rygh
Guest
The controller stopped working. No display, so maybe a power supply issue or something.
Rygh's 250 gallon - Rev 3
- Thread starter rygh
- Start date
Vhuang168
Guest
That sucks. I'm having an issue where the RD3 will pop a GFCI when turned on. They advised me that there is probably nothing wrong with it and that the pumps can cause GFCIs to pop Sue to voltage fluctuations.
Told me to plug it straight to a non GFCI protected outlet. If it is a short, the panel breaker will pop.
I have 2 other RD3s running that do not pop the GFCI.
So I'm not sure if I want to try with only the panel breaker as my only safeguard. I guess it I don't stick my hand in the water I would be safe enough.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
rygh
Guest
Mine is on a GFCI. (And not plugged into Apex)
It did not trip.
That explanation makes no sense to me.
The old stray-voltage thing was for AC pumps and powerheads.
I am sure that pump controller has a simple AC->DC power supply inside, to some sort of bulk capacitor,
and then on to the motor-drivers.
As such, anything the does pump should be very well decoupled from the AC power.
Unless they did something dumb with earth-grounding I guess.
That said, I am no expert on motor-drivers. That is one of those things that seems easy at first,
but ends up being a bit of black-art. Dealing with large inductors is no fun.
jorahx4
Guest
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Yeah that "voltage fluctuation" excuse is whack. yeah ac power fluctuates but its the same fluctuation from hot to neutral which is what it reads. Only if there was some component that charges up over a non negligible amount of time would it trigger a trip, that is what used to happen with older magnet ballasts all the time, the caps in them would charge up slowly enough to "hold" power just enough to trip a gfci... at least that was my explanation I came up with to rationalize why they occasionally tripped when the lights went off.
As to the circuit breaker protecting you, nah it wont.. sure if 20 amps flows through you it will trip but you will get quite a jolt, possibly fatal if that happens. More likely what happens is the pump leaks electricity into the tank, which trips the gfci, but the current doesnt rush to ground so it wont trip your breaker.
A way to check is run the pump dry, if you can to see if it still trips then dunk it into the tank, if it trips there is something broken about the pump.
As to the circuit breaker protecting you, nah it wont.. sure if 20 amps flows through you it will trip but you will get quite a jolt, possibly fatal if that happens. More likely what happens is the pump leaks electricity into the tank, which trips the gfci, but the current doesnt rush to ground so it wont trip your breaker.
A way to check is run the pump dry, if you can to see if it still trips then dunk it into the tank, if it trips there is something broken about the pump.
rygh
Guest
So another Majano, and about 5 Aptasia.
At least I think so. They are pretty similar when tiny.
Somehow both got through the bleach.
Probably missed a rock, or were in some coral crevice.
So what to do ?????
Easy enough to still kill manually, but for how long.....
My leaning right now:
1) Make the fragtank/fuge dark and dead.
I have a separate QT already, and rarely get new fish these days.
I can put the good lights on that, and make it my frag tank / QT.
If the fuge is dark, nothing should really grow there.
That means also giving up on the idea of seagrass, but I was rethinking that anyway.
Now that parameters are stable, I may turn off algae scrubber, add a ton of extra live rock,
and bump up carbon dosing.
Bonus - it means less maintenance effort. Always a good thing.
2) Get a matted filefish for the main tank.
I had one before, and it did munch on majanos and aptasia.
Not enough to stop the infestation, but enough for a few here and there.
It may mean no more Zoas, but I can live with that.
At least I think so. They are pretty similar when tiny.
Somehow both got through the bleach.
Probably missed a rock, or were in some coral crevice.
So what to do ?????
Easy enough to still kill manually, but for how long.....
My leaning right now:
1) Make the fragtank/fuge dark and dead.
I have a separate QT already, and rarely get new fish these days.
I can put the good lights on that, and make it my frag tank / QT.
If the fuge is dark, nothing should really grow there.
That means also giving up on the idea of seagrass, but I was rethinking that anyway.
Now that parameters are stable, I may turn off algae scrubber, add a ton of extra live rock,
and bump up carbon dosing.
Bonus - it means less maintenance effort. Always a good thing.
2) Get a matted filefish for the main tank.
I had one before, and it did munch on majanos and aptasia.
Not enough to stop the infestation, but enough for a few here and there.
It may mean no more Zoas, but I can live with that.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Don't f* around, remove the rocks with them, chip off the rock with the offending critters or just toss the rock, dry rock is going to be cheaper in the long run than all the crap you pay for trying to remove them perpetually into the future. As to the "make it dark" yeah that don't work with aiptasia, they simply turn translucent/white don't care about photosythesis as long as they can capture food.
that said, think I want to take a closer look at my curing vat rock.
rygh
Guest
For "what to do ???" I was more asking about long term.
Rocks that are not covered in coral are easy, yes.
I usually remove, wash with hose + bleach + acid rinse with extreme prejudice.
Good point about make it dark not really fixing the problem.
Hmmm....
grizfyrfyter
Guest
I have an aptasia eating file fish if you want him. He ate all my aptasia and started eating corals. Luckily they are easy to catch, he lives in my fuge now and is eating mysis shrimp.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Don't reintroduce aiptasia or majano into your tank?
But seriously, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me? Not sure if the pests are living in your tank system somewhere (plumbing, glass, overflow), or if they were on your rocks, or under corals, but deal with it now while you can and the problem is small.I would do this exactly once, after that toss the rock get new base rock or something. After seeing an aiptasia covered rock sit in a vat of diluted bleach for a week and the aiptasia while dead, wasn't like magically melted away from the bleaching agents which worried me, granted it super easily came off the rock, but still.
What corals did it start eating? Zoas? I figure I can tolerate not having zoas. If it started eating LPS I would have more complaints.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
grizfyrfyter
Guest
I caught him eating the mouths from my pink boobies chalice and I've seen him take a few bites from an acro.
rygh
Guest
It ate some orange zoas, but not green ones. It was nice to other corals though.
On the other hand, it had PLENTY of Majanos to eat.
Once they run out of preferred food ... who knows.
Jeez, I always thought it was just softies. If they are known to eat SPS, will steer clear. Guess I’ll try a CBB...again...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
rygh
Guest
I think the idea is that if extended polyps look like a small anemone, they may be nibbled.
rygh
Guest
Some stinker ate my Zoas!
I had a nice group of orange/red zoas going that I bought at CFM.
It was doing well.
Then poof, yesterday there was nothing but a bare frag plug on top.
The sides still have a couple though.
Nothing else but a hungry fish really explains the 1 day total disappearance.
Especially since a few are left down in the crevices, where they are hard to reach.
Dark green zoas are fine though...
Not sure which fish. I have not seen any suspicious behavior.
My "risky" ones are a Bicolor Angel and a Coral Beauty. But who knows.
On the plus side, that fish might be eating Majanos and Aptasia.
I have seen several in my fuge, but only one in the DT, and it was way down in a crevice also.
Hmm.
I had a nice group of orange/red zoas going that I bought at CFM.
It was doing well.
Then poof, yesterday there was nothing but a bare frag plug on top.
The sides still have a couple though.
Nothing else but a hungry fish really explains the 1 day total disappearance.
Especially since a few are left down in the crevices, where they are hard to reach.
Dark green zoas are fine though...
Not sure which fish. I have not seen any suspicious behavior.
My "risky" ones are a Bicolor Angel and a Coral Beauty. But who knows.
On the plus side, that fish might be eating Majanos and Aptasia.
I have seen several in my fuge, but only one in the DT, and it was way down in a crevice also.
Hmm.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Do you by chance have a foxface or other rabbit fish? I had all my zoas from the last frag swap disappear from a holding tray, at first I thought perhaps my water quality was so bad they melted, but I have seen my foxface (as big as he is) kind of wander up into the tray before.
rygh
Guest
Yes, I have a Magnificent Foxface.
Big mature one.
He picks at the rock non stop, so hard to tell.