RollaJase's Trip Off the Deep End - Custom Rimless 55G

[teenyreef]

I've got my fingers crossed for the Tang

[RollaJase]

I've got my fingers crossed for the Tang

Thanks , so do I. I really hope it makes a full recovery.

[RollaJase]

Soaked the fish food in Garlic Guard tonight and the Tang seemed a bit more interested in the Nori. It pecked at it a little bit before going back to mysis and pellets. The lump on its body appears to still be the same size but it has discoloured a little. Same can be said for two fuzzy patches, they are still the same size but there is some discolouration around them. I saw the Tang grazing against a rock last night as it slept and the discolouration is literally a vertical line running from the fuzzy spots straight up its body. Hmm, I might need to fiddle with the rocks slightly in an attempt to make someplace a little more comfortable for the Tang to sleep. Again, it is still acting normal and eating a ton of food.

 

I thoroughly rinsed 18 of the 22 MarinePure balls in RODI water tonight before adding them to the sump. I would have added the lot but with the LR rubble still in there I was running out of room. I plan on moving the rubble to a media bag and making a media rack for the balls in the chamber the LR currently sits. I tell you what though, this stuff really is phenomenally porous. The weight difference between a dry ball and one that has been submerged in water is quite substantial.

 

I also decided to do a full battery of tests. I tested Alk, Cal, Mag, pH, Nitrate and Nitrite (deliberately skipped Ammonia). Results below.

Alk = 8.1dKH

Cal = 425ppm

Mag = 1320ppm

pH = 8.2

Nitrate = 0

Nitrite = 0

 

I was expecting to see something in the Nitrate or Nitrite though. That's when I realised this Red Sea Pro kit expired in July 2015 lol. On a side note, anyone know how badly expiry effects these tests? pH didn't have an expiry on the bottle and I have always get 8.2. I definitely thinking its messing with Nitrate and Nitrite results though. I hardly do these tests but I guess I should replace them so I have them if I need them

 

 

 

*EDIT*

During my dusk lighting schedule tonight I decided to turn the light back on, whites only and take a look at the Tang (if I could). Under whites only the discolored patches really stand out and to be honest, the entire situation doesn't look as bad as the regular light cycle makes it look. I could clearly see the area under the whites and while it was slightly inflamed there didn't look to be much fuzz left. I was too lazy to try and snap some pictures tonight plus the fish were really skittish as I messed up their bed time haha. I'll give it a shot tomorrow night.

 

On the plus side, I never realized how hot pink my birdsnest is until I saw it under just whites, the blue monti looks bright purple also .

[4x5]

Beautiful little Tang, holding thumbs that it pulls through. How are the SPS doing? Still getting burnt tips?

[RollaJase]

Beautiful little Tang, holding thumbs that it pulls through. How are the SPS doing? Still getting burnt tips?

Thanks Shaun , I hope the little guy does also as I would hate to loose it. Usually when I have had sick fish they are all lethargic and obviously showing signs of distress. This guy is completely un phased by any of this and that's what is surprising/worrying me the most. The SPS are all doing really well with the exception of that highlighter acro. Everything else is thriving with my birdsnest tripling in size since I got it, the green stag finally back to a really bright green and encrusting and the green monti is growing every day. The new blue monti isn't doing much but I am starting to see some change along its edges. The LFS suggested lowering the Alk below 8dKH and see what happens. I'm trying to get it down to 7-7.5dKH but it seems to want to hold steady at where it is. Alk tends to fluctuate between 8 and 8.3dKH, even with me cutting the daily dose by 1ml every time I test.

[RollaJase]

Tang Update.

 

The lump that appeared has gone down significantly and a mark has appeared on it, looks like a wrasse bite. He must have been hit pretty hard for it to cause swelling like that, I guess my initial diagnosis of another graze was wrong. It appears the two spots have shrunk a little bit more also. I can start to see some of the body colour coming back between the two points.

 

 

As much as I really don't want to I think I may spend some time tonight working on the light again. I'm torn between throwing the thing in the bin or ordering a new driver board and BF mini for it. Those are the two major components that could be at fault.

[markalot]

That Kole needs some food, other than that as long as the color is dark he should be ok. Mine has had some color fading and has been getting extra cleans from the neon goby lately. It's the fading from dark purple to tan that worries me, but sometimes it's just a temporary stress reaction.

[RollaJase]

That Kole needs some food, other than that as long as the color is dark he should be ok. Mine has had some color fading and has been getting extra cleans from the neon goby lately. It's the fading from dark purple to tan that worries me, but sometimes it's just a temporary stress reaction.

I hope it's just a nutrition/food thing Mark. He gets a varied diet and readily eats frozen mysis/brine, NLS pellets, Hikari Seaweed Extreme pellets (loves these, my blenny does too) and Algae Wafers. I picked up some Seachem Garlic Guard to try and entice it to eat Nori which he is starting to come around to. I have also been soaking all foods in the Garlic Guard for added immunity boosting for the time being. The fish was quite thin when I added it to the tank so I'm not sure if this was onset from the initial travel and acclimation stress. The colour is very dark at the moment and is only lighter around the effected areas, it is definitely darker as shown in the last lot of pictures. Do you have any issues with the tang fighting with your wrasses? My Melanuras wrasse and the tang have a scuffle from time to time which I know is contributing to a few marks on the tang.

[ninjamyst]

Good luck with the tang. They are pretty hardy and as long as they are eating, its a good sign.

[RollaJase]

Good luck with the tang. They are pretty hardy and as long as they are eating, its a good sign.

Thanks buddy, so far everything is still looking good. I hope it stays that way.

 

 

Light Update

 

I completely pulled the light apart and removed the terminal block that I was using to help make removing the driver board a little easier. After a reassembly and test it looks like all the channels are working except channel 2 (second white channel) and channel 5 (UV). Those of you playing at home will remember that through my last round of tests the UV was oddly connected up to one of the white channels some how, I believe the terminal strip was the cause of this. Well, 4/6 is better than nothing I guess. Next step will be to wire channel 2 up to channel 1 and see if I get the LEDs working. If it does I can rule out dead LEDs on the arrays and blame the driver board. I already know that the UV channels work from my previous testing so I think there is definitely something wrong with channel 5 on the board also. Hmmm, I'm fairly certain that this was the issue I was having originally before I blew it all up...

[RollaJase]

Update time for Monday morning.

 

Kole Tang is almost 100% back to normal now and is finally eating Nori after I pretty much soaked it it in straight Garlic Guard! The spots have almost completely gone and the other lump has disappeared also. Tank is looking pretty good at the moment, buying NSW and RODI seems to be working quite well. I am contemplating purchasing my own RODI unit now as I have Dad's blessing. Seeing as the TDS in our rainwater is only about 40 he seems to think there will be minimal waste water. I go through about 20L of RODI a week through top off and dosing solutions and with what I pay for RODI the unit will pay for itself in about 6 months. I'm only looking at a 50G per day unit, at the moment I don't need the extra output seeing as I am not using it to mix salt water.

 

My quick release connectors arrived so I am all ready to go with the reactor tubing upgrade sometime next week. These are impossible to separate by hand and require the use of a small flat head screw driver to lift the locking latches slightly. I think they will fit the purpose perfectly. The 10mm A4 sized sheet of acrylic I ordered to make the skimmer stand out of arrived also. This has been marked up ready for cutting and assembly, again, waiting for next week. Lastly, I have been designing a media rack for the MarinePure balls to sit in. Lucky for me I have a lot of acrylic off-cuts, a lot of which are perfectly sized to be used with some slight trimming and sanding. I need to finalize the design to a point that I am happy with before trimming up the pieces that I need and gluing it all together. It will be pretty basic but I think it will work quite well.

 

5 days to go at this job, as of COB Friday I can kiss this place goodbye and move onto bigger, better and less stressful things.

[gena]

Sounds like you passed the tang introduction hurdle . Glad he pulled through for you!

[RollaJase]

Sounds like you passed the tang introduction hurdle . Glad he pulled through for you!

Thanks Gena. I was very worried for the little guy but am very pleased that he is on the mend. Looks like he has finally won the dominance war with the Melanurus wrasse as well .

[RollaJase]

Tang/Light Update

 

Kole Tang looks much much better. The two fuzzy spots have lost all of their fuzzy appearance and that patch is now just a slight discoloration. I think it's safe to say that the Tang has made a full recover.

 

On the light front I think I have 3 distinct problems. I believe there is an LED and driver board issue on channel 2 and a driver board issue with channel 5. Channel 2 is my second white/lime channel and simply wont work. Channel 1 works flawlessly so I swapped the connections for channel 1 and 2 around. Upon doing this both channels wouldn't work. One would assume that if it was a driver board issue, swapping the two would see the channel 2 string light up when given power from channel 1. Likewise, one would assume that connecting the LEDs from channel 1 to the channel 2 connectors would work if it was just a faulty LED. To rule out bad solder joints I ran the soldering iron across the contacts for the LEDs on channel 2, this didn't help the situation (even after fixing up what I thought was a dry solder). I think my next method of troubleshooting for channel 2 is to trace the voltage with the multimeter and see where it is dropping off. There could be a combination issue with the driver board not providing any power coupled with a few bad diodes. As for channel 5, my UV channel, I know this works from and LED standpoint, all work fine when swapping connections between channels 5 and 6. I think I'll need to do the same troubleshooting with the multimeter to find out where the issue lies here also.

[ninjamyst]

Awesome update on the tang. I am thinking about replacing some seachem matrix with marinepure spheres but damn they are expensive!

[RollaJase]

Awesome update on the tang. I am thinking about replacing some seachem matrix with marinepure spheres but damn they are expensive!

Thanks ninja . I'm really happy about the Tang also, glad he pulled through. So far I haven't seen any positive or negative effects from the Marine Pure balls. Yes, the media can be quite expensive in block or plate form but I was able to get my hands on the balls relatively cheaply. Got 22 of them for about $25AUD shipped to my door. The smallest block was more than double that. $25 to give something a shot is a relatively cheap experiment in this hobby haha.

[jedimasterben]

Tang/Light Update

 

Kole Tang looks much much better. The two fuzzy spots have lost all of their fuzzy appearance and that patch is now just a slight discoloration. I think it's safe to say that the Tang has made a full recover.

 

On the light front I think I have 3 distinct problems. I believe there is an LED and driver board issue on channel 2 and a driver board issue with channel 5. Channel 2 is my second white/lime channel and simply wont work. Channel 1 works flawlessly so I swapped the connections for channel 1 and 2 around. Upon doing this both channels wouldn't work. One would assume that if it was a driver board issue, swapping the two would see the channel 2 string light up when given power from channel 1. Likewise, one would assume that connecting the LEDs from channel 1 to the channel 2 connectors would work if it was just a faulty LED. To rule out bad solder joints I ran the soldering iron across the contacts for the LEDs on channel 2, this didn't help the situation (even after fixing up what I thought was a dry solder). I think my next method of troubleshooting for channel 2 is to trace the voltage with the multimeter and see where it is dropping off. There could be a combination issue with the driver board not providing any power coupled with a few bad diodes. As for channel 5, my UV channel, I know this works from and LED standpoint, all work fine when swapping connections between channels 5 and 6. I think I'll need to do the same troubleshooting with the multimeter to find out where the issue lies here also.

To narrow it down further, you can wire each individual board's CH2 to a different known-working driver channel so you can see which board is having an issue, it's unlikely that all of them are bad

 

I've tried testing before with just the multimeter, even continuity testing never works for me with any Lumileds chips, so that may limit you.

[RollaJase]

To narrow it down further, you can wire each individual board's CH2 to a different known-working driver channel so you can see which board is having an issue, it's unlikely that all of them are bad

 

I've tried testing before with just the multimeter, even continuity testing never works for me with any Lumileds chips, so that may limit you.

Thanks for the tip Ben, I may try that after determining if the channel is even outputting any voltage to the LEDs to begin with. The multimeter should at least be able to help with this step. I'll then connect two leads to channel 1 and test each of the 3 arrays connected to channel 2 individually to see which one is causing the issues. If I have to order a new array I don't have an issue in doing so, I just wish shipping to Australia wasn't the better part of $30USD for such a small item .

[RollaJase]

7.5 hours to go and I am a free man! Then I get to enjoy Monday-Thursday off next week before starting my new job on Friday .

[ninjamyst]

Congrats!! I been at my job for 11 years and for the past 4 years, I daydream every day on the train about quitting. I have rehearsed my speech over and over. 6 more months and then I will do it.

[RollaJase]

Congrats!! I been at my job for 11 years and for the past 4 years, I daydream every day on the train about quitting. I have rehearsed my speech over and over. 6 more months and then I will do it.

Thanks dude! . 11 years is a long time, especially if you aren't enjoying what you are doing. I've had the same thoughts for the last 18 months or so and it was such a relief to actually walk into the boss' office and rattle off my resignation speech. It was a huge relief once I had done it though, like a huge weight being lifted off of my shoulders. I've felt much better about everything since that day haha.

[RollaJase]

My week of R&R is now over and my first full week at my new job started today. This place is so so much better than my old work place, should have made the move ages ago.

 

I managed to get all the major projects that I wanted to undertake on the tank completed during my time off. All projects that is besides fixing this bloody light. Protein skimmer stand and acrylic media basket for marine pure balls was made. I fixed the mesh lid so it fits properly with the new mounting clips. I pulled the sump apart and gave it a full clean and removed all detritus. And lastly, I pulled the two reactors out and re-plumbed them both with new hose and added disconnects.

 

I did about 3 hours of LED troubleshooting and ascertained the following. The control board/driver for channel 2 works after having to replace another driver (I believe it was faulty from my original incident and I forgot to throw it away). The white string of LEDs for channel 2 on the other hand do not work. I tried powering each array separately and got nothing but I cant remember if that was before or after I found out the driver was dead, some more testing required here. On the channel 5 (UV channel) stand point, the control board/driver works but again, the strings of LEDs don't. I think I found the issue though, one of the solder pads fell off/got knocked off. I dunno how this happened but it's beyond repair without trying some solder paste to reconstruct the pad. I'm torn between trying the repair or ordering a new array. Once I finish troubleshooting the white string I'll have a better idea of what I need to do.

[teenyreef]

Congrats on the new job and I'm glad the first day went well! I went through the same thing before I found my current job. It was such a relief to finally quit the old job, and I've been at the same place for over 20 years now

[jack1978]

Congrats on the new job start, buddy!

[gena]

Sounds like you have gotten a lot accomplished!!! Congrats on the awesome new job too .