Hey guys i have been MIA for the last few months, i have almost completed an entire kitchen and family room remodel. About 5 months in the making. It came out pretty kickin.
So now that the house project is almost done i have been focused on my tank again. I want to change a few items and want to know opinions and thoughts.
1. I need to replace my MH 250 SE bulb, about a year old. I was thinking of going with the XM 250 SE 15K. I'd like a bit more growth and it is cost effective. Anyone use this bulb? Any others you recommend? I have a radium now and did like the color but always looking to change things up
2. I finally hooked up my dosing pumps a few months ago and things were going fine for a while, then the ALK got stuck on some how. I have the BRS doser and the RK2 showed no power to the ALK doser but it still kept running and it was not a siphon. Anyone had this issue before? I am going to call BRS and ask to exchange but it is close to a year i have had it. but only used 2-3 months. I am thinking of switching to Cal reactor just seems easier? What do you guys think? Do you like cal reactors or 2 part better? I still do not have that many SPS but i have about 220 gallons.
3. I have a huge....skimmer. PMXL2 the thing is 3 feet tall and rated for 700 gallons. It works great but it uses a GenX-55 to run and it a really loud. I was thinking of switching it out for a Reef Octopus extreme 250. Quitter, less watts and less room. What do you think?
4. Our house is a 2/1 so space is at a premium. The skimmer and sump cabinet with chiller, fuge supplies take up a lot of room in one of the bedrooms. I plan to move it all to under the house where it will be cooler in summer and in an enclosed area in the garage under the house. I would gain a lot of space and not hear any of the equipment running. That will make the wife happy. With that said i would have to go down to the garage every time i want to adjust things and i can not see the tank from where all the equipment would be located. I do not have access from the house to the garage i have to walk out the front door and open the garage, go in the enclosed area to access the sump and equipment. I'd have to figure out how to make all the electrical have longer runs, i guess alot of extension cords.....
5. I still think my biggest issue with growth is being consistent with water quality, between cal , alk and mag I still do not feel very comfortable. I've been in this hobby for almost 1 and 1/2 years! jeepers
6. In the mean time of trying to figure out the ALK and CAL with the BRS doser my PH probe went wacky and i thought i had high PH, it was gradually moving up. So i changed to recipe two BRS to lower the PH. Well when some things started to look bad i decided to check the PH with a test kit and sure enough it was 7.8 -7.9 at end of the day. So i replaced the PH probe and now i am bringing the PH back up slowly. Things are starting to improve again.
7. I'd like to add one more rock feature and a few more fish. I still need to post pics of my tank, heck it has been running almost a year and i only have a dead build thread showing the empty tank. I do have all the pics it is just making the time to post.
8. I got a few scratched from sand particles, anyways to buff them out of the glass with water still in the tank, the scratches are at the top of the tank.
9. Also i am going to donate a few frags back tot eh clud of some items that i won a long time ago. I was an idiot and put 2 sps like right next to each other and now they are touching and "fighting" mine as well frag it for someone else. Don't ask me the name or I'll just make something up. haha it is purple blue.
Anyways I'll make my best effort to be at the next meeting to see all you guys and help Bob out on his tank. I always liked rimless, i wish they made a bow front rimless.
excuse the long post, had a bit of stuff to get out! haha
So now that the house project is almost done i have been focused on my tank again. I want to change a few items and want to know opinions and thoughts.
1. I need to replace my MH 250 SE bulb, about a year old. I was thinking of going with the XM 250 SE 15K. I'd like a bit more growth and it is cost effective. Anyone use this bulb? Any others you recommend? I have a radium now and did like the color but always looking to change things up
2. I finally hooked up my dosing pumps a few months ago and things were going fine for a while, then the ALK got stuck on some how. I have the BRS doser and the RK2 showed no power to the ALK doser but it still kept running and it was not a siphon. Anyone had this issue before? I am going to call BRS and ask to exchange but it is close to a year i have had it. but only used 2-3 months. I am thinking of switching to Cal reactor just seems easier? What do you guys think? Do you like cal reactors or 2 part better? I still do not have that many SPS but i have about 220 gallons.
3. I have a huge....skimmer. PMXL2 the thing is 3 feet tall and rated for 700 gallons. It works great but it uses a GenX-55 to run and it a really loud. I was thinking of switching it out for a Reef Octopus extreme 250. Quitter, less watts and less room. What do you think?
4. Our house is a 2/1 so space is at a premium. The skimmer and sump cabinet with chiller, fuge supplies take up a lot of room in one of the bedrooms. I plan to move it all to under the house where it will be cooler in summer and in an enclosed area in the garage under the house. I would gain a lot of space and not hear any of the equipment running. That will make the wife happy. With that said i would have to go down to the garage every time i want to adjust things and i can not see the tank from where all the equipment would be located. I do not have access from the house to the garage i have to walk out the front door and open the garage, go in the enclosed area to access the sump and equipment. I'd have to figure out how to make all the electrical have longer runs, i guess alot of extension cords.....
5. I still think my biggest issue with growth is being consistent with water quality, between cal , alk and mag I still do not feel very comfortable. I've been in this hobby for almost 1 and 1/2 years! jeepers
6. In the mean time of trying to figure out the ALK and CAL with the BRS doser my PH probe went wacky and i thought i had high PH, it was gradually moving up. So i changed to recipe two BRS to lower the PH. Well when some things started to look bad i decided to check the PH with a test kit and sure enough it was 7.8 -7.9 at end of the day. So i replaced the PH probe and now i am bringing the PH back up slowly. Things are starting to improve again.
7. I'd like to add one more rock feature and a few more fish. I still need to post pics of my tank, heck it has been running almost a year and i only have a dead build thread showing the empty tank. I do have all the pics it is just making the time to post.
8. I got a few scratched from sand particles, anyways to buff them out of the glass with water still in the tank, the scratches are at the top of the tank.
9. Also i am going to donate a few frags back tot eh clud of some items that i won a long time ago. I was an idiot and put 2 sps like right next to each other and now they are touching and "fighting" mine as well frag it for someone else. Don't ask me the name or I'll just make something up. haha it is purple blue.
Anyways I'll make my best effort to be at the next meeting to see all you guys and help Bob out on his tank. I always liked rimless, i wish they made a bow front rimless.
excuse the long post, had a bit of stuff to get out! haha
