Eliminating potential points of failure/crash on my current setup

[Radioheadx14]

I want to get a discussion about fail safes and reliable equipment going to prevent unforeseen failures. And feel free to share preventable failure experiences and the advice to prevent.

I bought a condo in March, and moved/upgraded to a 40g breeder with a large sump (Eshopps Gen 3 R200). I am almost done finalizing everything but I want to eliminate any potential failures that can lead to a crash. With my job, I take occasional work trips anywhere from 2-5 days at a time so I would like a piece of mind while I am away since my wife doesn't want to be bothered with the tank beyond dumping pre-measured cups of food. In my years of reefing I have never really had a major crash, other than fish getting ich the day before a 2 week long trip...

With that being said, I hope to have this set up for close to 5-8 year before its time to upgrade to a larger house, and larger tank. My plan is to pack it full of acro colonies and then when I do upgrade several years down the line, my bigger tank wont look so empty.

Right now my set up is:

• 40g breeder w/ glass holes 700 overflow & return
• Eshopps gen 3 R200 sump (around 20g of water)
• Hamilton Cebu Sun - 250w Radium + x4 39w T5
• Sicce 2.0 return pump (quiet one as a back up)
• Tunze osmolator ATO (back up pump on hand as well)
• MP40qd and MP10qd - echotech batter back up connected to MP40
• Old Aquacontroller 3 (new temp probe)
• x2 150w eheim jager heaters (each controlled via its own program)
• 2 part doing via BRS dosers
• RO/DI (TDS monitored for each batch to ensure 0)

Right now I am growing out some frags in my sump. They are pieces that broke off in the move, but are on the small side right now to sell. Once those are gone, I will be changing the sump to accommodate either:
Bubble Magus Curve 5 + Chaeto fuge, or
Bubble Magus Curve 5 + cryptic LR fuge

Do you see anything with my setup that could be a point of failure and should be upgraded, and is there something I should be doing/using that I am not using? I have no problem spending money on something if its truly worth the price and have no problem spending money to buy quality, but at the same time, I am very practical and don't look to waste money if its not needed. (see BM skimmer as opposed to a $600 skimmer).

[Greybeard]

Failure is in the details. I don't see anything that jumps out at me as a likely point of failure, but as an automation developer, I can assure you... everything fails eventually.

A few things you might consider:

Some sort of alert system that sends an email when sump level rises or falls, temp, pH, or Alk swings out of range... that sort of thing. Yeah, you're gonna pay for it, but knowledge is power.

Make certain that your sump can handle the volume of water that drains out of the main tank when the return pump is off. If you're relying on valves to prevent water reversing flow, that's a common point of failure.

The reverse is also something to look at. If your _entire_ overflow system somehow becomes clogged (picture someone dropping a towel in the tank), is the return pump going to overflow the display tank before it empties the pump compartment of your sump.

ATO systems make the previous concern even more important. Blocked overflow, pump empties return compartment, ATO will happily refill... that's what it's supposed to do. Make sure that ATO reservoir capacity is limited, or duration of ATO pump is limited, to prevent flooding.

[Radioheadx14]

Good points. My sump is rated for a 125-225g tank, so when I shut off the return, the level rises maybe an inch, so there is no issue there. As for the reverse, the extremely small return reservoir will prevent too much from being pumped to the tank. My water line is maybe 2" below the brackey, so I might be okay there... nothing catastrophic. I will limit my ATO to a 5.5g tank. I think the Tunze osmolator has a timed fill too, where it will shut off if it runs too long, however, I am not sure how soon it kicks back on.

I remember several years ago trying to get the AC3 connected via the web and it was such a PITA that I gave up on it. This is one of the features I was looking at with a new controller, but I am having a hard time justifying the cost as I am not looking to use a controller to control pumps, dimmers, etc. While the Apex looks nice, it still needs a wifi adapter, which I have one, but the added adapters are not super reliable. Still considering. Maybe I will see decent sales now that the new apex will be launching in the future.

[Reef Frog]

I don't think the Tunze will come back on after the emergency electronics program goes off. I think you'd need to reset it. I'd put a piece of tape or other marking on the sump and ask the wife to look at it and report back to you if the level is dropping. A reset or filling by hand until you return shouldn't be a big deal.

The best defense is to have a live reliable human who gives a darn around who can spot the major things. Temp, water level, leaks, dead fish, gasping fish, water flow. It sounds like your wife is around when you're not so I'd try to recruit her. Make it easy.

But it sounds like you have the basics well covered. Is an extended power outage a real possibility?

[Radioheadx14]

My brother live near by and he is a reefer too so when my wife and I go on vacation, he will be in charge and if something goes bad while im away ill have him fome by if my wife isnt up to it.

Ohio doesnt get many super long outages. several years ago hurricane ike knocked my power out for 5 days. If something like this were to occur again, i might go get my parents generator. I plan on getting one at some point but right now, its near the bottom of my 'to buy' list. Newly married and upgraded from an apartment to a condo with x3 more space requires lots of money to be spent! One day ill buy a honda generator tho.

[ca1ore]

'Unforeseen' failures are just that, unforeseen. Therefore difficult to mitigate for. Lots of potential problems that are easily anticipated though. A quick perusal of the tank crash threads surfaces a few likely suspects, including power failures, ATO run amok, heater malfunctions and overdosing. Redundancy can reduce the likelihood of most of these to negligible levels. But there's always the thing you don't plan for. What if the boiler in your house fails while you are on holiday in January. Most heating systems are sized to maintain tank temperature above a normal range of room temp, but not if that temps tops to 40 degrees. Guess what, tank implodes.

[slief]

For me, my controller is the biggest part of my failsafe system and has saved from a few disasters over the years. It acts as an early warning system and keeps me aware of the health of my system. I travel a lot for business and wouldn't run a tank like mine without a good controller.

Rather than writing a thesis here on the role my controller plays in my system as far as failsafes and how it provides peace of mind while preventing potential disasters, I will leave this here as it's much easier.

I was a presenter at the MACNA 2015 Apex user group. This is a PDF copy of my power point presentation including all my slide notes. My presentation was on focused on the use of failsafes. Due to the size of this file, I can't add it as an attachment here so I have it uploaded to my Dropbox. Sorry it's black and white. I should probably update the file to color but it is what it is. Hope this helps.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wloqaelxte...ation.pdf?dl=0

[ca1ore]

Controller = single point of failure. I use an apex, though for convenience more than reliability. Have had it fail on a couple of occasions that would have been a problem if I'd been out of town at the time. I think it can catch some problems, but also introduce some potentially new ones. IMO it's a 'push' on net reliability.

[Radioheadx14]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Controller = single point of failure. I use an apex, though for convenience more than reliability. Have had it fail on a couple of occasions that would have been a problem if I'd been out of town at the time. I think it can catch some problems, but also introduce some potentially new ones. IMO it's a 'push' on net reliability.

I agree. thankfully my AC3 hasnt failed me yet! I guess its only a matter of time since it is getting up there in age though. I wouldn't run a tank without one, but i have tried to plan for things going wrong. Like my heaters, I tried to program the jager thermostat for a degree or two above what the controller has it set for... so if the controller sticks one or both of the heaters on, it wont raise the temp too much. Also I opted for 2 smaller heaters rather than one large heater, again, if one fails, the other is there to keep things from going to the pooper.

Would someone that has used both the Apex and the older aquacontrollers like the AC3 pro state whether one is more reliable than the other?

[hotdogmj71]

Originally Posted by Radioheadx14

. Also I opted for 2 smaller heaters rather than one large heater, again, if one fails, the other is there to keep things from going to the pooper.

I had 2 titanium heaters controlled by RKL. One apparently quit in early & the other had enough power to hold the temp. Then the 2nd quit this spring while the outside temps were nice. No idea how long the overnight temps were hitting 72 until we came in around 2am & I happened to glance at the thermometer.

So what good are 2 heaters if you cannot tell when they are working? My replacements have a digital readout on the power cord.

[Bent]

I posted this a while back, might be of some use:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...pment+failures

[Radioheadx14]

Originally Posted by hotdogmj71

I had 2 titanium heaters controlled by RKL. One apparently quit in early & the other had enough power to hold the temp. Then the 2nd quit this spring while the outside temps were nice. No idea how long the overnight temps were hitting 72 until we came in around 2am & I happened to glance at the thermometer.

So what good are 2 heaters if you cannot tell when they are working? My replacements have a digital readout on the power cord.

Eheim Jagers have a orange light when they are in operation (actively heating). I have never had one fail.

[JB NY]

Here is how I go about it. Make a plan for what happens when something fails. I know it sound like the same thing, but it's not. What is the plan for when the main pump fails? What is the plan for when a tank over flows? What is the plan when the lights stick on? All these things will someday happen. Design the system for how it reacts to what will happen and you are on your way to minimizing your risks.