75g Lurking danger and Leafy Seadragons
- Thread starter vlangel
- Start date
vlangel
Premium Member
That is helpful to know. Thank you for sharing that. That is funny, you were answering my question as I was asking it!
vlangel
Premium Member
I don't need a huge amount of flow since I have an mp 10, mp 40 and a Carefree Fish wave maker but I was hoping for surface agitation. I also have considered swapping out the intake and output with glass lily pipes.
vlangel
Premium Member
Thank you for sharing. I also like how easy it is to clean and swap out media/sponge in the AquaClear.
I also get water movement from the powerheads in the tank.
What I liked about the Fluval FX canister is that I could do a water change from a nozzle that is built into it. I guess I could buy a rio pump and suction cup it to the side of the tank and have 20ft or so of flex tubing attached to it to run the water out my nearby window. At 65 yrs old I don't want to carry 5g buckets too much longer.
A canister would be quieter as well, although maybe not $350 quieter!
With my tank having so many macroalgae in it, nutrients are not as problematic as most reef tanks.
vlangel
Premium Member
I am still pondering the canister question. I tested my water and I was a bit taken back to see that NO3 was only 10 ppm but PO4 was 1 ppm! I bought some PhosGuard today and added it in the back chamber of the AquaClear to hopefully bring the phosphates down. I am going to skip a water change this week but I did add a little AFR to replenish the water.
The green macros look so good! My codium has never grown so fast and the new moss balls and shaving brushes all look real nice. Even the ulva is holding its own with the tang picking at it. And I am so excited that one of the red mangroves leaves opened which is so cool. The red macros look ok but are growing slower at the moment.
The new chalk bass is shy but it comes out to eat and none of the other fish pay any attention to it.
The feather dusters are so beautiful as are the RFAs. I really like how the tank is adjusting. The sand has a reddish rusty algae but its not awful. Here are some pics:
The green macros look so good! My codium has never grown so fast and the new moss balls and shaving brushes all look real nice. Even the ulva is holding its own with the tang picking at it. And I am so excited that one of the red mangroves leaves opened which is so cool. The red macros look ok but are growing slower at the moment.
The new chalk bass is shy but it comes out to eat and none of the other fish pay any attention to it.
The feather dusters are so beautiful as are the RFAs. I really like how the tank is adjusting. The sand has a reddish rusty algae but its not awful. Here are some pics:
vlangel
Premium Member
Wow George, thanks! I appreciate the positive feedback.
vlangel
Premium Member
I thought I better test phosphates today and glad I did. They came down to .25 ppm. I feel better about this ratio than what it was earlier in the week.
Also I am leaning toward an Oase canister instead of the Fluval FX. Oase canisters have a prefilter that is easily accessed without opening the canister. Also they have a heater integrated in the canister so it doesn't have to be in the tank. If I use quick disconnect valve on the return line then I can still do a water change from the canister.
Also I am leaning toward an Oase canister instead of the Fluval FX. Oase canisters have a prefilter that is easily accessed without opening the canister. Also they have a heater integrated in the canister so it doesn't have to be in the tank. If I use quick disconnect valve on the return line then I can still do a water change from the canister.
vlangel
Premium Member
On one of the other forums, I learned of a young and upcoming reef keeper that died from electrocution while working in his tank. It is so tragic and sobering! An investigation is taking place to learn exactly how this happened so that it doesn't happen to anyone else.
Of course now there is a lot of discussion about GFCIs (and their propensity to trip when one is on vacation) and electrical safety. I was shook over this tragedy because I removed my GFCI on the dedicated tank curcuit because it tripped regularly. I do have a powerhead on a different curcuit that is GFCI protected so the tank is aerated from 2 different curcuits. I have been turning off the surge protector that runs equipment in the tank when I work in the tank.
Do all of you have your tanks on GFCI protected curcuits?
Of course now there is a lot of discussion about GFCIs (and their propensity to trip when one is on vacation) and electrical safety. I was shook over this tragedy because I removed my GFCI on the dedicated tank curcuit because it tripped regularly. I do have a powerhead on a different curcuit that is GFCI protected so the tank is aerated from 2 different curcuits. I have been turning off the surge protector that runs equipment in the tank when I work in the tank.
Do all of you have your tanks on GFCI protected curcuits?
wvned
Well-known member
I don't use them. I have been shocked by a tank. GFCI is a wonderful idea but seldom works as intended.
You would be as well served by wearing rubber soled shoes, keeping you feet dry and not having anything metal that is grounded near the tank.
I have been shocked while working on wiring in the house straight off the wires and didn't die. Quite often it is some underlying health condition or special set of circumstances that leads to a fatality.
While saltwater does conduct it doesn't do it well.
You could put your hands in an energized tank and feel nothing. Until some other part of your body touched something grounded in the electrical sense. Once you make the second touch you have made a circuit and the electricity can flow through you and to ground.
High voltage power lines are maintained while still in use by people in helicopters. The lineman becomes energized.
So the trick is to never complete the circuit and you will always be fine.
There are some people like me that know this stuff and follow the rules always habitually. There are some that cant. They should use GFCI protection.
Like many I had a GFCI power strip on a tank and it started tripping randomly for no reason I could find and I removed it. That was a long time ago on a small tank. Don't want to risk that now
You would be as well served by wearing rubber soled shoes, keeping you feet dry and not having anything metal that is grounded near the tank.
I have been shocked while working on wiring in the house straight off the wires and didn't die. Quite often it is some underlying health condition or special set of circumstances that leads to a fatality.
While saltwater does conduct it doesn't do it well.
You could put your hands in an energized tank and feel nothing. Until some other part of your body touched something grounded in the electrical sense. Once you make the second touch you have made a circuit and the electricity can flow through you and to ground.
High voltage power lines are maintained while still in use by people in helicopters. The lineman becomes energized.
There are some people like me that know this stuff and follow the rules always habitually. There are some that cant. They should use GFCI protection.
Like many I had a GFCI power strip on a tank and it started tripping randomly for no reason I could find and I removed it. That was a long time ago on a small tank. Don't want to risk that now
vlangel
Premium Member
I don't use them. I have been shocked by a tank. GFCI is a wonderful idea but seldom works as intended.
You would be as well served by wearing rubber soled shoes, keeping you feet dry and not having anything metal that is grounded near the tank.
I have been shocked while working on wiring in the house straight off the wires and didn't die. Quite often it is some underlying health condition or special set of circumstances that leads to a fatality.
While saltwater does conduct it doesn't do it well.
You could put your hands in an energized tank and feel nothing. Until some other part of your body touched something grounded in the electrical sense. Once you make the second touch you have made a circuit and the electricity can flow through you and to ground.
High voltage power lines are maintained while still in use by people in helicopters. The lineman becomes energized.
So the trick is to never complete the circuit and you will always be fine.
There are some people like me that know this stuff and follow the rules always habitually. There are some that cant. They should use GFCI protection.
Like many I had a GFCI power strip on a tank and it started tripping randomly for no reason I could find and I removed it. That was a long time ago on a small tank. Don't want to risk that now
I totally get where both of you are coming from. I had a GFCI on the dedicated circuit but it tripped so often that I felt that the tank was seriously at risk. However, now that I am thinking more deeply into it, I am suspecting that my old VHO lighting in the canopy was probably the reason. The canopy did not breath as well as it probably should have, (even with small fans) and I think moisture collected. Also back in those days think of all the AC equipment we had plugged into 1 outlet! Now so much of our equipment is DC so not nearly the same amount of electricity pulling on the circuit. Because of that I think I am going to have another GFCI put in that outlet and try again. Its probably not had one for 20 yrs and I haven't been even shocked so maybe this is not necessary, who knows?
This morning I did move all the equipment that touches the water to the circuit that shares with our bathroom, so it has a GFCI. However the LED Photon fixture (hanging14" above the tank) and the 2 Vortech powerheads are on the dedicated circuit without protection. I really can't imagine a scenario where they could cause an accident.
wvned
Well-known member
My old. job involved working on fine wires that were miles long.
I have seen induced voltage you could weld with. I used wire cutters on a wire and my arm jerked and threw them 30 feet.
GFI - our trucks had generators with protected outlets. You are in a tent over a big hole you dug in the rain in the middle of the night to fix a cut cable. Extension cords from the truck run the lights. The outlets keep tripping out. So you get stuff from the truck, shovels, wirre reels, boxes, anything and string the extension cord so it isnt laying on the wet ground. Then the lights stay on.
I have seen induced voltage you could weld with. I used wire cutters on a wire and my arm jerked and threw them 30 feet.
GFI - our trucks had generators with protected outlets. You are in a tent over a big hole you dug in the rain in the middle of the night to fix a cut cable. Extension cords from the truck run the lights. The outlets keep tripping out. So you get stuff from the truck, shovels, wirre reels, boxes, anything and string the extension cord so it isnt laying on the wet ground. Then the lights stay on.
vlangel
Premium Member
Oh man, that sounds like very dangerous work! I do not understand electricity which is why it makes me a little nervous.
When I worked at the lfs in the 90s, I was in our 180 gallon reef cleaning glass and bumped a light fixture and it went into the tank. As I was getting my arms/hands out of the tank I grabbed the fixture and pulled it out too. I never got shocked and nothing tripped. I thanked the LORD for watching over me that day! AND I was a lot more careful in that tank from then on, LOL!
wvned
Well-known member
I was a telephone person.
It was fun and interesting and hard. I have been shocked hard 10,000 times. A ringing phone line while you have the metal rope that holds the cable up in your armpit on a ladder. Touching digital circuits that have 100 volts on them to power remote repeaters while sitting in a hole in the mud wet all over. A hot summer day working on the ground and you lean back into an electric fence strand.
The entire world of herding electrons in sometimes small amounts and sometimes large over long distances so they can accomplish what they were intended to do. Ancient analog stuff you had to scrounge parts for and new digital stuff. I have a degree in electrical engineering technology. I used everything I learned, sometimes 20 feet up in the air.
Then there was 911 work. I ended up there. If you screw up, a call is lost and someone is hurt or dies you are personally liable. 99% of the guys would not touch it because of that.
Perhaps it's because I touched the posts on 9 volt batteries to my tongue to many times but I am not afraid of much.
It was fun and interesting and hard. I have been shocked hard 10,000 times. A ringing phone line while you have the metal rope that holds the cable up in your armpit on a ladder. Touching digital circuits that have 100 volts on them to power remote repeaters while sitting in a hole in the mud wet all over. A hot summer day working on the ground and you lean back into an electric fence strand.
The entire world of herding electrons in sometimes small amounts and sometimes large over long distances so they can accomplish what they were intended to do. Ancient analog stuff you had to scrounge parts for and new digital stuff. I have a degree in electrical engineering technology. I used everything I learned, sometimes 20 feet up in the air.
Then there was 911 work. I ended up there. If you screw up, a call is lost and someone is hurt or dies you are personally liable. 99% of the guys would not touch it because of that.
Perhaps it's because I touched the posts on 9 volt batteries to my tongue to many times but I am not afraid of much.
vlangel
Premium Member
When you were touching the posts of a 9 volt battery with your tongue, I guess you were apprenticing for your real job! (Actually I did that too with 9 volt batteries). What does that say about our generation? I dont think kids do that today. Of course there is very little that 9 volt batteries are used for anymore but we all used them in our transistor radios.
lol, I still “test” 9v batteries this way.
Absolutely use. In addition, non-use is a building code violation in most places. It may void your home insurance.
If one trips regularly, that can be a sign your pulling to much power from that outlet, I need to use 2 different and separate circuits to power all of the electrical stuff including lights, and when doing that, my GFC has not tripped again in 5 years except.
Water is a conductor and can kill if your close to the faulty device. Id never take that chance….ever.
I have them anywhere there’s water around, so bathrooms as well.
