madmike

kalk is really easy, especially if you use some sort of a reactor. Instead of your ATO freshwater going into the tank directly, you can pass it into a kalk reactor and then into the tank. Really helps with ph...sometimes too much...I have my controller monitor my ph and shut it off if the ph gets above 8.4 which it has been lately, but I evap about 5gallons/day. You just have to dump some of the kalk powder in the reactor every once in awhile and you're all set. Mike

pm sent mike

No problem, just let me know and i'll shoot you my address. later Mike

i'd take the setup, but i am currently stuck in the snow. LMK if you still have it when the weather clears. Mike

Sure, you need a LMIII control module...it is the brain peristalic pump and has the ability to control 2 more "remote" peristalic pumps that are pluged into it. In my sytem I have the main unit, plus 2 remote units. The main unit pulls out 4 gallons a day of tank water and the hose is routed into a utility sink I have in my garage. One of the remote pumps pumps in 4 gallons a day from a 160 gallon saltwater resevoir that sits behind a structural wall in my garage(the wall was placed there to hold the 225gallon show tank directly above it on the 2nd level of our home. The thrird pump pumps freshwater into a geo kalk reactor and then into the sump for all of the evaperation...(I am running into high ph problems currently so I am putting a soleniod valve inline to shut off the flow to the kalk reactor and reroute just freshwater when my ph rises above 8.45). My freshwater and saltwater resevoirs have "latching" float switches inside them that turn on the RO/DI when the bottom float switch is engaged, and turn the unit off when the top float engages...this way the RO/DI is not cycling all of the time. I allow the freswater resevoir to fill anytime it needs, but have to turn a switch to let the saltwater resevoir fill(that way if it fills and I don't notice it, no diluted saltwater is being added to the tank) When i do notice the saltwater resevoir getting low, i flip the switch and shut off a valve that allows the saltwater to flow to the peristalic, then i remove the tubing from the sump where the other peristalic removes water from (this allows the pumps to still run, but no water will be passing thru. The saltwater resevoir then fills and I dump in about a full bucket of salt and let it mix for about a 1/2 of a day, check salinity, and turn the system back on. My maxcap 180 gallon RO/DI system with pressure pump can fill the 160 gallons in about a day to day and a half. So with this system, there are still some manual steps and I designed it this way to remove the chances for any type of malfunctions. The good thing about the manual steps is that they are all pretty easy and don't require me to lug anything really heavy except the salt,lol. Let me know if you need any more info. you are welcome to come by and see it anytime(weather permitting,lol) both spectra and andy have seen the setup. Mike

I have found a few good deals on reefcentral for used litermeter pumps. My main pump was used and cost a fraction of what it would have been new. Still not cheap by any means, but the only thing I have to manually do with my system is pour salt into the storage container and check the salinity. The really great thing about these pumps is that you tell it how much to pump, not how long to stay on like other brands of peristalic pumps. These are dead on accurate and dont create any instability because only 1 of the pumps can be on at a time and they pump 150 times per day. I just set up a 70 gallon cube that will be my carpet anemone and harlequin shrimp tank, and I plan on redirecting the 4 gallons per day removed from the 225g sps system into that system, and then have a pump move 4 gallons from that system to the drain...I think that this will give me an almost 100% water change per month, so hopefully I will never have to dose or test, it should be identical to the 225. Mike

Your are fine with the ranco controller as it only controls 1 of its outlets in the "on" position at a time. There would never be a need to heat AND cool the water at the same time. I have a C050 PCI also and run a 1000 watt fire plug inline heater and the ranco works great! The Aquacontroller will handle the heat if you want also, but the temp probes are more prone to failure. I have a ACIII and choose to only control heat and cooling related activities like fans and turning off the lights if it gets too hot. The Ranco temp probes are used on many industrial applications and I have never heard of a failure. HTH Mike

I too have been there and those dogs just wanted me to play with them...kept bringing me their toys to play with, dont seem like they have a mean bone in their body.

yep, I have a 70 gallon in my garage and noticed it dip into the high 75 range yesterday:(

pm sent on the rock and sand

2 left, how about $50?

^^^^^^ I'd have to agree, my 6 foot tank took about 40 hours to get back to looking new!

If the bulbs are DE i'll take them Mike

yah, the clip just slides in, no click. I thought the same thing...but they work just fine. Just wait till you get your hands on one of the new style tunze's, they can rotate in any direction and really add flow to areas not possible with the older. When the new become more available, you will see alot of older ones for sale on the classified forums for great prices.

Thanks. Isaac from Seahorse was nice enough to sell me one that they had in their frag tank for about 6 months. I just hope he is a slow grower, my 225 isn't scheduled for an upgrade for awhile,lol. 2 frags sold, 2 left. Thanks Mike

One sold. These are going for about $80-100 a frag online when they are available. Mike

I have 4 3/4-1" tyree montipora setosa frags mounted on small rocks that have been encrusting for a couple of months now. This is the real deal purchased as a colony from a 180gallon tank takedown. The colony was started from a frag purchased from tyree at a fragswap. $60 each located in Vancouver, WA Here is a cellphone pic of the mother colony, LMK if you need a pic of the frags. Thanks Mike http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c24/smithrookie/IMG_0025.jpg

i'm not sure if the JR has the web monitoring, check neptune aquarium systems website, it will list all of the Jrs features vs the ACIII or ACIII pro. http://www.neptunesys.com/

I too run a 57w on my 225gallon reef, but don't really know if it is helping or not. I figure all is going well, so i'll continue to run it.

ACIII all the way. Cheap, practical, and has all of the bells and whistles.

great thanks. I'll drop by next weekend. Thanks again Mike

Thanks for setting one of the larger ones aside for me! The red planet acro is pretty nice also. Ive been looking at all of the ORA corals lateley, they've got some really nice stuff coming out lately. Would you be able to order me a bunch of the newer stuff they have? Thanks Mike

cool, i'll come in sometime in the afternoon. Thanks

What time with the ora frags be in travis? Please hold one of the chilli pepper montis for me, i'll be in tomorrow. Mike (the guy with the red carpet)

oh, ok. So shipping would be needed. Any prices?