Ken's Reef Tank

[Ken Good]

Replaced the overflow box. On the old box, the middle drain was too low, so you could hear the water entering the box. Since I sealed the old one in place before testing it, I had to order a new box. I tested all the drains raising the all three levels this time. Eventually I took out the far right one and just put a strainer there. It appears that the middle drain is the key. By making it taller, you do not hear the water enter the box. It is now "silent" as advertised. The difference was huge!

 

[Ken Good]

My plan was to put water in by the end of the year. I am about a week ahead of schedule. I moved the tank into the house a week ago. I received my rock in the last couple of days. I laid it out and put it in the tank last night. I added sand.

 

[Ken Good]

I started mixing salt water last night. I have 65 gallons ready to be added and another 65 ready to be moved to the mixing tank after that. I plan to add water today. My wife asked me to give her an hour warning so that she could open a bottle of wine to survive adding water. Ha!

 

[Ken Good]

Two days after water being added to the tank.

 

[Ken Good]

I found some programming suggestions for a heater awhile back. I decided to go with what I am calling the "Lasse Heater Method" using the programmable logic capabilities of the Profilux. The other people who tried it said that it worked great and I am now a member of that team. After the aquarium was heated, the temperature deviates .10. Very stable. With this programming the computer uses a "pulse/pause" method for heating the tank. The "pulse" portion is set as variable so the computer calculates how much time to use based upon the last "pulse." So if you set the pulse to 10 minutes and the pause to a minute. The variable pulse will start with coming on based upon the difference between the current temperature and where you would like to be. From then on it makes a determination each time it comes on again. As the temperature gets closer to the target, the pulse will be shorter. The pause will always be consistent at 1 minute off. This method is based upon the temperature probe and the heater being relatively close together. If they are not it is suggested that you make the "pause" longer than a minute.

I like to tinker with the GHL Profilux and I think you can use the pulse/pause method for the heater with or without the Programmable logic. I think the purpose of using the addition of the Programmable Logic was to turn off the heater when an alarm goes off.

If you would like to see the original post, CLICK HERE. It starts with post #3.

 

[Ken Good]

When I first set up the heater, I did not set the pulse to variable so the heater came on 10 minutes a time. So the heater passed the set point and acted in a more traditional manner. I found my error and the temperature has been within .10 of the target ever since (with a three hour window when I moved some equipment around and made a mistake).

 

[Ken Good]

My mistake was that I plugged the temperature probe into the wrong port and plugged the level sensors into the temperature plug. Suddenly, the temperature was 100.8. I could not figure out what I did. Three frustrating hours later, I found my error. One more mistake to add to the mistake list. Ha!

 

[Ken Good]

I am using Dr. Tim's no fish cycling method. I am in Day #3. I just added the second round of ammonia. I can add my first two fish on Sunday or Monday.

 

[Ken Good]

Day 4 of cycling the tank. Ammonia is really high. Not seeing much action in Nitrites yet. Patiently waiting. Well not patiently. But still waiting.

 

[Ken Good]

On Day 6 of cycling I realized that I only put in half of the dose needed initially. So that could explain why Nitrites have not really started to show up yet. Still following along.

 

[Ken Good]

After a week of cycling, I think my nitrites are finally starting to show up. Will continue to be "patient." Ha!

 

[Ken Good]

Nitrites started appearing two days ago. Nitrates started appearing yesterday.

I also set up and tested the AWC feature over the weekend. OMG! I love it! After making a couple of mistakes, it works like a charm.

 

[Ken Good]

My 10 year old Profilux 3 has been glitching and otherwise showing signs of its age. I decided it was time to update my computer and I ordered the Proflilux 4. I was going to wait until the upcoming 4 day weekend, but decided at the last minute to change out the Profilux 3 for the Profilux 4 last night and to replace one of my older powerbars with the new one i received with my order. It ended up taking a couple of hours. But it was a pretty smooth transition.

I wish I had taken some screen shots of the old set up in the software before the tranistion. But everything worked out. Today, I did my first automatic water change with the new Profilux 4. I am quickly deciding that this is my favorite part so far of all the computer equipment.

 

[Ken Good]

This is day 11 of the nitrogen cycle. Ammonia is still heavy. Nitrites are still increasing and nitrates are now present. I would say that the cycle is progressing along as expected. It is going a little slower than I hoped. Dr. Tim's did not seem to give me a quick cycle.

I am testing a lot more than I should. But I figure "testing" is better than "doing" at this point.

 

[Ken Good]

Day 15 of the Nitrogen Cycle. The Ammonia and the Nitrites are still high. I am waiting for signs that they are decreasing. In the meantime, I set up my dosing pumps. I plan to use the Triton method. I also set up my chiller and tested it to ensure that it is working correctly.

If you are using the pulse/pause method for the heater, it is not recommended that you do the same for the chiller because of the compressor. So I set up a virtual temperature probe (Temp 2) and will be running the chiller off of this probe in a more conventional 2 point set mode. I believe that will my settings for the chiller will have it come on at 78.8 and chill to 78.3. The heater comes on when the tank is less under 78.0 and heats to 78 using a variable pulse pause. The heater keeps the downside within .10 of 78. The chiller will allow for swings between 78.8 and 78.3. After I see how many times the chiller comes on during the day, I may allow it to swing up to 79. It just depends on how hard the chiller has to work during the summer.

We will see how it works. It may be a while since it is January. Ha!

Here is a screenshot of the temperature probe using the pulse variable, pause method for the heater. Pretty good for heater control on a 110 gallon tank!

 

[Ken Good]

I have been trying to set up a Kh Director but have not been successful to date. Will keep trying. I think that is all I have left and I will be up and running.

 

[Ken Good]

Oh how time passes. I remember a short time ago, I would look at this bottle and ask is it clear or is it pink? I am slightly color blind, so I would ask family members if they saw pink or if it was clear. They even made fun of me for doing it saying how I was always searching for "pink."

Fast forward and there is no question now whether the bottle is pink. Ha! In fact, I am calling it fucia. It looks like nitrites are storming the citidale!

The cycle continues.

 

[Ken Good]

I have been out of town for the last three days at a conference. While I was gone, I was testing my dosing pumps and it appears that I did something that caused dosing pump 2 to empty the entire contents of its chamber into the aquarium. After some additional research, it appears that I told the pump to dose 2 ml, but it appears that I accidentally changed the pump from a dosing schedule to a switch control and the default switch was number one which is always on. I vaguely remember the dosing pump asking me to save changes. So I had to have save the changes for this to happen.

So the pump turned on and stayed on. The next morning, I got a notice that container 2 was empty. I got my daughter to send me a picture and sure enough it was empty. This is when I discovered what happened.

After some further reseach, I believe that I have dumped Calcium into the aquarium. I believe that Triton Element No. 2 is mostly calcium. Is this correct?

Since I have an AWC capability. I started changing water a little at a time throughout the day. I was thinking that I may have to drain the tank and start over, but since it is calcuim, I should be okay. Is this right?

I got home last night and the aquarium seems fine. The cycle is continuing. The ammonia is almost done, but the nitrites are still going strong. I am trying not to overreact.

So to keep this from happening again by accident, I took each of the dosing pumps and assigned them switch channels that are always off so that if I do it again, they just will not dose. Then I switched them back to dosing schedule control.

My wife said that this was a classic "Ken" thing and I have to say she is probably correct.

I am planning to continue on unless the wiser brains here set me on a different course with their kind advice.

 

[Rwwilli]

My opinion for what it is worth. Stay the course. Until you have been up and running for 6 months or so I wouldn't test(calcium and nutrient- I would still do normal testing) or dose anything. You do not have anything to use the additives that you are dosing. Once you have some corals that are using the additives then the story changes. Water changes will provide nutrients to the system until more is needed.

I am not an expert by any means, but I am a guy that went the same route you are going and had to pull back hard and do a realign with myself.

Those are my thoughts anyway.

Rusty

 

[Ken Good]

Added my first two fish.