AndyL

Going typical full bore control like the reef controllers, have a new set of ssr's coming for control purposes. Basically heater, lights, co2 solenoid bit of power head control, moon phases via led/pwm dimming- probably going to do some high power LED drivers for future lighting upgrades. None is radically different - the teensy is somewhat arduino compatible (other than voltage/pinout ) even can use the arduino development ide so code almost crosses over...

<insert crickets> Ok, well maybe with more details more interest... Begged/bribed and got myself a new more gooder pH circuit thanks to a buddy yesterday. Still using the basic circuit that's used on every other controller http://blea.ch/wiki/images/2/24/PH-sch.jpg but I'm dumping this 2x9v or 18v feed. We're going to switch it up and get into a OPA2349. Should be much more suitable to salt and fresh aquariums - will have the full 4-9pH range; unfortunately that means we loose a bit of precision (not that it really matters - 4.015 and 4.030 just aren't that far apart - does anyone really worry about the 1000th and 10,000th decimal point on the pH scale?) and no extra power sources... Might eyeball an adjustment on that ranging yet. Pretty sure I'm settling in on a Teensy 3.0 to drive it - Starting to round up the parts... pH probe I'm using - http://www.ebay.ca/itm/181130326061 rT SSRs http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Lot-of-10-X-Solid-State-Relay-SSR-24-480V-AC-25A-/370412362386?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item563e4c1a92&_uhb=1 SD card slot - http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/sd_adaptor.html SD card adapter http://dx.com/p/sd-to-microsd-transflash-card-converter-module-27001 Now... uSD card slot might confuse some... Taking advantage of a recent hack to add a web front end... http://hackaday.com/2013/08/12/hacking-transcend-wifi-sd-cards/ So a <40$ web server basically. Nice part is its physically separate from the control side - Teensy saves data to "sd card" that SDcard serves as a web-server front end.

Ok, gonna ask... Any geeky IC and programming types around who want to play with a new projects? My young apprentice fish-keeper, has a penchant for buttons and LCD displays... Thankfully I went dual redundant on the heaters - as he managed to set the controller to run the tank up to 168f (heaters internal limit was 85f, and the LCD blinking its backlight to catch my attention that things were out-of-range worked well) So... I'm pondering a complete revision to the aquarium controller. Wondering if there's interest to play along / help with the project, I'm not particularly good with some of the programming side - and the analog circuitry

We're going to try to make an appearance (really need some larger angels/discus for the planted tank - something to keep those damn ameca splendens in line) but sundays are a tough sell...

I don't know why, it's not focused where it should be, but I still just like this one... (P.S. You too can have a frag -roll- )

Every place is the same price? surely thou jest! Oceans and wais generally are up in the 9-10$ range, last I was at riverfront it was in the 17 range. Big als used to have a decent price (but crummy rock) but that's long gone.

Guess this means we'll see the board get used a bit more over the next few days eh? :mad:

You'd be surprised what kind of meals hitch hikers make. Gotta remember that the nutritional supplementation is worth the extra $ and effort. Never mind the fact that these "pests" are put to good use. (You can also think back to what those hermits cost you, then think what the alternative is) Andy

Hey folks, Ok, need expert advice... Never claimed I was a carpenter! (Although I did stay at a holiday inn express last night -roll- ) Need to build a stand for my frag tanks 2@ 24.5"x24.5"x16" (~40g), was going to do my typical 2x4 construction, with some plywood reinforcing and MDF to skin and make it nice. Yes I know all about mdf & water/saltwater - that's why i've already ordered 2part epoxy paint (barely more expensive than laquer) The plan is to stack the tanks, leaving room (23") underneath for the sump - thus the reason for leaving out the 2x4s, can't fit the sump underneath if I use a 2x4 frame to support (not enough vertical space left). So the question really is what is the best way to build this? My thought was basically to build a plywood box, with 4" doublers, covered by a shelf for the tanks to sit on. Sound adequate? Or do I need more reinforcement? Andy

definitely worth saving - there are several calgary reefers who keep triggers, mantis shrimp, eels which would always appreciate a good snack. Andy

I'm confused, Chloramine is just chlorine + ammonia... Adding another ingredient wouldn't be cheaper - however it's got a longer half-life (remains effective longer), meaning less plants need to be built - as they can pipe it further.

I've played around with coil denitrators, mine worked good a lot of fiddling required to get it tuned to begin with, but it did it's job, definitely slowed the accumulation of nitrates in the tanks it was connected to. I've heard some good things about the sulphur based denitrators, but never had a chance to play with one. Andy

But on the back of the shirt is the ever present...

My personal opinion, go halide. 70W HQI's are reasonably priced. While people (including myself) kid themselves thinking 'nah i don't need that much light', we all end up on the continual upgrade path. It's better to just buy once and be done with it. Of course if you want to ignore me - if you take a 24" coralife fixture, get the legs, you can set one on a 10g tank simply by slipping the legs further into the housing. Andy

Yeah, I agree with kellehar, best way to solve MTS is to go reef - too expensive to have TOO many SW tanks

http://www.garf.org/tank/BuildTank.asp Acording to the calculator - 1/4" is fine. Andy

I'm not arguing the benefits of peat, or of cutting with RO... Both have their own place... Basically Pelle and I are trying to suggest without being arrogant and Smokey like, that running pure RO isn't smart. RO has little/no Mg or Ca in the water, these two elements combine to create the buffering capacity in the water. Buffering capacity is what allows the water to hold a steady pH, with no buffering capacity it takes very little outside influence to cause a radical and uncontrolable pH swing. I kept a variety of dwarf cichlids, and I did use RO/DI and peat to make life more comfortable for them. But I kept the Mg/Ca levels around 50ppm - which allowed me to keep a very rock solid 6.2 pH using simple methods (ie peat, and CO2 injection). With pure RO peat or not, you'll find the tank almost impossible to keep stable. Andy

Well, with a straight over the back run - normally you'd just drill a couple holes just below the water line so that in case of power outage, you'd get some syphon - but the air would soon follow to cut the syphon effect. With a drilled return - I'd say you better look at a 1-way valve to ensure the tank doesn't back flow. Or find some other way to draw air in to break the syphon. Andy

Hmm... Interesting - I know pocket lint burns - but pennies too? -roll-

dudes... we missed this weeks round of friday night fights... did we get lives or something?

Actually it's not strange at all... Basically it has to do with the buffering capacity of the water, because you're using pure RO - it has absolutely no buffering capacity - thus it has no ability to 'hold' it's pH thus it will swing radically - or give a false reading on pH tests. If you were to cut it 3/4 RO with 1/4 local tap, then try again, you'd see much different numbers. And no, don't boil the peat - just let it soak with an airstone/powerhead for flow. Like boiling veggies - you'll loose a significant amount of the 'good' stuff from the peat by boiling it. Andy

basically think of them as silencers - straight plumbing will result in a wonderfully loud water crashing / gurgle / toilet flushing sound. You still need a way to get the water out of the tank and on its way towards the sump - these just cap however you choose to do that... Andy

Personally I'm waiting to see the crown of thorns star "FOWLR" tank

Well I'm suddenly down a lot of fish - most expected (FW clearout) but the 10g crash was rather unexpected. For the moment: 6" cube: Porcelain Crab Eviota Goby A tiny blue leg hermit and astrea snail Zoos, blue sponge, GSP, WSP, green acro, Blastomussa merletti, tiny ricordea yuma, purple shroom... and a hunk of chaeto and graciliaras 30xh Seahorse: 4 Hippocampus kuda handfull of snails, some whelks and a single scarlet hermit zoos, some mushrooms, blastomussa welsi, acanstrea lordhowensis more and more chaeto, graciliaras, and sawtooth caulerpa every day pair of 40g 1/2cubes - coming soon... Rest assured lots of coral :thumbs: Oh, and I guess I still have some fresh - 2 bettas Andy

Forgot something... The nasty water crashing into sump topic... There are durso standpipes (google is your friend), there are stockman standpipes... And variations on the theme. Then there is the Herbie / SOS / Silent overflow - requires an extra bulkhead and a ball (or preferably gate) valve - but creates absolutely silent overflows/sumps. Described here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=344892 Basically for each return, you have 2 bulkheads, each capable of handling the full flow of the tank (or half if you have a pair of corner overflows). One gets a mpt->slip, and a hunk of pipe to an emergency height. The other gets nothing but an easily accessed ball valve somewhere between the tank and the sump. All you do, is crank down the primary return, so that the level in the overflow remains constant, and the return is under 2-3" of water (but below the height of your emergency return). Basic idea is by removing all air from the system, you don't get the rushing water / gurgles. Stockman, dursos and the others are great at quietening overflows - this is the only system you'll find that is 100% silent. Andy