The LAST big upgrade

[mseepman]

Good to here! Always really liked this build.

[michika]

Ok so a bit of a recap I suppose is required.

I took down my 180g grow out system. I've been slowly re-homing fish. I pretty much gave all but one tang away to temporary homes. I'm slowly working on packing it up and getting it out of the house for sale.

When the 180g came down we found some near-fails. This is one of my check valves. The inner o-ring was nearly corroded through, the valve could not make an appropriate seal. Scary thing is that I checked all the o-rings and plumbing not even 2 months prior!




Then I took Tony's old 90g (man this thing really gets around), and set it up for my tang and long-spine urchin.





I set up the RKE, and am waiting for the new SL2 module to be released. I'm 98% sure there is something wrong with the calibration of my pH probe. I've cleaned and calibrated it twice now, but maybe the 3rd time will be the charm. If not, new probe time.


Because I've been enamoured with LEDs for ages now, I'm actually starting to experiment. On the 90g I've put in 3 strips of Cool White Phillips LEDs (waterproof/water resistant fixtures) that I'm so far not minding. Granted I don't have enough PAR (probably) to keep any LPS or SPS, I'm finding that working with LEDs isn't like T5s or MHs.

[mseepman]

Glad to see the update. Interesting to hear about the check valve...those have always worried me on tanks. On the LED side of things...they can actually be a bit of fun to experiment with...but you'll eventually want to move towards more reef oriented versions.

[gregzz4]

I don't have the NET module, but I'd be curious to see what pH reading you get when the system is unplugged from your PC
Everytime I plug mine in, I have to wait awhile for the pH to read correctly
It starts off high like yours, then slowly comes down

[michika]

Sadly, it seems to be getting worse. I'm going to try and re-calibrate it tonight because its driving me nuts to see it at 8.4+.




One of my favourite things about MHs is the infamous "shimmer", and really what I'm hoping for from these LEDs is to a) light my tank for my tang, and b) decide if I can live without my "shimmer". Plus, they were f-r-e-e so its kind of hard to say no. I'm looking at "reef appropriate" lighting right now, but the price is such a downer.

The price of new reef equipment has definitely gone up in the last few years. What bothers me is that it seems that a lot of stuff has become more high-tech, or high priced, but it seems like being more energy efficient has fallen off the wagon. To me Tibet is a long term investment with a daily ongoing maintenance cost, and things like energy efficiency is really important for me. Sorry, rant of frustration there.

[molotov]

Back in early 2009 you said you were going to have a salt party. Are you still gonna have a salt party? I could bring some live rock

[gregzz4]

What pH reading do you get on the head unit when it's NOT plugged into your PC ?

[mseepman]

Catherine I agree with you that efficiency is critical, especially when you look at lighting. LED is the way to go in regards to energy. As for cost, there are a lot of alternatives. I know there are fans of Aquastyle LED's on here...they can be reasonable. I think the multi chip leads from some eBay vendors can be amazing as well.

Keep looking...plus LED will give you your shimmer.

[claymax]

and dont rule out diy, modular led kits are probably the easiest to to assemble, and they're local.