Irishfist25

I meant to say the pump is in the sump, not skimmer , haha

I placed a ball valve on the pipe going from the pump to the skimmer, the pump is submurged in the skimmer, is that what you mean?

I also noticed, based one the diagram above, that there is supposed to be a line from the air intake. I didnt have that. i added a line to it, approx 6 inches, not as long as in the pics, i dont know if that would make a difference or not, but it definitely makes it quieter. Does the line make a difference? does it matter how long it is?

i got the skimmer from Customride0105 in this group. He said he had it on a 180 he had in the past. It came with a valve for the output, but my problem was with the pumps i was using. The one he gave me with it was too strong, it would overflow the skimmer, even with the valve wide open. a backup pump i had was too weak, if i closed the valve almost entirely, it would get the water level to the line, but with very few bubbles. I ordered another Jebao DC pump, (i got one for the return on my new setup, you can adjust the flow from it with a controller) Im waiting for it to arrive, should be in tomorrow. In the meantime, i tried hooking up the one i have to the skimmer just to see if it would work. Even on the lowest setting, it is still too strong. So i added a ball valve to the intake line as well and it has fixed that issue. I call cut it back a little and keep the outtake valve completely open and keep the water where its supposed to be. I looked in the air intake (its not a hose, just a seperate small pipe on the other side of the intake line) it looked to have a little salt creep in it. I cleaned it the best i could, it angles 90 degrees and i dont think it comes off. There are a decent amount of bubbles and i think a little more foam than yesterday, but still not a lot. Also, there doesnt seem to be any "junk" or discoloration in the foam that is at the top. Maybe its too early, i dont know. The tank ran for 4- 5 days without the skimmer running at all, only a filter sock at the drain lines. Ive changed the socks every 1-2 days. I checked nitrate and Phosphate earlier today. Nitrate is around 1.5 and phospate is 0 or at least very close(hard to tell with the colors) I currently have 2 occelarius clowns, scooter blenny, firefish, coral beauty, tomini tang, yellow tang, 4 green chromis, sexy shrimp, cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp, various snails and a couple red legged hermits. also have 3 different zoa colonies, palm cloves, green mushrooms, long polyp leather, green sinularia, and frogspawn. I checked ammonia and nitrites 2 days ago, both at 0

i just hooked up an external skimmer to my new system. this is the first time i have used an external skimmer and have never seen one being used before. Its a Weipro 2020, rated for 560 gallons, i have about 200 total system gallons. My question is, how do i know its working correctly? it doesnt seem to be making as many bubbles as my old in sump skimmer, also it has a "maintain water level here" line, but thats about 8 inches from the start of the neck and the bubbles arent coming close to it at all. Is this normal, does it just take a little time to break it and then it will? any help is appreciated, thank you

Yeah, I used approximately 20 gallons of old water and the rest was all new. I bought 4 brute 32 gallon trash cans and I already had 2. My old waters parameters were good though, so as long as that's the case, you can use as much of it as you want. BTW, I'm returning 3 of the 4 brute trash cans to lowes to get my money back, they were only used to make water once

So i made the switch this weekend from my 75 to my new 180. i had a friend come by to help me move my 75 and move the new one into place, but then he left and i did it all myself. Holy *&#@, biggest cluster ^%$# i have ever been a part of. I have never transferred a tank like this and it showed. Friday night is was up till 2, getting everything i could ready for the switch. Saturday night i was up till 5 and got the new tank up with sand and rock and water in, but once i started all the pumps, i had leaks from the bulkheads. it was 5, i drained the overflow boxes and went to bed. Got up 4 hours later and started to fix the leaks. for every leak i fixed 2 more showed up. Finally got leaks fixed and the fish and coral in the tank mid day. I had my coral in a backup tank with powerhead and heater and then the fish in a 50 gallon tub with some LR, heater, powerhead and air bubbler. They were in holding for about 24 hours before going into the new tank. All fish have survived (for now) and more shockingly, all coral has survived and actually seem to be doing better in the new tank. i say shockingly because most of the coral took some damage in removing from old tank rock. fish and coral went in on sunday and all seemed well, until sunday night just before bed. I notice a bulkhead with a drop of water, i watched it for a while and it was very slow, maybe 1 drop every 10-15 minutes, i was dead tired so i decided to just put a container under it and go to bed and address it in the morning. Monday morning and its leaking much much more. The container is overflowing and the bottom of the stand is soaked. I tighten the bulk head a little more and it cracks. FML. So i drain the box, thankfully have another bulkhead on hand. I replace it and no leak. its now been about 36 hours and no leaks. All fish and coral are good and i love the tank. It was utter H-E-double hockey sticks getting it done. Hands are tore up, shoulders and back hurt, ass hurts from sitting on the tile floor for so long, but...... i sit back now, basement in utter disarray, with a beer in my hand and watching the new setup and its worth it. My wife, who thinks im an idiot and doesnt understand the love i have for this, even came to me, dodging buckets and trashcans and hoses, and tools and towels....lots of wet towels and said she was proud of me, she said most people would have given up or hired somebody to do it after all the *&#@ i went through. It felt good. Come tomorrow it will be "clean this mess up" but for now, i enjoy

+1 for live plants.com

Thank you, good to hear from somebody that has done it

I don't have wrasse, but scooter blenny likes to burrow in at night. I also like the look of sand better

How much would you recommend

Im upgrading from a 75g to a 180g this weekend. The new tank is going in the same spot as the old tank. im using the same sump from the 75, also using powerheads and heaters and such. I dont have the luxury of setting up the new tank, letting everything settle and then transfer the livestock over. Im going to be putting livestock in rubbermaid containers while we move the old tank and set up the new one. My question is about the sandbed. My current tank has 1 1/2 - 2 inches of caribbsea aragonite, i didnt rinse it when i initially set up the tank, have vacuumed it a bunch and have had no issues with it. Most people have told me to just get rid of the old sand and replace it all together. Getting dry sand at this point is probably out of the question because i dont know anybody that carries it and if i order online, it wont be here before the weekend. So i will probably just buy the same live sand that i bought before. Alot of people say to rinse it, but if i rinse it, wont it kill all the living bacteria thats in it. I know it will help eliminate some cloudiness, but i can be careful filling the tank, as i was with the 75 and avoid a lot of that. if the sand is rinsed and all living stuff dies, wouldnt that cause a massive ammonia spike. being that i will have to put my livestock back in the tank after its set up, i cant have that. wouldnt it be better to not rinse the sand and have less die off. I have about 120 pounds of LR from my 75 that will be in the 180 and im using the 75 gallons or so of water from that tank to put in my new tank. in hopes of having a good amount of initial bacteria to eliminate the tank cycling again. Please give thoughts and recommendations as i am carefully trying to plan this out before i begin. The next few days are crammed with stuff i need to do to get ready. Im excited, but nervous. this is my first upgrade/transfer. Thank you in advance for your help

should i wait a week or add the tang the day after set up?

i currently have a 75 gallon and am about to upgrade to a 180 gallon. my livestock is as follows. bristletooth tomini tang- about 4 inches long coral beauty 2 occ clowns scooter blenny 1 firefish 1 scarlet cleaner shrimp 3 peppermint shrimp 1 sexy shrimp a few hermit crabs and various snails of multiple varieties 3 colonies of Zoas long polyp leather coral green sinulara Frogspawn palm cloves green mushrooms My question is, i know i want another tang along with a few anthias when i make the switch to the 180. I was thinking about adding the tang very soon after making the switch, like within the first week, in hopes of keeping peace between the other tang i currently have. And then adding the anthias a couple weeks later. Does this sound like the way to go or is there a better way?

I love my scooter blenny. Personality is awesome, very cool to watch, mine eats pellets all day. If your tank is mature enough and you have a decent pod population, you should be fine if yours doesn't take to pellets or other food. They aren't as picky as most mandarins, also, scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp, very colorful and fun, mine will actually clean my hand when I put it in

awesome, thank you. I now have joined

im trying to view the for sale section, its saying i dont have access. Im assuming i need to post x number of times before i gain access. Is that it or do i need to do something else