wade

Tom has a good point. Many new probes are fickle... still no clue why, but they are and most recommend you wait and recalibrate. I calibrate my probe about every 2-3 weeks. It drifts even over that time. Another reason to use RODI on an old probe is that it kills off anything living on it pretty effectively. It won't remove it, but it will kill it.

I doubt there are trademarks, however! There is law pertaining to intellectual property and the use of names that could be taken up by someone unscrupulous as a baseball bat to get money from a larger business. I totally get why they did that, even if the threat is low. Eg, someone has been selling strawberry shortcake for years and they claim ORA infringed on their market by using the same name. They then hire a lawyer and go after ORA hoping to make some cash. The ugly realities of today's US marketplace. Just like Starschmucks going after some tiny little brewery for a third party using a name in conjunction with their beer on an independent website.

I typically do use RO when switching from tank water. Tanks are heavily buffered so it could have an impact, although the amount transferred is unlikely to be a problem (as the solutions are also well buffered). Does one f them have any growth of critters on it or corrosion? I've noticed in the past that probes are often just not accurate and they drift like crazy.

+1

There are many different colors to choose from. Sheets of the filter are around $6.50 each. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=underwater+red+filter+paper+rosco&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search= The main issue is having some form of plastic ring or other contraption to hold the paper still and flat. You don't want it wrinkling in any way. Also, some of these papers reduce light incoming by 1-3 stops (eg, 2-9 times less light entering the lens) so they may cause a little more blurring of moving subjects.

I can't imagine GAC re-activation is quite as effective due to the nature of the chemical bonds. It is generally created by high temp, high pressure oxidation of all the extraneous junk. I'm guessing it'd largely work, but is it worth the cost?

This is very common for underwater cameras that don't have flash systems.

Really? That is news to me. I recall a conversation with some of the personnel at the NC aquarium where we talked about getting sardines, menhaden, and other small fishes by the ton (frozen) that came straight out of the ocean. I wouldn't expect that to need FDA approval? Guess thats an assumption I made.

Freezing will not kill most bacteria and probably not many viruses. It will, however, kill most larger parasites. Rinsing with RO will certainly help to rupture anything that is adapted to sw that is on the surface, but it'll also kill the clam/muscle (not really an issue since you are feeding it anyway). That said, I doubt the odds of introducing something particularly bad are very high. Most public aquariums feed wild caught fish and such to their fish too. And even prepared foods generally use wild caught materials - although they are often freeze dried or powdered and ground/baked.

I think a critical issue here is that he could still smell the VOC's from the solvents used in the pvc cement. Perhaps the issues are overlapping, but in the end, the solution is the same. Continuous activated carbon and water changes, unless you want to isolate the sump for a while just in case (for both to cure fully). I'm guessing that if the PVC cement is the primary issue, it won't last long. And it'll evaporate readily from the water/skimmer. The slow cure from the silicon I can't hazard a guess as to how long, but again your nose is one of the best indicators. BTW - there are studies showing that our noses are more sensitive to some VOCs and hormones/pheremones than mass spec methods. Pretty amazing! Although it is a limited list.

Using glued plastics depends on how much you use, the volume it goes into, turnover (gas exchange) in the tank, etc etc etc. This rabbithole is getting deep! :p Occum said it well... the most obvious/simplest answer is the right answer (usually). I can't imagine much in the way of metals or a sealed can of pvc cement being near something else (if it were gas permeable, the solvent would turn into a brick)...etc. In the end, big water changes and activated carbon (and possibly, a poly pad, tho I wouldn't bother) will be your solution.

This is very dependent on temperature, airflow, and humidity. If cold, it is certainly not enough. Again - the best bet is to smell the joints. Any sign of solvent left and its not safe.

O2 narcosis... LOL. You'd be able to run a 5k without breaking a sweat. So long as you didn't leave your fish room. I don't know of a good way to measure CO2, but I'd think that watching your pH in the tank would work - as it is an indirect indicator. BTW- high rates of photosynthesis can consume a good bit of CO2, which can repress in tank concentrations. Surface mixing should fix a lot of that though. I've not seen many (if any?) cases of it not returning to normal at night when the process reverses though.

It is very unusual. A large air stone (or the wooden blocks) in the main display would certainly do it. But it'd be both ugly and messy. Generally, strong water flow inside the tank will do it. Aim a powerhead or return upward to cause some amount of visible upwelling on the surface of the tank. One thing to check on is airflow inside your hood too. If it is fairly well sealed, it'll slow air exchange. If you have a controller, you can set it to turn on a venturi style powerhead when pH goes above a certain mark (like 8.3). You can use a short piece of airline tubing above the water to run air in - as a fairly simple fix. Or do the same thing with a fan aimed at the surface of the tank - turn on when pH rises. Turn off when it is in a good range.

I've seen araganite turn into cement. Its not a good thing. Not to mention you get precipitation of a lot of things.

Yes, it is wholly possible. I recommend a big water change (50% if you can swing it) and run activated carbon. (EDIT: A couple of big water changes over a couple of days... 30-50% is best. If you have good water at the proper temp and well mixed, you can even go bigger, but its risky.) The best way to tell if the solvents are gone (it can take a while) is by putting your nose to a joint and sniffing. Your nose is a very good indicator of solvent presence. FWIW I helped a public aquarium that was having problems losing fish. Turns out they used an epoxy sealer that was "safe" - what they didn't do was wait long enough for it to fully cure. It can and does happen.

Yes. My camera is being displayed no problem, it came right up when I saved the edits to the camera widget. You are describing what I had happen to me as well. When I tried to use the tinyurl I created, it would show the camera as it loaded for a split second, then go blank. Here is the string I used for my foscam in the apex widget: standard http user:passwd@URL:port/videostream.cgi http://user:passwd@URL:port/videostream.cgi

I figured it out reading yesterday. If your camera's feed string has a ? in it - it will crash their webpages (the Apex driven page). You have to either use the user.pass@ip version or use a URL compression website like tinyurl. Once I changed the string, it works just fine. Wish they'd tell you that up front some place. I spent hours searching and only just found it by luck.

Turns out there is sometimes a problem with power outtages causing the unit to mess up. I unplugged the Apex for a minute, plugged it back in and its working fine now. The second recommendation was to re flash the web pages using their utility (glad I didn't need to do that, it would be a major pita). FAIL. It has reverted to not saving. Guess I go in and try to flash the web pages with their utility.

So I was just having a dense moment. I couldn't figure out how to forward multiple ports on my router... then I noticed the "add custom service" button. Well, now I can get to both the cam and apex remotely... joyous. HOWEVER. I still can't save my dashboard. Each time I manipulate it, save it. Then close and re-open... it is right back to default. At least now I can remotely control the camera without worrying about a widget for apex that can do everything (though that would be nice).

So... for some reason my Apex now always resets to the default dashboard and throws away all my changes. @#%@#)%*@# thing.

So... I managed to get my Apex dashboard to display my new IP camera (FOSCAM FI8910W). However, it only shows a blank tile when I am not inside my network - although perhaps that is due to using my android tablet/phone and not a PC... So my question is: Can you control the pan/tilt or other functions (eg, IR nite lite) function of the foscam cameras via apex or some other mechanism? I actually found a control string that reset the '0' position of the camera which is fine. Because my http is redirected to my Apex, I cannot use my router to direct traffic to the camera directly. Or maybe I haven't figured it out yet.

Here here.

It is yours for the taking, just let me know how big (remember to add an extra inch or two to each side). Even if I'm not here, I'll give you the address and can leave it for you to grab. Just lemme know.

I have a good bit of the clear 1/4" screen (from BRS) left. I'm maybe 20-30 mins away depending on where in Pville you live.