DaveS

I have an Aqua Medic 1/2 HP external chiller. For those who are unfamiliar with this unit, here's a picture: http://www.seatrademarine.com/Merchant2/me...tegory_Code=CHL The lower 2" of the chiller is essentially a "pan" (think 2" tall broiler pan) on top of which all the chiller machinery is fastened/welded. The side of the pan as 2 bulkheads for water to go in/out. The refrigerant coils route from the top, down into the pan and this is where the heat exchange occurs. Think of a bucket of water with bulkheads and a drop in chiller mounted on top of it. Here's the point- the seams where the lower pan and the upper lid join has leaks. Placed after the return pump, water leaks heavily out of the sides. Placed before the return it still leaks but less due to less pressure. Aqua-Medic says there basically isn't anything they can do about it so buy a new unit. All the refrigeration and chilling components including the internal controller/thermostat work fine. These things cost about $900 new. I'm wondering if anyone out there has experience repurposing these things. Part of me wonders if you could take the coils that are in the pan and somehow replace/extend them so this thing converts into a drop-in chiller. That's the best idea I could come up with. With all the great DIY skills I've seen here, I gotta believe there is a way to salvage this expensive 1/2HP chiller. Ideas??

Hey guys, here are my set of new AC3 owners questions: 1) is there a comment character for the programming language? Either ; or // maybe? 2) I think I read this already but is there any way to program based on a power outage? I see that the thing will e-mail/page when power goes out but I'd like to have my MH lights get a delayed start when the power comes back on. I get power blinks every once in a while and my MH capacitors get fried if the ballast tries to fire the bulbs too soon after a blink. Right now I solved this by having a GFCI that trips when power goes out so I manually have to reset it to get the power on. Having that device between my DC8 and the ballast obviously won't work since it will trip every time the AC3 shuts off the lights. Even something as simple as a command that says- "when power goes out, do not start MH lights on power up" would work. Any ideas? 3) What devices do you guys have attached to your AC? I guess some people are plugging in EVERYTHING but I've also seen people say they leave the main pump and a few other things off since there's never a reason to turn them off. Suggestions? Thanks guys. BTW, one reason I decided to blow $700 on this stuff is because I knew I could count on a group of kind, experienced owners to help me along. I LOVE THIS CLUB!!!

Also keep in mind that a change of one pH unit is a tenfold change in hydrogen ion concentration. For example, a solution with a pH of 7 has 10 times the hydrogen ions as one of pH 8, and pH 6 has 100 times the hydrogen ions of pH 8. Pretty large swing in PH indeed!

Who is your ISP? Make sure they are not blocking outbound smtp. In the DOS window you did the ipconfig command, type "telnet smtp.gmail.com 25" Then hit enter a couple of times. See if you get anything or it stays hung trying to connect.

Hey this is great! I was going to start a thread just like this when I get my controller. Any one able to hook me up with the Aqua Notes software so I can see what it's like before I buy a copy? If you can, just PM me. Thanks and happy holidays to all!!

You guys talking about the Crown-of-Thorns star? I spent a week or so diving on the GBR and coral sea. It was fun too see the contrast between all the talk of don't touch, conserve, etc and then they say- "if you see one of these, kill it!"

Hmm well I guess follow up questions include: 1) Is Magflake the same for providing calcium? 2) If it isn't the Dowflake brand, what's a good way to ensure the stuff is reef safe? Thanks all.

I went to HD and Lowes but they only carry magnesium based ice melt.

Hey guys, I have to disagree. I had a bunch of aptasia in my 210. I'm not saying covered but still, enough that non-tank people noticed it easily. I did the Joe's juice but it's such a pain to find everyone of them, even in the nook/crannies. On top of that the JJ didn't always kill them completely, just set them back some. Sure there is ALWAYS the chance I'm doing it wrong. I bought a CB 1 weeks ago last Wednesday. Yesterday while playing with my tank, I noticed that almost all my aptasia is gone. I can only see a couple of them in hard to reach places. I will agree however that CBs are delicate animals.

Just wanted to see what people out there recommend for dry flake food. I guess there could be different kinds based on the kinds of fish (carnivore/herbivore). Maybe what you guys think is the best one for each? I'd prefer to find something that is pretty common and easy to get. BTW, in case you're wondering, I'd mostly use this in between feedings of other foods like frozen mysis and cyclopeeze. Thanks!

Edit: Sorry Dave, no sales in the general forums. OOPS! Sorry, my bad!

Just leave it alone. It will come back.

Not sure how you are dealing with the livestock but I'd be interested in some/all of the following: Blue Ridge Live Rock Duncan Whiskers Coral 25-30 Heads / also 3 heads Pink Zoos Pink Flowerpot Large Blue Linka Medium Orange Linka and small Copperband Butterfly Thanks.

I'd be interested in hearing more details about this. Given the Magfloat part I'm assuming this works while the tank is full with fish. I have a few annoying scratches I'd like to get rid of. They are annoying but not to the point where I'd break down my tank to get rid of them...

Hmm I wonder if your water chemistry is off. Aside from whether the crab is happy or not, if his shell has coraline algae that indicates he hasn't molted in a quite a while. I've heard that not having enough "something" in the water causes crustaceans to not molt.

To add to the list of questions and ask for some clarifications- What makes sense to have on backup? My guess is that since power is out, the goal is to just get notification, not keep everything powered. Yes there are some ways to provide UPS to pumps and maybe even lights but on a simpler scale what's practical? I guess a computer UPS that has the AC3, router and cable/DSL modem plugged in is enough?

Halftime and things looking good so far....

Just a quick idea- for some future meeting, if we are short on topics, maybe someone can do a talk on aquarium photography. I know there are pretty good photographers here but also lots of people who are struggling. I know some people have really nice SLR camera setups with fancy lenses but I also suspect that, just like on land, a lot can be done with the less expensive point/shoot cameras these days. I think that with more knowledge about lighting, angles and other factors/techniques, some of the newer guys can make improvements in their shots. What do you guys think?

Ok so I don't have any pictures and only a lame description but it's real- I swear. I was looking at my tank today and saw this little thing pop out (like a toothpick sized stick). It then expelled a cloud of something (brownish but hard to say for sure under pure Actinics). It then went back in. The best way to describe it is that it was almost like a Wack-a-mole the way it popped up and then back down. As far as the cloud of stuff, it reminded me immediately of a cloud of ink from an octopus. There didn't appear to be any actual material in that cloud. Any ideas of what I saw? Was it a aquatic Big Foot?

I need to get some stuff from Leishman but will be out of town this weekend. I can pick them up from you Monday or whenever. Thanks!