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My Tank Thread
Shroom making chemical warfare?
120G Rimless shallow peninsula tank
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RichtheReefer21
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It's an oldie, but still mesmerizing.
#ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight
#ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight
OP
OP
Janci
Staghorns will prevail
Love the new additions.
Thanks, they have potential.
I like it so far.
I was running one side towards the surface to avoid direct flow on the corals and the other side straight in open sea (ocean) (reef). All @ 40%
I had to lower the intensity as water was splashing over the rim when the other wave maker was in high flow.
Now, this weekend I did my third water change in 3 weeks time and I lowered the gyre deeper in the water to let it increase its water volume.
It runs now at 50% and the corals seem to like the turbulence.
Although my plan was to eliminate the MP40 at the bottom, that will not happen very soon.
OP
OP
Janci
Staghorns will prevail
Yesterday the Low Level CO2 alarm for the Dastaco reactor was making a sound.
As I was not at home, Gaby offered to replace the cylinder which I gladly accepted.
10 minutes later she messages me that it was done ;Smuggrin and she send me a photo of the regulator and gauges. The pressure to the reactor was a little high (new cylinder) so I asked to lower it a bit till 0.9 bar. ;Jawdrop
Now, this is where the mistake happened.... She is technical, but not too much ;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious
When you turn the regulator, the pressure gauge is not changing immediately as the solenoid valve is closed. When the valve opens, you can see the newly regulated pressure.
She messages me back that she cannot lower it so I tell her that I will check later tonight.
That was another mistake... ;Sorry;Sorry;Sorry
When I arrived home, the cylinder was sending so much CO2 that it almost cleared the water from the CO2 mixing chamber. Every time the solenoid valve opened, it made the noise of balloon being filled with helium ;Woot;Woot;Woot
Result...
the pressure broke the coupling of the reactor pump, started leaking, feet were wet
As I did not have a spare pump, glue was my first trial.
When that did not work, I glued a piece of silicon hose to it to reduce the leakage
Still, no solution as water kept dripping.
As I was not at home, Gaby offered to replace the cylinder which I gladly accepted.
10 minutes later she messages me that it was done ;Smuggrin and she send me a photo of the regulator and gauges. The pressure to the reactor was a little high (new cylinder) so I asked to lower it a bit till 0.9 bar. ;Jawdrop
Now, this is where the mistake happened.... She is technical, but not too much ;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious
When you turn the regulator, the pressure gauge is not changing immediately as the solenoid valve is closed. When the valve opens, you can see the newly regulated pressure.
She messages me back that she cannot lower it so I tell her that I will check later tonight.
That was another mistake... ;Sorry;Sorry;Sorry
When I arrived home, the cylinder was sending so much CO2 that it almost cleared the water from the CO2 mixing chamber. Every time the solenoid valve opened, it made the noise of balloon being filled with helium ;Woot;Woot;Woot
Result...
the pressure broke the coupling of the reactor pump, started leaking, feet were wet
As I did not have a spare pump, glue was my first trial.
When that did not work, I glued a piece of silicon hose to it to reduce the leakage
Still, no solution as water kept dripping.
OP
OP
Janci
Staghorns will prevail
When I asked how many times she turned the regulator before she realized that there was no change... a couple of times, forward and back... 
Turned out that "a couple of times" is the exact same thing as "as much open as possible"
Turned out that "a couple of times" is the exact same thing as "as much open as possible"
Last edited:
OP
OP
Janci
Staghorns will prevail
Luckily, there is another reefer here who was representing AMS and Dastaco who had some spare pumps.
This morning I could pick up the piece, including a new pump impeller (now that I had to open the pump I took advantage to replace this part as well).
So repair could start.
2 hours later (normally it takes about 1 hour but I managed to mix up some plugs while assembling) and the reactor was back in action.
I also took the time to replace the tubing on the dosing pump for the reactor so we are all set for another year of no maintenance.
The damage
New part and assembly. I added some extra Gorilla tape to the coupling to make it an extra resistant. Not sure if this will help a lot, but at least we tried
New tubing on the dosing pump, greased and ready to go
Tonight I will have to check the parameters as there was some considerable time without dosing.
This morning I could pick up the piece, including a new pump impeller (now that I had to open the pump I took advantage to replace this part as well).
So repair could start.
2 hours later (normally it takes about 1 hour but I managed to mix up some plugs while assembling) and the reactor was back in action.
I also took the time to replace the tubing on the dosing pump for the reactor so we are all set for another year of no maintenance.
The damage
New part and assembly. I added some extra Gorilla tape to the coupling to make it an extra resistant. Not sure if this will help a lot, but at least we tried
New tubing on the dosing pump, greased and ready to go
Tonight I will have to check the parameters as there was some considerable time without dosing.
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Wowza! Glad you were at least home in the evening to take a peek. Also glad you were able to rig something up. I've found sticking around in this hobby will turn you into an engineer, point in case!
OP
OP
Janci
Staghorns will prevail
And if you are longer in the hobby, you will end up having a spare piece of everything.
I'm ordering new parts as we speak... just in case.
I am a mechanical engineer by trade, but sometimes I wish I had paid more attention during chemistry classes.
OP
OP
Janci
Staghorns will prevail
The last water change was done with the remaining Fritz salt which was 200gr short for the 120L of salt water made. So I added some Tropic Marine.
I sent a sample of the freshly mixed water for ICP testing and received the results today.
In comparison with the Tropic Marine salt, the big differences are:
Just for information.
I sent a sample of the freshly mixed water for ICP testing and received the results today.
In comparison with the Tropic Marine salt, the big differences are:
Just for information.
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OP
Janci
Staghorns will prevail
The times that I measured it was always between 6.8 and 7.0 dKH. This with a salinity of 1.026.
It is one of the reasons I like this salt.
The ICP test always shows dKH a little lower than measured at home.
The information chart and website claims it is made to keep Alk in the 7-8 dKH range.
It makes sense to have the mixed salt at 7 or a little lower as it is easier to raise alk, instead of lowering it after the water change.
RobW
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Nice stand!So I gave the design of the stand to one of the workshops here and 2 days later I have this...
