Ben’s back at it 20G long

[ExitTrauma]

Hello all.

This is my journal for my new build. I’ve been keeping reefs for most of my life off and on. I’m sure everyone knows how it goes. My last two tanks ended in total catastrophe so I got fed up and dumped everything into storage.

That was around a decade ago. Now, I’ve decided that i want another build. I’m looking for something simple. I had a RO/di setup but sold that and really just looking to handle everything with store bought water. This build, I’m looking for simplicity. My last tank changed its own water through the apex, and the entire thing was basically a Rube Goldberg device. I’m looking for the opposite of that lol.

I went through all my old gear and have been cleaning it up. First up is the light, I attached all the pics of the progress pics. Spoiler alert, the light has broken LEDs lol. So basically I wasted a day and a half cleaning it up. I have another one that seems to have all the diodes working but the controller on the front seems to be broken. I’ll tear that one down and clean it and see if I can get it functional.

I know what you’re thinking. “Hey fellow reef enthusiast. Why don’t you just buy new equipment?”
Well, allow me to retort.
“Why, fellow forum goer, would I do that, when I can do 10x the work for half the result? Or even, as we see here, for no result?”

If that makes no sense, then feel free to join my wife with that slow disappointed head shake that she does.

It seems as though the acrylic lens over the diode melted and left the lens brittle. So I pulled the domes off in hopes that the bulbs functioned but were just blocked from the opaque dome. Unfortunately that was not the case.

 

[Reefing102]

Definitely in rough shape but if you can get one going that’s worth the savings. If your good at DIY, could likely replace the diodes by soldering new ones in (I’m no good at soldering so take my advice with a grain of salt)

Edit to add: or reach out to reefbreeders and see if they can send a replacement board?

 

[ExitTrauma]

Definitely in rough shape but if you can get one going that’s worth the savings. If your good at DIY, could likely replace the diodes by soldering new ones in (I’m no good at soldering so take my advice with a grain of salt)

Edit to add: or reach out to reefbreeders and see if they can send a replacement board?

I actually thought about soldering new diodes but I’d need someone to show me which ones to buy.

I may actually reach out to reefbreeders that’s a pretty good idea.

 

[griss]

How about sending the light to Fix Reef for repair

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Logan @ Reefbreeder's will get you straightened out.

 

[ExitTrauma]

So, got some more work done over tha past couple days.

First of all, it seems that there is more going on with the second light than just the bulbs. I emailed Logan at reef breeders and he was super helpful and very nice. Using some of his guidance I deduced that the diodes were fine, but for some reason the circuit itself wasn’t functional. Long story short, that light found the trash. The good news is that I was able to cannibalize parts from the old light to use on the one that was functional. The controller on the functional light had a lcd screen that didn’t work so I swapped it with the non functional light which had a lcd that was ok. I was also able to remove all the old diode domes that were melted or opaque and replace those with clear ones from the dead light. I then scrubbed the contacts with alcohol and a tooth brush to clean them. Pics are viewable below. Light is back together, hung and ready for use.

also a song I sang when I was working:
I see a clear fish tank and want it painted black.
No clearness anymore I want it to be black
I see wires hanging down in messy messy rows
I have to turn my head until my nausea goes….

I then did some work mounting the apex and some other hardware neatly in the stand. This stand was as built by me and my father 30 years ago when I was in highschool. I cleaned her up and got her moved into position.

I’ve now run into another issue. I can’t get into the apex. I connected it directly to the router and, though the router gave me an IP address for it, I can’t communicate with it. I’ll work some more on it later. My next plan is to unscrew it, get a new cable, connect it back to my edge router directly again and see if I can get into it.

 

[Reefing102]

Looks awesome!

Not sure if it helps but I found these regarding the Apex:

https://neptunesystems.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/13627622999319-How-to-access-your-classic-dashboard-PC

Other threads are saying to try different browsers or try to go through the fusion app.

 

[griss]

Great progress.

 

[ExitTrauma]

Thanks all!

Back to work today so progress will be slower. I have another 4 day weekend coming up but will be in Cleveland to watch the Cavs for 2 of those. Saturday Sunday will be more work.

The plan on Saturday/sunday will be:
-Apex connection diagnosis
-clean, inspect and store unused equipment with silica packs.
-install ATO. Pump, floats, failsafe, storage container.
-install power heads
-wire management
-buy new test kits and replace expired Hannah reagents.

With any luck, after this weekend everything should be ready for rock/sand/water. All will be supplied from TBS.

Edit:
I’m sitting here starting to rethink my decision to use a 5000ML ATO container. I have the room, do you all think that 5k will be big enough to be able to go some time without filling it? Or should I just get a bigger reservoir?

 

[griss]

I've never used an commercial ATO container, I use a 20 gallon Rubbermaid Brute trashcan.

 

[ExitTrauma]

I've never used a commercial ATO container, I use a 20 gallon Rubbermaid Brute trashcan.

Yes sir, on my last build that’s what I did as well, RO/DI to trash can and ATO from that.

Not going to have the space for something like that. After sitting and thinking about it, I think I’m going to have to find a 5 gallon or more vessel that will fit under the stand so I don’t have to refill the thing so often. I’ll post pics of what I do with it and what I end up with.

 

[Urka]

This is what I use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QC31G6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[ExitTrauma]

That’s funny I have that exact same thing in my cart! I was looking hard at it.

How are you running it? Do you have a low level sensor in it?