Cleaning, Upgrades, and Updates, OH MY!
As before, it's been far too long since I've been able to be on the site. Work has kept me extremely busy with a lot of COVID-19 research, helping out with remote learning, side hustling, and generally being otherwise engaged. As always, though, I would NEVER neglect my tank, and it's been going great, with me finishing up some upgrades this past weekend, and a few other things here and there, as well.
Clean the sump and other stuffs!
About a month ago, I realized that I'd literally never cleaned my skimmer, ever since I'd gotten it. The inside and outside was well-covered in coraline and other algae, so I figured it was time to do something about it. With some fresh RO water, vinegar, and a bit of elbow grease, I took everything apart down to removing the impeller and scrubbed it all good. While it was out, I cleaned up the sump section, as well, as it had some sand, algae, and other bits.
Pre-disassembly, you can see the coraline buildup in particular on the inside.
Time to scrub!
So much nicer! The impeller had some debris from the sock(s) inside, along with some minor calcium buildup and the like, but I got it all cleared out and re-assembled pretty easily.
Quick bit of before and after for the skimmer section. I got as much of the sand as I could, but short of a pump, I can't quite get everything.
Back in and running like a champ! As always, took a bit to tune it back in, but still.
The temp is ridiculous!
As I mentioned in my last post, I had to re-calibrate my Apex temperature probe, as it was WAY off. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that it was just a warning of things to come. A little while after, the temp kept climbing higher and higher, eventually steadily saying 115 F. Obviously not the case, and unfortunately the calibration function stopped working to let me reset it effectively. Just last week
@Bulk Reef Supply finally got some probes in, so I ordered one and got it installed this past weekend.
Now I have the heater power control back on the Apex, with a standard suction thermometer in the sump and, of course, the heater's internal remaining as a backup.
Other upgrades!!
I never really showed it, but waaaaay back when I first set up the Apex, I did a couple of weird/ stupid things:
- I ran out of wire. This meant that, even if I had the breakout box capacity, I couldn't connect all the switches and buttons.
- For the buttons, they were all collectively spliced and plugged into an "always on" outlet directly into my UPS, so lights on 24/7. Unfortunately, 3 of the buttons used incandescent bulbs, with the other two using LEDs.
For anyone unfamiliar, incandescent bulbs generate a LOT of heat. In this case, so much so that all three buttons not only broke, but did so spectacularly. The front piece snapped off and the coiled spring launched the thing across the room with a loud "SNAP!". Finally, I decided to fix things. I got more wire and new buttons. I decided to re-splice the power cable so that it could head into the cabinet and be controlled by the Apex, as well. As for the wire, I set up all the remaining switches to be ready if/when I get another breakout box. I also hooked up another 2 switches to fill out by breakouts that I've already got. Unfortunately, with all this, I couldn't solder them in place, which I would've preferred, but did some compression and tying along with tape and heat wrapping to keep everything together. I think.
Before wiring them up, you can see that 3 switches have nothing coming off them. Now, they all do, and are stripped and capped.
Button wiring for power (sides of the boxes) and switch control (middle and bottom). I snipped all these off for the 3 broken ones and had to reconnect everything.
As part of this, I also wanted to upgrade things with a better look, as well. I had used some painter's tape for small labels, and wanted to put in some better stuff.
Obviously can't read most of them. Also note that this was before the temp probe swap, so 114 F. Apparently a nice sauna in there.
New buttons (red, yellow, and blue) along with the old green and white are all controlled by apex now. The power for the lights are connected to the same switch as the cabinet lights, so they're only on when the door's open.
New labels! So easy to read.
The label maker also lets you use little symbols, so you gotta have some cute stuff.
Let's reduce ATO burden!
The last major upgrade I did for things was finding, at long last, an ATO reservoir that fits in the slim cabinet. It's a 5 gallon one, so I won't have to fill my mini 2 L one every other day. It's not enough to make the sump overflow, and I'll only have to fill it ~twice a month.
Just getting the thing in place - you can see the old "container" in front - the left side of the 3-part dosing container acted as my topoff. So much refilling. Really tight fit, so I put the dosing container on the ledge above, leaning slightly against the new reservoir.
Filled and set up! Let's do this!
The family!
Of course, an update wouldn't be complete without at least something of the fishies and stock.
Everyone's always excited for feeding time. Yum yum yum. I think the chromis isn't in this one, but s/he is still around and kicking.
I had a random terrestrial visitor on the return plumbing, as well. Hooray for a full ecosystem! Or something. It's fun
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Well that's it for today/the last few months, thanks for coming by, and hope that you're all being safe and doing well!
. I really like having the huge amount of stock and small movement in the tank the cleaners offer, as well. It's pretty cool.
. I don't know exactly when he died, but he was a good shrimp, and just over 3 years old, so it's not too surprising. Still a bit sad to lose anyone, but I'd rather it's through natural causes rather than aggression, at least.
