stankyd

yes, i mean the 2 48" fixtures on top of the tank in the picture. Dave

anxious to start the tank cycling! Anyone have an live sand for sale?

True Dat! Time permitting, I will be drilling overflows and plumbing this weekend.

That's where I got it, I think he posted it 7/5. I got it last weekend. thanks!

Tank diagram, please forgive the crudeness. planning to gravity feed into the chiller, trying to decide to feed from 1 overflow or maybe 2. Have to check out the flow reccomendations for the chiller. To much, it doesn't chill, too little, water freezes. feedback welcome! Dave

Hello all, I just starting my research on a 300g acrylic setup in Springfield. The tank is 96w x 30d x24h. I wanted something not quite as deep as my previous tank because I want to cut down on power usage and did not want to go with metal halide. Strangely, the original owner for 1-2 months had fresh water fish in it and it has 3 overflows (not drilled). I would imagine its a considerable expense to have the overflows installed. Weird huh? I have a ton of equipment I brought from Florida when I broke down my old tank. Will probably be selling the left overs after my build is complete. For instance, my ASM G6 wont fit under a stand. Here are my 220 buildout pics from many moons ago. The plan is to use the 2 48" LED's that came with the new tank for lighting (nice extra huh?) 1 iwaki 100 (2000 gph)- http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idProduct=IK1123&child=IK1183 I have a 1hp chiller. Definitely needed it in Florida but not sure about it here. Anyways, I plan to hook it up and see if it kicks in. 55g acrylic tank for a sump, had it lying around. Will install a top off valve and will hook up my OCEAN REEF SIX STAGE RO/DI. I made a simple carbon reactor out of a PVC tube with water controlled by a valve. The only thing i have to buy other than pvc is the skimmer. Thanks to advice on WAMAS, I chose a tunze 9011, ordered and on the way. Here is the new tank's photo stream This is my 1st acrylic and I am scared to death of scratching it. Would you go sandless? or just a DSB in the sump? Im really torn here. I look forward to hearing your feedback and suggestions! Dave

thanks for the tip, I see the 9011 looks just about right!

Hello all, I just purchased a 300g acrylic tank and stand and wanted to see if anyone had a suggestion with regard to a skimmer rated for 300g that could fit in the stand under the tank. in about 20" of clearance. My last 220AGA was in the wall with the mechanical in the garage so height was not an issue for my ASM g6. Thanks for your advice, Dave

Please forgive the side question but is Pool Sand the same thing as diatomaceous earth? I have never heard of anyone using it before. Seems like it would be so light and full of dust/particulate matter that the powerheads would be blowing it around constantly. Does it at least look nice on the bottom of the tank? I used "play sand", like for sandboxes found at home depot with good success only introduced during the initial setup, not afterwards. sd

LanglandJoshua provided some great advice. Unless you have unlimited funds, I would strongly reccomend you take your time, do the research expecially into what you want to have in your tank. What kind of fish do you like? Are you interested in corals? How much time and money do you plan to put into the hobby on an ongoing basis and do you consider yourself a do it yourselfer. Before I bought ANYTHING, I bought many books and researched like crazy. Joined a club like this FMAS attended meetings. People in the hobby are proud of what they have accomplished and are very willing to show it off and give advice. What you risk from moving quickly without support from groups like this is a lot of disappointment in the form of unexplained fish death, a tank that is cloudy or overgrown with algae or any number of mishaps.. Good luck! SD

Very sorry to hear of your plight. I've had a leak in the past but thankfully slow a slow one and owned a huge sump. Not sure if you are going to use Metal Halides with the acrylic tank but this combination is actually more susceptable to causing seams to fail. Guess its an occupational hazard :(

Thanks Chad, I had the moorish idol for about 9 months before tearing it all down. Depending upon the local availability/selection/prices of coral, I may go SPS or just lps/softies to allow for more variety of fish. I appreciate the advice on the stores and will definitely join as a full member. I was pretty active in the club in Florida (FMAS). They had great frag swaps and alot of good speakers. Good to meet you, Dave

Hello all, I was in the hobby until 2009 when I moved to Northern Virginia from Fort Lauderdale Florida. Now that I am settled into a new place I am starting to get the bug again! Merely in the planning / drawing phases now. I kept all my equipment and rock but sold the tank. Here are the pics i kept of my original 220g in-wall build. This was my 1st build ever and I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. Experienced tons of coral growth to the point I was giving it away to avoid having them kill each other. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davester1/ I would love to hear your opinions of fish stores and places for equipment in the springfield area. StankyD.

Very impressive. I dont think I've seen a more complete or well thought out system!