Problem Solved

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Redfish
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Posts: 983
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:49 am
My SetUp: AGA 150g 48x30x25, Reef Octopus Skimmer, Bio Pellet, Phosphate, Carbon reactor. Mostly a SPS coral tank with a few zoas a Green Polyp Toadstool, a Chalice or two and a couple of Scollys thrown in there. Top Off System and dosing pump system for Calcium and Alk.
Location: D'Iberville Mississippi

Problem Solved

Post by Redfish » Sat Aug 03, 2013 6:18 am

Well, Gerwin & Roger stopped by the house last night to try to figure out what was going on in the abomanation that I call a Saltwater tank. I was on the verge of taking down the tank and starting over, every coral I put in the tank for the most part was dead within a few weeks, algae was running rampant on my live rock. To say that I was at my wits end with my tank would be an understatement. With in 5 min. of looking at the tank, they had figured it out, heat, I had a heat problem in my tank and lots of it. The water in my tank when they got to the house was at 91 degrees. I have been for the most part, cooking all of the corals that went into my tank, between the LED lighting and the hot water, I had algae growing farm going on in my system. So, what kind of record ineptness had I risen to when it comes to my tank that had caused all of these problem, cost me, who knows how many $$$ in nice corals that I had put into the tank, and maybe a fish or two. Disclaimer: I may get some of this wrong, but for the most part I think I am right. I have a Apex Controller set up on my tank, not much on it, just the return pump from the sump to the tank, the pump that feeds my manifold system and my heater. The heater was set up on one the Apex power outlets, it was set up to turn the heater on at a set temperature and set to go off if the temperature rises to high. This system works really good as long as you have the, here it comes, wait for it, wait for it :lol: you have the heater plugged into that power outlet. Let's say that you have another power outlet on your Apex that has power to that outlet 27/7 that never shuts off, and lets say you some how while moving things around, you plug your heater probe into that outlet instead of the outlet that had been set up to control your heater, you would have a heater probe set up on your system, that would never shut off :( This is the wife's I told you so moment :lol: she really took me to the wood shed for this :roll: She had felt the water in the tank before and told me it was to hot, I never thought much about it because the Apex was showing the temperature in the tank at 87, but it was really at 90 + So, what does all of this mean for me and my tank, Gerwin & Roger have my heater set up right and I shouldn't be cooking anymore corals, they recommended getting a couple of Urchins to take care of the Algae problem that is going on in the tank, which will be bought today. The bottom line is, I have lost a years worth of SPS coral growing time in my tank that I will never get back, because of cooking my corals, a year that, at my age, I can't spare :lol: but hopefully we are on the right track now and things can only get better. Anyone want to buy a used Apex :wink: To Gerwin & Roger,,, many thanks for coming over to the house last night after you had put in a full day at work and solving my tank problems, can't express how much I appreciate you both taking the time to do this.

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bluwtr
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Posts: 637
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:12 pm
My SetUp: 55g, 70#'s lr, 40#'s ls, 10 DIY acrylic sump, in sump skimmer, 1 Jebao wp20 and 2 Koralia 1050 controlled by a Smart Wave, DIY LED's--12 RB, 10 UV's and 8 CW.
Location: Gautier
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Re: Problem Solved

Post by bluwtr » Sat Aug 03, 2013 10:56 am

Pete, of all of the things that we've discussed and thought of and scratched our heads over, I never in million years would have thought of the tank temp. I just ran with the assumption that is was fine. It just goes to show that the littlest things could be the most significant. Hope this gets you on the right track my friend and it is awesome to know that our LFS guys are such a big help anytime. Thumbs up the G-man and the Rog.

Best of luck Pete and keep us posted.

Shadow1
Discus Member
Posts: 257
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2011 1:59 pm
My SetUp: 300DD Reef, 30 Nuvo Breeding Clowns, 30 QT/Grow out.
Location: Hattiesburg, MS

Re: Problem Solved

Post by Shadow1 » Sat Aug 03, 2013 7:43 pm

I bought a digital thermometer that can be calibrated with ice water. Check temp about very 3 weeks or so. Pete glad to know you got to the bottom of your problem, you ought to be real good at keeping everything stable now.

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Sandy
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Posts: 772
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:25 am
My SetUp: 180gal saltwater reef, 6-80watt T5 lights, 2 powerheads in tank, 2 return pumps in a 40gal sump, uv sterilizer, gfo and carbon reactor.

Re: Problem Solved

Post by Sandy » Sat Aug 03, 2013 9:50 pm

:wtf: Dang Pete!

Now with THAT being said,,,, you boys can keep all your fancy, smancy, controlie, gadget thingies..... Me, well I am just gonna stick with my FREAK OF NATURE tank (name dubbed by Roger) plain and simple. Raglar plugs, splash of fuel here and there, don't even remember the last time I checked prams, dip the stick if it ain't pink we're good to go, feed the fish when I remember, do a water change once in a BLUE moon (those only come around about 4 times a year, right???) and MEH,,,, looks good to me. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Well I am glad they figured it out for you. Sometimes we try SO hard and over think things SO much that it just takes a fresh pair of eyes to find the answer.

NOW Pete,,, no excuses,,, we expect a kick ass tank full of beautiful corals. Getter done!!! :mrgreen:

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bluwtr
Discus Member
Posts: 637
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:12 pm
My SetUp: 55g, 70#'s lr, 40#'s ls, 10 DIY acrylic sump, in sump skimmer, 1 Jebao wp20 and 2 Koralia 1050 controlled by a Smart Wave, DIY LED's--12 RB, 10 UV's and 8 CW.
Location: Gautier
Contact:

Re: Problem Solved

Post by bluwtr » Mon Aug 05, 2013 12:41 pm

Good points Sandy!!! :thumbup:

Now, Pete, how CHEAP for said used Apex?!?! :lol: :roll:

Redfish
Discus Member
Posts: 983
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:49 am
My SetUp: AGA 150g 48x30x25, Reef Octopus Skimmer, Bio Pellet, Phosphate, Carbon reactor. Mostly a SPS coral tank with a few zoas a Green Polyp Toadstool, a Chalice or two and a couple of Scollys thrown in there. Top Off System and dosing pump system for Calcium and Alk.
Location: D'Iberville Mississippi

Re: Problem Solved

Post by Redfish » Mon Aug 05, 2013 7:18 pm

Its not for sale :) I just need to learn how to use the thing.

Scott Allen
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Re: Problem Solved

Post by Scott Allen » Tue Aug 06, 2013 10:35 am

Glad you found a fix! Did you not have a temp on the tank from the apex? Telling you that it was high? Where is the display mounted?

Redfish
Discus Member
Posts: 983
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:49 am
My SetUp: AGA 150g 48x30x25, Reef Octopus Skimmer, Bio Pellet, Phosphate, Carbon reactor. Mostly a SPS coral tank with a few zoas a Green Polyp Toadstool, a Chalice or two and a couple of Scollys thrown in there. Top Off System and dosing pump system for Calcium and Alk.
Location: D'Iberville Mississippi

Re: Problem Solved

Post by Redfish » Tue Aug 06, 2013 7:57 pm

This is the part I don't understand Scott, should have figured you would catch this :lol: keep in mind the heater probe was plugged into the wrong outlet on the power bar, am sure that this might have something to do with this. The display screen was showing the temp in the tank at 87, that's the reason I thought I was good on the temp in the tank, the temp in the tank was actually at 91 though. After G plugged the heater probe into the right outlet on the power strip, it took awhile, but the temp started to come down. He force fed the Apex Temp probe the cooler water by putting water and ice in a glass and then inserting the Apex temp probe in the glass. Bert was off Monday she looked at the Apex screen every half hour, the highest it got was 78.9 at 4:25 pm Its all good now, but I was kinda wondering why the Apex Screen was showing the 87 when it really was 91. I was thinking :roll: that even though the heater probe was plugged into the wrong outlet, the Apex Temp probe should have showed the correct temp in the tank, and it wasn't, its over my head.

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Gerwin
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Re: Problem Solved

Post by Gerwin » Tue Aug 06, 2013 9:18 pm

Just a quick note
1. Figure there is error in both the apex temp probe and laser therm. I used so take the a g of the two. Figure about 89.

2. I would still consider 87.6 to be outside the acceptable high anyway. I'm not sure who or what has led you to believe this would be a normal operating temp for reef or fish tank.

3. The heater plug was set to manual override "on" position and not auto. That's way return pump still operated even though it was plugged into temp socket.

Now we move forward and create a beautiful reef tank :-)

Scott Allen
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Re: Problem Solved

Post by Scott Allen » Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:36 pm

Just because Gerwin didn't say it.. You goal temp is under 80. Over 80 and I start adding fans or looking for gear that's causing too much heat.

Redfish
Discus Member
Posts: 983
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:49 am
My SetUp: AGA 150g 48x30x25, Reef Octopus Skimmer, Bio Pellet, Phosphate, Carbon reactor. Mostly a SPS coral tank with a few zoas a Green Polyp Toadstool, a Chalice or two and a couple of Scollys thrown in there. Top Off System and dosing pump system for Calcium and Alk.
Location: D'Iberville Mississippi

Re: Problem Solved

Post by Redfish » Wed Aug 07, 2013 11:20 pm

We seem to have the problem solved now, I want to get some more corals started again :)

Shadow1
Discus Member
Posts: 257
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2011 1:59 pm
My SetUp: 300DD Reef, 30 Nuvo Breeding Clowns, 30 QT/Grow out.
Location: Hattiesburg, MS

Re: Problem Solved

Post by Shadow1 » Thu Aug 08, 2013 2:00 pm

Pete,

We have some folks coming up Sunday about 1 PM want to come up I have a couple pieces I've been saving for you.

captbenjy
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Re: Problem Solved

Post by captbenjy » Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:17 pm

I was wondering what you did different to start getting things going right. Saw you mention it was doing better on BRk but didn't know what was different. Glad you got the temp figured out.

Redfish
Discus Member
Posts: 983
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:49 am
My SetUp: AGA 150g 48x30x25, Reef Octopus Skimmer, Bio Pellet, Phosphate, Carbon reactor. Mostly a SPS coral tank with a few zoas a Green Polyp Toadstool, a Chalice or two and a couple of Scollys thrown in there. Top Off System and dosing pump system for Calcium and Alk.
Location: D'Iberville Mississippi

Re: Problem Solved

Post by Redfish » Sat Aug 24, 2013 6:32 am

Tank is doing great, sps corlas are growing, life is good :)

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