[Poseidon]

Well the skimmer has been ORDERED!!! I used my paycheck money, then once these checks clear, I will move the money over... Rob at Premium Aquatics thinks I may even get it tomorrow, no guarentee, but he said Airborne Express claims one day to my zip from theres! YAY! I will be making a run to HD to get some hose tomorrow morning before work. I will set it all up and have the hose hanging out ready for my wife if the delivery comes in after I leave.... MAYBE I can get her to do the final connections, or I'll be taking an early lunch, when she calls me to say it is here!

[charlie]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

leave.... MAYBE I can get her to do the final connections, or I'll be taking an early lunch, when she calls me to say it is here!

I'd take an early lunch. For some strange reason, I can only trust myself when it comes to my tank. I then only have myself to blame!!!!

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

Well the skimmer has been ORDERED!!!

Mike, are you talking about skimmer or chiller? If latter, I think the hook up is a snap becouse it has berbed fittings of two different sizes so you can choose 1/2" or 5/8" hose, IIRC. I used 1/2" hose but I strongly recommend using the 5/8" hose, easier on the pump and the chiller. If you need a pump, I have extra Sen-600 laying aroung and it's brand new. Just say the word and I'll ship it to you pronto. It has 5/8 burbed fitting for return hooked up already.

[Poseidon]

OOPS!!! I meant CHILLER! GEESH!

Gene, that is very kind of you to offer the pump! Actually I am going to run it from an 802 that I have laying around, I think it also uses 5/8", it may be 1/2" I'll take it with me to HD tomorrow! I think the 802, is close to 400 GPH at no head, but it will only be pushing up maybe 18" at most, so that should work out well.

If that doesn't work out, I sure will give you a shout though!

[Poseidon]

CHILLER has arrived! YAY! It is all hooked up now, I took an early lunch and hooked up the 2 hoses! The 802 seems to be working just fine. It did use 5/8" ID hose, so it worked out pretty darn well. Wouldn't you know the chiller even came with HOSE CLAMPS! I had purchased a few just in case it didn't, I don't want a repeat of the skimmer pump incident! By the way, that DOH Moment cost me a timer... It had gotten sprayed pretty good.

Only thing that I have to change to accomodate the chiller is the plug for my fans is now being used by the chiller! I know the chiller will be much more effective then the fans, but I still need the fans to help with evaporation! I can't add the lime without the evaporation!

I REALLY REALLY need to get my RO/DI unit moved, I have been using a little tap water here and there, when I let me trash can get empty anyway. I have been buying 10-15 gallons of RO water at the grocery store, and dumping it in the can. On that note, according to my TDS meter, the water from my tap is 120, and the RO water from the store is 60! YIKES. My well water at the old house was 690! after the RO/DI it was 30-40, so once I get the filters replaced, and the thing hooked up I should get to ZERO or pretty darn close anyway.

Blue if you are still around how much for a set of filters? I need all of them, my unit was purchased as a 100GPD unit, but it was from E-bay, and never atually put out that much. Also the DI part is a seperate smaller diameter tube, I'd say it is maybe 2" in diameter, the water enters one end and exits the other! I know I know they are not the best, but it fit the budget at the time I bought it!

I will post some updated pix when I get home tonight, I did a little aquascaping on the left, and I want to post pix of my FANS, and of course my new CHILLER! Just for documentation, when I first hooked it up @ 6 the temp was 89!!! I will be anxious to see what it is when I get home tonight, about 11!

[zhenya]

Good news,Mike!

I'm sure the water temperature will be what you set it to be or pretty close to it. Be warned that the actual temperature may be lower than what that damn things shows. Mine is off by a couple of degrees and shows temperature of 84 degrees when actually it is 82 on the dot. I checked with a few glass thermometers. Call Jeremy and he can send you some instructions how to adjust it( I didn't bother with mine 'couse I;m too lazy ).

[Poseidon]

Actually the instructions were in there! All you do is hold the "set" button in for 10 seconds, then it will display a "d", once you see that, you release the set button and then press it again and release. At that point, you would hit the down arrow twice, and then wait a few seconds. Mine was the opposite it was reading 87, when it was actually 89!!! so I had to go +2. It really only takes about 12 seconds to complete the whole correction, I am sure you can handle it!

[zhenya]

After I typed my message I actually went and corrected the problem. It;s good that you typed the instructions here how to calibrate. For one, after you hold set button for about 10 seconds on mine it shows "CA", which means calibrate I guess. I actually had to adjust -3 degrees on mine. My two digital and one glass thermometers showed 81.4 and my chiller were showing 84 degrees. Not a big deal but I figured I have to doo it, finally....

[Poseidon]

Well we are headed in the right direction... The chiller shows "84"! Tonight it is a little cooler then it has been, so maybe the night time air will help bring it down, and the chiller will keep it from going back up!

Here is another thing to add to my list of "didn't go as planned", not directly related to the tank, but more to me and my families comfort. I bought a portable air conditioner today @ Sams club, it is 7000 BTU's. I was HOPING to use it to cool my living room area, I figured if I close all the bedroom doors and the bathroom door I have about 400-450 sq feet left to cool. The box says it can do 275 but I figured I would give it a try, cause even if it only cooled 7 degrees or so, that is that much better! Well I get it home (the thing ways a TON) put it all together, and plug it in... AHHHHH This just might work, then POP! Off goes the breaker! Okay, no big deal, I reset the breaker. Turn off everything that went off with the AC, my computer, my ceiling fan, fan in the bedroom etc...Nothing that is a major draw, well other then the computer, and I turn it back on................ 5 minutes pass, it must be okay, then POP! ARGH!!! Turns out I have a 15 amp circuit, and the AC pulls 11.8 according to the box, anyway! Tried it in a different spot, and it holds, but that spot is in the KITCHEN! Like I want to cool the flippin KITCHEN! So this is going back tomorrow, and I start saving for CENTRAL AIR! Boy I sure hope I get some deposits for 2006 weddings real soon!

[Poseidon]

YAY!!!

The temp issue is solved! As promised here are some updated pictures!

Fans Anyone?



Close up, 2 fans per bulb



The CHILLER!



The cool water from the chiller.... (I know BORING picture.)



Full tank... Pardon the cloudy water, I was experimenting with the placement of the Tunze 6060, and if you point that DOWN at the sand, POOF instant cloud!



Hopefully I am thru the ironing out phase, and I can sit and enjoy this for a while. I am starting to get some hair algae growth, and neither of my tangs have any interest in it Maybe a Foxface would help out, also the aiptasia are making a comeback, since I don't have the copperband anymore. I may have to take out the Naso, and Niger and get them a bigger home, and then add another butterfly, and the rabbit fish... If my son will let me!

[Poseidon]

Here is a MUCH BETTER full tank shot, this is after I came home from work tonight. This is the view I get if I turn around from my computer desk!



And I still intend to add a back ground....

I am curious though, the chiller was able to maintain 83.4, I wonder if I could/should get a bigger model. I was really hoping this one would be able to maintain an even 80 for me. I noticed the 1/4 hp is on sale for $489.95 so if I add $150 to what I spent... ARGH more MONEY!

[Poseidon]

Well, I am going to call Premium Aquatics in the morning. Hopefully they will work with me to UPGRADE the chiller. I am afraid this little guy, is just not enough for my tank. It has made a VALIANT effort, however my tank temps are still higher then I want them. Right now it is 83, but I have been as high as 84.9. The chiller is set to 79! I guess not having AC, and running the 2 halides 7" off the water just require more HP to cool. Plus I think the chiller is running pretty much all day, and I just don't want that! Right now the 1/4 HP is on sale for the same price as the 1/6 so I think I will go BIGGER rather then smaller this time. I'll bet that puppy will have no problems keeping me at 79-80 all day long!

[Poseidon]

Good News! Jeremy has come thru for me, he is going to let me upgrade to the 1/4 hp and return the 1/10. Now I just have to wait for a deposit to clear, AGAIN! The new one should be here by Friday, unless the deposit posts sooner!

[saltjunkie]

good deal on the chiller! way to go Jeremy.. thats a cool thing to do!

hey off topic a bit..
the niger trigger....
was ... is he a problem at all?
i have a 65 and want one of the reef safer triggers.. would a small one be a good choice for a 50? (its the same footprint as a 65 just shorter??)
o would also like a flame angel, but i am skurred of these 2 fishies.. :slap:

[Poseidon]

No problem at all with the Niger, he is a model citizen as far as the fish are concerned. I suspect he may have a snail for a snack every now and again, though I have not seen him do it. As far as the falme angel goes, I have not had one in a reef, I tried them in FOWLR before and never had any success. However my buddy kept one for about 18 months in his reef with no trouble. He didn't have any clams though!

[Poseidon]

Well I went ahead and upgraded to my 30 amp 12v supply that I had from racing R/C cars, the extra amperage allowed me to use all 9 fans that I had. I hope this makes a difference! I also rearrainged them so they are ALL blowing OUT, I am hoping this will draw cool air in from the lower part of the open canopy, and expel the hotter air from the top. Here are a couple of pix:

[Poseidon]

Quick Update: The 1/4 hp Chiller is on its way. My deposit cleared the bank, and I expect DHL to be at my door again tomorrow! YAY! I really wish the 1/10 would have worked out, but I can't see spending $339.99 for something that ALMOST works, when another $150 will do it right.

[Poseidon]

Well it didn't show, turns out it is getting shipped today. No big deal though, the outside temp is much cooler, in the 70's. However my lights are still keeping that chiller running. I can't think of anything else to cool those puppies off, I don't want to add more fans, maybe a couple a really big ones would do better then the smaller ones I have now. I certainly have the amperage to run some 6" or something, but then I introduce more noise. I think it just going to take the larger chiller to keep my temp down!

I also moved the old 135 over to Hymie069's place, with his help of course! So that is one less thing to move to storage! I had forgotten how HEAVY those 6ft tanks are! GEESH!

[kevinpo]

Hi Mike,
Half of the fans should be blowing in and pointed at the waters surface. The other half can be as you have them. The most effective way to cool the tank (besides a chiller) is through evaporation, rather than try to remove the heat from the bulbs. This works best in dry climates. On a setup like yours you can evaporate about 1.5 gals a day which will drop the temp. about 3 degrees F. This can be a hassle unless you have an auto top-off system as you will have to add water once or twice a day to prevent the salinity from rising too high.

Regards,
Kevin

[Poseidon]

Thanks Kevin! Mine is not a very dry climate though, I think the humidity is almost always 65-70 percent. I was going to make a "duct" to force the fans to draw air from farther inside the canopy. I believe that would be more effective then what I have now. I think it may all be a moot point as soon as the 1/4 chiller gets here.

THe last 2 days have been much cooler here, and the 1/10 has been doing a good job at keeping the tank at 79-80, but I know there are more 90+ day coming! Like next week! IF I had AC I'll bet this would have done the trick, NO PROBLEM!