Shoelace

Thanks Yeah, the cichlids are really cool for fresh. But it wasn't that I was attracted to them, per se. It was more of the fact that I had two young kids, a busy job, yadayada. The tank started to spiral downhill and it was painful. Plus, this was before the days of LED so electricity, cooling, etc were a royal pain. So I made a compromise rather than get totally out of aquariums. My kids are older now and I have a more manageable job, but I think 180 is still too big both cost and time wise. When I see people posting their getting out of the hobby threads, I totally feel their pain.

Could you pass the salt please?

Road trip!

That is a quote worthy of being in my signature! I've seen fscbishop's. I think I really have a lot to do and learn. MP-40 on a 40B? Eh gawd, you temp me! Um, isn't that what the Emperor said to Anakin?

This is what I set up a couple months ago in the kitchen. I started with a 4G but that was frustrating because it was too small. So I went to a 16G which I really like. I think I will make this a softie tank and make the 40B an SPS tank. I'm certainly going to steal some stuff from here to go to the 40B over time. IM Nuvo 16 AI Nano LEDs Apex Controller Tunze 9002 with InTank cup CoolWorks IceProbe Tunze Osmolator Nano Vortech MP10 MicroJet 450 x 2 BRS dosing pumps for 2 part Aqueon Pro 100W BRS Reefsaver

I was supposed to downsize and just do a nano in my kitchen, and then I got on WAMAS, and then I met Ryan (Orion), and then I got sucked right back. Here is my really exciting picture of my empty 40B. I already had the stand from ages ago sitting in my basement. I have never been good at documenting builds, so I'm going to give it a try again. Please, make sure that this is as big as I get. I actually have an in-wall 180 that I turned from a reef into a mbuna tank which i now only have to do about 5 minutes of maintenance every month. If it ever seems like I am going to turn that back into a reef, please perform an intervention! This Marineland tank is pretty cool because it has black silicone. I was thinking of going rimless, but that is so expensive. Save for lighting, I was hoping to use a lot of what I already had in storage. I'd really love suggestions and comments along the way!

Whoo hoo! When you get enough bacteria in your cooking, if you have room, put the skimmer in there to let it break in a little before moving to the new tank.

You could do one on each, but actually I would highly recommend some union valves so you can disconnect things (to pull that pesky snail out, lol).

I forgot to tell you an option. Some people partition off the fuge and T-off from the return pipe with a valve so they can create very low fuge flow. I've even seen the order go skimmer/return/fuge. I think this applies to higher flow sumps than what you want to do, but this option allows you to control the fuge flow rather than being stuck with the whole sump flow. Perhaps also consider a way to get a filter sock and holder in there. With your low flow, I'd probly just go with the way you have it.

Same here. 1.025-6.

Why didn't I think of shutting off the heater when the return pump is off? Genius. Ryan, I don't know the "Power" command. What does that do?

Lol, so ric = anti-SPS.

Tagging along because I have only one ric but it's never been happy.

I'm hijacking my thread: so for those of you with Apex's (Apexi?), do you set the parameters with non-overlapping temps for the heater and chiller ranges, or do your ranges overlap with hysteresis and/or min time settings?

These are really interesting points about temp and power outages. I agree with a nano it's not really an issue but with a big tank with a large thermal mass, a couple of degrees may buy you a couple more hours of life during an outage.

Things that make you go hmm. So is Ron Shimek wrong? He wants to run warmer because the average temperature of most coral reefs in low 80's.

Thanks for the responses. I guess I understand that these temperatures that people are posting are where your tank is running based on ambient temperature, power use, etc., but if it were a perfect world, where would you want it to run?

This may seem like a noob question and the horse is beaten dead, but I think it's got a different twist. I've been reading Holmes-Farley and Ron Shimek's articles about temperature and I see ranges like 76-83 or 82-84. That's what most of the forum threads give also. With my nano, I realize that I can get a pretty darn small range of temperature fluctuation if I program my Apex right for chiller/heater controls. If you were to pick ONE temperature degree setting to keep your temp at, what would it be? 78 for lower metabolism, disease control? 81 for more growth and because natural reefs hang out there? Where do your corals/fish seem to be happiest? I anticipate some people might say it doesn't matter as long as the fluctuation is minimized. Who do you believe? http://www.ronshimek.com/salinity_temperature.html http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

I'm not trying to be alarmist, but there seems to be a problem with the first runs of the Nuvo 24 with thinner glass and if they were delivered by regular UPS (i.e. not freight on a palate). Looks like a design flaw for which they have adjusted. Look at post #186 in this thread: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/330750-sangheilis-innovative-marine-nuvo-24-aka-how-i-ruined-my-carpet/page-8 Other than that, I really like the tanks. They are pretty solid. I just put a Tunze 9002 with an InTank collection cup in the back middle of my Nuvo 16. I spent a little more and bought it at a LFS just in case there was an issue because I heard about problems with shoddy silicone jobs on the baffles (Not the main glass plates). I wanted to be able to return it easily for peace of mind.

You guys hear about the Nuvo 24 tank failures they are talking about on NanoReef? I don't think it's happened to our sizes.

I have a Pico 4 and a Nano 16.

This drop-off concept is really cool. It gives such a different dimension to the tank. Can't wait to see it filled!

K.I.S.S. principle at its finest! I forgot to ask, does that light run iOS7?

The ghost is nice but pricey. The Glassholes is well built but noisy. Perhaps DIY a Bean-Animal?

Great scape. So the skimmer box is for the HOB filter?