lutz123

I have the Marineland 200dd and the stock stand has an inside height of around 25-26 inches. I am toying with just putting the sump behind the wall but would prefer to keep this easy. Are there any options, internal or external, that would fit and be able to remove the cup? Water depth is something I need to conside if going in sump. I just really don't know where to begin. I have looked at a few, but thought I would reach out and see if anyone has any ideas. I am not interested in over-skimming. As long as it can reasonably handle 250 gallons it should be fine.

I agree that rodi is a must. You can go to walmart or the grocery store and pick up distilled water also. You may find that the difference in cost is negligible (unless you don't have to pay for water at your home.) I would recommend a couple of big water changes to get you started. As for the cyano issue. Be patient. "Wait and see" is good with a new tank - rarely is the chemical solution a good first approach. Your tank will go through lots of cycles for the next year or more. Cut down on the feedings a bit and clean up whatever you can manually now and then.

So...how is the project going?

Welcome! Funny how cichlids always seem to be the tank right before saltwater...

I have to agree with dismantling - as much as I know you must hate hearing it. I would never trust 180 gallons on anything but concrete unless it was significantly reinforced. Plus that is a giant liability for a landlord. Maybe you could find a rental house and make it work? I think having someone hold your fish and corals is feasible, but you would likely be looking at cycling a tank again.

Good advice. I would also add that doing a good water change followed by another in a few days should help ensure that you don't have any issues. The food inevitably starts to break down immediately as it hits the water.

What kind of options are you considering? I typically don't run anything in the chambers of my AIO's except throwing in some filter floss. Maybe start with nothing in there and add as necessary.

Good luck with your sale. It sounds like a great set up. For what it's worth, if you are in a hurry you may have better luck selling everything individually. It's not the way any of us ever want to sell because so much work goes into getting it just right but it's hard to sell full setups for even a third of what you have invested. Join WAMAS when you get back on your feet. It's a great club with tons of support. And build a little pico tank when you have the bandwidth. They are easy, inexpensive and tons of fun. Heck, you can put a couple of sexy shrimp in a goldfish bowl with a tiny pump and a piece of live rock rubble.

High five to Marineland! They are replacing the tank because of the center brace issue. I just have to contact a local vendor to do the full replacement - including delivery. That buys me a little time to maybe order a couple of very large pukani rocks - I would like to go with a couple of islands and likely will go a little light and add to it down the road.

Great coloring on the clams! I will be interested to see how they do. My most forgiving tank is my JBJ Pico. It currently has a glob of hair algae growing from the output of the tiny little HOB - almost like a mini turf scrubber. The display is clean. I don't have anything that requires a ton of care but with all the warnings about "bigger is better" I expected it to crash within 6 months. Good luck!

I love having it in my tank. Halimeda does absorb calcium so if there was a ton I suppose you would need to keep that in mind.

It really was a great experience. I wish I had the bandwidth to volunteer for it - but was thankful I was able to attend. It really was a blast. I also appreciated the raffle tickets. It made it much easier to keep track of. It was funny thinking that with 125 tickets "surely I will win something" and then walking into where they were calling out numbers and seeing everyone's tickets spread out like playing cards in their hands. Thoughts quickly went to "We don't stand a chance". My 6 year old was super bummed that she didn't win the biocube. Winning the 200 made up for it for me but not her! Go figure. I doubt I will be in San Diego next year but would be willing to make the drive to the next east coast event thanks to the great experience this year!

Congrats on the Masters - that's a big achievement! I am looking forward to seeing some new stuff. Any chance you ever got a piece of that gorgeous duncan you were holding for someone earlier this year?

Sounds good - thanks!

Where is the best place to see corals for sale? Just to come out?

I had two different types of xenia with different growth patterns/look - and some types don't pulse, right? Check out this link. It definitely may be something else, but xenia can be very tiny as new growth. I enjoy those types of hitchhikers, but I am guessing they may be unhappy with each other at some point! Maybe once it grows out some it will become more apparent.

Xenia

Me too! I was just looking at it again this morning!

I think I had some real reef from Marine Scene bought a year or so ago - but I swear it was in one of the live rock bins and cycled. Does that sound right? Anyhow, my urchin scraped away at the purple in spots and it was very white underneath. It wouldn't necessarily deter me from buying it again but I didn't love it.

I want to add that I am calling Marineland tomorrow (as recommended by the Marineland booth folks yesterday) because the hard foam support on the center brace is detached at one end and the brace sags a little - especially when I laid one of the glass lids on it. It's easy enough to say I could just superglue it but I don't want to void the warranty.

I am most excited about this build because it was completely off my radar - meaning I am starting with a clean slate. It is going to be in our basement. No preconceived ideas about what I will put in it...though I have always really loved the Australian Harlequin Tusk (I am far from stuck on that). The tank came with two C-360 canisters - which I will be rehoming via craigslist or the for sale forum. I am also rehoming the maxijet 900 and 1200 and will choose something else. I have a 40 gallon that I just set up to be my quarantine tank that may now become my sump unless there is another $1 a gallon sale soon. I do have another 40 gallon that leaks but I am darn sick of resealing. I am on the fence on the Marineland Reef lights (it came with 3 48-60 inch units). I am not planning on ever doing SPS - I may throw an occasional frag in to see what happens, but I prefer softies and LPS overall so I really don't want a super strong heavy duty light. Given that I may stick with these for a bit and see how it goes. They are supposedly better than the first generation but who knows. The stats according to Marineland are PAR at 12” 199, PAR at 24” 118 Lux at 12” 12089 Lux at 24” 7569. It came with the glass canopy and I will likely use that to start with to help with evaporation - I know it will affect lighting. That may be a lesson I need to learn on my own. I think it came with 2 400 watt heaters. So, on my to do list...and here is where I would like advice. I really want to keep the electricity cost in check when considering equipment. 1. Pick a return pump - panworld external? I would really to have it both quiet and not create a ton of heat. 2. Plan the plumbing and sump layout. I haven't ever set up a built in overflow like this. Should it be modified? I would really like to keep the noise down and minimize splashing. 3. Get a skimmer - I have one that may be fine to start with but would need to be replaced once the stocking level increases (plus, I'd like to keep it on my 75). 4. Water movement - Gyre maybe? 5. Inhabitants! I would love some suggestions on a stocking list. My current build is a 75 (yes, I have another project going on and will likely keep it for now) and that will likely be more goby, barnacle blennies, possum wrasse, bangaii, jawfish - so small community fish - not an SPS tank. The 200 offers the room for bigger fish and I would love to hear your ideas. I don't think I really want to go aggressive - somewhat peaceful is fine. I do like unusual fish (not $1000 unusual). A bunch of garden eels would be cool. I have a preference for a little bit quieter tank - some swimming but not 8 different fish darting in all different directions. Chaos isn't really my thing. I don't mind if I can't keep inverts, though I would like the freedom to have corals if I decide to. I like schooling fish even though I know few rarely actually school - a few heniochus diphuertes would be nice. See, I really have no idea what to do. 6. Rock and substrate. I want to leave plenty of swimming room - maybe two or three islands? 7. Macroalgae - I will likely add a decent size area of macroalgae so no need for a fuge in the sump. I have a couple of brute trashcans I got from another member at one time. It looks like these will come in handy. Anything I am missing? I am not in a huge hurry because - well, I didn't expect this and I need to get my 75 completed too. But I definitely want to get it started.

Interesting that you are needing to dose at all with those corals. I would imagine that, unless they are huge colonies, water changes alone should allow for plenty of growth. Nanos are simple if you allow them to be, though you may be looking at slightly larger changes. Just my opinion of course... Edit to add - Also, it's alot easier with nanos to cause imbalance when dosing.

The only thing I would add is not to be too concerned about lights if you are not doing corals. Fish don't care.

I should upload the pic of my pencil urchin with green hair algae on it. They definitely don't care for the stuff. I think it is mexican red leg hermits, blue leg hermits, and big turbos that help the most.

I am also perfectly happy to go sumpless and was in agreement, but after understanding what can be done to mitigate risk I find that sumps are far safer with the right setup. FWIW, I have had an hob filter overflow, I have overflowed my all in one Solana, and canister plumbing is no safer than sump (if not less secure). Go visit some tanks of other members and do lots of research. I agree that alot has changed.