OK! Enough chat...Starting a 1000g+ Reef - Page 37

mrcrab · 11/27/2007, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dhnguyen
I need to step away from the computer before I get in trouble here

Why? Jonathan and I have been getting in trouble all day only on someone elses thread.

mrcrab · 11/27/2007, 11:44 PM

Hey J, your post didn't show up in nyvp's thread. Have you been banned? You did start all that over there.

Actually, come to think of it, you've been responsible for shutting down more than 1 thread on here you trouble maker!

jnarowe · 11/28/2007, 12:25 AM

You know I was talking to Sherman about that the other day.

My post didn't show up? Dammit...now I can't remember what I wrote. Was it a good one?

What could possibly go wrong D??? What's a little butter between friends anyway? It was Danish butter BTW. I only use the best.

jnarowe · 11/30/2007, 08:36 PM

A new valuable piece of back-up equipment:

Micki · 11/30/2007, 08:39 PM

LOL...

sherm71tank · 11/30/2007, 08:44 PM

Remember your zen breathing.

jnarowe · 11/30/2007, 09:20 PM

good advice. I need to find my garrot.

jnarowe · 12/03/2007, 09:56 PM

Just a quick update. Camera is on store duty.

Anyway, since Winter has arrived, I thought I would remind everyone to check their powerheads after outages. We had some brief outages yesterday and I found the Tunze Nano not running today. These el cheapo powerheads don't seem to take power fluctuations very well. The Koralias need coaxing sometimes too.

So the moral of the story is, check all pumps/powerheads after an outage to make sure they are running!

Corals look good. The frag shelf is completely full of sweet young corals. Got a new bud on the Aussie Duncan a couple of days ago. Fed my wandering PLTA last night and tonight. I don't know what it is up to, but it has a suspicious look...hiding out under the reef.

Several of the corals that apparently had died during the dino battle are showing signs of fighting back. Even the birdsnest that completely RTN'd has a finger with some flesh on it. I think all it takes are a few viable cells for a colony to come back, so what I do is leave "dead" colonies behind the rockwork and see what happens. I have had corals re-start after having appeared to be dead for months.

Otherwise, all is well on the reef...at least the part I can see!

jnarowe · 12/05/2007, 05:36 PM

Well, I have finally run out of patience with Eco-Tech. After well over a year of struggling with their pumps, being bait-and-switched, having my tank ruined, and losing a lot of livestock, I cannot let it go any more.

They have repeatedly insisted that my tank room conditions were making the pumps run too hot, and offered multiple solutions, mostly consisting of minor alterations and using the pumps at far less than the expected flow rate. They have now changed their mind and are insisting that my tank is at fault, claiming that it is improperly manufactured.

It's with great disgust that I post the following:

VORTECH PUMP ALERT!!

These are different angles of one area of my tank that crazed heavily because a Vortech pump over-heated. I do not recommend that you use these pumps on any acrylic tank. They operate anywhere from 109F to 150F and over time the heat can ruin acrylic.

gkarshens · 12/05/2007, 05:38 PM

I'll trade you some pink Zoas for them.

Hop · 12/05/2007, 05:40 PM

Are you going to post the pics of it J?

jnarowe · 12/05/2007, 05:40 PM

sorry guys...had a little snafu.

Grevious · 12/05/2007, 05:41 PM

That is shocking!!! I was actually looking at buying 4 of these pumps for my acrylic 600 gallon!

Grevious · 12/05/2007, 05:43 PM

Have you found anyone else to have this problem with the pumps?

gkarshens · 12/05/2007, 05:48 PM

Dude! That sucks! One more reason I am glad my tank is glass.

jnarowe · 12/05/2007, 05:53 PM

There are a lot of threads/post regarding the heat issue. I have gotten many messages about it as well.

And BTW, all the pumps crazed the tank in the early days because they were running hot. That was a superficial situation which I turned the other cheek to, and turned down the pumps so that they wouldn't operate above 130F. This one was set at 60% and apparently freaked out and over-clocked. I really have no idea what went wrong with this pump, but Eco-Tech has flatly refused to make good on the tank, and repeatedly told me that I use them at my own risk.

With dedicated fans, I am able to run them at full speed and keep the external temp. down to about 109F - 119F.

jnarowe · 12/05/2007, 05:55 PM

What temp. are yours running at Gabriel? And I wonder how much heat is actually passed through the glass?

gkarshens · 12/05/2007, 05:58 PM

I don't have any. That is why I wanted to trade you Zoas for them.

melev · 12/05/2007, 06:06 PM

Wow, that's scary looking. What do you plan to do to reinforce that area?

jnarowe · 12/05/2007, 06:28 PM

Marc,

It can't be reinforced. The tank manufacturers I have spoken with, including James at Envision have said replacement is the only option. Trying to glue on a patch will not work because over time the crazing will grow beyond the patch. Plus the glue itself could cause even more damage. Since you have worked with acrylic quite a bit, I am sure you are aware of how the glue would react with the cracking.

The good news is that it is not seeping yet. The bad news is that Eco-Tech has dis-owned me. Sucks pretty bad since I weathered major issues throughout my ownership experience. The latest "suggestion" from Eco-Tech is that we drill out the crazed areas and install bulkheads, but they continue to claim that my tank is incorrectly manufactured, even though they have never seen it, nor have any of their tank experts.

I have an above ground pool coming just in case this thing blows.

Gabriel, you know I nearly round-filed my Tunze nano because it was a total piece of junk, but then Dahn Nguyen modded it to run extremely well. I am going to put a Vortech in his hands, and see what he can do.

I had talked with Eco-Tech at length about modding the motors and at the time, Tim told me that installing a fan on the shaft would keep the pumps much cooler and solve my over-heating issues. Unfortunately, that was one of the bait-and-switches, where they decided to send the subject pump back without the mod. telling me that if I ran the pumps on pulse, they wouldn't over-heat. That is indeed true so far, but the pump area pictured above is from one of the pmps that had yet to get a WWD swap out.

I am not a happy camper. And this tank is built into the tank room, so removing it would include tearing out the wall and sliders, and I just cannot imagine the misery that will cause. Every Vortech I have seen in person was running at an external temp. above 135F and I have recorded temps. near and above 150F.

melev · 12/05/2007, 06:38 PM

I think drilling out those areas and installing bulkheads just to seal them is an excellent solution. I would be afraid to leave it as is, and I wasn't sure if gluing a patch would work. Since James says no, I'd definitely heed his advice both because he's the expert and he built your tank.

Regarding how you measure the pump's heat, all I can say is that those infrared measuring devices are not nearly as accurate as one might hope. When I visited Chuck's home, he had one to measure tank temperature. When he compared the digital reading to his glass thermometer, it was 8 degrees colder that the glass one. Thank goodness - because I couldn't imagine his tank at 70F.

tattooreef · 12/05/2007, 06:49 PM

i hate to hijack someones thread but there are so many people i would consider experts on here i just had to ask , i recently purchased a large A. somoensis from reefermadness that died less than a week later and now a few of my other peices are acting the same way , and with all water parameters pristine and no visible "pests" i am asking advise from you guys

sherm71tank · 12/05/2007, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
I think drilling out those areas and installing bulkheads just to seal them is an excellent solution. I would be afraid to leave it as is, and I wasn't sure if gluing a patch would work. Since James says no, I'd definitely heed his advice both because he's the expert and he built your tank.

Regarding how you measure the pump's heat, all I can say is that those infrared measuring devices are not nearly as accurate as one might hope. When I visited Chuck's home, he had one to measure tank temperature. When he compared the digital reading to his glass thermometer, it was 8 degrees colder that the glass one. Thank goodness - because I couldn't imagine his tank at 70F.

Having to drill huge holes in my tank and installing bulkheads in it to keep it from exploding doesn't sound ideal to me!

melev · 12/05/2007, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sherm71tank
Having to drill huge holes in my tank and installing bulkheads in it to keep it from exploding doesn't sound ideal to me!

Having crazed areas spread over time is scarier.

Maybe he could get Weatherson to create some clear acrylic plugs that screw in to double as portholes.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to make light of the situation. I know you are very upset and those cracks would concern me too.

Hopeful Reefer · 12/05/2007, 07:05 PM

Jonathan, if I were you I would be involving a lawyer post-haste...especially if you have documentation of the shipping back and fort, bait and switch issues...emails, so on and so forth...that would suck that a $10,000 system could be completely destroyed by a piece of crap set of pumps that total less than 1/2% of the total invested in to this system...

I would definitely put the irons to them...make them pay to replace all your stuff...including the cost it would take to pay someone to professionally remove the wall, switch out the tank, etc...you would think that by paying good money for something that is supposed to have a warranty that the company would actually live up to their end of the warranty...thanks for convincing me to stick with the Seios I have in my tank, because I was looking at buying a few of these...

Hope you can turn this potential tragedy in to something good...good luck...

11/28/2007, 12:25 AM	#903
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	You know I was talking to Sherman about that the other day. My post didn't show up? Dammit...now I can't remember what I wrote. Was it a good one? What could possibly go wrong D??? What's a little butter between friends anyway? It was Danish butter BTW. I only use the best. __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

11/30/2007, 08:36 PM	#904
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	A new valuable piece of back-up equipment: __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

11/30/2007, 08:39 PM	#905
Micki Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 7,163	LOL... __________________ Micki... Western Ohio Reef Club Click the red house for my 125 progress! Current Tank Info: 125 gal. reef, 90 gal. sump, 10 gal. fuge, 40 gallon. 150 gallon fish only.

11/30/2007, 09:20 PM	#907
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	good advice. I need to find my garrot. __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

12/03/2007, 09:56 PM	#908
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	Just a quick update. Camera is on store duty. Anyway, since Winter has arrived, I thought I would remind everyone to check their powerheads after outages. We had some brief outages yesterday and I found the Tunze Nano not running today. These el cheapo powerheads don't seem to take power fluctuations very well. The Koralias need coaxing sometimes too. So the moral of the story is, check all pumps/powerheads after an outage to make sure they are running! Corals look good. The frag shelf is completely full of sweet young corals. Got a new bud on the Aussie Duncan a couple of days ago. Fed my wandering PLTA last night and tonight. I don't know what it is up to, but it has a suspicious look...hiding out under the reef. Several of the corals that apparently had died during the dino battle are showing signs of fighting back. Even the birdsnest that completely RTN'd has a finger with some flesh on it. I think all it takes are a few viable cells for a colony to come back, so what I do is leave "dead" colonies behind the rockwork and see what happens. I have had corals re-start after having appeared to be dead for months. Otherwise, all is well on the reef...at least the part I can see! __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

11/27/2007, 11:44 PM	#902
mrcrab Moved On Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 1,866	Hey J, your post didn't show up in nyvp's thread. Have you been banned? You did start all that over there. Actually, come to think of it, you've been responsible for shutting down more than 1 thread on here you trouble maker!

11/30/2007, 08:44 PM	#906
sherm71tank Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 3,670	Remember your zen breathing.

12/05/2007, 05:36 PM	#909
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	Well, I have finally run out of patience with Eco-Tech. After well over a year of struggling with their pumps, being bait-and-switched, having my tank ruined, and losing a lot of livestock, I cannot let it go any more. They have repeatedly insisted that my tank room conditions were making the pumps run too hot, and offered multiple solutions, mostly consisting of minor alterations and using the pumps at far less than the expected flow rate. They have now changed their mind and are insisting that my tank is at fault, claiming that it is improperly manufactured. It's with great disgust that I post the following: VORTECH PUMP ALERT!! These are different angles of one area of my tank that crazed heavily because a Vortech pump over-heated. I do not recommend that you use these pumps on any acrylic tank. They operate anywhere from 109F to 150F and over time the heat can ruin acrylic. __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

12/05/2007, 05:38 PM	#910
gkarshens Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Corona, CA Posts: 2,382	I'll trade you some pink Zoas for them. __________________ Gabriel It's about time!

12/05/2007, 05:40 PM	#911
Hop Carpe Noctem!!! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Western Colorado Posts: 8,548	Are you going to post the pics of it J? __________________ Hop Current Tank Info: 300-gallon in-wall system (mixed reef)

12/05/2007, 05:40 PM	#912
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	sorry guys...had a little snafu. __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

12/05/2007, 05:41 PM	#913
Grevious Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: N.Ky Posts: 82	That is shocking!!! I was actually looking at buying 4 of these pumps for my acrylic 600 gallon!

12/05/2007, 05:43 PM	#914
Grevious Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: N.Ky Posts: 82	Have you found anyone else to have this problem with the pumps?

12/05/2007, 05:48 PM	#915
gkarshens Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Corona, CA Posts: 2,382	Dude! That sucks! One more reason I am glad my tank is glass. __________________ Gabriel It's about time!

12/05/2007, 05:53 PM	#916
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	There are a lot of threads/post regarding the heat issue. I have gotten many messages about it as well. And BTW, all the pumps crazed the tank in the early days because they were running hot. That was a superficial situation which I turned the other cheek to, and turned down the pumps so that they wouldn't operate above 130F. This one was set at 60% and apparently freaked out and over-clocked. I really have no idea what went wrong with this pump, but Eco-Tech has flatly refused to make good on the tank, and repeatedly told me that I use them at my own risk. With dedicated fans, I am able to run them at full speed and keep the external temp. down to about 109F - 119F. __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

12/05/2007, 05:55 PM	#917
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	What temp. are yours running at Gabriel? And I wonder how much heat is actually passed through the glass? __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

12/05/2007, 05:58 PM	#918
gkarshens Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Corona, CA Posts: 2,382	I don't have any. That is why I wanted to trade you Zoas for them. __________________ Gabriel It's about time!

12/05/2007, 06:06 PM	#919
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Wow, that's scary looking. What do you plan to do to reinforce that area?

12/05/2007, 06:28 PM	#920
jnarowe Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Poulsbo, WA Posts: 14,710	Marc, It can't be reinforced. The tank manufacturers I have spoken with, including James at Envision have said replacement is the only option. Trying to glue on a patch will not work because over time the crazing will grow beyond the patch. Plus the glue itself could cause even more damage. Since you have worked with acrylic quite a bit, I am sure you are aware of how the glue would react with the cracking. The good news is that it is not seeping yet. The bad news is that Eco-Tech has dis-owned me. Sucks pretty bad since I weathered major issues throughout my ownership experience. The latest "suggestion" from Eco-Tech is that we drill out the crazed areas and install bulkheads, but they continue to claim that my tank is incorrectly manufactured, even though they have never seen it, nor have any of their tank experts. I have an above ground pool coming just in case this thing blows. Gabriel, you know I nearly round-filed my Tunze nano because it was a total piece of junk, but then Dahn Nguyen modded it to run extremely well. I am going to put a Vortech in his hands, and see what he can do. I had talked with Eco-Tech at length about modding the motors and at the time, Tim told me that installing a fan on the shaft would keep the pumps much cooler and solve my over-heating issues. Unfortunately, that was one of the bait-and-switches, where they decided to send the subject pump back without the mod. telling me that if I ran the pumps on pulse, they wouldn't over-heat. That is indeed true so far, but the pump area pictured above is from one of the pmps that had yet to get a WWD swap out. I am not a happy camper. And this tank is built into the tank room, so removing it would include tearing out the wall and sliders, and I just cannot imagine the misery that will cause. Every Vortech I have seen in person was running at an external temp. above 135F and I have recorded temps. near and above 150F. __________________ Jonathan--Recovering Tankaholic. Current Tank Info: 70g fresh planted

12/05/2007, 06:38 PM	#921
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	I think drilling out those areas and installing bulkheads just to seal them is an excellent solution. I would be afraid to leave it as is, and I wasn't sure if gluing a patch would work. Since James says no, I'd definitely heed his advice both because he's the expert and he built your tank. Regarding how you measure the pump's heat, all I can say is that those infrared measuring devices are not nearly as accurate as one might hope. When I visited Chuck's home, he had one to measure tank temperature. When he compared the digital reading to his glass thermometer, it was 8 degrees colder that the glass one. Thank goodness - because I couldn't imagine his tank at 70F.

12/05/2007, 06:49 PM	#922
tattooreef Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: newalbany In Posts: 404	i hate to hijack someones thread but there are so many people i would consider experts on here i just had to ask , i recently purchased a large A. somoensis from reefermadness that died less than a week later and now a few of my other peices are acting the same way , and with all water parameters pristine and no visible "pests" i am asking advise from you guys __________________ there is always more than one right way of doing things! Current Tank Info: 5.5 foot 216g starphire sps tank at home, 8 ft softy tank at work

12/05/2007, 07:05 PM	#925
Hopeful Reefer Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Just Southwest of Richmond, Virginia, USA Posts: 2,802	Jonathan, if I were you I would be involving a lawyer post-haste...especially if you have documentation of the shipping back and fort, bait and switch issues...emails, so on and so forth...that would suck that a $10,000 system could be completely destroyed by a piece of crap set of pumps that total less than 1/2% of the total invested in to this system... I would definitely put the irons to them...make them pay to replace all your stuff...including the cost it would take to pay someone to professionally remove the wall, switch out the tank, etc...you would think that by paying good money for something that is supposed to have a warranty that the company would actually live up to their end of the warranty...thanks for convincing me to stick with the Seios I have in my tank, because I was looking at buying a few of these... Hope you can turn this potential tragedy in to something good...good luck... __________________ -=< Jason >=- Yellow Tang // Black & White Clown // Golden Head Goby Blue-Green Chromis // Psychadellic Mandarin // Sebae Anemone Current Tank Info: 75g w/ 29g sump/refugium, 250w 15k MH (x2), T5 39W (x2)