Mark's 150 (NanoBox Retro)

[ChouDawg]

Awesome work on this new build Mark, been following your 40B / 46BF threads for awhile now and just stumbled upon this one. Recognize all the pieces from the two smaller tanks in the new one. Just one question, what kind of black flex tubing is that on your overflow? Looks like the "bilge pump" "pool vacuum" stuff people talk about, curious your thoughts on it and also where you got it.

[markalot]

Awesome work on this new build Mark, been following your 40B / 46BF threads for awhile now and just stumbled upon this one. Recognize all the pieces from the two smaller tanks in the new one. Just one question, what kind of black flex tubing is that on your overflow? Looks like the "bilge pump" "pool vacuum" stuff people talk about, curious your thoughts on it and also where you got it.

 

Thanks, glad you visited.

 

It's called Sump Pump hose and I stumbled on a bag of it at Home Depot. Now that I've fixed all the leaks at the connections it works well, and I like the flexibility, but if I had to do it again, now that I have some PVC plumbing experience, I think I would PVC the entire run.

[slowngreen]

You gonna add a back ground to your tank Mark?

[markalot]

You gonna add a back ground to your tank Mark?

 

We have one, but so far too lazy to stick it on!

[TheKleinReef]

 

 

 

Klein calls it Kat's whateverata.

That I do!

[markalot]

Colors continue to improve.

 

Finally hooked up battery backup to the vortech pumps.

 

Started dosing Kalk with topoff to help raise PH.

 

Cleaned and added another WP25 to the middle back.

 

FTS

 

[MikeTR]

Can't wait till my slimer is that big. That purple stylo looks nice. For some reason they don't like my tank..

[markalot]

Can't wait till my slimer is that big. That purple stylo looks nice. For some reason they don't like my tank..

 

The purple stylo was my first SPS. I visited a store an hour from where I live and told the owner I was just starting to try SPS and he gave me, as in free, a little frag and said I probably would not be able to kill it. It's lived through two hard crashes that killed all other sps and a few softies. Damn thing is indestructible but I do not know the actual heritage of the piece.

 

This was it 2 years ago during my first "crash". It receded a few mm around the base.

 

[DrVENKMAN]

Just read the entire thread again for inspiration; I am going to move over my tank this weekend.

 

Your tank looks great. I am regretting not going larger on my upgrade.

[markalot]

Just read the entire thread again for inspiration; I am going to move over my tank this weekend.

 

Your tank looks great. I am regretting not going larger on my upgrade.

 

There's always next time.

 

Thanks, things are going well so far.

[markalot]

No new pics, but some news.

 

I pulled out my old adjustable peristaltic doser, the one that leaked when on the 46, found and replaced the leaky hose and then hooked it up for topoff on this tank. My plan was to do timed topoff with a fully saturated mixture of Kalk and control the evaporation rate with the fan that's blowing on the sump.

 

So far this has worked well, maybe a little too well. I'm doing 30 seconds of topoff every 15 minutes (Apex is quite nice for this) which is keeping the sump level fairly constant and my PH has now risen to 8.25 max yesterday afternoon and only fell to 7.97 (so far) this morning. That's the highest minimum PH I've had, and I don;t want to overdue it, so I've temporarily removed my co2 scrubber from the skimmer to see if that has any effect. Hopefully the EPA won't come after me. Kalk is MUCH cheaper than that co2 removal media.

 

Pump looks like this with a big ole knob on the top.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Marine-Magic-Aquarium-Dosing-pump-1-1-Slave-/271531689837?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f388cc76d

 

Man, I should have bought some Livewell pumps, these look more exciting.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAYFAIR-MARINE-LIVEWELL-500-GPH-AERATING-PUMP-/291186178295?pt=Boat_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item43cc0c78f7&vxp=mtr

 

 

Anyway, KH yesterday evening was 8.3, down from 9.3 two days ago. Hmmm. The damn slimer has put on 1/4 inch of growth on most branches while I wasn't looking and is back to it's electric green color, so that may be the primary reason.

[markalot]

Crap.

 

Can you see when I took the CO2 scrubber offline, this morning, around 6:30am? SO now I find out how much Kalc alone can help elevate my PH.

 

[metrokat]

Good morning. I know you're not chasing PH, however the range of readings you are getting seem perfectly fine to me. 7.9-8.3 looks good.

[markalot]

Good morning. I know you're not chasing PH, however the range of readings you are getting seem perfectly fine to me. 7.9-8.3 looks good.

 

They look good now, but if left alone it will slowly sink way down to 7.6 - 7.8 range.

 

So what the hell, why did my Kalk topoff fail to turn on for an hour or so this morning?

 

 

 

Fallback OFF

OSC 000:00/000:30/015:00 Then ON

 

???

[markalot]

<name>Kalk_Topoff_</name>
<value>ON</value></record>
<record><date>07/30/2014 05:51:00</date>
<name>Kalk_Topoff_</name>
<value>OFF</value></record>
<record><date>07/30/2014 06:06:00</date>
<name>Kalk_Topoff_</name>
<value>ON</value></record>
<record><date>07/30/2014 06:06:30</date>
<name>Kalk_Topoff_</name>
<value>OFF</value></record>
<record><date>07/30/2014 07:35:46</date>
<name>VarSpd3_I3</name>
<value>PF3</value></record>
<record><date>07/30/2014 07:35:46</date>
<name>VarSpd4_I4</name>
<value>PF4</value></record>
<record><date>07/30/2014 07:35:46</date>
<name>SumpFan_3</name>
<value>ON</value></record>
<record><date>07/30/2014 07:35:46</date>
<name>Skimmer_4</name>
<value>ON</value></record>
<record><date>07/30/2014 07:35:46</date>
<name>SumpCircPump</name>
<value>ON</value></record>
<record><date>07/30/2014 07:39:00</date>
<name>Kalk_Topoff_</name>
<value>ON</value></record>
<record><date>07/30/2014 07:39:30</date>
<name>Kalk_Topoff_</name>
<value>OFF</value></record>

Hmmm.

[markalot]

<power><failed>07/30/2014 07:35:14</failed>
<restored>07/30/2014 07:35:46</restored></power>

Not sure if this means anything or not. We did not have a power failure that I know of or anyone in the house noticed. Regardless, the OSC should have started right back up.

[tibbsy07]

Looks fantastic, Mark!

[markalot]

Looks fantastic, Mark!

 

Thanks tibs.

 

Topoff seems to be back on track, and PH has leveled off. Lights are slowly ramping up as well, so in fact my test of taking the co2 scrubber offline is bunk due to the stupid Apex failing for some reason. It stopped at the same time I was at the tank, so I have to suspect a power surge or something related to me being there??? But I left, and drove into work, and somehow it magically recovers an hour later? Grrr. Actually, if the times are correct, it failed 15 minutes before I arrived (around 6:40).

 

[masterbuilder]

Fallback=ON ????

[markalot]

Fallback=ON ????

 

I don't think so, I want it to start off??? I'll have to read up on that command to make sure.

 

We DID have a power failure of some sort. One computer in the house locked up and the stove clock was blinking, so it probably just lost some unsaved data.

 

Bah.

 

I think fallback off is correct. If for some reason the outlet loses communications with the base I want it to either stay off or turn off and not empty all of the ATO into the sump.

 

"Fallback" sounds pretty straight forward - if the energy bar looses communication with the base module, the outlet is turned on or off, depending on the Fallback line.

 

http://forum.neptunesystems.com/showthread.php?2076-Fallback-vs-Set

[markalot]

PH graph so far. You can really see how much of a difference the co2 removal media was making. It had worn out in just a week and I replaced it July 27th sometime after noon. So the question remains; is Kalk making any difference or will PH slowly return to the alarmingly low values (< 7.7) that I was experiencing earlier in the week?

 

[markalot]

Nanotopia posted this in another thread but it's very timely for this thread as well.

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2014/7/corals

 

Varying PH had very little effect on coral health, though their low end was only 7.9 PH.

 

 

One more PH chart, for the record. This is as far back as I can go and you can see the very slow rise in average PH while I've been experimenting with solutions.

 

[masterbuilder]

Hey Markalot,

The way I understand Fallback=ON for an OSC event is: Communication is lost and when communication is restored using Fallback=ON wont the device turn on for than the length of time in your OSC command, then it will Off for the length of time in the OSC command. It shouldn't run any longer than you asked it to. This is only referencing an OSC Event. I may be way wrong ...I might learn something.

Apex Manual pg. 35:

Repetitive Events
The powerful OSC (short for oscillate) statement makes these very easy to program. The first time parameter is
the initial off time in minutes:seconds. The second parameter is the on time in minutes:seconds, and the 3rd
parameter is the final off time. Each pump outlet will initially start in the initial off state, then go to the on state,
and then to the final off state. This cycle will repeat over and over again.

The following AquaController Apex code will produce this effect:

For Pump1:
Fallback ON
OSC 10:00/05:00/00:00 Then ON

[markalot]

 

Hey Markalot,

 

Apex Manual pg. 35:

 

Repetitive Events

The powerful OSC (short for oscillate) statement makes these very easy to program. The first time parameter is

the initial off time in minutes:seconds. The second parameter is the on time in minutes:seconds, and the 3rd

parameter is the final off time. Each pump outlet will initially start in the initial off state, then go to the on state,

and then to the final off state. This cycle will repeat over and over again.

The following AquaController Apex code will produce this effect:

For Pump1:

Fallback ON

OSC 10:00/05:00/00:00 Then ON

 

Well isn't that interesting, thanks. I was thinking about how I wanted this set for the skimmer as well. I would like the skimmer to stay off after a power failure since the sump level will be elevated and typically overflow the skimmer for a few seconds as the levels settle out. I guess I need to hit up the manual and find some examples.

[markalot]

Dosing pump was locked up all day from the power glitch. Lost .5 KH best I can tell, so nothing horrible, but I put the co2 scrubber back online and will do this test another day, maybe. Or not. I'm getting a small UPS for the dosing pump so these little glitches don't knock it offline.

FTS



Slimer is growing like crazy again. All the white tips are new since, maybe a week? THis tip is aiming down at the SSC so it might run into some clippers soon.

 

 

Was able to capture the blue color of one of my mystery acros. These tips are starting to grow fairly rapidly. I have high hopes for this coral.

 

 

I noticed the milli has some new growth tips as well.

 

 

This monti looks good, so I took a random shot. I've had this for a year and it's receded, then regrown, then receded, then regrown. In fairly bright light now and seems to be doing quite well.