Origami

Sounds the same to me. I was looking over my Typhoon III last night when mling resurrected this months-old thread. David, did you ever get this resolved. I also noticed last night that AWI has ASOV's listed on their site. You may be able to find one locally from one of our vendors, though.

Paul, this is on your system that uses the algal turf scrubber, I assume?

Stu, use portland cement mixed with aragonite crushed coral or aragonite sand. You should cure newly manufactured "aragocrete" before trying to seed it. Six to eight weeks is typical for curing time of aragocrete rock. It may be shorter in your case because you may not be using much of it. You should change the water out as much as daily, though. Scan the info in this link (it might be helpful): http://www.garf.org/class.html

I have a yellow tang (4"), scopas tang (2.5"), sailfin tang (2.5"), 3 kupang damsels (1"), 2 false percs (2" & 2.5"), roland's damsel (1"), sargassum trigger (5"), royal gramma (3.5"), blue green chromis (1.5"), 3.5" coral beauty, and 2 six line wrasses (1.25") in a 180 g display (320+ g in system). Nitrates typically measure at zero. I feed once a day using mostly spirulina flake. It's a good sized pinch, but not a lot in my estimation - a wad about 1" in diameter and 1/8" thick. I'll add a second pinch again if things disappear really quickly but, again, this happens only once or twice a week. Sometimes I'll add a 6" x 1.5" strip of nori as a grazing treat for the group, but it's not like I do it every day or even every other day. Sometimes they get thawed and rinsed frozen (mysis, brine shrimp, home made frozen), but, again, it's not with regular frequency.

Sales generally are conducted in a members only area, unless you're getting out of the hobby. Used skimmers are regularly sold by members in those forums, but you have to be a member to gain access. Trust me, it'll be the best $20 you'll spend in this hobby. Hope to see you on the other side soon.

I'm pretty sure about this: I thought I saw a refillable cartridge and DI resin at BRK this weekend. Give them a call, though, just to be sure.

I use it and it's easy. You can throw out the old and put in the new. Or, if you enjoy working with caustic chemicals, you can try saving the old and recharging it (even mixed bed resins) according to this article from last year: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-09/nftt/index.php

Excellent meeting everyone. I thought projecting the demonstrations on-screen really helped get the information out to people without having to have them crowd around. The demos were great, too. Thanks to Almon (who provided the tutorial on DIY aragocrete frag plugs), to Jeff (Naga, who showed us how to and how not to make reliable acrylic joints), and to everybody who supplied, goods, services, time, and labor to make this a resounding success.

Cool! Congratulations, Johnny. I'll bet you're one proud daddy! She's sure got talent - run's in the genes, too, huh?

I could run out also, Hunter. I'm half again as close as Ron. Let me know if I can help out.

I have two large zoa rocks that I picked up from Mr. Coral six or more months ago. Both are growing and continue to do well.

^^^ That reads wrong. Sorry. It should say, remove the known good ballast and replace it with the suspect ballast. If it starts the lamp, the suspect ballast is good. If it doesn't, it's likely bad. Don't attach the known-good ballast to the fried socket.

Material resistance is inversely proportional to material cross section. If what you were saying above is true, then high tension wiring would benefit from being hair-thin or thinner. (Resistance = (material resistivity * length) / cross-sectional area) Corrosion (metal oxides) have lower conductivity (read that as higher resistance) than metals. This is because their "free" electrons are bound up in the covalent bond of the oxide. If these oxides begin to interfere with the movement of electrons (that's resistance) heat goes up because you've put a resistance in where once there was virtually none. Since Forrest has a melted socket, it's clear that heat caused it. Some possible failure scenarios that support this observation include: 1) Corrosion in the contact.) Since ballasts are current-regulated devices, corrosion in the contact would cause excess heat. 2) Corrosion between contacts. A path between contacts would sap current and put heat where it didn't belong. 3) Failed ballast. A ballast that has lost it's ability to regulate current could put excess heat into it's load. Forrest, your ballast may or may not be working. I'd first focus on replacing that melted socket (I'm assuming it's really melted and not just brown from heat). It sounds like you need to do that anyway. As for whether or not the ballast is also bad: If you can open up your light and swap ballasts inside the fixture (actually, just remove the suspect ballast and replace it with the known-good ballast - there's no sense in putting the good ballast on a bad load), you can probably definitively determine if you've got a ballast failure. If you haven't, replacing the socket should fix you up. If the suspect ballast will not fire the light on the known-good circuit, you'll probably have to replace it also.

OK. I'm listed for the Oregon Tort. See you tonight, Hunter. I'll call before.

LOL.

I'll bring 5 gallons new and 5 used.

I'll be there and will bring some water, too.

You're anniversary date has just passed, Hunter. My suspicion is that you're renewal is up for reprocessing.

Nice start. Stabilizing your parameters / chemistry would be my next objective. Are you running an open top or closed? It looks closed with that strip lamp on the back. A closed top will interfere with lighting as vapor condenses on the top and salt deposits form. I'd probably run it open. You'll get better lighting and more efficient oxygen transfer. Then, since you'll be running open top and have a 20L (with a higher surface area to volume ratio than many tanks), evaporation will be behind some parameter fluctuation. To that end, I would probably add an ATO next to give your system some stability. Add kalkwasser powder to the ATO reservoir and you'll be replenishing alkalinity and calcium, too. This will benefit any skeleton-forming corals that you might try. Have fun!

First try swapping bulbs. Then try swapping ballasts. See if the problem follows either. If it follows the bulb, that's the likely problem. If it follows the ballast, that's the likely problem. If it follows neither, then it's likely a wiring problem. In that case, try a continuity check using a multimeter on the input and on the output wiring. If you find a problem, fix it. If not, it's then that I would put the multimeter in voltage mode and trace the input AC voltage from the fixture input to the ballast input. If you have AC on the input side of the ballast and the wiring is good to the light, I would suspect the ballast is bad and would replace it (provided that the problem is not the bulb). Who makes the lights, Forrest? Some manufacturers do a shoddy job of wiring and it could be as simple as a loose connection inside the housing. I had a light that had that problem once.

Sorry, Jan.

I googled "nylon knurled screw" and found a bunch of them on EBay. I'm not at home, so I can't measure the one that's on my scraper, so it's difficult to say if any of these will replace the one that's missing. But there's an email address at the bottom of this page: http://www.easybladeusa.com/dealers.html They might replace it for you for free or for a nominal charge.

This is the one that I've used on glass tanks. It's called Easy Blade and makes quick work of coralline and calcareous algae. http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...e=Algaecleaners

You won't get a good evaluation of how it performs (foams) in fresh water. There's just not the tension needed to hold bubbles together. If you can manage to put it in a big rubbermaid container or something similar, I would get some used change water and give it a try. I can give you some change water if you need some. Or maybe somebody closer. You could also just try it in my sump if you'd like.

Timing this with a move is ideal, Forrest. I'd advise taking that route if it's an available option to you. Your situation reminds me a little of my own dissatisfaction with my sand bed a while back. This is how it worked: I started out as a newbie deciding to go sumpless and to use a plenum design (despite Sean at F&F telling me that I'd want one) in my 90. I failed to follow his advice then. Regretting that, I went to HOB's. I didn't like my sand bed design and thought it to be the source of some of my nitrate issues of the time, so I decided to change that out. I thought, "Heck, if I'm going to change out the sand, I may as well drill the tank while it's empty." Then, it was, "Well, to drill the tank, it's going to be off the stand. I may as well upgrade." And that, Forrest, is how it all started to spiral out of control. Enjoy!