hammondegge

Nini, 78-80 is a great temp range for texas. i wouldnt change a thing, you are doing fine.

except the fans. go ahead and switch direction on one

hey joe, welcome to ARC and to Austin.

from my experience, properly installed MH lighting adds no more heat ( and in some cases less heat ) than alternatives.

pc, t5, and vho all are going to be plased closer to the surface of the water than mh. have you tried adding fans to the sump yet? the increased evaporation will cool the tank. did you switch the fan direction in the hood and did that help any? what are you wanting to keep in the tank?

yep, and you cant have them back laughing6.gif

thanks mike, it does

thanks mike, i called them and they didnt have any until thurs. Frederick (coralreefbazaar) has the reed switches though so i am going to make one.

I have two fans blowing in on the Metal Halides...which' date=' btw..should they both be blowing in, or out, or one in and one out? I read on Maast to have them both blowing in, so that's what we are doing.

one in and one out. what you have going right now is blowing the heat down to the water surface. if you run one in and one out you will introduce cool air and remove hot air. that may reduce your tank temp by a degree or two.

What are icecap fans? confused5.gif

really good variable speed 3" or 4" muffin fans http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/fan_tra...ay.html

Sorry, we are new to the salt water tanks...we have fresh water tanks and a pond, but there is soooo much more involved in salt.

We need to figure something out...the AC is on 76 all day so the house is pretty cool.

Thanks for the help! and the welcome!

you dont have to use icecap. there are other good fans for around $20. icecap are excellent in the lighting hood as they are variable speed with a temp sensor and will increase speed as temp rises.

the controller that i gave you a link to is very nice. i just started using one and the stability of temp has made my tank very happy. running fans on the sump can drop a degree or two as well. lmk if i can help further.

robert

BTW Welcome to ARC Nurse Nini hello.gif

have you tried fans yet? i put icecap fans on my sumps and am controlling one setup with the AquaLogic 2Stage Controller

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp...dproduct=AL1713

this successfully dropped the system by 2 degrees and the fluctuation is 78-80. of course this increases evaporation so you would want to set up auto topoff as well.

anyone know where to get an Ultralife float switch set up http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp...dproduct=UL1111

or similar in austin. i need one tomorrow. any in the closet? its for an auto top off application.

robert

tunze says that the WB is rated to 317gallons with 2 suggessted for 449 gallons or more (i guess you're screwed if you land in between). i dont know is setting up both the WB and the OM would be working against each other or not, but it would definitly be pricey.

i am setting the tank up as a penninsula so i can only plumb the small wall, (maybe the bottom - i have to call Oceanic) The installation needs to be compact (no tank room) and elegant (all plumbing under counter) and there will be a prop tank and sump beneath the display, so i think this may be pointing to the Tunze setup.? one operating. Mike, is your system 6'?

that new Vortex looks really nice. lmk how you like it.

so you like the Tunze huh? hello2.gif

what do you have set up clint?

I finally found my tank. i got a 200g oceanic 7'x2x2 and i need some help deciding between a closed loop with OM or Streams and Wavebox. I want to have some side to side wave action in the display. what do you think?

thanks again john

what is NSW levels? New Salt Water?

i just started dosing about a week ago and it does seem to be helping. i was at 1050 and went up to 1500 (slowly) oooops. with calcium around 400 i should be at 1200 right?

thanks john,

i got this from gary

"Magnesium acts as an inhibitor to calcium carbonate precipitation. Magnesium loosely binds with carbonate and makes it unavailable to calcium to react with. This, in effect, provides a reservoir of carbonate and allows you to push your alkalinity and calcium concentrations higher without causing precipitation. Magnesium carbonate is much more soluble then calcium carbonate. As the carbonate concentration (alkalinity) drops, the carbonate ion is freed up from the magnesium complex and is made available to do the things that it does such as buffering pH and feeding coral growth.

How was that?

OK, now Richard's explanation. Calcium and alkalinity are like two different colored jelly beans in a jar. You can have so many of both color in the jar. When the jar overflows, you get precipitation. By keeping the magnesium level higher, you are basically increasing the size of the jar and allowing for more jelly beans to be added without causing precipitation.

Take your pick as to which explanation you prefer."

What is the relationship between PH, Alk, Calc, and Magnesium and does an elevated Magnesium contentration (1500) have any ill effects?

here it is

hey doc, i did try that , the venturi is working properly. John, i was afraid that i might have to resort to that. i did not want to install a ball valve as it is not mentioned nor recommended by the manufacturer and i dont want to rob pump power, but what the hey! i will give it a try. thanks to all, all.

it's nice and quiet here, like going to the library, i like it. these smileys are a little creepy though. can we get others andrew?

i raised it and it does not effect the water level. it has flow adjusters that are set to the lowest level. instructions are sparse and one of the only suggestions that i have come across is to raise the pump higher in the sump. i have done that too. this thing is a venturi with needle wheel design and is set up entirely in the sump.

has anyone set one of these up? i am trying to help a friend with a new one and i am having a hard time gaining control of the water level in the throat of the skimmer. i can make the water level higher but it is too high right now and i cant get it to go lower. anybody?