I had an interesting night with the aquarium last night. Our area had severe winds, lots of tree debris all over the roads for the drive home once we made it into the timber. We had trees leaning on both power and phone lines in various places, so I expected the worst...and I was right! Around 9PM the power went off. With the area-wide winds, I figured the folks at Mission Valley Power were going to be plenty busy fixing all of the outages (they were), so I just rolled the generator out & hooked the extension cords up, ran them through the windows, just in case. The more I thought about it, I just figured I'd give it an hour for them to do a quick fix (optimist)...which turned into 1/2 hour after I put the boys to bed turned pessimist). So I topped off the gas tank and started the generator up; I hooked 3 heaters, the Tunze controller and pumps, one return pump, one skimmer pump and the frag tank return pump (the realist triumphed). It all worked just fine, the extra heater did allow me to maintain the aquarium temp at around 77 - 78 deg (no wood stove burning this time of the year for heat). No lights, but it was night time anyways, just a bit early. I checked all of it once at 3PM after I went to bed. The power came back on at about 5:45 AM....for an almost 9 hour stint with the generator providing most of the power I needed. MVP maintenance crews were up literally all night long....and the power has stayed on. Everything looked normal in the early morning light today, so hopefully it all will be just fine tonight and in the long run. Very glad to have the generator and have a plan beforehand. It was rather creepy setting it all up in the howling wind with branches/cones/debris raining down at times. Nothing big, just kept me on my toes!
Lost Creek 270
- Thread starter LostCreekReefer
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Congrats Kevin, I know mine has saved my bacon more than once, but never for over 5 hours. Gas is cheap compared to losing something like you got 
.
.In the past I have gone for 2 hours once and was setting the generator up to run and the lights came back on...This is the second time I've had to run it and by far the longest duration. I was scraping acrylic tonight and everything looks fine....guess I dodged a bullet this time!
sarmo
aka Rob
planning pays off. smart move. that torch looks cool, makes me miss the saltwater!!!
Kevin, you only dodged that bullet because you were prepared for it, good planning my friend . Now can you do something about the 2 inches of snow that we have up here? I know I haven't been a saint, but this is ridiculous.................lol.
. Now can you do something about the 2 inches of snow that we have up here? I know I haven't been a saint, but this is ridiculous.................lol.
Everything/Everybody still looks good today, so I'm gonna quit worrying about it!
Good job, you get any snow last night?
We did not get any snow, just buckets of rain; out neighbor just a bit up the hill got a couple of inches...it did not stick around for very long. Have a great weekend!
We got about 3 inches of the wettest heaviest snow, I almost lost the awning on the deck, it was hanging kind of low. I mowed the lawn today..........................LOL.
we're talking about mowing the dandelions...I mean the lawn today, too. Maybe it'll dry out some.
sarmo
aka Rob
hey Kevin, any updated Pics?
I was at the Bulldog scrimmage and didn't hear your sons name, is he still at Western?
I hope all is well with you and your reef
rob
I know this is from a long time ago but yes, i'd love to see that torch in a video!!!!
I was at the Bulldog scrimmage and didn't hear your sons name, is he still at Western?
I hope all is well with you and your reef
rob
I know this is from a long time ago but yes, i'd love to see that torch in a video!!!!
@ Rob: I have the video, going to figure out how to post it; Update on that...I have a new Galaxy S4 phone and I'm having to download a new desktop utility from Samsung which is gonna take a while. that means pictures/video later! ANYHOW...So in the spirit of 'discussing skimmers' I am having a bit of a problem with my ATI skimmer that cropped up yesterday. Debbie was on watch taking care of things while I was in Colorado (crewing Niki K and Jenn P at the Run Rabbit Run | Steamboat Springs, Colorado 100 mile Ultra-marathon...crazy people!). So She was getting one of my skimmer pumps going again (they can be a bit cranky - but only when I am not there!) and she was fiddling with the gate valve when a new stream of bubbles appeared near the top gate valve 'mounting bracket'. Looks like there is a notch in the bottom cylinder that the bracket is glued into, now it is not so glued there. Anybody ever try J-B Weld epoxy for an acrylic repair? I am wondering about efficacy (it works well on everything else I've tried it on), it's durability in salt water environment, and potential toxicity to the fish and corals? Any other suggestions (short of buying another skimmer - gads, I hope not that!) for a repair rather than a replace, would be appreciated
I have not used JB Weld epoxy for anything in my reef tank before, so not sure if it's reef safe or not. If your skimmer is acrylic, have you thought about using a little bit of Weld On acrylic glue? Here's some tips on how to use Weld On to bond plexiglass / acrylic. Melevsreef.com | Tools I Use I know it's hard to find though. I get my acrylic from Valley Glass here in Kalispell. Maybe they have it?
sarmo
aka Rob
can you post a pic of the problem? it might help to see it. I have never used JB weld.... so can't help there.
Well... thats the problem..I have pics of the leak but they are on the new phone. I think I've downloaded the Samsung desk top phone manager app, but reality got in the way, will try using it tomorrow. Stay Tuned!
So after fighting with the phone, re-downloading things, I finally made peace with a different way of getting at the pictures and downloading them to photobucket. Finally.
Tank in March of this year:
I have other pics that I hope were backed up when my Razor met an untimely end.... I have fragged a large coral out, improving the flow alot which is really helping to turn the tide on the algae battle.
For Rob:
that is the short version, there is a longer video on PhotogBucket if you wish.
Tank in March of this year:
I have other pics that I hope were backed up when my Razor met an untimely end.... I have fragged a large coral out, improving the flow alot which is really helping to turn the tide on the algae battle.
For Rob:
that is the short version, there is a longer video on PhotogBucket if you wish.
Also Skimmer silliness:
The top bracket for the gate valve adjustment broke and took part of the skimmer base cylinder with it. Official Montuckey fix it with black electrician's tape, would have been MORE official with Duct Tape:
Sort of an 'OhCRAP' moment
The actual damage
The damage does not look as bad
Fixed and waiting for the salt-creep to set in!
I have Weld-On 16 and 40 on the way. Sounds like you clean it up, dry it off, sand the edges a bit and glue it! sounds WAY cheaper than an new skimmer, so I hope it works.
The top bracket for the gate valve adjustment broke and took part of the skimmer base cylinder with it. Official Montuckey fix it with black electrician's tape, would have been MORE official with Duct Tape:
Sort of an 'OhCRAP' moment
The actual damage
The damage does not look as bad
Fixed and waiting for the salt-creep to set in!
I have Weld-On 16 and 40 on the way. Sounds like you clean it up, dry it off, sand the edges a bit and glue it! sounds WAY cheaper than an new skimmer, so I hope it works.
sarmo
aka Rob
sounds like a good option to try. I see a vinegar bath in the future for your skimmer...... maybe even a cosco run so you can get several gallons of vinegar.
nice pics, thanks
nice pics, thanks
