steveoutlaw

Alex - Calm down and just breathe......nice and relaxed. Ok, There is absolutely nothing wrong with overflows. I ran an amiracle overflow on my 55g and it did great. All you need is a tank for a sump (a 10g is only 10 bucks) and the overflow (amiracles run about $40.00 shipped) and a return pump. If you get an overflow you want to make sure you get the U-tube design because it never loses its' syphon. Now, once you get this stuff you can run your skimmer on the sump......but you need to install bubble baffles so none of the bubbles get to your return pump. And Viola - Your problem is solved. Let me know if you need any help with getting one together. Steve

Where ya been Erik? If this freakin weather ever warms up I want to get out for some golf!!

I have a 120 and have 2 250w MH's. I'm getting ready to add 2 96w VHO actinics but have had a clam in the tank and it has been doing fine.

I just want one of each of the things in his tank!!!!

All the research I did before I put my sump together said that you want raw (unskimmed) tank water going into the fuge. Reason being that pods and macroalgea consume the bad stuff in the raw water and put good stuff into the water. I have my 2 overflows converging into 1 pipe and I have a ball valve controlling flow to my fuge so I get about 10% of the raw water going into the fuge and the rest into the sump. I have my return pump in the middle chamber that both the fuge (on the left) and the sump/skimmer area both draining into the return pump chamber.

Wouldn't it be easier to have the overflow from the main tank "T" off into the prop tank? That way you can control the amount of flow into the prop tank with a ball valve or shut it off altogether. You would still have to have the prop tank higher than the sump so it could drain into the sump but it would just be an added loop in the overflow. This way your not killing the flow to your main tank by "T"ing off of the return.

My problem is that I haven't quite gotten the water level in my sump to stay the same. I have my skimmer set to skim dry but if the water level in my sump rises too much the skimmer gives me some wet skim. I don't have any problem with 1 days worth but 3 days worth will definately overflow the cup.......if the water level in my sump is too high. Thoughts?

Can I leave my skimmer off for 3 days while I'm out of town? I don't want the collection cup to overflow......that will just give my wife another thing to @$%#& about.

Do you still have that female true perc you want to get rid of? I'll trade you a torch frag for it if you're interested. Steve

That's awesome......I have 2 bulbs that need end caps. How much do you want for them? Are they for the T-12 size? Can I swing by and get them this weekend? Did you want to buy or trade for one of the frags from my torch? don't I ask a lot of questions? Steve

I just received my VHO order from Hellolights and like an idiot I forgot to order the endcaps. I got the endcap mounts, but no endcaps. Is there anywhere around here that carries them??

I'm just worried about the wood. I've got reflectors on the halides and will have reflectors on the VHO. I have a waterproof primer that I'm going to use and then put an external high gloss over that. Jeff - did you get that live rock?

I have reflectors for the halides and the actinics. I just wanted to paint the inside of the canopy while I had it off the tank to protect the wood........saltwater and wood don't go together too well.

The canopy that came with my tank is bare wood. My VHO actinics are arriving today and I'm going to want to install them soon. What is the best type of paint to use on the inside of a canopy? Also, how long do I need to let the paint dry before putting the canopy back on the tank? Thanks.

Everytime I try to climb up with the bigboys, there is a wife to slap me back down and remind me I'm lucky I even have a tank in the first place. I think I'll just stay down where I am.....it's safer that way!

Can you fit a 5g bucket under your tank? I have a 5g bucket with a pump operating on a float valve. I just fill it with RO/DI water every other day and it has been doing great.

Jeff, Check out the add in FS forum for live rock. Steve

Jeff, Aquatic world in Leesburg has some really good stuff usually. He's expensive (5.25 per lb) but it's got some good purple corraline on it. Other than that I'd look for someone who's selling an established system and try to buy some of theirs. Steve

Paul - sorry to hear about those pesky carpet anemones.......and two of them to boot! Wanna trade one for a nice sized torch frag???? :D Good luck with the tank. Sounds like you're well on your way. Post some pics when you get a chance. Steve

I wish I could help......but I'll be waiting for a fish order on Friday and working on Saturday. Let me know if it slips to another weekend.

I'm going to try my damdest but can make no promises.

I had looked at that some last week. I have a 20g tall that I'm going to use. With that I'm going to take some sand from my tank to seed the southdown I put in and use water from water changes in my show tank to start it off. The things I do need are lighting, powerheads, live rock and frags.......and eventually a skimmer.

Sounds like it could be HLLE. Do you have a ground probe in your tank? Also, what are you feeding him?

My wife is an elementary school teacher with a specialty science program and I'd like to put a tank together for her class. I'd like to do a 20 or 30 gallong reef tank that I'd like to get started now so it will be ready for the fall. If anyone would like to donate equipment, livestock, live rock or frags all will be appreciated. Also, If anyone has any ideas that would help this along they are welcome. thanks, Steve

Howard is bringing about 10 stalks of pulsing Xenia from me. One or 2 are for Lee Stearns and the rest is up for grabs. I would like to get frags of anything colorful for them. anybody who wants to trade see Howard.