★ 110 Gallon (In-Wall Office Dream SPS Reef Tank) ★ PROJECT GENESIS [Total Automation, DIY & More ]★

[WallyB]

GRAPHIC ( IMAGES ) ** REEFERS BE-WARNED ***

I warned you. Last chance to look away.


This is the Algae Scrubber Screen I pulled out this weekend. (Still in garbage Can)
Barely any ALGAE!! (That's what happens when Screen get Coraline Encrusted. It resists algae)

Totally Covered in Aptasia. (Maybe Good filter feeder screen for Nutrient Reduction?)

I just took this Photo (into my Algae Scrubber section of SUMP).

Hold your breath!!

It's amazing. It was always like this. But with my OLD COPPERBAND in DT, there was never a Single Aptasia (IN DT anywhere) when he was a ALIVE.

Soon as he died a few weeks ago. I have a baby aptasia outbreak (in DT)

 

[WallyB]

Check out https://saltyunderground.com/category/berghia-nudibranch For nudis

Cool

Thanks Keith, that link showd some good TIPs for when I put them into the 6 Gallon Refuge.

Really useful information about how sensitive they are and need extensive Acclimation!!!

Photo shows the (egg spirals on glass) I need to look for.
In that small area 4 of them should be enough to get them to breed. (Ton of food)

Then I scoop up the eggs and spread them around.

Even to my Frag tank that's got a minor Aptasia situation.

I could even start a Mega Berghia Farm with the Amount of Aptasia I got.
Make back some money (before the polish off my Aptasia).

 

[WallyB]

AquaMon Alk Monitor Update ( Candy Coating Completed ) Multi-Display Graphics/Animations

I didn't spend 6 months to present a "WORKING" ALK Monitor, with a bunch of boring DISPLAYS (with Simple Text and no Color that I used during Development and Testing)

The robotic motions are cool (even after watching them like hundreds of times), but things happen pretty quick. I haven't stop watched the test, but it's fast from start to finish.
Most of the time is purging sample lines, and drawing a fresh sample from the tank/sump.

So last couple of days, I've spent some time adding some POP and PIZZAZ to the display messages.

Not perfect to my Standards of a High Tech Device.
I could spend weeks with all the animation routines getting things just right.

Good Enough for now since I'm getting tired and really want Auto Alk Monitoring running on my Tanks.

50 feet more feet to go!!

 

[WallyB]

AQUAmon ALK MONITOR ( 25 Feet to go ) UPDATE

(Slave Controller Graphics/Animations Complete)

Getting there. Had just too much fun adding Better Graphics and Animation to the Mono-Green OLED Status Display (for the Slave Micro-Computer).

No spoiler here, since it barely shows anything that you'll see in the Running Demo.

But this is all Hand Drawn stuff (Image Bitmaps).

The display is 0.96 Inches, but packs 128x64 Pixels in Green OLED.

Now I tackle the COLOR OLED on the Master Controller......

And I'm done.

I already added some primitive Beep Sounds.

 

[WallyB]

Is this POSSIBLE???? (( SPS Recovery from NEAR DEATH ) My Beloved SCORPION

I got this Scorpion for a Great Price almost Exactly Last year.

Sure it change from beautiful Yellow to Green, but it was doing well.

The last downturn on the Tank it went BROWN, then got worse.

I almost tossed it to Garbage, but since it didn't go white, I kept it with hope.

Today, I saw a hint of Yellow on tips.

This would be amazing to get it back. Even Green.

I saw it for sale an now it's like $400 for a 1" piece.

 

[WallyB]

AQUAmon ALK Monitor ( FINAL PIECES ) Graphics / Graphing

I Finished the Mini Color OLED Status Graphics.

The Color Display is Amazing compare to the Green OLED.

These will not show up well on the Video since DISPLAY it's so small.

Here is what the STATUS Graphics will look like (EACH IS A MINI ICON)

All Hand Crafted.

They came out nice, and look amazing on the OLED display

All I have left to Complete is ALKALINITY (GRAPHS)…..

Then it's Complete....

 

[Peach02]

Hopefully it comes back!

 

[WallyB]

AQUAmon ALk Monitor UPDATE ( Monitoring Station / Location )

NEARING END of PROJECT and Maybe This Thread

Not sure if I should end this thread and Start an Project Genesis II Thread, after my SPS Failures here.
Break the back luck and start Fresh, with Alk Stability, The Water Changer, etc.

You know I'm getting close to finished, since, Today, I starting thinking where the AQUAmon Monitor will be located.

It can't sit on my Desk with Test Bottles Forever.....

Right now, there is only one Logical Place.

-> A PLACE WHERE I have (Convenience, Visibility) and...
-------> The shortest distance to all three Tank Waters. (Even though my design has no reasonable distance constraints)
--------> And Close to my DIY Tank Mate Doser. (If I ever decide to do DOSING Control Integration )

-> I MADE a Base (Rubbermaid Bin), with some (Scrap Plywood ) on Top:
-> A stand for the Aquamon Monitor ( Made out of a useless, but nicely heavy, Stable Footing VCR, covered in Foam Sheeting )
-> Black Back Panel ( Is and Old Taken Apart "TUBE TV" stand, I scraped for wood. One Black Piece left)
-----------> Hides the wiring/tubes, etc.
-> Added the Acrylic Side Panel (scrap piece):
-------------> To Protect the Sensitive Robot Arm from getting hit)
-------------> And to Protect from any MIST/Spills from the Frag Tank

 

[WallyB]

Station PROTECTION (Left Side Panel) ** JUNK Find again ***

My Fish/Sump room is a buzy area, and just to left is where sometimes I Roll in a Garbage can on Wheels.

The AQUAmon is a Delicate piece of High Tech.
No way, I can chance a Accidental hit. (I still will do some kind of TOP Protector)

I certainly didn't have any scrap wood Big enought for that LEFT Side.
Even if I did, it would be heavy, to be sturdy. Would need painting, etc.

Then I found something. A 50" LED TV that I tried to fix, but wasn't possible. Screen Crack.
I gutted it for parts. Speakers, power supply, but didn't throw out the TV Case (yet)

Not super pretty, but not bad either. Firm but light PLASTIC, Sturdy when I screwed in the Side to the Stand.
Added the Grey Floor Strip for Even more sturdy stability. It barely budges, but has some give for hits.
Plenty of holes to run lines, etc.

And with left side covered, that will protect the Alk Monitor from Sump Mist.

So long as I don't break the Alk Monitor (months of hard work)..... anything is good. Pretty or not.

And wait till you see what I did with the Rest of the Broken LCD TV.

I actually just learned this a couple of weeks ago, when I took apart the TV.

Behind the LED panel Super Thin Piece of Glass where you see your TV Picture thru is a BACKLIGHT PANEL (shown above).
It's just a bunch of White LED strips, lenses. With a Current Driver just like Fish Tank Lights.
On top of the LED's is 4 layers of WHITE DIFUSER sheeting. Really high tech, since one layer is Polarized.
It's that back lighting panel that Makes your TV all even lighting (from a bunch of POINT LIGHTS).
Dimmable too.

I put that panel over my 110Gallon Tank and turned it on. WOW!!! I was stunned.
The most PURE WHITE light you've ever seen. End to end tank coverage, Di-fused perfectly, so like ZERO shading.
(I could see into every CAVE, nook and cranny of my Rock Scape)

NO I'm not going to light my Corals with it. Low Pars, and pure white...
But "Pure Full Spectrum White" is good for something else.

What I did, it I took some photographs with that Pure Di fused white Light TV Backlight on TOp of tank.
MIND BLOWING Perfectly matched Color Photos. No Photoshop needed.

That's another project/or thread, where I'll show the Photos (Using Pure Fully Di-fused Soft White light from a broken LED TV eco re-use)
Plus right now. My Tank isn't too pretty to take photo of.

 

[WallyB]

AQUAmon UPDATE ( GRAPHS DONE ) That's IT!!! (FINISHED)

This last piece was Brutal. (2 Very long Late night day
I haven't done this kind of Code recently.

The hardest part was figuring out the MATPLOT scientific Language and all those OPTIONS.

It's designed for Scientists who don't program, and designed for White Paper printing.
Powerful but tricky to learn to Make it Screen Friendly.

Here is how I hacked my way thru the learning curve. (Scaling, Colors) was tough/complex. Now I get it, but to learn it.

This isn't Perfect, but good enough to start with.

I can fool around to change the Presentation once the Alk Monitor is Running, and fine tune things to what will make sense. (When I get real Sample Data Point).

 

[WallyB]

AQUAMON Graph ( Single Tank Result View ) ProtoType (Threshold Coloring)

The 3 Tank Graph is fine, but I need one when Single Test Result comes Back (For One Tank)

Took a while to figure out the Graphing Code, and this is roughly where I'm headed.

No time to get ruler out to figure out the Values off Graph.

So I'm plotting the Test Results on Each point.

And I will have CUSTOM Thresholds (Ranges) for OVER or and UNDER, to get my attention to CHANGE DOSING.

The GRAPH is dynamic, and these samples were just hand coded in. The Thresholds are also a bit over sensitive.

** NOT REAL TESTS YET **...Coming soon. I've really run out of things to do.

 

[WallyB]

Getting READY for AQUAmon Alk Monitor ( A new Phase in my Reef Journey)

I'm about to install the AQUAmon Alk monitor (It will be doing all 3 of my Tanks)

I already have the Triple Tank Water Changer, so Hoping this next Phase of my Reef Care will be better.

Want to get things all tuned up, so when Alk Monitor goes, on, it won't be something else causing problems.

I picked up my Berghia Nudbrach. At first I wasn't impressed with what I saw in the Jar. They didn't look like the Photo I saw online.

I thought maybe these were younger.

Then they woke up (AND OPENED UP)

WOW. Pretty impressive looking. But it get's better.

I properly Aclimated them, and after Removing the Copperand from Refuge, I sealed up the Refuge (overflow) with a GRATE so they can't escape. (and get killed by Return Pump or Skimmer)

Hoping they Eat Aptasia, and breed, so I can spread them around (Manually) into my 3 tanks (and when enough populate, send some into Sumps)

The Seller told me from Egg to Adult it's like 2 Weeks. And the multiply fast if Aptasia is present.
He breeds them so knows. (5 in my 5 Gal Refuge is perfect to start a Family)

Here where things got interesting. After I put them into the Aptasia Loaded Refuge.

Didn't take long. They sniffed around, and then I Almost started SCREAMING with EXCITEMENT.
They started attacking the Aptasia !!!! Aptasia were helpless.

I know my Copperbands must have been eating Aptasia, but I never saw it first hand like this. (In SLOW MO)

I could see the Nudibranch sneak up. The Aptasia kind of reached out with it tentacles.
Then the Aptasia started convulsing.
I video taped it. But was hard to focus in the corner. I'll get a better video later.

I also took photo of all the Aptasia (INVENTORY) in the Refuge to see how fast (They disappear, if they do?)

And as far as why I moved the Copperband? I don't want to take a chance he'll eat them since I only have 5.

He is happy as a kite in the 35 Gal Frag Tank. Has two Picasso Clowns and a Blue Green Chromis for Company.
They are all getting along.

Now the Last PART, a Great Improvement for my LPS Kitchen Tank.

Few week ago I got this Hang On Refuge from my Brother in Law who no longer wanted it.

Wasn't sure what I'd use it for.

Then I got an idea to solve a problem (FOR MY KITCHEN 90 Gallon LPS/Mixed Tank - SUMP).

I basically have a very simple Sump. Rubbermaid, and Skimmer.
Problem is there is now good flow, or baffles. I was going to put in a circulation pump some day.

That wouldn't solve a way for me to add bags of Carbon, Purigen, Metal Detox Resin, etc.
I throw them in but no force flow thru them.

The Refuge fits nicely at Back, and it not only is a nice Media Box with Direct Flow from Return hose.
The two outputs, flow nicely to stir up the Sump, and Break Surface water.

Everything fits perfect, and I even have a better place to attach all my lines.

df

Things are ready. (Still have to tune of the Frag Tank Water Parameter which I haven't check for months)

I'm trying to make the AquaMon Alk Monitor DEMO Movie. A bit tricky since it's not easy to Film with Different lighting of each display, and the Robot motions etc.
I may have to film with 4 different video takes, and stitch things together.

THEN I START THE NEW THREAD (Series).
- Planning to have a Master Thread. (High Level, Brief, with links to the Detailed Topic Specific Thread)
- A separate High Level thread for each of the tank (SPS Tank, LPS Tank, Frag Tank)
- A Separate DIY/Equipment thread (For Projects)
- A Separate Full Tank Shot Thread (Updated once in a while)
- And a Separate Frag/Livestock Thread. (Just showing Frag Progress, Color and Growth)

 

[WallyB]

Hah.... That didn't take long.

This is the Aptasia, I saw convulsing. It's now gone. Berghia Nudi ate it. I see him in the spot the Aptasia was.

 

[Victoria M]

That is awesome Wally.

 

[WallyB]

AQUAmon Alkalinity Monitor UPDATE ( User Interface REVAMP) TOUCH SCREEN MENU SYSTEM

Nope, I still haven't installed or Fully done real tests yet.

Really want to finish it up 100% to prefection.

I've worked on the Menu system, and all the Advanced Functionality. Including the Database, and Presenations.

Looks great and bigger buttons (on TOUCH SCREEN) work better with Fingers.

Here is a SAMPLE of the TOUCH Screen of the TEST DATA TABLE. (All just manually entered Sample data)

In the Long run it will also hold and control my Dosing volumes, to track ALK stability (at set Targets).

This (if it works), will be one of the Most Advanced Alk Monitors in the World.

If it DOESN't WORK (It will at least be the most pretty)

 

[WallyB]

Christmas Present Frags ( Frag Plug Perch Mounts) Solid/Stable and a bit Extra Space UP HIGH

I decorate the House, and Tree for Family. Sure it's for me too.
But Nobody goes out of their way to do anything for my Fish.

So I'm doing something this year (FOR THE FISH ) . Yes this is for the fish, not me.

Large FRAG Plugs, Stems cut and Mounted on Putty with a drop of Cryano Glue to some ideal Rock Positions.

The Christmas Frag are waiting in SUMP, and being acclimated by drip.
THE DRIP SEEMS TO BE A GOOD THING. The Last few FRAGS I drip acclimated, they did better.

Just like Christmas or other Holiday have Classics. A few of these to me are Classic Winners in Any Tank.

-Red Planet ( I nice healthy colored one)
-Pink Floyd (It was this one or the Wolverine, I chose this one)
- Little Red Ferrari ( I have one but this one is super healthy and proper yellow tips)
- Pot of Gold
- Sunset Milli
- Sugar Lips
- A Blue Stag
- A Blueberry Wine (Slightly different than one I have). I can never get enough of blue/purple
- AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST ( A good priced encrusted piece of STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE....No branches, just plug)

If the Strawberry can last a week, other stuff might too. We'll see, I've never kept a SSC for Long. Alk Instablity.

Going to mount these tomorrow, since I was preparing and Started Shaking like a Leaf (Checked my TEMP. I got a Fever)...Must be the final stage of the Cold of had over weekend.

Better tomorrow, since the Glue/Putty will Cure overnight.

 

[WallyB]

Nothing done. Frags still where I left them (tub in sump)...hope they are ok.

Been in Bed around the clock fighting of a Nasty High Fever FLU that won't let go. Been so weak I could barely walk.

Tonight started feeling a tiny bit better, lower fever, and will try to eat tomorrow.

Worst FLU I've ever had since it hit my respiratory first then digestive system 2nd.

Fish were fed by my Son since I could not.

 

[Fudsey]

Hope you feel better soon Wally ! !

 

[WallyB]

Hope you feel better soon Wally ! !

Thanks @Fudsey,

The Fever was stubborn and kept coming back....
BUT Today...... the Fever Finally Broke.

Hard to believe that I actually slept 6 days, or like 132 Hours Straight, with just the odd wake up for water, advil, or Gatorade.
Lost 7 lbs.

I am weak but strength is coming back fast.
FIRST THING I DID was head down to my sump and rescue those NEW frags Sitting in the Bin/Sump.

I put on rack in to DT, really low down in corner,.

They were drip acclimating the whole time.
Very little lighting, no flow.

All look ok.

 

[WallyB]

Berghia Nudi's (Aptasia) ? Died? / Rip Off ? More Time ?


I would have expected less Aptasia by now (10 days, and they only eat Aptasia)…..., but it looks like more Aptasia have grown.
I properly acclimated them, so can't see all 5 Dying.

I'll keep watching, but for now I zapped all the Aptasia in DT with APTASIA-X.
If the Nudi's were going to breed, I wanted extra aptasia around. Forget keeping aptasia.