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07/21/2017, 08:46 PM | #101 |
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I've been trading corals to my LFS. The plan is to buy one on store credit. That might not work if they can't get me one though.
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07/22/2017, 01:23 PM | #102 |
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08/02/2017, 08:51 AM | #103 |
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Damn mike. Awesome setup!!!! I'll have to come by some day and check it out.
Might consider adding a dos to your skimmer drain. I have a peristaltic pump in my shed, and i can push a button on my apex to drain the skimmer cup. No need to have it drain to a container under your stand and stink up the place. With my auto neck cleaner and skimmer drain I only remove my skimmer cup every few months. |
08/02/2017, 10:40 AM | #104 |
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This is absolutely incredible!
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08/02/2017, 01:04 PM | #105 | |
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Thank you! |
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08/03/2017, 02:01 AM | #106 |
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I got some filters for the phone and took some pics, I think they came out okay. Some pics of the fishes that are currently in the tank.
I drained the skimmer cup on Monday and installed this quick disconnect valve. There is two valves. I'll be hooking up a container to drain the skimmate into. I'll see how I like this route, If I get tired of emptying the container, I'll hook up my GHL doser to the skimmer cup and run a line out to the drain. I'll have the GHL doser drain out once a day. Got this valve so I can get water from the RODI water container without having to purge the pvc pipes of salt water. I have the PMUP in the RODI container pump out rodi water. Now getting fresh RODI water is a breeze. No need to purge the pipes of the saltwater. |
08/03/2017, 04:38 PM | #107 |
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Location: Tampa
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Your iphone filter works well. How is it listed in the app store?
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08/04/2017, 01:48 AM | #108 | |
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08/04/2017, 01:51 AM | #109 |
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When I got home this evening, I tested the DT's alkalinity and it came back at 6.2. I dosed the tank to bring it up to 7.3, I will dose the tank again tomorrow to bring it up to 8dkh. I also tested the water in the SW container and the alkalinity also came back at 6.2, I dosed it to bring it up to 8DKH. Both the tank and SW container CA was 445, MG 1440. Seems like Fritz RPM has low alk, I've gone thru about four boxes of it and each time, alk has been low.
Tonight, I setup the KHG. It took me well over 2 hours to set it up and get it going. When you first setup the KHG, you need to calibrate the PH probe with PH 7 and 4 solution. Plug in the KHG, put the probe in the PH 7 solution and hit buttons 2 and 4 to set, rinse the probe with RODI, pat dry and put it in the PH 4 solution. Hit button 1 and 4 to set. Your home's network needs to run on DCHP in order to connect to the KHG via it's web interface. I initially had trouble with this step. When you first plug in the KHG, it will try to obtain DCHP, once that happens, it will display the IP address assigned to it and the port number. You need to write down this info and plug it into the address bar in your web browser. I had to constantly reboot the KHG to try to get the IP and port number as the info went away quickly and sometimes it wouldn't get the DCHP. After I was able to log into the KHG, I then setup the timezone, DT water volume, where I like to keep my DKH (8), how much I will allow the KHG to dose a sodium bicarbonate solution at a time after each test. The KHG will only dose a sodium bicarbonate solution of 1000ML of RODI to 65 grams of dry baking soda. The reagent uses 1500ML of RODI to dilute the reagent. I bought graduated cylinders for this process. You also have to purge the saltwater in and saltwater out lines, this took awhile to complete. Then you have to purge the reagent in and reagent out lines, this took even longer as the doser only pulls up one drop at a time. Then you gotta purge the sodium bicarbonate in and out lines. Coralvue recommends you run five test to break it in. See the pictures below of all five test. I also did two test with my Hanna PPM alkalinity tester and two test with salifert's alkalinity tester. Hanna came back both times at 7.28 DKH. Salifert came back twice at 7.3 DKH. The KHG thru all five test came back at 6.93, 7.04 and 7.05. I went with saliferts result and adjusted the KHG's DKH readings. The 6th picture is a test after the adjustment. There is also a picture of the KHG test log. I will post another snapshot of the log after a few days of testing. I have the KHG testing every four hours which is the max time between test. Overall, I'm happy with the KHG and it's repeat-ability. First test Second test Third test Fourth 5est Fifth test Final test after adjustment Hanna test with the same results twice Side note, this skimmer is kicking butt! It sure does earn it's name. |
08/04/2017, 01:56 AM | #110 |
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Forgot to post a picture of the KHG log.
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08/04/2017, 07:04 PM | #111 |
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Have you guys ever seen coraline stay purple on dead rock? I don't remember seeing any coraline on the dry pukani rocks I used to start the tank. I am see spots of coraline here and there and think it's pretty early for the tank to start growing it already. I haven't introduced any corals or cleanup crew that may seed the tank with coraline.
Another issue I'm having is something in the tank is using up my ALK. A couple weeks ago, the tank was at 6.2 DKH and I dosed the tank up to 8 DKH. Yesterday, the tank was at 6.2 DKH again and had to does to bring it up. What can use up ALK with no corals in the tank? I'll test for CA and MG and see if those are being used up also. |
08/05/2017, 05:37 AM | #112 |
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Sounds like a pain to set that thing up, for the price it should fly itself there and do an auto setup for you, haha
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60x36x24 mixed reef. 40b sump. Regal 250int Varios. 4xHydra26HDs+t5s. 4xMp40wes. Apex2016. |
08/05/2017, 08:54 AM | #113 |
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Uttoxeter, U.K.
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Have you thought of an Avast Davy Jones Skimmer locker, connected up to your Profilux, I use one, with my BK 200, switches the skimmer off when it's full and alarms you through your profilux, one of the best bits of kit I've bought.
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08/05/2017, 10:01 PM | #114 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
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08/05/2017, 10:11 PM | #115 |
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This afternoon, I checked on the KHG to find that it had an error readying. SW>ERR, basically telling me the KHG is not getting enough SW into the reaction chamber fast enough to before the test can begin. I did everything stated in the manual to try and correct the problem, no dice. I looked in the reaction chamber and found that the float switch in the reaction chamber was not able to move freely. I could manually remove it but when water filled the chamber, it did not float up by itself. I found there is a magnetic agitator below the float switch, it looks like a little white pill. I took this out and moved it lower down the reaction chamber. This fixed the problem and the KHG finally processed a test without any errors. Each test performed while I was home was double checked with the hanna alkalinity checker and salifert alk test. All test came out very close in results. I'm currently using the KHG to dial in my alk doses. I'm currently dosing 36ml a day of ESV alk even with zero corals in the tank, weird. The KHG is also dosing sodium bicarbonate to try to keep the levels at 8 DKH. Here is a log from today.
08/05 00:44:42 W.131 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.00 08/05 04:38:48 W.132 %0 AK.68.00 KH :7.89 08/05 08:56:23 W.176 KS=55D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :7.88 08/05 12:13:58 RESET ! 08/05 12:14:51 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/05 12:15:53 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/05 12:16:23 RESET ! 08/05 12:16:52 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/05 12:22:30 RESET ! 08/05 12:32:43 W.176 KS=56D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :7.93 08/05 12:34:23 Test KH doser 08/05 12:38:57 RESET ! 08/05 12:40:15 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/05 12:41:45 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/05 12:52:56 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/05 16:22:37 RESET ! 08/05 16:25:53 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/05 16:30:01 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/05 16:34:42 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/05 16:40:24 RESET ! 08/05 16:40:59 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/05 16:48:02 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/05 17:01:16 RESET ! 08/05 17:15:10 W.130 KS=38D L%0 S%0 AC_ERR KH :5.52 08/05 17:19:27 RESET ! 08/05 17:30:26 W.128 %0 AK.64.00 KH :7.89 08/05 17:53:07 Save New System Environment. 08/05 17:54:01 Save New System Environment. 08/05 17:55:16 Save New System Environment. 08/05 17:55:55 Save New System Environment. 08/05 18:07:15 W.128 %0 AK.95.00 KH :7.74 08/05 18:08:27 Save New System Environment. 08/05 20:41:29 W.129 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :7.99 |
08/07/2017, 01:01 AM | #116 |
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Here is the KHG log for today. It's been very accurate and consistent in the result. I cross check the result. I will perform a test while the KHG is doing it's test and the values are always similar. This device makes dialing in a doser a lot easier. However, I'm up to 96 ml of alk and ca. I literally only have one SPS frag in there to see if it will survive and color up before I purchase more SPS. My rocks are turning green, does that algae uptake ca and alk like purple coraline does? I'm stumped on what is using up all my ca and alk. ca and alk are dosed one hour apart from each other 12 times a day. I don't see any precipitate on any of the pumps. At this rate, I'm going to have to move to a calcium reactor soon once I start adding corals.
08/06 03:16:16 W.129 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :7.94 08/06 03:24:23 Save New System Environment. 08/06 07:35:18 W.131 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :7.98 08/06 11:46:27 W.135 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :7.98 08/06 15:57:48 W.131 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :7.98 08/06 20:16:19 W.134 %0 AK.34.00 KH :7.89 08/06 23:38:10 W.132 %0 AK.95.00 KH :7.79 |
08/07/2017, 04:55 AM | #117 |
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Keep a close eye on the alk. I've found, when setting up w/ dry rock, that the alk seems to take a few months to stabilize. I've always had to dose alk at the beginning to keep stable. Once stable, the level will spike if you are not on top of it. Happened to me while testing weekly. Seems to be around month 2-4 that this happens. Then consumption will equal true demand. My theory is that the rock is absorbing some and some is being used by the microflora/fauna while they go through boom/bust cycles establishing the ecosystem.
Also, keep an eye on mag. This would also swing for me. Nice set up, despite the hiccups.
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Back after a 13yr hiatus--much to my wife's dismay. Though she sure loves looking at the tank and feeding the fish! Current Tank Info: Reefer 450 seed tank for the retirement 315gal Reef Savvy build. Last edited by JWClark; 08/07/2017 at 07:34 AM. |
08/15/2017, 02:03 AM | #118 |
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I took a trip to Unique Corals on Saturday. It was a three hour round trip, traffic the entire way. It was totally worth it though, Tim gave me a tour of the facility and it was awesome! The Dastaco they have setup there is ridiculously huge. Sunday I went to work setting up the reactor which took some time as this is my first calcium reactor. After everything was setup, I had a heck of a time trying to get the co2 reaction chamber to purge the water out so the float switch could do it's thing. I was never able to get it to work and found out that the outlet on the controller that controls the co2 solenoid is faulty. It was not providing any power to the solenoid to let co2 in. This took me quite some time to figure out. This morning, I call Joe at Unique Corals and he is having a new controller sent out to me. So for now, it's filled and ready to go but stuck in limbo. Hopefully I'll get it up and running tomorrow evening if the controller gets here tomorrow. Here are some pics of the calcium reactor, it's pretty big. Luckily, I left enough space at the end of the tank for this very reason. I did get to play with the controller a bit and I like that I only have to adjust a dial to increase alk/ca dosage. No fiddling with bubble counters, PH or effluent rate. You do have to setup the controller upon first start up to keep the CO2 solenoid open for a minimum of 2 minutes and a maximum of 3 minutes so it can purge the co2 reaction chamber of water. There is also an option to vent the reactor X amount of times a day to get rid of any air that builds up inside the reaction chamber. This is also adjusted with a dial.
Initially I planned to pick up a Avast Marine Davy Jones Skimmate locker but I didn't really have a good spot for it to make maintenance easy so I put this ghetto skimmate locker together using a cereal storage container. It does it's job but it stinks up the entire living room every time I drain it. I may just ditch it and run a line from my GHL doser to the cup and drain it outside to a drain. This will also cut down on maintenance which I'm all about. I'm a lazy reefer. |
08/15/2017, 09:50 AM | #119 |
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amazing build
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08/16/2017, 02:19 AM | #120 |
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08/16/2017, 02:20 AM | #121 |
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Got the new controller in this morning, set it up to see if it works and SNAP, the solenoid opened. It's pretty loud every time the solenoid opens, not so loud when it shuts off. After testing, I turned the unit off and went to work. Came home and fired it back up. I had to do the initial setup of fine tuning the regulator to pump in enough co2 upon start up and purge the co2 reaction chamber of water within 2-3 minutes. This took me some time to do and had to purge the co2 reaction chamber of co2 multiple times to get the regulator dialed in. The unit has been running for about 5-6 hours now. I have a 10lb tank and started at 100 PSI, I'm now down to about 91-92 PSI. I'm hoping this huge drop in pressure is due to me purging the co2 reaction chamber of co2 multiple times during initial setup, otherwise, this unit is a gas hog. I also completely shut off my GHL doser and set the KHG to test every single hour. Below are the test results after I shut off the doser.
08/15 18:57:14 W.143 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.15 08/15 20:06:58 W.142 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.14 08/15 21:23:59 W.142 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.02 08/15 22:02:48 Save New System Environment. 08/15 22:33:18 W.143 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :7.97 08/15 23:43:11 W.144 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :7.98 08/16 00:53:02 W.142 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :7.98 I tested the effluent of the reactor for the heck of it and it maxed out the hanna checker at 300ppm. |
08/17/2017, 06:59 PM | #122 |
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Setting the KHG to test every hour makes dialing in the carx really easy. Here is a log from yesterday and today.
08/16 00:53:02 W.142 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :7.98 08/16 01:52:53 W.142 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :7.98 08/16 03:11:06 W.143 %0 AK.38.00 KH :7.89 08/16 04:29:33 W.142 %0 AK. 8.00 KH :7.94 08/16 05:47:30 W.142 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.03 08/16 07:05:20 W.143 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.22 08/16 08:23:53 W.143 %1 AK. 0.00 KH :8.25 08/16 09:41:58 W.147 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.30 08/16 11:00:41 W.146 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.40 08/16 12:19:23 W.146 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.54 08/16 13:38:02 W.143 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.63 08/16 14:56:49 W.141 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.67 08/16 16:07:00 W.145 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.67 08/16 17:17:22 W.144 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.66 08/16 18:35:07 W.146 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.57 08/16 19:36:34 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/16 20:38:12 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/16 20:56:56 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/16 21:02:46 W.176 KS=0D L%0 S%0 SW>_ERR KH :0.00 08/16 21:19:34 RESET ! 08/16 21:40:33 W.144 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.44 08/16 22:50:34 W.142 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.31 08/17 00:07:58 W.143 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.16 08/17 01:25:12 W.140 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.02 08/17 02:33:18 W.142 %0 AK.38.00 KH :7.89 08/17 03:51:36 W.143 %0 AK.42.00 KH :7.88 08/17 05:01:45 W.144 %1 AK.12.00 KH :7.93 08/17 06:19:07 W.142 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :7.99 08/17 07:36:44 W.143 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.03 08/17 08:46:47 W.141 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.07 08/17 09:56:47 W.144 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.12 08/17 11:06:49 W.142 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.11 08/17 12:16:53 W.141 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.12 08/17 13:26:44 W.142 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.12 08/17 14:36:44 W.144 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.11 08/17 15:46:46 W.142 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.11 08/17 16:56:45 W.137 %0 AK. 0.00 KH :8.11 |
08/17/2017, 07:13 PM | #123 |
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08/18/2017, 02:08 AM | #124 |
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08/18/2017, 02:28 AM | #125 |
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I'm having to drain my skimmer cup daily. Last night I drained the skimmer cup and tonight, this is how much skimmate has collected. This is probably the best skimmer I have ever owned.
The Dastaco carx has alarm features to notify of a co2 leak, water leak or empty co2 bottle. It sounds an audible alarm but also has the option to tie into a third party controller. The port is a regular RCA jack so I bought a 15 ft. cable to run it to the Apex's break out box. I'll have it send me a text and email when an alarm on the Dastaco occurs. The Dastaco reactors are 34" tall. I originally had the effluent line running to the return section in the sump. This caused siphoning issues and noticed my PH really took a hit since bringing the carx online and stopping 2 part dosing. When I was dosing 2 part, my PH was running around 8.3-8.4 throughout the day. Ceasing 2 part dosing and running the carx, my PH dropped to 7.8-8. So I ran some clear vinyl tubing from the sump up to the return pipe and zip tied the tubing to the pipe. I took the effluent line from the sump and ran it up to the top of the vinyl tubing and stuck the line in there. This helped stopped the siphoning and also helps gas off excess co2. My PH is now steady at around 8.2ish. |
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