melev

Yesterday I noticed one of the Vortech pump drivers wasn't staying on in the normal glowing color. It was flashing green, while all the others were constantly lit up green. I powered it off and on again via the button on the driver, but no change. I thought it was odd, but didn't really dwell on it.

Today I looked at one of the Mp60s and the propeller was cycling on and off, rather than running full tilt. When I checked the driver, it flashed all red, then all blue, then off again. By the time I got my phone to record what I was seeing, it was dead. Unplugging the power cord (and the battery backup cord) didn't do any good. I just didn't come to life. Great, MACNA is in a few days, and the thought that one of the main points of flow in my tank was dead wasn't a good feeling at all. Tracing the power cords, I noticed that the power supply light wasn't on, compared to the other ones that have a small green LED indicator. I unplugged the cord from the power supply, but no change. Following the power cord up to the DJ switches, I found which outlet it was plugged into. Turns out that one was turned off. Why? Because it was mislabeled "Skimmer" instead of "Vortech." Turned it on and the Vortech came back to life. Yay!

Because I'm treating the tank for an offending patch of cyano bacteria, I have the skimmer turned off for three days. When I turned off that switch, I thought it was shutting down one of the two Eheim pumps on the Euroreef skimmer. The label has been peeled off to avoid that mistake in the future. Dumb mistake. But not a disaster by any means.

Now I just need to make sure the battery backup for the Vortechs is recharging, in case there actually is a power outage. And maybe get an extra power supply for the Mp60 for the day when I actually do need to replace it.