Christi's 85 gallon reef

Discussion in 'New Tank Builds' started by LJC6780, Apr 9, 2017.

  1. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Finished hooking everything up except for the lights and doser today. I'm currently using the lights on the temporary housing so those will be added later.

    Got water in the tank!!! It's just tap water and vinegar while I get everything cleaned up. Then I'll drain all of that and fill with RODI and salt. Probably going to let this run a day or two while I work out the kinks and let it clean out everything really well. Really not sure how to use the skimmer so I'll have to read up on that. The little cup fills up with water and I turn the valve to empty it and it fills again. I opened it partially so it stays drained at a steady level but not sure if that's what it's supposed to do or not. I also can't figure out the gyre connection. It's plugged into the power outlet but the power light isn't on. Then if I jiggle the cord connected to the apex and pop it out some it will come on. But the status light stays red and the gyre won't come on. I'm going to have to check out the manual on this one. But there is water in the tank!
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  2. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Aaaand after watching a quick video I think I hooked up the wrong cord! That must be the cord for the lights.
     
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  3. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Nope. Apparently I was just messing with the programs and not the actual plug. I finally got it working. Erg. Also added the MP10 to the other side and put in some bogus program so I can get as much funk kicked up and cycled through the socks and skimmer. Programming these guys is going to be fun!
     
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  4. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    What are you using to control your MP10? Reeflink or just the driver itself? I like Nutrient Transport Mode to get detritus in suspension!

    http://ecotechmarine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/FULLMANUAL_Revision1.32.pdf

    This is a link to the MP10 manual. Look at page 18 to use different programs...pretty easy. If you have more than one look on page 14 to set up Master/Slave relationships. This allows you to have them pump opposite of each other to make for random flow (which corals love)
     
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  5. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Actually I think it's talking to the apex somehow. Either that or it's just an outlet thing but I THINK it's controlling it. It was already setup and I just modified it. The reason I think it's controlling it is that there are two settings for vortech. One on the outlet and the other on the program (or whatever it's called). I set it up to do sort of a random program and then be off during feed and was testing it last night and when I hit feed the light would go off and when I cancelled the feed it came back on. I'll have to do more research though. It would have to be some sort of wireless connection because it's only plugged into the outlet. I'm so new at all this! Still figuring it out.
     
  6. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Well I just got super nervous! We are. Or home and I tried to log onto fusion to check on the tank and it's not online. I was messing with everything earlier to try to get the dang foscam camera to work with my router and I just can't figure it out. (Works fine internally but not externally) anyway, before we left I noticed the pump was sucking a bit of air (that was a lot of evap for one day without even being heated!) so I topped it off a bit and lowered one of the baffles so it would be more even. And now I'm worried that I've got something setup incorrectly for being offline. At least it's not full of livestock yet I guess.
     
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  7. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    If you have some instability in your internet connection you can have that happen. Try resetting Apex. Go to your display and push the middle button...between the four arrows pointing left/right/up/down. Toggle down to "system" and hit the middle button. Toggle down to "net setup" and hit the midde button. Then go to DCHP and turn off and then back on. Then go up one to "Restart" and hit the middle button. Everything will shut off for a few seconds and the temp display will go down real low and work back up to normal in a few seconds.

    So you program the MP10 through Fusion? You would have to have either a Reeflink to do that I think. There is a breakout box that lets you control MP10's through Apex but I don't think that goes through fusion. Do you have something that looks like this?

    [​IMG]
     
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  8. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Nope, I don't think so. I do have 3 different apex add ons but I'm honestly not sure what all is what yet, other than the gyre/lights one. (Just because I've been messing with it!) I will have to look closer tomorrow but I'm like 99% sure the apex is actually controlling it and it's not just on. Maybe I'll pull it close to the surface and see if I can tell better if it's following the program.

    So this foscam camera is driving me nuts! We have an att Pace router and I can't figure out how to set up a stinking external IP for it. I've tried following all of the instructions but they aren't for my router and they look different or the settings just aren't there! I spent hours today trying to get them setup! I'm thinking about ditching them and just getting something else! And when I realized the apex was offline I thought I'd screwed something up today so I switched back the couple things I changed on the cameras hoping that would work. I then rebooted the router then the apex. And even though I knew I was rebooting, it's such a sinking feeling for this working machine to just suddenly go off! Totally caught me off guard. Not sure what I thought was going to happen though! o_O

    Here is the program for the vortech.
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    It's just something to play with the settings while the tank is free of critters. I ramped the gyre up too so I'm curious to see how much movement I would get directly across from each other. I do well with specific instruction but I also do well with just figuring things out... so I've just been playing with settings and watching videos and trying it out then modifying it all! Hopefully I'll be an apex pro before too long!

    There is one thing though, that I haven't figured out. There are 4 switches for 2 lights. 2 named kessil360 then kessil color and kessil intensity (or something along those lines. The 360 s are. Otha pointed to the power strip, this makes sense. The other two are pointed to something that doesn't exist unless it's to the add on (I'm really not sure how everything is labeled) but those are the programs. I also see nothing that ties the program in and tells it where and how to work... anyway, to the manual I go! At least I'm back online!
    Here's the cabinet if you can tell anything about the apex..
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    Last edited: Apr 15, 2017
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  9. huntindoc

    huntindoc RRMAS BOD Membership Director Staff Member

    Yes you have the breakout box for Apex to control your MP pumps. Just click on the little gear looking icon to make changes. That may be easier to use than the Echotech system.
     
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  10. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Ok so that would explain why I can't set the gyre up the same way with the "vortech" setting. I've been looking at that trying to change it this morning and not being able to figure it out. Good to know! lol I was going to see if I could set them up opposite pulse so maybe they would wave. And I'm sure I could but it just won't be as easy. And really, I'm still just playing with it to see what it can do without messing anything up!

    Oh and I think my problem was the netgear thing last night. It had orange lights and once I reset that and got it showing all green the apex logged right on. I may have to move the netgear box to the outside of the cabinet to ensure a good signal.

    So tell me your thoughts on this idea. We have a Wink wireless control system that controls some lights in the house. I was thinking about maybe getting a controllable outlet to plug the netgear into so that if this happens again I can reset the outlet, resetting the netgear, and hopefully allowing the apex to reconnect. Or even connecting the apex and the netgear invade they both need to be rebooted remotely. Would this be a problem?
     
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  11. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Oh and maybe you can answer this too.. there is a "gyre flow" and "gyre speed" setting. What is the difference? Is it not just an on and off type thing? Can the flow be different than the speed? They are both just listed with the graph over time with percentages.. I'm not understanding which one I should set or both and how they work together.. (or how they differ!)
     
  12. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Another question. I decided to fill the ATO reservoir and test all of that today. I turned on the AutoTop command and it was connected to the ORP probe to come on if high or something.. but it's an outlet. So the Tunze unit will not even come on unless the probe reads a certain level. Which means that even if the water level is low, it won't fill because it's not on. This doesn't make any sense to me. Shouldn't the outlet/unit be on all the time? And go off of water level? Because ORP is NOT salinity, right? It has something to do with the oxidizers in the tank? (I tried reading up on it and it gets pretty technical!) so why would that be controlling the water level coming on or off?! Instead I've just set the outlet to be constant on. Or I can set it to have a fallback if necessary... do you think it's necessary?
     
  13. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    So I worked on getting the water change station up and running today so I can start making water so I can finally get this tank drained, set and filled for real! It's going to be flip flopped from how it was so I had to do a little minor construction. Then I got distracted.. (hey look! There's a castle!) anyway. Now to figure out how to install a junction in the out line off the whole home POE water filter that I can run the RODI off of. I'm pretty handy if I can just find the right pieces! I at least got the stand/bench moved into place. Tomorrow I'll work on the plumbing for the brute cans. As is they both have leaky silicone seals.

    What do y'all use for seals on the brute cans around a nozzle? This is how they were, and I plan to use the same set up as the large one fills with RODI water and then a pump sends it over to the small bin where it's mixed with salt. Either can be drained out through the bench into a bucket placed underneath. There is also a float valve on the rodi can.

    I am needing to plumb the small line from the rodi unit into a piece of pex coming off the filter into the house.

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  14. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    I'm FINALLY filling the tank! I started yesterday but since I don't have my brute cans plumbed correctly yet, it's been a slow process taking bucket after bucket. I guess the waiting on the RODI water is the hardest part! I'm just mixing the salt in the tank. I'm also going to do water changes on all of the temporary housing and add that water. I've got the heater in too so once temp gets up and salinity is right I'll add some of the rocks and work on getting all systems up and running.
     
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  15. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Water and some rocks are in! I figured I better put some rocks in before it got totally full to allow for water displacement!

    Salinity and ph are good. Temp is good. I'm cycling the water down to the sump with a tube then pumping it back in with the sump pump to keep temp up.

    I guess I'll add sand at a later date ... if I do. I keep waffling back and forth. I really have enjoyed the temporary housing with the bare bottom tanks, but I also want everything to be happy and if I need sand then I'll add it. Might have to just add a little at a time and go with rinsed rather than live.
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    If parameters are ok can I add the rocks with attached corals today too or is there a high possibility I will hve a cycle and kill them? I've noticed a few have already receded and died off some and it makes me sad. I wish I had been able to get this all back together faster!

    I'm going to add some bacteria here in a minute too. Hopefully that will help!
     
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  16. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Playing with some rocks. Some are ones that came with the tank that didn't have attached corals and some have been brewing in a heated, circulated bucket in the garage. I've got the GFO going for phosphate removal (from rocks) and the skimmer for aeration since I'm putting the water in pretty quickly after being mixed.

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  17. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Water is in!!! It could probably use just a few more gallons so I can raise the grate in the sump a hair but it's at least circulating itself now!

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  18. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Ok so I just tested everything and parameters seem to be in check! I'm going to start moving rocks with corals over so I can see about getting the rock scape looking right.
     
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  19. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    Ok I've moved the coral rocks (except for a couple small ones) and played with the rock scape and I think I've come up with something. I'm not sure if it looks good though. I will probably always second guess myself!

    Thoughts?

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  20. LJC6780

    LJC6780 Grouper

    I love this little wrasse! He's got such a little personality and has chosen the "shark mouth" cave as his home. He sleeps there every night.
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