caferacermike Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 The only issue I see so far w/out running power heads is that unless you are target feeding, the coral food doesn't get moved around the tank real fast. I open the top of my WB and place reef roids and cyclops in the body of the WB while it operates. Within 30 seconds my tank is a snow storm of food. Then I hit the feed button a few times to keep the tank still for about 30 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 The only issue I see so far w/out running power heads is that unless you are target feeding, the coral food doesn't get moved around the tank real fast. I open the top of my WB and place reef roids and cyclops in the body of the WB while it operates. Within 30 seconds my tank is a snow storm of food. Then I hit the feed button a few times to keep the tank still for about 30 minutes. That's what I do too! I only feed about 1/2 teaspoon so there isn't a lot of it in the tank so i'm considering target feeding if I don't see any significant growth. Its still nice to not have to get your arm all wet tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 I decided I'd take tonight and do a water change as well as refill my reservoir for my ATO so I loaded up 3 white 5G jugs, mixed salt in two of them, and left the other one 100% pure RO/DI. I pulled out my 10g of tank water, refilled with one of the white jugs, grabbed the other white jug, refilled my sump, turned on my return pump and then wondered why the water in my tank looked like water when fresh and salt water are mixing together. OH Sh!!....! I realized in that moment that I had grabbed the jug of RO/DI water and used it to do my water change thinking it was salt water. OOPS. Luckily only 2G or so had been pulled out of my sump so I turned off my return pump, and immediately started pumping water out of my sump and into a bucket. Pulling water out one's tank is never an exact science so of course I needed to mix up more salt water. To my good fortune, dapettit and I got my RO/DI unit up and rolling last week so all I had to do was walk out to my garage and start mixing. If I had been relying on the LFS to supply all my water, then I'd be waiting till tomorrow to get any water....(not a good thing) because I would have been out! So lessons learned: 1. Be prepared...get yourself an RO/DI unit or at least have tons of water ready to go. I'd advise to always have at least 10G on hand. 2. Always have enough salt around to be able to mix up some salt water if need be. Again, be prepared. 3. Get a good labeling system for your RO/DI water! Yes, I could have stuck my finger in there and tasted it, but a system that is fail safe (aka your wife can do it when you aren't around b/c she isn't going to taste the water) is a great thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rjohn Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 It is a convenience to have a RO/DI unit in your home. However, a decent (not the best - not the worst) unit runs about $200 base plus another $75 in replacements the first year of operation. Let's call it a total of $300 with shipping. RCA sells RO/DI water for 20 cents a gallon. 300 divided by 0.20 is 1500 gallons. I buy about 40 gallons a month. That's 12 times 40 equals 480 times 20 cents equals $96. I am not sure I can afford the luxury at this point. It is true I have to drive to RCA to get water but that is also an excuse to go to RCA. I keep debating with myself about whether the RO/DI is worth the expenditure. If I had a job, it might make a difference. Sorry for rambling on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 So the $1,000,000 question is, how much do you spend @ RCA when you go in there for water? I.e..money spent that you weren't planning on but since you were in there, it got spent?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 I love the folks at RCA. They helped me set up my first SW tank. I too would faithfully once a week drag my 5 water jugs to get saltwater for my water changes. I would go twice a week to get RO/DI water for my top off. I loved going to the fish store and seeing all the nice fishys and corals. Of course I would come home with something new. The wife and I started to do the math and we decided to spend the money on an RO/DI unit. Since I like to know when the thing will start paying for itself I did a ROI (recturn on investment). The unit had paid for itseld in a year. of coures we are talking about doing 45-50 gallon water changes a week. Ric your right it's not for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 I only use 15g a week and while monetarily it might not ever pay itself off, having peace of mind that I have options in case something happens (like it did), is priceless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 I picked up an AC III for $440 shipped (included temp/pH/DC 8) and I've only had the thing for 12 hrs and I LOVE it! I don't know how I survived without it. No more timers to worry about setting, instant info on your tank (temp/pH). The best part is I can control it from my iPhone...super neato. Setup was easy, I had it up and rolling w/in 15 mins of having out of the box. The programs took me a minute to get, but once you understand the basic language, its cake. It's even easier considering that I can connect to the AC III through my web browser and create/edit timers and programs. If anyone is considering getting one, come by my place and I'll sell you on it. Its SO worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfowler99 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I love mine. So convenient. Added the Refugium light I bought from you, plugged it into A07, added a name and a program and it's good to go. I skipped the whole timer thing...how anyone could deal with those I have no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 I love mine.So convenient. Added the Refugium light I bought from you, plugged it into A07, added a name and a program and it's good to go. I skipped the whole timer thing...how anyone could deal with those I have no idea. I just got annoyed with them when you'd touch it and the time dial would advance! ARG! That and you're lights would come on @ 1:39pm and off @ 5:04. Who deals with digits not ending in 0 or 5 anyways! Now I just need to round up another DC8 and i'll be able to control everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 I picked up a couple of acan colonies as I didn't have that species coral in my tank. Overall, they have colored up well and I'm pretty happy with them. actinic shot: Acan #2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosslonghorns Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Nice sized colonies, did you buy them locally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Awesome......you're starting off. If you frag the second colony...let me know, I would love to buy a good size frag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooks Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Ever get that feeling of envy? I have it... Wow. Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where did u get those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 *whistles* Very very nice!! Those are some very nice sized colonies. Would hate to see the bill for them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 *whistles* Very very nice!! Those are some very nice sized colonies. Would hate to see the bill for them Yeah. The stock market has been good to me tho.. I actually fragged them out as I didn't have room for acan #1. Look for the frags for sale soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 So, maybe I'm missing something but Walmart is open 24 hrs, 5 miles from my house, and does RO water for $1.50 for 5gal. I know that the filters, etc. don't always get changed there as they should but it beats tap water in an emergency right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 So, maybe I'm missing something but Walmart is open 24 hrs, 5 miles from my house, and does RO water for $1.50 for 5gal. I know that the filters, etc. don't always get changed there as they should but it beats tap water in an emergency right? Yep, but if for some reason you need it quicker than you get to walmart and back (and you trust their machine to be working), then you are screwed. Plus is it RO/DI water, or just RO? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 They are much nicer in person, very nice specimens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikedelgado Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 I am totally retarted then.I had to have my gf do it for me.god help me if I she leaves me and I have to change something.I did change the amount of time my lights stayed on awhile back but she helped a little and I got a little bit of a headache. I need an ac111 101 class someday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 15, 2009 Author Share Posted June 15, 2009 Hahaha! I failed programming 101 twice Mike...I think you've been sniffing too many fumes while you've been on the job under the hoods of those cars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princer7 Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Hey Mark, did sending you that code help. I had to go without mine for 3 weeks due to a warranty repair issue. It was like being on pins and needles not being able to monitor the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 Hey Mark, did sending you that code help. I had to go without mine for 3 weeks due to a warranty repair issue. It was like being on pins and needles not being able to monitor the tank. The code was a jump start, yes...thank you. Be w/out the thing for 3 week? I'd probably just buy a new one! I couldn't stand it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 18, 2009 Author Share Posted June 18, 2009 Well I couldn't help myself when I saw this one so I had to grab it. Thanks citicard! Its way too big for my tank so i'll need to frag it at some point, but in the meantime, its sits on my sandbed stunning me everytime I look at it Thanks to dapettit for taking the photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 *whistles* Niiice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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