Der ABT 156g Build

[YHSublime]

Such is life. Again, I'm right around the corner if you need some help. Glad to see things are underway again, that's a crazy process happening in those photos.

[monkiboy]

ditto. thanks for taking photos to share. that's pretty neat and ultimately great news. head up 'til the finish and get those tanks ship-shape now - great work!

[DCReefer1964]

I am here fdor you buddy ! Just TXT, PM, or call.

[surf&turf]

Glad you got that fixed!! Need anything let me know.

[sachabballi reef]

We are all here if you need anything at all.

[dipg]

We are all here if you need anything at all.

+1

[sachabballi reef]

so what was the final verdict? how come it was your problem and not the city?....just curious for future knowledge...

[Der ABT]

Depending on your county, you can be responsible for your lateral line (from you house to the conection at the main....and anything above it) ...

We had an issue with a repair to the water main jsut above our sewer that cause our sewer line issue.

if they had not caused it i would have been responsible...

agian every county/city is different some places your just responsible out to the sidewalk basically.

 

 

 

ON another note.....

 

just crashed my daughters tank.....sitting about 75% loss on coral and possibly her beloved clam and even more beloved cleaner wrasse (hoping they both pull thru but???) other fish are fine....corals...not so much ...almost all the sps in there ...zoa;s will know more later....

 

looks like a dosing pump got stuck on and dumped ALOT of alk in the tank.....my fault as i may have switched the controller to on vs auto...but not sure on that yet.

Did i mention i am not a huge fan of dosers.

 

this hobby loves to kick you when your down.

 

Really not looking forward to telling my daughter about her wrasse and clam.....or her tank....and believe me she tells everyone its "her" tank

[YHSublime]

Dang man... Keep on keepin' on.

[DuffyGeos]

Just read about the last month of your life....no fun. I always try to look at life as the ocean. There are peaks and troughs. If life is going down the wave to the trough, it can only start to head back up to a peak at some time (I can't tell you the frequency of the sets...that is the mystery!).

 

I seem to be heading through Falls Church everyday to a jobsite at Lake Barcroft. Let me know if you need anything. I can drop some 5 gal jugs of saltwater or freshwater off one day, and pick up the empties the next if it would help.

[Origami]

Have things evened out yet, Evan? Fingers crossed.

[surf&turf]

Ok, time for an update Evan.

[TrueTricia]

Depending on your county, you can be responsible for your lateral line (from you house to the conection at the main....and anything above it) ...

We had an issue with a repair to the water main jsut above our sewer that cause our sewer line issue.

if they had not caused it i would have been responsible...

agian every county/city is different some places your just responsible out to the sidewalk basically.

 

 

 

ON another note.....

 

just crashed my daughters tank.....sitting about 75% loss on coral and possibly her beloved clam and even more beloved cleaner wrasse (hoping they both pull thru but???) other fish are fine....corals...not so much ...almost all the sps in there ...zoa;s will know more later....

 

looks like a dosing pump got stuck on and dumped ALOT of alk in the tank.....my fault as i may have switched the controller to on vs auto...but not sure on that yet.

Did i mention i am not a huge fan of dosers.

 

this hobby loves to kick you when your down.

 

Really not looking forward to telling my daughter about her wrasse and clam.....or her tank....and believe me she tells everyone its "her" tank

 

How are you doing friend?

[Der ABT]

Ugh....just started the getting back on track process.....first water change in a long time will hopefully be done tonight...did a bunch of weed wacking in the frag tank

of course had two rather large water spills getting ready to go out of town the other weekend which further hampered my excitement for getting things in order....also been dealing with humidity issues (not fish room related but whole house) but i think that was fixed with a couple AC adjustments to circulate the air better in the basement.

 

Fish and snails are great thankfully, blue face is getting bigger and soon to go into the main tank, other fish are all fat and happy with all the available algea

 

corals....not so hot....living growing but need some help/clean consistent water. Clams are doing good, zoa's are loving it.

 

no pics cause its just downright embaressing.

 

hopefully in a couple weeks ill have more time and get my interest peaked again...really havent been on this site in a long while. too ashamed i think....but starting to get the bug after watching some shows on corals with the kids...

 

also have a bunch of equipment that needs to be replaced

 

and side note

have had 2 WP40s fail, thought it was the driver but ERC was nice enough to give me a new one and that has not fixed anything...vinegar baths, cleaning etc....lucking had an mp40 sitting dry...now i either need to buy some drysides for my other mp40s or wait for that gyre thingy...or replace the wp40/figure out whats up with them (they run for 5minutes then barely run/try to turn but dont turn)

[YHSublime]

Evan, if you need anything, lmk. By the time you start, it will be over before you know it!

[TrueTricia]

Ugh....just started the getting back on track process.....first water change in a long time will hopefully be done tonight...did a bunch of weed wacking in the frag tank

of course had two rather large water spills getting ready to go out of town the other weekend which further hampered my excitement for getting things in order....also been dealing with humidity issues (not fish room related but whole house) but i think that was fixed with a couple AC adjustments to circulate the air better in the basement.

 

Fish and snails are great thankfully, blue face is getting bigger and soon to go into the main tank, other fish are all fat and happy with all the available algea

 

corals....not so hot....living growing but need some help/clean consistent water. Clams are doing good, zoa's are loving it.

 

no pics cause its just downright embaressing.

 

hopefully in a couple weeks ill have more time and get my interest peaked again...really havent been on this site in a long while. too ashamed i think....but starting to get the bug after watching some shows on corals with the kids...

 

also have a bunch of equipment that needs to be replaced

 

and side note

have had 2 WP40s fail, thought it was the driver but ERC was nice enough to give me a new one and that has not fixed anything...vinegar baths, cleaning etc....lucking had an mp40 sitting dry...now i either need to buy some drysides for my other mp40s or wait for that gyre thingy...or replace the wp40/figure out whats up with them (they run for 5minutes then barely run/try to turn but dont turn)

 

Any progress on the tank?

[Der ABT]

unfortunately not much, started getting things on track, fell off the bandwagon wtih some other projects....had tendencies to throw in the towel but that would be too easy.

hopefully in the coming weeks ill start the LOOONg process of dips, revamp the frag system, finish the fishroom build, SELL A BUNCH OF EXTRA HOARDED STUFF out of the garage...its soo sad....and then get things back on track.

 

actually have some saltwater ready for a change/cleaning/ consolidation of the frag/daughters tank....etc....just have to do it..

 

things are somehow growing and actually a few coral ahve colored back up..its kinda weird.....my Mimic tang is MIA, not sure where the heck he went to and i REALLY like that fish....

 

But racing is now done and had a STRONG showing this year, sitting at the top of the points currently but will probably end up second nationally when my competitor finishes his last race in texas....bummed but happy i did so well out of about 90 cars in my class accross the country. my last race was the local one at summit point and won all 4 races in my class and overall...ill try to find some pics.

[DuffyGeos]

Sorry to hear about the tank, but it seems like you are headed in the right direction.

 

Awesome about the racing! I also have a car addiction with my tank addiction! So I understand the division of time and resources. That is part of what is slowing down my build.

 

Would love to see pics.

[Der ABT]

I am officially a horrible reefer.....finally got to a water change on all the tanks....technically did the frags on monday and then main last night...WHAT A DIFFERENCE IN THE FRAGS...had a bit of a organic issue with the green hue of water that is no longer...

 

I cannot believe the amount of algea i pulled out....basically filled a gallon jug....

 

Bryopsis and other algeas are running rampent and ive lost several corals i would rather not admit too....my giant hawkins colony with down to a mini colony from the size of a vollyball... ugh.

 

Best/funniest thing is the parameters......main tank was ROCK STEADY 9.6dkh thanks to the calcium reactor....frag tanks were comical...4dkh and 5dkh cause those were the dosing tanks and i got too annoyed to fill/mix/buy new 2 part...now bought so that will get back on track soon.

 

Then got shocked by my t5s....one of the bulbs seems to be leaking stray voltage down the reflector...skeered me somethign feirce...i though i cut my finger off on the metal...not sure whats up with that but will have to throw a new bulb and remedy that.

 

2nd wp40 crapped out on me....which im ok with as i got good use out of them...granted would love more but what can ya do. i can see them trying tu turn but they dont...ive replaced controllers, power supplies, cleaned, vinegar baths, and they will work for a few minutes and then either cut out or run at like 10 percent before cutting off....Wp25 still going strong at least, also the inlaws wp40s that were bought the same time are going strong too....so guess i got the lower tolerance ones haha...luckily i have a bunch of back up pumps so back to MP40s...now i just need wetsides for a few.

 

 

Other thing i dont undrestand is my Oregon Tort is actually growing faster than it ever has....few other corals look great, and a few im guessing will be lost in the near future...hopefully ill keep the new trend of ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING going and ill get the tank back to where it should be.

 

sorry no pics,,,im too ashamed.

[YHSublime]

You should put up pics of when you're down, so when you're flush you can remember!

[BowieReefer84]

Times like this make me say, "at least the fish are healthy." 

 

I wouldn't be ashamed.  It's just a hobby.

[Origami]

Evan, reflectors can often pick up inductively coupled voltage on T5's and other fluorescent lamps. If you run a bare copper ground wire under the reflectors and tie them into a ground probe, it should dissipate the charge. It can surprise you if you have a hand in the water and brush up against the reflector. Ask me how I know....

[roni]

Man Evan, sounds like you and I need to do some tank/kid playdates and get both of our tanks back in order.  I'm gonna have to get a piece of that tort from you to restart mine

[Der ABT]

Well actually been doing ok on some water changes etc...got another big one done the other night.....also put some GFO online finally and plan to add some carbon for alittle while to try and get things where they are supposed to be.....thank is looking a little happier

 

and then again some bad news..

had an anthias jump onto the glass center brace and cook....

 

The other night had some friends over, heard a crash.....go into find one the the D120 LEds taking a swim in my daughters tank....luckily the lights were off....dried everythign out but i think the power switches are fried...heard some sizzling when i tried to turn them on...fans turned for a second then nothing...lights inside the switches flickered and no longer light...

so need to replace the switches and see if thats the issue or if the ballasts are also dead (luckily i have some spare ballasts, but not the switches)

 

in the middle of a big water change my little one decided it was time to wake up screaming....so that made for a 4 hour water change..started at 11 pm ended at 3-330 am....she just didnt want to be put down....and when i did get her put down she would wake up again....then one time i forgot to shut off the pump filling up the ato tank....luckily only spilled a little... just cant win... time to get that px1000 up and running with some float valves...i knew i got it for a reason.

 

i also think that either my RO membrane is dead or my flow restrictor needs to be replaced....i seem to be blasting through my DI resin...went to check tds and my meter died....sweet...

 

at least its sale time this season...too bad i spent most everything on the kids haha....but hey they got some cool gifts....

 

otherwise not much to report...algea battle continues...but just want to start updating this so i can actually motivate to keep things on the up and up....good old slow reefing recovery

[Origami]

I was wondering where you'd been keeping yourself, Evan.

 

Sorry about the light. Hopefully it's only the switches. Maybe you can find some drop in replacements from EBay if you confirm that's the problem. Salt residue can be an issue. It's perfectly acceptable to wash most boards in RO/DI water. We actually used to run fully assembled PCBs through a dishwasher-like device hooked to an RO/DI tank when building for some pretty stringent applications. Problem areas to look out for are any components that have voids that can leak or retain water (like illuminated switches, trim pots, slide switches, etc.). Obviously, you have to dry the board well afterwards. That process can take days in some circumstances. I had an Evergrow get some saltwater on it once (it flowed from above) while it was unpowered. I took it apart, gave it a quick rinse and towel dried it,. I then followed that with several days in a rice bin to really dry it out and it worked fine afterwards. Good luck with your light.