Hey,
So first of all hey everyone, my name is Roi and i'm just starting with the reef hobby, I previously have kept a small fish pond and I currently have a 100 liter planted tank and a 20 liter planted shrimp tank.
I've been dabbling with the idea of starting a reef tank for a few weeks now, have been consuming huge amounts of content on youtube and i think I have enough to start off for...
Anyway, I didn't think I could start a reef tank right now due to some budget restrictions (aka: having a wife), but about 3 days ago I stumbled upon a guy who's selling a pretty large package for not a lot of money, It was a 300 liter tank (1.4 meter) about a 100 liter sump, a steel stand, and a lot of equipment like a protein skimmer, a return pump, a wave maker, about 50kg of dried out live rock and some other stuff... all that for $250.
So i jumped on the opportunity and bought the whole thing from him and started working on my reef tank, here are some pictures of what i managed to set up so far...
(keep in mind water movement in the sump is right to left)
So the stand was a total mess, full of salt and rust. I cleaned it with a metal brush over and over and painted it with a paint compressor.
Then I re-partitioned my sump, when i bought it it was divided very weird, there were 4 compartments, the first one was setup for a diagonal sponge, the 3rd was a bio balls shower, and i just didn't like how it was set up, so i just removed the partitions and added them as i wanted, basically the first chamber (to the right) gets the water from the overflow and has a skimmer in it, then a small bubble trap, then the refugium (or just a settling chamber, haven't decided yet...) then the chamber for the return line.
So thanks for reading and here's what i need:
My first question (the reason i'm here...) is that i'm not sure if i can use the protein skimmer i got, i really don't understand how to use it and if it will be ok. like, where is the water coming in and out? where is the air coming from? i have no idea...
So can i use it? How do i use it? should i just get a new one?
Also i wanted to get some general feedback on my current setup, any help will be highly appreciated and will probably save me a lot of time/money...
Thanks a lot!
So first of all hey everyone, my name is Roi and i'm just starting with the reef hobby, I previously have kept a small fish pond and I currently have a 100 liter planted tank and a 20 liter planted shrimp tank.
I've been dabbling with the idea of starting a reef tank for a few weeks now, have been consuming huge amounts of content on youtube and i think I have enough to start off for...
Anyway, I didn't think I could start a reef tank right now due to some budget restrictions (aka: having a wife), but about 3 days ago I stumbled upon a guy who's selling a pretty large package for not a lot of money, It was a 300 liter tank (1.4 meter) about a 100 liter sump, a steel stand, and a lot of equipment like a protein skimmer, a return pump, a wave maker, about 50kg of dried out live rock and some other stuff... all that for $250.
So i jumped on the opportunity and bought the whole thing from him and started working on my reef tank, here are some pictures of what i managed to set up so far...
(keep in mind water movement in the sump is right to left)
So the stand was a total mess, full of salt and rust. I cleaned it with a metal brush over and over and painted it with a paint compressor.
Then I re-partitioned my sump, when i bought it it was divided very weird, there were 4 compartments, the first one was setup for a diagonal sponge, the 3rd was a bio balls shower, and i just didn't like how it was set up, so i just removed the partitions and added them as i wanted, basically the first chamber (to the right) gets the water from the overflow and has a skimmer in it, then a small bubble trap, then the refugium (or just a settling chamber, haven't decided yet...) then the chamber for the return line.
So thanks for reading and here's what i need:
My first question (the reason i'm here...) is that i'm not sure if i can use the protein skimmer i got, i really don't understand how to use it and if it will be ok. like, where is the water coming in and out? where is the air coming from? i have no idea...
So can i use it? How do i use it? should i just get a new one?
Also i wanted to get some general feedback on my current setup, any help will be highly appreciated and will probably save me a lot of time/money...
Thanks a lot!
