180 gal reef build

[reefermad619]

I don't think swc makes an external skimmer. If you can fit it, check out the extreme 250. It's rated for a heavy load at 315 gallons.

 

[Musbtr1pin]

Anyone have experience with the SWC XTREME 230 Cone Protein Skimmer? It has a 200 Gal Heavy Bioload... Or is that too small and I should just go with the 250? Is cone better than the standard straight line?

 

[Musbtr1pin]

What do you all use for light timers... I found one at lowes for 20 bucks... Too good to be true, as always... POS doesn't even work ha.! I need 4 plug digital timer power strip
, options???

 

[jkopp36]

What do you all use for light timers... I found one at lowes for 20 bucks... Too good to be true, as always... POS doesn't even work ha.! I need 4 plug digital timer power strip
, options???

Just get a Reefkeeper Lite and you'll have a nice temp sensor too.

 

[Musbtr1pin]

Just get a Reefkeeper Lite and you'll have a nice temp sensor too.

Do you have experience with the Reefkeeper Lite??? What should I do for a tank lid???? I need a tank lid for my snowflake eels...

 

[Musbtr1pin]

I am totally liking what I am viewing so far The Reefkeeper looks pretty sweet... This is exactly what I was looking for....

Only problem is that my lights are ran by 3 lines... Two for the 3 MH Bulbs... (Two Ballasts) and 1 for the Actinics... With my LED Night lighting I have 1 plug..

Total of 4 plugs JUST for lighting... That's pretty much all I need right? Or do I need more options of controlling so I can utilize the Koralia 1400 evo pumps to use in the controller to make waves?

 

[Musbtr1pin]

I am thinking about purchasing a chiller as well... My temp goes from 76 during day time to 72 at night.... What do you all think?

 

[Musbtr1pin]

Heaters and my Refugium

Heaters and my Refugium

Okay, so my heating issue was those stupid Marineland Stealth heater pos... I ordered two Finnex 300W heating sticks with digital controllers... PERFECT!!!

Now, next order is my refugium. What should I keep in my fuge as far as plants.. Besides Chaeto... That is a must... But what about other plants??? Trees???

 

[Musbtr1pin]

Tank update

Tank update

So I went back to menards and got some more PVC 4'' 90 Deg fittings.. I rearranged the rock and split the two pipes to give my eels there own separate chill zones.... Here is some pics from the move...

Water is cloudy from stirring up the sand and other sediment on the rock. I have put my micron filters in there as well.. Water should clear up withing 24 hours...

Last picture is from my deer that I shot during shotgun season 9 point scoring 145''

 

[reefermad619]

I have the reef keeper lite and love it. For you I would think you'd need at least 1 set of expansion sockets. It's called a PC4 and gives you another 4 power outlets. The cool thing abou the RKL is that you can hookup a set of fans to come on if your tank goes above a certain temp. I would plug the lights, heater, and a fan into to system. It will turn off lights and turn on fans if tank gets to hot. It's actually pretty cheap when you think about all the stuff it can do.

 

[Musbtr1pin]

Okay so my buddy swears by the Apex.... You can control your tank from online and web browsers, as well as from a iPhone application so you can control on fly... It also has a setting for WIRELESS Vortex power heads... Yea their like 500 ea but HOLY CUSTOMIZATION. !

 

[Musbtr1pin]

Tank Update

Tank Update

Ammonia is measuring 1.0 ppm right now, and rising daily.. Cycle is starting to take place, now time for some picture updates..

I recently moved my rock around and changed some PVC around, as well as added some more 90 deg elbows, to give me eels their own separate place to relax... Here you go!

Sump pictures show the acrylic glass that I cut out to fit for a lid in my sump to minimize splashing and to protect my electrical junction boxes..

 

[Musbtr1pin]

What up guys, it's been a while since I last updated... I'm on the Golf team in college, and we have a TON of meets this month... Cycle is going well..

Ammonia is .50 ppm... It was 1.0 ppm a few days ago...
nitrites 0
Trates 0

Lot's of brown algae growing on my rock and sand, away we grow!!!! I still need a skimmer tho, and i'm going with a EXTERNAL, unless you can find one with a 12 x 12 footprint...?

 

[reefermad619]

http://www.aquacave.com/reef-octopus-dnwb-200-br-recirculating-protein-br-skimmer-2592.html

 

[killerchimp88]

hello, my name is Alex and i bought a 90 gallon tank from a guy on craigslist...it has about 80 pounds of live rock a canister filter rated for up to 100 gallons, anda hang on back eshopps psk-100 hang on back protein skimmer as filtration. it has three wavemakers for circulation inside.....the fish that came with it are a porcupine puffer, a black bird wrasse, a full grown snowflake eel, a medium sized niger trigger, and a medium sized fox face....it has about 10 little black snails, 7 coned shaped snails, 3 hermit crabs, and a decorator crab... am i ok with these many fish? do i have to get rid of any? thank you in advance.

 

[Musbtr1pin]

hello, my name is Alex and i bought a 90 gallon tank from a guy on craigslist...it has about 80 pounds of live rock a canister filter rated for up to 100 gallons, anda hang on back eshopps psk-100 hang on back protein skimmer as filtration. it has three wavemakers for circulation inside.....the fish that came with it are a porcupine puffer, a black bird wrasse, a full grown snowflake eel, a medium sized niger trigger, and a medium sized fox face....it has about 10 little black snails, 7 coned shaped snails, 3 hermit crabs, and a decorator crab... am i ok with these many fish? do i have to get rid of any? thank you in advance.

I'm not a pro here when it comes to inhabitants, but you I believe from my experience, that you should be just fine... I would be interested in what others think as well.. As far as your other items, I would ditch the canister filter and incorporate a sump into your 90 gal, perhaps a 30 would be just fine...

Your protein skimmer as well, if you go a sump route, I would ditch as well.. In sump skimmers work wonders compared to those Hang on the Back Skimmers...

How long have they been in the same tank together??

 

[killerchimp88]

thank you for your advise musbtr1pin, theyve been in the same tank for about 3 months now and they dont bother each other....i found the same psk 100 for the sump would that work? couldn't i just keep the canister filter on plus the sump with protein skimmer in it?.....also how do i post my own thread i havent been able to figure that out. thank you once again

 

[Flagswipe]

Nice Whitetail !
You can throw knives at Deer and wild turkeys in my backyard !

 

[Musbtr1pin]

Haha Thanks bro... I missed 2 deer on film this year during shotgun from 35 yards... both are believed to score 165 +++ What a heart breaker!!!!

Those canister filters chimp, hold a lot of bacteria if not changed and cleaned regularly. Your sump alone would be just fine without a canister filter. I am assuming you are running carbon through that canister? If you are, and unless you have ammonia problems, and if you do, chances are you rushed your cycle... Then I would ditch the carbon and canister filter... Your life rock is enough of a biological filter to aid in filtering... You can use filter pads in your sump on the intake side to aid in filtering the big chunks, but make sure you CLEAN OFTEN!!!

Happy reefing bro, sorry it took so long, I have had collegiate golf meets for the last month, and I have nationals in Alabama next month!

 

[Musbtr1pin]

Pro-series 3000X Octopus Protein Skimmer... Does anyone have any experience with these monsters? This is the skimmer I am leaning towards right now..??

My tank is just finishing processing the ammonia, with virtual no ppm... Trites are steadily dropping and the Nitrates are remaining about 10 ppm... All is good... I am ready for my skimmer now, so help help help!!!:beer: