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Chris's IM30 - Cheap camera experiment


--chris--

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Received my Reefcleaners shipment today.  It arrived pretty beat up, but John knows what he is doing and the contents were no worse for the wear.  

 

Everyone is in the tank, I’ll give them a few hours and check back to see how many have dispersed and how many are....not.

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Amazon 'fuge' light is setup and attached to the back of the tank, chaeto is in the left hand chamber with the light shinning and a 10% WC is on deck for today.  

 

I posted on the local forum, but if anyone in MI has leathers (yellow figi, devils hand, kenya tree, green sin, etc...) let me know! 

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16 minutes ago, --chris-- said:

Amazon 'fuge' light is setup and attached to the back of the tank, chaeto is in the left hand chamber with the light shinning and a 10% WC is on deck for today.  

 

I posted on the local forum, but if anyone in MI has leathers (yellow figi, devils hand, kenya tree, green sin, etc...) let me know! 

Where are you in MI?   one of GR LFS has a ton of leather right now.

 

 

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Near Flint, about 2 hours from GR.  What store?  We are heading back there soon for a day (founders, vivant, rogue river for gold)....I will fit in a trip to a store if its got some choices.  

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5 minutes ago, --chris-- said:

Near Flint, about 2 hours from GR.  What store?  We are heading back there soon for a day (founders, vivant, rogue river for gold)....I will fit in a trip to a store if its got some choices.  

Watercolor Aquarium gallery downtown GR.  they have additional hodgepodge of corals in the basement, where pricing hasn't quite been set.  their display tanks are a bit overpriced IMO, but it'll definitely be a decent spot to visit.   My other "LFS guy" operates out of Grandville, he just started up a storefront not too long ago and his hours are limited and usually announced on FB "Dutch Family Reef" - his price might be friendlier to the wallet if he has what you want.  

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Just did the 10% WC, but prior to doing the work while checking water params I noticed my tank is reading 83 F. (?).  I checked both heaters, they indicate they are off and set at 80.  I have not added any new equipment other than the external fuge light which is warm to the touch but not putting out much heat beyond that.  The house temp is around 66....

 

I was relying on a temp controller, which failed, then I was relying on a RKL iTemp probe, which has since failed and now I am relying on two separate heaters with their included temp probes and it looks like one of them may have failed (and stuck on?).  

 

I unplugged one, I will check back in a few hours and see if the temp is dropping.  If not, I will plug that in and unplug the other one.  I am getting close to laying out the dough for a Apex jr everyday.  

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The temp is back to 80 after unplugging both heaters and plugging them back in.  No clue why that happened 😕

 

Its frustrating that I have a controller but can't find a temp probe for it because its now deprecated. 

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Hi chris, just catching up on your thread.  I am glad that things are progressing in the right direction, (algae dieing and coral are growing). I totally understand how now might not be the right time but I wanted to share that the very best upgrade I ever made to the seahorse tank was put in a basement sump, right next to a drain.  It took all the heavy lifting, mess (in the livingroom) and drudgery out of WCs.  It really did not cost me that much.  The hardest thing for me to get over was the mental block of drilling through the livingroom floor.  I thought about it for about 10 years before I did it, ha ha!  It might be a good future upgrade?

 

I think the cuc and cheato will go a long way toward improving things for the here and now.

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Another vote for the basement sump!

 

I really want to, for the reasons you mentioned but also because the room the sump would go in is also my office (work from home).  I could finally have an office tank.... 😄 I have a 30,000 BTU nat gas heater in the office which keeps it at 72 year round making the usual "cold" basement/heater issue less of a concern as well.  

 

I will see how this little fuge in the back chamber works out.  I also have a new (to me) skimmer coming next week which should help.  

 

Essentially, I am trying the obvious things.  If they don't work out or prove to be less effective than I need than I will know the best choice is a basement sump.  

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Back to the tank as-is, I ordered this pump to replace the BRS 1.1ml pump I am using for the ATO right now:

 

https://www.avastmarine.com/products/diaphragm-pump

 

The current pump might be getting worn out, when it kicks on there is a loud *clunk* followed by a ratcheting noise....sometimes the ratcheting noise stays around the whole time the pump runs.  Very obnoxious given that the tank is in the living room.  I have a toms lifter pump, but its not strong enough to pump from the bottom of the stand to the top of the tank.  I had been looking for alternatives and just found this pump today, with a potential 130' of head pressure and 400 ml/m flow rate this is perfect!  

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Tank params this morning:

 

s.g. 1.25

ph 8.0

Alk 8

P04 .15

N03 15

 

I will do another 10% wc today, siphon out some junk and check on the chaeto now that its been almost a week in there.  I remember from using chaeto before that a week is about enough time to notice any growth.  

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Some updates!

 

The Avast pump is AMAZING. Holy smokes, half the size of the toms lifter pump, quieter, and 100x stronger.  Good lord!  Love this thing...

 

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The new-to-me skimmer was missing one part, the adjustment pipe.

 

i picked up a foot of sched 40, fired up the bench grinder and wore it down a bit then put a taper on it.  I need to wrap all the exposed white in electrical tape to clean it up a little bit but this works for tonight.

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This little shroom is a daughter of the very first coral I ever baught. It was picked up in 2008.  When I took my tanks down in 2013 a friend held onto it for me.  I’ve had it back since I setup this tank but I don’t know if I have explained its lineage 😁

 

 

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Pic dump of what’s left in the tank (as far as coral goes)....

 

 

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Somehow my aqualifter been going strong for years now but if it busts I will get one of those. 

 

That reef cleaner box makes me laugh because all my snail boxes from him arrive in the same type of condition. One had a huge hole punched in the side. Usps sees fragile and just starts playing kick ball with it. 

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8 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Somehow my aqualifter been going strong for years now but if it busts I will get one of those. 

 

That reef cleaner box makes me laugh because all my snail boxes from him arrive in the same type of condition. One had a huge hole punched in the side. Usps sees fragile and just starts playing kick ball with it. 

Mine ran fine (I actually just sold it this week), but it did not have the power to push from the bottom of the stand to the top of the IM tank.  I loved them, but the current tank is just too tall for it I guess.  Previously to the Avast pump I was using a used BRS 1.1ml doser pump which would run for 5 minutes every 5 minutes and clunk and grind.  So glad to have removed that.  

12 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Good to know about that Avast pump! I gave up on my Tom's-powered ATO after I replaced the rubber diaphragm for the third time.

The avast pump is really amazing.  The water shoots out like a mini-firehose.  And its pretty damn quiet!  I don't even hear it run, I just hear the *click* from the ATO switch energizing.  

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Mondays are becoming my maintenance day...

 

Did a 10% wc, siphoned back chambers and pulled the media reactor out.  It had been running 2 tbsp of GFO, but I think the chaeto may be doing a good enough job.  I will keep an eye on the algae and see.

 

I threw an offer out for a used AC Jr with an EB4 and temp probe on another forum, hopefully it works out.  

 

Finally, I have 3 trades in the works for some new coral...but all of them are a week or two off.  I should have some nice frags rolling in soon 🙂  

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I was looking at an old picture of the paly grandy I have and it has lost all of its brown coloration....

 

Edit: Pic was taken today with my $40 G5 (yeah baby!).

 

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What does that?  Light, water params?  

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HookedOnAquariums
On 10/8/2018 at 2:12 PM, --chris-- said:

8 50 breeders, $25 each if anyone is interested.  The 75 in the last pic is my future sump....for whenever I need a basement sump.

Your tanks still available? need a sump QT and frag tank for my 180. Where you located?

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