Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
You know the skimmer is suppose to be bigger than the kid right? lolol
Ok I take that back.
Ok I take that back.
Sonicboom's 180 build in Tampa
- Thread starter Sonicboom
- Start date
14 ppm thats actually really good, thats lower then most any bottled water.
Skimmer looks good. (maybe a bit small ha ha )
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
You know the skimmer is suppose to be bigger than the kid right? lolol
Ok I take that back.
dude, no fair!..lol now my skimmer looks puny..lol
I tested bottled spring water and it was around 34 ppm, so yea i feel good about 14 ppm
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
UPDATE: sump is in and 50% plumbed, had to change things up a bit after the return trickled out once i plumbed in the second return, so I will probably be selling the Tunze on CL. Tank is cycling but only one return is running. Here is where i need some advice, my drains are 1 1/4" to a 1" bulkhead and 1" pipes to the sump. My new return pump, a Waveline DC10000 comes with a 1 1/4" barbed fitting. With a small piece of vinyl tubing i can connect the Barb to the pvc and. the problem is I can't find 1 1/4" ultra flex pvc. Has no one done this before?
Outkast Gaming
In Memoriam
im in for the rest of this ride...good build so far
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
Ok so i flipped this every which way i can think of and the simplest way to get up and running on the new pump is to just go with 1" MPT by 1.25" barb. This way i can hose clamp the clear tubing until i can locate either ultra flex black or another option.
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Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
Ok so I must have had an epiphany last night, and found a 1" MPTx 1" slip, connected some black ultra flex tubing to the new DC10000 until the 1 1/4" arrives and WALLA!, this pump is just short of amazing, I am still waiting on a 1 1/4" true wye so i am only able to run it on one return and can only set it as far as 2, on setting 1 it is pushing the same as the Tunze wide open. I set it to 3 just for the heck of it and i felt like it was going to pop the end off the loc line...lol i think i may plumb the two returns to a spray bar.
By the way, I am using black ultra flex because a Lowes master plumber and one of the guys from Flexpvc stated algae can grow inside the white if placed near bright lights.
By the way, I am using black ultra flex because a Lowes master plumber and one of the guys from Flexpvc stated algae can grow inside the white if placed near bright lights.
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
UPDATE: both returns have now been running since the 18th. I changed out the 3/4" returns for 1" and will be slowly changing the 1" to 1 1/4". I had added a raw nice size shrimp to the tank about three weeks ago to start the cycle, I also added about 50lbs of sand and last week 48 lbs of dry base and LR from FAIOS. I noticed my ammonia, trites and trates start to rise. a good thing 
but then I added a bag of carbon to clear up the water which it did overnight and blam, now my ammonia and everything else is at zero....GRRR did carbon seriously remove my cycle?...lol
picture of nog after running a few hours to test, other that that skimmer has been off.
but then I added a bag of carbon to clear up the water which it did overnight and blam, now my ammonia and everything else is at zero....GRRR did carbon seriously remove my cycle?...lolpicture of nog after running a few hours to test, other that that skimmer has been off.
deepblue68
Premium Member
Lmk what you think of the skimmer because I might want to run the same one on my tank. You like the wave liner return pump?
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
I absolutely love the skimmer, there is actually nothing i can think of that i would change on it or wish it had. other than maybe a screw on collection cup lid but i don't think any skimmers come with that. I decided that after i was distracted by my 2 yr old while adjusting the skimmer. The next thing i hear was trickling sound as i finished filling my sons juice cup, i think to myself " odd, why do i still hear juice pouring?":eek1: That ain't Juice! its my skimmer overflowing into my stand!
now you might think, oh man he's done! well so did I, but i remembered i lined the entire interior of my stand with polycarbonsomething or other lining 100% waterproof.. and siliconed. shut the skimmer off and go out the 10 gallon wet dry and removed all the water in about 45 sec. dried the inside of the stand and wiped it all down with RO. not 1 single drop touched the floor!
As for the waveline, every morning i bump it up to either 2 or 3 and at night i set it to 1. I simply love the fact i can do that and I still have all the way up to 6 once I expand my returns. I can now easily switch my 3/4" loc-lines to a 1" spray bar. I have my brand new tunze 1073.05 in my Jeep to run to the UPS store tomorrow to return to MDepot.
here is the almost final setup, i still need to finish the return plumbing and cable management.
The wall where the sump stops is the divider for my dry area.
now you might think, oh man he's done! well so did I, but i remembered i lined the entire interior of my stand with polycarbonsomething or other lining 100% waterproof.. and siliconed. shut the skimmer off and go out the 10 gallon wet dry and removed all the water in about 45 sec. dried the inside of the stand and wiped it all down with RO. not 1 single drop touched the floor!
As for the waveline, every morning i bump it up to either 2 or 3 and at night i set it to 1. I simply love the fact i can do that and I still have all the way up to 6 once I expand my returns. I can now easily switch my 3/4" loc-lines to a 1" spray bar. I have my brand new tunze 1073.05 in my Jeep to run to the UPS store tomorrow to return to MDepot.
here is the almost final setup, i still need to finish the return plumbing and cable management.
The wall where the sump stops is the divider for my dry area.
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Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
Got my QT tank setup yesterday, 49.00 for a 10G on sale at petco with lid, lights, heater, filter and return. I had some extra insulation left over and decided to cover the three sides of the tank to help maintain temp's, i wonder if anyone else has done this or had success/failure with it. might be my little experiment.
insulation
Back of tank done,
Back and sides done, fish view
will be adding a pair of black ice clowns tuesday
insulation
Back of tank done,
Back and sides done, fish view
will be adding a pair of black ice clowns tuesday
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
Sonic, good thread and I will be following you. It's nice to read about others having issues like me. You know the old saying "Misery loves company"!
haha, thanks Snook65, welcome aboard the pain train. My wife honestly thought when i said i was going to start a saltwater tank, that I would just go out and buy a kit and put everything together and, walla. done. LOL, yea maybe if IKEA sold tanks that would be the result..
Sonicboom
Addicted to salt
Thanks Riguy, I picked up some magnets for the doors today and some 1/2" cpvc for a rock frame i made. Yes i will be doing automation, not a pain yet replenishing 1 gallon a day but I don't like the salinity swings. I have been reading alot about the APEX and the DA. Seems like they both do the same, i will have to narrow it down to which one has the most bang for the buck as well as which one is current with updates. I'm sure i can't go wrong with either.
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