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LITTLE BLUE| IM30L (picking up pieces after the crush)


A Little Blue

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@A Little Blue

 

In looking at your conceptual drawing of your Triton Box, explain what view am I looking with the two cubes of miracle mud.  

 

Also, as best you know, what purpose does the miracle mud serve in this system.  

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A Little Blue
1 minute ago, Subsea said:

Blue,

In looking at your conceptual drawing of your Triton Box, explain what view am I looking with the two cubes of miracle mud.  

 

Also, as best you know, what purpose does the miracle mud serve in this system.  

Flow thru boxes contain Miracle Mud (about 2.5” deep). Both boxes at the moment are placed in return/middle/large chamber in both opposit corners. Why? Because that’s the only place where I could place it without disturbing the mud and prevent it from getting into return pump. I use it mostly for trace elements but it also might be helpful in complementing other biological filtration applications in this tank. I really like how corals and inverts resoponds to it. I have used MM over the years without ill effect. 

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1 hour ago, A Little Blue said:

Sure. I have used stock IM frame and just bought 1/4” netting on Am@zon for like 11 or $12. Removing the rubber seal that holds the netting is a bit PITA but certainly worth it and relatively easy. (You don’t need any special tool. Just flat screwdriver and a little patience) 

If you need a link to netting, let me know and I’ll DM you the info. There is enough material for 5 tanks like yours or 3 of mine. 

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Removal is usually the easy part. How tough was it to get back together?

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2 hours ago, A Little Blue said:

Flow thru boxes contain Miracle Mud (about 2.5” deep). Both boxes at the moment are placed in return/middle/large chamber in both opposit corners. Why? Because that’s the only place where I could place it without disturbing the mud and prevent it from getting into return pump. I use it mostly for trace elements but it also might be helpful in complementing other biological filtration applications in this tank. I really like how corals and inverts resoponds to it. I have used MM over the years without ill effect. 

I have a 30G EcoSystem mud/macro refugium that is 25 years old.  Three years ago, I replaced all miracle mud because of an infestation of Red Planaria.  During the course of those first 22 years, I never replaced MM.  Mud section increased in depth from detritus accumulation with many worms .  No filter sock.  The mud was not the magic.  The mud provided media for worms to feed and spawn live food.  With respect to most MM products, they are high in iron, which is a good thing in a reef tank.

IMO, at 2.4” thick MM will develope anaerobic bacteria (hydrogen sulfide).  I have never used > .75” deep.

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A Little Blue
3 hours ago, 1891Bro said:

Removal is usually the easy part. How tough was it to get back together?

Not hard. Stretch it over, pay attention to tension and push down rubber seal with your thumb or something else. Do one side (that’s the easy part) & then the opposite side. Get enough tension and lock it down with a rubber seal. Finish up the process on the shorter sides. It’s easy, and light penetration is second to none. I am super happy with the results. 

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A Little Blue
1 hour ago, Subsea said:

I have a 30G EcoSystem mud/macro refugium that is 25 years old.  Three years ago, I replaced all miracle mud because of an infestation of Red Planaria.  During the course of those first 22 years, I never replaced MM.  Mud section increased in depth from detritus accumulation with many worms .  No filter sock.  The mud was not the magic.  The mud provided media for worms to feed and spawn live food.  With respect to most MM products, they are high in iron, which is a good thing in a reef tank.

IMO, at 2.4” thick MM will develope anaerobic bacteria (hydrogen sulfide).  I have never used > .75” deep.

Sorry to here that. I doubt MM had anything to do with flat worms infestation. As I recall, they recommend replenishing MM with fresh batch every 12-18 months and no more than half of total volume at the time. .75” is in fact recommended depth for MM but I am not stressing about it due to very small amount that I am using and pretty rigorous maintenance routine. 

Did you keep your MM without replenishing it with fresh batch on purpose, or just felt it wasn’t worth a $$/hustle and forgot all about it? 

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18 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

Sorry to here that. I doubt MM had anything to do with flat worms infestation. As I recall, they recommend replenishing MM with fresh batch every 12-18 months and no more than half of total volume at the time. .75” is in fact recommended depth for MM but I am not stressing about it due to very small amount that I am using and pretty rigorous maintenance routine. 

Did you keep your MM without replenishing it with fresh batch on purpose, or just felt it wasn’t worth a $$/hustle and forgot all about it? 

With respect to trace mineral addition, I don’t see mm as a real benefit.  I get trace mineral addition with passive aroggonite sandbed dissolving during lights out whe pH drops down to 7.85.  Normal reefs in the ocean fluctuate from 8.15 - 7.85.

 

LOL.  Of course mm did not cause Red Planaria.  The only reason that I changed out mm after 22 years was because of Red Planaria.

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A Little Blue
19 minutes ago, Subsea said:

With respect to trace mineral addition, I don’t see mm as a real benefit.  I get trace mineral addition with passive aroggonite sandbed dissolving during lights out whe pH drops down to 7.85.  Normal reefs in the ocean fluctuate from 8.15 - 7.85.

 

LOL.  Of course mm did not cause Red Planaria.  The only reason that I changed out mm after 22 years was because of Red Planaria.

Ofcause it didn’t caused it lol

Unfortunately, I had bad experience with deep sandbed and it has been a long while since I’ve used any kind of sand in any of my tanks (probably 8years or so). 

I have to admit tho, back then I have made mannnnny rookie mistakes and sort of neglected my tanks. Probably due to failures and disappointments. Bare bottom works for me and I don’t mind supplementing trace elements with of the shelf products and conservative use of Miracle Mud. Like I have said before, the only benefit I can see with use of MM is positive response from corals, inverse and fish. But it could be just my imagination. Keep in mind that my tank is bare bottom and benefits of healthy sandbed have to be replaced with other methods.  I’m far from expert but this system does work out for me at the moment. Without a doubt, some issues might arise in the future but I’m not thinking about it just yet. 🙏🏻

My present issue is low nutients. 

With excessive feeding of fish and corals I simply don’t get any kind of algae in my display. I haven’t clean my glass since the day I set this tank up. 🙄

Any thoughts? 

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1 hour ago, A Little Blue said:

Not hard. Stretch it over, pay attention to tension and push down rubber seal with your thumb or something else.

Lol. Ok I’m smelling what you’re stepping in. But what if I don’t have thumbs or something else. What even is something else anyway? 

 

Im just drunk and ####ing around. I’m gonna look into that. 

 

And you you said you have some extra... I can pm the address if you don’t wanna store it.  

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A Little Blue

I would gladly cut some for you if your were local but there is no way I am shipping $3 worth of netting. 

It is a hustle. 

But look at the bright side, your anonymity stays intact. 

Do not be so cheap, get that netting, spend 20min getting it done and I guarantee you that you won’t regret it. 

 

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7 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

I would gladly cut some for you if your were local but there is no way I am shipping $3 worth of netting. 

It is a hustle. 

But look at the bright side, your anonymity stays intact. 

Do not be so cheap, get that netting, spend 20min getting it done and I guarantee you that you won’t regret it. 

 

Wtf bro? 20 minutes?

 

It’s cool. I’ll deal. 

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A Little Blue

Anyone with A160 Kessil light needs instructions or pointers how to clean the light, fan and internal housing, let me know. Many ppl sell 160 due to fan and overheating problems. Theirs loss can be your gain. Cheers

 

Including some pics in case you might have any questions. 

 

Remove fixture 

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Remove dial knobs and nuts holding it down. 

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Remove power cable black holding ring 

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Remove 2 screws holding top board to cooling fan

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Don’t disconnect any wires.  Just let it hang. Don’t loss anything. 

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Now you have access to fan screws. Remove two screws holding the fan. 

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Plastic gasket needs to go back in the same orientation. Cutout facing the wires. 

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Clean it with airduster, cue tips soaked with water or alcohol, toothbrush. Non electric parts can be rinsed with alcohol but be very careful. 

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Put it all back together but check if light and fan works as it should first. 

 

Like NEW!!!!

Enjoy. 

 

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A Little Blue

Some ppl try to clean it without going deep inside the housing but that, might not be good enough. Added some pics to my previous post for anyone interested in the process. 

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A Little Blue

Proper calibration solutions arrived. 

And it is confirmed, my Milwaukee MA887 was off by 0.002. Now I can confidently adjust salinity to correct value. It should take less then a week to gradually raise level to 1.026. 

 

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A Little Blue

Second Kessil A160 is up and running after a desperately needed TLC. 

I’ll try to make a video about the whole process of disassembling and cleaning Kessil light next weekend. Second hand Kessil runs cooler and quieter (fan didn’t work when I bought it and it was filthy inside and out) than my old A160 so why not give it a deep cleaning bath as well. I need to change photosynthesis schedule  and values to compensate for added PAR. 

 

Othere than that, there are not many changes except few tweaks which I will cover over the upcoming weekend. 

 

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Really nice tank!  Would look even better with some sand ; )

 

How do you like the DCW-2000?  Is it fairly quite?  Thinking about getting one of those myself.

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A Little Blue
4 minutes ago, Zuma said:

Really nice tank!  Would look even better with some sand ; )

 

How do you like the DCW-2000?  Is it fairly quite?  Thinking about getting one of those myself.

No sand for me. But I’m planing to use encrusting coral species to fill the bottom eventually. I’m more for functionality and ease of maintenance than esthetics. 😏

 

Jebao (it’s 2018 model) has been great so far. Very quiet. Much, much quieter than any other equipment in my tank with moving parts. That includes fan in my Kessil LED lights. I do recommend it at the moment but I don’t have it long enough to vouch for its reliability and long term use.

 

Thanks for kind words.

 

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A Little Blue

Had to change my lighting schedule/settings to compensate for additional Kessil LED. So I decided to extend sunrise/sunset period, dial down intensity to %45 and give corals a little rest period midday. We will see how that works out and where I’m going to take it in upcoming weeks. 

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New tank shot with new sps/gorg additions. 

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A Little Blue

Unless you want to waste 30min. of your life or you own Kessil light and want to really, really clean it, don’t watch this video. 

 

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A Little Blue

•Brought home few RFA to fill the bottom part of the tank. 

•Rising ALK did more harm then good. I’m lowering it slowly to more manageable number. 

•Two wild SPS weren’t doing so well lately. One of them is doing a little better now, the other one, showed base bleaching due to high ALK experiment. 

I had no choice but to cut it up and spot treat it with undiluted Revive dip on a cue tip and hope for the best. (Wild Acros are kind of hit & miss). •Easier/harder SPSes are doing fine.

•Euphyllias are growing new heads. Everything else is also doing fine.

•I got another monti (will take pics later). 

•Salinity is almost on point. I didn’t wanna rush it, so it took a while.  

•Sea Grapes are growing like mad. I am thinking of extending photoperiod of Macro from 12 to 16 hrs. 

•Still no algae in the display part of the tank. I probably should cut back on fish feeding a little. They became fat pigs due to heavy feeding twice a day. 

 

Will update in a week or so. 

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Christopher Marks

Awesome resource your put together for for cleaning a Kessil A160 @A Little Blue, that will surely help out some other hobbyists out there some day!

On 5/18/2018 at 2:26 PM, A Little Blue said:

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Amazing! The new gorgonian is great addition, I'm always a fan of those! How are all the corals responding to the second Kessil light addition, any side effects?

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A Little Blue
2 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

Awesome resource your put together for for cleaning a Kessil A160 @A Little Blue, that will surely help out some other hobbyists out there some day!

On 5/18/2018 at 5:26 PM, A Little Blue said:

Thank you @Christopher Marks

I hope it does help a little.

If anyone has any questions in that regard, just shoot me a PM. 

 

2 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

How are all the corals responding to the second Kessil light addition, any side effects?

 

First few days were a little bumpy. 

Some corals didn’t seem to care all that much. Others ( like 1 of frogspawns, tourch & and few SPS corals) got a little freaked out. 

Adjusting the height/intensity took a few tries to come things down. It took several days to dial in “stop pissing me off” setting on pair of Kessils. 

But things are getting in the right direction. I’m still about %10-%15 from where I think the light should be as far as intensity is concerned. I’ll try to get there in the next few weeks. 

Gorgs are nice addition to any tank. 

Wish I had room for few more. 

Next challange...... keep my 🤚 off my tank for a week. 🙏🏻

 

 

 

 

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