Kyle's Reef

[Kyl]

It's not pretty, but it works?...

Or something to that effect, but my GHL gear should finally be here this coming week, apparently Thursday. Unfortunately, I have been trying to A) get this gear before I went on vacation (two weeks ago), or B) get it early on in my vacation as C) I have something taking place this Thursday, of all days, which means I can't be at the shipment location to receive it and D) I still actually haven't heard from the vendor as I made quite clear I needed to talk to them before anything shipped, to precisely avoid C, among other things.

This gear just shipped on Friday without any direct conversation before shipping so I guess we'll have to see how things turn out. Hopefully everything is received safely, at least it's going to my work site so it can't be left on the porch, etc. I'm going to at least expect some answers from a few parties in the chain once the dust settles, not impressed.

In other news, the DT will be changed over to B-Ionic 2 part dosing tomorrow and the dosing lines re-done in preparation for some new accessories coming in from ZenReef, one of which will be hitting the DT. I need to pick up some John Guest stem x barb adapters to finish that off, then I should finally have a somewhat professional looking solution that doesn't rely on zip ties around magnets off pumps that have done the job but not how I've wanted. The frag tank has been running B-Ionic for a bit over two weeks, and I haven't really noticed any differences, so at least I know it's not worse than the DIY 2 part previously being used.

One more good piece of news is there isn't a spec of bubble algae in the frag tank now, the emeralds have removed all that was visible, so hopefully these guys can keep that appetite up for when they eventually hit the DT.

 

[NY_Caveman]

One more good piece of news is there isn't a spec of bubble algae in the frag tank now, the emeralds have removed all that was visible, so hopefully these guys can keep that appetite up for when they eventually hit the DT.

Nice. An Emerald helped me, but eventually my tank just seemed to catch up with digesting the scourge and it all disappeared one day.

 

[Kyl]

Interesting little critters, the TG-5's macro mode actually caught a couple of them standing still..


copepod_macro_1 by Kyl, on Flickr


copepod_macro_3 by Kyl, on Flickr


copepod_macro_2 by Kyl, on Flickr


copepod_macro_4 by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[NY_Caveman]

Interesting little critters, the TG-5's macro mode actually caught a couple of them standing still..


copepod_macro_1 by Kyl, on Flickr


copepod_macro_3 by Kyl, on Flickr


copepod_macro_2 by Kyl, on Flickr


copepod_macro_4 by Kyl, on Flickr

Great shots!

 

[Kyl]

My sump for the frag tank is done, and will ship out tomorrow. My GHL gear arrived at work, safe and sound. And the third thing that has been in the back of my mind for my entire vacation, and last month over-all, came back 100% clear/normal, so I think this weekend will be one to celebrate.

vs

 

[Kyl]

Going to be a busy next few weeks..


GHL_day by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[siggy]

Thats quite a haul...Why 2 controlers? I was thinking about getting an expansion box for the basement setup

 

[Kyl]

Talking with some people, especially @Ditto and my layout, and the fact in the future if I ever want to run a KHD on each tank, two controllers made more sense. The approximate cost was almost the same between the two after factoring in a 6e / expansion box / probes vs a P4e. That and I've found with fusion having two tanks on a system was a long mess to navigate through on mobile. That would be less so with profilux, but still, figured why not try it this way. As well, should something ever bite the dust I'm not potentially losing control on both systems.

Initial impressions: 2.1 dosers are near silent, I can't even hear them on the fastest speed when away from the tank. The power bars are large, but that's alright. Form factor is perfect, fits exactly where I was thinking of putting them.

Software wise I've gotten a couple gotchas already by trying to be smart and assume things autonegotiate (com ports with firmware updates), but other than that and not realizing I had the wrong time zone, so nothing would give a serial id for myghl, so far, so good. Going to get the frag tank going in a shadowing / observation mode for the start with the KHD. I'll give it some time before I feel good to go on dosing, but I already know my ears are going to be happier than having DOS's running two part and the BRRRRRRRRRRRR noise when they're active.

 

[siggy]

The approximate cost was almost the same between the two after factoring in a 6e / expansion box / probes vs a P4e.

I was thinking about that after I posted. I would like salinity/temp and maybe Ph on the mix station, I'm also thinking Qt down there. I was also looking at the Mini, That is a strong modest controller.

 

[Kyl]

The only issue I have with the mini is you cannot expand the power outlets beyond four. On my mixing station I will lose the ability to turn on / off the RO booster pump remotely, and the power head I have run for 5 minutes a few times a day, but I can replicate that with a wifi switch.

I figure after selling what I'm going to be selling, the damage won't be too much. Certainly less than I've lost with SPS losses in the journey thus far.

 

[siggy]

For a modest or KISS system 4 is all you need

 

[Kyl]

Neither of my systems are modest, 12 plugs each haha.

Equipment	Revised Requirement
Display Tank:
Return	1​
Skimmer	1​
Carbon	1​
Cooling Fans	1​
Heater	2​
Powerhead	1​
Powerhead	1​
ATO	1​
Refuge Light	1​
DT Light	1​
DT Light	1​

 

[Kyl]

And I'm going to have to un-learn dependence on things when they don't need to be there in the first place. Time to calibrate the PH probe, but I can't seem to do it on the app, or on myghl, uhh, going to have to lug the laptop to the unit and USB it, really? Yeah well, I haven't used the classic apex with a display in about two years, a menu and a couple check marks later the PH is being calibrated without needing a phone app, or a webpage, or the laptop. I wonder how the 8+ range functions on a probe calibrated with 4 and 7 standards vs the 7 and 10 that seems to be what Apex focuses on. Tank is reading 8.37 vs 8.25, though the Apex probe hasn't been calibrated in a good six months.

Simplicity, so far, I like.

 

[JoshH]

Going to be a busy next few weeks..


GHL_day by Kyl, on Flickr

Hey Kyle,

I forgot to ask, did you get all this from Big Show??? And did they come with the updated power bar or the 5.1?

 

[Kyl]

Big Show, They're all 6E. You have to email Darren, the website is horrible and either out of date or not even on the site. It was not a smooth process.

 

[JoshH]

Big Show, They're all 6E. You have to email Darren, the website is horrible and either out of date or not even on the site. It was not a smooth process.

Well that's a bit of a pain, I tried to coax Ray at Reefsupplies to start carrying GHL but he said they likely never will carry them again. When I get to that stage I'll have to shoot Darren an email I guess.

 

[Kyl]

Well I was about to go to bed after a marathon of equipment clean up, new equipment setup on the frag tank, helping a fellow reefer out with some par checking, exhausted. Lights have been out for about three hours, and I was checking to make sure the lid was back on the frag tank when I saw hundreds of white specs gathering at the flashlight focal point.


something1 by Kyl, on Flickr


something2 by Kyl, on Flickr


something3 by Kyl, on Flickr

I'm guessing it's the wheelers prawn gobies that have spawned, these are little sets of eyeballs with what looks like a striped body zipping around. If they were a few inches large I'd be deathly afraid that this was out of some horror video game, they look freaky. #reefsquad , do these look like goby spawn?

 

[Katrina71]

I can't zoom in enough. Are those little eyebrows I see?

 

[Kyl]

I don't think so, but they appear to be similar to the watchman goby spawn doccumented here:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-12/ft/index.php

 

[Kyl]

So the weekend saw a lot of prep work for the frag tank, adding the P4e hardware, getting things configured and set to just observe the tank for now. I love the look and fit of the gear, it's not being hidden in a cabinet, or in front of a rats nest of usb cords and modules, just four things stacked. KHD is working, though I have to figure out what is causing the readings to be off, though not critical for now.

Sump shipped, it will be here Wednesday. Debating how to best clean that sucker out so I don't shock the acros, last time I just used vinegar on the tanks but they were both barren for the first while. The great thing about this is no new plumbing, it's simply a re&re, so I just have to worry about cleaning the glass from the build funk, no pvc glue or anything like that. Also got word the Zenreef stuff should be here this week, then I can really get the frag tank rocking as it has the heater and dosing line mounts as add-ons. Even with the cost of those the glass sump is 1/3 of what the acrylic was being quoted

Now that the frag P4e is setup, going to work on the DT in bits and pieces. I expect to shave a good half a day off the setup time it took for the frag tank, I did fumble my way through a few steps, one of which took a couple hours to realize my 'duh' moment. Busy times, but summer is passing on by and before I know it the real fun begins in the fall.