Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[mhucasey]

Getting the right skimmer makes everything else a lot easier. The skimmer I am using is huge - a Reef octopus Diablo DC200 EXT. The cup is 8 inches in diameter, and it pulls out so much gunk its unreal. This is less than one day's worth of liquid skimmate, and two days since the cup was cleaned:

Well. That was nasty.

How about some Puppy pictures?!

Buddy

Lily

Dinky

Woody

 

[cugly]

Cool dogs buddy.

 

[Reefvet]

I think I got a batch of cyanide caught fish from the not so good LFS:furious:

Sad but true, fish are still caught using cyanide is some parts of the world. If you're buying a fish for $4 at your LFS the person who caught it got a nickel for it. They also ship chromis packed dozens to a box.

I was just at the LFS in Santa Barbara and they had a shipment of chromis from Quality Marine all die in 24 hours. QM is supposed to be one of the better wholesalers but Chromis are not a high profit item so it's about moving them through to the retailer.

Cyano is another one of those facts of life. It'll go away in time.

 

[Reefvet]

Hey what happened with the idea of using the Rusco spin-down sand separator ?

I got the impression you were going to set up a way to siphon directly into the that for tank cleaning. Or did I misunderstand your plan for that ?

 

[reefmutt]

You know you are a reef a holic when even the dog pics are bathed in a blue glow...
Very cute, by the way... I miss my reefmutt..

 

[biggles]

Stop buying lamo fish like chromis please Matt, they're lemmings.......

That skimmer is doing a great job by the looks of the pic. I love my skimmer as it never plays up despite hardly being cleaned. The pups look awesome - i'll take frags of all four please mate :beer:

 

[mhucasey]

Cool dogs buddy.

You know you are a reef a holic when even the dog pics are bathed in a blue glow...
Very cute, by the way... I miss my reefmutt..

Thanks guys, I'm just about as obsessed with the dogs as I am the tank. Our kids are getting older now so these pups are just the thing to fill the gap for momma, and they give me a perfect excuse to be a homebody
Aww Matt Is another ReefMutt in the future for you?

 

[Wrangy]

Just caught up on your thread mate and you have a really really nice tank going on there and some cute pups!!
It's good to hear that your cyano issues are finally starting to sort themselves out and the skimmer is looking beast as!

 

[mhucasey]

Sad but true, fish are still caught using cyanide is some parts of the world. If you're buying a fish for $4 at your LFS the person who caught it got a nickel for it. They also ship chromis packed dozens to a box.

I was just at the LFS in Santa Barbara and they had a shipment of chromis from Quality Marine all die in 24 hours. QM is supposed to be one of the better wholesalers but Chromis are not a high profit item so it's about moving them through to the retailer.

Cyano is another one of those facts of life. It'll go away in time.

Weird - the good LFS gets their fish from there and they get some pretty expensive fish. They swear by QM as being the best by far...

Hey what happened with the idea of using the Rusco spin-down sand separator ?

I got the impression you were going to set up a way to siphon directly into the that for tank cleaning. Or did I misunderstand your plan for that ?

No, its just not effective on its own. I have tried modifying it several ways and the stuff in the water is just too light for the cyclonic action to work. It was plumbed into the permanent siphon line that I made though, so ill leave it as-is.

Originally I had this loop pulling water from the sump, running it through the cyclone, then back to a filter sock. I had the inlet of the pump teed off with a second inlet line set up with the siphon hose. I can then open the second inlet line and siphon crud up from the tank, but the sock is really where the majority of the particulates collect.

I was leaving the loop running all the time to constantly filter the water but I turned off the constant loop about a week and a half ago. I can switch it on and use it to siphon now, and the sock is above the water line in the sump, so what gets caught there doesn't continually break down back into the water.

 

[mhucasey]

Stop buying lamo fish like chromis please Matt, they're lemmings.......

That skimmer is doing a great job by the looks of the pic. I love my skimmer as it never plays up despite hardly being cleaned. The pups look awesome - i'll take frags of all four please mate :beer:

I'm waiting for reef-a-palooza, last time I got Anthias for 15 bucks each there

The skimmer keeps going no matter what, I'm very happy with it. The inside of the neck is pretty big and I've had a half an inch of crud form on the inside of the skimmer over a week or two when skimming drier.
Frags of pups....I think they like to frag all over the yard....I don't think you want any of those:strange:

 

[reefwiser]

Got to love the dogs.

 

[cFloor]

Good luck beating the cyano, seems like you're doing all the right things. Last time I had it, I did exactly what you did and just let it ran it's course. Other than that, tanks are looking great. Cool dogs too, my fiancé has been pushing for a 3rd dog for a while now, we shall see...

 

[mhucasey]

Got to love the dogs.

Yep, I love me some Dachshunds!

 

[mhucasey]

Good luck beating the cyano, seems like you're doing all the right things. Last time I had it, I did exactly what you did and just let it ran it's course. Other than that, tanks are looking great. Cool dogs too, my fiancé has been pushing for a 3rd dog for a while now, we shall see...

I agree, the Cyano is going away, patience is paying off there

We only stopped at 4 dogs because we can each carry two when going to bed:lolspin:

 

[mhucasey]

Just caught up on your thread mate and you have a really really nice tank going on there and some cute pups!!
It's good to hear that your cyano issues are finally starting to sort themselves out and the skimmer is looking beast as!

Thanks very much! Yep that skimmer wouldn't fit under most tanks, it takes up so much room and is so tall, 27" for the skimmer alone! A beast is the right word for it!

 

[reefmutt]

I agree, the Cyano is going away, patience is paying off there

We only stopped at 4 dogs because we can each carry two when going to bed:lolspin:

That's funny! Four dogs in bed with you guys. Clearly, you are a dog a holic as well!
It's been 1 1/2 years since I put Tinley, our 18 year old terrier mix, down.. Was a very sad and difficult day for me. She was my only dog.. We have been thinking about getting another and probably will eventually. We have 10 and 7 year olds kids right now so time is a bit limited but I keep thinking about a dog and the kids keep asking...... It'll happen.. Once they are gone, it's amazing how quickly the time that was allocated to caring for the dog vanishes. You wonder how you did it..

 

[mhucasey]

That's funny! Four dogs in bed with you guys. Clearly, you are a dog a holic as well!
It's been 1 1/2 years since I put Tinley, our 18 year old terrier mix, down.. Was a very sad and difficult day for me. She was my only dog.. We have been thinking about getting another and probably will eventually. We have 10 and 7 year olds kids right now so time is a bit limited but I keep thinking about a dog and the kids keep asking...... It'll happen.. Once they are gone, it's amazing how quickly the time that was allocated to caring for the dog vanishes. You wonder how you did it..

I bet you have to clean up crumbs off the floor now too
I grew up with dogs and couldn't have them for a long time because my ex was allergic. I didn't realize how much I missed them!

 

[swk]

I don't know how people raise children without dogs...

 

[mhucasey]

I don't know how people raise children without dogs...

Well said

 

[reefmutt]

I bet you have to clean up crumbs off the floor now too
I grew up with dogs and couldn't have them for a long time because my ex was allergic. I didn't realize how much I missed them!

Ha! So true about the crumbs. I never realized how slovenly my kids were until my dog died.
In Quebec, where I live, there is an odd and unexplained social phenomena that takes place every July 1st. It's called moving day.
No one can come up with an answer as to why, over the years, everybody moves on the same day, here.
Movers charge twice as much on this day, you can't find a truck anywhere..
Unfortunately, because many apartments have 'no pets' clauses, it is also pet abandonment day. The spca usually base about 600 animals on average in its care but after July 1st, that number triples!
It's quite disgusting, really..
Anyways, it may be a good time to look for a new dog.....