A Calm Blue Ocean - IM Fusion Pro 50 Gallon AIO Lagoon

[Calm Blue Ocean]

It is kind of a conundrum isn’t it, both the mysterious loss of livestock and what to do with the mess in the stand. I just put a couple of pieces of 2x4 under the flimsy floor, in between the aluminum profiles, to make it more stable for my ato reservoir. No need to do anything too complicated.
As for mounting equipment and wire management, that’s a tough one, mine started out good but once you start changing equipment out it all goes sideways. I’m going to try really hard with my next build to get all the electronics out of the stand and mounted on a controller board that’s away from the tank, maybe mounted on the wall. Maybe only the power bricks under the tank. That way everything isn’t packed into such a tight space and the wires won’t be all piled up. It’ll take some planning, pour me a cup of that coffee.

I think this is the ideal solution. A separate cabinet for the electrical stuff. With the 50-gallon footprint it just gets too crowded in there and being organized and avoiding wrecks gets challenging. I could probably get some kind of free-standing Ikea thing that would simplify this whole situation. I used to have the ATO reservoir in the stand but because of the flimsy base had it positioned dead center which was not very good use of the space and eventually I moved it next to the stand. Your 2x4 solution is within my range of DIY lol. I love to overcomplicate everything, or so I'm sometimes told. Coffee's on!

 

[TheWB]

I think this is the ideal solution. A separate cabinet for the electrical stuff. With the 50-gallon footprint it just gets too crowded in there and being organized and avoiding wrecks gets challenging. I could probably get some kind of free-standing Ikea thing that would simplify this whole situation. I used to have the ATO reservoir in the stand but because of the flimsy base had it positioned dead center which was not very good use of the space and eventually I moved it next to the stand. Your 2x4 solution is within my range of DIY lol. I love to overcomplicate everything, or so I'm sometimes told. Coffee's on!

I should amend, I don’t know if it was actually 2x4’s but it’s 2 pieces of wood that were the same thickness as the profiles. 2x4’s might be too thick. You get the idea. Measure it first then get the wood.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Whoa, three alk tests in a row that came out the same! Am I finally getting this stuff dialed in? Don't change anything!!!

In other news, Murphy's Law. If a tank alarm is going to go off, it's going to be in the middle of the night or when you're not home. Pretty sure on that.

Somebody...don't know who...has maybe not cleaned the ATO sensor in a while. Middle of the night we get a screeching ATO alarm from the high-water float. Still waiting for it to evaporate back down. Suppose it could be worse but wow, I sure seem to get tank emergencies unusually skewed to nighttime hours!

 

[TheWB]

Whoa, three alk tests in a row that came out the same! Am I finally getting this stuff dialed in? Don't change anything!!!

In other news, Murphy's Law. If a tank alarm is going to go off, it's going to be in the middle of the night or when you're not home. Pretty sure on that.

Somebody...don't know who...has maybe not cleaned the ATO sensor in a while. Middle of the night we get a screeching ATO alarm from the high-water float. Still waiting for it to evaporate back down. Suppose it could be worse but wow, I sure seem to get tank emergencies unusually skewed to nighttime hours!

Nice on the Alk. I feel you on the alarms and paying attention to them. There’s a post somewhere early on in my thread about the same topic. Always listen to the Apex (or whatever alarm) when it tells you something is off.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Something weird is going on. I had another overfill happen today pretty much while I watched and the ATO had nothing to do with it, or at least not directly.

When I went to feed this morning, I did my usual quick once over on the whole tank to make sure things were all in order and noticed the return chamber was a bit full. Not enough to trip the alarm but a bit full. And then when I looked again after dosing and feeding, I realized it was still rising! And then the alarm tripped.

What the crap!

Only two explanations, water flowing into the chamber suddenly increased, or water exiting the chamber suddenly decreased.

Filter floss was just replaced, pumps have been fairly recently cleaned, no out of place snails.

A total mystery.

On one hand it looks like a dirty sensor was probably not to blame for the overfill the other day but now I don't know what to blame. The tank is due for it's twice a year deep clean. Maybe I have a rogue sponge floating around back there messing with the pumps. The sponge population isn't as bad as it's been but I have a few.

Cleaning out the back chambers is such a huge job, but I figure I'll drop the heater into the display and keep the MP40 on for flow and that way give myself all the time I need to get it done right.

 

[TheWB]

Something weird is going on. I had another overfill happen today pretty much while I watched and the ATO had nothing to do with it, or at least not directly.

When I went to feed this morning, I did my usual quick once over on the whole tank to make sure things were all in order and noticed the return chamber was a bit full. Not enough to trip the alarm but a bit full. And then when I looked again after dosing and feeding, I realized it was still rising! And then the alarm tripped.

What the crap!

Only two explanations, water flowing into the chamber suddenly increased, or water exiting the chamber suddenly decreased.

Filter floss was just replaced, pumps have been fairly recently cleaned, no out of place snails.

A total mystery.

On one hand it looks like a dirty sensor was probably not to blame for the overfill the other day but now I don't know what to blame. The tank is due for it's twice a year deep clean. Maybe I have a rogue sponge floating around back there messing with the pumps. The sponge population isn't as bad as it's been but I have a few.

Cleaning out the back chambers is such a huge job, but I figure I'll drop the heater into the display and keep the MP40 on for flow and that way give myself all the time I need to get it done right.

That’s a weird one. Keep us posted on what you find. I had a significant slowdown on the CurrentUSA 6009 I was using before I got the reef octopus Varios 2 and when I broke it down there were many of those tiny dwarf cerith snails Reefcleaners like to give you tons of in a clean up crew stuck inside the pump mucking it up. Break your pump all the way down and see what’s really in there.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Water tests today looked good! Nitrate and phosphate both down slightly at 8.1 and 0.27, and alk tested 8.3 for the 4th time in a row! Crazy!

And speaking of crazy, I didn't realize until recently that there are actually several species of candy canes commonly kept. This makes sense because my Alien Eye is definitely not like his two brothers in my tank. The other two candy canes look like little porcupines when they get their feeders out and puff up like balloons when fed, but this guy extends these alien looking things every morning and doesn't inflate like the others. Still splitting into new heads, though, so I'll guess it must be ok!

 

[TheWB]

Did you figure out that ATO overfill situation?

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Did you figure out that ATO overfill situation?

Not yet and I had one more incident this past week. I'm stumped!

 

[TheWB]

Not yet and I had one more incident this past week. I'm stumped!

Which ato do you use?

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Which ato do you use?

Tunze 3155. My theory is that something is causing a brief change in flow causing the water level to drop and the ATO to come on, then when the flow returns to normal the water is too high, and the alarm goes off. The problem is too random to honestly suspect the sensor. I don't think I'm having any sort of microbubble problem. What I'd really like to know is why it seems to happen late at night. Alarms in the middle of the night are just extra...well...alarming!

 

[TheWB]

Tunze 3155. My theory is that something is causing a brief change in flow causing the water level to drop and the ATO to come on, then when the flow returns to normal the water is too high, and the alarm goes off. The problem is too random to honestly suspect the sensor. I don't think I'm having any sort of microbubble problem. What I'd really like to know is why it seems to happen late at night. Alarms in the middle of the night are just extra...well...alarming!

I have the same one and it had a problem right at the beginning because I activated it for the first time with the sensor under water. After that was sorted out it’s been flawless. Now you’re going to have to put the all night surveillance camera on your tank to see what’s up.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

A few small updates.

Still no idea why the tank has been randomly overfilling and I had another incident last night. I would like to add a float to the Apex so that I get a notification on my phone when this happens because I don't always hear the Tunze alarm.

Equipment updates, I am now the proud owner of both the Neptune DOS and the seemingly rare Ecotech Versa pump. Neither has been hooked up yet since I'm honestly not sure how I want to mount them or how I even want to use them. I've been toying with the idea of using the DOS for auto water changes or at least semi auto water changes but that might be a bigger undertaking than just doing the darn water changes, and then use the Versa to dose my AFR. Not sure yet.

Speaking of AFR it might be time to move to the powder. You know that moment when you realize that the 500ml is only a month's worth of product. Or at least it was. I admit I've fallen off the testing wagon lately. I should probably run some tests when I get a moment tonight.

Let's see, what else. Hydroids have surged again. Apparently, there is a type of nudi that will eat them but I'm not sure any nudi would be safe with my wrasse. The hydroids are irritating my King Midas zoas, though. I've cut back on coral feeding in hopes of starving the hydroids a bit.

In the drama we like to call Rock-Paper-Scissors-Zoa-Monti, Fruity Pebbles might be winning over Mango Coolers. When the zoas are closed at night it looks like the monti might be slowly growing over the edge of them. I'll still be shocked to see anything push those zoas back, but time will tell.

And that's about it. Still thinking about making some new fish additions (thinking Pajama Cardinals) to the 50 and maybe a couple new inverts (Pederson's Cleaner and a couple sexy shrimp) to the 10. If I'm going to do it, I should probably try to make a decision before the heat of summer hits! Decisions decisions.

 

[TheWB]

A few small updates.

Still no idea why the tank has been randomly overfilling and I had another incident last night. I would like to add a float to the Apex so that I get a notification on my phone when this happens because I don't always hear the Tunze alarm.

Equipment updates, I am now the proud owner of both the Neptune DOS and the seemingly rare Ecotech Versa pump. Neither has been hooked up yet since I'm honestly not sure how I want to mount them or how I even want to use them. I've been toying with the idea of using the DOS for auto water changes or at least semi auto water changes but that might be a bigger undertaking than just doing the darn water changes, and then use the Versa to dose my AFR. Not sure yet.

Speaking of AFR it might be time to move to the powder. You know that moment when you realize that the 500ml is only a month's worth of product. Or at least it was. I admit I've fallen off the testing wagon lately. I should probably run some tests when I get a moment tonight.

Let's see, what else. Hydroids have surged again. Apparently, there is a type of nudi that will eat them but I'm not sure any nudi would be safe with my wrasse. The hydroids are irritating my King Midas zoas, though. I've cut back on coral feeding in hopes of starving the hydroids a bit.

In the drama we like to call Rock-Paper-Scissors-Zoa-Monti, Fruity Pebbles might be winning over Mango Coolers. When the zoas are closed at night it looks like the monti might be slowly growing over the edge of them. I'll still be shocked to see anything push those zoas back, but time will tell.

And that's about it. Still thinking about making some new fish additions (thinking Pajama Cardinals) to the 50 and maybe a couple new inverts (Pederson's Cleaner and a couple sexy shrimp) to the 10. If I'm going to do it, I should probably try to make a decision before the heat of summer hits! Decisions decisions.

Weird about your Tunze but it happens even to the best of equipment. I’d just get a new one if you can’t trust it.
I didn’t test last weekend either. Nothing looks mad so I’m just rolling with the same AFR dose. The tank is coming down anyway to get moved and I’m not putting the sand back so it’s gonna be a whole new world in there anyway until I finish the upgrade.
Looking forward to seeing the new arrivals. Order em up lol.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Couple little updates.

The clowns laid their first eggs this past week! Shook up the tank dynamic a bit. My poor Red-Lined Wrasse has no idea why he's been kicked out of the cave. He tried hanging out toward the middle of the tank but the Midas Blenny booted him out of there too. A couple small war wounds but I think things are starting to settle down again and he's found some territory around the toadstools. Funny thing is that my Pink Streaked Wrasse goes past the clowns regularly and it's like she's invisible to them.

My Forest Fire Digi has decided to stop opening. No idea what's going on there, everything around it is open and it had been growing really well. Tissue looks healthy but no polyps going on about 4 or 5 days now.

Nitrate continues to fall. Down to 4 now. I actually skipped my water change this week. I might start cutting back on the carbon dosing or possibly switch from TM Elimi-NP to TM Bacto-Balance.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Trochus parking!

(Pardon the dirty glass)

Trochus snails are probably my favorite general cleaner. The guy in the middle here has been with me nearly 3 years. Is it a sign that you watch your tank too much when you can recognize individual snails?

In other news, I just ordered, or rather pre-ordered the new Hanna Magnesium checker. You can order now directly from Hanna but at nearly $20 shipping I'll wait a couple weeks for it to be available at Saltwater Aquarium! We'll see if it's simple and accurate enough that I actually test magnesium regularly or if it ends up in the back of the drawer with my Red Sea kit.

 

[TheWB]

Trochus parking!

(Pardon the dirty glass)

Trochus snails are probably my favorite general cleaner. The guy in the middle here has been with me nearly 3 years. Is it a sign that you watch your tank too much when you can recognize individual snails?

In other news, I just ordered, or rather pre-ordered the new Hanna Magnesium checker. You can order now directly from Hanna but at nearly $20 shipping I'll wait a couple weeks for it to be available at Saltwater Aquarium! We'll see if it's simple and accurate enough that I actually test magnesium regularly or if it ends up in the back of the drawer with my Red Sea kit.

I’ve been looking at the Hanna Mag checker myself. I don’t mind the salifert though, it seems to work fine. What I really need is that auto pipette they sell. Trying to get 10ml of sample water without air trapped in the syringe is tough Lol.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I’ve been looking at the Hanna Mag checker myself. I don’t mind the salifert though, it seems to work fine. What I really need is that auto pipette they sell. Trying to get 10ml of sample water without air trapped in the syringe is tough Lol.

I've been using a pipettor that I got off Amazon to measure water for tests. I admit I've never calibrated it, but I feel fairly confident that it at least gives me the same amount of water every time and it's so easy, just set it to 10ml and hit the button. I will never go back to syringes.

 

[TheWB]

I've been using a pipettor that I got off Amazon to measure water for tests. I admit I've never calibrated it, but I feel fairly confident that it at least gives me the same amount of water every time and it's so easy, just set it to 10ml and hit the button. I will never go back to syringes.

Which one do you have?

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Which one do you have?

Four E's Scientific 1-10ML Single-Channel Pipettor Adjustable Variable Volume Micropipette High Accurate Pipettor for Laboratory

I picked up some spare 10ml tips and use it for both water tests and manual dosing. Really nice for dosing AFR which always clogged my syringes.