Origami

Yeah, the panel bits I was most interested in were the bigger ones that came with a 3/4 inch shank. I considered the smaller ones with the 1/2 inch shank but decided that I'd forego the compromise. I also considered trying to get a larger collet to retrofit on one of the other two routers that I have. No luck. In the end, I just built the cabinet door frame using the smaller face-frame biscuits and shaped the inside and outside edges using a simple round-over bit. I came so close, though, to talking myself into a bigger router just so I could play with the rail and stile bits. May still do it someday - just to play, you know?

Thanks Bob & James. In doing my cabinetry, it's nice to know there's an option like that available. In building my stand, I did my doors myself not knowing that I had such an option. However, not having a 3/4" router to go with the matched panel, rail, and stile bits that I was looking at (I have two 1/2" routers, but neither would take the larger bits I was looking at and both were undersized for the job), I decided to use my biscuit joiner for the door joinery and to use a flat, rather than a shaped panel. I like the doors you chose, James. You've got a beautiful stand.

Trancefusion, I've cruised RC 5 times now - in the Med, Alaska, and the Caribbean. My experience has been that they keep a pretty tight rein on their excursion contractors. On the cruise that took me to Cozumel, one excursion contractor took you on a small boat out to the Palancar reef off the SW side of the island where you could snorkel over relatively shallow reefs (from 10-25' down) and out over to the drop-off (where you could view the corals going down the wall). Having had some experience over and against reefs (both snorkeling and scuba), I didn't consider that particular excursion second-rate in any way. Sure, you'll pay a little more (after all, RC is getting a cut of the action), but the benefit is that you'll have RC doing a bit more in the way of quality control. Since it's a group thing, though, you'll have far less flexibility. By the way, the excursion over the Palancar is a drift dive. That is, you'll be drifting over the reef with the current. The benefit is that you'll get to see more reef below you but you won't be able to dwell as much to inspect things you find exceptionally interesting (no dwelling to watch the hermit crabs like you might in your aquarium!). Also, it saves your energy so you can focus more on enjoying the sights. Also, if you happen to prone to sea sickness, you may want to start the morning out with some dramamine before getting on the small boat that takes you out (just in case the seas are a little rough that day).

Nice work! Nice dust pick up system, too. Are the doors commercial purchases or did you do all the rail, stile, and panel work from scratch?

Certification is nice, but I think you'd enjoy the reef off Cozumel even if you're snorkeling. I enjoyed Palancar reef while there last, which was maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I've heard that the Belize is wonderful as well. If you can get yourself certified, great. If not, you'll still enjoy the snorkeling. The main thing is to have fun. I've cruised with RC many times over the years. I'm sure that you'll enjoy the whole trip.

Ah, new skimmer. I agree, it needs to break in. It should only take a day or so to get a film going that will settle things down. My first skimmer had me very worried the first time that I installed it - it was overflowing everywhere. What a mess that was! Anyway, I've read that others have had trouble tweaking this model to get consistent production, but I've not personally had that problem. I have both of my flow-control valves (I think that aqua-medic calls them "throttle caps") pretty much set to point 90-degrees from the direction of the water flow and, for the most part, that's where I leave them. The cup pretty much fills on my 90 about once a week with a nice dark sludge. Please note, though, that I have a slightly different model than you have. You have the Turboflotor 1000 and are using it in-sump while I, not having as much room in my sump, got a Turboflotor 1000 SL Multi hanging on the outside of my sump but drawing water in from a separate pump hanging inside the sump. You may find that you have to set your "throttle caps" differently. Once you get your ball valve set about right, you'll probably be able to fine-tune the level in your skimmer using the throttle caps so you can skim wetter or dryer at your discretion and not your skimmer's. As for "bubble production," I'm no skimmer expert, but I suspect that bubble production is only part of the equation and is, at least in the short term fixed by the pump, method of bubble production (bubble size), and its air uptake capability. The other part of the equation is the time the bubbles are in contact with the water. I think the latter is set more by the flow (fast or slow, smooth or turbulent)through the skimmer body. The smooth or turbulent part, I figure, is part of the skimmer design and I don't have much control over it. The "fast or slow" part, though, is where I do have control and that's done, in my case, by setting the depth of my skimmer pump and adjusting the throttle caps. Hope this helps in some way. Good luck!

I use a pump that's rated for under 100 gph with no head. It gives far less than that with the media in-line. The pump also comes with a small ball valve that fits on the output side. This gives me the ability to turn the flow down as I need it. Most of the time, I run it wide open without problem.

Have you cleaned out your air line recently? I have the hang-on version of this skimmer and noticed that I had a salt plug developing at the point where the air tubing enters the pump (just inside the removable pump housing). The salt plug that formed there slowed the air flow into the pump, resulting in increased water uptake. This in turn led to higher water levels in the skimmer, and overflow. It's easy to check and just as easy to fix.

I run both on my system as well. Since I run just a little bit of carbon (1/4 to 1/2 cup) at a time, I cut a foam separator to keep the two media separate in my reactor. I keep the carbon on top so that I can change it out more frequently since my GFO phosphate media generally lasts longer.

Have you tried calling them? Here's some contact info from their website (www.blueribbonkoi.com): Shop Hours: Thursday 10-8 -- Friday 10-8 -- Saturday 10-6 -- Sunday 10-5 Phone/Fax: 703-753-7566 (Just thought you might get a quicker response this way.)

It's not uncommon for a salt plug to form in the airlines of a lot of skimmers that draw air in using venturis. This build up starves the skimmer of air, eventually leading to no bubbles. In this case, you need to perform periodic maintenance on your skimmer airline to remove thet build up. If the air line is still basically open, for example, you can dunk the end of the airline into a cup of clean fresh water and have the skimmer suck up the water to dissolve any partial build up. Or, in cases of a complete clog, remove the air line and soak it clean. How often you do this depends on the skimmer and your situation.

I had a similar problem after making RO/DI water for a while and storing it in a Rubbermaid trashcan. What I did to address the problem was to take the trashcan out and give it a good scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad and clear water, making sure to give it a good rinse afterwards. I've not had the problem since. My guess is that something began to grow on the walls of the trashcan and I just had to remove it.

1.026 SPS, LPS, a few softies, three anemones and fish

Nice job. You've managed to squeeze a lot of cool things into a small space to keep it interesting. How are your water parameters, generally speaking? How much do you change out every 2 weeks?