.OptimusPrime.

Fishie, I have read both these articles and plan to QT as they outline: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/quarantining-marine-fish-made-simple http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/23584-fish-quarantine-process-step-step.html Not to hijack your thread fishie, but I had a quick question for those who do QT. What meds do you keep on hand at all times? What are you using for Formalin..I can't seem to locate any Formalin-3. So far I have copper / prazi-pro / Macryn two.

I have a Reef Oct. NWB 150. I have noticed lately that every time I turn the skimmer off and back on the pump fails to push water back into the skimmer cone. I have cleaned the pump and needlewheel every time this has happened and even that does not fix the issue every time. A couple of times the pump running by it self works perfectly fine, but if it happens to bump anything it stops working. Noticed on a few instances that the needlewheel gets stuck for whatever reason and I can hear it just bouncing around in there. I have to bang on the pump to get it going. Any ideas what could cause this? Its a PITA. Should I just get RO to send me a new pump as it is still under warranty?

Came home to a power dead tank. Apparently something happened between 8 and 4pm when I was out and tripped the GFCI outlet. The skimmer cup was overflown to the top. It was a quarter of the way full when I last checked probably Monday night. The ATO res. is bone dry so that dropped 5G of fresh water into the system. The drain pain around the tank had about an inch of standing water. Have 20G mixing now for a water change. All the snails seem to be alive and kicking. Have yet to find/see the eel. Just when things were starting to look up....

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Where he removed the overflows and then capped the holes then did the C2C? http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1934188&highlight=coast+to+coast

+1 on HoT having one. It's actually pretty nice and fancy looking, but as BC said so is the price. I believe they have it in the white/pearl color. I wish they came with some kind of canopy to hide the lights like the smaller 125 and 250's did, but that's just me. I wouldn't mind having one if I could swing it.

So its been about a week and the eel is still alive Fed it 2 chunks of raw shrimp on Saturday the 14th before I left for the beach for a week. It also ate 2 chunks on Wednesday and 2 more when I came back last night. So I'm guessing he is healthy. Tiny as can be and only likes to stick his nose out of the little caves hes made which makes it really difficult to spot him. Hasn't gone to the PVC structure yet, hopefully he will once he has grown. Hasn't touched my snails.......yet....not that I can tell since I have so many, so I guess all is well. Too hard to take a picture or video of feeding for now. He won't stay out long enough and snatches the bait rather quickly. Time to set up the QT and get some fish!

Got this little guy today from LA's DD:

I wouldn't say its as bad as rotten eggs, but its close. There have been a few times where I have let the water go stagnant after the salt was mixed. Maybe a day or two before I turned the pump back in to use. I have made it a point recently to keep the pump running until I need the water, but still tends to stink with the lid on. Do you think cleaning will help? I have tested the water for TDS and it reads 0. And sorry OP didn't mean to hijack your thread.

Glad to know im not the only one with this issue. I have this going on right now in my 20G mixing brute trash can. I haven't seen any ill effects from this, but then again I'm running fallow with just snails. Do you clean yours out with anything to get rid of the plating or just leave it as is? Also, mine seems to have a stench to it if I close the lid, but if I leave the lid open no smell.

Since I have a 1.5 bulkhead already for the drain already, is it possible to have the main drain (inside the tank) start as a 1" drain and then go to 1.5" pipe before the bulkhead and then underneath the tank? Yeah I'm not starting to like the idea of the center overflow tower if its going to be a massive footprint like that, probably will end up doing a corner or center straight down. End overflow - I assume you mean the box is sitting on the short side of the tank? Hadn't thought about it that way since I was thinking the plumbing would be sticking out the side but if I'm getting a custom one made, it can come out from the bottom.

Hahah mind reader!! I just sent you an email about this!!! I should have mentioned that I have sched. 80 bulkheads and would like to keep it that way. 8 x 8? holy crap that pretty much means I back down to 75G... I didn't realize the footprint would be that huge. Anyway check your email!

So if I get a custom tank what are my options?? I have preliminary quotes for Adam and NAGA on 120G acrylics. In terms of glass whats out there? Miracles? GlassCages? I remember reading NAGA did glass as well, but not sure.

If I were to purchase the tank today; no the center tower overflow would be useless as the tank would be up against the wall. However, in the future when I move the tank could be placed in the center of a room. How big is your tank and the overflow box dimensions? I guess my main concern is maximizing real estate while keeping the dimensions of the overflow box small. I'd prefer not to have external plumbing. Is there anyway possible to run a herbie inside a single corner flow RR tank?

I don't know when I will plan an upgrade, but 120 will probably be my next and max tank size. I have just been thinking about this for awhile and wanted to get some feed back, so here it goes. It turns out the spot where I have my 75G is a perfect fit for a 120 as well. That is if I can eliminate the the space between the tank and the wall where all the piping is, meaning all my plumbing will have to be through the bottom the the tank. I want to keep my herbie overflow setup. It works flawless now and I intended to keep it that way. That being said I have looked at several options: 1 - All these RR tanks that have overflows in them, is it possible to the bottom of the tank to make the holes bigger or more holes? (I would like to keep my 1.5" full siphon drain line if possible). RR specs show only 1" drains and 3/4" returns. Everything I've read says tank bottoms are tempered and will break, but I just wanted to double check. 1a. Is there any way to keep the 1.5" gate valve I already have? Maybe leave the drains as 1" and increase pipe diameter under the tank? 2 - There are two styles of RR tanks I have seen for 120s. 1 corner and 2 corner overflows. Due to in tank real estate, I would ideally like to stick to only one overflow. Can I get away with just one full siphon drain with no emergency? or am I just asking for trouble and a flood to occur? 2a. With 2 overflows (if I have to). I can set up one box as drain/emergency and the other as returns. Has anyone done this? There are several threads over on RC I have read where people have issues with 2 overflows and a herbie type setup. 3. - Buy a non drilled 120. Pop off the bottom panel. Replace with a non-tempered section of 48x24 glass and drill away to have an overflow of my liking. This obviously will be not very cost effective and probably the most expensive outside of a custom tank. (option 4). My only worry would be my silicone work, or maybe I can get someone to do it who has experience. No clue on what this would cost outside of the tank (400-500). 4. - Just get a custom tank (glass/acrylic). If I were to do this route, I would probably do something like this (quick paint job): where the overflow box is a tower in the center of the tank and I have the 2 returns coming out of either side. I just noticed I missed a hole for the emergency, but this way I could keep an 1.5" drain line and all the misc plumbing parts. In my head this overflow looks to be a small foot print, but I could be wrong. Any other ideas/critiques/advice is greatly encouraged.

Well I am on city/county water so that throws the well scenario out. Thanks for clearing up the air pocket issue, makes me feel better. I made 20G yesterday and didn't have any issues. Maybe it was just a fluke. Guess time will tell.

so quick update: Tested the pH and it came back as normal around 8. I replaced the resin and let it run for a few minutes. OUT reading is now 0 TDS again. Made 20 gallons all 0 tds. I did notice something that I didnt notice or didnt seem like a big deal before. Does the water level in your DI resin ever change? When the unit is running the water in the DI resin is about 3/4 of the way full and while the unit is off it drops to about to about 1/2 of the canister. Is this normal? The other filters are always full to the max. I don't can't recall correctly if the DI chamber was like this before I installed the upgrade or not. But I want to say the DI chamber as full 100% of the time as well.

It starts around 30 and drops to 4-5 TDS. It probably took less than 5 to come down, but I ran it longer just to see how low it would go. I will check the pH and report back. I did let the unit run for about 30 minutes when I installed the second membrane (don't know if that qualifies as flushing), however it ran with all new filters/di resin installed. and even after the first 20 gallons I made after the initial 30 min run the DI resin didnt show any kind of exhaustion.

Yeah that's what I meant, the tubing connecting the Second membrane to the T fitting before the DI resin was loose.

Sorry, been busy lately and haven't to fixing this yet. This is what BRS asked and I just happened to know it is showing 4 TDS after about running for 15-20 mins. Reversed the probes and got the same results. I opened the new membrane up and reseated it. I did not touch the old membrane as it was functioning correctly. I did noticed that the Out line from the new membrane was not properly secured as I was able to just take it out with a slight pull. Would that have caused any issue? Do you know how to calibrate them? I was at the LFS yesterday to get RO/DI water and the TDS meter totally skipped my mind. I got my new DI resin in from BRS today, should I go replace it and see if it make a difference?

Lost power friday night and had it back sometime this morning. I actually have a generator and I plugged all my tank stuff and the main necessities house wise. With the heat and everything, not even fans in the tank room could keep the the tank temperature down. The tank is in my bedroom upstairs. The whole main floor was hot. The little glass stick on thermometer read well over 90 degrees. No bags of ice / fans in the tank bedroom and over the tank did anything to help reduce the temps. Oxygen wasn't a problem, since the powerheads were plugged into the generator. Thankfully, ich actually saved the tank. I had no livestock since its been fallow for 2 months other than snails, which seem to be doing rather well. Ich actually saving a tank, the heat must have gotten to me. Sorry for anyone who has losses over the weekend.

So the DT has now been fallow for 2 months now. Is it safe to say it's ich free? I plan on getting the eel from the DD in about a few days http://www.liveaquar...3+3&ddid=157361 I plan on restocking what fish I had (2xclowns, blue dot jawfish, white cheeked tang, NO mandarins this time or at least not yet) and would hate for the eel to eat them which it shouldn't be able to eat as its supposed to have a very small mouth) but you never know. Should the eel be the first thing added back into the tank or one of the last things??

Doh! Guess I do have one. Sorry don't know about these things, but yes it was something that came with the kit. I have not added anything that was not supplied by BRS. Go it! Thanks for explaining it to me. I do not have a handheld one. I will try and see if I can get the probes to do the readings.

I was thinking that I was just not used to seeing the resin get used so fast, since I was used to just 3GPH and its is now doubled but as you can see in the picture it looks like I used the resin more than the 20G I have actually made. I sent an email to BRS. Awaiting their reply. No clue. I will probably have to check when I get home today. I am usually in that area during the weekends. Off of 100. Most likely won't be this weekend, but the following week. PM your info, and I will see if I can swing by sooner. I appreciate it. I included what you have said in the email to BRS. I will let you know what they say. I will try reversing the probes and seeing if they will show different readings. The original membrane should be good. I will double check the new second membrane. Wouldn't the water coming of the second membrane go to the DI canister and get filtered to 0? or are you saying the TDS thru the second membrane is too high for the resin to make it to 0 TDS? No flow restrictor here.

That's what I followed to set it up and re-checked per the video. Everything was working fine when I made the first 20G batch. Not even a noticeable dent in the resin, now two weeks later you can see its clearly exhausted but I haven't used it since I made the first batch.

Can you explain what you mean by the feed water hitting it? I re-mounted the second membrane and made sure everything is tight. Do any of the LFS sell DI resin?