SeanCallan

If not for wave action which happens 24/7 without the need for sunlight? I bet those Tsunamis and Typhoons help.

The solution to pollution is dilution. Reefs are a very very small part of a very huge ocean. Theres no need for tons of skimming since the ocean is no way near as packed as our tanks.

And I assure you that if I rapidly pumped air into a cylinder attached to an enormous tank, I could easily skim something off of it especially if I was skimming wet. But again, if I'm going to try and build a race car, I don't start with an old civic. Any skimmer you build that uses the basics will skim something out of the water. But how much are you NOT skimming? Sure maybe you get 5 gallons of wet skimmage from the unit, but how many gallons of waste just made it back into your tank because your skimmer isn't nearly as efficient as a BK or Deltec? Also, how much smaller would a BK or Deltec be for that tank? Bigger isn't always better. Unless you're feeding your tank 5 gallons or more a day, then maybe skimming that much should be a reminder that the skimmer isn't do a good job the first dozen times the water has to go through it. You can ghetto rig ANYTHING and it will likely work. I can build a tank for $50 bucks, fill it with tap water, build a skimmer out of some discarded PVC pipes and call it a day. Sure that's great fun, but I wouldn't stick a $100 frag on there.

Bingo! Wave action = skimming. The only thing you're trying to do in this post is upset people in the discussion. You've contributed nothing but an obviously sarcastic comment in the hopes of bating someone. But to answer your question, theres this thing we often times refer to as wind which is responsible for carrying foam from the beach further inland where it would ultimately be absorbed into the soil. I've been under the weather lately so I spent some re-watching all the Planet Earth series and it highlighted a fact people seem to miss: Food in the ocean. They repeatedly mention that creatures in the ocean are on a constant hunt for food, there is no abundance of it in one particular area all the time. For the same reasoning as to why a skimmer isn't natural, neither is a fuge. For every reef there is heavy current and waves which will skim a portion of the proteins but there is no large dedicated patch of algae for each reef to filter the water or provide nutrients. Pods and other critters will grow in a tank without a fuge but you won't get the mechanic removal the waves provide without a skimmer (or ridiculous wave maker). The vast majority of TOTM across the web with their vibrant colors and varied livestock use skimmers but not all of them use fuges. Fuges have some serious pros, but they also have a number of cons which a skimmer simply doesn't not bring to the table. That all being said I always use a skimmer and most of the time have a small fuge, but the fuge is more for reproduction of pods than it is for waste removal. There are just some pollutants that you'll never remove with a fuge which will be removed with a skimmer.

So you're working on a commercial system in which you don't know the gallons and you have to bet on the equipment it's using? Sure, commercial systems are obviously bigger, other wise they wouldn't be much of a commercial business. But those commercial systems also have commercial sized skimmers on them. Commercial business that have money on the line aren't going to trust their stock to a $100 Turboflotor, they invest in a piece of equipment that has a reputation for performance and quality. Why would you do anything less in your own tank? I know what you're talking about and that's great, but I think you fail to realize that "THE BRAND NAME" phenomenon doesn't occur from simply having a brand name, people buy based on brand name because they know that a particular brand out performs and is better quality. People don't buy Porches just because they're pretty, they know the brand name and they know it's known to perform and won't put out a crappy product. They know that at the end of the day their car will out perform yours. Deltec, BK, and the like have "THE BRAND NAME" because they work. You don't see many, if any, high end nice systems running cheap equipment. You can buy a car for $100 bucks to get you from point A to point B, but if you had spent a little more you'd likely have less engine problems, less oil and fuel burn, and you'd save yourself a lot trouble down the road. I am still amazed that people in this hobby will spend small fortunes on livestock and then be cheap on the equipment and things used to sustain a tank. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

So home systems should be less equipped and prepared in comparison to commercial systems? I don't know who would want that, I want a system that matches or surpasses the commercial systems so my corals will not only continue to grow but flourish. If quality skimmers are beneficial to a commercial system how are they not for a personal/home setup?

I wanted to go ahead and provide an update with a little more substance. I've been under the weather and I wasn't feel great last night so I wanted to make a quick update with some pictures. As you may be able to see, we took the tank off and put a sheet of that blue insulation foam underneath for added piece of mind. (I wasn't a fan of the tank sitting on metal) To patch the front little leak NAGA suggested we use 45 degree corner braces to cover the hole and add a little to the aesthetics of the tank. After many (many) hours of looking at the tank I find that the corner pieces work to "frame" the picture of the tank. Definitely finished it and added a little extra. NAGA also brought with him the carbon bin he put together for my tank. It's definitely high quality, hangs on the false wall and allows water to flow over, into some foam and then through the carbon and out the bottom. All and all it was a good and productive day for the tank. I on the other hand managed to cut myself open at every turn, gashing my hand open and letter cutting my leg on a rogue drill bit. As my Dad always says: it wasn't a successful Callan project until someone bled. When I get the 1/2 loc line in for the return the tank will be drained, cleaned out, and filled with salt water. I'm hoping to achieve that by mid week so I can start picking up LR.

Success ladies and gentlemen! NAGA was over early to help finish up the last couple of things and it does appear as though she has passed her fresh water test. Outstanding items to install: 1/2'' loc line for the return (Just make it look all the same) Timer for the electronic valve. All these photos were taken with my iPhone so they're not the greatest quality, I need a memory stick reader for my camera :| All pumps running: Hang on carbon bin put together by NAGA: Full tank shot: The loc line has been ordered and should be here by Wednesday. I don't know why I forgot about it during my first order. Additionally the ball valve is open right now for both sides so putting the timer on won't delay getting the tank setup with salt and rocks.

Use epoxy to keep the rocks together and hopefully you can keep your nice aquascaping

Recirculating Skimmers have additional pumps that operate somewhat like closed loops. The recirculating pumps are used to generate a greater amount of bubbles and turbulence. In some cases they may be used to keep the water in the skimmer for longer periods to ensure maximum protein is extracted. Nicer skimmers lack the recirculating pumps for a couple of reason IMHO: 1) recirculating pumps add additional noise and 2) the high end skimmers have high quality pumps and are less likely to need a recirculating.

Let's build a new one! I built a wiki style dictionary for a rifle association, it was quick and painless, we could easily do the same. Allow users to attach their own photos of the pieces, include recommends params, lighting, flow, tank mates. Lets do this!

When I was that age I was paying attention to girls.

NOOOOOO!! I was waiting to see these sweet corals you've been telling me about! Hopefully everything will turn out OK

That link goes to the JBJ 28 HQI setup, where is the Deltec at?

I haven't seen it mentioned, but another common thing I've seen in tanks with lots of algae is the exposure to natural sunlight which tends to facilitate the growth of nuisance algae.

You're assuming that we all waste water from the RO/DI unit. You can save it in a bucket and use it for laundry, you can use it to water plants. As for my statement, in college (GA) one of my biology labs had us testing local water and it had tons of crap in it. Just consider the pipes the water is traveling through and how much stuff it collects. Have you actually been to a water treatment facility? I've had the honors of having been to two and if you think they're working magic behind the scenes to instantly make stuff disappear you may want to swing by your local one and have a look. The standards for drinkable water from the city/county are not particularly hard to meet, there are a lot of substances that are in the water whether you like or not. Not sure how EVERY city works, but the majority rely on large reserves to hold the water which is exposed to the elements and anyone who might want to dump something in there. Some of the facilities are even beginning to fill the reserves with large black balls (cheapest solution) to cut down on the amount of sunlight because they're having record amounts of algae and other bacterial blooms. So there you have it, that is why I think unfiltered tap water is irresponsible for use in an aquarium, regardless of fresh or salt. If the counties themselves are taking steps to reduce the amount of algae and bacteria in their water reserves and you're not, you're introducing all of those same organisms into your tank. If I had never ending resources I think a fun experiment would be 1 tank of RO/DI and 1 tank of tap water and then to measure the amount of TDS and other micro organism in the tank. I'll even wager money that the tap water setup would be more likely to experience algae blooms and a wider swing in chemical levels. Also, didn't you just have your column tank crash for an unknown reason? How many crashes and how much live stock have you been through since using tap water compared to other reefers? I'm not saying a tank COULDN'T survive with tap water, but why subject your livestock to those risks? To me at least, my aquarium is more than a "cool" factor or a piece of art, it's a piece of the ocean and I try to make it sustainable and to provide the livestock with a quality home. That's half the reason I've gone over the fish list for my tank 10 times alone. Sure I can stock a tang and it would probably survive, but why am I going to stick something in my tank that isn't suited for it?

Well, NAGA cleared that up If it were necessary or a big concern, I think it would be easy to toss a piece of that cutting board material commonly used in BB tanks on there and cover it in form.

We're breathing in algae right now?

Definitely. Using tap water is irresponsible in my mind and I would highly recommend against it. As a hobby we're not only trying to achieve a particular look but we're to some degree trying to mimic the Ocean to provide a home to these animals. Tap water is an unnecessary stress and factor when you're investing a bunch in a setup. There have been a number of studies lately of the DC Metro area's water which included pharmaceutical, fecal matter, and other waste products. Definitely don't cut corners when the lives of animals in your care are at stake. I'm not a PETA freak or anything ( I can't stand them actually ) but theres no reason to endanger your livestock to save a buck. As for no algae, read up on Zeovit, Brightwell, or NeoZeo.

I'm not going to say you're wrong, because I'm not sure if there is a right or a wrong. But I've seen a number of acrylic tanks with this kind of support. Stratos21ss's 120SSO Tank (Another NAGA tank) http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...431&hl=NAGA

Hey Gastone, I'm going to shoot you a PM to get more information on the anchors you're talking about so I can look into them. Theres a tiny leak in the lower front corner, it's really small and I'm not too concerned. Everything else was fine. I just want to get it patched, finish the full water test and mark that off on my list. I'm going to place my order for Loc Line today and hopefully have them by weeks end. I'll figure out how to mount the light and I should be good to go!

The big pump is a ReeFlo Sequence Dart, the other pumps (Ca Reactor, Return, and CL) are all Ehiems. You are correct, there are ball valves on the ReeFlo but none of the CL or return do. Since flex tubing was used on those pumps to make it easier to hook them up and make it easier to work around in the tank I'm going to use Loc Line ball valves. All the return bulkheads (7) will get one of these so I can control the flow and if necessary completely shut it off. I do need to put a ball valve in the front CL intake, but good catch

My fear is that I don't know how thick the ceiling is and I don't need to drill into the next apartment :|

Performed a water test last night and found a small leak that I hope will be resolved quickly. Another issue I'm having is mounting my pendant. Turns out my ceilings are poured cement so I can't drill into them to hang the light. So my plan right now is to try and locate 2 of these plant hangers and try to mount them to the studs in the wall. Don't mind the acrylic shavings, we waited to do the last 3 bulkheads till the tank was in place. As much as I wanted to get this tank up and running it looks like its going to wait even longer. I need to get the plant hangers, have the repairs done, and order loc lines (Blue Koi was out). This is at least 1 step forward and hopefully these will be the last delays I'll be forced to put up with.

I think he is offering you the real stuff in exchange for a frag