Waboss New 40 Breeder (from a Reefer 170)
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What water level is your Deltec 1351 running in? I have your exact same Trigger 26 sump and just picked up a Deltec SCA 1351 for a sweet deal. I know you’ve had yours for awhile, since the Reefer 170 and it looks like it’s pulling out some serious sludge!
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Waboss
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So I removed the flow sensors for the Apex I had (and then removed the Apex all together.....I'm "old schooling" it for now) because they were just restricting too much flow for me. Now I'm getting ready to clean up the plumbing and simplify things a bit. Here's what it looked like before those changes:
Next, I'm going to remove the manifold (I really don't think I need it) and get an in line UV filter to replace the HOB one I have now. Then I can just plumb it in line with the return (maybe add a line as a bypass in case I need it) and hopefully tighten/neaten up the plumbing.
Next, I'm going to remove the manifold (I really don't think I need it) and get an in line UV filter to replace the HOB one I have now. Then I can just plumb it in line with the return (maybe add a line as a bypass in case I need it) and hopefully tighten/neaten up the plumbing.
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Waboss
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Been a little busy with the tank. Cleaned up the plumbing some more, swapped a HOB UV for an in-line, changed out the lighting to test the new Noospyche K7 Pro's, and just added some chaeto and a grow light to the sump.
I've never been able to grow chaeto in my tanks once the mature a little, but figured I'd give it another shot since my nitrated were creeping up a little bit.
I've never been able to grow chaeto in my tanks once the mature a little, but figured I'd give it another shot since my nitrated were creeping up a little bit.
How’s the chaeto going in the Trigger 26 skimmer chamber? I have the same sump and skimmer and I’m going through mental gymnastics with how I’d like the layout to be.
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Waboss
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Wow....I'm a jerk.....I never saw your question man.. Apologies!
Umm, it didn't work.....the way the sump is designed, I kept getting chaeto passing through to the center chamber and clogging up the skimmer pump. I tried putting some eggcrate over the opening, but then the chaeto was just getting pushed up against it and not moving......so I pulled it. I think chaeto and me aren't meant to be! haha!
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Waboss
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Ok, so update on the current state of the tank.
First off, many thanks to @noopsyche for allowing me to review their lights, I'm still running them and my coral seem happy (in a perfect world, I'd add another one and turn them sideways to minimize shading, but the budget won't allow that right now). My wife loves them over the ATI T5 fixture I had over it, she says "it looks cleaner" haha.
I did have bit of a dosing issue, which was really a lazy issue on my part. One of my dosing lines got clogged from build up and I didn't catch it for a couple of week, so my ALK dropped to like 5, so I've been bringing that up slowly, but I've had some loss and some "unhappiness" in the tank.
I'm still rock'in "old school", so no controller or anything, just a DJ power strip and everything is quite happy. I did have a "freak out moment" when my heater died, but my wife caught it the same day, and I was able to take care of it before the temp dropped too much. So with that being said, I'll probably be back in the market for controller, at least for monitoring, soon.
Here's some pics I just took today:
First off, many thanks to @noopsyche for allowing me to review their lights, I'm still running them and my coral seem happy (in a perfect world, I'd add another one and turn them sideways to minimize shading, but the budget won't allow that right now). My wife loves them over the ATI T5 fixture I had over it, she says "it looks cleaner" haha.
I did have bit of a dosing issue, which was really a lazy issue on my part. One of my dosing lines got clogged from build up and I didn't catch it for a couple of week, so my ALK dropped to like 5, so I've been bringing that up slowly, but I've had some loss and some "unhappiness" in the tank.
I'm still rock'in "old school", so no controller or anything, just a DJ power strip and everything is quite happy. I did have a "freak out moment" when my heater died, but my wife caught it the same day, and I was able to take care of it before the temp dropped too much. So with that being said, I'll probably be back in the market for controller, at least for monitoring, soon.
Here's some pics I just took today:
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Waboss
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Time for a new update!
I was getting ready to leave the house for a work trip/conference on Wednesday (just got back late last night) and figured I'd give the glass on the tank a quick cleaning. Then I saw "it", what looked like either really deep scratches or a spiderweb crack that had "cracked" all the way through (I don't even know if that's possible, but it looks like it). So I freaked out and was trying to figure out what to do. I had to get to the airport, but I didn't want to come home to a mess/dead pets. So I did something that most likely had zero effect, but it made me feel better for some reason. I used strapping tape (tape with nylon fibers in it) and basically wrapped my tank up to, in theory, help relieve stress on that panel (I know, I know......useless, but it made me feel better).
So after checking on it constantly while I was gone (cameras in the house) I finally got home and de-mumified it (after running to Petco and getting a new tank) and after looking at it in a much calmer state, I think it's just really deep scratches. Anyway, I got the new tank and I'm going to replace it anyway.
Here's a shot of the new tank prep'd (just letting the paint finish curing before I install tomorrow).
And yeah, I'm going to touch up the paint on the back once I get it installed.
I was getting ready to leave the house for a work trip/conference on Wednesday (just got back late last night) and figured I'd give the glass on the tank a quick cleaning. Then I saw "it", what looked like either really deep scratches or a spiderweb crack that had "cracked" all the way through (I don't even know if that's possible, but it looks like it). So I freaked out and was trying to figure out what to do. I had to get to the airport, but I didn't want to come home to a mess/dead pets. So I did something that most likely had zero effect, but it made me feel better for some reason. I used strapping tape (tape with nylon fibers in it) and basically wrapped my tank up to, in theory, help relieve stress on that panel (I know, I know......useless, but it made me feel better).
So after checking on it constantly while I was gone (cameras in the house) I finally got home and de-mumified it (after running to Petco and getting a new tank) and after looking at it in a much calmer state, I think it's just really deep scratches. Anyway, I got the new tank and I'm going to replace it anyway.
Here's a shot of the new tank prep'd (just letting the paint finish curing before I install tomorrow).
And yeah, I'm going to touch up the paint on the back once I get it installed.
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Waboss
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Ok, so swapping things around wasn't as bad as I feared, but there were still a few hiccups.
I forgot that my bulkhead for the return was slip and not threaded, so I got super lucky and was able to get one at HD (I'm going to replace it though as it's a bit bulky and I'm not certain it'll last in saltwater since it's made for fresh). AND, I knew I had to adjust for drilling the overflow hole as the Eclipse overflow template is a little misleading (to me anyway), but a compensated a little too much, so I had to dremel off a bit of the internal box so it would fit under the lip.
My coral are at about 50/50 right now. Some came through the move fine, some almost look like skeletons but I can still see little bits of "flesh" in what I call pores on some of them. So we'll have to see how they all make out. In a perfect world, I would have had a good way to keep them fully submerged while I swapped out the tanks, but I had to leave them out exposed to air for about 30 minutes, while my wife (bless her soul) sprayed them down with tank water in a spray bottle.
So here's how we're looking now.
I expect to have some loss, especially my frags, but it's still better than having the side of the tank blow out and make a huge mess.
I forgot that my bulkhead for the return was slip and not threaded, so I got super lucky and was able to get one at HD (I'm going to replace it though as it's a bit bulky and I'm not certain it'll last in saltwater since it's made for fresh). AND, I knew I had to adjust for drilling the overflow hole as the Eclipse overflow template is a little misleading (to me anyway), but a compensated a little too much, so I had to dremel off a bit of the internal box so it would fit under the lip.
My coral are at about 50/50 right now. Some came through the move fine, some almost look like skeletons but I can still see little bits of "flesh" in what I call pores on some of them. So we'll have to see how they all make out. In a perfect world, I would have had a good way to keep them fully submerged while I swapped out the tanks, but I had to leave them out exposed to air for about 30 minutes, while my wife (bless her soul) sprayed them down with tank water in a spray bottle.
So here's how we're looking now.
I expect to have some loss, especially my frags, but it's still better than having the side of the tank blow out and make a huge mess.
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Waboss
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Ok, so GHL P4 installed and running well. Now I need to get a KH Director and I think I'm done with gadgets........for a little while anyway......hahaha!
Also Added some chaeto to my sump/refugium and some lighting to address some nitrate and phosphate issues I'm seeing (I think mostly caused from the tank swap a few weeks ago).
Here's a couple of pics, since that's what we all want to see!
Yeah, I know, I had to adjust the skimmer.... I love this skimmer, but it's super finicky about water level, so when I added the chaeto, it went a little nuts.
Also Added some chaeto to my sump/refugium and some lighting to address some nitrate and phosphate issues I'm seeing (I think mostly caused from the tank swap a few weeks ago).
Here's a couple of pics, since that's what we all want to see!
Yeah, I know, I had to adjust the skimmer.... I love this skimmer, but it's super finicky about water level, so when I added the chaeto, it went a little nuts.
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Waboss
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Ok, so no photo updates (yet, I'll post some later though), but I've had to swap out from using ATI Essentials to ATI Essentials Pro. So far, I'm not really seeing the issue some other folks did (knock on wood) and it's going pretty well. It did take a bit to dial in the dosing rate/conversion though as their 5/1 "translation" didn't work out too well for me. I did end up losing a few SPS frags that made me sad, but I'm hoping to nurse the tank back to full health.
Also, since I added chaeto, my N/P has been more stable, but a little lop sided in favor of higher N, so I need to work that out.
Also, since I added chaeto, my N/P has been more stable, but a little lop sided in favor of higher N, so I need to work that out.
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Waboss
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Ahh, that one. gotcha. Nope, no pics and the tank is gone. I think it was a light crack in the glass as it was "spiderwebbed" like glass usually crack from a direct impact. I'm almost certain it was from one of the magnets on my frag rack that fell off when cleaning the glass the person cleaning didn't realize how strong the magnets are, and it jumped from their grasp and hit the glass hard.
At least that's my best guess. The only reason I noticed it was because there was some algae on the glass and so it "highlighted" the cracks.
At least that's my best guess. The only reason I noticed it was because there was some algae on the glass and so it "highlighted" the cracks.
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Waboss
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So, new update. I got really tired of having to "shoe horn" gear into my pretty Trigger sump and decided to just DIY one with the chamber sizes the way I want them.
To be clear, the Trigger sumps are awesome, but I don't really have a ton of real estate in my cabinet for a sump, so I had to get a smaller Trigger, the DIY gave me just enough extra space to make things look/feel better.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I still need to clean up the wire management (or lack there of), re-work some of the plumbing, adjust the fuge light, and build some "shades" so I won't have algae growing everywhere from the light, but that's a project for this weekend!
To be clear, the Trigger sumps are awesome, but I don't really have a ton of real estate in my cabinet for a sump, so I had to get a smaller Trigger, the DIY gave me just enough extra space to make things look/feel better.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I still need to clean up the wire management (or lack there of), re-work some of the plumbing, adjust the fuge light, and build some "shades" so I won't have algae growing everywhere from the light, but that's a project for this weekend!
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Waboss
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Nope. I did notch out the back of the overflow on the first 40B tank I had though (because I thought I had too). Turns out that I didn't really need to do that.....it was pretty close to the top that way. On the new 40B tank, I lowered it a bit and it worked fine.
