Pete's 280 log
- Thread starter psteeleb
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BigJay
New member
That's fantastic Pete! I'm glad to see the little guy pull through.
Are you up for some aquascaping and water testing this weekend?
Did you get your new halide bulbs in? How does the tank look under the new lights?
My only plans tonight are to mix some sea water for a change tomorrow, and maybe dose some phyto.
Are you up for some aquascaping and water testing this weekend?
Did you get your new halide bulbs in? How does the tank look under the new lights?
My only plans tonight are to mix some sea water for a change tomorrow, and maybe dose some phyto.
psteeleb
Team RC
I'll start a salt mix tonight for a water change and probably do some rearranging. So tonight may work, or maybe early afternoon on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. I'm thinking about dropping by Frank's Tanks and DaveJ's on Sat morning, as I will be dropping Kristen off in south Ft Worth around 9:30.
The new bulbs came in yesterday but are not installed yet. They are the same ones I have now (Reflux 12ks), but being new it will be interesting to see if they make a visible difference. Maybe I'll take out the middle one and put a new one in the right side to compare left to right. Wish I had access to a PAR meter. The sps on the right side of the tank seem to be suffering some. I suspect it's due to the light on that side, as the bulb is almost 2 years old, so I'm looking forward to getting them replaced. The other 2 - 250w bulbs are a year old.
I will also want to clean my reflectors with the bulbs out. There is a little salt spray on them, not bad, but it would be nice to get them cleaned up.
psteeleb
Team RC
Kalc reactor update
Kalc reactor update
I posted that I was having some issues with the flow not starting when a batch of water was pumped into the upper tank. I had removed the check valve, thinking it was a causing enough restriction to prevent the minimal gravity feed. But, I was still having issues. I checked several times for other constraints but never found any. Flow was not a problem once started, so I was thinking it may be some Kalc build up on the line to the sump, it looked unconstrained. My final thought was maybe there just isn't enough head pressure (only about 8") to get this thing primed, so, I took the Kalc reactor off the shelf and lowered it about 4", sure enough it started right up.
Okay problem identified; not enough head pressure to overcome tubing and fitting friction on startup. Easy fix, lower reactor, raise tank, or, increase tubing size. Considering I didn't want to remount shelves at 11:45 at night, I cut the 3/8" tubing off the reactor outlet and added a piece of 1/2", worked like a charm.
Kalc reactor update
I posted that I was having some issues with the flow not starting when a batch of water was pumped into the upper tank. I had removed the check valve, thinking it was a causing enough restriction to prevent the minimal gravity feed. But, I was still having issues. I checked several times for other constraints but never found any. Flow was not a problem once started, so I was thinking it may be some Kalc build up on the line to the sump, it looked unconstrained. My final thought was maybe there just isn't enough head pressure (only about 8") to get this thing primed, so, I took the Kalc reactor off the shelf and lowered it about 4", sure enough it started right up.
Okay problem identified; not enough head pressure to overcome tubing and fitting friction on startup. Easy fix, lower reactor, raise tank, or, increase tubing size. Considering I didn't want to remount shelves at 11:45 at night, I cut the 3/8" tubing off the reactor outlet and added a piece of 1/2", worked like a charm.
psteeleb
Team RC
thought about?, yes, but do anything, no. It's one of those things that we talk about but it is so far down on the list it isn't going to happen for a while. Maybe when my other pair of misbar black clowns start to lay eggs it may move up on the list of things we would like to try.
Thanks on the Kalc reactor, it's now working flawlessly. System wise I still need to deal with a couple things. First off I thought a 1/4 cup of lime would last at least a week, but it looks like it will only go about 2 days. Looks like I'll have to use about a cup a week. No big deal but just a little more maintenance then I first thought. Second, the weather cooled off so now I'm only evaporating about 2.5 gallons a day, so the 3 gallons a day of lime water beig added is overfilling the system. This isn't a huge issue either, but will cause me to run my fans longer or to add more fans to force more evaporation.
psteeleb
Team RC
with my reflectors 16" off the water (bulbs about 20") there was not much splash as you can see in this picture of the middle reflector
But I decided to wipe them down anyway with some RO/DI water and a clean paper towel. Not a good idea as you can see here n the left reflector with new bulb installed
as compared to the right reflector with old bulb
But I decided to wipe them down anyway with some RO/DI water and a clean paper towel. Not a good idea as you can see here n the left reflector with new bulb installed
as compared to the right reflector with old bulb
scaryperson27
New member
those are the chemicals from the papertowel. I'll bet a fresh micro-fiber cloth would take that right off.
psteeleb
Team RC
So I wiped down the left reflector with a dry paper towel and now it looks fairly clean. I'll have to ask around what people are using to clean these luma bright as I want to keep the high gloss finish on them. I use to use vinegar to clean reflectors but I'm afraid it may etch the polish.
scaryperson27
New member
I would use straight RO/DI. the spots are due to the water evaporating leaving behind any dissolved particals, chemicals, etc. that were in the water. Using pure water will insure that you will not leave any contaminants at all.
psteeleb
Team RC
I use to have issues with the aluminum mogul sockets getting a little oxidized making it very difficult to remove and install bulbs. But now I wipe the threaded part down with a little Vaseline and they now are installed and removed with ease
and that shipping sleeve works very nicely to use as a handle to avoid getting finger prints on the bulbs
and that shipping sleeve works very nicely to use as a handle to avoid getting finger prints on the bulbs
psteeleb
Team RC
With the right side bulb installed and the left still as a 1 year old bulb I decided to turn off the center and take a couple pictures for comparison. I let the bulb warm up for about 10 minutes, cleaned the glass and stirred up some detrius to cloud the water some. At first I really did note expect to see much of a difference if any, boy was I surprised.
left side 1 year old Reflux 12k
right side new (10-15minute) Reflex 12k
left side 1 year old Reflux 12k
right side new (10-15minute) Reflex 12k
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