Unsuccessful with SPS corals. :(

[dkeller_nc]

Here are a couple of places that sell inverters, inverter/chargers, and full-blown, fully-automatic battery backup systems:

http://www.theinverterstore.com

http://www.westmarine.com

 

[dkeller_nc]

Do you have a large powerhead and some tubing? A powerhead isn't ideal to use as a return pump, but even if you can only get 50 gph into the display tank from the sump, that will be more than good enough to get you by for a few days while you wait on your replacement pump to be delivered.

Another idea is an old canister filter - in a pinch, I've ran the intake in the sump, and put the output in the aquarium.

 

[DeepThought]

The new quietone 4000 will be here tomorrow. Ill get it installed asap.

I noticed a 10*F difference between the sump and the display. I think you might be right about those fuge bulbs.

 

[penfold2]

I noticed a 10*F difference between the sump and the display. I think you might be right about those fuge bulbs.

Are you sure your thermometers are accurate? Water should not be staying in the sump long enough for there to be any difference in temperature between the sump and display. Even if there were a large heat source in the sump, that heat should be equally distributed throughout the entire system.

 

[DeepThought]

Not sure how much you have read of the thread. The return pump is broken. There is no water goig through the sump at the moment. It should be ubiquious but not while the sump isnt going.

The thermometer is the apex professional one. To my knowledge it is pretty accurate.

 

[penfold2]

Oops, thought I had read most of the thread, but apparently not. Sounds like you'll soon have things under control with the new return pump and fuge lights.

 

[DeepThought]

No problem dude! Stick around on this thread. I really like suggestions from everyone. Thank you for participating in the thread. I look forward to hearing more from you and others.

Ill be getting the new fuge lights this weekend i hope. Right now my main goal is to get that return going. Ill be gettin that photon 48 sometime this week, i hope. I have no way to mount it at the moment. But, i am a good carpenter and i think i can figure something out temporarily while they work on a prototype leg mount for it.

My soft corals and fish are doing really well. I dont think they have anything to complain about. However, i have been feeding them only once a day instead of my regular 3x a day. They will be much happier when the return is on.

I found out my photon48 has shipped today. It will be here later this week. My return pump will be here tomorrow. A new friend is shipping some heaters, a tlf phosphate reactor, some pumps and powerheads and filter socks to me. Im excited too because they are donating some toys and things for my daughter too.

I think everything will be ok.

 

[DeepThought]

So.

Thunderstorm came through.

Wind knocked down some powerlines and now i dont have power.

Hopefully it will be on in a few hours.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Hope you got your power back, that sucks.

On another thread, someone asked me what to have "on-hand" to prevent a crashed tank. This was my list that I keep, others might have a slightly different one:

For future crash protection, this is what I'd suggest that you always have on hand:

Seawater mix (looks like you've already taken care of that).

At least 1 Liter of high quality carbon (Seachem Matrix is probably the best, though a bit pricey).

About 10% of your total water volume in RODI. The 10% figure lets you do an immediate water change while making/buying more. BTW - Distilled water from the grocery store will work just fine.

Extra large powerhead and tubing to fit it. That lets you sub out your return pump should it go bad.

Several quarts to several gallons of ice in plastic bottles in the freezer. That lets you control the temp in the tank in case of a house AC failure.

Extra heater (more applicable to winter).

At the very least, a DC to AC power inverter and a trolling motor battery. That lets you power your tank for between 6 hours to 6 days depending on what you're running. A fancier setup is an inverter/charger with a line voltage sensor - it's essentially the "brains" of a UPS that lets you add your own batteries.

Here's one more to add:

Two battery-powered air pumps, plenty of airline tubing and a couple of sandstone airstones for each. These are very inexpensive - less than $10 each. In a dire emergency, you can add one to the main tank and one to the sump, and make sure nothing dies until your power comes back.

 

[DeepThought]

Dkeller, thank you for sticking with the thread. I really appreciate it.

Could you post a link of your build thread on here? Or pm me one? I would love to check out your build/system.

 

[dkeller_nc]

I can provide you with descriptions, but I never set up a build thread. I currently have two tanks - the 20 gal., SPS dominated nano, and a newly-set-up 50gal rimless cube.

The 50gal rimless cube was set up about 6 weeks ago and has some SPS in it, but it's still too early to see how everything will do in it. It was definitely an experiment for me - 2 Vega LED units instead of fluorescent/MH, Vortech advanced pumps instead of powerheads, a thought-out aquascape instead of a reef wall and a slightly different maintenance philosophy - 2 part alkalinity/calcium replacement that has Mg/Sr already in it instead of kalkwasser, and heavy plankton feedings.

I've already decided to make some changes - a kalkwasser reactor is going onto the tank as soon as I can get away from work enough to configure it with an ATO. And relatively soon, the kalkwasser reactor is going to be supplemented with a Calcium reactor. That will be new to me as well - but it seems that calcium reactor/kalkwasser combinations offer the best stability/coral growth/animal health/minimal algae of the tanks that I've seen in person.

 

[DeepThought]

Yeah, I want to do the Ca Rx with the kalk ato as well on my 75g. It's just taking a lot of time getting everything bought and set up. Though, I don't mind. A little at a time over a long period of time works for me.

My return pump is supposed to come in today. I'll be happy when I get it all installed on the system. Thursday comes my lights! I can't wait. Seems like the tank has cost me a lot of money lately - but I think I am going to take a small break on buying stuff for a little while. Though, one last thing I need is a pump for the ATO. Then I'll be set for a little while longer.

 

[dkeller_nc]

I have similar thoughts about spending a lot on a tank lately - the 50gal cube hasn't been cheap.

But, IMO you have the right idea. A certain amount of expenditure is necessary to get good base equipment, good LR and decent livestock, but the day-in-day-out testing, water chemistry adjusting, feeding and watching the tank is a good deal more important. Most that have been in the hobby can confirm that spending lots and lots of dough doesn't guarantee you good results unless you use all of that expenditure correctly.

My 50 gal is a good example - I have nearly $1200 worth of LED lighting over the top of it when the 2 Vega fixtures, AI extension rail mounts and AI extension rails are counted together. But it remains to be seen whether I will get as good a result out of this than my other option - install my old-school IceCap 660 ballast, 4 T-12 VHO bulbs and a 175W Metal Halide over the tank. I'm certain that set-up will work, because it has on multiple previous tanks.

But the energy usage was huge, and it was an absolute necessity to run a chiller on the tank during the summer months. I'm hoping that $1200 investment pays off in less heat, bulb changes, less equipment to service, and decent coral growth.

We'll see.

 

[ThorEffex]

Well my experience with LEDs are great. I decided to go LEDs because of heat and power issues. I had one radion over my tank for 5 months now and I'm getting the 2nd one Wednesday and my heater kicks on all the time to maintain 80 degrees, and I notice growth of all the sps and lps everyday. I haven't thought of changing my 2 part doeser out its too convenient, space and ease wise although I think in the future of the system it's going to get very pricey.

 

[DeepThought]

I have similar thoughts about spending a lot on a tank lately - the 50gal cube hasn't been cheap.

But, IMO you have the right idea. A certain amount of expenditure is necessary to get good base equipment, good LR and decent livestock, but the day-in-day-out testing, water chemistry adjusting, feeding and watching the tank is a good deal more important. Most that have been in the hobby can confirm that spending lots and lots of dough doesn't guarantee you good results unless you use all of that expenditure correctly.

My 50 gal is a good example - I have nearly $1200 worth of LED lighting over the top of it when the 2 Vega fixtures, AI extension rail mounts and AI extension rails are counted together. But it remains to be seen whether I will get as good a result out of this than my other option - install my old-school IceCap 660 ballast, 4 T-12 VHO bulbs and a 175W Metal Halide over the tank. I'm certain that set-up will work, because it has on multiple previous tanks.

But the energy usage was huge, and it was an absolute necessity to run a chiller on the tank during the summer months. I'm hoping that $1200 investment pays off in less heat, bulb changes, less equipment to service, and decent coral growth.

We'll see.

I certainly hope it does too! In my case, the $500 LEDs that I just ordered was a huge immediate expense for me. I can stand to spend $40 here and $50 there over a period of time... but dropping $500 on something that I may or may not like is something that worries me. I've read enough reviews and done enough research to know that I bought a pretty good LED fixture for the price.

Well my experience with LEDs are great. I decided to go LEDs because of heat and power issues. I had one radion over my tank for 5 months now and I'm getting the 2nd one Wednesday and my heater kicks on all the time to maintain 80 degrees, and I notice growth of all the sps and lps everyday. I haven't thought of changing my 2 part doeser out its too convenient, space and ease wise although I think in the future of the system it's going to get very pricey.

I decided to go with LEDs for the same reasons. Heat and power are the main two concerns, but I also knew that I needed to get more powerful lights to keep the SPS corals that I want to keep.

 

[DeepThought]

So... the new pump. Looks like it's an 18ft cord! The thing is stupid long. I probably only needed 3ft of it. heh. Oh well, it works and I'm happy. It's also pretty quiet and vibration free.

I also replaced the halogen light that I had on my refugium with an LED light from the big blue home improvement store.

Looks like it should grow some algae, neh?

 

[dkeller_nc]

Good to hear you've a solution for your return pump. Waiting on a critical piece of equipment like that would drive me crazy.

One note about the screw-in LEDs from Home Depot/Lowes. There appear to be 3 different spectrums available: 2700K, 3000K, and 5000K. The 2700K and 3000K bulbs are about the same price, the 5000Ks are more expensive.

To my eye, the kelvin temperatures of these bulbs don't translate well to what we're used to with reef tanks. The 5000K, for example, looks quite a bit more blue than a 6500K metal halide.

In my case, I bought the 3000K bulbs to growth phytoplankton. After 3 months, I'd have to say I'm very pleased with the results. The phyto seems to actually grow faster with a 14w 3000K bulb than it does with a 65w PC fluorescent.

 

[Koral_Keeper]

Ditching the Mag Drive should reduce your temp somewhat. They produce a TON of heat. I had a 9.5 in a freshwater and my heater almost never kicked on, even with the room temp at 68.

 

[DeepThought]

Yeah. Glad i was able to install it last night too. It was hecktic at my house yesterday. I like that led light i purchased. It is a 3000k light. I am going to stick with just one and if i dont see the same kind of growth, ill add a second one. Just switching the bulbs out should also save me some on my electric bill.

I switched out that pump for the quiet one which uses half the wattage and then i switched that led light and my temp this morning was 78.4*F. The water temp in the sump before the return pump kicked on was 91.2*F. After i got the system going and circulating the water temp was at 84.4*F. So it cooled down over night. Now im worried i need to get a heater on my system asap! Lol

My leds are supposed to be here tomorrow morning. Im excited!!!!!!!!!

 

[DeepThought]

So, I came home from work today. First thing I did with the tank was just observe it... Check. Second thing I did was look at the temp... 78*F! WOOHOOO!!! That new LED light on the fuge is freakin' sweet!