N70SJ Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 IMO All the water from the DT should go through the skimmer 1st so as much detritus etc can be removed from the water column. I guess i spent a few days when he looked like this and he convinced me of the merits of Mangrove trees Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 I did insulate the 10x20 room. Main reason its in the crawl space is because in the summer i do not need a chiller. Yes I do have a vent fan Not hooked up yet[emoji15] My elec. bill is the least of my worries lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 16, 2017 Author Share Posted February 16, 2017 But thank you i will look into Solar. I have a small Turbine in a creek in the Wallowa Mountains that puts out 1,000 constant. So I do believe in Hydro. Then Solar, then wind.[emoji106] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Only thing I DON'T LIKE about my new Neptune Apex is the inaccurate "Salt" readings I'm getting. Im in AZ and my tank is in OR right now. My Apex read: 38.5% @ about 77 degrees, thats around 1.027 1/2 - 1.028 which is TOO high. My son was at my house feeding the horses and he came inside and called me to say Hi. I asked him to take a reading with my Hydrometer. Not the cheesy kind you fill with water that are 2-4 points off most the time but rather a good one. The reading said 1.024 1/2. My goal is 1.025. So......I need to look into that. I heard small bubbles can throw off the reading. Any ideas??? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 IMO All the water from the DT should go through the skimmer 1st so as much detritus etc can be removed from the water column. I guess i spent a few days when he looked like this and he convinced me of the merits of Mangrove trees Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Julian would tell you to put the skimmer after the Mangroves. ;) Something about them breaking down a specific element which in turn makes the protein skimmer more efficient at removing DOC's. I am a fan of his too. I thought I saw a bit of inspiration in there. I had a set up with 3 support tanks attached for the sole purpose of filtration and generating food. But carbon dosing was a bit easier for me after my accident. Julian has always been great in the hobby. His outdoor mangrove garden for that little nano is pretty awesome. I won't bug you again about your ventilation, just concerned for you after having two local people do significant damage to their homes with smaller systems, and a friend down south a bit who ended up having to level his home after constructing a basement tank with no ventilation. I had another buddy back home set his house on fire with a 450g tank that had no ventilation and corroded some wiring. I saw all of that exposed wood and was just worried. Flashbacks. I am sure you know what your doing though. Not trying to get down on you for sure. For the geothermal cool effect in the summer I thought you had to have the tanks actually buried in the 3 feet of dirt. Do you think that just being under the house will be enough? I hope so. That would be cool.... get it... Cool... For the salinity did you calibrate the conductivity probe? Sometimes if the temp is off at all during calibration it can give it a misreading. My salinity does slowly drop with skimming so I have to add salt once in awhile. I don't do water changes, well once every couple of years, so keeping up on adding salt taken out with the skim mate is part of my maintenance. Look forward to watching your tank grow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) What's odd is that if you look back at all your pics, your salinity is slowly creeping up. First 35, then 36 something, then 37 something, now in the 38s. Couple scenarios: Saltwater getting topped off with the ATO, ATO has malfunctioned and fresh is no longer being added, or maybe the probes inaccurate. One of those three. Although I haven't heard too many people complaining about the latter. Edited February 17, 2017 by Higher Thinking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Yes, your correct Higher Thinking. Keeps creeping up. I have been out-of town for a week or so and watching it via my Apex. I also thought my RODI top-off-system was not doing its job. I had two different people go to my house and test it. Both times 1.024-1/2. So something is going on with my probe. PS top off is working fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Look familiar? Ok, I'll get out his book and refresh my memory: Here is the Heat/Exchange Ventilator I ordered: One air-intake in DT hood and one in Sump-Room. As you probably know they work like: As a back-up in my sump room I also have this unit: Connected to a High/CFM inline fan ducted to out side with humidity sensor set 2 degrees above HE Ventilator. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 I also put Heat-Sticks that ate on all the time on things I want to give a third tier of protection to like my Piano: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Oh and as far as burying the sump. Thats a good idea but so far I have not needed to do that. My last tank stayed cool in the summer w/o a chiller and it also had two 400W MH's + two 96W Power Compacts. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 The salinity probes are very sensitive to bubbles, When you get home, try shaking it off. Move it around to different locations. They can be pretty reliable for quite a while, but eventually they go out and cannot be calibrated anymore. Wow the new APEX with individual outlet power monitoring looks great! My stuff is too old! Thanks for all the details, love reading this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 Will do TheClark. I'll report back the results. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 .......DAY 36....... Put a few new pieces in... The only live piece of rock I bought had some red slime on it about size of quarter. I left for 7 days and it lightly hazed several of the rocks in the tank. Not sure best way to 100% get rid of it? I prefer natural method. Any tips? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Turkey baster, blow off, suck up? Just a random tip. Pics look great, nice adds! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Thanks TheClark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 .......DAY 39 since tank-set-up..... No measurable Ammonia, Nitrates or Nitrates since Set-Up. I guess 2 bags of live-sand and plenty of clean base-rock and one piece of mature live rock the size of a small foot ball did it[emoji106]. Slowly adding mostly SPS corals... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 Phone is not best Camera. Trying to get a decent whole tank shot..... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 .....Day 41...... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 ....Day 80....Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Looks like things are settling in nicely! Glad to hear things are off to such a good start. Did you ever figure out your salinity monitoring issue? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 Yes. The Apex Salt probe does not work very good yet. My Salinity stays between 1.023 - 1.025. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 I gave up on mine sadly. It was decent, in the ballpark. Calibrated and recalibrated. Finally just used it as more of a rapid change indicator rather than anything automation related. Automation with an unreliable component is, well, unreliable! It's too bad because it is a killer way to protect against all kinds of things including ATO accidents. After it went out of calibration this last time I just unhooked it and gave up. What finally pushed me over the edge is the massive amount of people with the same issues. Here is a good example thread to read through with problems, tips and suggestions. https://forum.neptunesystems.com/showthread.php?16134-Salinity-Probe-Reading-LOW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 13 hours ago, TheClark said: I gave up on mine sadly. It was decent, in the ballpark. Calibrated and recalibrated. Finally just used it as more of a rapid change indicator rather than anything automation related. Automation with an unreliable component is, well, unreliable! It's too bad because it is a killer way to protect against all kinds of things including ATO accidents. After it went out of calibration this last time I just unhooked it and gave up. What finally pushed me over the edge is the massive amount of people with the same issues. Here is a good example thread to read through with problems, tips and suggestions. https://forum.neptunesystems.com/showthread.php?16134-Salinity-Probe-Reading-LOW This is somewhat surprising. I have been running a salinity (conductance) probe for several months now and it has been rock steady - variance of only about +/- o.ooo2. I plan to use it as you suggest, as a safeguard on the ATO. It is, however, a different brand. I would guess the probes themselves would be very similar so I wonder if it is some kind of shortcoming in the interface. Sorry for the thread-jack Steve but thought this might be of interest to you given that I know you are trying to make your setup as bullet proof as possible for your extended trips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 3 minutes ago, albertareef said: This is somewhat surprising. I have been running a salinity (conductance) probe for several months now and it has been rock steady - variance of only about +/- o.ooo2. I plan to use it as you suggest, as a safeguard on the ATO. It is, however, a different brand. I would guess the probes themselves would be very similar so I wonder if it is some kind of shortcoming in the interface. Sorry for the thread-jack Steve but thought this might be of interest to you given that I know you are trying to make your setup as bullet proof as possible for your extended trips. Thanks, good info. Interested in knowing your probe info for sure. Perhaps they have fixed things since I have not been using it for a year or so. However, @N70SJ experience is familiar and sounds like those neptune threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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