Liz's Waterbox 70.3

[mitten_reef]

41 minutes ago, Elizabeth94 said:

those acan frags look great! 

how do you like having 3 nero's in there?

[Elizabeth94]

2 hours ago, mitten_reef said:

those acan frags look great! 

how do you like having 3 nero's in there?

Thanks! Have no clue where Ill put them yet. 
 

I just have two nero 5s. One broke last week and needed to be replaced. But to be honest with you I was thinking of adding a Nero 3 or a Tunze pump for more random flow. Tunze has those nano controlable pumps where you can turn the nozzel direct the flow. I may put one on the back wall. 

[CarlosM]

On 9/7/2020 at 5:57 PM, Elizabeth94 said:

Had an issue with my Santa Monica algae scrubber. The leds were really dim and my algae died off. Messaged them today (on a holiday) and they emailed me back 12mins later saying they would send a new light fixture out. No haggling, super fast service. Im am really impressed. Hopefully I won’t have this issue again. 

Mind sharing how you think you're tank has been doing with the scrubber? Which model did you get?

 

I have a Waterbox 30.2 and trying to do some research to understand if a scrubber like the drop in ones from Santa Monica would be worthwhile the investment.  Thanks...

[Elizabeth94]

18 hours ago, CarlosM said:

Mind sharing how you think you're tank has been doing with the scrubber? Which model did you get?

 

I have a Waterbox 30.2 and trying to do some research to understand if a scrubber like the drop in ones from Santa Monica would be worthwhile the investment.  Thanks...

It is definitely keeping my display clear of algae. It grows thick and fast. I have zero hair algae on my rocks, just a snail with some on its shell. I can’t say how it affects my phosphates because I have nothing to compare to. But I am happy with it. If I were to buy one again, I would try the Rain 2. The bubbling of the surf model is a bit loud because it needs a strong air pump. But I got used to it and never think about it anymore. 

[CarlosM]

3 minutes ago, Elizabeth94 said:

It is definitely keeping my display clear of algae. It grows thick and fast. I have zero hair algae on my rocks, just a snail with some on its shell. I can’t say how it affects my phosphates because I have nothing to compare to. But I am happy with it. If I were to buy one again, I would try the Rain 2. The bubbling of the surf model is a bit loud because it needs a strong air pump. But I got used to it and never think about it anymore. 

Thanks for the feedback!

[Elizabeth94]

Bad news- my return pump died. Vectra controller is blinking orange and red. Apparently that means the motor is bad. How the heck is that possible its not even two years old?! $300 gone and ecotech is on vacation for the holidays.

Unbelievable! I stopped my dosing pump and threw my heater in the display. So now I need to top off by hand daily and manually test and dose alk/cal/mg. Im not happy! Im also worried I will lose corals over this. But I figure frequent small water changes and testing will help me push through. 

I bought a new one since ecotech will take forever to help me. So freaking expensive. These should last much longer than two years given the price.

Anyways- here is a dirty shot I took yesterday before cleaning the glass. This is what it looks like after about four days without cleaning anything.

[Timaaa]

Thats a bummer! Your tank is looking amazing. I have not had good luck with ecotech and AI with customer service and their broken/defective products.  

[Elizabeth94]

Thanks! 
 

I am really hoping they pull through on this. I thought they had good customer service but who knows. I bought another one- maybe I should have gotten the Varios instead. Ugh! 

[Reefkid88]

Man that stinks about the return pump. I am sorry to hear that. Hopefully they take care of you once they get back from vacation. You are right though,with how expensive the pumps are it should not crap out on you that quick,or at all. 

 

 I do have a question,where did you get your Acan's from on the frag rack,BSA ? 

[Timaaa]

It all depends if they like you or not lol.  In my experience even if its their fault/defective out of warranty they will only offer you 40 percent off a new one.  The one year warranty sucks.  I shipped AI back some primes with melted lenses(had the issue on all 6 of my units), they were working before I sent them in, just had melted lenses, which I considered a defect and they said sorry best we can do is 40 percent off new ones and we keep your old lights.  I said id rather spend money on a new light with different manufacturer and run them till they die and they shipped me back broken lights, they had taken them apart and denied they broke them.  

[Elizabeth94]

12 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

Man that stinks about the return pump. I am sorry to hear that. Hopefully they take care of you once they get back from vacation. You are right though,with how expensive the pumps are it should not crap out on you that quick,or at all. 

 

 I do have a question,where did you get your Acan's from on the frag rack,BSA ? 

Yes all of them are from BSA except the two furthest from the front (back left and back right). I love them and need to place them but with this pump thing im going to hold pff putting my hands in the tank. 
 

@Timaaa Thats nuts! So I wonder if I just need to play it extra nice in my emails. Or do I tell them everything will be posted to major reefing forums about a pump just out of warranty shitting the bed. 

[Timaaa]

I was nice through email and phone at first.  I figured if shipping back their defective lights they would send me replacements or fix them, since melting lenses wasn't normal wear and tear.  I spoke with 4-6 different reps and some were nicer than others.  Once I got my lights back and they weren't working, I called back and the one guy I had spoke with earlier got very defensive and said that the other reps let me know they received the lights broken and wouldn't turn on.  This was the first I heard about them receiving broken lights.  They also said no repairs were made but the light with the worst melting had its lens replaced with a new one, and the 4 screw threads were stripped so you couldn't reassemble the light.  I shipped them back in their original boxes and they were not damaged, so I'm almost positive this did not occur during shipping.   I said there is no documentation of that on zendesk or emails and he said he would go back and listen to our phone conversations and provide me with proof.  He never got back to me after listening to our convos, and I just got a standard reply from the manager though email, all we can offer is 40 percent off new lights lol.  After that shitshow I let them know I would be posting my experience online and they did not care.  

 

sorry to hijack your thread but not might be worth the time and shipping cost to send back your pump unless you want to continue using their pumps that might last another year and then have to replace for a 40 percent off discount.  

[Elizabeth94]

No worries its good to know other peoples experiences. That is unbelievable how they shipped them back to you. And seriously- stripped screws? Anyone with common sense can feel a screw going in wrong. You would think that their products would be evaluated and fixed by people who know the ins and outs of them. 
 

I soaked my pump overnight in citric acid and it came out looking beautiful. Hooked it up again and no change. Remote won’t let me do a reset using the mode/set buttons. Im starting to think its my controller thats messed up. 
 

I have a hard time believing that this pump  failed after just over a year running at half power. But when I think of it- their pumps feel like great quality. But the controllers are pretty thin plastic. I feel like if I squeezed it with one hand it would crack. 
 

I am kind of regretting buying another though. I should have tried the Varios 2. 

[Timaaa]

Hopefully they will take care of you.  I have had good luck with reef octopus.  I have 2 varios skimmer pumps a few years old still going strong and the octo pulse moves some serious water.  

[Thrassian Atoll]

Dang, that sucks Liz!  My S2 stopped working once.  I had to take it apart and really clean the shaft parts and get it to unstick.  My M2 has been going good though.   

[Elizabeth94]

Thanks guys. Just figure I have to suck it up for a few days and do everything by hand. Test multiple times a day. Tank has been super stable lately id like to keep it that way. 
 

Someone told me that home depot sells pong pumps. I was thinking of grabbing one Saturday. But im not sure what my turnover rate was with the Vectras settings. Im thinking something around 700 or 800gph should be good. 

[Timaaa]

they do have pond pumps I think lowes might too, if you can find a mag drive those are very reliable and would be good to have for backup.  I think you could also check petco they might have an aqueon that could keep you going till your replacement arrives.  

[Elizabeth94]

 

Finally has peach highlights coming in

 

See the snail with an afro?

 

My first baby rock flower in this hobby

 

[A.m.P]

It's weird, and their new models look goofy, but the customer service with maxspect tends to be exceptional.

[Elizabeth94]

So I was worried that my WD wouldn’t turn anything but green. But its getting some more growth and I am seeing hints if an orangey gold color. Im trying to be patient. I did read that some acro frags will grow a bit before coloring up. I did increase light intensity about three weeks ago. Maybe thats it. 

 

Same with this peach prostrata. This is one of Timaaa’s corals. Finally getting some more color. The link lemonade is taking forever, but its healthy. Debating on trimming the tips to encourage growth. 
 

 

Clam showing some white growth. 
 

 

Got my new return pump in. Still haven’t heard from ecotech. Im going to wait until after the holidays and call them. 

[Timaaa]

the pink lemonade is looking awesome and it likes a lot of light, mine would get a blue rim around the base.  It would also take some time to adjust and then explode into a colony which it looks like its about to do.  

[Elizabeth94]

I hope you are right! Thats in a pretty good spot. In the middle of the two kessils and has the t5s of course. 
 

I actually looked back and this frag was a “Y” shape. So it filled in the middle and turned into one thicker piece. So in a way it did grow. Just hard to notice until you look back! These sps look the same day to day lol. 

[Elizabeth94]

See the eggs? I have four bloody mary shrimp that are berried! Crossing my fingers that I get a bunch of babies to survive. 
 

[Elizabeth94]

Ecotech is sending me a new pump.
I am so relieved.

They never told me specifically what was wrong. They just called it defective. But I give them props- this pump was purchased July 2019. So it’s technically out of their warranty. But like I said earlier- with the price of these things, they should last a while especially when its only ran half power.

 

 

[Timaaa]

thats nice they took care of you, guess they like you better than me lol