Joel's Tank Journal(s)

[Reef Keeper]

I just learned that Coral Vue / ReefLux Lamps need to be positioned a certain way to get the correct color temperature: Apparently the glass nub has to be postioned in the upright position. I did not know that.... http://coralvue.com/coralvue-se-bulbs/

It is important that SE mogul base lamps are positioned in the correct burn position. Please refer to the drawing and notice the small glass nipple in the center arc tube of the lamp. It is critical, for the correct color temperature to be obtained, that the nipple be positioned in the 12pm location when screwed into the E40 mogul socket. To help align this position you may have to pull the center tab in the mogul socket out to gain some length where the lamps base makes contact with the center metal tab. Make sure that once positioned in the correct angle that the bulb is snug and stable in the socket.

I had to readjust both my mogul sockets to get the bulbs positioned correctly. ...learning something new everyday. Figures, just learned this after deciding to change to the Ushio 20ks instead. I didn't see anything on Ushio's site about their bulbs needing this type of positioning (other than be being in a horizontal position).

I'm already seeing a difference.

 

[Reef Keeper]

NEW LIGHTING SCHEDULE 06/14/11

T5 9:00AM to 12:00AM 3hrs
7:00AM to 12:00PM 5hrs

SVHO 10:00AM to 2:00PM 4hrs
6:00PM to 10:00PM 4hrs

MH 12:00PM to 8:00PM 8hrs
12:15PM to 8:15PM

Luna 09:00PM to 3:00AM 6hrs

Fuge 3:00AM to 8:00AM 5hrs



May as well try to max out these new bulbs for a change. I can already see a change in my kwh usage and a hefty increase in $). Everybody, including me and the corals, are loving the lighting ever since I learned the REEFLUX bulbs weren't positioned correctly; and not providing the accurate color. But. I digress. I received my Ushios a couple of weeks ago, but probably wont put them in till December :santa: . IMO, the REEFLUX is a great bulb for the money. Jeremy's Ponape is showing nice cherry tips right now and every thing else is popping :love:

I think, on this schedule, I won't mind changing out the lighting every 6 months, but I can't see blasting the tank/corals any longer than 8hrs with the halides LMKWYT. H) I think 5 hours for the FUGE should fine too; but not sure.

 

[Apon]

Glad to hear the everythings ok.

 

[Reef Keeper]

Back From Bravaria and Tank is Looking Great

T.R., You were spot on about the awesome food there. Now, you've got me wondering if you've been there?

Cheers :beer: I highly recommend any of the South German style Dunkel Weizens you can get you hands on (sp?)

http://www.beermonthclub.com/styleguides/beerstyleguideales5.htm

 

[Reef Keeper]

Glad to hear the everythings ok.

Thank you.

It's always great coming home and finding all the critters doing well. I had Kris cut back feeding the corals by 50%, and that seemed to make a big difference with the overall cleanliness; and everything did just fine.

On a separate note: I feel the Autobahn is way over rated. 280 is way better, but without the 240 plus KPH drivers were passing us at. Note from Susan: "99.8% were all driving in the right hand lane, and at a slower rate of speed." IMO, it was b/c of all miles of hwy construction going on, but I didn't let that slow me down, as the traffic to Munich Beer Festival has traffic backed up 20 miles from town and traffic was at a dead stop most the those hwy miles. It was so sad seeing a tricked out Black Viper standing still on the Autobahn, and me passing him by w/o any effort at all. :tired: The Northern Black Forest Road was the best roadway by far, very similar to our Mill Valley Muir Woods stretches of hwy, but the speeds were limited to 100KPH with good reason.

Us Skoda - Advantage Turbo Diesel Injected 0

Vs. Them.... Austin Martin - Advantage :love:

Either way, lanes were narrower than 101 and more construction on the A routes than anywhere we've driven in Europe.... :Sp

Thanks for stopping in on my Journal page. :crown:

 

[Reef Keeper]

GORILLA NIPPLES UPDATE

BEFORE

AFTER

Can anybody translate this? It's German....

 

[Reef Keeper]

VERY CLOSE CALL

For some reason my chiller circulation pump, Via Aqua, stopped working; then it got worse. This came to my attention after I noticed that my softies were looking stressed out. Ruling out my water parameters having done a water change the day b4, I started going through the system. I noticed the chiller displayed a temp of 68. Weird, b/c it's set for 77. Also, noticed that the heating indicator on the chiller was flashing. So, I looked in the sump and saw my 300 watt heater indicator was on. I then checked the temperature gauge and it displayed 89.7 F. Wow, so I threw a couple of trays of ice into the sump, but I really needed a bag of ice and the Neighborhood Mart was closed. To make a longer story shorter, I serviced the chiller pump and all is right again. All I can think is that when I did the w/c, something was sucked into the pump that made it stall, or it's reached it's limit of usefulness. Probably the former rather than that latter.

My real concern was that the Hagen heater is connected to the chiller, so the chiller is suppose to tell the heater to go and off and the heater was baking my tank. I picked up a new 100w digital heater from BRS last month for my 38G freshwater tank up stairs, so I wondering if I should run a smaller heater in the sump so that it can't get to that hot again :quest:

Soft corals still seem to be stressed out, but I think they'll come back. I'm running carbon, but I think I'm going to lose my Grape Hammer. When I bought it a few years ago it had 2 heads, now it had 8 but they're looking nearly dead.

I guess I'll be ordering that other Eheim 1262 pump again. Just glad it happen when we got back rather then being away.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

For you Foodies, Bikers, Hikers and Fisher Persons the Mummelsee is the Hottest spot in the Northern Black Forest. It has the best Schwarzwald Kirsch Torte we've we've ever had. The Smoked Trout caught from the Alpinesee Lake on their property was the best I've had and the Vension with Spatzel and Chantrell Mushrooms did not disappoint either. Yummm :love:

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[LeviT]

Google translate says it means Hot Sweeper.... who knows where that going

 

[Reef Keeper]

Google translate says it means Hot Sweeper.... who knows where that going

Thx. H) I guess German women were aprons when they sweep as well as cook.... There is a German book that translates into the "Cook is also the Gardener."

May be appropriate for Mycediums, as they have some nasty sweepers....

Now I'm trying to translate this Da Vinci quote that's in German. Thx for telling me about the Google Translation tool.

This is what Google Translate says:

I believe in is people who are born near good wines much felicity.

Something is lost in the translation, but I think I get it. :quest: Probably, people born near good wine regions are happier.

I also read a quote from Mark Twain in a picture book of the Black Forest which I neglected to write down, but I don't think I'll have much trouble locating it.

Thanks again.


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[Reef Keeper]

After speaking with Sun Light Supply, I feel pretty confident their Eco-Plus 1/4 hp didn't failed me.

The real problem maybe the 400W Theo heater. I pulled it out of the sump a little while ago, and am testing in my mixing container. It was definitely set to 77 degrees, so what I'm still trying to understand is why it shot to 89.7...? The sad part about was this Theo 400w was a replacement fm hagen for a 300W (non Theo ) heater that did the same thing.

I'm wondering if I can run this 150W Finnex in the meantime successfully on a 100g display with 7g fuge and 20g in the sump?

This is our Indian Summer, so the ambient temperature should keep the tank warm until I pick up a jaeger heater (not sure about # of watts this time) , a controller and return pump.... :quest:

Not ready to discuss the losses - lets say apx 10% :Sp

Will report findings to Hagen if the thermostat doesn't turn off in the container: Not sure if they can do anything about this.

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[Coral reefer]

Heaters suck. Run 2 small jaegers on a ranco

 

[Reef Keeper]

Heaters suck. Run 2 small jaegers on a ranco

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

I have a 2nd stage on my chiller I've been running the heater off of. Should I still be looking for a Ranco temp controller. Also, should I get a "single stage" Ranco, and run a twin female adapter off it for each of the heaters? And lastly, two small jaegers- can you suggest wattage? I've heard it best not to use the 3 watts per gallon as this can fry a tank if it doesn't shut off. So, I was thinking 1 1/2 watts so that way it wont bake the tank again. That would make 2 x 100 watt heaters. Not sure why 2 heaters. Could you give me your thought/s on the matter H)

Thanks again Mike

 

[Coral reefer]

I'd think two 75-100 watt heater would be plenty, really even one should be fine. The reason for two smaller heaters is that neither can fry the tank on their own, but you still get plenty of heating power together. single stage ranco is fine for just heating I believe, I'd use that since your chiller control seems like it didn't work.

 

[Reef Keeper]

I'd think two 75-100 watt heater would be plenty, really even one should be fine. The reason for two smaller heaters is that neither can fry the tank on their own, but you still get plenty of heating power together. single stage ranco is fine for just heating I believe, I'd use that since your chiller control seems like it didn't work.

Thank you Mike H) . I get it. I'm in the process of putting together a new equipment list.

The heater was definitely at fault. I ran the Theo 400 @ 77 degrees in 30 gallons of freshwater overnight and it got to 86.2 by morning, and the heat indicator was still on. Also I found the Coralife temp indicator I was running in the sump is under reporting temp by 5 degrees, so it was likely that the tank was hotter than 89.7 and was more likely to have been nearing 94 or 95. In any event, one more reason for me to have been using a controller. Shame on me....

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[Reef Keeper]

Well, the tank is looking respectable, again, considering the baking it took. Quick action saved the day. Finished (hopefully) pruning out some skeletons, and placed some frags too.

All in all, I'm pleased with the corals' resilient abilities to bounce back, but not before taking the green and purple Acans and Hammers.

Received the new 1262 pump and other equipment / goodies earlier, and am now starting to get those project moving along.

Considering plucking down 541.17 or 791.04 for one of these two configs:

Neptune Systems Apex Lite 366.25
Extra 8 Bar 149.25
_____
541.19

Or

Add these features for Salinity, Water on the Floor module

PM2 Mod 84.95
sal/con Sensor 124.95
IO Bix 29.95 (This is for a Waterbug Detector and Float Switch Mgmt)
_____
Grand Total (almost a grand) $791.04 :Sp $)

Do I really need a salinity/conductivity probe, or water detection: I think so.... PLMKWYT TY H)

ALSO, I also need to find out if the 2 Drew's Dosers will operate properly with the Neptune's Apex Lite, as I'd read something about a compatibility concern with the pumps not turning on or off??? I forget. :quest:

 

[sfboarders]

Do I really need a salinity/conductivity probe, or water detection: I think so.... PLMKWYT TY H)

I wouldn't buy it. I had it and ended up selling it. It worked great for 8 months and after that started reading high. Cleaned it and still couldn't calibrate it correctly. Better off checking salinity with a refractometer.

 

[Reef Keeper]

Do I really need a salinity/conductivity probe, or water detection: I think so.... PLMKWYT TY H)

I wouldn't buy it. I had it and ended up selling it. It worked great for 8 months and after that started reading high. Cleaned it and still couldn't calibrate it correctly. Better off checking salinity with a refractometer.

I agree. It's a pain to us the refractometer , but would really like to know if there is a CA /ALK probe for the Neptune Controllers. I liked to see how my system is taking up Randy's 2 part using my Drew's dosing pumps. I'm getting good results with the schedule their on and they seem to balance out well, so I probally don't need those probes either.

I'm trying to find out if I need

the Neptune IO Bix (Box) to run / intergrate a Wet Floor Sensor, and if I could get a better Wet Floor Sensor than the "WaterBug?" I read that some rewiring might be required. So if anyone has the 411 PLMK. :bigsmile:

 

[Reef Keeper]

:love: New Apex Lite controller and pumps arrived, but the extra 8 pack energy bar is on back order, crossing my fingers that it arrives shortly....

Now, I'm just trying t figure out what water sensor I can connect to the I/O Bix box; and purchase the correct Bridge for that will work with AT&T's 2 Wire. I saw a post from Bryan, so I may be able to get my question on the wireless bridge answered on his tank journal page.

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[seminolecpa]

The answer is, I was never able to get a bridge working correctly with AT&T's crappy 2 wire router. I went to a hard wired connection to my router when I had it up.

 

[sfboarders]

I don't think you can update the Apex via wireless. However, I may be wrong but I think it's best to use a cable.