Origami

You're sure that your topoff water is fresh? Also, have you tried recalibrating your refractometer before each measurement? If so, are you finding that you have to adjust it each time? Can you do a big water change and then turn dosing off for a few days while closely monitoring parameter trends? Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk

Event: WAMAS Spring 2023 Meeting (In-person, not streamed) Saturday, May 6, 2023 Time: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Speaker starts at 3 PM) Where: North Bethesda Middle School, 8935 Bradmoor Drive, Bethesda, MD 20817 WAMAS members get in free. Guests are $5 each (paid at the door). Join WAMAS at this link. Refreshments provided by WAMAS. Speaker: Marc Levenson, founder and owner of Melevsreef.com From Ft. Worth, Texas, Marc “melev” Levenson has been in the hobby since 1998, blogging about his experiences with his own reef on melevsreef.com to help others learn husbandry skills. More recently, Marc has become an online personality with tens of thousands of followers on his YouTube channel (melevsreef) aiming to help other reefers through his personal experiences. His website features articles, blogs, and Critter ID and covers topics like pest control, feeding techniques, working with acrylics, reef photography and water chemistry to name a few. Twenty years ago, Marc added an online store to his website, making it his full time job in 2009. In it, he carries many products like his RODI systems, custom sumps and even includes some items that he himself invented as clever solutions to make reefkeeping easier. Marc is a nationally recognized speaker (including 6 times at MACNA); and recommends supporting local club events, shopping local fish stores, and interacting with others via social media. Marc is an avid DIYer and builds what he can’t buy, often out of acrylic. And, he loves seeing what others can accomplish or have tried to move the hobby forward. His other hobby is diving, exploring natural reefs. His current tanks are a 400-gallon reef and a 60-gallon anemone cube, filled with captive bred fish and aquacultured corals. Topic: Sump & Plumbing Considerations You Need To Know Planning out your sump setup and plumbing in advance is the best way to avoid all sorts of headaches later. Is your plumbing a mess or a work of art? Is it quiet or loud? Are you just avoiding it? Updating it now will be better for your fish and corals during an emergency. In his talk, Marc will delve into what types of solutions you can implement to keep things running smoothly, in good weather and in bad. Agenda: 1:00 Sign-in / socialize / frag sales 2:50 Club business 3:00 Speaker: Marc Levenson 4:00 Break 4:30 Raffle! Directions to North Bethesda Middle School: - NOTE: The school is just inside the north edge of the beltway near Old Georgetown Road. Here's a map from Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/bKz79Y9HmQF2 Special thanks to theses sponsors. Please support them & say thanks next time you shop with them. You can find their website address by visiting their forum or the sponsor page on the WAMAS website. WAMAS Platinum Sponsors - Air, Water & Ice - AquaHaus - Avast Marine - Blue Ribbon Koi - Capital Aquarium - ChemiPure (Boyd Enterprises) - Coral Magazine - Dr. Mac's Pacific East Aquaculture - Exotic Reef Creations - FishnReef.com - Frank's Tanks - ICP Analysis - Maxspect - Premium Aquatics - Puddle Aquatics - Reed Mariculture (Reef Nutrition) - Reef eScape - Reef Nerd Aquatics - SaltwaterAquarium.com - Supreme Reefs WAMAS Banner-Only Sponsors - Cobalt Aquatics - Jellyfish Art - MASNA - Two Little Fishies 2023 virtual meeting support provided by Eureka Strategic Consulting, Discover the Extraordinary. Raffle Prizes Fritz Blue RPM salt, 200G size. Donated by ERC. Five chances to win! 1-year subscription Coral Magazine. Donated by Reef2Rainforest Media. TEN chances to win! Coral Packs worth $150. Donated by Reef Nerd Aquatics. Two chances to win! TLF Coral Dip & Foods Pack, $40 value. Donated by SaltwaterAquarium.com 2-pack of 120 grams of Maxspect Professional Coral Putty, a $40 value (2 chances to win!) $50 Gift Certificate for Reef Nutrition products (with $40 bump-up for shipping). (2 chances to win!) $100 Gift Certificate for Reef Nutrition products (with $40 bump-up for shipping). 4kg of REBORN Calcium Reactor Media ($40 value) $50 Gift Certificate donated by Puddle Aquatics. (2 chances to win!) $50 livestock Gift Certificate donated by Blue Ribbon Koi. (3 chances to win!) More raffle prizes to be announced. Sponsors On Site, Selling Reef Nerd Aquatics More to be added. Stay tuned! Members On Site, Selling @Samayoa @Mr.Chalice More to be added. Stay tuned! Stay tuned to this post for updates!

Algae is nature's nutrient vacuum, cleaning your water. But you've been saying that for years. ;-)

I agree. In the future, you might consider running multiple heaters that are staged. For example, your primary heater might be set at 76 and a backup is set to come on at 73. That way, as long as the primary heater is working, the temperature in your tank is controlled while the backup remains off. If the primary fails, the temperature will then drop to below 73 and the backup heater will turn on. You can set an alarm, then, to notify you of the lower temperature and won't find yourself in a bind because the backup will hold things down for you.

Selling/Buying/Trading here is a benefit for supporting members. You can only post sales and see member-related posts if you're a WAMAS member. At this time, you're a bulletin board member. To join WAMAS, please go to this link: https://www.wamas.org/join.php. Why join WAMAS? Here's one hobbyist's testimonial. Click here to join.

No. It's been ages, but I think that I got them all as part of other CUC buys back then. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk

Sometimes it has to make you wonder, "Are they toying with me?" [emoji1787] Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk

I've got three in my tank. One donkey dung and two tiger tails. The oldest (DD) is close to 15 years old. The other two are over 10. Good for the sandbed and good tank mates. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk

Yes, Live Aquaria was bought by Petco. The most prominent name that I remember from Live Aquaria (Rhinelander facility) was Kevin Kohen. Kevin moved on from LA in 2021,though,and now works for Quality Marine. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk

You'll want your alk under 8.5 for a ULNS system. "Burnt" SPS tips are typical when this guideline is exceeded by much. To be safe, keep it at 8 or lower. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk

Yep. Hydroids. Those will quickly disappear. Nothing to worry about. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk

It turns out that there is a firmware update for my Apex Classic that probably will fix my clock so it requires reboot every we have the Dst change. Hmm. I may have to reconsider the update! Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk

I have the same settings. I also have what they call an Apex Classic. (Geez, at one time it was the upgrade from the ACIII. ) Do you have the Classic or the newer Apex? I may have to check if there's a firmware update for the Classic so I can have the same problem everybody else is having! My fish don't do DST.

I like it. The white PVC trim carries the white of the stand very nicely. Well done.

Alan, did you see this on a phone app or web browser interface? I'll keep an eye out for this. For now, it seems that my Apex (from my phone app view) hasn't figured out that the time has changed. At least, the graphs are all still showing standard time on the x axis.

Mbheat77, I wanted to add one more thing. When we talked yesterday, I told you about the importance of monitoring your RO/DI production since, without some sort of automatic on/off that there's a possibility of walking away and forgetting to turn off RO/DI production, leading to water overflowing onto the floor. I mentioned something called an Automatic Shut-Off Valve (ASOV). Once you're ready, I recommend that you go ahead and make mods to your RO/DI setup to add an ASOV to it. Bulk Reef Supply sells a ready-to-install ASOV kit with the required components. RO/DI water production will shut off once the float valve signals (by means of back pressure) the ASOV that the storage container is full. In the diagram below, I show the new components needed in orange and how they're added to your current system. Also, note the check valve that is sometimes installed already in some RO/DI systems. Yours may or may not have one. The BRS kit has one though, so you'll be covered. Note that you'll have a valve left over. If you want, you can move it to the input side of the sediment stage or just toss it in your parts bin.

Just one. Might or might not be tied to the often fatal distress that his fish have experienced. The high metal content should fall away with a reboot. There may be some bound to the rock that may release, but it should be far less. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk

Update: MBHeat and I video chatted today. We gathered enough information to conclude that the membrane is permeable and the DI stage still good. Output was 0 TDS. He's on his way to look for a replacement fitting and some tubing. Of course, we talked about more, but these are key points regarding the RO/DI system. He may reboot his main tank with new water to remove the old water as a factor. We talked, too, about using a Polyfilter and GAC to clean up metals and DOCs, too. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk

Depending on the history of your RO/DI setup, it's possible that the membrane is shot. We won't know until later unless you want to try something. So let's do some basic stuff to check that membrane. First, let's establish the remnants of that broken fitting will pass water. I see that you have the setup in a small tub. That's good, because we're going to let it catch some water that passes through the DI stage. With the flush-valve set in the crosswise position and the blue/white valve (on top next to the RO membrane housing) set open (parallel to the plastic lines), turn your sink water on. Be sure that the yellow line is hanging in the sink to catch the waste water. Now, wait a few moments as the DI stage fills. You should soon get a trickle of water out of this last stage. It'll be less than is going down the sink, maybe 4 to 6 cups of waste for every cup of good water trickling out of this last stage. If, instead, you see nothing coming out of this last stage, your membrane may be clogged. Or, if you see a lot coming out of this last stage and very little going down the sink, then it could be that there's no membrane in the housing. It's easy for a membrane that's been used but then which has sat unused for a very long time to become swollen and non-functional. You're more likely to have this problem when buying a used RO/DI system from somebody who got out of the hobby and let it sit around a while before selling off gear. In your case, it's far less likely that the membrane is missing simply because you've not said anything about water coming out of that broken fitting before. It's more likely that the membrane is there and either good or clogged. So let's test that first and report back. If the membrane tests out to be open, we'll test it's performance next. But let's get past step 1 first.

This is a diagram of your setup as gathered from your photos. Yes, you should go to the hardware store and pick up a new fitting and a length of tubing. You should find both at either Lowe's or Home Depot. See my next post for more.

Thanks in advance for the pics. There are always at least three lines coming out of any reverse osmosis system. There's the input, the RO (pure) and the waste water (aka flush) lines. A random fact: Waste water volume is typically four times pure water output. A quick lesson on Reverse Osmosis (RO): The RO membrane (inside the big white housing) is a tube of rolled film (with lots of surface area) that is porous at the molecular level. It's pores are so small that it allows water and a few small dissolved ions through and very little else. To push water through these tiny pores to the other side of the membrane requires a pressure gradient. To keep from clogging all the pores requires that impurities trapped on the input side of the membrane have an "exit." The pressure gradient is set by a flow restrictor and the exit is the waste water outlet. The flush valve on your setup is dual function: It functions as both a flow restrict or (when the handle is crosswise) or as a membrane flush (when the handle is aligned to the body). While common, not all RO systems have a combo flow restrictor/flush valve. Yours does. Flushing the membrane extends the life of the RO membrane by washing away debris trapped on the input side of the membrane that may be clogging the pores. Eventually membranes do fail, either clogging up entirely or the pores can be eaten away allowing large particles to pass. But membranes can be surprisingly long-lived. Anyway, three lines. You're showing two, but also showing a canister with a broken quick connect. We can probably get you fixed up (insofar as this is concerned) but need details. Was your system used when you got it? Also, can you use Zoom on your phone? Sent from my SM-T818V using Tapatalk

OK. Let's see more pictures of you RODI system. I want to see it from every angle and be able to track every piece of tubing thru from start to finish. Off hand, I can see it's broken. I can also see that your flush valve is in the wrong position. What I can't see is the pure water line. Instead, it looks like there's a broken fitting on the DI resin stage (right side from front). The high level flow that I would expect is Input - sediment filter - carbon block - (center in) membrane (center out) - DI resin - pure water output (to collection bucket) The waste water flow is like this Input - sediment filter - carbon block - (center in) membrane (side out) - DI flow restrictor - waste water output (to sink) Sent from my SM-T818V using Tapatalk

Also, you have the waste water line going into the bucket. That's the throw away water, not purified. If you've been putting this in your tank, it's worse than the source water. Actually, with the flush valve in this position, it's probably close to the same as EO production will be close to zero. Sent from my SM-T818V using Tapatalk

That was a lot of work, Paul. But the tank is looking great.

Out of my wheelhouse, but I agree: It's a great chart.