OldReefer

I heard a lecture from Eric Borneman a few years ago about oxygen in reef tanks. Light was the most important variable. When you hit a tank with even a modest amount of light, the oxygen levels increase dramatically. The large amount of Benthic algae in our tanks makes a big difference. Ever since then I have tried to put some light in the tank when I have a outage. It is easy now with LEDs.

Steve, Try fans. Lots of fans blowing at the surface of the water did more for me than ice. God Speed.

I just added a choice for manual aeration for many of you that may have not had an obsessive pile of tools waiting to go.

Let me contribute my own experiences and lessons. I do safety stuff for a living, and in classic fashion I was well equipped for the last disaster. After the big snow storm, I installed a generator and a transfer panel that would keep my house warm in the winter and my tank alive indefinitely. That was not a complete solution this time. Fans turned out to be a big deal. They really helped keep the tank cool. Ice bags didn't do nearly as much as I had thought. I had to scramble to find ice, and 40 lbs of ice in the sump over 12 hours only took the temp down a degree or so total. If the power had not come back on, my tank would have died the next day. I may consider a chiller. ( I might go back to MH anyway). I was able to hold my 150 gallon system to a max of 80.5 for 20 hours. The next day it would have been over 85 for sure. The battery air pumps and vortech backup are still essential with a generator because you can't use a generator when it is raining, or when your neighbors want to sleep. I almost wish I had a little quiet Honda generator that would just drive my tank, but then I would not have enough to keep the furnace going for a winter outage.

I know some are still in the dark and the heat. Everybody will want to share their experiences as the power comes back up. Rather than just have another thread of anecdotes, I thought I would put a couple of basic questions out there so we might be able to see if there are correlations between the magnitude of the outage, the approaches taken, and the result.

Sorry to hear this. It would have be me in another 12 hours. I have some big colonies when you get it stable again.

How are you keeping it so cool? I am fighting to keep my temps down. It is 84 in my tank room.

I use a Tunze power head in my fuge for flow.. Chaeto loves flow and the propeller pump does not chop up the pods. Chaeto also loves light. I I light mine to about 400 PAR with LEDS. I throw away 3 to 5 gallons of chaeto every 2 weeks.

+1 on AWI. They have outstanding service and will make sure you get exactly what you need. The units are far better built than others I have owned. Don't forget the 10 percent WAMAS discount!

I am a title East of you in 22307

I am pretty sure you are describing common red flatworms. They are only a big deal if they over run your tank. If they start to annoy you they are easily knocked back with Salifert Flatworm Exit. You just have to do big water changes and run lots of carbon when you treat them. Lots of wrasses are supposed to eat them. Very few actually do.

I can't count how many disasters like that I had with my first two tanks. I made a mess like that once while a realtor was coming into the front door of my house with a group of buyers. That is why I am a realiablity fanatic now. Two drilled outlets in every over flow, hard-plumbed connections on pumps, anti-siphon holes everyplace... You get better at this stuff every time it happens. Integral9 has a point. Get a fan or something on the wet stuff before it goes south.

Can't seem to unclog it, but if you are welcome to take a shot at it. I think I just need a new little nozzle. If you have one laying around, you can spray your project for free.

I like ASMs, but I really like the efficiency of the AVAST CS-2. I am running an old one now and would love to have one with the recirc option and smoked-grey cone. The only frustration I ever had was with the start-up reliablity of the old Sicce pumps. The new ones have fixed that completely.

I have almost a full can with a clogged nozzle. The stuff works good.

Be careful of cranking that reactor up to far. I ran into the same problem with a really successful SPS tank once and ended up melting my media and clogging up my reactor. It made a real mess and a big Alk Swing. You might want to start supplementing your reactor with BRS 2 part. Just a thought. Congrats on the tank, it is really coming together nicely.

I have always loved the Pan world pumps for reliability and low heat transfer. They make them as small as 480 gph. If your budget allows it, an elegant choice would be the new low voltage, ultra- controllable Tunze Silence Electronic Recirculation Pump 1073.05. It is controllable as a power head and uses very little power. It has to be quiet and cool- running. Plus you can back it up with a 12 v battery. Pricey though.

Ever consider doing something like #2, but bumping it into the wall between the Rec Room and the Office? You could use it as a look through between the the two rooms. That word be a really neat architectural feature, but you woes have to clean two panes of glass.

With those low nutrient levels I bet a big bunch of emerald crabs will be able to clean it up or at least keep up with it. I had the same problem with my 150. 10 emerald crabs took it out in about a month.

1 Rainbow milli please

I have to also mention that an Avast CS-1 will dramatically outperform and AquaC for a fraction of the energy cost. It will also be much more stable. I ran a EV-400 for a while and it was miserable to keep tuned.

I am using a CS1 on my 50 gallon frag tank. No problem with it being too big for a 60 gallon cube. I have always been a big fan of oversizing skimmers. There are about a million things that can go wrong in a reef tank, and a big skimmer is often the key to a quick recovery.

Mine shows HW Rev 1 and SW Rev 004

I kinda figured those trans shippers had a valid reason to exist. Not to mention the local LFS that I know and love. It is tough to go into a candy store like that without buying anything.

I have a feeling this is going to fall into the "just too hard" category but I have to ask. I will be spending 21-26 May in Bali, about 3 miles from the clam and coral farm described in this Advanced Aquarist Article: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2011/9/inverts Is there anyway I can cherry pick stuff and have it shipped back to a local merchant for import? I don't know if anybody in the area has the appropriate permits, and if the flights to the East Coast allow a reasonable transit time. If I can fill in those blanks, I would be willing to hand-pick stuff for a group buy. If not, I will at least send back a lot of pictures. Any ideas? Bill