High Tide Aquatics

Biocube 29, The Resurrection

So far, the pH has been relatively consistent from when I started to just before adding the skimmer. I wouldn't classify my house as particularity well sealed, but the room my tank resides is almost constantly occupied by 1 to 4 people. Given the relatively small water volume of my new tank, I'm willing to go the extra mile to make sure my chemistry is as stable as possibly.
 
First stab at organizing my gear. I think I can get away with just 1 EB8. I still need to figure out how to better manage my wire slack.
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I also got my top-off plumbed. Ridged 1/4" RO tubing as a pickup from a bulkhead drilled though the cap. A 90 degree elbow on top feeding to 1/4" silicone air line tubing attached to an aqualifter. All controlled by my apex with signaling from my Tunze Osmo.
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Might wanna keep the aqualifyer above the top off Rez...just in case
Was kind of wondering about that (note the towel :) ). What are the common failure modes of the aqualifter? With the little to no reading I've done, its just an internal bladder with directional check valves, right? So long as the bladder doesn't rupture, it should be a sealed system. Or am I mistaken?
 
Finally received my a160we!
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I got a really great deal for what I thought was a new in box light. When I initially opened the shipping box, I was slightly disappointed. The seals were broken and the box looked a little rough. Then I found a surprise inside.
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But the fun didn't stop there. More hidden messages.
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I contacted the seller and he clarified the back story if this light and why it was such a good deal. Long story short, I didn't read the full item description, but I'm good with it as the warranty is still intact and it looks great.

Back story for those interested.
 
While preforming my weekly water change, I opted to install in-Tank's newest water deflector on my biocube. This required cutting even more material away from the chamber 1 to chamber 2 overflow, but the results are surprisingly good. The wider opening allows for better flow resulting in a slightly lower water level in the display. The way the water is directed also makes for a much quieter flow. Since the director only covers half of the media basket, I can also swap filter floss without removing it. So far, I'm a fan.
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Took a trip to taps plastics today for 1/4" ridged tubing. Using a push fit bulkhead and a 90 degree adapter, I have nice ATO reservoir pickup tube.
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I also picked up 2 x 1 gallon glass canning jars from amazon for kalk. Was using cheap plastic containers, but they started to inexplicably crack and leak.
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Finally getting around to installing my Apex 2016. The printable templates really made mounting a breeze.
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My rat nest of wires is slightly smaller and screw mounting is way better than the Velcro command strips I was using to mount my EB8.
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Finally getting around to installing my Apex 2016. The printable templates really made mounting a breeze.
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My rat nest of wires is slightly smaller and screw mounting is way better than the Velcro command strips I was using to mount my EB8.
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Oooh. I'll have to look for those mounting templates.
 
Got a little tired of holding the flashlight while working in my stand. Found a 2 pack of battery powered stick up lights at Home Depot for ~$10. More than enough light now.
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Since upgrading to the Apex 2016, I decided to install my new PMUP to replace my aqualifter for ATO. Using a 5/8" to 1/4" reducer to 1/4" ridged tube to keep everything upright and held to the bottom of the reservoir.
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At the top, the ridged tube is connected to a 90 degree elbow, a 1/4" check valve, a small length of clear tube so I can see when the air has cleared in the line, then a small valve to slow the flow.
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Looks like the seal between the push fitting and air line tubing was not as tight as I though it was. When trying to setup my kalkwasser container, I found that my aqualifter was pulling in air from the push fitting. I decided to use an airline coupler to bridge my silicon airline and 1/4" RO tubing. This seems to make for a perfect seal on both sides.
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