Check this out if you're bored :)

http://blog.lithicimages.com/?p=271

WOW! awesome!!!

I am having issues with my 220v breaker kicking out and leaving my circulation pumps off. Problem is I don't know if it's a faulty GFCI breaker or the Abyzz pumps malfunctioning. And currently it's completely random. Any ideas on how I can test for either specifically? I have an electrician coming in to check the breaker and the load on the circuit.

First off, I just read through this entire thread and WOW! amazing set up, as for your pump breaker question, I am an electrician and here are my thoughts.

A clamp type electrical meter is the easiest way to see if the pump is locking up and causing the circuit to overload, in these situations it is often best to let the qualified professional take a look at it.

I do wonder why did you choose to GFCI protect it? Canadian Electrical Code does NOT require that outlet to be GFCI protected, often people make the assumption that because there is water near by we need the GFCI but in cases like this one the GFCI can just lead to added headaches if they trip and things stop running properly. It is a similar situation to Sump Pumps for basements, yes there is water involved, but we do not want that pump to stop running because there is water nearby.

My recommendation would be to have a regular 2pole breaker installed, this will eliminate the problem of nuisance tripping of the GFCI and if it is an overload situation the new breaker will still trip properly.

Hopefully the pump is not shot.

Thanks Wildechild! The electrician that installed the 220v breaker is coming in tomorrow after work to check it out. I always assumed water = GFCI so I used a GFCI breaker. I think Jon will be bringing a common 2 pole breaker with him when he comes over. That seems like the simplest of fixes. Question, how would we test if it was indeed the pumps causing the issue, not the breaker?

Your electrician will hopefully have a meter he can clamp over wires in the panel to see how much current the pump is drawing. If the pump is the issue the new breaker will still trip when it tries to pull too much power. My gut feeling would be that it is a GFCI issue but without physically looking hard to know. Have your electrician check the connections in the box behind the receptacle as well as make sure all the connections are nice and tight at breakers as well as they can start to come loose over time and that can cause issues too.


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Ok so Jon checked it out and I had 1.2A on one side and 1.3A on the other. He said that wasn't leakage but that the two poles weren't sharing the load equally. He couldn't say why that was but he felt that it wasn't the VFD's from the pumps causing an issue. But the difference was enough to be tripping the GFCI. Why it only recently started, who knows. So we pulled the expensive GFCI breaker out and slapped a 2 pole in and so far so good *knock on computer*.

Yeah that's definitely enough to trip it. Really any motor can nuisance trip a gfci. My guess would be problem solved.


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Here's hoping :)

I am also looking into adding some T5's onto my lighting rig. Probably 8x36" to get full coverage in two bulbs. Level out the lighting and get rid of some of the darker spots. A little more pop with some of the T5 bulb combos. I have IceCap 660 ballasts, standoffs and individual reflectors that I am going to repurpose and add on to my aluminum frame.

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Mitras x 3
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Ok update time. I'm still having a time balancing out the vibrance of the LED's and the blue/purple. Any suggestions are welcome!

RR UOP. Trust me, I'm not trying to make the raised coralites glow like that. They are a very nice blue but the LED's are raising hell with my camera sensor.
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-7xRGcL4-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-C45T4h8-L.jpg

DV aurora
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-cg75JmN-L.jpg

IA Cobalt
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-2qTdtjt-L.jpg

IA stag
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-632qBL5-L.jpg

RR Blue Matrix still taking it's sweet time to colour up.
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-9JLLXSL-L.jpg

DV pokerstar
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-JX7NwZR-L.jpg

DV acro
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-TTPdmbD-L.jpg

DV Mystic
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-wGMNzBt-L.jpg

A nice setosa
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-sPQGsxX-L.jpg

RR Wolverine colouring up nicely
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-jHzdpjf-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-sRThtbk-L.jpg

Tyree space invaders has come a long way :)

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-2V29WDv-M.jpg http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-WbKJ9Xp-M.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-WRhwh8k-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-Zj9WBrf-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-nxppNQf-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-KwVGD7Q-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-gbbL84j-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-zGq83vz-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-P24qMmk-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-B5CpKC4-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-mR2BMSL-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-35wLnmX-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-3sZgLhc-L.jpg

great looking space invader , I would really love to have that coral. Maybe one day. Some very nice corals and its always nice to see zoa's grown out instead of just on plugs .

Yeah I don't even know where the plug is under all that :)

Very nice! Love that Zoa garden!

Some new sticks! Thanks Coral Master :)

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-BHgKmDC-L.jpg

Was the water temp ok when they arrived? They look stressed - I swear they had great color when I packed them. Although that said, at least in theory, they should look better under the aquarium lighting.

Haahaa and here I thought they looked great! Honestly, the pictures aren't doing them justice. The tissue on the blue tipped tenuis looked a little rough but the rest looked ok to my layman's eye.

Water temp was cold. About 55f.

layman's eye? lol

I'm suggesting I am the simpleton someone who is more familiar with SPS would have to dumb down their explanation of SPS care to :) I could have went with inexperienced, would have worked better.

That is pretty cold - I debated about adding another heat pack - I guess I should have added it.

Very Nice!!!!!!

Wow looks great Scott, much more established than I expected.

looking really nice! that asterina's got some nerve though...

Thanks everyone :) Yep, it's trying to steal the spotlight from the fish and corals. I have another 11 sticks to put up into the rocks but I am waiting for them acclimate a little more. I will move them half way up the tank tonight and then affix them to the rocks on the weekend. That should be enough time for them to get used to the light hopefully.

I'd love everyones opinions on where they'd put some key SPS in my tank. I have a green Dragon, Red planet, a couple nice hairy milli's (a blue and a peach), a blue stag and a tort. A couple more but you can see them on the previous page sitting in a pail.

All opinions welcome!

Red Planet
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-RWn2LmQ-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-knFSMKR-L.jpg

Glowstick sarmentosa
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-TnK4DhW-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-q8PD9Mb-L.jpg

Pink lemonade
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-29gwhgq-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-t35R2HP-L.jpg

Wolverine
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-pXvLTwz-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-ffZvTw4-L.jpg

setosa
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-X9VqXMD-L.jpg

UOP (still can't get a good picture of this one)
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-7HmRN2K-L.jpg

Nice tort
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-wwLSBgH-L.jpg

A nice shaggy mille
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-kJf3c7c-L.jpg

Nice blue polyp tenuis
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-7SrDnZ6-L.jpg

And the space invaders
http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-2qjq6Tx-L.jpg

Love the space invaders, so intense in colour.... Also sps encrusting nicely and coloured up. Thanks for sharing and Keep up the good work!

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-MSD27bb-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-hMnS42T-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-R9D8sRv-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-9tK7Lkt-L.jpg

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-mCg5k6C-L.jpg

Incredible pictures. I think the blue polyp sps second from the bottom is austera but I could be wrong.

You very well could be right?! I am just going off what Greg (aka Coral Master) said it was :)

Scott you may have gotten the bags mixed up after the fact unless I wrote the wrong thing on the wrong bag which is also a possibility. (Sometimes my eyes get blurry when doing multiple orders) :redface: When I saw your picture I thought - hey that looks like one of my blue polyp frags. The tenuis bag should have said blue tip tenuis. It looks great none the less. The red planet looks good too.
All your stuff is looking great!!

It said "blue tip tenuis" on the bag and I believe it even said freebie. I have a picture I can post :)

I'll take your word for it - I must have been asleep at the wheel. Nice bonus frag either way! :biggrin:

http://www.lithicimages.com/photos/i...-CTCPCf7-L.jpg

:)

If it's not a tenuis, what is it? I like to keep records of what I have.