Rebuild and recovery of a dead tank

[jason2459]

I'm still loving the skimmer. I'm glad I got the quick change head but also really happy I can remove the entire top with the flange thumbscrews to get a really good cleaning done. I'll probably do that about once a month. Get a good wipe under the flange. Also super happy to have the neck cleaner. I'll probably keep up with removing the collection cup at the quick change every couple weeks. So, I guess kind of alternate between removing via quick change and flange.

I cleaned out my skimmer last night. Been just over a week and not quite 2 weeks since last cleaning. And this is like the ultimate foaming beast. I'm still getting about 6 cups per day

And thick

Like upside down Dairy Queen Blizzard thick





And this morning.

[biecacka]

That skimmer is a horse. I secretly want one..... I don't get hat production from mine, but I'm not feeding as much as you yet either so I'm sure that has something to do with it. But man, that thing pulls out some sludge!!!!

Corey

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by biecacka

That skimmer is a horse. I secretly want one..... I don't get hat production from mine, but I'm not feeding as much as you yet either so I'm sure that has something to do with it. But man, that thing pulls out some sludge!!!!

Corey

It's far exceeded all expectations. I do feed a lot which helps. The SRO3000 came close but it was a wetter skimmate and much more inconsistent.

One other maintenance thing I do with the skimmer so far that seems to help is I get about 3/4's of a cup of rodi water, put in microwave for 2 minutes so its boiling rapidly, and the shove the skimmers air intake tube in it allowing it to suck it all up. I've been doing that about once a week or stretched out a few days longer. Seems to help.

Along with feeding a lot I also think the carbon dosing helpsb drive up how much it skims as its skimming out excess bacteria too which is perfect as its exporting out what the bacteria has consumed.

[biecacka]

Yeah my load isn't that much yet. I have 25 or so fish in my 240. Most in at 3-4 inch range and feed them 2-3 times a day. But like you I run an ATS and dose carbon. Hope as I add more fish and food it'll continue to produce skim. I will tinker and get it more thick/dry once my load gets up there.
There is no doubt your skimmer is pulling out some crud though.

Corey

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by jason2459

Here's that gorgonian looking much better


[/IMG]

That gorgonian has been extending its polyps like crazy and looks awesome. Growing some too. Though some may think its drab or boring as its a dull brown. I love it. I'd like to get some more gorgonians.

[bif24701]

Originally Posted by jason2459

I finally got around to getting the swabbie installed. The wiper just fit in there perfectly. I did have to trim the blade just slightly as there is a little edge on the bottom that I cut to get just above it and even along the entire neck.




The original avast swabbie lid and the motor mounted right on top with nylon screws.


You can buy just the motor and in the instructions you glue it to your existing lid after drilling a center hole for the shaft to go through. I had Jeff drill that center hole for me from the beginning. I don't want to glue the motor to the top in case I don't like it.

So out came the unibit I already had to get a pilot going and then used bits in the 1/4" 20 tpi course tap set.





There is a rubber gasket that goes between





All ready to go


And gets the entire neck to the lip on the quick change fitting



And here we go

Love my swabbie! Best 114$ I have spent on the tank


Aaron

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by bif24701

Love my swabbie! Best 114$ I have spent on the tank


Aaron

Same here. I've used that same one on three different skimmers now.

[jason2459]

One of my KP Aquatics common starfish

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by jason2459

One of my KP Aquatics common starfish

Here's my other one trying to make it across the sand. Sometimes the flow skips them across like a hover craft.

[biecacka]

Good looking starfish Jason!!

Corey

[jason2459]

Thanks. I'm hoping they last a long time. Never know with some starfish.

[biecacka]

I agree!!! Where did you get them from? I want some so bad, but I know they don't all do well in captivity and so I refrain from buying most of them.

Corey

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by biecacka

I agree!!! Where did you get them from? I want some so bad, but I know they don't all do well in captivity and so I refrain from buying most of them.

Corey

I got them from KP Aquatics. They are listed as common starfish. There's almost always a wait list. I signed up to be notified when in stock and as soon as I got the email I bought them before someone else did.
http://www.kpaquatics.com/product-category/starfish/


I first found out about them from this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2460978

[jason2459]

I took a bunch of pictures other day of that red goniopora and my phone animated them. You can see it gets a lot of flow which is produced by a xf250 gyre on the complete opposite side of the tank.
https://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/57f30e94...003_205344.gif

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by jason2459

I'd say there's been some growth

About 9 months I think

First getting it


Now

That was from Aug 13th! I just noticed the growth in just over a month there.

[jason2459]

I just posted this in another thread and its worth reposting

Originally Posted by jason2459

I would also suggest a CACFI along with GFCI

CAFCI will help protect your house from fire
GFCI will help protect you from electrocution






And a good surge protector will help protect your equipment.

Individual one shown above. Tripplite makes some good ones.

Plus a whole home. None last forever and will need replaced eventually based on how many surges and intensity of surges they've been hit by. Surges can come from outside your home, not just lightening strikes, and from inside the home.

Eaton Ultra and SquareD hepd80 are a couple good whole home surge protectors.



Plus having more then one circuit with life support spread across them. I have two additional circuits then what's pictured above to my main tank on the first floor with GFCI at the receptacles so its easier to reset them if tripped. Then the two shown in the picture above go to my basement sump with the GFCI at the breaker. Along with being a CAFCI. There are also AFCI breakers but don't protect against as many arc faults as a CAFCI.

And don't get confused by combination AFCI (CAFCI). That doesn't mean it combines GFCI with it. The packaging has to specify GFCI as well to support both CAFCI and GFCI. Sometimes called dual.

Originally Posted by jason2459

Here's some visuals




And CAFCI protects against both of these where AFCI only parallel

[jason2459]

Two amphipods building a burrow with sump detritus.

https://youtu.be/-lI60-Q2iSA

[jason2459]

Just snapped this pic for another thread. Figured I'd save it here too. I still need to get better wire management.




I will be trying out 24/7 on the ATS LEDs for the first time. See what its like in two weeks. I just cleaned it off last night.

[jason2459]

Getting to be heater season. I haven't put my heaters in the sump or setup the Ranco controllers since moving to the new sump location.

Before I would put my heaters plugged into my Ranco and the Ranco plugged into an outlet controlled by the Apex. The Apex I liked controlling the temp and use the seasonal chart for it as the Apex keeps the temp in a much tighter range in the tenths of a degree. The Ranco would be a failsafe and set at a higher temp.

Well, my 10amp outlets are all taken up and I have 2 500 watts titanium heaters now(used to be two 300watts) which each draw around 4.5 amps. The other outlets on the EB8 are 5amps each.



That's either a fire hazard waiting to happen or a breaker pop at any moment.

So, I pulled out my spare Ranco (I've got like 2 or more of everything) and now one heater is plugged into one Ranco plugged into one outlet on one EB8 power bar and the other heater plugged into another Ranco plugged into another outlet on a different EB8.

Ranco_6_2
Fallback ON
Set OFF
If Outlet vHeaterOn = ON Then ON
If Tmpx9 > RT+5.0 Then OFF
If BMTemp > RT+5.0 Then OFF
If DTTemp > RT+5.0 Then OFF

Ranco_7_2
Fallback ON
Set OFF
If Outlet vHeaterOn = ON Then ON
If Tmpx9 > RT+5.0 Then OFF
If BMTemp > RT+5.0 Then OFF
If DTTemp > RT+5.0 Then OFF


vHeaterOn
Set OFF
If DTTemp < RT+2.0 Then ON
If BMTemp < RT+1.0 Then ON

[bif24701]

I use one 800 watt on a single relay socket on my EB8. Love how well it keeps the temperature stable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jason2459]

The Apex does a great job at temp control.

I like the redundancy of multiple heaters if one fails.

[jason2459]

1. Looks like I'll be getting a Turbo's Aquatic Rev4 L8 soon. I still have to pay for it so that will hurt but they are so worth it. Bud constantly tries to think of ways to make it better. The Rev3 L3 has been awesome but for the amount of food I feed I want to get a bigger screen otherwise I'd stick with the L3. I'm excited.

2. My flame angel and clowns have been having a little territorial dispute recently. First one I've had in my tank in a long time. Which surprises me considering how many fish I have and of the same species.

So, my female clown switches between hovering over top of it all and under in the cave chasing the flame angel away or at least trying. The male is constantly darting from one anemone to the other and darts out and right back in from undercover when he sees the flame.

[jason2459]

I got a new favorite scraper and really only for glass tanks. I've been a big fan of the Tunze care magnet but the inside doesn't float so I had to rig up the bobber to easily retrieve it. Also the blades dull quickly which they aren't sharp in the first place and 3 blades are like $9. So, I end up getting some build up on the glass the tunze can't get so I go in with a razor.

I found the answer. The algae free easy blade attachment. It's basically what PaulB came up with and shown in his book that uses razors epoxied to a mag float.

This uses a wider blade and you just glue it to a mag float of some kind.







Seems like its been around a while but harder to find. Algae Free I'm sure would rather you purchase their newer plus mag models. Which already has a blade attachment which are like the tunze's and aren't sharp either. Plus their replacement blades are like $10 for only 2.

The easy blade replacements can be found for like $8 for 10 of them and they are actual blades.

[biecacka]

Good idea for a glass tank. Have you received your new ATS yet?

Corey

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by biecacka

Good idea for a glass tank. Have you received your new ATS yet?

Corey

Close but not yet. The wait I know will be worth it so patiently waiting.