Just got my tank!

I tested my params tonight, hadn't tested them in many months. It appears my montly water changes can't replenish calcium at the levels I am depleting it. WHat can I do to raise my Ca and dKH?

06/05/2006 8:15 PM
Temp: 83.5 F
SG: 1.025
pH: 8.3
dKH: 5.6
Alk: 2.00 meq/L
Ca: 380 ppm


THanks
JOsh
 
Thanks.

Those illustrations look familiar. I seem to remember reading those articles in the beginning.

Saturday I watched Bryan build a Kalk reactor for Mike. It was all DIY. I may do that before I go for a Ca reactor.

It would be awfully crowded in my stand though.

Ultimately I'd like to adopt a better water change routine so I could be doing 15% every other week. Right now I don't have the money for the containers.

JOsh
 
For about $200 you can get a Pro water change set-up, just not in your kitchen for obvious space reasons.

1. Move your RO/DI into your garage. (There's various benefits to this, but the most applicable to this post will be apparent shortly)

2. Go to Home Depot and buy a Rubbermaid Brute trashcan with lid. Check the garden section. I have heard that these containers are "food-grade" so you don't need to worry about leeching.
These are about $40.

If you are lucky, you will find the rolling base for the bottom. These trashcans have a built-in spiral adaptor for a Rubbermaid caster accessory. If you can't find this accessory (I haven't yet), then you can get a caster kit that goes under potted plants. Either of these will help you roll this very heavy container when filled with water.

3. Get an RO/DI float valve. Drill it into your new container.
About $15.00

4. Get an additional Eheim 1262 with appropriate tubing in a length sufficient between the garage and your tank. (I would guess 20 feet). About $160 with the tubing.

5. You can mix the water with a MJ 1200 or even the Eheim.

Enjoy your new, remote water pumping station.

I bet you can do water changes in 15 minutes or less now and you will always have water available. If you get any kind of water leaks (like a faulty float valve), you'll be in the garage, so no problem.

Ideally you would get two of these Rubbermaid containers and one would be for fresh (RO/DI) water and the other for salted water.

Obviously, you can remove your old water from your by the siphon method out your back door with about the same length of tubing or by whatever method you already use.
 
Pro set-up with the bulkheads.

Thanks for the help moving things tonight.
That was just a practice run, though.

We'll have to drink some Powerade for Round Two.
 
Ok, I'll post pictures this evening for my fans out there. :lol:

Yes, it's like an entity of its own, like the death star; only it's rectangular. I think it has its own gravity, too.
 
Thanks for the link.

3/4" is not a step down for me. My return is 3/4" so the chiller nipples are the same size. There is no constriction of flow occuring.

As far as trying to reduce head pressure by removing the elbows on the chiller; the decrease in head pressure would be negligible. If I replaced the chillers angled nipples with straight nipples the nipples would point up. To get tubing onto them without it kinking to the side I would have to add a foot or two of vertical tubing. Like optical cable, it doesn't help your flow to be kinking these tubes. It would be like a DVD player with the optical jack sticking out of the top. Your optical cable would have to bend very grdually over a good distance before it would be parallel to the ground again. Too quick of a turn and you'd kink it. I prefer to be able to come at my chiller from the side and not add any vertical feet of head pressure from extra tubing.

What I HAVE done, is changed out the elbows on the stand to straights. The tubing was running down, and then I had to arc it back up to get to the chiller. I liked the slack it gave me as I could reposition the chiller within a foor or two, but I didn't like the extra 4' of head pressure it added. Additionally, the tubes passed behind the chiller before coming up to the top of it, and I noticed that the tubes were getting heated. The output of the chiller is hot hot air. It was inefficient to be cooling this water, and then pumping it out and down in front of the output fan where it was getting boiled. I was concerned this might be just reheating the cold water after it exits the chiller.



Cheers
Josh
 
Looks good Josh and good field report.

Thanks for getting my corals, things are looking good.
I especially like the larger torch coral.
 
Josh nice, I bet the trip was fun....I would have been ticked too If I couldnt take that purple acro:lol:

Lets see pics of what else you got!!!:D

Sam
 
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