Mark's 150 gallon
- Thread starter markalot
- Start date
markalot
...
I want to put something else up where it is so, of course, it's still alive.
It ain't pretty but I see polyps so still kicking.
In better news, since I was able to take a few top downs tonight. In my opinion the good reds are still brownish ... still needs work.
Red Robin ... meh
Those pics are all spectacular but the next to last one deserves extra praise. The choice of those two corals for placement together was perfect. I like that their colors and textures both contrast and compliment each other. Each piece fans out towards each other like spokes from their hubs. I joke about my tank being my zen garden but that picture pretty much does it for me.
There a lot of Red Robins out there that are -meh. But that one has both nice coloration and nice arrangement.
There a lot of Red Robins out there that are -meh. But that one has both nice coloration and nice arrangement.
markalot
...
Thanks Ed, I appreciate the visit!
The milli is gone, it turned green then started to RTN. I am paying for the low Alk with some slow base recession on a few corals and the death of the Cousin It milli. It was very sensitive the last time Alk dropped and this put it over the edge.
For a comparison.
One month ago Alk was 6.2 - 6.5 and I was dosing 20ml of two part. Now Alk is 6.7 to 7.0 and I'm up to 65ml of two part daily and it's still slowly dropping, requiring me to add a cap or two weekly.
Colors and growth are improving so any issues should stop soon, I hope. Stupid stupid stupid mistakes will get me every time.
During the Christmas Tunze sale I bought a bunch in anticipation of flow issues so I've got that covered. I think I will add an extra pump in the back to help move flow around the base of some of these growing acros.
markalot
...
A few pics just to prove the tank is still going. I'm not happy with how busy I've been.
Slimer a bit crazy.
This is a good example of the color problem I'm having. Pinky is mostly tannish ... maybe pale? Tweaking PO4 every so slowly and I might have dropped it a tad too low.
I'm now at 70ml two part and KH is once again just below 7. :headwally:
Slimer a bit crazy.
This is a good example of the color problem I'm having. Pinky is mostly tannish ... maybe pale? Tweaking PO4 every so slowly and I might have dropped it a tad too low.
I'm now at 70ml two part and KH is once again just below 7. :headwally:
markalot
...
Thanks man, much appreciated.
Hi Matt,
That is food for the foxface and tangs who munch on it all day. I have a tuxedo urchin on my smaller tank who does an incredible job but I always thought it might be too much for in here, where the tangs never get a constant supply of nori like a lot of tang owners feed. I'll have to 'digest' your advice.
nemodan
New member
A few pics just to prove the tank is still going. I'm not happy with how busy I've been.
Slimer a bit crazy.
This is a good example of the color problem I'm having. Pinky is mostly tannish ... maybe pale? Tweaking PO4 every so slowly and I might have dropped it a tad too low.
I'm now at 70ml two part and KH is once again just below 7. :headwally:
Mark the tank is amazing now ....CONGRATS !!!
Daniel
watchguy123
New member
Gorgeous tank with such beautiful acros
markalot
...
Thanks Josh! I wish I was aroudn more to keep up on all the threads. I have a two page list of subscribed threads I have to visit.
Hi Mike, thanks. It's getting pretty heavy flow this time around and growing thicker than the previous version. My wife, who is not a coral lover, saved the old skeleton of the stylo because she thought it was neat it grew so large from a small frag. That version has long thin branches.
Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. Let's hope I can keep it going for a while.
......
Speaking of time, a PM conversation led me to look up my first record of PhosphateRx usage. 2 drops daily starting around May 23rd 2016, so going on a full year now. Secret to my newfound success or disaster waiting to happen .........
markalot
...
From the disaster barely averted department ...
When you first setup fusion you have to wait a day before turning hearbeat detection on. Apparently I forgot.
Last night the tank breaker tripped and the older UPS failed within seconds. The dog barked when the UPS beeper sounded but it died so quick no one took notice. I make a run past the tank just before washing up in the evening and the silence in the basement was shocking, to say the least.
The rest of this is me rambling to try and come up with the best plan and get feedback if I'm thinking stupid. I get a lot of feedback.
During the last power failure the ecotech battery backup failed to work. I re-ran all the wires for it, cleaning each connector and making sure all connections were solid. This time around it worked and worked well, so apparently the charging cable must have come loose last time? Right side MP40 continued to run throughout the hour of no power.
I have my new UPS (that was charged on THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BASEMENT!) temporarily in the mix before I can re-run all the plugs this weekend. I'm not happy with the way things are setup right now due to the fact I have the APEX on the backup, meaning I won't know of a power failure until the battery runs out. There are two ways around this.
1. Do not put the apex on the battery backup
2. Place an alarm on the sump outlet which is not on any backup.
With the sump off the Apex is useless but I like the protection from short power interrupts that can lock up the unit so I will do #2 with heartbeat as a last resort when the UPS runs out.
40 gallon UPS backup:
MP10
150 gallon UPS backup:
Left side MP40
APEX
Right side MP40 is on the Ecotech battery ... if it works.
All heavy power consuming devices are set to check the power status of the sump outlet and turn off if it has no power. Heater, skimmer, sump circulation pumps, Matrix reactor, dosing pump, topoff. I forgot about the Tunze's in back which stay on when on battery, need to add a sump outlet power check to these.
Still don't know why the fuse tripped so I assume it will happen again.
Problems I still need to address:
Any extended power failure will result in toxic water in both the matrix reactor and the small HOB 'sump' of the 40 gallon. I have a tiny circulation pump in that little sump, maybe it should be on the backup. No good solution for the reactor.
I never thought of a tripped breaker during a vacation. I do run half the tank on a different circuit when we go out of town, maybe that's good enough.
When you first setup fusion you have to wait a day before turning hearbeat detection on. Apparently I forgot.
Last night the tank breaker tripped and the older UPS failed within seconds. The dog barked when the UPS beeper sounded but it died so quick no one took notice. I make a run past the tank just before washing up in the evening and the silence in the basement was shocking, to say the least.
The rest of this is me rambling to try and come up with the best plan and get feedback if I'm thinking stupid. I get a lot of feedback.
During the last power failure the ecotech battery backup failed to work. I re-ran all the wires for it, cleaning each connector and making sure all connections were solid. This time around it worked and worked well, so apparently the charging cable must have come loose last time? Right side MP40 continued to run throughout the hour of no power.
I have my new UPS (that was charged on THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BASEMENT!) temporarily in the mix before I can re-run all the plugs this weekend. I'm not happy with the way things are setup right now due to the fact I have the APEX on the backup, meaning I won't know of a power failure until the battery runs out. There are two ways around this.
1. Do not put the apex on the battery backup
2. Place an alarm on the sump outlet which is not on any backup.
With the sump off the Apex is useless but I like the protection from short power interrupts that can lock up the unit so I will do #2 with heartbeat as a last resort when the UPS runs out.
40 gallon UPS backup:
MP10
150 gallon UPS backup:
Left side MP40
APEX
Right side MP40 is on the Ecotech battery ... if it works.
All heavy power consuming devices are set to check the power status of the sump outlet and turn off if it has no power. Heater, skimmer, sump circulation pumps, Matrix reactor, dosing pump, topoff. I forgot about the Tunze's in back which stay on when on battery, need to add a sump outlet power check to these.
Still don't know why the fuse tripped so I assume it will happen again.
Problems I still need to address:
Any extended power failure will result in toxic water in both the matrix reactor and the small HOB 'sump' of the 40 gallon. I have a tiny circulation pump in that little sump, maybe it should be on the backup. No good solution for the reactor.
I never thought of a tripped breaker during a vacation. I do run half the tank on a different circuit when we go out of town, maybe that's good enough.
Last edited:
markalot
...
Thanks Mark.
I looked at my Apex logs to see if anything corresponded to the breaker tripping.
Apex reports power failed form 19:50 to 20:43.
The sump was off for feeding from 17:27 to 17:57.
I'm not logging the skimmer, oops, turned that on. The skimmer is set to come on 5 minutes after the feed timer expires but only if the SUMP is on. Skimmer should have turned back on at 20:02 so well before the breaker tripped.
The heater cut out at 19:46 which should be the point of the breaker trip since it was near the start of a fairly regular cycle.
There are two breaks to the regular topoff cycle. One is during feeding, the other during the failure. Topoff happens every 15 minutes and lasts for 50 seconds.
Other than showing off some graphs I have not proven anything. Breaker trip is during a heating cycle after a topoff. I was hoping to show something turning on and causing the issue but just not seeing it.
markalot
...
Ooh, power graphs. Why do I have the most fun when something fails? :wildone:
Last report was a few minutes before the failure due to the 10 minute intervals I have set the Apex to report. Peak usage below the graph is 9.8 amps or 1078 watts on a 1500 watt circuit. Heater in the dog room is on the same circuit, don't get me started on the idiot contractor who hooked the room up wrong. It's set to min which is 250 watts, so that is 1328.
Add to that the ventilation fan in the bathroom, which is on the same circuit ... don't get me started, and me thinks I see a bit of problem.
I emptied the skimmer, wife smells it from upstairs, comes down turns on bathroom fan thinking nothing of it. The stars align, the circuit is pushed above 1500 and trips the breaker.
Good thing the basement has a false ceiling and I know where the idiot contractor put the connection boxes.
So once again, in the end, user error ... user is an idiot. :lolspin: Assuming this idiot did the math correctly.
Last report was a few minutes before the failure due to the 10 minute intervals I have set the Apex to report. Peak usage below the graph is 9.8 amps or 1078 watts on a 1500 watt circuit. Heater in the dog room is on the same circuit, don't get me started on the idiot contractor who hooked the room up wrong. It's set to min which is 250 watts, so that is 1328.
Add to that the ventilation fan in the bathroom, which is on the same circuit ... don't get me started, and me thinks I see a bit of problem.
I emptied the skimmer, wife smells it from upstairs, comes down turns on bathroom fan thinking nothing of it. The stars align, the circuit is pushed above 1500 and trips the breaker.
Good thing the basement has a false ceiling and I know where the idiot contractor put the connection boxes.
So once again, in the end, user error ... user is an idiot. :lolspin: Assuming this idiot did the math correctly.
