EBR

Eh, all's well after all. Went through a few fuses to narrow down the culprit, while taking the time to tidy up the wire harness, but in the end it wound up being the ballast itself. Luckily, I had a spare and all is now back to normal.

Hey Guys, thanks. Right after New Years, I wound up sticking with the T5s, because, honestly, I just like them and the coverage is great for the 125g. The canopy's got five 60" bulbs, three on an Icecap 660 and two on a 440. I replaced all of the sockets while I was at it, but kept the original wire and ballasts. That was four weeks ago, lit 'em up slowly over a couple of weeks to avoid shocking the corals, and all's been fine since. Until tonight when one bulb went "Fzzzztttz: and in the two minutes it took me to drop what I was doing and get over there, the rest went "Fzzzzttzz... pop". darn. Question: These were brand new bulbs and sockets, so what's a typical life span of ballasts? These are about 10 years old. Is there some best practice with T5s that I missed, like changing the out with the bulbs or some such thing? Or do you just run them until they give and you replace them as needed? I have a spare ballast that I'll try out tomorrow, to see if the bulbs are ruined. If new ballasts are needed, any recommendation on brands? Until now, these Icecaps have been doing fine, just wondering what you all think. Thanks! Matt

Up Front: I'm looking for some advice to either repair/replace the T5 lighting on a 125g LPS tank. Long form: I've got a 125g that's on about 14 years now with the original T5 VHO lights (bulbs have been replaced, but the wiring and sockets are original). Pretty simple set up, the LPS love 'em, no heat problems, etc. One bulb recently went out, only to find that it wasn't the bulb, but the socket on one end burned out and partially melted (lucky!). The ballasts are from 2011. So I'm faced with either re-doing a similar retro kit, replacing all of the sockets, or perhaps looking into something more up to date. LEDs didn't have a long track record when I set this system up, but it seems they've come a long way since then, although I really don't know what sets one apart from another. Any recommendations? Stick with T5s, go with LEDs (and what to look out for), or something entirely different? It's a 6' LPS tank, and I can modify the canopy easily enough to accommodate really just about anything whether it's bare bulbs like the T5 retro kit, or a single unit that sits on top. Thanks, Everyone, and Happy New Year! Matt

Merry Christmas, Everyone -- As much as I'm on this site to figure things out and get ideas for making my own system better, I find it tough to believe that I haven't updated this thread in four years. Although, I see that I let this go stale from 2007-2014, too, so perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised. It's pretty much the same set of corals, some have outgrown, been broken apart, and remounted elsewhere - so instead of one huge frogspawn, it's a forest of frogspawn branches, stuff like that :-) Finally got a decent replacement for the big toadstool, too. Anyway, I'll just leave this right here as an update - it has a bit of subtle sound design, best with headphones:

Glad to see the RBTAs doing so well. Tell me: for the photos, are you using a lens filter or any post-processing? Few photos from my own tank have that kind of color saturation. Matt

Huh. Good to know -- thanks! Might just reconsider the rock I put it on after all. Thanks!

Is that a beer bottle? Might need some help from Save the Sound ;-) The tank looks great!

Hey, thanks, Everyone. While nowhere nearly as gruesome as this one -- thanks for the link, donnie -- mine has been evicted. All of the recent re-scaping caused him to venture around a bit and get in the way, irritating some corals. Had to go.

New tactic: For anyone else that may have a tank that is drilled in a similar way (two holes in the upper corners of the back), what have you done to have a quiet drain? Rethinking what I described above: There is a about an inch of space between the current water level and the plastic trim of the tank. What if I... * leave the existing 1.5" up-turned elbow drain as-is, but re-plumb the drain line to a 1" line with the gate valve to match the flow rate of the drain to that of the return * configure the left side hole as the new emergency drain with 1.5" plumbing throughout. This would also be an up-turned elbow but with the lip being higher than the current water level, but below the plastic trim of the tank. Whaddya think? Thanks! Matt

ummmm... yeah. :-/

All of this talk about drains and making them quiet has got me thinking about my own situation. So that I didn't hijack or divert that conversation about Herbie drains, here's mine. And by the way, I learned a lot in that thread, so thank you to Everyone, especially for pointing us to the other sites. I've got a 125g that's approaching 10 years old, and in hindsight I see now that I really didn't know what I was doing. The noise is something that's always bothered me -- then again, it doesn't make so much noise that we don't live with it, but it could be a lot better. Somehow I'm now inspired to do something about it. Here's the deal: * standard 125g glass tank, no overflow, with plastic trim * two 1.5 inch holes, each drilled into the upper corners of the back * one remains plugged, but is available for use * the other is used as the sole drain. No second drain a la Durso or Herbie. Just a big gaping hole that (so far) does pretty well staying clear and flowing water. Air, too ;-( * Eheim 1262 return pump, whose return is T'd to each end of the tank, plumbed up-and-over the edge and then down into the water. With the head height, I estimate that it's putting out 700 gph, but probably less since the return is split. right side return and drain: it's cut-off in this photo, but the drain has a T on the back which leads to an air tube a muffler, which works pretty well: Left side return and unused drain: So what I'm thinking is: * Simplify the return to just a single line from pump to tank (remove the T) * keep the existing ginormous drain as-is but repurpose it as the new emergency drain. * use the currently unused hole as the new drain, with 1" pipe. This would have the gate valve to control the flow rate. I'm envisioning nothing on this other than a simple grate, completely under water. The top edge of that hole would be a bit more than 1" below the new water level. Like this (forgive my crude drawing -- with more time, I'd have broken out the CAD ;-) What do you think? Matt

Um, yeah... 1++

My clowns are mad at me. I settled in all of the frags from yesterday's WAMAS meeting, letting 'em chill out for a few days before mounting them. I came back an hour later to this: So I put them all back where they were, and not a minute later she's eye-balling them again: Seems that (I'm guessing) they were a bit too far back and in her line of sight between the main island of anemones and the one on the far right. BTW, if anyone wants an RBTA, just let me know -- I've got the knack now for removing them, and I'd still like to thin out the herd. Matt

Excellent, thanks! Matt

Thanks, I'll definitely keep it on it's own. Right now it's just a small frag on a plug -- will it grow it's own ball-shaped skeleton while sitting on the sand bed, or should I attach it to a rock so that it encrusts and take on that shape? Thanks. Matt

Glad you found it! A few weeks ago, my wife and kids heard a "pop" from the tank, followed by a burning smell. A bunch of tube worms had gotten inside one of the heaters and got so big that they stressed the casing and popped off the top assembly. Water got in, and the whole thing toasted. Why does this stuff happen only when the wife and kids are nearby?

I picked up a silver-dollar-sized maze brain yesterday, and am wondering how to position it in the tank. Any advice? Is it best to set on the sandbed to grow its own skeleton, or should I mount it to a rock to encrust? Thanks! Matt

Not that I've noticed. Although, after yesterday's WAMAS take-home of zoos, Acan, montis, and a brain maze, I don't know if they'll get mistaken for a food court!

It's amazing what you find with a bit of re-scaping, house cleaning, and new-coral-placement after a WAMAS meeting. I see much smaller versions of this in the tank, and understand that they can be good scavengers as part of a clean up crew, but this thing is huge (didn't know they'd get this big). Any confirmation that's what it is? Any concern? 125g, mostly softies, LPS, and a few easy SPS (digitata and monti caps) What do you think? Thanks. Matt

So I'm giving some serious thought toward investing in one, and would appreciate any suggestions on what brand/model to go with. My very unscientific industry survey (um, Google) keeps pointing to the Vortex line up, with their base model here: http://www.diatomfilter.com/products/diatom_d1_filter.htm I've got a 125g tank, and would not be running it continuously, just as needed. Any advice or recommendations? Thanks! Matt

No doubt! This... turned into this, where it eventually broker under its own weight (lower left corner of the photo). What a (fun) mess...

Same here: Trash can + heater + maxijet running 24x7 ==>> getting the brown gunk. Funny, I was just contemplating a new trash can 'cuz the current one is really, really, funkified. Will try to the timer idea for it's next incarnation.

Outstanding -- thanks so much. Matt

I love this hobby. It's great. Except those moments when I feel like I've been everything wrong for 10 years! from Tom/Oragami> Just to note: IO's recommendation for 1/2 cup per gallon of water does not mix up to 1.0264 (35 ppt). Instead, that's the formula to get you to 1.022 sg (or 29.2 ppt). At that ratio, you an expect calcium to be at 400*29.2/35 = 333 ppm and magnesium at 1100 ppm. and> You actually need almost 20 percent more salt to go from 1.022 sg (which is 29.2 ppt) to 1.0264 (35 ppt). And so for me, those early habits grew deep roots, I suppose, because that is exactly what I have been following, the darn instructions on the IO bucket. I have been targeting 1.022 salinity and the Ca is exactly in the 340-ish range. No wonder my LPS growth has seemed to go backwards. </end self pity> So, I take it then that instead of the 2.5 cups of IO per 5 gallons of RODI I have been mixing, I would be better off with 3 cups (adding 20%) to target a SG of 1.026? Thanks so much, this thread is bookmarked ;-) Matt

Everything has a first day. Good luck!