kimberbee Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 She doesn't like it much. The look she gave me at 5 am the day we left could've melted steel beams! Hard to feed her for an extended period of time. I'd rather bring her along so I can make sure she is okay. Extra treats for her! Pippa's little travel cage Kitty!! 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 Extra treats for her! Kitty!! Styx is such a doll. Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 Arrived home last night to awfully loud water splashing. Turns out something went horribly wrong with this tank. I haven't tested anything yet, and frankly, it wouldn't change anything at this point anyway. The salinity was .038 when I measured it last night, I immediately started to slowly bring the salinity back down. As of 7pm today it is now .027, still high, but almost back where I keep it. Amazingly all the inhabitants seem to still be alive, I've spotted the hermit crab, the coral banded shrimp, the clown and several of the snails all trucking along. Lots of the coral are still very pissed off, but they have certainly perked up as the salt levels decreased. I'm sure over the next week I'll get a better estimate if I've lost anything. It has come to my attention that I need to pick up a peppermint shrimp to deal with the aptasia that have now shown up after the stress of the vacation. Really bad picture, but here is the coral banded being super active today. He was cruising around a lot while I was inspecting everything. 4 Quote Link to comment
Travis Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Oh dang did it evaporate out? How long where you gone? Quote Link to comment
pgrVII Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Arrived home last night to awfully loud water splashing. Turns out something went horribly wrong with this tank. I haven't tested anything yet, and frankly, it wouldn't change anything at this point anyway. The salinity was .038 when I measured it last night, I immediately started to slowly bring the salinity back down. As of 7pm today it is now .027, still high, but almost back where I keep it. Amazingly all the inhabitants seem to still be alive, I've spotted the hermit crab, the coral banded shrimp, the clown and several of the snails all trucking along. Lots of the coral are still very pissed off, but they have certainly perked up as the salt levels decreased. I'm sure over the next week I'll get a better estimate if I've lost anything. It has come to my attention that I need to pick up a peppermint shrimp to deal with the aptasia that have now shown up after the stress of the vacation. Really bad picture, but here is the coral banded being super active today. He was cruising around a lot while I was inspecting everything. Yea he was lol 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 Yea he was lol Hopefully he is out and about like that more often. He is a bit bigger now. More like a nickle rather than a dime. 1 Quote Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Hopefully he is out and about like that more often. He is a bit bigger now. More like a nickle rather than a dime. Oh no. Hope everything made it okay. How long were you gone and why was it so high? evaporation? Reading this makes me nervous about going away for a week I am testing how much water, and salinity I need for top off to make through my vacation. 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 I was gone 10 days and yes, evaporation is the culprit here. My pump/timer didn't work well enough to keep up with the evaporation. I would highly suggest getting an ato for your tank. I had been doing fine with the pump on a timer, but it appears that it died while I was gone, resulting in what you see above. I ended up purchasing the smart ato micro today and will move my hydor ato to this tank. 1 Quote Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 I was gone 10 days and yes, evaporation is the culprit here. My pump/timer didn't work well enough to keep up with the evaporation. I would highly suggest getting an ato for your tank. I had been doing fine with the pump on a timer, but it appears that it died while I was gone, resulting in what you see above. I ended up purchasing the smart ato micro today and will move my hydor ato to this tank. I have the smart ato micro ordered. Still waiting. They apparently haven't come into stock yet, but I should have it before i leave. Was the top off water you used salt or fresh, or diluted mix? 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 I have the smart ato micro ordered. Still waiting. They apparently haven't come into stock yet, but I should have it before i leave. Was the top off water you used salt or fresh, or diluted mix? Should always be RODI, evaporation only removes the water not the salt. So you don't want to add any salt back into the tank with your top up water. Quote Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Should always be RODI, evaporation only removes the water not the salt. So you don't want to add any salt back into the tank with your top up water. Yea I only use RODI, but I sometimes find that salinity drops so I dilute freshwater (RODI) very lightly with salt as well. I think for the vacation, I'll probably not add salt. 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 Yea I only use RODI, but I sometimes find that salinity drops so I dilute freshwater (RODI) very lightly with salt as well. I think for the vacation, I'll probably not add salt. Hmm, what kind of a container do you use for your top off water? Must be smaller if you don't mind putting some salt in it. I try very hard not to contaminate my containers because they are 5 gal buckets. Not much fun if you have to throw the whole thing out Quote Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Hmm, what kind of a container do you use for your top off water? Must be smaller if you don't mind putting some salt in it. I try very hard not to contaminate my containers because they are 5 gal buckets. Not much fun if you have to throw the whole thing out I use a clear plastic 3 gallon container with a cap - similar to the type used for drinking water stations. I pour about a quart out into a smaller container before adding to the tank. It sits outside in my garage so I usually end up microwaving it for 30 secs to warm it up lol 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 I use a clear plastic 3 gallon container with a cap - similar to the type used for drinking water stations. I pour about a quart out into a smaller container before adding to the tank. It sits outside in my garage so I usually end up microwaving it for 30 secs to warm it up lol Haha, thats awesome. Yeah that isn't too bad of a setup. Some day I'm going to invest in a nice looking container for my ato water! Quote Link to comment
Travis Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 I use a 5g jug. Last a good 8 days on my 45g 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 I use a 5g jug. Last a good 8 days on my 45g Works well in your cabinet also! Nice fit, and a good amount of water! Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 I got this one at Walmart for my 4g. It's a 1.5 gal container, and I think it was under $5. They also had a 3 gal one I use on my 10g tank. ATO Bottle by TeenyReef, on Flickr 2 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 I got this one at Walmart for my 4g. It's a 1.5 gal container, and I think it was under $5. They also had a 3 gal one I use on my 10g tank. ATO Bottle by TeenyReef, on Flickr I like this one also. Mine is a menards 5 gal bucket with a screw top lid. I'm fairly sure I've never taken a picture of it. 1 Quote Link to comment
bearwithfish Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 glad to hear that everything seems to be ok after the vacation. 1 Quote Link to comment
Sunstar Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 Ow scary! I built my own ATO using some plastic card as a hanger, a float switch, relay, and small fountain pump. I keep the float in a pill bottle so things don't crawl on it (it was in my display for a while). for a DIY it has saved me a lot of grief. My system is a 2 gallon tank I sit on my desk. lasts most of a week. 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 glad to hear that everything seems to be ok after the vacation. Yeah, me too. Most of the corals are open today. Just a few zoas that are still unhappy. Ow scary! I built my own ATO using some plastic card as a hanger, a float switch, relay, and small fountain pump. I keep the float in a pill bottle so things don't crawl on it (it was in my display for a while). for a DIY it has saved me a lot of grief. My system is a 2 gallon tank I sit on my desk. lasts most of a week. Wow that's awesome. I'm too lazy to build one myself. Hopefully mine comes from Marine Depot soon! I also have a few things coming from Drs Foster and Smith from their health sale. 3 Quote Link to comment
HarryPotter Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 I use a 5g jug. Last a good 8 days on my 45g My house is warm and I use evaporative cooling (fans) so my 45 uses about 1.5 gallons a day! 1 Quote Link to comment
Sunstar Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Wow that's awesome. I'm too lazy to build one myself. Hopefully mine comes from Marine Depot soon! I also have a few things coming from Drs Foster and Smith from their health sale. Fortunately when I built mine I got extra floats, my float switch failed just hte other day, took a while but I realised the issue was the float, and switched it out. The advantage of DIY is you built it so you should know how to fix it. The drawback is, I am always afraid it will explode 1 Quote Link to comment
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