Halmus' 120 Reef Tank

[N1Husker]

halmus, Yes I am a Husker. I was born in Lincoln and grew up in Lincoln. We, (my family) still have season tickets to the home games. We have had them since 1966, when I was a sophmore in high school. I attended the university after I got out of the Navy. I haven't been back there for many years but I am still a fan. My family use to work for companies that delt with agriculture and I have been to many of the small towns back there. I love it back there.

 

[halmus]

N1Husker - Thanks for following. My wife an I have an unofficial list of places we're considering moving to, and a black-list of regions we'll never go back to. She refuses to go back to NYC/Brooklyn. I refuse to have anything to do with Georgia. Nebraska is on my list of places I'd definitely consider.

On another note, I'm going to post the link to my IP camera so people can check it out as guests. I have to run a little test here because I'd prefer that the info only be available to registered users on RF.

 

[halmus]

Test 2?

 

[halmus]

I'm at a little bit of a loss. I can't figure out how to post something that is visible to only members logged into the forum. Maybe it's not possible. I'm a little hesitant to post a link to a camera in my house that's entirely open to the public. Any ideas?

 

[N1Husker]

Write a PM to Krish, he knows what you can do and cannot do in regards to the posting of pictures on the forum. He has been with the forum along time and knows the in and outs of this forum and also with the photography end of things. Now to the topic of relocation, especially Nebraska. What are you looking for? Nebraska is a great state, but it does have its bad points, mostly weather. It gets hot, very hot and humid in the summer, not like the south but still hot and humid. On the reverse the winters are brutal, this year was amazingly warm, but that's not the norm, Well, you've been there, the eastern part of the state is hilly and lots of trees. Except for the fact that you can't go to the ocean or mountains (most Nebraskan's trek to Colorado to satisfy their mountainous adventure), you can do anything you want. Of course Nebraska is big on football (my sickness), and Kansas City is close but most are Green Bay fans or Dallas. Many people are into hunting and fishing, many lakes around Lincoln and Omaha, lots of things for kids. I love Nebraska, when I was trucking and gone for weeks, all I had to do would be to cross the state line and I felt so good to be home. You can never love a place that you live and love it like your hometown, home state, believe me. I have lived in Florida, Massachusetts, Illinois, California and now here. I like Washington but I love Nebraska, and I think you really have to be from there to know what I am talking about. I would be back there in a New York minute if possible. If you would choose Nebraska to live, I can't say how you would like it, but every move I have ever made was for job improvement, and I have always looked at it as a new adventure. If at anytime you need to talk about it let me know, I will give you help I can.-Earl=N1Husker

 

[halmus]

Earl (N1Husker)

We aren't making any definite plans yet. I'm recently out of military and my wife is still in finishing her time. What happens after that depends of what happens with health care in the next few years. I'll respectfully leave politics aside. Anyway, we may have to relocate for job improvement as well, we'll just have options to pick the general region. (We hope.) So, Omaha/Lincoln are just on my list of places I'd be happy with.

Thanks for the tip on posting pics.

 

[NC2WA]

halmus,

send me a PM.

I have a webcam in my house that shows a live stream of my tank...I have no issues of privacy thus far.

 

[N1Husker]

Congratulations on getting out of the military. I was reading our local paper from Lincoln and they were saying that they have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the US. Just thought I would pass that along.

 

[tat2z_21]

We're you ERB'd. Or is it just time to retire.

 

[halmus]

Congratulations on getting out of the military. I was reading our local paper from Lincoln and they were saying that they have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the US. Just thought I would pass that along.

Thanks for the tip. We're guaranteed to be here for another year at least, and then hopefully long enough for me to finish up at UW. We'll see. I'll be at the point in the degree it would be a little complicated to relocate.

 

[halmus]

We're you ERB'd. Or is it just time to retire.

I got out when my commitment was up.

 

[N1Husker]

Sounds like you have your ducks in a row, get your degree first, then go forward.

 

[halmus]

My ducks are in a row, but they need to review Integral Calculus/Matrix Algebra/Differential Equations. Why are my ducks so dumb and ugly? Ducks weren't meant to do this much math. Is it even math when numbers aren't involved?

Back to the reef....

I'm not able to modify my signature line yet. I assume it has something to do with my ongoing newbie status. I'll work that out as time goes on. For now, I'm posting the link to my IP Camera for the whole world to see. (case sensitive)

(4:00-6:30 PM Monday-Friday)
http://halmusreefcam.viewnetcam.com
username: PSASguest
password: reeffrontiers

I know that's a limited viewing window. It's temporary. I'll expand the viewing window once I do a little modification. I'm going to set up a blinking "on-air" sign or light that will remind me I'm on candid camera. Let me know if you have issues. I don't know if there will be issues with multiple users accessing at the same time. The camera has some limited pan/tilt capabilities as well as some adjustment you can do to the image to improve resolution and lighting. It's not the best in the world, but good enough to put my mind at ease when I'm away for extended periods.

 

[halmus]

A few details, you have to click on the tab called "single". Pan down to see the birdsnest colony I picked up this weekend. It's 5-6" across. Good score!

 

[N1Husker]

Beautiful tank, halmus. Ilove watching the fish swimming around. The corals are relly cool.

 

[iroll253]

My ducks are in a row, but they need to review Integral Calculus/Matrix Algebra/Differential Equations. Why are my ducks so dumb and ugly? Ducks weren't meant to do this much math. Is it even math when numbers aren't involved?

Thats why they call it "Quantitive Symbolic Reasoning" lol

 

[halmus]

So, I promised at the beginning of this thread that I wasn't a spammer. I'm afraid I'm going to have to go back on my word a little. This is going to be an info dump on what I've been working on for a few months at home.

First of all, I re-worked my RO/DI system a few months ago.

This is the "blue-print" I drew up to work off of for the new RO/DI setup:

<a href="http://s1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/?action=view&current=RODIAa.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/RODIAa.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[halmus]

My goal was to build a larger fresh-water reservoir that I was going to re-locate to the attic. I found a used 55 gal and cut it down. I reinforced all of the seams inside and out.

<a href="http://s1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/?action=view&current=1-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/1-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I built a platform in my attic and put the tank up there

<a href="http://s1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/?action=view&current=3-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/3-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

All lines are shielded inside of PVC lines to minimize risk of leaks. I insulated the outside of the tank and will out a heater and circ pump up there in the winter that will run only when necessary. There is a PVC line at the top that drains straight to my garage in case the tank wants to overflow. Inside of the tank is a pipe sealed with 12 float switches. Two columns of 6. They correspond to six water volume levels. One row of the 6 sensors runs to the garage where my RO/DI system is. Those wires attach to the box I worked up that will light up LED's according to the volume of water in my tank.

<a href="http://s1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/?action=view&current=meter3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/meter3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/?action=view&current=meter2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/meter2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/?action=view&current=meter1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/meter1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/?action=view&current=4-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/4-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[halmus]

The other row of six go to a I/O box on the apex. These can tell me remotely how much water is in my top-off and notify me if that level is too high or too low, or anything else I program them to do.

<a href="http://s1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/?action=view&current=1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[halmus]

The RO/DI is from BRS. It's the 5-stage 75GPD unit. I'm really happy with it. This is located in the garage above my utility sink.

<a href="http://s1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/?action=view&current=RO.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/halmus/Coral%20Tank/Apex%20Updates/RO.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

There is also a "water-bug" sensor there in the garage. It is tied to the other I/O box on my apex and will notify me of leaks in the garage. Right above that is a 120db buzzer run to the apex which notifies the neighborhood when something catastrophic is happening in the tank. (more on that later) I currently have it set up to only sound when there's a loss of power, water flooding, or water at dangerous levels in the display tank.