The Worst Thread in RAG History - Page 8

gcarroll · #71 (**permalink**) 04-07-2008, 10:17 PM

olsalty,
Good meeting you this past weekend. It looks like you do have a nice tank in the works!

Greg C.

olsaltybastard · #72 (**permalink**) 06-11-2008, 09:53 PM

Greg,

sorry I didn't see your message before. Nice to meet you as well and put a face to the name.

Tank update: I had to do some rescaping again. This time, I reduced the height of the rock towers in order to facilitate better flow in the tank. I placed an order for some SPS frags from a guy I know to be overly cautious about keeping his system pest free. The frags are due to arrive at my house early Friday morning. At the moment, I made triple sure that I didn't order any uber exotic frags, but some really nice specimens nonetheless.

I added some Elos bulbs to the setup. These are very expensive and I managed to break one (a $130 mistake on my part). The color is incredible; a very vivid white with a slight touch of purple. It is difficult to take any good pictures with my current camera, but I will borrow the one from work to take pics of the new frags.

Stay tuned!!

tich · #73 (**permalink**) 06-11-2008, 10:02 PM

hey how do you get coralline algae on the bottom of the tank if there is a substarte like sand, ive never seen that before???

olsaltybastard · #74 (**permalink**) 06-11-2008, 10:49 PM

It grows on all surfaces that are not regularly cleaned. The starboard is nothing more than a piece of cutting board (like in your kitchen.)

tich · #75 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 02:15 PM

ok, so what you say is not to clean the bottom? ok perfect pls send more pics when you have any changes of your tank.

olsaltybastard · #76 (**permalink**) 06-13-2008, 07:53 PM

I don't clean the bottom as I clean the glass. The starboard allows water flow to remove most of the detritus before it settles to the bottom.

Well, the coral frags came in today. I took about 1.5 hours to acclimate them. Then something very strange came up. I was getting electrocuted as I was removing the frag bags from the sump. After unplugging everything one plug at a time, I found the culprit on the VERY LAST ITEM!! A Tunze 6201 was the cause. I began plugging everything in one piece at a time, and when I plugged this particular item in, it shocked me when I put my hand in the sump. This is even stranger because I was not getting shocked putting my fingers into the main display; just the sump. The Tunze doesn't touch the sump! Their customer service is top notch, so I am currently soaking it in water and getting ready to send it to them for repairs.

I took some pictures, but am having some issues as I recently changed to Linux and am not quite sure how to access the pictures.

tich · #77 (**permalink**) 06-13-2008, 09:40 PM

that happend to my once with a heater, it doesnt have to touch the sump its just in the water that why it shocks you.

ricosuave · #78 (**permalink**) 06-13-2008, 10:12 PM

Tunze pumps are double insulated. You would have to have a failure of both layers in order to have this happen. Has to be a manufaturing defect/error.

Well, did you enjoy it? I don't feel right without at least one jolt a day...

olsaltybastard · #79 (**permalink**) 06-14-2008, 12:52 AM

At first, I thought it was my topoff. I reconfigured it this morning because the aqualifter pump won't pump out the last foot or so of water inside the Brute can. When I plugged the pump into the float valve, I REALLY got a wallop!!

The Tunze pumps (I have four) were the last things I suspected. I tried the skimmer, main pump, ATO, heater, etc... It was the very last one I tried. I have had some issues with keeping SPS and I am crossing my fingers as to this being the reason for it. I have had this pump since setting up the tank, so it is highly likely that I found the culprit.

I am taking the shop camera home tonight, so I will take some pics and post them tomorrow.

olsaltybastard · #80 (**permalink**) 06-14-2008, 05:37 PM

Okay, Here are some pics as promised. I forgot to borrow the nice camera at work, so I had to use a not so nice camera to take pics.

Here is the tank before I did anything:

Here it is after I shortened some of the rock towers and moved some PH's towards the back:

This allows better flow inside the tank and allows my to make better use of the capabilities of the powerful Tunze streams.

Again, I use absolutely NO additives in the tank. All that coralline algae and not one singe drop of Purple Up or any other crazy concoction of the week. A high quality salt, good water movement, weekly water changes, and patience are the basics of this system.