Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[mhucasey]

Fish and corals spend 24 hours, give or take, in bags during shipping. A few hours without power in our tanks is nothing to worry about, as long as temps stay stable.

Thats in-line with my thinking, but it made me nervous nonetheless. A power outage in the dead of night with no moon is its own interesting experience. the house was so quiet...

Me too! Several years ago we lost power for over 4 days in August. That would be a reef tank disaster today.

Yeah, I would shell out for a generator day one if that happened here. We had a 24 hour outage about 5 years ago, that is the longest outage I can remember in 40 years. Expensive but reliable power...

And as long as you're not using reactors that will come back on when power returns. Anything over an hour in a sealed reactor that has a modicum of detritus in it is problematic because of H2S (hydrogen sulfide) generation. DAMHIKT.

I expected some of that but it was pretty stink free. I will never understand when people turn reactors off for days and then just turn them on...thats a disaster waiting to happen!

With the amount of blood, sweat, and cash I've spent on corals and fish buying a $500 portable generator to keep my creatures alive in a power outage is worth it. I have a battery backup for my vortech pumps for the occasional thunderstorm outage. I have had to use my generator several times last year so it's already paid for itself in saved livestock .

You are correct, and the outage has got me working on a power solution. Luckily I have the solar panels that can power the house during the day.

what a great setup, well worth the days used to read the thread...

Love the corals and that powder blue

Thanks very much, and Welcome!

Glad the tank are alright. Corals look lovely and the colours will annoy Darth Acro I'm sure. Very happy to see the rebel alliance going from strength to strength. :beer:

Thanks Sahin!
I think Darth is spinning in his tie fighter somewhere...

 

[mhucasey]

Matt, that's a masterpiece waiting to happen.

Thanks Matt, I hope so. this one is a "Tank Hardened" colony. It was collected then grown in a tank near the reef for a few months to make it hardier. My luck hasn't been good with Echinatas.

Nice echinata.. I am currently babysitting a very similar one for somebody. Wish I could keep it for my sel.

I'd have a hard time not turning that babysitting into a kidnapping:lolspin:

Update:

I think my balancing of the Ca, Alk, and Mg has corrected the bubbling issues. The affected corals are recovering and things are looking good:

April 27:

Tonight:

April 24:

Tonight:

 

[K.C.]

Yeah, I would shell out for a generator day one if that happened here. We had a 24 hour outage about 5 years ago, that is the longest outage I can remember in 40 years. Expensive but reliable power...

Define expensive relative to your reef tanks.

I'm a couple hundred miles up the coast from you and I've had 3 major outages in the last year. I run a UPS that gives me 3 hours and then it's time to pull out the Honda generator. It's paid for itself many times.

You are correct, and the outage has got me working on a power solution. Luckily I have the solar panels that can power the house during the day.

No storage for when the panels are generating more than you need ?

You do remember that we live in earthquake country right ?

Just my 2 cents worth after 40+ years in the hobby.

 

[mhucasey]

Define expensive relative to your reef tanks.

I'm a couple hundred miles up the coast from you and I've had 3 major outages in the last year. I run a UPS that gives me 3 hours and then it's time to pull out the Honda generator. It's paid for itself many times.



No storage for when the panels are generating more than you need ?

You do remember that we live in earthquake country right ?

Just my 2 cents worth after 40+ years in the hobby.

I meant SDGE is expensive but reliable. You are correct that a generator would be money well spent, I will be looking into it. The solar panels don't store energy because the utility makes you disconnect from the grid if you store power- and my roof won't hold enough panels to generate 100 percent of my power. I have to stay connected to the grid unfortunately. In a pinch, I could reduce usage during the day to essentials and power everything with the panels. A generator could handle the nights.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Yeah, I would shell out for a generator day one if that happened here. We had a 24 hour outage about 5 years ago, that is the longest outage I can remember in 40 years. Expensive but reliable power...

BTW, no you wouldn't. I can tell you from experience that you can't wait for the power to actually go out to get a generator - you have to buy them in advance.

Since your location largely precludes hurricanes, I'd suggest getting a Honda EU2000i. It'll supply 1600 watts continuous, which should be more than enough fro everything on your tanks plus a TV and/or fan for you and the doggies. You can pick it up with one hand, store it easily, and it's incredibly quiet and fuel efficient.

Contrast this with >3000 watt genny with a Suzuki or Briggs & Stratton engine from the home store. Certainly cheaper, but weighs in at more than 100 lbs, is incredibly noisy, and most don't have a run-time of over 5-6 hours. Definitely worth having in hurricane country, where outages can last for weeks and powering a house air conditioner can be a tank-saver. But definitely have their down-sides.

 

[fessoclown]

I can't wait for those nifty Tesla house batteries to hit the market. Won't be long now... the headline says expensive but $3500 is pretty reasonable. Was less than a natural gas generator I was pricing out last year. I have yet to pull the trigger on a small Honda or something.... reading stuff like this in threads gets me motivated...

http://inhabitat.com/teslas-powerwall-battery-is-a-stylish-but-expensive-way-to-ditch-the-grid/

 

[mhucasey]

I can't wait for those nifty Tesla house batteries to hit the market. Won't be long now... the headline says expensive but $3500 is pretty reasonable. Was less than a natural gas generator I was pricing out last year. I have yet to pull the trigger on a small Honda or something.... reading stuff like this in threads gets me motivated...

http://inhabitat.com/teslas-powerwall-battery-is-a-stylish-but-expensive-way-to-ditch-the-grid/

It all depends on the power company. SDGE basically says, "well, if you are so good at producing power then you don't need us" and makes you disconnect if you want to store power. Unless you can guarantee that you can make 100% of your power from the sun all through the year you will have days where you have no power - not a pretty thought. At this time of the year I almost break even between how much power I generate and how much I use. In winter I make 1/3 as much...

 

[dkeller_nc]

You might not find the Tesla Powerwall all that compelling. It has 6400 wh of storage, which means 640 watts for 10 hours. Certainly useful for short-term power outages, but decidedly unhelpful for a couple of days. But it might well be all you need if you have significant generating capacity in solar arrays.

 

[acesq]

I have solar and looked into the Tesla Power walls and other battery storage options. Unless you spend lots of money (ie, many batteries), it's at best a solution to very short power outages. I also looked at gennys, including propane and those too can get expensive if you want to power the whole house (for me $10k plus). I opted for the Honda EU3000 which is the right size for my tank, refrigerator and some house lights. Its been sitting waiting for a reason to be used for 6 months now (what happened to El Nino??). I hear we could be getting a lot of rolling blackouts this summer because of the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak up here in the LA area so I'll be ready.

 

[maxxII]

Peroxide is an old fish store trick for power outages, it oxygenates the water. I don't have a battery powered air pump, so thats why I didn't use one

I have about 30 sets of inverters, battery chargers, Batteries, etc from some mobile computer carts at work that we were throwing out. I think I'll cobble together a backup system that can fully power the system(minus lights) for a long time during an outage. With a few Deep cycle batteries I could get 10+ hours I think.

I've been using Penn Plax Silent Air B-11 battery powered air pumps for years.

They run on two D cell batteries. Plug them in and turn the switch to on.
When the power goes off for any reason, the pump kicks on and runs on the batteries providing aeration for the tank for up to five days.

Dont add an airstone, more water gets moved with large bubbles coming from the air line tubing. I use a thin piece of rigid air line tubing and run it discreetly in the back of the tank.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/8/aafeature

 

[Acronic]

Thanks Matt, I hope so. this one is a "Tank Hardened" colony. It was collected then grown in a tank near the reef for a few months to make it hardier. My luck hasn't been good with Echinatas.



I'd have a hard time not turning that babysitting into a kidnapping:lolspin:

Update:

I think my balancing of the Ca, Alk, and Mg has corrected the bubbling issues. The affected corals are recovering and things are looking good:

April 27:

Tonight:

April 24:

Tonight:

I have a theory... :hammer:

I think the abnormal growth may be an issue with the corals homeostasis. Perhaps in relation to the trace element dosing (strontium, manganese whatever it may be). The calcite polymorph may be a defence mechanism to protect the aragonite structure subjected to localized acidity or even hypoxic calcification fluid within the tissue. Could it be a result of nutrition deficiency hampering the mitochondrial activity? I dont know..

 

[watchguy123]

The aqua forest rage seems to result in some spectacular tanks. I don't think I have the either the patience or diligence to maintain the additives. Curious about the salt though, do you mix and use it immediately.

 

[mhucasey]

The aqua forest rage seems to result in some spectacular tanks. I don't think I have the either the patience or diligence to maintain the additives. Curious about the salt though, do you mix and use it immediately.

Yes, the salt is mixed and ready to add in 15 minutes.

 

[reefmutt]

I think the only downside of not using the mixed salt right away is the loss of the bacterial/probiotic element.
Matt, correct me if I'm wrong.. I don't believe not using the mixed saltwater right away causes any harm to the mix..
I guess it's a bit of a waste of money to buy the salt and not benefit from that element of the salt, however..

 

[watchguy123]

I think the only downside of not using the mixed salt right away is the loss of the bacterial/probiotic element.
Matt, correct me if I'm wrong.. I don't believe not using the mixed saltwater right away causes any harm to the mix..
I guess it's a bit of a waste of money to buy the salt and not benefit from that element of the salt, however..

I am concerned about it turning bad in the storage container if not used immediately. I don't know if the probiotics will breakdown in storage

 

[reefmutt]

Yeah.. Really not sure.
I'm sure an Aquaforester will pipe up some enough.

 

[mhucasey]

I think the only downside of not using the mixed salt right away is the loss of the bacterial/probiotic element.
Matt, correct me if I'm wrong.. I don't believe not using the mixed saltwater right away causes any harm to the mix..
I guess it's a bit of a waste of money to buy the salt and not benefit from that element of the salt, however..

The Probiotic salt will go bad if left in the container for more than a day or two per AF. The reef salt can be stored like any other salt water mix.

 

[mhucasey]

I have a theory... :hammer:

I think the abnormal growth may be an issue with the corals homeostasis. Perhaps in relation to the trace element dosing (strontium, manganese whatever it may be). The calcite polymorph may be a defence mechanism to protect the aragonite structure subjected to localized acidity or even hypoxic calcification fluid within the tissue. Could it be a result of nutrition deficiency hampering the mitochondrial activity? I dont know..

I haven't dosed enough of anything to be the trigger, plus this was happening before dosing any strontium, manganese, or zinc. Based on a bit of brushing up on the subject, high Magnesium should interfere with formation of Calcite, so this doesn't make sense.

 

[plyle02]

Hey Matt, I have read where some are using the balling method in addition to running a calcium RX, I am wondering if this would be good for you. I think you could tune down the calcium RX and then ball on top. I am seeing amazing results so far using the balling component system, it has been tricky to lock in the right dose, but the response from the corals is top notch. All 3 seem to uptake at the proper ratio, I will confirm with test results, but having the trace dosed daily is really awesome.
Cheers...

 

[Scorpius]

I use the BRS 2 part with Fauna Marin 1-3 trace element program added to the BRS 2 part with good results.