300 Gallon Disaster Reboot

[Sascha D.]

1 hour ago, BobcatReefer said:

That's great trivia!  Love it!  
Playing along further...while Odell Beckham went to the same HS in New Orleans as the Mannings, he was still in college when the Giants won their last SB, but the best FG kicker in NFL history is from Westlake - Justin Tucker - and he has a SB ring from the Ravens win over the 49ers.

Haha you mean the most accurate kicker in NFL history. I don't know about greatest since he's only attempted 224 FG's. He's still a long way off from M. Anderson's 709 attempts (who is also the leading scorer in history). Didn't they call him "Mr. Automatic"?  I feel bad for Dan Bailey; he just wasn't the same after that injury this season. Of course the longest kick in history is the 64 yard score by Prater in 2013.  

[+BobcatReefer]

Since FG kicking is about accuracy, I'm claiming my guy as best. 

No clue what's going on w/ Bailey but it was heartbreaking to watch last year.  Here's to a better season next year for the Boys! 

[Sascha D.]

17 hours ago, BobcatReefer said:

Since FG kicking is about accuracy, I'm claiming my guy as best. 

No clue what's going on w/ Bailey but it was heartbreaking to watch last year.  Here's to a better season next year for the Boys! 

Don't worry, Dak Prescott will lead the Dallas Cowboys back to their top 8-8 form next season! It's too bad Jones is to blinded by pride to admit when he's made a mistake. It's frustrating to witness and I'm one of those people who has watched less and less football over the last few years. 

[Sascha D.]

It looks like I have another setback to overcome. I noticed some water on the ground this afternoon. I went to investigate I and found a puddle behind the aquarium! Nothing major, maybe a cup. It looks like one or more bulkheads started leaking for some reason. I took the opportunity to do my 50 gallon water change! If I need to order new bulkheads, then I'll be without a skimmer for about a week. Maybe I can silicone the bulkhead for a short term fix.

Peaf Yellow Stylophora. So far it looks kind of like a Rainbow Stylo, but we'll see how it does as it grows out. 

 

This bulkhead event might be a good time to change the rigid plumbing while I have the water drained. I was going to wait until I was ready to switch the sump too, but maybe it's time? My current sump is 60x24x16 and I'm having a hard time finding an acceptable replacement that fits everything I need. I could find some combination of glass aquarium, stock tank, or rubbermaid totes that would work, but it would look pretty sketchy. I'm also not 100% sure it would hold all of the overflow drainage when the return pump is turned off. 

ORA Sour Apple Birdsnest is starting to look a lot better. I lost over half of the colony last year and I need to frag away the dead skeleton. I've been slowly fragging it into 1" pieces for growing out, but I ran out of room after selling my frag tank. 

 

[Jimbo662]

Good thing you caught that leak sooner than later!

[Sascha D.]

2 hours ago, Jimbo662 said:

Good thing you caught that leak sooner than later!

Sometimes you just get lucky! The water was behind the tank and I wouldn't normally go back there without a reason. Just when you think you get one thing done, another thing turns up. 

[Sascha D.]

Last night I was able to apply some aquarium silicone around the bulkhead and stop the drip. Now I'm looking at flexible PVC pipe to replace the rigid currently in use. DFS carries a flexible sch 40 pipe with good reviews. This type of product glues into the normal sch 40 PVC parts, but gives me the flexibility to run into my wooden stand. Marine Depot carries a white PVC pipe that looks similar to Spa-Flex.  Either product should work for me and the next step is to decide sizing. 

 

Each of my drain lines are built to the specifications in the original BA design. I currently have 1.5" drains with 1.5" pipe throughout. The full drain is roughly 50% closed in normal operation. I could continue with the 1.5" drain or reduce to a 1" drain to make it a little easier to work with. Both drains will handle the full 2,000 gph of my return pump. Aside from saving a few bucks, is there any difference between having a 1.5" drain mostly closed versus a 1" drain mostly open?

[victoly]

Anything bigger than like 3/4 is a dog to work with on scales less than several feet. I've used up to 4" flex in some groundwater applications

[Reburn]

1". 

 

1.5" is too hard to work with.

[Sascha D.]

I took your guys' advice and went with 1". I picked up 25' of flexible PVC and a new gate valve in the President's Day sale. I need to get some reducers and some unions to be all set! 

During the sale I also picked up a new batch of frozen foods. I'm really impressed with the packaging from DFS. I only ordered 20 packages, but you'd think I had 100 by the size of the box! They used 28 frozen packages that probably cost more than my entire order. I ended up paying about $3.50 per package with shipping.

 

[Sascha D.]

I've been having an issue keeping the Alk at a consistent level over the last 30 days. I didn't have an issue when dosing a 125g or less aquarium. Maybe the water volume doesn't lend well to the method that I'm using. It could also be that my reef is cursed!

It's time to give the reactor another shot! I still need a needle valve to help control the effluent.


Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

[FarmerTy]

I had a needle valve but Gig'em stole it before you! [emoji51]

[Sascha D.]

12 hours ago, FarmerTy said:

I had a needle valve but Gig'em stole it before you!

What the heck John!

[Isaac]

i got em here (same one BRS has, much cheaper from the source)...  https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=32220

[Sascha D.]

11 hours ago, Isaac said:

i got em here (same one BRS has, much cheaper from the source)...  https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=32220

Thanks! I was looking at that one, but I couldn't tell which one was being sold based on the picture. Shipping is $12.29 bringing the total to roughly the same as Amazon, BRS and other stores. 

[Isaac]

1 hour ago, Sascha D. said:

Thanks! I was looking at that one, but I couldn't tell which one was being sold based on the picture. Shipping is $12.29 bringing the total to roughly the same as Amazon, BRS and other stores. 

why i got like 4

[Sascha D.]

Calcium reactors - we have a love/hate relationship. I love them for their ability to increase Alkalinity easily. Unfortunately, it appears as though I'm really awful at using them! As you can see from the chart below, I installed the calcium reactor back onto the aquarium on 2/25/18. I set the variables to a base pH of 6.9 - 7.0 and a base effluent of 1 drop per second. Within 24 hours the Alk increased from 113 ppm to 136 ppm. I made the adjustment to decrease the effluent by roughly half and 24 hours later the Alk tested out to 137 ppm. The reactor was close to dialed in and I left it for a few days before testing again. On 3/2/18 the Alk tested at 163 ppm! After some research it looked like the pH meter on my controller wasn't reading correctly. I calibrated the meter again and found out the reactor had been running at 4.0 something pH for who-knows-how-long. The LPS aren't showing much distress, but the SPS are looking pretty upset. I'm going to purge the reactor of the low pH water and see if I can hit the reset button. Hopefully the problem is fixed now, but I may need a new controller after all. 

[FarmerTy]

Come get that Reef Fanatic pH controller I have bud. Offer is still there.

[Isaac]

up the ph .5  when you already have the effluent slow, you need to adjust the ph to not dissolve the argonite as quickly.  I just had to do that w/ this new bath of A.R.M.

[Sascha D.]

11 hours ago, Isaac said:

up the ph .5  when you already have the effluent slow, you need to adjust the ph to not dissolve the argonite as quickly.  I just had to do that w/ this new bath of A.R.M.

The low end or the high end? My range right now is 6.9 - 7.0 with one drop per second. I'm using this as a base to dial in the reactor. If my next reading shows a decrease in Alk, then I'll keep the pH range the same and increase the effluent drip rate. If the next reading increases, then I'll have to increase the pH range but keep the effluent drip the same. I got this method years ago from A Guide to Using Calcium Reactors. I'm not really sure how everyone else does it or if there is a better way. 

22 hours ago, FarmerTy said:

Come get that Reef Fanatic pH controller I have bud. Offer is still there.

Thanks bro! Hopefully the recalibration fixed it. If not, then I'll need to figure something out until I can get a new controller. Honestly, I may think about a new controller even if it does work.

[Merman]

In my experience, PH calibration problems are usually caused by an old or faulty probe.  How long have you had yours?  When you calibrate it, does it take a while to settle or do the readings seem erratic while settling?  They definitely have a limited lifespan and I usually end up replacing mine every year or so.

I have struggled with my calcium reactor at times just like everyone else but have learned some tricks along the way.  You might want to consider running your effluent at a much higher rate (you will obviously need to run the PH in your chamber higher too).  I have found that the valve is less likely to clog over time if you have more of a steady stream coming out vs a slow drip.  Fluctuations in effluent rate (they WILL happen unless you're using a perisaltic pump) are also less likely to cause alk swings since the effluent is less concentrated.  You're also less likely to melt your reactor since your set point is now much higher than the media melting point (I've done this several times and it sucks).  You won't be able to count drips/second anymore so I would use a timer/measuring cup instead.  You'll use more CO2 but that's a tradeoff I'm willing to accept.

To give you a reference point, I have a fairly mature 150g SPS-dominated tank with a drip rate of 45ml/min and an internal PH of 6.85-6.9.  When tuning my reactor, I set the effluent rate to a broken stream (between drip and steady stream) and leave it alone if possible.  Then I adjust the PH down (starting at 7.2-7.3 or so) until I get to the alkalinity level I want.  In the future you can adjust the alkalinity up or (hopefully not) down by just changing the internal PH with the controller.

Hope this helps.

[Sascha D.]

48 minutes ago, Merman said:

In my experience, PH calibration problems are usually caused by an old or faulty probe.  How long have you had yours?  When you calibrate it, does it take a while to settle or do the readings seem erratic while settling?  They definitely have a limited lifespan and I usually end up replacing mine every year or so.

I have struggled with my calcium reactor at times just like everyone else but have learned some tricks along the way.  You might want to consider running your effluent at a much higher rate (you will obviously need to run the PH in your chamber higher too).  I have found that the valve is less likely to clog over time if you have more of a steady stream coming out vs a slow drip.  Fluctuations in effluent rate (they WILL happen unless you're using a perisaltic pump) are also less likely to cause alk swings since the effluent is less concentrated.  You're also less likely to melt your reactor since your set point is now much higher than the media melting point (I've done this several times and it sucks).  You won't be able to count drips/second anymore so I would use a timer/measuring cup instead.  You'll use more CO2 but that's a tradeoff I'm willing to accept.

To give you a reference point, I have a fairly mature 150g SPS-dominated tank with a drip rate of 45ml/min and an internal PH of 6.85-6.9.  When tuning my reactor, I set the effluent rate to a broken stream (between drip and steady stream) and leave it alone if possible.  Then I adjust the PH down (starting at 7.2-7.3 or so) until I get to the alkalinity level I want.  In the future you can adjust the alkalinity up or (hopefully not) down by just changing the internal PH with the controller.

Hope this helps.

Do you know the top end of the range to be able to dissolve the media? I normally run a broken stream of effluent, but my usage is down significantly after the chemical exposure wiped out most of my colonies. It would be easier to keep a stream and reduce the pH in the reactor, but I didn't think it would melt above 7.0. 

[+Dogfish]

Some media will dissolve up to about 8. At 8, not much will. I had a really big reactor size for my tank and had mine set at 7.4 Ran a very slow stream so it would not clog. I think Merman will have you on the right track by starting high and coming down, while not changing the stream volume. Each media is different so it is hard to be exact.

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

1 hour ago, Merman said:

In my experience, PH calibration problems are usually caused by an old or faulty probe.  How long have you had yours?  When you calibrate it, does it take a while to settle or do the readings seem erratic while settling?  They definitely have a limited lifespan and I usually end up replacing mine every year or so.

I have struggled with my calcium reactor at times just like everyone else but have learned some tricks along the way.  You might want to consider running your effluent at a much higher rate (you will obviously need to run the PH in your chamber higher too).  I have found that the valve is less likely to clog over time if you have more of a steady stream coming out vs a slow drip.  Fluctuations in effluent rate (they WILL happen unless you're using a perisaltic pump) are also less likely to cause alk swings since the effluent is less concentrated.  You're also less likely to melt your reactor since your set point is now much higher than the media melting point (I've done this several times and it sucks).  You won't be able to count drips/second anymore so I would use a timer/measuring cup instead.  You'll use more CO2 but that's a tradeoff I'm willing to accept.

To give you a reference point, I have a fairly mature 150g SPS-dominated tank with a drip rate of 45ml/min and an internal PH of 6.85-6.9.  When tuning my reactor, I set the effluent rate to a broken stream (between drip and steady stream) and leave it alone if possible.  Then I adjust the PH down (starting at 7.2-7.3 or so) until I get to the alkalinity level I want.  In the future you can adjust the alkalinity up or (hopefully not) down by just changing the internal PH with the controller.

Hope this helps.

I follow a similar strategy. I've tried the slow drip with varied success in the past, but recently has bit me in the buns. The flow went from a steady drip to a very slow drip, alk dropped to 89. Then I increased it back to the broken flow, more of a rapid drip so it wouldn't slow down on me when I'm out of town and alk went to 164 in two days. I haven't even checked it since Friday, but everything looks ok

 

I also don't rely on the pH. I use it more of a monitoring tool to gauge if the flow has stopped from a clog or if the flow is too high. I use a timer for my CO2 dosing (on every half hour for ~20 minutes) and adjust the bubble rate and the effluent flow rate to control alk. This way I'm not relying on a pH probe that can go bad or get a bubble on it and send everything down in a death spiral. There's all kinds of ways to control alk, I've just found this strategy more successful than ones I've used in the past. It's not without it's problems, but it's better than some alternatives IMO.

[Merman]

Dogfish is correct, calcium reactor medias are not the same and will melt at different levels!  I learned that the hard way by melting down my reactor when I switched from ARM to Reborn.

I would expect a linear change rather than a sudden drop off.  You can always measure the effluent alkalinity at different PH levels to be sure but that has been my observation.