Re-re-boot

[ndrwater]

On the evergrowing list of things to do/have done was replacing the old Ph probes... Unfortunately, of the two I ordered, one was unable to calibrate right out of the box. The other was just fine.
The one that was defective, would calibrate at 7.0 no problem, but wouldn't calibrate at either the low end of 4.0 nor the high end at 10.0. its going back..
So for now, the CaRx is off line which is a bummer, but we'll get there ..
Lights are being worked on as I type.. Updates with pics to follow soon.

 

[bakbay]

On the evergrowing list of things to do/have done was replacing the old Ph probes... Unfortunately, of the two I ordered, one was unable to calibrate right out of the box. The other was just fine.
The one that was defective, would calibrate at 7.0 no problem, but wouldn't calibrate at either the low end of 4.0 nor the high end at 10.0. its going back..
So for now, the CaRx is off line which is a bummer, but we'll get there ..
Lights are being worked on as I type.. Updates with pics to follow soon.

I use the pH probe inside the CaRx as information only and use tank water / effluent as a guide to tune. That is — the CaRx should be able to run without a pH probe.

 

[ndrwater]

I use the pH probe inside the CaRx as information only and use tank water / effluent as a guide to tune. That is — the CaRx should be able to run without a pH probe.

Its technically running, i just get 583725373816252738463512738485 alerts a day from my Apex ...
New probes on the way and possibly some nice ones too.. waiting on a text .

 

[ndrwater]

Okay... Lots happened..
New lights are in.. photos below.. i made new hang tabs with the extrusion i found thanks to my buddy @IvanW . Worked out great . I have finally set the intensity and on/off timer and acclimation period in the app. Seriously no thanks to the app which is... How do i say this diplomatically....
Garbage..
I still need to run the cords anywhere else than down the front as they are now. I had to have the cords out because the ONLY place the Serial number is on the cord to the unit not on the light, not the box.. the cord.. so when setting the individual lighs I needed to know which was which. The good news is that i have reset the "name" to each light and now will know which is which for later adjustments..
Now for the bad news... My CBB died... Zero explanation why. 2 days ago happy healthy front row eating anything I put in the tank.. yesterday, no signs of wanting to eat, today, he's gone...
Keep in mind I have had this fish in my tank for +/- 3 years at this point. Not a mark on him... Just gone...
I am usually pretty good at keeping CBB's with a long history of success.
Let this be a lesson to anybody new reading this . Sometimes, things just happen no matter how experienced, or not, you are ..
I really hate losing fish.. i always plan to have them long term. This one stings..
More updates on the way soon..

 

[Jimbo327]

Looking good. How's the new lights color and spread?

Sorry about the CBB.

 

[ndrwater]

Looking good. How's the new lights color and spread?

Sorry about the CBB.

Spread seems pretty good.. it was interesting how everything seemed to lay out compared to the 5 Radions. Some of the holes were close. I used my old frame and just added the clips.
As for color, it may be a little blue out if the box for me. I was done fighting the app and decided color adjustments were going to be another day

 

[ndrwater]

Im also at 50% with the new lights . Using the PAR meter, I am about the same PAR as the Radions at 70%. Seems like I could light the neighborhood if on 100%.. the default was 100% and WOW was that bright . Had the shades on and was still squinting when making some positioning adjustments.

 

[bakbay]

Sweet! That is a pretty cool light mount.

Sorry to hear about the CBB. I have 2 of them, one in each tank - beautiful fish and an awesome aiptasias destroyer.

 

[ndrwater]

Because this is what needs to happen to get nitrates down .. i have gone through a shite ton of DI resin to get this far .. talking to my car wash guy, I may install a commercial RODI ststem... I pay more for DI resin than he pays to rent his whole system...ill update if that happens...
So, officially down to.......29....
Getting there....

 

[Jimbo327]

Old school water change. You must have spent a fortune on RODI, water, and salt.

You planning to keep water changes as the main mode of nutrient control?

 

[ndrwater]

Old school water change. You must have spent a fortune on RODI, water, and salt.

You planning to keep water changes as the main mode of nutrient control?

For now yes. I finished a 300 gallon box of Brightwell salt and am halfway through a 160 bucket of IO...
IO is probably gonna be the way of the future. I used it for years with great success. It doesn't mix as clean as the Brightwell, but its cheap... And doing 100+ gallon water changes makes cheap a requirement...
Honestly, Im not sold on any of the "designer" salts anyway. IO works... and if i play my cards right at $35-40 for a 160 bucket, it fits the financial requirements as well.

 

[bakbay]

Carbon dosing works for me — totally adjustable with a doing pump. It does take 4-5 weeks but it’s worth it for me since I hate doing water changes. I buy the cheapest vodka from Costco.

 

[ndrwater]

Carbon dosing works for me — totally adjustable with a doing pump. It does take 4-5 weeks but it’s worth it for me since I hate doing water changes. I buy the cheapest vodka from Costco.

View attachment 130890

@joseserrano mentioned this to me as well . I have enough salt for one more big water change. If i need to, I might think about the carbon dosing route.. what uf any side effects from carbondosing?

 

[bakbay]

@joseserrano mentioned this to me as well . I have enough salt for one more big water change. If i need to, I might think about the carbon dosing route.. what uf any side effects from carbondosing?

I have 30 big angels & tangs - NO3 is hovering around 15ppm with carbon dosing. Make sure you got a good skimmer for oxygenation and overdosing will produce films on the water surface. Other than that, I haven’t seen any side effects.

I’ve done sulfur denitrator as well - playing with reactor, sulfur, ORP probes BUT it can nuke your tank if not too careful or due to power loss!

 

[ndrwater]

I have 30 big angels & tangs - NO3 is hovering around 15ppm with carbon dosing. Make sure you got a good skimmer for oxygenation and overdosing will produce films on the water surface. Other than that, I haven’t seen any side effects.

I’ve done sulfur denitrator as well - playing with reactor, sulfur, ORP probes BUT it can nuke your tank if not too careful or due to power loss!

View attachment 130936

Is that denitrator a repurposed CaRx? Looks similar to my Geo 818..
I run an SRO5000 skimmer so i am probably good with oxygenation. That and the half dozen MP powerheads.
We'll see. So far the corals and fish are responding well to the water changes.
I dont mind actually. I pump water from the mixing tanks to the tank and out. Not really doing much heavy lifting.. ive been doing this long enough to have dedicated pumps and hoses...
Options are always good though .

 

[bakbay]

Is that denitrator a repurposed CaRx? Looks similar to my Geo 818..
I run an SRO5000 skimmer so i am probably good with oxygenation. That and the half dozen MP powerheads.
We'll see. So far the corals and fish are responding well to the water changes.
I dont mind actually. I pump water from the mixing tanks to the tank and out. Not really doing much heavy lifting.. ive been doing this long enough to have dedicated pumps and hoses...
Options are always good though .

lol - yeah, I bought it cheap to that reason. Now it’s just collecting dust!

Skimmer: funny, I have the exact skimmer in storage as a backup to my BK300. It’s such a beast of a skimmer but a little loud though. I thought about swapping out the Bubble Blaster 5000 with a quieter DC pump.

Can’t beat doing WCs though - if I have a mixing station, I would do it — sucking out all the nasties in the process.

 

[ndrwater]

Today was the last BIG water change for a while (I hope)
Got the Nitrates back into an acceptable level..Alk is a little high, but ill live with it . Added some CUC thanks to @joeoliver. Getting some new nubs off the corals and I THINK I am starting to see a bit more color in the cotals.. Getting there ..

 

[ndrwater]

Now on the next big thing since becoming a reef again ..
So in case you didn't know, frozen food has a LOT of phosphate... I used to feed heavy back in the FOWLR days .. paying the price now. I just installed a GFO reactor because this is the numbers I am working with AFTER those big wayer changes ..
Thankfully, GFO works well... Well see how long this takes to get to a reasonable number...

 

[bakbay]

I do the no-frills Lanthanum Chloride (specifically, Brightwell Phospate-E). It can drop PO4 and keep it stabilized via a doser. Not for everyone but works great for me.

GFO is slow but safe & proven.

 

[Jimbo327]

Yikes. You are going to burn through a lot of GFO.

I would use LC. If you are scared it will affect the fish/coral, I would remove them into temp tank and then dose LC into skimmer...you can drop phosphates really fast. It'll take a while to work down the phosphates from the rocks.