Jakes 55g

[JakeNova]

New beginning. Hopefully this will be more sustainable with life. Im gone a week at a time now adays. In a month or two id like to look into automation and having access to my parameters away from home.

 

[PharmrJohn]

I'm continually amazed at the little things. In this case monitoring from afar. LOL, back in my day I was REALLY impressed that you could use a computer to write papers for school! Typewriters were no longer necessary!

 

[JakeNova]

I'm continually amazed at the little things. In this case monitoring from afar. LOL, back in my day I was REALLY impressed that you could use a computer to write papers for school! Typewriters were no longer necessary!

Im glad weve made it this far. It's wild, isn't it? What was considered high-tech when you first got into the hobby?

 

[PharmrJohn]

Im glad weve made it this far. It's wild, isn't it? What was considered high-tech when you first got into the hobby?

Back in '91, I had a 29G with an HOB filter as well as an undergravel filter. That's about it. Skimmers were becoming popular but I opted out of that due to size constraints. Nothing in the way of electronics were available. Jeez, the Internet was still a few years away from launch!

 

[JakeNova]

HUGE MISTAKE... I went a little gung ho and quickly mixed like 20g of water and reused about 25g of water. I checked my salinity and its at 45. I recalibrated my refractometer and checked bottom, mid and top water collum zones. 45ppt, 45ppt, 45ppt. I realize now I added nearly double the salt I required. Instead of my typical 185g per gallon i added 285g per gallon, I even told myself I should double check if 285 was right. Lesson learned. Ive removed 5 gallons of tank water and replaced it with RODI. waiting some time before I check salinity and add more RODI. I only have 5 gallons left so I hope everything will be fine

 

[buzzojones]

Im glad weve made it this far. It's wild, isn't it? What was considered high-tech when you first got into the hobby?

Back in '91, I had a 29G with an HOB filter as well as an undergravel filter. That's about it. Skimmers were becoming popular but I opted out of that due to size constraints. Nothing in the way of electronics were available. Jeez, the Internet was still a few years away from launch!

Did you have any more trouble with that one versus now?

 

[PharmrJohn]

Did you have any more trouble with that one versus now?

Yep. And it was secondary to a complete lack of knowledge rather than the gear I was using. I made pretty much every mistake in the book. But after the tank cycled and the (over) stocking issue was solved, the tank did pretty well. I kept it active for about 3 years before I broke it down and rehomed the inhabitants. My success was attributed to blind luck rather than skill.

 

[buzzojones]

Did you have any more trouble with that one versus now?

Yep. And it was secondary to a complete lack of knowledge rather than the gear I was using. I made pretty much every mistake in the book. But after the tank cycled and the (over) stocking issue was solved, the tank did pretty well. I kept it active for about 3 years before I broke it down and rehomed the inhabitants. My success was attributed to blind luck rather than skill.

Ha, fair. I was asking more because I'm looking at monitoring and automation. I'm a newbie with around 5 months - I have a few soft corals doing well and growing, so naturally I want to eventually get some harder LPS or SPS. I do not want to kill them I'm having trouble justifying the cost of controls and whether continuous monitoring and controls would minimize the risk of killing them when I first go into that.

I don't have enough experience to know when to test parameters once I get the more sensitive species of coral. I imagine it would help with controls.

Do you think there is good experience and learning not doing it automated and possibly ticking off the harder corals? Or could I learn it easier by having water parameters trended over time and noting the effects on the water?

I know convenience is also a major pro for getting controls but I don't test anywhere close to multiple times a day so it's not currently a big inconvenience.

Also it would clean up all the wiring and eliminate some standalone OEM controllers (wavemaker etc) .

Kind of thinking out loud but but your input would be valuable and appreciated. Just don't want to drop 3,000 dollars on stuff that I can't fully justify.

 

[buzzojones]

Did you have any more trouble with that one versus now?

Yep. And it was secondary to a complete lack of knowledge rather than the gear I was using. I made pretty much every mistake in the book. But after the tank cycled and the (over) stocking issue was solved, the tank did pretty well. I kept it active for about 3 years before I broke it down and rehomed the inhabitants. My success was attributed to blind luck rather than skill.

Ha, fair. I was asking more because I'm looking at monitoring and automation. I'm a newbie with around 5 months - I have a few soft corals doing well and growing, so naturally I want to eventually get some harder LPS or SPS. I do not want to kill them I'm having trouble justifying the cost of controls and whether continuous monitoring and controls would minimize the risk of killing them when I first go into that.

I don't have enough experience to know when to test parameters once I get the more sensitive species of coral. I imagine it would help with controls.

Do you think there is good experience and learning not doing it automated and possibly ticking off the harder corals? Or could I learn it easier by having water parameters trended over time and noting the effects on the water?

I know convenience is also a major pro for getting controls but I don't test anywhere close to multiple times a day so it's not currently a big inconvenience.

Also it would clean up all the wiring and eliminate some standalone OEM controllers (wavemaker etc) .

Kind of thinking out loud but but your input would be valuable and appreciated. Just don't want to drop 3,000 dollars on stuff that I can't fully justify.

*noting the effects on the corals

 

[PharmrJohn]

Ha, fair. I was asking more because I'm looking at monitoring and automation. I'm a newbie with around 5 months - I have a few soft corals doing well and growing, so naturally I want to eventually get some harder LPS or SPS. I do not want to kill them I'm having trouble justifying the cost of controls and whether continuous monitoring and controls would minimize the risk of killing them when I first go into that.

I don't have enough experience to know when to test parameters once I get the more sensitive species of coral. I imagine it would help with controls.

Do you think there is good experience and learning not doing it automated and possibly ticking off the harder corals? Or could I learn it easier by having water parameters trended over time and noting the effects on the water?

I know convenience is also a major pro for getting controls but I don't test anywhere close to multiple times a day so it's not currently a big inconvenience.

Also it would clean up all the wiring and eliminate some standalone OEM controllers (wavemaker etc) .

Kind of thinking out loud but but your input would be valuable and appreciated. Just don't want to drop 3,000 dollars on stuff that I can't fully justify.

OK. Got it. Well......With my last tank, back from '08 to '13, I had no automation. I ran softies and LPS in that tank (90g). I tested Nitrates, pH, Ca, MG and ALK (plus a fee others) weekly. That's about it. And I was successful.

When I reboot my tank in a few years, I'm going to do much the same thing at the beginning as I prefer more of a hands on approach. Eventually, though, I will HAVE TO automate, mainly due to going places. I don't want to be held hostage to an aquarium and negate any travel opportunities due me in retirement. That is how I am going to justify the expenditure. Because, like you, I need a good reason to dump in a few grand that can be spent somewhere else (like a cruise!)