Stu

Good call Justin. I'll give it a try and post my results.

I guess I'll have to give it a try and see how it does. Dave (Lin), were the problems you had specifically with flow/media tumbling?

I have a spare RO Unit that I would like to convert into a dual-chamber media reactor, similar to the Bulk Reef Supply one: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/dual-brs-gfo-and-carbon-reactor.html It appears the only difference between the BRS reactor and an RO unit is the 1/2" fittings/tubing/ball valve. My RO unit has standard 1/4" tubing and fittings, and I already have a John Guest 1/4" ball valve and a Guest reducing fitting to snap onto a powerhead nozzle. Can I get away with using 1/4" tubing? My concerns are 1. Will there be enough flow coming from a maxi jet through 1/4" tubing and fittings? 2. Will the back pressure cause significant heat and/or shorten the life of the powerhead?

As others have stated, I think the key with Roozen's is to do your research before going. Probably a disaster waiting to happen for someone who is setting up their first reef tank, but I think the store is great for finding "diamonds in the rough." I remember the first time I went in there with my girlfriend. She couldn't understand why I was freaking out that they had 10 blue-spotted jawfish, flame wrasse pairs, rhomboid and lineatus wrasses, etc. in tanks filled with empty shells, a spaghetti maze of bristle worms, and aiptasia the size of my hand. I kept telling her it was like fish store bizarro-world. If you go in there with the expectation of not-so-friendly customer service, you can sometimes find some great deals. I've gotten $6 sexy shrimp and 5 heads of branching dendro at $10 a head from them. Jos actually also knows a lot, he just doesn't always offer his opinion. I once asked him about pistol shrimp bulldozing the bottom of my tank. He took a few minutes and explained how one kind would wreak havoc, creating huge mounds and long tunnels, while another kind would just make one little burrow. He even showed me the tunnel(s) of each on the undersides of the tank. If you take the time to look, they have some very unique and rare stuff. All sorts of tiny trimma and eviota gobies, emperor shrimp, pederson cleaner shrimp, etc. At the same time, he's quoted run-of-the mill crocea clams at $130 and half-dead wellso's at $100. Sometimes I leave disappointed, and sometimes I leave very happy.

When I got mine, they had the framing in white and brown. The actual kit that has the corner pieces and splining(?) only came in white though, so I got that. I painted it with several coats of Krylon Fusion high gloss black. I've used the same paint for years now on various tank-related things, both in and around the tank, and I've never had a problem. Once it dries, it's inert. Just make sure you give it time to fully dry.

I got mine from the guy at this thread: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/drygoods-sale-trade/51678-fs-1-4-square-clear-polypropylene-mesh-screen-tops-reasonable-price.html I emailed him and had 1/4" clear mesh in a few days for cheap.

I have a regular brown one, which is a sand sifter/eat-and-pooper and a pink and yellow one that feeds a lot like a feather duster. Never had a problem with either.

I had some peppermints that wreaked havoc on my ricodea and a frogspawn. I had to tear my tank apart to catch them. After that, I swore off the little guys for good.

I have a bunch of loc line pieces if you need anything.

You could always do a glassholes overflow on the back wall. Much slimmer profile too.

Rob, Do your Par38's have 40 degree optics? I saw on nanotuners it gives the option to use 60 and 80 degree optics as well.

I made mine out of clear mesh and a screen frame just like this: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t212941.html It sits down on the inner lip of the rim, so you really can't see it unless you're looking down from the top. Not sure how you could modify it for a bowfront, but I'm sure it can be done. Mine blocks very little light compared to the eggcrate I used a while ago. I keep it on there to make sure my mystery wrasse and midas blenny don't go carpet surfing.

Someone on RC said he wired his to Pins 1 and 2. Does that sound like it would work? Still wire the black to a ground?

It looks like it's a round plug. The diagram gives this description: Pin Number----Description 1-------------External Switch Output 2-------------External Switch Input 3-------------Serial Transmit Data 4-------------Ground 5-------------Serial Receive Data 6-------------Ground 7-------------Reserved 8-------------Ground I am assuming I would solder the red wire to the "External Switch Input" pin (Pin Number 2). Which should the black common wire be soldered to?

Last night I came home to a nearly empty sump and the shower pan liner in the bottom of my stand with about 2 inches of standing water. I wasn't really sure how it had happened at first, but soon realized that it was due to the skimmer overflowing. Something made my skimmer go nuts and overflow down the connected tube, into my little waste collector outside the sump. Once this collector was full, it just overflowed out of that into the bottom of the stand (and thankfully stayed there because of the shower pan liner). I have an Aquacontroller Jr. that controls my tank. I would like to wire the float switch to the ACJr. so that it will shut down the skimmer if it overflows again. The AC3, Apex, etc. have a breakout box for float switches, but the ACJr. doesn't accommodate a breakout box. The ACJr. manual says you can wire one float switch to the serial connector point. Has anyone done this or know how to do this? Pages 21-23 of the manual say you CAN do this, but don't show HOW to do it: http://www.neptunesys.com/images/downloads/AquaControllerJr_3_2%2BSerial_web.pdf

I was worried that might be the case. I guess I'll just have to relocate it (which is a shame, because it's one of the nicest pieces in my tank). You should see this thing's feeding tentacles--they are as big and fat as my lobo's. They look like they could do some serious damage. Thanks for the link.

I have an acan frag/colony that is either a hillae or bowerbanki. It's epoxied close to several other acan lords, and has grown a good amount the last few months. Its feeding tentacles get really big at night, and are very close to touching the lords' tentacles. The lords touch each other with no problem (I am assuming because they are the same species). Will either the bowerbanki/hillae or the lords kill the other if they do touch?

I use these: http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D84PC%2DBLK They work great. For small sps frags, I just super glue them on. For larger frags, I use epoxy and super glue.

Laura, Check out the links in Tom's post in this thread: http://www.wamas.org/forums/topic/31706-2-dursos-in-one-overflow/page__p__274831__hl__herbie__fromsearch__1entry274831 I ended up modeling mine off this design: http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/my-herbie-overflow-write-up-pics-beware-60239.html It's basically the "Herbie" method, which you can find a huge thread about on ReefCentral. It is absolutely SILENT. No sound of water in pipes, no air holes, nothing. I've used Stockman and Durso configurations before, and neither were as quiet as the "Herbie" setup. It is important to use a gate valve, rather than a ball valve though. With a ball valve, it's really tough to dial in the water level.

Sounds good. I was hoping it wasn't the other way around. I'm going to give it a whirl, adding the uv first with no carbon for a few weeks then slowly add the carbon to avoid shock. Thanks for the info.

If I make the flow slower for the reactor, will the UV kill algae just as effectively?

When you travel to Key Largo with friends and you spend your free time collecting hermits, snails, and brittle stars with a mask and snorkel instead of drinking margaritas by the pool with your friends.

I am thinking of doing a reactor--uv sterilizer inline setup as well. I currently have a phosphate reactor with some phosbgone (FF Aquatics)in it. I have a Coralife 9w sterilizer that's been sitting packed up for about 2 years: http://www.marinedepot.com/uv_ultraviolet_sterilizers_ozonizers_coralife_turbo-twist-ap.html I don't have any algae problems beyond the typical wiping of the glass every few days, but I'd like to give the UV a shot and see if it will help increase the amount of time I can go between cleaning, and help with overall water clarity. I'm also thinking about adding carbon to the reactor, as I presently don't use it. Can I get away with one powerhead feeding both the reactor and the sterilizer? Coralife recommends 121 gph for algae control, but I believe the reactor needs somewhere around 80gph?

Is that a baby stone crab?

Wow. Thanks everyone for the input, and detailed analyses. I decided to buy DonP's GSA stirrer, as I couldn't refuse the price. I was really happy with the results when I was running a stirrer before, so I'm gonna see how it does again with the new one. I also found a seller on ebay who sells 2-channel adjustable flow rate dosing pumps for about $80 (don't need to buy 2), so I will probably try running the stirrer and 2-part together at some point. At that price, I figure it's worth a shot.