Zoomonsters 200g Build Continued

[zoomonster]

Hi folks I'm back and this tanks getting overhaul. Its been a crazy few years with divorce, working out of town etc. etc. Fortunately I kept my house in the divorce and didn't have to deal with moving my tank. I'm going to spend some time evaluating hardware with what worked and didn't along with the several calamities that rocked my tank. Then it will be back to restoring my tank to its former glory ;Woot

 

[zoomonster]

I guess a good place to start is lighting. I had started with a Hamilton 6 ft with 4 T5's and 3x 250w halides. Worked really well with a few issues namely heat and power consumption. So I made the ill fated decision to go with 5 x Kessil A360WE. They worked ok and I was pretty happy with the setup until they started dying one by one despite doing my best to clean them. I was down to 3 and then 2 pretty much died at the same time. The one remaining light flickers like they all did at times. Of course when the first one died it was just past the warranty and I would say Kessil is absolutely useless when it comes to support. Never did get the one person in the US to answer the phone or an email. Its pretty safe to say the 360's have a life span of about 2-3 years and I'm not the only one who has experienced this. Needless to say I would not ever buy anything from Kessil again.

When the last two Kessils died I went back to my old Hamilton fixture which I fortunately kept despite trying to sell it at one point. Of course that brought back old issues but its been winter with cooler temps and I was running the MH's at reduced power.

I have been considering lights but was waiting for the usual money drains like property taxes, taxes etc. to pass. I was going to get Radion T4 Pro's but I was hesitant that something new had to be coming. Ecotech was pretty quiet about what was next and there was little other than speculation over the past couple years. The first I heard of the T5 was an email yesterday morning from LiveAquaria. Let me just say that obsessed my brain all day yesterday. I watched the BRS T5 videos yesterday and I was sold. I was really torn over the pro vs blue though. I do like to do a daily blue to whiter to bluer cycle and I was concerned the blue is just too blue with too few white leds. I guess my brain finally exploded about 11 last night and I pulled the trigger and ordered 3 T5 pros and 3 rms mounts from BRS. I think what helped move me along is that there is supposed to be a month or more delay between the first and second shipments.

Hopefully Ecotech has their act together and I won't regret being a first adopter. Their prices have always been a bit steep but the 5 stayed pretty much in line with the 4. $393.75 was definitely ridiculous for the 3 RMS mounts though. I guess the one functional item I'm not terribly fond of is they are only controllable via Moebius. Despite having a Ecotech main pump and several MP40's I have never used reeflink but rather the WXM module on my Apex. They are saying they will enable external wifi at some point but what that will do remains to be seen. People have controllers for a reason to provide one stop access and control to everything. Now all these vendors like Ecotech, Kessil and others are going their own way and making things incompatible with other systems.

Now the hard part... waiting a couple weeks for the lights to get here lol

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Do you have any before pics? So we can see how the after looks.

 

[zoomonster]

Do you have any before pics? So we can see how the after looks.

Yeah I'll start putting up some later this week. There's a lot of pics in this thread but I have a small RBTA problem now lol

 

[zoomonster]

"Hobbyist" aquarium hardware has always had a quality issue even when you dish the bucks for so called high end stuff and my tank was no exception.

Before I get into that there's really just a couple items that stand out as superb and that is the SRO XP3000int skimmer, its HY-3000S pump and the Ozotech Poseidon 200 ozone generator. The skimmer itself just works and works well with quality construction. The pump has been running for about 6 years 24x7 w/o issue. The ozone just works day in and day out w/o issue. If even have the stuff I have worked as well I'd be pretty happy.

 

[zoomonster]

Calcium reactor - GEO 618, Caribsea ARM Coarse media, AquariumPlants electronic regulator and 10g tank controlled by Apex PH probe. I also added a Nextreef ML1 inline for effluent with Caribsea ARM Coarse media. It cuts down on C02 getting into the tank.

The GEO 618 by itself is another quality piece that has worked well. The AquariumPlants controller works pretty well but has a couple shortcomings. Its biggest issue is the power connection which like a lot of devices is not very durable in its attachment to the circuit board. Sometimes I have to wiggle it to get it going but once I find the spot it does fine until it gets moved again. The other is the gauges where the chrome rings around the glass rust pretty bad. My only complaint with the GEO 618 is that it was designed for the Eheim junk pump which if your lucky maybe lasts a year before the impeller self destructs. I've gone through several pumps and numerous impellers.

 

[zoomonster]

Apex is truly a sore spot... I started out with Apex Gold, on this tank, which conveniently died about the time the new junky orange controller came out which I was forced to buy. I forget exactly when but that controller just smoked sometime in the past year and I bought just a new controller head. I stopped using the leak detection module long ago as the sensor just promptly corroded and went off constantly. I have a PM1 module that I use with a temp and PH probe for my calcium reactor that has been ok and the WXM module also works fine. I'm using an old and a new power bar. The best I can say is they work ok most of the time but have been prone to being flaky at times with considerable effort to getting them working properly again. Right now on the old bar an outlet just stopped working which I have not gotten around to resolving yet. Other than occasional calibration the probes have worked pretty well. I have a couple temp probes that were way off out of the box and bought a Hanna HI98509 Checktemp 1 to calibrate with. I also added the feeder about a year ago as I started working out of town a lot. Other than sounding like a can opener its done fine. I have their magnetic probe holder which is pretty nice and probably one of the better out there. I've been pretty happy with Fusion but it would be nice if they could get the hardware quality up to par. I've said it numerous times before but the support is mediocre at best with their don't call us we'll will call you attitude.

 

[zoomonster]

Ecotech... I won't comment on support since I never had to contact them.

MP40wQD's: Overpriced but good with a few exceptions. I clean the wet side periodically but I have had two fail. The interesting thing is when the second failed (hard lock) I tried the first one that failed and it started working again. Also on the wet side the struts are way to fragile and prone to breakage. They are also a PIA to get synced to the Apex WXM module when they lose it. Overall they work well and the low noise is truly welcome. It will be interesting to see if and when they work with Moebius.

Vectra M2 Pump: Great pump but I had to buy a second because the controller smoked. Unlike some other stuff I had die this controller actually got a tiny splash of water and smoked. Just beware that on all the Ecotech controllers they are not even remotely water resistant. Behind the dial on them is a big hole that leads straight to an exposed circuit board. I bought the whole new pump because I was in a bind but at least I have a brand new pump sitting in the box as backup. Although I have never had an issue with the pump itself. No WXM connection issues because I just set it and let it run. I can power it off/on through Apex which is all I need. This pump replaced my original Waveline DC6000 which worked great a few years and then died hard.

Radion XR30 G5 PRO: Anxiously awaiting its arrival in next couple weeks. Time will tell on those.

 

[zoomonster]

Ok now some misc items and some mistakes.

Kessil: Already talked about that junk of $2000+ mistake.
Heaters: Just gotta wonder why no one can make a quality heater and/or controller. That new one BRS is selling might be worth a try. I have gone through multiple tubes and had two Corallife controllers that all died. Right now just a Finnex 800w tube on Apex control. I actually like to have a controller that is controlled by Apex for redundancy but that hasn't worked too well.
Gyre: I had the original and it was $300 of junk that ended up in the garbage. Constantly broke down and wasted additional money on parts. It was a wonderful idea with poor execution and quality. I'm sure they have gotten better but not going there again.
Jebao: For the money (compared to Ecotech) not terrible but they periodically broke down and or power supplies died. Finally got tired of them and went to Ecotech some years ago.
BRS 5 stage water saver plus: Great unit but its aging with metal rusting and plastic showing UV damage. Its up for an overhaul next weekend plus new media. Maybe just a battery but the TD meter has stopped working.
Aquamedic KS-1000 Kalk mixer: Good unit with no problems just not using it at present.
Reef Octopus BR-1000ss Biopellet Reactor: It just works and not much else to say.
Precison Marine R36+ sump: Its held up well but if I had it to do again I would want something with a little thicker acrylic. It makes me nervous sometimes when the pump is off, water fills up and parts of it tend to bow.
Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155 Auto Top Off: Easily still the best unit with redundancy and fail safes but it has one issue like the one on the C02 controller. The plug receptacle on the unit is poorly attached to the circuit board and needs a wiggle after it gets moved to power up again.
Waveline DC6000: This was my first return pump, on this tank, and it worked great until it didn't. Don't remember the circumstance but it just stopped hard and not the impeller. There were several similar DC pumps, with controllers, around but by the time this one died they had all disappeared and for a similar pump not much choice other than Ecotech. Neptune may have had one at the time but that wasn't happening.

 

[zoomonster]

The trials and tribulations of fish:
I’m quite fond of my fish and some have come and gone. I’ve lost a couple to age and Ernie my Melanurus wrasse I have had since the beginning is on his last leg and looks to be nearly blind with what looks like cataracts. Overall pretty good luck other than the unfortunate jumpers and the angel purge. Wrasses are just too resourceful when it comes to getting out of the tank. My tank top is sealed pretty tight and it doesn’t happen often. Just recently my pintail wrasse (arrggh) managed to hit the little hole for my Apex feeder in the back of the tank. Looks like he came out there flopped across the top of the tank and landed in front of the tank where I found him days later petrified. I periodically get one in the overflow, which is difficult, and have to go to some effort to get them out. Recently my red velvet did that but managed, in a first, to get all the way to the sump in a filter sock. Just by chance I found him when changing socks. Just imagine my surprise when I emptied the sock in a bucket, and he flopped out. He was pretty beat up and looked like he had gotten a mouth full of bristle worms (I have the nasty little red ones) but alive and well today. My cleaner I have had forever jumped out and into my hand once when working on the tank. Wrasses are truly a favorite but truly a pain. I think the more they cost the better they jump.

The only real unexplained catastrophe was the angel purge. While everyone else in the tank remained ok every single angel in the tank died over a period of maybe a week. That was painful with a flame, flame back, multicolor, coral beauty, orange peel, potters, bicolor all gone in one fell swoop and none had any outward sign of sickness. The only plus was I got rid of the tank monster the coral beauty. I have replaced the flame, flame back, bicolor and multicolor. Had a potters that didn’t make it and the orange peel is hard to find. Overall they coexist quite well.

I’m down to no anthias. Last I had 3 female and 1 male tierra’s that slowly got picked off by something. Never quite figured that out but suspected a large serpent star.

One of my original pair of true perculas is still alive and when I got a “pair” of black snowflakes the percula and one of the blacks hooked up and shunned the other. They are truly in heaven considering my tank is overrun with RBTA’s (100+) but that’s another issue to be dealt with.

What I have today is
Angels: flame, african flame back, bicolor and multicolor
Clowns: true percula, 2x black snowflake
Tangs: Purple, Powder blue
Wrasses: cleaner, six line, red velvet wrasse, lubbocks multicolor, melanurus, yellow coris
Misc: Purple pseudo, royal gramma, harlequin bass.

One of these days I will get another potters angel and some more anthias. Most people shun harlequins but he is one of the coolest fish in the tank who leaves everyone and everything alone. Only about 4” but maybe one day as he gets to large or eats anyone, I will have to adopt him out.

 

[zoomonster]

Ok I take this back "$393.75 was definitely ridiculous for the 3 RMS mounts though". Apparently Ecotech decided to drop the prices and our good friends over at BRS were right on it and refunded $81.9 @ $27.30 less per unit. And that's why I mostly shop at BRS. Now they just need to drop the price on the G5 lol

 

[zoomonster]

Here's a little peek. As you can see I have a mushroom and RBTA problem that's finally gonna get remedied. and that's just one side of the tank lol.

 

[zoomonster]

The middle

 

[zoomonster]

This is the remodel starting point. These RBTA's are available in the Orlando area for trade in the selling forum.

 

[zoomonster]

Next weekend the Hamilton fixture goes along with the couple Kessil goosenecks I left in place to block holes so those PIA wrasses don't make the leap. That's all assuming the Radions show up next week.

Most if not all the RBTA's are going either by trade or scissor along with those brown/blue shrooms. The shrooms don't look to bad but they are just too prolific. Going to, at least temporarily, open up the center section and remove all that rock. That will allow some major cleaning and open sand. Eventually I think I'm going to buy some larger, more shapely rock pieces for that section.

I've still got some little 8+ orange/green shrooms, 3 green Yuma, 12 assorted FL ricordia, some green palys that are staying. I have starting collecting some new items too.
Online
large orange/pink wall hammer
Florida frag swap in lakeland
Big rock mixed common zoas
Duncan frag
5 assorted common zoanthid frags
Chalice frag
Purple & green branching hammer frag
WWC ebay auction
Jason Fox Toro Bravo favites
Kedds reds, metallic pink, sour blowpop, sweet and sour, mini reds, peacock pinks, vivids rainbows, scramble eggs, yellow submarine, rastas, blue hornets.

This time around leaning a little more mixed with LPS, zoanthids, shrooms, some sps and as always heavy on the fish.

 

[zoomonster]

Well just minding my business today working on tank and somehow or another ended up at the ASD presale 40% off. Needless to say they parted me with a chunk of change for a nuclear torch, 3 ricordias, 3 sticks and a branching GSP. Going light on SPS this time (well maybe) but picked up a pc rainbow, red robin and a jesus acro.

At least I got the tank cleaned, the skimmer cleaned, the RODI cleaned with new filters and 50g of salt water sitting for a water change tomorrow.

 

[zoomonster]

Looks like my G5 lights are coming tomorrow UPS ground. While I can appreciate BRS getting the stuff out quickly I did ask for Friday delivery and they dropped the ball. Not so much as a shipping notification from BRS and order shows "processing". Only notice was a "you have a package coming tomorrow" email from UPS today. I was considering rescheduling delivery via UPS but I guess I will drive home tomorrow night (new toys got the best of me). I work/stay out of town most of the week so I can't have a $2900 package sitting on the front porch attracting porch pirates. So I expect the tank will be sporting new lights tomorrow night if all goes well.

 

[zoomonster]

After some confusion on what shipped when my G5 Pro’s arrived Friday. They all got quickly tested then the Hamilton fixture got ripped off the tank. Needless to say with 7 plugs I recovered some Apex power bar space. I did have limited time so I have not yet figured out how I will ultimately route the wiring. The thought there is where I’m going to stash the 3 large power supplies. Brackets would have been a nice touch. In fairly short order the lights were up and running on the tank and quite pleased overall with a few caveats.

As far as the lights go, they exceeded expectations. The colors, spread and power are great. The shimmer is very subtle and less than halide or IMO just right with no disco. Shadowing is almost nonexistent, and I will go out on a limb and say the coverage/light spread is better than MH’s and T5’s I had. In any case the tank looks far better. The moonlights are phenomenal with of course full phase programming. Very nice shimmer and visual effect that is very realistic and reminiscent of a night dive. I do like that the “smart” fans don’t run all the time (if enabled). I did hear them run briefly and not exactly silent. The lights themselves get a resounding 5 stars.

My biggest complaint is the RMS arms. I thought these were a new and improved version released with the G5 but no they are the old complete G4 kit and 3 adapter kits for the G5. The main issue is the clamp does not work very well and they lean forward. I have a 200g DSA with a pretty standard rimmed top and they just don’t work well. Pretty sure I can resolve the problem with some rubber inserts on the wet side but ridiculous for a product that is already overpriced. And yes, per the instructions I have the wet side spacer in place and the rubber gasket on the outside. Of course, those adhesive rubber gaskets are so old the adhesive comes off with the backing paper if not careful. On a rimmed tank with ~1/2” glass the tightening screw just comes flush with the front of the mount. Anything larger and I would have to think these don’t work.

Moebius I guess gets the job done but really still pretty bare bones. I had a little trouble on setup with Bluetooth errors (right next to the lights), but I finally got everything setup. I like the profiles and used AB+ for now. It took a few tries to get it going because you have to do things in a certain sequence. I did finally get AB+ running 9am-10pm but there are some things I want to tweak that I have not figured out yet. Mostly I want to reduce power and color to bluer over the last few hours of the night vs. the maybe 30m sunset you get by default. I enjoy the more black light look for viewing in the evening. They do have a template something like color pop that’s pretty good. Haven’t figured out if you can run more than one template yet. That unlabeled graph thing they have for tweaking the program really needs some work and of course would be simpler if not limited to a cell phone only.

 

[zoomonster]

New G5's happening and really like them. Still working on cleaning up wiring and hardware in general.

 

[zoomonster]

I got the stuff from AquaSD last week and as usual pretty nice with mature encrusted large frags. The PC Rainbow was DOA though and they refunded it. A shame as it was a very nice sized frag. Pretty happy with the Ricordia to with 3 very nice color variations. The 3 headed torch is pretty decent but not quite the color I thought it was. The freebie was a two headed Duncan frag. I've always had good luck with AquaSD and will continue to get stuff from them. Their prices have gotten a little bit much but better than most. My only complaint with AquaSD is no matter how much you spend shipping is an additional $40. Its a shame most of the Orlando places have gotten so out of hand with ridiculous prices and microscopic fresh cut frags and I end up shopping online most of the time.