squiddly

We have several, and MOST everything goes through it. Cept for ONE PUMP.......which has been changed, of course.

You lucky thing! Congratulations on what looks like a wonderful time of diving. Isn't it amazing how those scorpionfish think you don't see them so they don't run away? :-).

1) Is it better in the long run to sell this set of lights and get a new one? Yes sell it, there is nothing salvageable (other than the reflector which is the cheapest part) for retrofitting. Get some money out of the setup. Makes sense 2) If not, anyone have any ideas on what retro kits I should look at? I'm going to need something that runs relatively cool, of course... Cool is a relative term. I have 2x250W MH and 2x110W VHO ~6 inches above the water in an enclosed canopy and have no heat issues. I do, however, have two AC fans that come on when the lights come on for circulation and heat dissipation. Heat is manageable, usually. Where is the tank? What is the normal ambient temperature of the room? My tank is in the basement which always has at least a 5-10 degree temperature differential to the tank. The smaller the differential the harder it will be to keep the tank from overheating. Its generally easier to add heat than to remove it. The tank is in the living room which is usually around 73 degrees or so. I keep the tank at about 80. I have no problem installing fans. 3) What all is involved for a person who knows absolutely nothing about this stuff? Its very very easy. Look at somewhere like Hellolights.com They have the pieces and parts and you can build your own retrokits. Just do some research, come up with what you think you want. Then post it here and we can help steer you in the proper direction. That is encouraging! I will do this and see what I can come up with. Saving money is a very good idea at this time, having just bought far too much STUFF 4) Will I need adult supervision so I don't get another one of them there nasty electric shocks? Can you connect two wires with at connector? If the answer is yes then you can do this. It is very easy and you can save a ton of money. Not so sure if I can at this point. I THOUGHT I could plug in a powerhead and almost fried myself. Duh. But I can likely connect two wires if I remember to turn the power off first :-)

I would like my LTA to be happy, a Sebae, BTAs, an Elegance Coral, and I'd pick other corals depending on what the best lighting for the anemones should be. Not stuck on any of the corals, so I can wait :-)

My 120 tank is 60 inches long and I am using a 48 inch lighting fixture that currently has 4 65 watt fixtures, 2 of which have coralife 8800K bulbs, and 2 are arctnic bulbs. I want to upgrade to MH or T5 to keep anemones and some more sensitive corals. I'm looking for thoughts on: 1) Is it better in the long run to sell this set of lights and get a new one? 2) If not, anyone have any ideas on what retro kits I should look at? I'm going to need something that runs relatively cool, of course... 3) What all is involved for a person who knows absolutely nothing about this stuff? 4) Will I need adult supervision so I don't get another one of them there nasty electric shocks? Thanks!

The reading going into the DI filter is approximately 20. Zero after the DI. So not sure what's up.

Yes, we have an inline meter. I will definitely check it. It did seem a bit strange that things would go that quickly. Will report back in a bit.

Complete success, and almost a success at creating calamari as this squid almost got fried. My own stupid fault. The RO unit was working great and I filled the large Brut bin, mixed the salt, brought it to temp and was about to do the water change, set things up, went to plug in the powerhead and.....ZZZZZAAAAAAAPPPPPP. It was a good one too, with all the great muscle pain, nausea, headache, etc. that comes with it. That particular powerstrip was NOT on the GFI. Very bad. Hubby decided enough was enough of that kind of stupidity, so he finished the auto top off in a hurry and advised it would be a good idea to make sure he's RIGHT THERE next time I do a water change. Well duh, make me feel like a 4 year old but he has a good point. Soon he will install the pump into the downstairs RO system to pump it upstairs so I don't have to carry those 5 gallon buckets around. Oh, and after about 150 gallons, the DI filter is orange. Guess we have seriously lousy water around here.

Very very nice.

I've never done fish collecting, but I have a dry suit and know how to use it :-). When we going?

VERY nice. Impressive!

So far, so good. It's in the house :-). Now for the rest of the fun..... soon as I can talk hubby into prepping things to get some water in it and start it cycling. Funnily enough, he's wanting something called a break. I don't understand what this means. :-)

No, not a filter sock. A polyfilter is a pad that looks similar to an algae scraper pad for acrylic. You can get them in different sizes and/or cut them to size for your sump. They pull excess cruft out of your water and are excellent for emergencies like this. Most shops have them I think.

Besides running carbon, you may also want to run a polyfilter or 5. That really helped when mine did its meltdown. I'd also pull out all media you may have been running BG (before the goo). And I do understand about the smell, believe me. But don't spray anything into the air to get rid of it or it will be attracted to the water in the tank and make a bad situation worse.

Good luck. I've had that happen and it is FAR from fun. I'm glad you got your water. Our RO unit isn't churning out enough yet else we would have offered as well.

Marginal success. He has the RO unit working into a large bucket. Apparently, the thing was put together improperly and could not possibly have been pressure tested at the factory like they said it was. There was plastic that had to be shaved off a bit in order to get it to fit properly into the socket. He was complaining about some other things he had to fix as well, but now all seems to be well. Thanks to everyone for their help. Now he has to implement the auto shut off/float valve/rest of the other stuff :-). If you see a small smoke cloud coming up from Great Falls, you'll know he's working :-).

Morning update....the husband is in the garage making much noise. He says he has everything he needs to fix the RO. I am skeptical, but will remain supportive until proven otherwise :-). More as it happens. Water/plumbing/beer party not yet cancelled :-).

You guys are great. Let me find out what the husband's plans are in the morning. He is currently in dreamland, likely dreaming of vast Home Depots with glorious tool departments, complete with drool buckets. If worse comes to worst, we can have a plumbing and water for beer exchange party at my house :-).

Thank you so VERY much! I'll tell hubby. Apparently, he says that the plastic quick connect fittings are leaking and the T connectors are also. Sometimes, I have to wonder why some of these things wind up to be so complicated.

Awww is right. I really really REALLY need to do a water change. No water. *argh*

Oh NO! My favorite all time fish! I'm so very sorry :(.

heh heh.... well, hubby just came up from the basement, telling me that the unit is leaking all over the basement, he's annoyed because the water is coming out of the plastic fittings, and he will tackle the rest at some point after he figures out what's wrong. He says that mostly the Ts are leaking. He is frustrated. I wish dominos delivered beer.

Thank you very much for the offer. He says he has the idea. We have the Barracuda system that he is in process of installing in the basement, and he's built an auto top off for the tanks.... now is trying to figure out the best way of getting it all to work together. He is now telling me that I have to go to home depot with him. Egads! what TORTURE! :-)

Yes, was talking about that one definitely. The hubby looked at the posts and said "hmmmm". This is always a good sign :-). Yes, the wheelie thing sounds really good, especially with my bad knees. Sometimes getting old is not a happy thing.

I am also sorry for your loss. I'm also sorry there's no clear cause. It's terribly frustrating not to know what to do to try to fix things like this. Good luck in figuring it out.