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Adalius
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Ugh. I hope they didnt do that. Moving a 440 lbs tank to get to the stand would be stupid.
Pulled The Trigger - Peninsula 650 Build
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408Dartfish
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They do it to a lot of them I’ve read. Great looking build you’re going to have by the way.
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Adalius
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Thanks. If it's under the tank then something is messed up that the bill of lading shows 2 pallets. Sigh. Guess I'll tear the crate apart. I was hoping to keep it together until after I get it inside the house but I wanted to get the stand together first so I have room for the crate. Bleh.
408Dartfish
Well-Known Member
This is from a 650 peninsula build from on here.
MauiMarineAquarium (MMA)
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I look forward to seeing the progress. Good luck,
Dave Cureton
Well-Known Member
Yup. It's under the tank. Be careful sliding the tank over to get it. The bulkheads are already attached to the bottom of the overflow.
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Adalius
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Yea, I noticed that in another build thread (I think it was yours even?). Joy. Cutting some 5" blocking at work right now so I can slide the tank right over onto some more wood, remove the stand pieces, and slide it back onto the crate (planning on using the crate to help get it into the house safetly). Luckily I work for a machinery moving/rigging contractor so I have a ton of equipment at my disposal to get this thing in the house safely without having 4-5 people trying to beef it around by hand.
All that said, I'm still curious why I'm supposedly missing a skid, the BoL says clearly 2 skids... but they haven't called me back yet. First one turned out blurry but the 2nd line is '2 Skids', and the 2nd page says '2 pieces', so they would have had to enter it wrong in 2 separate locations. Can't figure out why, if the pieces I'm missing are under the tank, then by my accounts I should have everything.
Salty Lemon
Doing my best to make waves.
Can't wait to see the tank pics! This will be a fun adventure for you! 
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Adalius
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I think I threw my back out but I managed to get the tank off the remaining stand pieces (why, oh why, do they package it under the tank). Going to put the stand together this evening hopefully.
Also my water holding tanks came in yesterday so I'll make a run to Home Despot tomorrow for some plumbing parts and be on my way to getting that setup.
Also my water holding tanks came in yesterday so I'll make a run to Home Despot tomorrow for some plumbing parts and be on my way to getting that setup.
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Adalius
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Got most of the stand assembled tonight between loads of Advil for my back and taking some rest breaks to let it calm down. I'm leaving the doors off until the tank is on the stand, the instructions seem to indicate to get the tank on, level it, put the bottom in, put the sump in, and *then* mount the doors. The doors are on snap hinges so I could put them in, align them, and just remove them again, but I figure why rush it. I'm leaving one back panel off just for now so it's easier to move around so I can get to the wall to put in the electrical and plumbing boxes.
This gives some perspective on how the tank is going to split the living room and dining room up.
This gives some perspective on how the tank is going to split the living room and dining room up.
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Adalius
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Back was hurting pretty good today from moving the tank and building the stand yesterday so today I just ordered a ton of plumbing supplies from BRS for my water station and unpacked all my Apex gear to get everything hooked up, make sure all the firmware was up to date, do some basic setup, etc. Should have everything here on Tuesday so I can start getting some water made up while I run the electric and plumbing.
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Adalius
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Mocked up my water mixing station. Need to cut some of the pipe to final length and glue everything, this is just to get an idea of how it's going to lay out and make sure I'm not forgetting anything (turns out I was, I'm missing one 3/4 MPT to slip fitting. Doh.).
Left tank is clean RODI water, there's a float valve on the left of the tank. There is a check valve (possibly not necessary but I'd rather have an ounce of precaution) to prevent saltwater from ever being forced back into the RODI tank. Right tank will have mixed saltwater. The system allows me to either pump fresh into salt, circulate salt, pump fresh out to a hose (via hose barb fitting at top right), or pump salt to a hose (not sure why I would, but who knows).
You might be asking "A Cor-20 to mix salt, is this guy nuts?!". Well, yes, I am. But really I did that because if anything ever fails in my Cor-20 on the DT, I can just swap it directly for this with no monkeying around while I wait to get it fixed/replaced/whatever. Since I'll only be mixing salt roughly once a month with this system it should have very little runtime hours on it.
The top of the salt holding tank will have a fitting to allow a hose from my Dos pump to run up into the ceiling, across the finished basement, and up into the wall by the tank so that it can do continuous water small volume water changes throughout the day. The return pump will have a hose that goes roughly the same route but into a drain to dump the old saltwater.
Left tank is clean RODI water, there's a float valve on the left of the tank. There is a check valve (possibly not necessary but I'd rather have an ounce of precaution) to prevent saltwater from ever being forced back into the RODI tank. Right tank will have mixed saltwater. The system allows me to either pump fresh into salt, circulate salt, pump fresh out to a hose (via hose barb fitting at top right), or pump salt to a hose (not sure why I would, but who knows).
You might be asking "A Cor-20 to mix salt, is this guy nuts?!". Well, yes, I am. But really I did that because if anything ever fails in my Cor-20 on the DT, I can just swap it directly for this with no monkeying around while I wait to get it fixed/replaced/whatever. Since I'll only be mixing salt roughly once a month with this system it should have very little runtime hours on it.
The top of the salt holding tank will have a fitting to allow a hose from my Dos pump to run up into the ceiling, across the finished basement, and up into the wall by the tank so that it can do continuous water small volume water changes throughout the day. The return pump will have a hose that goes roughly the same route but into a drain to dump the old saltwater.
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Adalius
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Got the whole unit assembled. I screwed up yesterday and glued an elbow on and a slip fitting for the valve union but forgot the union collar. So I had to order another elbow and slip fitting to fix it today. Good news is, it's up and running.
The pump puts out plenty of flow even with the 3/4 piping, it drained the RODI tank which was half full into the salt tank in about a minute. Plus it has that nice feature where it shuts down momentarily if it sucks air so it gives me time to either shut it off, slow it down, or turn valves. I put a threaded barb fitting inside at a slight angle to cause the water to spin for mixing. I also put one of the Red Sea filter socks over it that came with the tank just to catch any debris that might have been in any of the pipes/joints/fittings. I figure I'm not going to use them anyway (swapping for media baskets) so why not.
The pump puts out plenty of flow even with the 3/4 piping, it drained the RODI tank which was half full into the salt tank in about a minute. Plus it has that nice feature where it shuts down momentarily if it sucks air so it gives me time to either shut it off, slow it down, or turn valves. I put a threaded barb fitting inside at a slight angle to cause the water to spin for mixing. I also put one of the Red Sea filter socks over it that came with the tank just to catch any debris that might have been in any of the pipes/joints/fittings. I figure I'm not going to use them anyway (swapping for media baskets) so why not.
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Adalius
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Oh, I almost forgot the other cool news. I won a bucket of Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt from the @Bulk Reef Supply 5k salt giveaway today. I guess some winners didn't respond so I got pulled in the redraw which is awesome since I'll be mixing salt very, very, soon!
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Adalius
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So in case anybody is looking for an update, I'm going to start with the good news. Then I'm going to go to what is probably one of the saddest stories ever (and slightly comical) when it comes to my tradeskills. And bear in mind, I work in the trades for a living, so this is a bit tough to write as it's flat out just embarrassing how wrong this all went.
I installed an outlet where the stand is going to sit, I also put in one of these guys:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H9CSY8T
But I only used one of the pair that it comes with. From this I ran 3 RODI 1/4" lines up. One will bring fresh RODI for the ATO, one will bring fresh saltwater from the mixing drum, and one will take old tank water to the drain, the last 2 will run via the DOS and the first one is just a simple float valve.
That's the good news. Now for the odd, absurd, and bad news:
First, the mildly humorous bit: I ordered a float with an acrylic 'clamp on' style holder via an Amazon reseller. When it arrived, the padded envelope was completely empty. Not even paperwork inside. And it was still fully sealed, meaning they literally shipped air. Had to go through the whole procedure of refund via chat since there was no object to send back, and then I decided to switch vendors and ordered an Eshopps float with bracket.
Now for the tale of woe: I drilled the hole for the power through the bottom of the wall, using the outlet opening, with one of those long flexible fishing bits electricians used. Ran the wiring, put the box and GFCI in, and bingo, all done with that. Worked super easy. I moved the bit over 4" into the hole for the RODI tubes, and it got completely stuck. My 12v drill wouldn't drill in, and took quite a bit of struggling to get it to reverse. Moved the hole over about an inch. Same problem. Moved it one more time... got it so stuck that I broke out my 18v drill. It was torquing it in reverse but it didn't go anywhere, tried going back and forth from forward/reverse, no change. Finally I hear *BOOM*... it caused the drill chuck to internally explode. The jaws are now full open and will not move. My guess is it stripped the internal gearing. I then bring out my corded hammer drill. I pull the trigger and before it can really even start to spin it begins to twirl freely... I pull back on the rod and.... there's no drill bit. It broke the solder that connects the bit to the shaft. It is now embedded somewhere in my wall. Before anyone suggests it, the bit didn't hit anything underneath as the cavity is wide open. I can see the successful hole and the nearest obstructions are 3" behind, 9" right, and 6" foward so plenty of open room. It's possible it hit a nail from the moulding or a drywall screw, but it seems unlikely it would hit those in 3 separate holes.
So then I went to Home Depot, I bought 2 more fishing bits, a spade bit, and some extenders. Mind you, I own almost all of this stuff already BUT I CAN'T FRIGGIN FIND IT! (Garage renovations underway so everything is boxed in 900 boxes and jammed into my 2nd garage). So I start drilling with the new fishing bit using the 'handle' it comes with to steer it. First hole feels like it goes through, run it back and forth a few times to be sure... something doesn't feel right. Go outside and find out the bit slipped out of the handle and drilled through the exterior wall of the house and is now sticking out of my siding. I feel like Clark Griswold at this point. Now I'm getting upset. I go back inside, pull it out, put it back in the handle, get it started, fish my fingers in as far as I can to ensure it's going straight down, and commence drilling again. It gets stuck. Just like the last bit. Except this one won't break off. I put my hammer drill on it thinking the vibration will help it, nothing. It actually breaks the last 2" off the end of the shaft. I reclamp on, try again, nothing.
At this point I finally give in. I cut the wall open down to the moulding. The bit is quite a ways into the wood, so I can't see the top of it. I pull out my holesaw and commence drilling right next to it, hoping that if I can shear the edge of the hole I can relieve the pressure and get the bit back out. No such luck. I say screw it, I'm going to abandon this bit in the wall too, so I drill a bit further over... and discover my hole saw isn't deep enough to go through the bottom plate and the subfloor. Now I'm cussing like an old salt sailor and the wife is laughing hysterically. I pull out my spade bit and a flexible attachment with my angle drill to try and fit into the space without cutting more of the wall open. I get it *right* tight to the drywall. I start drilling and after some cussing and back and forth get it to go through into the basement. SUCCESS!
But wait, I still have a 48" steel rod sticking out of the wall... "How are you getting that out?" she said. "Well, it's now part of the fishtank and will be there until we die. I hope you don't mind the sight of a steel rod sticking out along side the tank." No laughter, just an icy glare. So I run back to the packed garage and start looking for one of the three bolt cutters I own. In true Griswold fashion, I find 0 of 3. So I take my sawzall with my metal bit on it and try to cut the shaft. No luck, Charlie, that's a hardened shaft. It just tears the teeth right off the bit. I reach for my last resort. My Dremel with a cut-off wheel on the end. I slip it into the hole, sparks flying, and *ZING* the bit flies out into the insulation. Luckily I find it, crank down the collet super tight and go at it again. Sparks flying, the smell of burnt dignity filling the air, but at last the shaft comes off.
Wanting to put this behind me as far as I can, I run to the basement, snake the RODI tubes up through the hole, run outside for the last few minutes of daylight to pump a ton of silicone into the hole from my earlier 'exterior' mishap, fill the interior void with expanding foam (since I have now shoved the insulation every-which-way leaving a massive void). I then look for some small wood strips to fix the bigger hole by the moulding. Unable to find any I have an ingenious idea. I take a Home Depot paint mixing stick, shove it into the cavity across the opening, screw it in with some drywall screws, replace the missing piece, screw it in, and mud the gap shut. I'm hoping the foam will expand enough to put backpressure on the piece to give it a little extra support but since it will be behind the stand I think it'll be just fine. As no one will see the patch unless the stand is broken down, I told the wife I plan on writing 'Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here' on it as a memorial to the two brave drill bits who sacrificed their lives to live inside my wall, and woe unto the next person who tries to drill that bottom plate, because even though it now looks like swiss cheese, I can't imagine they'll win.
I installed an outlet where the stand is going to sit, I also put in one of these guys:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H9CSY8T
But I only used one of the pair that it comes with. From this I ran 3 RODI 1/4" lines up. One will bring fresh RODI for the ATO, one will bring fresh saltwater from the mixing drum, and one will take old tank water to the drain, the last 2 will run via the DOS and the first one is just a simple float valve.
That's the good news. Now for the odd, absurd, and bad news:
First, the mildly humorous bit: I ordered a float with an acrylic 'clamp on' style holder via an Amazon reseller. When it arrived, the padded envelope was completely empty. Not even paperwork inside. And it was still fully sealed, meaning they literally shipped air. Had to go through the whole procedure of refund via chat since there was no object to send back, and then I decided to switch vendors and ordered an Eshopps float with bracket.
Now for the tale of woe: I drilled the hole for the power through the bottom of the wall, using the outlet opening, with one of those long flexible fishing bits electricians used. Ran the wiring, put the box and GFCI in, and bingo, all done with that. Worked super easy. I moved the bit over 4" into the hole for the RODI tubes, and it got completely stuck. My 12v drill wouldn't drill in, and took quite a bit of struggling to get it to reverse. Moved the hole over about an inch. Same problem. Moved it one more time... got it so stuck that I broke out my 18v drill. It was torquing it in reverse but it didn't go anywhere, tried going back and forth from forward/reverse, no change. Finally I hear *BOOM*... it caused the drill chuck to internally explode. The jaws are now full open and will not move. My guess is it stripped the internal gearing. I then bring out my corded hammer drill. I pull the trigger and before it can really even start to spin it begins to twirl freely... I pull back on the rod and.... there's no drill bit. It broke the solder that connects the bit to the shaft. It is now embedded somewhere in my wall. Before anyone suggests it, the bit didn't hit anything underneath as the cavity is wide open. I can see the successful hole and the nearest obstructions are 3" behind, 9" right, and 6" foward so plenty of open room. It's possible it hit a nail from the moulding or a drywall screw, but it seems unlikely it would hit those in 3 separate holes.
So then I went to Home Depot, I bought 2 more fishing bits, a spade bit, and some extenders. Mind you, I own almost all of this stuff already BUT I CAN'T FRIGGIN FIND IT! (Garage renovations underway so everything is boxed in 900 boxes and jammed into my 2nd garage). So I start drilling with the new fishing bit using the 'handle' it comes with to steer it. First hole feels like it goes through, run it back and forth a few times to be sure... something doesn't feel right. Go outside and find out the bit slipped out of the handle and drilled through the exterior wall of the house and is now sticking out of my siding. I feel like Clark Griswold at this point. Now I'm getting upset. I go back inside, pull it out, put it back in the handle, get it started, fish my fingers in as far as I can to ensure it's going straight down, and commence drilling again. It gets stuck. Just like the last bit. Except this one won't break off. I put my hammer drill on it thinking the vibration will help it, nothing. It actually breaks the last 2" off the end of the shaft. I reclamp on, try again, nothing.
At this point I finally give in. I cut the wall open down to the moulding. The bit is quite a ways into the wood, so I can't see the top of it. I pull out my holesaw and commence drilling right next to it, hoping that if I can shear the edge of the hole I can relieve the pressure and get the bit back out. No such luck. I say screw it, I'm going to abandon this bit in the wall too, so I drill a bit further over... and discover my hole saw isn't deep enough to go through the bottom plate and the subfloor. Now I'm cussing like an old salt sailor and the wife is laughing hysterically. I pull out my spade bit and a flexible attachment with my angle drill to try and fit into the space without cutting more of the wall open. I get it *right* tight to the drywall. I start drilling and after some cussing and back and forth get it to go through into the basement. SUCCESS!
But wait, I still have a 48" steel rod sticking out of the wall... "How are you getting that out?" she said. "Well, it's now part of the fishtank and will be there until we die. I hope you don't mind the sight of a steel rod sticking out along side the tank." No laughter, just an icy glare. So I run back to the packed garage and start looking for one of the three bolt cutters I own. In true Griswold fashion, I find 0 of 3. So I take my sawzall with my metal bit on it and try to cut the shaft. No luck, Charlie, that's a hardened shaft. It just tears the teeth right off the bit. I reach for my last resort. My Dremel with a cut-off wheel on the end. I slip it into the hole, sparks flying, and *ZING* the bit flies out into the insulation. Luckily I find it, crank down the collet super tight and go at it again. Sparks flying, the smell of burnt dignity filling the air, but at last the shaft comes off.
Wanting to put this behind me as far as I can, I run to the basement, snake the RODI tubes up through the hole, run outside for the last few minutes of daylight to pump a ton of silicone into the hole from my earlier 'exterior' mishap, fill the interior void with expanding foam (since I have now shoved the insulation every-which-way leaving a massive void). I then look for some small wood strips to fix the bigger hole by the moulding. Unable to find any I have an ingenious idea. I take a Home Depot paint mixing stick, shove it into the cavity across the opening, screw it in with some drywall screws, replace the missing piece, screw it in, and mud the gap shut. I'm hoping the foam will expand enough to put backpressure on the piece to give it a little extra support but since it will be behind the stand I think it'll be just fine. As no one will see the patch unless the stand is broken down, I told the wife I plan on writing 'Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here' on it as a memorial to the two brave drill bits who sacrificed their lives to live inside my wall, and woe unto the next person who tries to drill that bottom plate, because even though it now looks like swiss cheese, I can't imagine they'll win.
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Adalius
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Had a coworker come by today with a pallet jack, two safe dollies (which we ended up not using), a bunch of masonite, and his personal pallet jack (that goes up 33"). Managed to get the tank into the house and on the stand in about 2 hours which wasn't bad.
However, as we raised it we noticed there was a broken edge on the bottom of the tank. It's on the exterior edge and nowhere near the silicone joint so I think we'll be ok (since corners are a stress riser anyway).
And of course noticed a decent exterior scratch right in the middle. It's deep enough to catch my fingernail (and then some) so I don't think I'll be buffing that one out.
So I buttoned up a few things for the evening and decided I'd put the Red Sea DIY cover kit together. What an absolute piece of garbage. First off, why the hell doesn't Red Sea pony up and make lids for each of their tanks rather than this crap DIY version. They know the sizes, they have access to manufacturing, and they could do a much better job than Joe Schmoe 9 times out of 10. Secondly, every single piece has to be cut specifically for each tank, so a minimum of 4 cuts, 5 on the bigger ones that need a crossbrace. Then when it comes time to put the gasket in to hold the screen, even using their plastic rolled tool, half the time it cuts the screen as it pushes the gasket in, so I have spots where the screen is cut *at* the gasket and just hangs there. Lastly, their frame is so flexible in the joints that once the screen was stretched and gasketed, it pulled the whole frame out of square into a parallelogram so now it won't fit properly in the tank (I dry fit the frame before putting the net on, fit like a glove). Just absolute crap. Guess I'm going to have to get ahold of Octo Lids or someone since I plan on having wrasses so a lid is a must, especially with hungry cats nearby.
Tomorrow I plan on washing the tank, mixing some salt, and ordering some of the 'live' ingredients (live sand, bacteria starter, etc).
However, as we raised it we noticed there was a broken edge on the bottom of the tank. It's on the exterior edge and nowhere near the silicone joint so I think we'll be ok (since corners are a stress riser anyway).
And of course noticed a decent exterior scratch right in the middle. It's deep enough to catch my fingernail (and then some) so I don't think I'll be buffing that one out.
So I buttoned up a few things for the evening and decided I'd put the Red Sea DIY cover kit together. What an absolute piece of garbage. First off, why the hell doesn't Red Sea pony up and make lids for each of their tanks rather than this crap DIY version. They know the sizes, they have access to manufacturing, and they could do a much better job than Joe Schmoe 9 times out of 10. Secondly, every single piece has to be cut specifically for each tank, so a minimum of 4 cuts, 5 on the bigger ones that need a crossbrace. Then when it comes time to put the gasket in to hold the screen, even using their plastic rolled tool, half the time it cuts the screen as it pushes the gasket in, so I have spots where the screen is cut *at* the gasket and just hangs there. Lastly, their frame is so flexible in the joints that once the screen was stretched and gasketed, it pulled the whole frame out of square into a parallelogram so now it won't fit properly in the tank (I dry fit the frame before putting the net on, fit like a glove). Just absolute crap. Guess I'm going to have to get ahold of Octo Lids or someone since I plan on having wrasses so a lid is a must, especially with hungry cats nearby.
Tomorrow I plan on washing the tank, mixing some salt, and ordering some of the 'live' ingredients (live sand, bacteria starter, etc).
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Adalius
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She's got water! So far no leaks, everything looks good. Still need to mix up at least one more batch to finish filling it, maybe two. Water is clearing quite fast which I'm happy about.
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Adalius
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Well it's been awhile! Tank is up, cycle completed, added some CUC and light feeding to keep the bacteria going, as well as dosing copepods to try and build up some decent numbers. Diatoms came and went very quickly. Hair algae started to juuuuuuust creep into the picture, then I went on vacation trusting my Apex to keep everything going while I was gone. My mother in law was watching the house and was terrified that the ATO was going to flood the house (I have it tied to my RODI via a float valve) so I filed the ATO reservoir to the brim and shut off the water to the RODI.
Big mistake. Evaporation without the A/C running (and temps climbing while we were gone) drained the reservoir in 5 days, and we were gone for 10. I had very little wifi/cell access on the cruise, but I had enough to see the Apex barking at me for 0 salinity and 5 ph.... because the probes were no longer in the water. As soon as the ship pulled into San Juan I had cell service so I had my uncle swing by, turn the water back on, few hours later everything was reading normal as can be. Came home to massive long clear strands of stuff on everything. I didn't think it was hair algae since it was suppppper long and clear, but after grabbing it, it certainly was. Also didn't see a single copepod on the back wall, normally they were scurrying everywhere. Tested all the parameters, and everything looks fine. My best guess, after some discussion on here, is my chaeto sucked out enough nutrients that the algae just didn't have anything to grow with.
Seeing as how today is Memorial Day and lots of LFS's have specials, I decided it's time to start a light stocking. I went and got two tiny occy's (maybe 1" each), and a diamond watchman goby (1.5" for the insane price of $15), as well as some very tiny frags (4 head trumpet, 3 mushroom plug, small zoa colony, and an acan plug that evidently got tossed in as a 'freebie' but looks very nice). They seem small for the size of the tank, but I'm a cautious person by nature so I want to do this very slowly, making sure things are solid before adding anything else or dipping in on the big money items.
Big mistake. Evaporation without the A/C running (and temps climbing while we were gone) drained the reservoir in 5 days, and we were gone for 10. I had very little wifi/cell access on the cruise, but I had enough to see the Apex barking at me for 0 salinity and 5 ph.... because the probes were no longer in the water. As soon as the ship pulled into San Juan I had cell service so I had my uncle swing by, turn the water back on, few hours later everything was reading normal as can be. Came home to massive long clear strands of stuff on everything. I didn't think it was hair algae since it was suppppper long and clear, but after grabbing it, it certainly was. Also didn't see a single copepod on the back wall, normally they were scurrying everywhere. Tested all the parameters, and everything looks fine. My best guess, after some discussion on here, is my chaeto sucked out enough nutrients that the algae just didn't have anything to grow with.
Seeing as how today is Memorial Day and lots of LFS's have specials, I decided it's time to start a light stocking. I went and got two tiny occy's (maybe 1" each), and a diamond watchman goby (1.5" for the insane price of $15), as well as some very tiny frags (4 head trumpet, 3 mushroom plug, small zoa colony, and an acan plug that evidently got tossed in as a 'freebie' but looks very nice). They seem small for the size of the tank, but I'm a cautious person by nature so I want to do this very slowly, making sure things are solid before adding anything else or dipping in on the big money items.
