to size, so if you don't add tolerances, the lid won't fit, ask me how I know....). Much more evenly lit.

06/21/2018, 12:35 AM	#88
Rakie In Memoriam Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 3,059	Good stuff, glad to see it's coming along well and all the fish are happy

07/09/2018, 08:49 AM	#91
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	I'm trying to set up a weekend this summer when I'll be around so I can do a PA trip. Stop by Sesame Place, visit some family in New Hope, and stop by soulpatch's house to pick up some corals. I also spent all of my money on corals this weekend. Went to someone's house and got a few frags, then AquaSD had a great ebay sale Friday, and then WWC had a great sale on Sunday. Once you buy one frag, you gotta keep rolling to justify that $40 shipping charge! Feels good that I got a few frags that had historically gone for >$100 on their prior auctions for less than that. They also look stunning. Now I just have to keep their color up. Speaking of keeping their color up, I still need to set up the calcium reactor. I did get the CO2 tank filled Friday AM, and the reactor is full of media. I want to do one more leak test on the DIY regulator (looks pretty spiffy, and should run 3 PSI with super-low bubble rate for daaaaays; Thanks again LQT!). Also, I went on a fish spree, so lots of new fish. And a few anthias died and/or disappeared. Really bummed out about that since I was hoping that with my feeding regimen they would stay alive. I think that the week I was gone and had someone feeding every other day, with the autofeeder, wasn't enough, or they didn't get the food from the autofeeder, or something, because they all died within a month of that. None of them except the most recent one (who I was hoping would keep staying alive) showed any signs of malnurishment, they were all full and happy until they weren't anymore. The last one was skinny, and kept getting skinnier, despite me seeing her eat at every meal, so I dunno if she got pinched stomach that week, and then never recovered, or what the deal was. It's true, Anthias are hard. Even when you're feeding a lot. I'll post more pics in the coming days as more frags are coming in. Then it'll be time to sit back and watch it all grow.

07/09/2018, 09:18 AM	#93
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	Majority of the group:

08/07/2018, 09:35 PM	#94
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	Whew, almost a month, but not quite! I've been slowly setting up the full stock of equipment. Just setup the Watson Marlow 505du digital peristaltic dosing pump. Super quiet and nice digital interface. The sps have not been doing well because the alkalinity has been up and down prior to the pump being added (hence what drove me to finally install it). Some of the corals have lost flesh, none dead, but none looking all too good. That's okay though, there's time to grow. I also added Radion diffusers, and they look spectacular, and I can't explain it, and don't want to say it because of the hype machine, but when the lights are on uv/blue only, the fluorescent coral colors pop like VHO actinics. The rest if the lighting spectrum looks pretty nice and even, and for better or worse, the glimmer lines (and associated minor disco effect) are largely gone. I'm pretty quiet still online these days, but in checking in on everyone's threads on RC (sorry mixed RtwoR crowd), even your fat thread five.five.six. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

08/08/2018, 07:34 AM	#95
homer1475 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 5,313	Looking good! Loving all the fish. I need to get a few more fish, but not decided on what to get yet. __________________ 80G SCA Build: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2560256 Originally posted by der_wille_zur_macht: "He's just taking his lunch to work"

08/10/2018, 09:33 AM	#96
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	Thanks Homer. I really want to do a time-lapse over an entire day with the Go Pro. I think that would be a really cool 2 minute video and show the fishes in action, as they're quite attractive. Hopefully this weekend I'll have some time.

08/10/2018, 02:02 PM	#97
Rakie In Memoriam Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 3,059	Yeah nothing beats a good well planned mix of fish. They all act and interact well, don't pick on each other all day, and fill out the tank nicely.

08/28/2018, 12:54 PM	#98
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	Almost a month since the last update. I've had a lot of up and down with the calcium reactor. I think that the Apex tracking tool, while useful, makes you think that every parameter is the source of your problems. I'm a data person so I'm all too familiar with "lying with statistics", so an alkalinity swing from 7.5-8.5 looks like what you'd think a 6dkh to 11dkh swing would be. So I'm constantly fretting about my alkalinity. Doesn't help that the reactor either overshoots or undershoots, and I don't get bubbles from my bubble counter, I just get a low-pressure stream of small bubbles until I hit a high bubble rate. My nitrates have also been bumping around the 10-20ppm levels. Salinity is rock solid. Calcium I rarely check, but it's usually 370-400. But man, I've lost almost every SPS, and two clams. And it comes in waves too. No idea why, no algae, nothing other than they just start to bleach, die, and immediately turn purple with coralline algae. LPS corals seem to be doing just fine. Fishes are doing well, most of the anthias had died off, but since then, one male and one female remain, and they seem fat and happy. Three happy tangs, three mostly happy wrasses, clown, and angel. Everyone is fat and happy. I see some small croppings of bubble algae here and there, but I do see the tangs pick on them so I'm hoping they're keeping it back. Tank is as purple as can be. Pretty good for ~4-5 months from bleached rock. It's just really frustrating for me and my wife to have invested a lot of sweat equity, time, and frankly $$$ into all of these acros, to see almost all of them go down the tube. I've spent a lot of time banging my head against the wall with figuring out this small bubble issue with the regulator. LQT has been really helpful with the regulator questions (though still nobody knows why the small bubble stream), and I do have a new regulator to swap out to see if it makes a difference, but I suspect it won't make a difference. I also did finally set up the peristaltic pump, and while it is working great (and was super easy to set up), the dang fittings keep leaking. I was smart and placed a plastic tote cover upside down under the pump to catch any leaks, and between that and a piece of paper towel right underneath the fitting, the leak evaporates before it pools anywhere, but it's still annoying, and in a very difficult place to reach (the 20LB CO2 tank takes up a LOT of the space under the tank, making everything very hard to reach). Overall, I'm still very happy with the fishes, and I'm glad I have some really nice alveopora and neat other LPS, but man, this has not felt good struggling so far with SPS. The only one barely hanging on, is my Pearlberry that looked dead from day 1, until it turned bright lime green, and has since stayed relatively dead looking other than being lime green and not covered in coralline. I'll do some more water changes, I might even swap the regulator and CO2 tank out too. heck, I could even consider throwing the CarbonDoser on just to see if that helps.

08/28/2018, 01:10 PM	#99
LQT Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Fairfield, CT Posts: 1,516	Sorry to hear about your CaRx troubles. That stream of bubbles thing has me scratching my head as to what it could be. I wonder if it’s a check valve issue. Perhaps you could install a Fluval bubble counter between your regulator and CaRx to try to get an accurate gauge of what your bubble count should be. I plan on putting one between my regulator and my GEO 612 CaRx as their 1 psi cracking pressure “upgraded” check valve seems to mess with the the stock bubble counter as well. https://www.amazon.com/Fluval-88g-CO...bubble+counter Between the regulator and the Fluval bubble counter, I will also install a quality kynar check valve with a Viton diaphragm that has a mere 1/3 psi cracking pressure to protect the regulator and ensure the Fluval bubble counter reads correctly. https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/it...7541&catid=489 As far as the leaking fittings on your Watson Marlow, make sure you put Teflon paste (I use Oatey Great White paste) over the threads of the 1/4” fpt John Guest quick connect fittings that attach to the 3/16” barb fittings.. If you don’t have any paste, at minimum, use Teflon tape. __________________ - Leon (aka - Water Dog) Deep Blue 57 Edge ATI Acro Garden Build Thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25573384#post25573384 Current Tank Info: DeepBlue 57 Edge Last edited by LQT; 08/28/2018 at 01:20 PM.

08/28/2018, 01:27 PM	#100
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	All good man, thanks again for your help, and thanks to Rakie for all of the encouragement! I'll add a separate bubble counter and see if that's the issue. I also hear a gas leak somewhere, but have no idea where, so maybe I'll replace my tubing too. I'm not sure if it's the tubing on the calcium reactor itself, or if it's in the hose somewhere that is pierced. Who would ever thing to test each of these components separately before putting them on a tank... I also did put teflon tape on the GJ to barb fittings, I can't tell if it's leaking from there (which was my first guess, so I taped them and wrenched them down), or if it's leaking from the actual JG fitting (one is leaking, the other is fine) from either the plastic tube being gouged or the fitting just leaking. I probably bought a 6 pack since it costs almost nothing additional, so maybe it's easy enough to just swap the whole assembly out. I'm also interested in trying out that teflon paste. As always, thanks for your help.