iceman

Here it is (from one of his posts).... Adam Dilks Mrcoral Retail - ph - 1-240-575-9502

Nice job, Tom. I was definitely off in my remembering how many refills we got out of the bag (sorry if I misled anybody). I just remembered it was a good value, especially when you can get it when they offer free shipping or reduced shipping ($8.95 for 45lbs). Your calculations for the number of refills for resin depot seem more on track than what I posted.

When I had a much larger system, I would go in, every so often, with a friend to get resin from resindepot.com (link: http://www.resindepot.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=618&cat=Mixed_Bed_Ion_Exchange_Resin ). We would get the 1 cubic foot of the Purolite NRW37 Mixed bed Ion Exchange Resin. This amount is equivalent to about 60 refills (using 10" refillable canisters). We would package the resin in air tight containers to keep air and moisture out and they would last a good while. The price used to be $200 shipped, but it has gone up some. This is for the non-coloring changing resin. The 7.5lbs of resin from BRS makes 5 refills of a 10" canister (basically $11 per refill). The resin depot comes out to about $4.00+ per refill. With the Costco stuff, it states the main unit uses two 20" canisters, so one refill (2 bags) is needed to refill both of the 20" canisters. Not sure how much the 20" canister holds...it would be interesting to know to help compare.

Duct tape also works to pull the bristles out...

Dowflake/TetraChloride has usually been around $14-$18 per 50lb bag, when available.

Frederick Brick Works has had MagFlake out in their yard (around $14 per 50lb bag) and can get DowFlake but you have to ask for it. They usually get a couple pallets for a local snow removal contractor and keep it out of sight. If you ask and they have it, they will sell it to you. Can't hurt to call and ask....I have bought both from them in the past and their stock list still identifies they carry it: http://www.frederickbrickworks.com/documents/LineCard.pdf

savko.com

The piece on the left is the skimmer cup. The piece on the right is larger collection cup which allows the skimmer cup to drain into the larger container. The ping pong ball keeps skimmate and back pressure from going up that tube.

How much are you looking for? I have a couple pieces sitting around that I don't need. Let me know...would like to see someone get some use out of them...willing to trade for a frag or two.

Is it loaded up yet? I need to stop by....

I am using a 250w DE lumenbright reflector on my 36" long tank and get adequate spread. I set my rock work up such that high light corals were placed under the intense part of the reflector and placed other corals (LPS/zoas) along the sides. If you look at Sanjay's articles on reflectors, you will see lumenmax elite and lumenbright come out near the top. The elites will have a wider spread and not as intense with depth, while the lumenbright puts out intense values directly underneath, but the spread is not much. Given you have a 36" deep tank, you might want to determine how you will place your rock structure and the pendants. Do you have any cross bracing to worry about? If its in the middle you might be able to get away with 2 pendants depending on how you position your rock and depending on what types of coral you want in the various spots in the tank to take advantage of the spread of whichever pendants you decide on.

Did you clean out the airline tubing and the intake nipple on the pump? Sometimes they get clogged with debris and block air movement into the pump intake.

I just got 50lbs of dry eco rock from bulkreefsupply.com for $105 shipped.

If the membrane isn't the issue per the previous post, here's a thought. Are you using a hand-held TDS meter or in-line? What gpd membrane are you using? If you have hand-held unit, you can test the various places along the line to see what's going on. You say TDS in is 180. Depending on your membrane, you should be reducing TDS 90-98%. You can check by disconnecting the line into the DI chamber and allowing the water to flow into a clean, dry cup to measure with the hand-held. With your input level of 180, you should be getting readings of 4 to 18 for TDS. Also note, once DI becomes exhausted (color change is not that accurate) it can leach TDS back into the water such that you get higher levels.

you have a chiller on the tank? The pump will add heat. Other than that, it should be fine.

I always thought it was the CFT type of bulbs we use as opposed to twin tubes like you see in normal lamps. My ballast specifically states for use with two CFT 18w, 24w, or 27w. The listing on your ballast doesn't have CFTs that I can see.

Looks like your ballast will run only one 32w CF bulb.

I have a brand new, never used, PONY 226CFL that will run 2x24w PCs. I bought it from nanatuners.com ($21.95 plus shipping) a while back and just never used it. I can put it in a padded envelope and mail it off to you for $15 shipped if you are interested.

How did you wire the yellows? The diagram shows 2 reds to one, 2 blues to the other one, then each yellow splits and goes to each bulb.

How is your hood setup? Can you screw in hanging hooks (also known as cup hooks) into your canopy? If so, you can use "eye" hooks in your pendants, then use picture hanging wire to connect the cup hook to the eye hooks. They make eye hooks that can screw into your pendants, just need to get the right size. I have a couple pair on the other pendants like the ones you got.

duct tape will do wonders...

Frederick Brick in Frederick, MD has magflake. They also have the DowFlake, but you have to ask for it as they usually store it offsite.

Steve, the HD on Rt. 40 near MrCoral has 50lb bags of Tetra from Finland for $17. They had 4 pallets as of this morning (3 pallets in the garden section and 1 pallet across from the snowblowers inside. I picked up three bags for myself. Tom, are you sure the ones in Ashburn were 100lb bags?

red flatworms

I would only do one or the other. Have you seen this link...there is alot of good information. http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-j...treatments.html Do you have an airstone in the tank? Raising temp lowers oxygen concentration and I believe the use of copper also affects oxygen concentration.