howaboutme

Air, water and ice is a WAMAS sponsor. Check their section, you may get a discount. There are the other usuals from the online retailers. Truth be told, most of it are the same 10" canister filters. The differences come in the quality of the pre-filters (how many microns) and the RO (but even that is universal as Dow Filtec pretty much is the standard. Then there is the DI, color changing or not, etc. You need to determine how much water you want to produce. The most basic and good for smaller tanks is 75 gpd and go up from there. Then you need to determine how many stages. The most basic and good for most is the 4 stage (carbon, sediment, RO and DI). You can add more stages if you want and a lot do. The biggest thing is to determine how you're going to connect and how you're going to store the contraption (it is not small) and your reservoir. A few quick searches here and elsewhere will provide some ideas to start with.

You just connect the supply to the RODI (make sure it's RODI not just RO) unit and voila! You have clean water. There's a lot that goes into which unit to buy so take care in doing the research. We can help with that of course if you provide a bit more on what your setup (including what your water source connection looks like) is.

Looks great! All of that encrustation must be exciting. Sounds like you're ready for more battleboxes!

I think either a derasa or squamosa. I agree that those tend to be easier. Nothing is worse than spending $200 for a maxima and having it wither away. BF almost here!

Thanks and thanks for the heads up about Dr. Mac! Funny because yesterday I went to their website and boy was I shocked at the current prices of their clams. I know they culture the best but that was a bit of sticker shock. I then went to AlgaeBarn and their prices looked way better and had some different options. I prefer an easier clam than Maxima's too. It is close to BF so I will keep eyes peeled.

My inkbird has a 1 degree difference which makes the change +/- 1.2 degrees or so. That doesn't change day or night as we always keep our home cooler than the tank. My controller is the failsafe in case the inkbird malfunctions.

Wow, it's been a few months! Not much is going on, really. Some growth, some no growth. Some colorful, some not colorful. No deaths though. Alk has been a PITA to control. At one point, I realized I didn't need to dose. Now I'm back to dosing. Tomorrow? Who knows! I finally have some detectable NO3 (2ppm). But then again, besides testing it 2 days ago, I can't remember the last time I even tested that. But seriously, I tested it thinking my tank is a bit too clean. Either way, I still don't have a concrete pathway other than sit and wait since nothing bad is going on. Coraline is going crazy in the spots I allow, which is not the glass. Oh! My rainbow 'nem did split about a week ago. I was planning to try and get it and sell it but it is now in a good spot (lower left) that I'm willing to see if the clowns will host it. (Remember that the sexy shrimp has taken over the initial (now other) one.) I do need a clam in that center spot... I only remembered to take a picture when the tank was already very blue so harder to depict.

Pretty shocking news for the hobby for sure!

Do you want to keep your salinity at 35 (1.026)? If so, I'd just make sure your new saltwater is at 35ppt and then just do water changes. 35 or 36 is so minor. If you ever do monitor salinity via a controller, you will see it fluctuate throughout the day. Once you see that you will know that any snapshot of your salinity via a refractometer is just that and you start to not worry about exactness.

Looks great, Connor! Amazing growth in that tank. Keep up the good work.

I didn't stay very long so didn't get any frags but wanted to say thanks to the officers and volunteers that made this a successful event!

Welcome! This thread should give you all of the info you need. I recommend showing up w/ a cooler or container to carry the free frags (or ones you end up purchasing from the on site sellers) home.

Welcome to WAMAS!

Doubt you will find local. I did enough research when I did my light rails. I used 8020.net . Not cheapest but customer service is top notch. You plan it out, send them a sketch and they can help you with parts and confirm structural loading if required. Long lead time though.

Well... I grew up in Florida. You'll want ac there for sure! Looks great by the way.

What's the chiller for? Last I heard Columbia, MD has the same climate as the rest of the DMV...Do you not have or us A/C during the summer?

I echo the above. If you're not in a hurry (which you shouldn't in this hobby) then continue to browse and monitor the For Sale threads. You can likely get some good deals of excellent equipment. Since it's local pickup (most of the time) transactions are so much easier. Also don't forget to visit our LFS. We have lucky to have a good amount of dedicated saltwater stores in our area. Good luck!

I have 2 MP10's on my 30" and they are silent. I also route the wires down as opposed to up. The key is to put the zip wire holder just below the pump so if the pump demagnetizes, the dry side just slumps over. EM wants you to hang it wire up because they want to prevent the pump from falling down and breaking if it does become demagnetizes (which it does at times). I've also used AI Neros. I can't vouch for longevity but I liked them for their smaller footprint. They (nero 3's) are a tad bit smaller then the MP10's. Tunzes are great but take up too much room on smaller tanks.

If you don't have a pair of clowns yet my suggestion is to add those next. I think they are part and parcel to any saltwater tank. Agree that old school occ. is the way to go over designer.

Is it a lot? If it's just a few here and there, I'd just pluck and remove. I've had a few and luckily they've been accessible. I just take my turkey baster and in one motion, nudge them loose and suck them up w/o popping them.

Looks great! So remind me/us....Did you upgrade for more room for the fish to roam or for more corals? If so, I don't see much more room other than the bottom glass. Are you planning for more rock for corals?

Both tanks look great! Seahorse tank is a rarity for sure. Keep the updates coming.

That is so awesome. Keep up the good work!

It looks like an offshoot of the Evergrow D120 that a lot of us got from group buys many years ago. I had one on my 29G and just centered it about 10" or so above the water. I only turned them up to no more than 50% (blues higher than whites). They are strong lights and will fry a lot of corals. If you search D120 on WAMAS you'll get tons of posts I suspect.

Agree w/ the above. You can either go automation and have someone "check in" or be very specific and trust your sitter. I am fully automated so I had our cat sitter do the check in while she's here. It was quite simple: Is it leaking? Is my ATO low or empty? etc... Simple.