Steve G

Does anyone (preferably who lives inside the beltway or in the MD burbs of DC) have a set of 3/4" loc-line pliers I can borrow? TIA!

Happy reefiversary. Do regular maintenance on things that get calcium deposits, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Unless of course you want a shiny new toy. Then tell your spouse that everyone's health is at risk unless this critical upgrade is made.

I need recommendations for a good contractor who is licensed to work in DC. I have architectural drawings and a city permit, but my usual contractor (a very good handyman) just told me he's not licensed. It's some pretty basic plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, and drywall, but the main thing I need is installation of a floor drain, which involves drilling out the slab and making a channel. The fish room is about 10x10 and I can supply drawings. I want someone who does good work, above board, to code. Thanks!

Hi, do you know what the quarantine protocol is at Tropical Lagoon (if they have one)? I'm wondering how we find out about other LFS QT protocols as well -- how long they keep the fish before making available to sell, what systems they use for QT, how much observation, what medications, etc.

I was out of the hobby for a while and when I got back in recently was checking out which technological advances I'd missed. One of the most wonderful improvements I found was those skimmers that have a squeegee you turn to clean out the gunk (fish poop) that accumulates on the sides of the skimmate collection cup. Is there a way to retrofit one of those on any skimmer? I know Avast has fancy electrical ones, but how would you fashion a simple one that will make one of my most hated maintenance steps less disgusting?

For what it's worth I'm pretty bad at plumbing and DIY in general and I installed an RO/DI and water mixing station. Well, not quite done with the water mixing station, but these are projects that might be more doable than you think. The jobs I would hire someone for are electrical (beyond little things like changing out a GFCI).

I assume we're not doing club meetings these days. Would there be interest in a video chat where experienced club members (maybe a panel of veterans) answer questions from fellow members who are trying to figure stuff out and want synchronous advice rather than message boards, youtube videos, and vendor perspectives? We could do themes, like plumbing, chemistry, filtration, lighting and coral growth, stocking, vendor experiences and product reviews. Would fun to have a video chat with members all sitting near their tanks.

I feel you. I lived in the U Street neighborhood for 18 years and felt physically disconnected, ironically being right in DC, from WAMAS because so many members are outside the beltway. I used to buy fish from other members or Roozen's but mostly online. I believe Roozens is closed now. I've been "dry" (no tanks) for about 8 years, just getting back in now, and I moved closer to the burbs -- Takoma DC -- but still not in suburban VA where you have more LFS choice. So there is Tropical Lagoon in Silver Spring. Not sure how convenient that is for you or if they are open during the pandemic. They've been around forever. Others include Wet Pets or you can google "local fish store near me". Good luck.

I've thought about a remote refugium but I'm fine with it being in one chamber in the sump sitting under the stand. There should be plenty of room. I have plans for most of the rest of the room. I want a work bench/desk, fridge/freezer, dehumidifer, and an elevated tank to use as QT. For example, the water-changing station will take up quite a bit of space. Here is a shot of it right now. I have a lot of plumbing to do still. That's my next project. I'm not very experienced at hard plumbing, but will try to follow all the online examples. I'm already starting to regret the types of fittings I've bought. hard to decide whether fittings should be threaded or slip, whether valves should be standard issue ball valves that Home Depot sells for $4 or fancy true union cepex ones that BRS sells for like $28 each. Also, I bought all 1" plumbing but now that feels like overkill but I don't know if it's worth trying to return dozens of parts to two or three different stores to switch to 3/4". Edited: I should be fine with 1" pipe. I just need to adapt the 3/4" pump outlet on the mag drive. Finally, I have a blueline 2000 and two mag 12 pumps. I was thinking maybe just use the two mags one for the return and one for the water station but not sure. Some say the mag drive should not be run externally (which is what I need for the water station). The blueline is probably overkill for the water station. It will sit about two feet away from the sump so head pressure is not a concern.

Updated sump design.

I do, but I suspect as my bioload grows I'll need a bigger one. Either way, I have a lot of vertical space. The stand is 39" tall so I'm not worried. As for the width, that's a good point. I will look up some specs of other popular skimmers to make sure I'm not limiting my options too much. Maybe I'll widen the chamber to 12" This is a good idea! Since I'm building a sump out of a eurobraced acrylic tank, I can probably drill two 1.5" holes in the bracing without compromising it. The third drain is for emergency so I won't need a sock or bracket. I'll takesome measurements to see how that can work. Edited: I see the sock brackets go lower down, closer to the outlet. Will see if I can buy or make one. Or at least make room for them. Good point. As usual, you have great advice. Thanks so much!

Welcome!

Next is installing baffles. I cut the acrylic pieces so there’s no turning back there but I haven’t decided on placement, which will determine chamber size. i have 4’ to work with side to side with 22” front to back (and also 22” high). I was thinking of this design. Please critique! 10” wide drain/skimmer chamber 12” high baffle 24” Wide refugium (Will have lots of sand) 3.75” bubble trap (Over-under-over) with 1.5” between baffles, each .25” acrylic attached with Weldon 16) 10.25” wide return chamber with float switch connected to external auto topoff reservoir

For the sump I’ve repurposed an acrylic reef ready tank. First step was to make it unreefready. Remove corner overflows, cap bulkheads and clean the whole mess. See if you can tell which is the before and which is the after picture! I love vinegar. It removes what my 9 year old daughter calls “coral vomit”.

Perfect. Thanks for the links!! Planning a 150g in wall project.

I'm still working on my reef tank build, but also planning a pond for my yard. Is there a resource like WAMAS but for ponds? I kept a tiny pond for about 18 years but it was very basic and now I have more space. Want to do my research and do it right. Thanks.

In case anyone reading this wants to know I ended up going to ABAC. it’s a guy with a small acrylic shop in north Rockville. He cut then pieces to size while I waited. Slightly cheaper than Home Depot and a lot easier.

Thanks, @Jon Lazar good advice. I'll go quarter inch and I guess just pay what HD or Lowes charge. I was assuming I could just score the acrylic and snap it off.

Sorry I should have prefaced with, "I went on the Home Depot website and started wondering if there are cheaper alternatives". I assume I don't need anything fancy, just rigid. I can probably go thinner than 1/4" but I was surprised at the cost.

Anybody have advice on where I should get acrylic? I have an acrylic 100g tank I'm converting to a sump and want to make some baffles. I assume acrylic to acrylic is better than glass and that I can figure out how to cut it and work with weldon. What thickness is good for a sump baffle? The dimensions will be 21" across by 10" or 11" high

I posted this on another board but I didn't much useful feedback. I am plumbing a water mixing station with two 55g drums. The system will feed a sump that is just a few horizontal feet away so I don't need a big pump. I have the following pumps lying around: Mag 7, Mag 9, and two Mag-12s. Can I use one of these? Which one? The manufacturer says don't run them externally but I'm wondering if I can anyway. So which pump should I use and should I plumb this with 3/4", 1", or some other dimension?

As you probably know I am already a fan of DSBs so I say go for it. It doesn't matter where you put the trim. I like to keep the sandbed visible (not covered by trim). First, you could change your mind and it would look weird (and things can shift around, especially if you have a lot of flow, and the floor of your reef could fall below the trim line). Second, the sandbed is "dark" because if you're blasting the tank with light, it will not get illuminated by anything but your room light, so people don't notice it. Third, if you do notice it, it's actually quite interesting to look at it, in my opinion. I love seeing the layers against the glass, worm trails, and other interesting evidence of life. It's like an ant farm.

Thanks for the comments, everyone! Looks like the voting is 7-6 for splitting, but the commenters like it how it is. Also, I don't run the site so I am not the one who would have to implement it. For now I will just scroll through all those pretty frag ads that I cannot act upon! (Tank still not set up).

Thanks Eric and ReefdUp, I will go with the clear back glass and try one of these add-ons. If anyone else has firsthand experience and has a recommendation (acrylic mounted on magnets, cling vinyl, or other) let me know! Steve

Advice needed! I am ordering a tank and one option is to have a black background. I am installing this as a fishroom corner tank, which essentially means it's like a lagoon tank, with front and one side visible from viewing room and the back viewable from the fish room. The other side will have the overflow. It occurred to me that sometimes Id like to see the tank from the fishroom side, not just over the top. Granted, I'd have to keep the back glass scraped to do this, but I'd be spending time back there. On the other hand, my wife doesn't want to see the fish room from the viewing room. Is there a decent option for a background that can placed there and removed as needed? I mean, I could tape something up, but I want it to be neat. This would be a 72" x 25" pane. Not sure if others have done this or seen a good solution. Thanks!