Serpentman's 300g upgrade

[Thinslis]

Its no big thing, we'll work something out her parents are in town this week so maybe next week or something =) (Or maybe I'll just need a little escape sometime this weekend) =)

 

[serpentman]

LOL, I hear you. I am around pretty much all day Saturday. Next week is wide open. I work from home so afternoons and evenings are equally good.

 

[DiscoReefRover]

MUUUAAAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

Just in time for a burger ....lol

 

[serpentman]

Nice!! Makin' mud time!

The 250 is still breakin' in. Its building a nice head, just need to tune it in.

 

[DiscoReefRover]

Yeah it looks like ya cleaned this one to good also gonna have to keep an eye on her till she breaks in .... Looks sweet and this thing is quiet too !!!!!!

 

[serpentman]

With the drain issue corrected, things should progress very quickly. I didn't clean it that good, lol.

 

[DEERE G]

Wow! Nice, new skimmer Jeff. That thing looks like it should do the job. Looks like your old skimmer should work well for Sean too.

 

[serpentman]

Thanks Keith. It should definitely handle everything I can throw at it and then some. Ironically, the 200 was doing fine keeping up with my system which is ~500g. However, I felt long term I would have had to upgrade at some point when my bioload increases. So, I made the move.

 

[Lightsluvr]

Whew!

Whew!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15437065#post15437065 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by serpentman
It's here! A new industrial sized Poop-r-ator! Although it doesn't look like it in the pic, this thing is huge! Forgot to order a metric adapter so it may be a couple of days before I can plumb it in

I have the Orca 250 - Is the larger cup worth the difference? Does your Orca have the modded pinwheel?

LL

 

[serpentman]

Yeah, it has the pro kit which includes the larger cup and the modded wheel. Before I upgraded, I was running the 200. The pro kit it was night and day from the stock performance.

From what I gather the same is applicable on the 250. I know the pinwheel pulls a lot more air and the cup helps with the turbulence. However, without having run the stock cup and wheel, I can't really quantify the difference.

 

[serpentman]

I replaced the venturi valve with a straight barb fitting that was drilled out to increase air flow. However, I felt that the drain was limiting the amount of air able to escape the cup creating back pressure on the foam head. I did some reading and this seemed to be a common problem with the pro upgrade. So last night I drilled vent holes in the lid.

This seemed to improve things significantly. She's a makin' mud now!

 

[Thinslis]

Nice work =)

 

[serpentman]

Thanks man!

Just tested my parameters:

Ca: 435 ppm
Alk: 12.2 dKH
Mg: 1200-1270 ppm
NO3: 0.0
PO4: <0.1
ORP: 418 mV
pH: 8.1
Temp: 78.3 F

 

[Thinslis]

I wish I worked from home! be able to look at my tank all day and run tests! =)

 

[Lightsluvr]

OK - I noticed the new avatar - it must be football season, eh?

Thanks for the info on the Orca. My lid has four holes drilled in it...I wonder if that was stock, or if the previous owner did some mods...

Good lookin' mud - got some algae in there?

LL

 

[Thinslis]

Training camp starts tomorrow =)

 

[t4zalews]

love your rockscape...great looking tank

 

[serpentman]

I wish I worked from home! be able to look at my tank all day and run tests! =)

Definitely one of the perks. The downside is I travel a lot. Actually though, I am off today. The company just switched over to a new schedule for all hourly and salaried employees. We work 9hrs M-Th, 8 hrs on Fri and every other Friday is off. Although I still end up working occasionally on my day off, its pretty cool.

OK - I noticed the new avatar - it must be football season, eh? Thanks for the info on the Orca. My lid has four holes drilled in it...I wonder if that was stock, or if the previous owner did some mods... Good lookin' mud - got some algae in there?

Sure is. After last season, I hope its a better one.

The stock cup does have holes in it. The Pro cups were sent out without to accommodate those running Ozone. I guess the thought was its easier to drill holes later than plug existing ones.

Training camp starts tomorrow =)

Yeah buddy! Although I am cautiously optimistic, I would be happy to go .500.

love your rockscape...great looking tank

Thanks for the compliments!

 

[DEERE G]

Now, that is some serious poop in that collection cup.

 

[serpentman]

Smells nice too :lol: