My 400G Through-wall "deceptively deep" tank - Page 11

Spaced Cowboy · 04/30/2016, 04:37 PM

So, I was all set to start moving towards livestock going into the tank this weekend. The two quarantine tanks from BulkReefSupply had been sitting in the hallway taking up space for a week or two and the space was finally clear in the fish-room.

When I had taken delivery of the tanks I'd done a quick once-over to make sure they were ok, and they looked fine. Somewhat like...

... however once I lifted them out of the box, it quickly became clear that something was rotten in the state of Denmark... Here's the first tank...

... and here's the second:

The second one I haven't even taken out of the box and removed the clingfilm. Both of them have failed in the exact same way - the front side has delaminated from the rest of the tank.

I don't want these in my fish-room any more (strange, because I always thought Reef Octopus were a reasonably good brand. Still, even if I just got unlucky, I don't want trust them any more. The thought of 60 gallons (I have two of them) of water to clean up doesn't thrill me. I've asked for a refund (even if in store credit). We'll see how that goes.

So, it's back to the drawing board. I want acrylic for drill-ability, it's just easier, and Bulk Reef Supply don't have any more "empty" tanks - the rest of their sumps have dividers etc so I'll have to find somewhere else to get my quarantine tanks from. Sigh.

Still, it's not as though there's nothing to do. I got a bunch of critters from reefcleaners, and although last night I thought one of the fighting conches wouldn't make it (he hadn't moved in 8 hours or so), this afternoon he was raring around the place, so that was good. I also noticed this guy... Posted about him on the 'WFT is this thread, but no bites as yet..

I'm also, as I write, acclimatising the few fish which were in the shed awaiting this day, so they'll go in the new tank in a couple of hours, and there's always the UV steriliser to get up and running...

Not to mention another controls cabinet to build, the reef-controller to plug in, etc. etc. Busy Busy Busy.

Simon.

maxxII · 05/01/2016, 07:35 AM

That's an Asterina starfish Simon.

Some people state they eat corals.
Some people state they are perfectly fine.

I've gone out of my way to pull them out each time I find one in my tanks just to be safe.

If they become a problem in your tank you can always get a couple of Harlequin shrimp to eat them...assuming your other fish dont eat the Harlequins....

ETA - Glass is able to be drilled, and it's really not that difficult either.

I would really consider just getting a couple of 40 breeders and drilling them for your QT tanks. 55 gallon tank are almost universally tempered glass all over, so they are NOT drillable.

Spaced Cowboy · 05/01/2016, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxxII

That's an Asterina starfish Simon.

Some people state they eat corals.
Some people state they are perfectly fine.

I've gone out of my way to pull them out each time I find one in my tanks just to be safe.

If they become a problem in your tank you can always get a couple of Harlequin shrimp to eat them...assuming your other fish dont eat the Harlequins....

Thanks

There's no coral in there at the moment, and they've now disappeared off the front glass, so I guess if I see them again I'll see how it goes. If it's one of the fast-reproducing ones, maybe the shrimp is the way to go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxxII

ETA - Glass is able to be drilled, and it's really not that difficult either.

I have about a 66% success-rate with drilling glass. I've done it 6 or 7 times and 1 in 3 times I do it wrong (once, spectacularly). I guess I'm just a klutz, because other people seem to have no problems...

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxxII

I would really consider just getting a couple of 40 breeders and drilling them for your QT tanks. 55 gallon tank are almost universally tempered glass all over, so they are NOT drillable.

Understood, and acrylic *is* more expensive, but in the past I've even drilled holes into the sides of acrylic tanks without taking them down, and I think with the water-dam thing for drilling glass, that'd be a lot more effort. I don't *forsee* any need to drill these after the fact, but if it ever turned out to be useful to do so, I'd be happier if it were acrylic.

Anyway, I have to wait to see what Bulk Reef Supply say on Monday - they're shut at the weekend.

Cheers
Simon

Theokie · 05/01/2016, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spaced Cowboy

So, I was all set to start moving towards livestock going into the tank this weekend. The two quarantine tanks from BulkReefSupply had been sitting in the hallway taking up space for a week or two and the space was finally clear in the fish-room.

When I had taken delivery of the tanks I'd done a quick once-over to make sure they were ok, and they looked fine. Somewhat like...

... however once I lifted them out of the box, it quickly became clear that something was rotten in the state of Denmark... Here's the first tank...

... and here's the second:

The second one I haven't even taken out of the box and removed the clingfilm. Both of them have failed in the exact same way - the front side has delaminated from the rest of the tank.

I don't want these in my fish-room any more (strange, because I always thought Reef Octopus were a reasonably good brand. Still, even if I just got unlucky, I don't want trust them any more. The thought of 60 gallons (I have two of them) of water to clean up doesn't thrill me. I've asked for a refund (even if in store credit). We'll see how that goes.

So, it's back to the drawing board. I want acrylic for drill-ability, it's just easier, and Bulk Reef Supply don't have any more "empty" tanks - the rest of their sumps have dividers etc so I'll have to find somewhere else to get my quarantine tanks from. Sigh.

Still, it's not as though there's nothing to do. I got a bunch of critters from reefcleaners, and although last night I thought one of the fighting conches wouldn't make it (he hadn't moved in 8 hours or so), this afternoon he was raring around the place, so that was good. I also noticed this guy... Posted about him on the 'WFT is this thread, but no bites as yet..

I'm also, as I write, acclimatising the few fish which were in the shed awaiting this day, so they'll go in the new tank in a couple of hours, and there's always the UV steriliser to get up and running...

Not to mention another controls cabinet to build, the reef-controller to plug in, etc. etc. Busy Busy Busy.

Simon.

I've been doing the foam PVC Acrylic combo for awhile and the only time I see them fail like that is when a "normal" chemical weld is attempted (Weld-On 3, 4, 16). Most manufacturers list a two part like Weld-On-40 is needed when joining these two dissimilar materials. Or they need to do a plastic weld with a hot air gun, but looking at the failure, its a chemical weld. The Solvent welding solutions are really good at softening one material or the other, but they really don't do a good job of doing both, which then doesn't result in a cross link bond.

Also looking on the Coral Vue website, this line of products has been retired/discontinued, so it appears they may have had a few failures.

Spaced Cowboy · 10/13/2016, 09:17 AM

and neither is the tank.

Thing is, I've been working 12-hour days for pretty much the last year and everything else has had to go on hold. I work in Apple R&D and although it's an amazing job, sometimes the schedules are brutal.

There is light at the end of the tunnel though - big demo on Monday and then another 3 months or so for me, and I'll be off this project and onto something more normal.... At which point, updates^W life will resume.

Anyway, the reason I'm posting is that my fighting conch isn't dead either! He disappeared about 5 months ago, and I'd given up all hope for him; yesterday my wife calls me over "Simon! Simon! Simon!", and I saw him bounding around the tank again as if 5 months of inactivity just didn't happen!

I'm absolutely convinced he hasn't been coming out at night - the sand is completely undisturbed normally, and there's now a huge hole where he unearthed himself, not to mention all the tracks he leaves as he moves.

Is this normal behaviour for a fighting conch ? Or have I not been feeding him properly, or what ?

Simon
[not dead yet]

dave.m · 10/13/2016, 09:41 AM

Bad cannoli.

Dave.M

Spaced Cowboy · 10/13/2016, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave.m

Bad cannoli.

Dave.M

Normally, Dave, your posts are a model of clarity and perception. This time, however, I confess to being a mite confused... Perhaps it's too early in the morning and I need more coffee.

Yeah, that sounds like it's worth a try... [exits, stage left]
Simon

Newtybar · 10/13/2016, 09:51 AM

My fighting conch does the same thing, which is annoying because I bought it to disturb the sand....not exactly effective when it takes months off at a time.

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dave.m · 10/13/2016, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spaced Cowboy

This time, however, I confess to being a mite confused...

Sorry, not everyone on this planet shares my sense of humour and sometimes I forget.

There are few questions on this planet that haven't been asked before on RC, and this one is no stranger. Here's one that may help. I was especially impressed with the one about the welk. The upshot of the thread is that conchs may go to ground for a while if they aren't getting enough to eat. Try adding a sheet of nori tied to a rock on the bottom of the tank. Make sure your conch isn't the type that eats snails.

HTH

Dave.M

Spaced Cowboy · 10/13/2016, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave.m

Sorry, not everyone on this planet shares my sense of humour and sometimes I forget.

There are few questions on this planet that haven't been asked before on RC, and this one is no stranger. Here's one that may help. I was especially impressed with the one about the welk. The upshot of the thread is that conchs may go to ground for a while if they aren't getting enough to eat. Try adding a sheet of nori tied to a rock on the bottom of the tank. Make sure your conch isn't the type that eats snails.

HTH

Dave.M

Thanks Dave

In all fairness, I was just so amazed it was there that I hadn't though to go search on the site. Probably should have done that first...

Ok, so in the interests of not leaving any uneaten nori on the bottom of the tank, I might get some fishing line, and I have magnetic hose clamps I could tie it around, then I can put the nori in between the magnets and haul it back out if it turns out that it doesn't get eaten. I can dangle it down behind one of the rock towers and you'll never know it was there...

Admittedly, with a tang in the tank, it's pretty unlikely that it wouldn't get eaten, but as you know, the bottom of the tank is hard to reach, so better safe than sorry

The Conches are Fighting Conches, not Queen Conches - I've never seen them eat anything other than stuff on the sand.

Cheers
Simon

Spaced Cowboy · 01/19/2017, 09:47 AM

Last night we had a power cut.

I live in the Bay Area, CA - "Silicon Valley", if you will. The location of some of the most technologically advanced companies in the world. I work for one of these companies... Unfortunately, PG&E is not one of these companies. PG&E is however:

Hidebound to last-century's technology
Sufficiently capitalistic to do the maths of "is (cost to keep on replacing old crappy hardware) < (cost to replace with stuff that doesn't break in a rainstorm + cost of ignoring customer complaints)
A local monopoly.

So, in this nexus of high technology and groundbreaking research, we have an electrical distribution system that's 50 years old if it's a day, and almost totally unmaintained (seriously, there's a rusting can suspended from the pole in my neighbours back yard that is sealed from the weather with a bin-bag).

The end result is all too predictable: When the area gets its annual rainstorms (around this time of the year) there's a 50% chance per rainstorm (which may be rain for a few days at a time) that we'll get a power cut. This was the second such storm, so in all fairness to PG&E we were due a power cut. [/s]

____________________________

But last night was a good night.

When we were speccing out the tank, the room, the works, I wanted a backup system for power. I went as far as looking at installing a standby generator for the house, but by the time you've got one configured for the house-size, bought, delivered, and installed, you're looking at ~$12k or so. That was outside the budget. Instead I went for an old favourite - a UPS. I bought the largest one I could afford with a few criteria in mind

It had to support aquaria. There are several manufacturers that specify in their manuals that you can't use the UPS to back up an aquarium without voiding the warranty
It had to be expandable in case it turned out that one UPS wasn't enough. You can't cascade UPS's in general, they have to be designed to expand their own batteries
Ideally I wanted monitoring built into it, so I could get advance warning of anything going wrong
Of course, it had to last as long as possible.
I wanted a known manufacturer that would be around in a decade if I needed new batteries for it
Bonus: This one has network monitoring and humidity monitoring add-ons. Yes please.

It worked. Flawlessly.

The UPS is connected to two things only

The Reeflo SuperDart Gold which is the return pump nominally running at ~3000gph
A low-power (100W) heater that is set to only come on at 78F (2 degrees lower than the normal tank temperature)

Power went out at about 3:45pm, the UPS kicked in immediately, and the return pump kept oxygenating the tank without a hitch. According to the UPS, I was drawing ~180W (which seems about right based on the reeflo website - that's about what you'd get if you scale up the quoted figures for the base Dart pump, at 6' head). I checked a few times, and the current draw was pretty constantly 6%, so I doubt the heater was ever actually switched on.

The UPS supplied power for just under 4 hours before sounding the "I'm about to die" alarm. At 4 hours and 15 minutes, the power was restored, which is actually slightly long for PG&E - our outages are annoyingly frequent, but normally sorted out in 2-3 hours.

So, I got to play hide and seek in the dark with my 4-year-old, got to introduce him to "candle-light" and generally had a relaxing time, confident that the UPS was handling everything.

____________________________

So, new year, new budget... next task: Buy another battery pack.

According to this chart near the bottom, the line that says 'SMX3000RMLV2UNC + (1)SMX120RMBP2U', I would end up with ~12 hours of coverage, which is mind-boggling. I could probably run most of the fish room (no lights...) and still get ~8 hours coverage... Yes, it's another $750, but after yesterday it seems cheap at twice the price.

Simon. (relaxed)

saf1 · 01/19/2017, 10:26 AM

Spaced - welcome to California and our political ineptness. I live outside Sacramento and this is what caused my 100 gallon tank to crash during the 2001 power crisis (all imaginary thanks to Enron)...

They may seem expensive, and they can be, but it probably is one of the most important things to own has your system grows. Especially if you travel for work, go on vacation, or have a window whereas no one can get to the house within a safe window. In my case it was a family reunion cruise so everyone who could have helped was at the same place - lol.

Anyway - for others ebay is actually a great place to look for UPS's because of the IT churn. Do similar math and verify battery replacement and you are set.

reeksreef · 01/19/2017, 01:53 PM

I remember you saying you have gyre powerheads, why not get the icecap battery backups? The would last for 35 hours and if you daisy chain 3 of them you get 70 hours. I have 2 on my tank now due to a gfci tripping when I was out of town and entire tank crashed. They they are running the ecotech pumps.

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Spaced Cowboy · 01/19/2017, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reeksreef

I remember you saying you have gyre powerheads, why not get the icecap battery backups? The would last for 35 hours and if you daisy chain 3 of them you get 70 hours. I have 2 on my tank now due to a gfci tripping when I was out of town and entire tank crashed. They they are running the ecotech pumps.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

The Gyre powerheads produce a lot (an almost excessive amount in fact) of flow in the tank, but I'm not *sure* how much oxygenation they provide. My Gyre is below the surface of the water, and I can see the ripples on the top of the water, but there's little to no splashing, which is AFAIK the best way to get Oxygen into the water. The flow seems very laminar to me, not turbulent.

In contrast, the return pump forces water over the back weir (small fall/splash), and then down a Bean Animal return (1 full-flow, 1 half-flow pipe) into a deliberately-small tumble-zone which is always effervescent. This quickly overflows into a filter-sock area, which again lets the water fall down into the collection zone ready for filtration and final return.

I'm pretty sure the fall into and circulation around the sump is where most of the oxygen is mixed into the water. If the Gyre's produce sufficient though, perhaps that's a good way to do it. Of course, I don't have heating in the tank, it's in the sump, so I'd have to figure something out there. Still eminently do-able though...

Simon

reeksreef · 01/19/2017, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spaced Cowboy

The Gyre powerheads produce a lot (an almost excessive amount in fact) of flow in the tank, but I'm not *sure* how much oxygenation they provide. My Gyre is below the surface of the water, and I can see the ripples on the top of the water, but there's little to no splashing, which is AFAIK the best way to get Oxygen into the water. The flow seems very laminar to me, not turbulent.

In contrast, the return pump forces water over the back weir (small fall/splash), and then down a Bean Animal return (1 full-flow, 1 half-flow pipe) into a deliberately-small tumble-zone which is always effervescent. This quickly overflows into a filter-sock area, which again lets the water fall down into the collection zone ready for filtration and final return.

I'm pretty sure the fall into and circulation around the sump is where most of the oxygen is mixed into the water. If the Gyre's produce sufficient though, perhaps that's a good way to do it. Of course, I don't have heating in the tank, it's in the sump, so I'd have to figure something out there. Still eminently do-able though...

Simon

Yeah heating still would be an issue, just was saying you can use that $750 and that's 7 battery backups for your powerheads. I test mines out and it has a small rippling affect on the surface, thought as long as its some water movement on the surface you're getting oxygen exchange.

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RoRietow · 03/09/2017, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spaced Cowboy

So after some to-ing and fro-ing on the Bean Animal thread over in the DIY section, and after lots of good advice from 'Uncle of 6', I changed around the return design to be more in line with the original design ideals...

Advantages of the newer design are:

There's far less overhang of the return pipes - previously they came out the back of overflow. This configuration makes it far less likely I'll knock one and break the return system.
It still leaves me the 4" I need to put the outdoor TVs behind the back panel, by extending out the rear shelf by a few inches
All the returns are the same length, by intelligent positioning of the emergency drain. This doesn't need an elbow, so by using a symmetric layout we can make sure they all match in length
There are no horizontal runs of pipe any more. One of the issues with a drain system is that it's a gravity feed system, and without any drop in elevation, there ain't no gravitational effects to speak of Then, you're depending on inertia, and that has caused some folks problems

So overall I'm happier with this layout - it preserves my design criteria of allowing for the 'deeper than it really is' visual effect, and makes for a more reliable and better-designed drain. The only drawback was that I had to lose an inch of space in the skimmer section of the sump. It's still 15" by 20" so it ought to be ok.

Simon.

Hey! I was wondering if you are interested in helping me draw out the schematics of my personal tank setup. I am more than willing to pay for your time if you are interested. Thanks!

Mishri · 03/09/2017, 04:22 PM

i don't have any aeration in my current tanks other than a gyre, as reeksreef stated, rippling water at the surface is sufficient. it's pretty much all I've ever used. (No sumps, my 300 gallon will be my first tank with a sump)

Spaced Cowboy · 08/27/2017, 09:46 AM

How quickly a thread can fall by the wayside.

Anyway, the UPS woke me via my 5-year-old this morning, beeping its little heart out saying something was wrong. Went into the fish room and I could smell something had burnt. Turns out the tank has sprung a leak

There's a (small, but insistent) leak at the bottom rear of the tank, somewhat over to the right-hand side. It's just a 'drip,,, drip,,, drip' at the moment, but I really don't want it to get any worse.

The obvious next step is to get all that wiring cleaned up - it's been on the list for, well months now, so it looks as though I'm going to be doing it today. I just have to make sure I don't kill myself - leaking saltwater and mains power don't mix well...

As far as the tank goes, I've never been in this situation before - I've emailed Miracles (I really hope their warranty is more than 2 years, the tank is *just* over 2 years old), but they're unlikely to be open on a Sunday. Anyone got any advice ?

Simon.

Spaced Cowboy · 08/28/2017, 09:20 AM

So Miracles replied early this morning my time, which in all fairness is pretty damn good considering I noticed the leak on a Sunday. They asked me to lower the water level temporarily while they assess the photo I took.

Funnily enough the leak appears to have stopped (or the dehumidifier fan is keeping up). The wooden shelf at the back looks dry this morning. I'd guess there was about 4 gallons of water on the floor from it yesterday - enough for a 7' long puddle to collect on the waterproof floor, even with the dehumidifier fan dehumidifying its little heart out.

It didn't help that in the middle of all this, we had a power cut, but hey, that's what the UPS is there for... Worked like a champ

The main pump is let to go off and a small circulation pump and heater is kept on in the tank which keeps the water aerated and the correct temperature. These are both low wattage items, so I can go for ~12 hours without power these days.

I await the decision from Miracles...

Simon.

BZOFIQ · 08/28/2017, 05:50 PM

Woa, that sucks! Prepping for a big build myself I am reading too many threads with a leaker.

Scary!

Hope they come through

Spaced Cowboy · 09/12/2017, 01:56 PM

So to follow up...

Miracles were pretty responsive, they got back to me on the Monday morning, and we went back and forth a bit. The thing is that the leak has stopped. I'm still not 100% convinced this is "great" news, because there was definitely water coming out of the bottom of the tank, so I'm a bit confused as to why there's no longer water coming out the bottom of the tank... All I can think of is that there was a miniscule leak, and a grain of sand or something was pushed into the channel where the leak was, plugging it.

That doesn't fill me with the warm fuzzies, but it does mean there's not a lot Miracles can do in the meantime - the tank is holding water after all. It's hard to fix something that isn't broken...

Anyway, that's where we are. On the plus side, there was sufficient incentive to get all the wires tidied up, so it now looks nice and clean down there

MrsReefK · 09/12/2017, 02:09 PM

Wow! Glad it stopped but you are right, what's to come, why did it stop, etc. Is Miracles doing anything with it at all?

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Spaced Cowboy · 09/12/2017, 02:17 PM

Now that it's not leaking, they didn't reply to my last email. I guess I'm just sort of hoping it doesn't come back.

To be fair, about all they could do is have me drain the tank, then fly someone down and silicone in another internal brace all along the inside of the back of the tank. Then I'd have to start from scratch again with the tank, so none of the options are really appealing

Spaced Cowboy · 09/12/2017, 04:26 PM

[Apologies, this is a bit of a rant. I'm not very happy right now]

So, I'm looking into getting a whole-house backup generator. We've had 2 power cuts in the last 2 weeks, the last one being about 25 hours long, which meant that even the 3000W UPS couldn't keep things ticking over and gave up after ~22 hours.

I went out and bought (after queuing up at Home Depot because everyone wanted one) a portable generator, and that saw us through, but the temperature was 110 (so everyone had their a/c on, which is why the power cut in the first place), and it wasn't pleasant. So. Backup generator.

Prices start at ~$15k locally, not including permits, for an installation - that's the lowest of the 3 quotes I've got. Then there's the special-use permit, that's another $4k, then there's the variance for noise (San Jose has ridiculously low requirements for noise limits) which I may not even get, but application for it is $2k. Then there's the other permits (plumbing for the NG supply, and electrical of course). That runs to another $1k between them.

So far we're up to $22k and about a 3 month process, and that's barring any unforeseen stuff. In projects like this, there's *always* unforeseen stuff [sigh].

All this because the technological hub of one of the most technologically-advanced countries on the planet can't even keep the bloody power on reliably.

[rant over]

And breathe.

MarylandTang · 09/29/2017, 07:09 PM

Any tank updates?

04/30/2016, 04:37 PM	#251
Spaced Cowboy South Bay Reefer Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 395 Blog Entries: 29	In Soviet Russa, tank quarantine you! So, I was all set to start moving towards livestock going into the tank this weekend. The two quarantine tanks from BulkReefSupply had been sitting in the hallway taking up space for a week or two and the space was finally clear in the fish-room. When I had taken delivery of the tanks I'd done a quick once-over to make sure they were ok, and they looked fine. Somewhat like... ... however once I lifted them out of the box, it quickly became clear that something was rotten in the state of Denmark... Here's the first tank... ... and here's the second: The second one I haven't even taken out of the box and removed the clingfilm. Both of them have failed in the exact same way - the front side has delaminated from the rest of the tank. I don't want these in my fish-room any more (strange, because I always thought Reef Octopus were a reasonably good brand. Still, even if I just got unlucky, I don't want trust them any more. The thought of 60 gallons (I have two of them) of water to clean up doesn't thrill me. I've asked for a refund (even if in store credit). We'll see how that goes. So, it's back to the drawing board. I want acrylic for drill-ability, it's just easier, and Bulk Reef Supply don't have any more "empty" tanks - the rest of their sumps have dividers etc so I'll have to find somewhere else to get my quarantine tanks from. Sigh. Still, it's not as though there's nothing to do. I got a bunch of critters from reefcleaners, and although last night I thought one of the fighting conches wouldn't make it (he hadn't moved in 8 hours or so), this afternoon he was raring around the place, so that was good. I also noticed this guy... Posted about him on the 'WFT is this thread, but no bites as yet.. I'm also, as I write, acclimatising the few fish which were in the shed awaiting this day, so they'll go in the new tank in a couple of hours, and there's always the UV steriliser to get up and running... Not to mention another controls cabinet to build, the reef-controller to plug in, etc. etc. Busy Busy Busy. Simon.

05/01/2016, 07:35 AM	#252
maxxII Super Housemonkey! Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: St Louis Mo Posts: 4,442	That's an Asterina starfish Simon. Some people state they eat corals. Some people state they are perfectly fine. I've gone out of my way to pull them out each time I find one in my tanks just to be safe. If they become a problem in your tank you can always get a couple of Harlequin shrimp to eat them...assuming your other fish dont eat the Harlequins.... ETA - Glass is able to be drilled, and it's really not that difficult either. I would really consider just getting a couple of 40 breeders and drilling them for your QT tanks. 55 gallon tank are almost universally tempered glass all over, so they are NOT drillable. __________________ A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn, that was fun!"

10/13/2016, 09:17 AM	#255
Spaced Cowboy South Bay Reefer Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 395 Blog Entries: 29	I'm not dead! and neither is the tank. Thing is, I've been working 12-hour days for pretty much the last year and everything else has had to go on hold. I work in Apple R&D and although it's an amazing job, sometimes the schedules are brutal. There is light at the end of the tunnel though - big demo on Monday and then another 3 months or so for me, and I'll be off this project and onto something more normal.... At which point, updates^W life will resume. Anyway, the reason I'm posting is that my fighting conch isn't dead either! He disappeared about 5 months ago, and I'd given up all hope for him; yesterday my wife calls me over "Simon! Simon! Simon!", and I saw him bounding around the tank again as if 5 months of inactivity just didn't happen! I'm absolutely convinced he hasn't been coming out at night - the sand is completely undisturbed normally, and there's now a huge hole where he unearthed himself, not to mention all the tracks he leaves as he moves. Is this normal behaviour for a fighting conch ? Or have I not been feeding him properly, or what ? Simon [not dead yet] Last edited by Spaced Cowboy; 10/13/2016 at 09:22 AM.

10/13/2016, 09:41 AM	#256
dave.m Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Canadia Posts: 4,276	Bad cannoli. Dave.M __________________ My Gawd! It's full of corals! Current Tank Info: None. Nil. Zip. Nada.

01/19/2017, 09:47 AM	#261
Spaced Cowboy South Bay Reefer Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 395 Blog Entries: 29	Power cut Last night we had a power cut. I live in the Bay Area, CA - "Silicon Valley", if you will. The location of some of the most technologically advanced companies in the world. I work for one of these companies... Unfortunately, PG&E is not one of these companies. PG&E is however: Hidebound to last-century's technology Sufficiently capitalistic to do the maths of "is (cost to keep on replacing old crappy hardware) < (cost to replace with stuff that doesn't break in a rainstorm + cost of ignoring customer complaints) A local monopoly. So, in this nexus of high technology and groundbreaking research, we have an electrical distribution system that's 50 years old if it's a day, and almost totally unmaintained (seriously, there's a rusting can suspended from the pole in my neighbours back yard that is sealed from the weather with a bin-bag). The end result is all too predictable: When the area gets its annual rainstorms (around this time of the year) there's a 50% chance per rainstorm (which may be rain for a few days at a time) that we'll get a power cut. This was the second such storm, so in all fairness to PG&E we were due a power cut. [/s] ____________________________ But last night was a good night. When we were speccing out the tank, the room, the works, I wanted a backup system for power. I went as far as looking at installing a standby generator for the house, but by the time you've got one configured for the house-size, bought, delivered, and installed, you're looking at ~$12k or so. That was outside the budget. Instead I went for an old favourite - a UPS. I bought the largest one I could afford with a few criteria in mind It had to support aquaria. There are several manufacturers that specify in their manuals that you can't use the UPS to back up an aquarium without voiding the warranty It had to be expandable in case it turned out that one UPS wasn't enough. You can't cascade UPS's in general, they have to be designed to expand their own batteries Ideally I wanted monitoring built into it, so I could get advance warning of anything going wrong Of course, it had to last as long as possible. I wanted a known manufacturer that would be around in a decade if I needed new batteries for it Bonus: This one has network monitoring and humidity monitoring add-ons. Yes please. It worked. Flawlessly. The UPS is connected to two things only The Reeflo SuperDart Gold which is the return pump nominally running at ~3000gph A low-power (100W) heater that is set to only come on at 78F (2 degrees lower than the normal tank temperature) Power went out at about 3:45pm, the UPS kicked in immediately, and the return pump kept oxygenating the tank without a hitch. According to the UPS, I was drawing ~180W (which seems about right based on the reeflo website - that's about what you'd get if you scale up the quoted figures for the base Dart pump, at 6' head). I checked a few times, and the current draw was pretty constantly 6%, so I doubt the heater was ever actually switched on. The UPS supplied power for just under 4 hours before sounding the "I'm about to die" alarm. At 4 hours and 15 minutes, the power was restored, which is actually slightly long for PG&E - our outages are annoyingly frequent, but normally sorted out in 2-3 hours. So, I got to play hide and seek in the dark with my 4-year-old, got to introduce him to "candle-light" and generally had a relaxing time, confident that the UPS was handling everything. ____________________________ So, new year, new budget... next task: Buy another battery pack. According to this chart near the bottom, the line that says 'SMX3000RMLV2UNC + (1)SMX120RMBP2U', I would end up with ~12 hours of coverage, which is mind-boggling. I could probably run most of the fish room (no lights...) and still get ~8 hours coverage... Yes, it's another $750, but after yesterday it seems cheap at twice the price. Simon. (relaxed) Last edited by Spaced Cowboy; 01/19/2017 at 10:35 AM. Reason: spelling [sigh]

10/13/2016, 09:51 AM	#258
Newtybar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 50	My fighting conch does the same thing, which is annoying because I bought it to disturb the sand....not exactly effective when it takes months off at a time. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

01/19/2017, 10:26 AM	#262
saf1 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: California Posts: 2,259	Spaced - welcome to California and our political ineptness. I live outside Sacramento and this is what caused my 100 gallon tank to crash during the 2001 power crisis (all imaginary thanks to Enron)... They may seem expensive, and they can be, but it probably is one of the most important things to own has your system grows. Especially if you travel for work, go on vacation, or have a window whereas no one can get to the house within a safe window. In my case it was a family reunion cruise so everyone who could have helped was at the same place - lol. Anyway - for others ebay is actually a great place to look for UPS's because of the IT churn. Do similar math and verify battery replacement and you are set. __________________ -saf1 Current Tank Info: 210 gallon mixed reef

01/19/2017, 01:53 PM	#263
reeksreef Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Miami, Fl Posts: 353	I remember you saying you have gyre powerheads, why not get the icecap battery backups? The would last for 35 hours and if you daisy chain 3 of them you get 70 hours. I have 2 on my tank now due to a gfci tripping when I was out of town and entire tank crashed. They they are running the ecotech pumps. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

03/09/2017, 04:22 PM	#267
Mishri Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Great Falls, MT Posts: 1,404	i don't have any aeration in my current tanks other than a gyre, as reeksreef stated, rippling water at the surface is sufficient. it's pretty much all I've ever used. (No sumps, my 300 gallon will be my first tank with a sump) __________________ 300 gallon 8ft long, 2x xf250 gyre, reef octopus 250-int - work in progress Aquarist since 1986

08/27/2017, 09:46 AM	#268
Spaced Cowboy South Bay Reefer Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 395 Blog Entries: 29	How quickly a thread can fall by the wayside. Anyway, the UPS woke me via my 5-year-old this morning, beeping its little heart out saying something was wrong. Went into the fish room and I could smell something had burnt. Turns out the tank has sprung a leak There's a (small, but insistent) leak at the bottom rear of the tank, somewhat over to the right-hand side. It's just a 'drip,,, drip,,, drip' at the moment, but I really don't want it to get any worse. The obvious next step is to get all that wiring cleaned up - it's been on the list for, well months now, so it looks as though I'm going to be doing it today. I just have to make sure I don't kill myself - leaking saltwater and mains power don't mix well... As far as the tank goes, I've never been in this situation before - I've emailed Miracles (I really hope their warranty is more than 2 years, the tank is just over 2 years old), but they're unlikely to be open on a Sunday. Anyone got any advice ? Simon.

08/28/2017, 09:20 AM	#269
Spaced Cowboy South Bay Reefer Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 395 Blog Entries: 29	So Miracles replied early this morning my time, which in all fairness is pretty damn good considering I noticed the leak on a Sunday. They asked me to lower the water level temporarily while they assess the photo I took. Funnily enough the leak appears to have stopped (or the dehumidifier fan is keeping up). The wooden shelf at the back looks dry this morning. I'd guess there was about 4 gallons of water on the floor from it yesterday - enough for a 7' long puddle to collect on the waterproof floor, even with the dehumidifier fan dehumidifying its little heart out. It didn't help that in the middle of all this, we had a power cut, but hey, that's what the UPS is there for... Worked like a champ The main pump is let to go off and a small circulation pump and heater is kept on in the tank which keeps the water aerated and the correct temperature. These are both low wattage items, so I can go for ~12 hours without power these days. I await the decision from Miracles... Simon.

08/28/2017, 05:50 PM	#270
BZOFIQ Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Staten Island, NY Posts: 446	Woa, that sucks! Prepping for a big build myself I am reading too many threads with a leaker. Scary! Hope they come through

09/12/2017, 01:56 PM	#271
Spaced Cowboy South Bay Reefer Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 395 Blog Entries: 29	So to follow up... Miracles were pretty responsive, they got back to me on the Monday morning, and we went back and forth a bit. The thing is that the leak has stopped. I'm still not 100% convinced this is "great" news, because there was definitely water coming out of the bottom of the tank, so I'm a bit confused as to why there's no longer water coming out the bottom of the tank... All I can think of is that there was a miniscule leak, and a grain of sand or something was pushed into the channel where the leak was, plugging it. That doesn't fill me with the warm fuzzies, but it does mean there's not a lot Miracles can do in the meantime - the tank is holding water after all. It's hard to fix something that isn't broken... Anyway, that's where we are. On the plus side, there was sufficient incentive to get all the wires tidied up, so it now looks nice and clean down there

09/12/2017, 02:09 PM	#272
MrsReefK Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Posts: 981	Wow! Glad it stopped but you are right, what's to come, why did it stop, etc. Is Miracles doing anything with it at all? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

09/12/2017, 02:17 PM	#273
Spaced Cowboy South Bay Reefer Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 395 Blog Entries: 29	Now that it's not leaking, they didn't reply to my last email. I guess I'm just sort of hoping it doesn't come back. To be fair, about all they could do is have me drain the tank, then fly someone down and silicone in another internal brace all along the inside of the back of the tank. Then I'd have to start from scratch again with the tank, so none of the options are really appealing

09/12/2017, 04:26 PM	#274
Spaced Cowboy South Bay Reefer Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 395 Blog Entries: 29	[Apologies, this is a bit of a rant. I'm not very happy right now] So, I'm looking into getting a whole-house backup generator. We've had 2 power cuts in the last 2 weeks, the last one being about 25 hours long, which meant that even the 3000W UPS couldn't keep things ticking over and gave up after ~22 hours. I went out and bought (after queuing up at Home Depot because everyone wanted one) a portable generator, and that saw us through, but the temperature was 110 (so everyone had their a/c on, which is why the power cut in the first place), and it wasn't pleasant. So. Backup generator. Prices start at ~$15k locally, not including permits, for an installation - that's the lowest of the 3 quotes I've got. Then there's the special-use permit, that's another $4k, then there's the variance for noise (San Jose has ridiculously low requirements for noise limits) which I may not even get, but application for it is $2k. Then there's the other permits (plumbing for the NG supply, and electrical of course). That runs to another $1k between them. So far we're up to $22k and about a 3 month process, and that's barring any unforeseen stuff. In projects like this, there's always unforeseen stuff [sigh]. All this because the technological hub of one of the most technologically-advanced countries on the planet can't even keep the bloody power on reliably. [rant over] And breathe.

09/29/2017, 07:09 PM	#275
MarylandTang Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Maryland Posts: 19	Any tank updates? __________________ __________________ 90 gallon, Kessil AP700, 2x MP40s, Apex, Trigger34 Variety of fish and RBTAs; Coral-curious...