My fish needed a longer tank - all 130" of it - the build

jmccown said:
It says $780 when I click on the link.
Click to expand...

I have one of these babies. Quality of the body sucks! Very difficult to clean as hardly anything comes apart. Check out the Vertex BK Alpha Cones the quality is ten times better. Built in Germany for almost the same price as one mentioned previously...
 
jmccown said:
It says $780 when I click on the link.
Click to expand...

And you'd be right! It's the modle down that is the lesser price ... sorry.

Mike I think SWC is to Cone skimmers what ASM was to EuroReef and such a few years back. Cheaper body, but it does work. I have an ASM G4X that with a few mods really kicks but for cheap. Makes a great back up skimmer. The Vertex skimmer are nice, the ATB 1050 is the Cone I'd really like if I were to get one ... one day ... one day.
 
looking good, cant wait to see more progress, i am actually getting ready to start the thread for my new baby right now and try to post some pics tonight or tomorrow, you wont beleive the progress i ve done since you picked that baby up. lol, good i already miss it so much, lol, at least she is in good hands. ill be tagging along, and probably posting some pics to close out this tanks old thread.
 
Bax said:
And you'd be right! It's the modle down that is the lesser price ... sorry.

Mike I think SWC is to Cone skimmers what ASM was to EuroReef and such a few years back. Cheaper body, but it does work. I have an ASM G4X that with a few mods really kicks but for cheap. Makes a great back up skimmer. The Vertex skimmer are nice, the ATB 1050 is the Cone I'd really like if I were to get one ... one day ... one day.
Click to expand...

Check out the prices. SWC compared to Vertex Alpha cone. Almost the same but quality does not compare. Enough said. Don't want to high jack this thread :)
 
Awesome tank. Great fish selection. I wish there was more in this section of large FOWLR tanks. Good luck with the switch.
 
I would also look at he ATB 1050.. Think it is 22" tall and I'm planning on putting one under a 26" tall stand also... Check out Reef Specialty they had a sale going on lately.. Bought mine last week...
 
Given your heavy bioload (Cause you know you're going to add more fish and those to vlamingii U-Boats are poop factories) If you rule out any skimmer not rated for 400 gallons or more, plus your hight restriction of 25" and here's the cones I found on CA and PA's sites just for some comparison.

Skimmer Price Mfg Rating Dims Power Usage

SWC 250A1 Xtreme List $1365
Sale $780 Heavy 400g 18x15x24 <70watts

SWC 2502S Xtreme List $1005
Sale $748 Heavy 400g 11.5x16.5x240 50watts

ATB Econo 1050 List $1299
Sale $1050 480g 14x16.5x22 42watts

Vertex VX-PS A250 List $1199 450g 11.8x16.5x24.5 38watts

Vertex VX-PS A200 List $899 75-300g 13.75x8.75x23 38watts


Pound for pound these compact cones are all awesome skimmers. And you can't beat the power consumption to load rating. I oogled the ABT and Vertex modles at MACNA and they are really well built, beautiful workmanship. But budgets are budgets.
 
OK made the switch last night. Was working well past midnight to get everything moved over. Everything was going great except for two issues:

1) broke my 75g sump euro brace on top (but can easily be fixed). Had to use a 45g rubbermaid tote as a temporary sump
2)took me over an hour to find my red coris wrasse digging through the sand.

On the skimmer I decided to go with the SWC 300a mainly because I had the MSX250 and was very pleased with it. The 300a is perfect dimensions and will fit in my sump. I know the ratings are questionable but these skimmers really kick butt. I can't wait to try out the askoll pump. I should have it on Friday.
 
Saw the new tank in person yesterday, and it's even nicer than the last tank, rock work looks excellent, that was the first thing that caught my eye, and pretty unbelievbly will all gazillion fish jason has, they had more than enough room to swim around (even with the two huge vlamingi's). This was also just after the switch so I'm sure in a week or so, it will look even better. Going to be an awesome tank, I suggest everyone watch for pics.
 
Thanks Terry. Water is still clearing up from the changeover. All the fish have settled in nicely. I broke my sump when I pulled it out from under the old 380 so I had to make a temporary sump out of a 45g rubbermaid tote and use a submersible mag pump for the return. I won't be able to start water polishing until I get my sump and skimmer in place, hopefully by this weekend.

I'm very pleased with the way the rockwork turned out. The fish really like all the added flow from the barracuda closed loop.

To my surprise the T5 lighting is giving me a really nice shimmer effect, almost as good as a metal halide.
 
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