Cali Kid Corals

Rygh's 250 gallon - Rev 3

Finished new 6 stage RODI, with no more leaks (for now)
3 input stages - sediment / carbon / activated carbon
then usual RODI.
3 output stages - cation / anion / mixed
Float switch, with secondary valve to cut off main water when full.
Also added TDS meter, after RODI and after final output.
Also added a pressure guage just before RODI.
Also changed the water line point to before the main house pressure regulator.
So about 60 PSI now.

Extra wires and tubing are for salt water exchange.

Still to do someday maybe: Put it outside, in a small plastic cabinet on wall.
IMG_3135.jpg
 
fishy408 said:
All the automation...do you think it's worth it?

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Yes.
I procrastinate, and hate water changes, so it is really the only way.

Plus, it is now an integral part of my quarantine system.
Salt water out of my DT goes into QT, which overflows to drain.
So my QT continually gets fairly large water changes.

It just means I MUST have monitoring for everything automated.
I am thinking a separate controller, for monitoring only, with sensors in DT not sump, might make sense.
Key : Salinity, Temp, PH, overflow water level, sump water level.
 
Even if the number you get with the probe is not what you think it should be, you would have noticed an issue when that number dropped by a few points.

Do you have an alert on the ATO so that if it takes a long time to fill up, you get an alert?


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Vhuang168 said:
Even if the number you get with the probe is not what you think it should be, you would have noticed an issue when that number dropped by a few points.

Do you have an alert on the ATO so that if it takes a long time to fill up, you get an alert?


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The salinity numbers did drop, but I do not check all that often, and had the alert off.
With the alert on, I get too many messages when the measurement goes wonky.
(It is not the probe, I tried replacing that, and zero difference)

Is there a way in Apex to have an alert on ATO-On > some hours per day??
I did not see any easy way to do that.
 
Vhuang168 said:
You are using a DOS as an ATO?
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Yes.
Any reason not to?
I cannot use a simple cheap ATO pump, since my fresh water reservoir is outside and tubing goes way up and down.
I guess I could use a diaphragm pump, but I generally dislike those.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Sounds like you shouldn't have disconnected the salinity probe then.
Click to expand...
Not disconnected. Just flaky, so I turned off the alarm. Really no choice.

What I SHOULD do is get a better salinity monitor.
I have had 2 relay ports die now also, so I am less than thrilled with Apex.

Perhaps time to buy a GHL Profilux 4?
 
What did you have on those relay ports? I found that putting heaters on controller ports if the heaters are anywhere larger than 300W is a recipe for disaster. Even though they technically are rated for the current, that high load that is usually on for large amounts of time will invariably cause some level of arcing which ends up melting the plastic plug.
 
rygh said:
Not disconnected. Just flaky, so I turned off the alarm. Really no choice.

What I SHOULD do is get a better salinity monitor.
I have had 2 relay ports die now also, so I am less than thrilled with Apex.

Perhaps time to buy a GHL Profilux 4?
Click to expand...


Flaky doesn't exactly describe the issue. Conductivity probes are very sensitive. Many thing will affect it's reading.

Did you start a support ticket?

Send the energy bar in. Can be repaired if not under warranty.


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Vhuang168 said:
Flaky doesn't exactly describe the issue. Conductivity probes are very sensitive. Many thing will affect it's reading.

Did you start a support ticket?

Send the energy bar in. Can be repaired if not under warranty.


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I did go on the forums, but I did not start a ticket. I could try that.
I have more details and even a log on previous pages in my thread, which is why I simply said Flaky here.
Basically - it shifts by large values at times. Like 35 -> 32.
I can clean it, even with vinegar, reboot, check connections, and it stays shifted for days.
Then randomly, days later, it will shift back.
I can recalibrate, but then when it shifts back it will be off the other way.
My wild guess would be crud + moisture in the op amp circuit. As the moisture comes and goes, it changes.
I could clean it, or possibly send it in, but logistics of shutting things down are an issue.

Interesting about getting energy bar fixed. Good to know they will do that.
But same problem - shutting things down.
I could also simply buy a new one.
It was the solid state ports, so I was thinking of switching to EB4.

It has long since gone out of warranty.
And honestly thinking of the age and all the salt water around it, I can't really complain too much about
it eventually having issues.
 
sfsuphysics said:
What did you have on those relay ports? I found that putting heaters on controller ports if the heaters are anywhere larger than 300W is a recipe for disaster. Even though they technically are rated for the current, that high load that is usually on for large amounts of time will invariably cause some level of arcing which ends up melting the plastic plug.
Click to expand...
Interesting.
I was careful with the solid state ports and load, but not with the larger ones.
Yes, I have 300W heaters on them.
I might have killed the solid state relay with a small LED light. Low current, but power supplies have high inrush.
 
rygh said:
I did go on the forums, but I did not start a ticket. I could try that.
I have more details and even a log on previous pages in my thread, which is why I simply said Flaky here.
Basically - it shifts by large values at times. Like 35 -> 32.
I can clean it, even with vinegar, reboot, check connections, and it stays shifted for days.
Then randomly, days later, it will shift back.
I can recalibrate, but then when it shifts back it will be off the other way.
My wild guess would be crud + moisture in the op amp circuit. As the moisture comes and goes, it changes.
I could clean it, or possibly send it in, but logistics of shutting things down are an issue.

Interesting about getting energy bar fixed. Good to know they will do that.
But same problem - shutting things down.
I could also simply buy a new one.
It was the solid state ports, so I was thinking of switching to EB4.

It has long since gone out of warranty.
And honestly thinking of the age and all the salt water around it, I can't really complain too much about
it eventually having issues.
Click to expand...





Is the shift gradual or a sudden drop/rise?


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So I put quite a few raffle tickets in the Apex box today at the swap.
I will let fate decide which controller to get.
:)

Although my leaning now - get both.
The redundancy is worth a lot.
I have so much invested in my tank, partly money, but also I really do care about the fish.

Use Apex as controller, in garage with sump. Replace/fix powerbar. Maybe upgrade to newer version.
Use GHL for measurement, in family room with display tank. Also controls powerheads and maybe an extra heater.
 
So I just found two Aptasia in my sump....
Not normally a big deal, but after spending months sterilizing everything to get rid of Majanos, I am pretty depressed about that.
:mad::(:(:(

Took out the rock and bleached them with extreme prejudice.
But how the heck did they survive??
And if there are Aptasia, are there Majanos???

Must have been on some frag that I QT'd somehow.
They were right next to some leather coral, perhaps stuck to that..
So bummed....
 
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