ADA 120-P + Elos Mini dual NPS tank journal
- Thread starter uhuru
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alexruegamer
New member
great pics!
where the other corals from your old tank?
alex
where the other corals from your old tank?
alex
aninjaatemyshoe
New member
Hey uhuru, whats the longest time you've been able to keep your dendros?
Also, how did you choose the setup for your pumps? Does it provide the most laminar flow for your tank?
Also, how did you choose the setup for your pumps? Does it provide the most laminar flow for your tank?
uhuru
New member
The longest I kept my dendro was 10 months. Unfortunately I lost that and a few other corals, including my favorite gorg with the tank move. I think it was a combination of the heat wave and most likely a mini cycle. My crinoid also dropped a bunch of its "arms" but it survived and they have been growing back.
For the pumps it was a combination of budget constraints and yes trying to achieve laminar flow. It works very well as I alternate the direction of the gyre using the "long pulse mode." If I had more money I would use 2 mp40's and 1 mp10. The mp10s do leave a couple dead spots.
I checked my salinity this morning and it is at 40 ppt! Had to recalibrate the litermeter pump. It looks like what happened is over time is 1) the drain tubing had a little gunk build up on it and that was enough to throw off the calibration, and 2) the 150g SW reservoir I use experiences a decent amount of evaporation since it is just a big open top tub.
For the pumps it was a combination of budget constraints and yes trying to achieve laminar flow. It works very well as I alternate the direction of the gyre using the "long pulse mode." If I had more money I would use 2 mp40's and 1 mp10. The mp10s do leave a couple dead spots.
I checked my salinity this morning and it is at 40 ppt! Had to recalibrate the litermeter pump. It looks like what happened is over time is 1) the drain tubing had a little gunk build up on it and that was enough to throw off the calibration, and 2) the 150g SW reservoir I use experiences a decent amount of evaporation since it is just a big open top tub.
uhuru
New member
Yeah I thought about putting a black background on the tank, but the back of the tank faces the main window of the house. When I open the curtains in the daytime it looks pretty nice with the sun shining through. At night when I open the curtains the whole neighborhood can see my tank. I like the idea of hanging a cloth behind it for photo purposes though, I will try that when I get a chance to buy some black cloth! Thanks!
alexruegamer
New member
my neighborhood thinks i have a solarium
aninjaatemyshoe
New member
Sorry to hear about the dead dendro and other corals. Moves are no fun with tanks, especially with anything remotely as sensitive as half the stuff we keep in nps tanks. This is why I tore mine down before I move cross-country.
The issue of getting good laminar flow in a rectangular tank has been weighing on my mind for some time now, just a few years that is
I've tried vertical walls to generate gyres and just about everything else. I guess I might be too much of a perfectionist about it, since others have been able to have good results with relatively simple pump setups.
The issue of getting good laminar flow in a rectangular tank has been weighing on my mind for some time now, just a few years that is
I've tried vertical walls to generate gyres and just about everything else. I guess I might be too much of a perfectionist about it, since others have been able to have good results with relatively simple pump setups.
uhuru
New member
Just another little rant about expenses in this hobby. I don't have a lot of money to spend on this hobby but I make it a priority in my life and often sacrifice other things to afford this. Well I had to replace the remote pump on my litermeter 3 water exchanger setup, and these things aren't cheap. I bought it from someone on RC, a veterinarian no less, and was pretty much sold a defective piece of equipment without being told about it. The pump head was corroded from water damage and I had to use duct tape to keep it together. When I contacted him about it he pretty much said "it worked fine when I had it." Yeah it worked fine for me for a couple months and then the duct tape started to loosen and it fell apart and stopped working. Moral of the story is - sometimes its great to buy used but if you do it enough you're going to get burned, often from someone you least expect!
Aquabacs
New member
That's wrotten Mike. I had that same type of issue with a skimmer I bought for one of my old tanks, both pumps for it were shot. Did you pay by PayPal? If so, you might be able to do something about it if the item wasnt sold "as is" or was different than described. For essential equipent, I try now not to purchase anything used unless it is coming from a 100% trusted source. It is well worth spending the extra cash and being able to sleep easy at night by doing so.
Mike
Mike
happysak
New member
Aquabacs
New member
I havent gotten a sample of them yet but when I do, I will let you know. I have lost the last week or so without my home computer. Computer is shot and working out the options right now. For food wise I have been playing aroud with Nutramar Ova since I have a local source for that and Rod's frozen coral food.
Mike
Mike
fullmonti
now is the time
Just some equipment pics:
Electrical is located under the Elos tank.
Right side of sump with beast ATB skimmer. The Elos and ADA both drain into this compartment. The seagrass tank bypasses this compartment and goes straight to the return compartment to avoid filtering out beneficial microfauna.
Left side of sump. Reactor w/bioballs is for ozone. It then feeds into the red ATB reactor which has carbon. The blue reactor in the front also has carbon. There is an eheim 1262 that pumps water to most of the equipment. On the very left bottom is an ATB Flowstar 1500 which is the main return pump for all 3 tanks and also feeds into the refrigerator for auto feeding.
I'm still fuzzy on Ozone set up. No one around here has a system I can look at. Simplified diagrams & reading descriptions some times just doesn't clear it up. It sounds like you are only using one carbon reactor on your ozone system. Many systems I've read about run gas output & water output through separate chambers. You told me in a PM that you run excess gas to your skimmer instead of second carbon reactor, correct? Also if I understand the concept of a ozone reactor correctly, it is not full of water it is pressurized by the air pump, so water can then trickle over the bioballs & mix with the ozone. What I don't get is there is a outlet in the bottom of the reactor how can it be pressurized? It looks like the air pressure would just immediately pass through the system. The only thing I can think of is if the carbon reactor outlets are in the sump, the water pressure in the sump is enough to prevent this. ?
Sorry to be so slow to get this. Many things are simple after you've done them, or at least seen them done. But can seem quite complicated when you just hear about it.
Jim
uhuru
New member
Sure I'll take some pics later. I don't run them through the wall. I just run them under the rubber gasket around the door that seals the door closed. Because of this the fridge is no longer air tight, but it still "seals" when I close the door. You will understand better after I take pics, but the door has shelves built into it that act as an insulator as well so it still holds the temp very well.
No you have it 90% right, not slow at all
It's pressurized because the bottom of the reactor has water in it, so air can't just pass through the system. It has to diffuse into the water (which is the goal). The rate of diffusion is not as fast as the rate of air entering the reactor, so the air eventually builds up and you have pressure. The pressure forces more air to diffuse into the water than normal - until you get a saturated mixture of water and ozone.
You might be thinking the water should just flow through, and it does, but only at a slow trickle. This is controlled by a gate valve on the water feed pump. The plumbing and carbon reactor after the ozone reactor also causes back pressure. By balancing the feed pump, air pump and taking into account the back pressure you get pressurized reactor. The gas bleed valve in the reactor is like the "master control." If you open it all the way it will not be pressurized anymore.
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