jenjen's upgrade to 180gal

Oh, and the new skimmer is supposed to arrive tomorrow - can't wait! I've dealt with a Super-Skimmer for the past year and am looking forward to something better!

UPS tried to deliver it yesterday but we weren't home, so I'm having it delivered to my office tomorrow. Hopefully it arrives safe & sound.

Also, the temp in the tank is 82 this evening. That's down 2 degrees, which is great - I'm hoping that fan over the sump is starting to work. I'll be happy if 82 is the top end of the temp going forward. But then I might not end up with my fish room afterall.

I think it's time to start brainstorming another excuse to take over the spare room.
 
I WAS READING SOMWHERE IN THE NEWBE FORUM THAT FLUCTUATION IN TEMP IS GOOD . IT MAKES THE A LITTLE MORE AMMUNE , I WAS THINKING 78 TO 82 MAYBE GOOD FOR YOU . SET THE FAN ON A TIMER TO BE ON DURING THE DAY WHEN YOU ARE AT WORK SHUT OFF AROUND 8 OR 9 PM FOR THOSE LONG NORTHWEST DAYS OF SUMMER . SHUT OFF IN THE EVENING WHEN ITS COOLER.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14880525#post14880525 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by robot2222
what kind of skimmer did you order?
Click to expand...

I ordered a Vertex 280. My only worry is I'm not certain it will fit under my tank - it's going to be within an inch or two. Alternately I may end up trying to figure out how to mod the collection cup to make it a little shorter.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14880552#post14880552 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by robot2222
I WAS READING SOMWHERE IN THE NEWBE FORUM THAT FLUCTUATION IN TEMP IS GOOD . IT MAKES THE A LITTLE MORE AMMUNE , I WAS THINKING 78 TO 82 MAYBE GOOD FOR YOU . SET THE FAN ON A TIMER TO BE ON DURING THE DAY WHEN YOU ARE AT WORK SHUT OFF AROUND 8 OR 9 PM FOR THOSE LONG NORTHWEST DAYS OF SUMMER . SHUT OFF IN THE EVENING WHEN ITS COOLER.
Click to expand...

The 78-82 doesn't worry me, but the 84 without a heater is a bit troublesome. It isn't at all warm outside right now, so if the tank is at the peak temp that I want it at right now I'm not sure I'll be able to keep it cool enough in the summer - which just seems rediculous given that I do NOT live in a warm climate.

Anyway, I'm going to live with the temp for now as long as it doesn't go any higher. The fan over the sump seems to have helped by a couple of degrees. We'll deal with cooling the tank down more if we need to once summer gets here.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14880568#post14880568 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PRDubois
What will you do with all the time that you are not adjusting the super skimmer?
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:lol: How true!!! Maybe I'll be able to manage to clean the glass more often now!

You know the thing that really burns me is I bought everything brand new from one store when I first set up my tank. I didn't cheap out on anything, went with all the recommendations from the lfs & upgraded a few of his suggestions. I spent THOUSANDS of dollars in his store, and he even commented a few times how it must be nice to not be worried about budget. My comment back was just that I don't like buying things twice, so I'd rather spend my money right and get the setup I want the first time around.

I can not believe the guy didn't at least suggest a different skimmer. Ahh well, live and learn. I do before research every single purchase now (I know, I know - what a concept!).
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14883094#post14883094 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jenjen

I do before research every single purchase now
Click to expand...

Yikes, there's some good grammar right there! That's what I get for being on here during the work day I guess.
 
what you can do to cool off your tank is buy fans and install on each end of the canopy . so the air will be blowing on top of the water . the only down side is evaporation. The fans are 4or 5 inches wide the fan mounts on the inside of the canopy and there is a trim piece on the outside it looks good. thats what I have . Iwas going to use this first before the chiller so Ican go green and save some electrical. Icant vouch for them yet because they are not installed yet but on marine depot icecap brand and there is another . I have the other and the are variable speed so as it gets hotter they blow harder. That sucks on your skimmer make them return it .
 
HOLY WOW... well I got the new skimmer today and it is GIGANTIC! I do have the measurements from the website, and the unit matches the measurements, I just didn't visualize how big it would be.

Not quite sure how I'm going to fit it into the sump. Technically I think it will clear by about an inch on all sides, but one plumbing line is in the way & will need to move, and I'll only have 1.5 inches at the top to get the skimmer cup off.

Going to have to give this some thought before I install it. I'm thinking I might need a slightly larger sump to fit it a bit more easily, though that will still leave me with the height problem.

I'll post some pics later on, once we figure out what we're going to do. On the upside, I finally got to remove the 'Super Skimmer' once and for all!
 
Wow, well the new skimmer is in... it FIT!!!

My fiance had to move one of the plumbing lines, and had to move the baffles, but it's in and actually skimming!

Skimmer_1.jpg


This weekend will be spent replacing the baffles & getting everything re-fitted into the sump, but for now we have a skimmer. Very exciting.

I have to say, I cannot believe how giant this skimmer is. And it actually 'feels' well made which is a pleasant change from the Super-Skimmer. So far I'm happy with the skimmer choice.

Oh, and as you can see it isn't too tall & I didn't have to mod the skimmer cup afterall. :p
 
The skimmer is fantastic - it's already collected 1/2 inch of icky stuff and we don't even have the water level stabilized yet! Plus the collection cup is huge, so I can't imagine I'll have to empty/clean it nearly as often as with the other skimmer.

I bet it'll smell much MUCH worse when I do have to empty it though!

QT is ready to go, so we're off to J&L tomorrow, hopefully to get one of the new fish and maybe a few corals if we're lucky.
 
The skimmer is fantastic - it's already collected 1/2 inch of icky stuff and we don't even have the water level stabilized yet! Plus the collection cup is huge, so I can't imagine I'll have to empty/clean it nearly as often as with the other skimmer.

I bet it'll smell much MUCH worse when I do have to empty it though!

QT is ready to go, so we're off to J&L tomorrow, hopefully to get one of the new fish and maybe a few corals if we're lucky.
 
Well, it feels like we're moving along quickly but I think it's just steady progress. I tested the water in both QT & DT today and the levels are the same as they've been - most importantly, ammonia is 0 in both thanks, and nitrate is 0 in QT & 10 in DT. Things are going well.

I got a chocolate tang, who is currently gracing the 1/2 full 90gal QT. He is a beautiful fish, I can't wait to add him to the DT. He's about the same size as my Kole, so hopefully will be able to hold his own. He'll be in QT for 3 or 4 weeks.

I also have on hold an Atlantic Blue Tang. He only arrived at the store yesterday, so I'll give him a day or two to see how he settles in before I bring him home. Assuming I get him, I'll divide the QT tank with eggcrate and put them both in there. I do have a hospital tank if need be which I can move a sick fish into for treatment.

Also picked up 2 cleaner shrimp. Still deciding what else to add to the CUC.

Pics will likely be posted tomorrow - just gonna let the new guy settle in tonight.
 
Thanks! What cuc did you end up with?

I love hermits and am on the lookout for a couple of large electric blue's. I have one conch but not sure it'll be able to keep the larger sandbed clean enough. I'm giving it a month before I add anyone else.

I have quite a few nassarius snails & mini hermit crabs who managed to make it over from the 90gal as well as 3 turbo snails.

Funny, I had 2 fire shrimp & added 2 cleaner shrimp yesterday. I have two rock piles & I added the new shrimp to the other pile. This morning they're all over on the rocks where the fire shrimp live. Not sure, but guessing the base rock isn't desirable living quarters yet.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14900337#post14900337 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by H.Veras
hey jenjen q u put some pictures up from you QT? thx
Click to expand...

Sorry man, my fiance has our camera at his work (we're sharing one camera, since mine got stolen) so I couldn't get pics up. I'm away on a business trip now until Friday, but I'll post pics then.

For QT I just have a standard 20gal with the regular canopy & flourescent light it came with. I got a small HOB filter, a little heater, and some airstones. I keep a small bag of filter media in my sump of my main tank, which I just transfer into the QT when it's in use. I also usually throw in a piece or two of live rock from my fuge, but if you do this keep in mind you'll want to remove the rock if you have to treat the fish. And I put in a few pieces of PVC pipe for the fish to hide in.

Hope this helps. QT really is a very straight forward setup.
 
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