Though I have to be honest, running this system without a sump or skimmer( I don't recommend this for anyone), for the last +2 years has been a labor of love and lot's of daily work.
All that said, I can't wait to get my sump finished. Just need to make some time to glue the baffles in place.
And I've decided to go with an Avast "peg leg" skimmer(recirculating skimmer rated for 50-200gallons), along with an Avast MR5 reactor, when there no longer on back order. Then since this guy I know figured out the best bio pellet reactor to use, I'll be adding one of those inline to the skimmer's intake.
Algae I will banish thee back to depths, or just spend a ton of money trying....
I love this tank! I also love long, wide, shallow tanks! Great job!
Thnx, me to as you can tell.
Originally Posted by Sir Patrick
Very nice coral collection you have going there.
Thnx Chris, it's funny the ones that have grown out the most. Have become my favorites in the tank so far, and there all "no name" zoas, well except the mowhawks (but those grow like weeds, never figured out why or how people are still selling them for 10 and 15 a polyp). But once they turn from an ugly individual single polyp frag, into a colony of hundreds, they take on a whole new beauty. The plan is, if I have the patience. Is to move all the frags and other corals off the bottom, and let the zoas carpet the whole bottom of the tank.
Those Mohawks look fantastic and fruit loops are sweet too ! I have a bio pellet reactor that would work nice on your tank tell you get the one you really want! LMK I am laid up for awhile so I am easy to get ahold of for now !
Well it looks like I won't be able to get the Avast peg leg skimmer after all. Oh well, there is the future basement build in the works as well (kinda makes budget tight doing two builds at once).
Instead this great friend (Scott.S) is bringing over an old Reef Octopus NWB-200 half cone skimmer for me. He was gonna use it, but it never made it out of the box..oh lucky me . It has the old Hailea OTP pump they use to use, before the bubble blaster pumps ( I've read discouraging reviews that almost scared me away from Reef Octopus entirely). And if the pump doesn't tickle my fancy quite right, then I'll just have to shell out for a Sicce PSK 1000 or 600 ( I know these skimmer pump's rock).
Since this skimmer is rated for up to 250gallons, I think that will be more than enough to handle some bio pellets and my over feeding. Crap something always keeps me from finishing my posts, gotta go. Just got a call my pump and skimmer are on route as we speak, just have to wrestle two kids into a car and make it to the atm, love last minute dashes. Pics coming soon
YAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! New stuff arrived for the sump build. Ahhh early Christmas
So here's some crappy iphone pics of the new equip for the tank, all thats left is some hard work, and a reactor or two.
Reef Octopus NWB-200 skimmer & Waveline DC-5000 variable return speed pump
Well not much has changed yet, dang job keeps getting in the way of my hobby......don't they know how irritating it is to have to go to work all the time. . However one thing has changed, i will not be using the Reef Octopus skimmer, for a few reasons.
1) it's to big
2) it's to big
3) It has a very specific level of water it needs to sit in to work just right, and my 14" deep baffles just are going to get along with it, nor do I have the room to raise the skimmer in my sump due to stand requirements. Not to mention the water levels always changing due to me not having a ATO system setup yet.
4) it's loud, louder than my wife would like to hear
( and that is the main reason it has to go, gotta make the wife happy. A happy wife is a happy life)
It's not as if it's a bad skimmer, it's just not right for my exact sump. Now if I was only planning on having a 8.6" - 9" max level it would work great, except the noise of course. I even went as far as trying to figure out how to plump a secondary sump tank to only house the skimmer, plumbed into the main sump. Luckily there are some great reefers out there in our community, thanks old man .
So I'm going back to my original plan. An Avast marine works "peg leg" with recirculating kit added. I talked to the guys at Avast, and they've reassured me that they've tested the CS1 "pegleg" particular model in up to 20" of water and it still ran perfect. So just gotta save up some more green.
I did order one of there MR5 media reactor's for carbon, and all I can say is quality. Got the order in two days, all emails, and questions were answered within minutes of sending. Definitely two big thumbs up for these guys so far.
Though if anyone reading this can answer this one question for me, whats a good "pelletized" carbon brand. It's the only recommendation from avast is to use pellet carbon, I guess it tumbles better IDK, just trying to get the best reaction out of my reactor, and also what pump does everyone recommend? I was going to use a standard Maxijet 1200.
Next purchase, next to the skimmer, will be another MR5 reactor for GFO, and if theres room, maybe a davy jones locker.
Since my skimmer plans kept going back and forth, I haven't even glued the baffles in place yet, grrrrrrr. So if there's anyone experienced in building sumps and gluing baffles. I'd love some help/company, ( I have a six pack of 8.6% home brew beer my buddy makes, and possibly a frag or two to give away. My schedule is busy, but I'd really appreciate it. PM me for my contact info, unless I know you and you already have it.
Other than that, I'm still battling hair algae issues, keeping my alk stable, and keeping my mag stable. Though once I get my calcium levels under 800, things should start getting better. I hope.
It's not pellete's but fairly large . I would look into a rio 800 or 1200 to run the reactor or something similar if it was me. Sounds like you got a plan going and looking forward to the results ! Meijer and wall mart do sell carbon pelet's also for cheap. Have not used em but have been tempted lol
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Originally Posted by creefer
. It has the old Hailea OTP pump they use to use, before the bubble blaster pumps ( I've read discouraging reviews that almost scared me away from Reef Octopus entirely). And if the pump doesn't tickle my fancy quite right, then I'll just have to shell out for a Sicce PSK 1000 or 600 ( I know these skimmer pump's rock).
. However one thing has changed, i will not be using the Reef Octopus skimmer, for a few reasons.
.
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