Der ABT

Woops sorry for no response first... Finally got some pics to upload...tank has been acro free for longer than I ever want again....going to start shopping again soon 728_115027_zpsgytjzp9p.jpg.html[/img]

Was a very good event as always, wish I coulda stayed for ore frags...little ones had other ideas so I missed out on some nice looking acros so nicely donated..... Big props to all the volunteers, meeting seemed to go very smoothly

Been using the avast dosers, talked with justin and they are built really really nice..... Been online a while, doing 1g per day or there abouts. Did a test last month and they were still putting out the same as when the went onine (broke them in for a day fist as suggested) Had to time them and adjust the length each is on to get the amount right, one runs for like 2 hrs other one is 219 I think Very happy Just need a controller, my aciii is doing jusy fine, Refill my resivoir about every month now

Woot woooot Looking forward to the progress

RTMNPURR This was a 10 dollar coupon off 60 bucks I used for 3 buckets......local pickup

So my 40g brute seems to be getting alot dirtier every batch of salt water lately.... What does every do to clean theirs..... How often With what/what's your routine I generally wipe mine out with towel before mixing new water....I probably Clean mine with vinegar every 3 or 4th mixing

Is it on the inside or outside......may be able to buff it out

What size tank...may be able to help

Great discussion I think stability is the key to all......when my tank was at is best I had alot of aptaisia etc....but parameters were rock solid.. blasted corals with lights and flow in the Main and went leds on the frag tank and had the same colors just had some missing color and polyps where the leds were causing shaded areas....growth was definately slower under the leds.....but colors were very similar with the full spectrum d120s. I always had trouble with zoas unless I had sand somewhere in the system.....fuge or just a Tupperware in the frag tank. Sps just grew and grew in my 156 even with aefw and crazy algea......and that was diiiirty....had echinatas, smooth skins and other not so hardy sps doin fine and couldn't explain it Again it's more with consistency to me. But I think halides do play a large part in keeping happy sps....they color all the way around the branches etc even in less than ideal conditions.....I think leds have come a long way so this may be changing. Also the post about the balance of import export may be my favorite so far as its often overlooked when setting up a system

I love avast skimmers, done me well for years now

Use tweezers out of the tank...get as much of the base as possible. Best way to remove imo

Was trying to do it cheap with what I have on hand. Again more looking for an emergency back up that my aciii could turn on if needed Already have the fridge and it holds beverages and had a small freezer section for frozen Fish food.and is next to the main tank so not heating the qt room. Was thinking of putting a 1g jug inside the fridge with water and a bilge pump much like the cool suit we use in the race car or just a maxijet etc. So it wold be pretty cold water and I have a bunch of tubing etc sitting around I could coil in the qt. I'll have to get some temps in the room...it's a half room with the roof right there at a 45angle. Thanks for the link seth thag may be an option if once the ac is fixed the room stays hot...or as an emergency backup. Guess it may be tougher than I thought to do cheaply.....but that nano chI'll er isn't too horrible......I mean if I have a few hundred bucks worth of frags going thru qt for a couple weeks, 70 is worth the safety Thanks for the thoughts and usual Tom plethora of information and things to think about My coolsuit gave me the idea...here is a link for 5hose who don't know what they are.....make a 90min enduro racing much more tolerable in a nomex suit and hot car. http://www.fastraceproducts.com/cooling/driver-cool-suit-systems/f.a.s.t.-cool-suit-system-no-air-no-shirt.html

Alright I'm 10 weeks acro free, lost all the other sps I was dipping, of course this happens after I haven't seen any signs of aefw for 3 weeks......but now in will be sure I'm rid of these things Had my overflow pipe loosen in the qt (bottom drilled)...and the last sps frags I had were dry for 2 days and did not make it...zoas seem fine at least Once the ac gets fixed and temps are more stable I'll start the collection again Got the hood all done up with 4 54w t5s, 2 d120s Fish are all fat and happy, the montiporas I do have are growing and have great color so I'm happy with that. Algea is slowly disappearing. Haven't tested params except salinity. So far auto water change has been rock solid...big thanks to avast for that. Been arguing with my old aciii to get it online thankfully Tom has been helping and if I can get more time I should have it online soon...almost bought an apex But I think I'm going to wait and put that towards some nice frags instead Last thing I need to do is get a new return pump, finish the manifold,and finish up the stand with doors and skin the hood. Eventually will get the CArx back online and thinking of trying the all in one pellets. Will try to remember some pics

So my 7g qt tank has been getting too hot, the room it's in is small and we have had some ac issues and are waiting on a replacement core....and it's can get warm in there. I keep it covered most of the time so there isn't too much humidity in the room but also put a fan and leave it open on hot days for evap cooling I was thinking about using some 1/8th tubing and either coiling it in the tank and having rodi from my 50g holding drum run thru the line....this would put the pumps heat in the 50g vs 7g or running a pump with water from the qt into the Rodi as the holding tank is usually a bit cooler....but then I figured the pump heat would make this a bad choice Or I have a mini fridge up there and was thinking about drilling a hole and running a closed loop in there with a small 1 gal container with a pump etc Thinking this could be a good emergency cooking solution I could set up on a controller. ....aka if temp hits 83....pump turns on and water flows from fridge or thru fridge etc. Trying to figure out a cheap emergency cooling back up so I don't loose any more corals. Any thoughts?

I'd put 1 or 2 mp40 on whatever side you see fit towars the front of the glass Issue with putting the rocks up against the back glass like that is you can't really get a circular flow as well.....so it may seem like there is not a ton of flow on the rocks because the water can't really get back there unless you have a directional pump

What is your rockwork like..... it needs to allow for a circular flow or for the flow your looking for. I ran 2 mp40 on my 90g, when things grew in I added a 3rd to the back wall....

Appreciate it, I've used computer fans in the past just figured there may be a better option these days ....always had computer fans rust out pretty fast. As for the canopy you should look at putting one on top to pull the hot air up...made a big difference in my old 90g

Agree they make it easy, had the same type of help when I got a booster pump I ended up not needing, offered me store credit but had a baby and forgot to send it back haha.....but the offer won me as a customer

Looking for suggestions on fans for the canopy......I guess ac versions would be best..... Yes its a day of questions for me Lookin at a million options from amazon to our vendors

Yeh I'd still be using my dc8s cause I do t really care about dimming or have anything apex ready for dimming as my d120s are manual dimmers Sounds like waiting for just the head and using all I have

Alright so I've been thinking about a new controller for a while and have been too out of it...now this https://reefbuilders.com/2016/05/24/nextgen-apex-announced-by-neptune-systems/ Currently have an aciii pro which I'm having issues to get online....love it but it's been a while since I've had to do an online set up (anyone wanting to help would be appreciated. ...can't even get the thing when connected to my pc) But looks like apex has announced a new version I have a hard time swallowing 800 bucks for anything let alone a light timer.....but there are some cool features So I have alot of aciii products, dc8s, breakout box, i/o thing, and all are working fine I just can't do anything on the phone or by computer that I'd love to have....or emails notices. So what's everyone's opinion....sounds like the apex classic is going to no longer be supported if something breaks hardware wise.... Makes me wonder about picking up a used one For 2 tanks I'd really just need the pm1 I think for the extra temp probe And seems like all my old stuff dc8s, lunar sim, breakout etc should still work...though I'm not sure there would be enough ports as some still use a serial port I know its no really a question but asking for a discussion....so how bout this What are the things you consider a necessity on your current controller for your tank....pm1, pm2, wxm, lunar, etc....... I love the video with the neptune founder saying how rediculous the early controllers were...1k...and scoffing.....now the apex is 800....haha

I'm Confused on the dual head pumps, I'd find it hard to believe they pump the exact rate being differences in rollers tubing etc I guess it's not far off enough to matter, I like the idea of two pumps so you can adjust the time...downside is if one fails the other still goes. But regardless I really like the auto water changes

I have mine set up with 2 peristaltic pumps from avast. Did a timed run many times to get rhe flow rates equal. ...example pump 1 runs about 2 hours, pump 2 runs about 236......but consistently pump 1 gallon at that rate Yeh you may change some new water but your gonna do this regardless if it's daily. I change 1 gallon per day Fresh goes into the return section and old water gets pump out of the fuge at the same time...so the new water goes into the main tank first so it should dilute into the old water pretty well before it's drawn out Waste water goes from there to my qt tank and from the qt to the drain.....yes you float a bag and the drain in the qt overflows......simply throw sone fresh salt water in when I do this or just let it refill on its own My main is on an ato and I've had no issues but could shut the ato off during the water change times if I wanted to. Ato for the qt is on a dosing pump so took so trial and error. Now I just check salinity and top up levels LOVING IT SO FAR...big thanks to AVAST...their pumps are awesome Lemme know if I can help with any other questions

Haha too funny that's exactly what mine looks like..... Just means less dipping of acros now, and have to start over fully.....which stinks but what can ya do When I remove the top I need to add some top up...bout 100ml, when I leave the top on its stable from the auto water change

I'll try to take some pics tomorrow. ..been dealing with alot of baby and doctors lately but just got the looks good and monitor so hopefully it stays that way and no more tests. Why I missed the last meet Tank is doing really good, got the avast auto water change doing it's thing 1 gallon a day Algea battle is turning in my favor slowly with where I harvest not growing back. Qt...lost a bunch of the sps to 90deg temps when the ac broke....still got a few and dips have stayed clean I think I'm at 6 weeks acro free in the main tank so almost ready to think about adding some...just waiting to get the qt more steady Still need to finish skinning the hood and a few other small things but I'll try to get some pics