AquaC RX-1 Calcium Reactor is running!

Finally got a chance to try the reactor again.  It turns out I had four problems.  Pay attention if you have one of these reactors:

1. The directions for how to seal the pH probe were not clear, so every time I would get this running, bubbles would get sucked in via the pH probe port and the reactor would eventually drain out.
2. The reactor pump was getting bound up with too much air, so it would not run consistently.  The only way I found to solve this is to tilt the whole reactor until the bubbles clear.
3. In order for the effluent to drain properly the reactor has to be slightly above the sump or else it gets backed up.  Its a gravity issue and I haven't figured out how to alter it yet ;)
4. The fourth issue is new and not yet fixed.  As is common in the AquaC, once in a while a joint is not totally sealed.  It runs out the at the seal from the pump to the output tube.  So, I will have to shut it all down and seal that area at some point soon!

Now the fun starts.  It will take a few weeks to get it dialed in properly and balance the effluent with the CO2 injection, etc.

Calcium Reactor

I spent about 3 hours last night trying to get my calcium reactor set-up without success. So far, the CO2 canister is hooked up with the needle valve, solenois, etc. And it is connected to the reactor, but not on. I rinsed the ARM media and put it in the reactor. For anyone with an AquaC RX-1 reactor, don't rinse the media. The hole on the top of the rector is very small and once the media is wet, it sticks to everyone and clumps. If it were dry I could have just poured it in.

I hooked up the input and effluent tubing next and then, as instructed, I filled the reactor to the very top with water and closed it up. Then I turned it on. It has an Eheim 1250 pump but the pump was not working properly. Water is not flowing through it consistently so it whirls, pauses, whirls, pauses, etc. So, instead of running consistently and drawing in water and passing water out, its not doing that. At one point, I got it to work but only for a few minutes. When it was working there were bubbles in the reactor getting sucked in where the ph probe was and they would get sucked through the pump in an endless cycle. Needless to say I never turned on the CO2 and now I am out of town for the weekend.

I will try again Monday I guess.

Arghhh.... Sohal Tang is Aggressive

So, I got this sohal tang about 3/4 weeks ago.  And, I knew he was active and starting to tick off the orange-spotted rabbitfish.  But, the rabbitfish is as big as he is, so I wasn't worried.  Well, it turns out (and admittedly, I wasn't paying enough attention) that he has been stressing the other fish as well and a few of them were not eating.

In this short amount of time, I have lost four fish.  I first lost my 6-line wrasse and then my royal gramma.  Both of them came form my old BioCube and were over a year old.  Next, I lost a strawberry pseudochromis that I got as a Christmas present.  And then, I lost a yellow-tail damsel just the other day.  This guy came with the tank in September...

I am so bummed.  Unnecessary loss of life!!!  I will be monitoring the sohal closely and if he doesn't straighten out his attitude, I will have to get rid of him.   And, that really stinks.  He is beautiful and was expensive.  I thought that he would be my "show" fish.  But, alas, I may be mistaken....

On another note, the CA reactor arrived and I will be installing it this weekend!!!!

And, since I have restarted dosing 2-part, my SPS are really starting to shine.  They open their polyps during the day and the millepora are getting nice and "fuzzy" again.

Calcium & Alkalinity & Sohal Tang

Been awhile since I posted, I am not even sure where I left off... Did I tell you I got a Sohal tang?  He is beautiful!!!!  Of course, with the good in this tank, the bad always follows.  In the last three weeks I lost my 6-line wrasse and my royal gramma.  Both of these fish were in my old BioCube.  I have had both for over a year....  sniff sniff

In the meantime, I re-aquascaped a bit last weekend because a good friend of mine was breaking down his tank and I took a bunch of his corals.  I used the opportunity to move some of my corals around in to better spots (for them). 

Yesterday I picked up 2 acans from a fellow reefer and member of the DVRC.  He has a beautiful tank.  There must be well over a hundred frags in there!

Now on to the equipment side.  My new metal halides arrived today.  I am replacing the three 250w Current 10K HQI bulbs with three 250w Phoenix 14K HQI bulbs.  I will post some before and after pictures later.

Picked up my 3rd and 4th cases of salt from Jay (DVRC Vice President) last weekend.  It was part of a major group buy from Garry (yes, 2 r's) over at Get Tanked.  For those of you who have saltwater fish tanks, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Garry's product.  Its a 2-part salt mix that is better than any I have ever tried.  And I have used, Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, Kent, and premixed saltwater.  Its not the cheapest sat in the world, but each bag is pre-measured for either 5 or 25 gallon water changes.  Its guaranteed fresh and the quality is unmatched.

My CA reactor is on the way.  I broke down and got the AquaC RX-1.  I ordered it from Blue Zoo Aquatics.  They have been in the coral and fish business for some time, but just started selling dry goods.  And, I got a 10% discount, which was awesome! 

In the meantime, I stopped by Champion Lighting and picked up my "interim" ph Controller.  I got the Milwaukee ph Controller as well as a CO2 Regulator with solenoid, needle valve, etc.  Gary (one r) over at Champion is awesome!!!

Why the CA Reactor?  Well, I noticed that everyone else's SPS have fully extended polyps during the day.  And that the millepora were not very "fuzzy".  Turns out my alkalinity was low, along with my calcium.  So, I am hoping to balance all of this out.

My end goal is to automate about as much as I can and thus, the reason for the Milwaukee controller.  My plan is to get the ReefKeeper Elite (RKE) from Digital Aquatics, whenever that finally rolls out.