A month of updates
Wow, an entire month has gone by without a post! Being a parent is time consuming!
Let’s see… to pick up where the last post left off, the skimmer pump is no longer making a humming noise. I had cleaned it a few times, and it finally quieted down on its own. Nice.
I had a problem with some acro’s. I still don’t know what. A new frag RTN’d on me, and shortly after that the vermiculata RTN’d, and then it seemed to spread to the blue prostrata, a red/orange mille, a blue mille, and some type of bottlebrush. Bad! It doesn’t seem to have spread from there… the prostrata seems to have stopped RTN’ing, and a frag of the same piece is fine. It’s disappointing that this has taken out some really nice pieces that I’ve had for a while. I’m hoping that whatever caused this has passed… I don’t know if it was a parasite, or a chemical imbalance, or what.
The OM valve has started making a knocking noise again. I can’t believe it. I’m hoping it’s just a grain of sand or something and not ANOTHER broken motor gear. Cripes.
The MJ1200 pump I was using as a replacement for a broken Mag1.9 broke, so I reinstalled the Mag5 pump I started the system with originally. I had to reinstall the skimmer silencer to cut back on the air intake and prevent the skimmer from running too wet, but it seems to be working fine.
I’ve started dosing Microbe Lift Special Blend, after seeing some great reviews online about it. Wow this stuff is stinky. I’ve been following the instructions, and dosing about 25-50% more to account for saltwater.
We went out of town last week (brother’s wedding, yay!!! Awesome trip!!!) and it was the motivation I needed to automate the 2-part system. I decided to take the time to also redo the level controls, pump controls, and entire wiring schematic for the tank. This was pretty much a full week’s worth of evening work. I added a second GFCI outlet, in parallel to the first, and split the aquarium loads between them. Got rid of the power strips, replaced with outlets mounted on the stand near the devices. Completely redid the pump and level controls from scratch (reusing some float switches and toggle switches) and am happy to report that it’s all functioning! Right now I have a tank-high float switch, ATO reservoir low switch, sump-high switch, and top-off switch as well as toggles for the return pump, skimmer, closed loop, and ATO pump. I have inputs ready and waiting for a sump-low switch and 2-part low switch.
I still have to clean up the wires a bit (secure them, label them), add those two float switches, make a new float switch holder for the sump, and secure the 2-part tubing. I also want to repipe the return pump and the media reactors to clean them up. I also have to monitor the alk and ca levels in the tank for a week or so and make sure the dosers are set correctly.
Photos and one-line diagrams to come soon!
