Tank maintenance all weekend

[shaneh]

So this weekend I went to town on the tank

Here is the list that was vinegar soaked and cleaned:
2 mp40's
Lockline
All power heads
Skimmer
Wavebox
Heaters

Scraped and cleaned the tank glass, sump, overflows and fuge.

Pulled all the dead corals out of the tank.

Water changed 40 gallons.

Filled ATO

Took out a leopard sturgeon / foxface fish that was 12" he was eating all my shrooms and toadstools. Took over an hour just to catch this guy. took him to jo fish this weekend.

Blew off all the rock and moved the rock that had fallen.

Tested
Alk -9
Cal- 400 "“ working on getting this up a bit.
Ph- 8.1
Phosphates- small amount changed the GFO.
Mag- still need to test.

Changed salt mix: ½ oceanic ½ IO = Cal 490 Alk-9 Mag 1500 based on the levels in the chemistry forum. Very similar numbers to the D-D Mag salt. But cost less.

Started to dig under the house to prepare to move all the filtration.

Tom-let me get the concrete pour done under the house and then I will be taking you up on the offer to stop by and give me your opinion for the filtration set up under the house. I may even post some pics tonight, time permitting.

Still at the point where I would sell all as one unit if someone had the funds. I have gotten a lot of e-mails for a few fish or a shrimp. But I don't want to spend the time to sit in the tank and net one fish for chump change. I'm realizing more and more that I'm not going to get crap for the investment. Starting to change more to streamlining the filtration to save time and money.

Looks like I am selling the skimmer very soon. I'm thinking of the SRO 3000 cone skimmer for a replacement. Quite, space efficient, correct size for the system and good on the watts. I need to drop the excessive space and watts"¦.I'll keep you guys posted"¦"¦heck I might even show up to a meeting after my 6+ months of absence.

Any opinions on the skimmer? It looks like i can add ozone to this and attach my waste collection cup.

 

[northbay-reefer]

Great job Shane, when you are ready just say the word and we will set up a time.

 

[Grant W]

Sounds like you did it all Shane, nice job.

 

[jtarmitage]

Shane,
Do a search on ebay for a bubble magus 220a. I picked one up for my 225g for $269 and $35 shipping. It's an awesome skimmer that is comparable to what you're looking at for a fraction of the cost. It looks like they just came out with a new model, which i really can't tell the difference, and are blowing out the old stock. Best $300 I've spent.

 

[shaneh]

Hey Jeremy,

I checked out the skimmer, how do you adjust the water level? I do not see a gate valve. Also how do you adjust the air input? The eBay sale is going for another day.

Do you think with the pump under the skimmer will be harder to clean?

I noticed it is non returnable, non refundable.

 

[jtarmitage]

Hey Jeremy,

I checked out the skimmer, how do you adjust the water level? I do not see a gate valve. Also how do you adjust the air input? The eBay sale is going for another day.

Do you think with the pump under the skimmer will be harder to clean?

I noticed it is non returnable, non refundable.

As for the valve, it uses an adjustable standpipe valve and has markings on it. You turn the standpipe to raise/lower the water level in the skimmer. As for air input, not really sure. The intake nozzle may have an adjustable feature, but I have it running as it came. You could always put a valve on it if desired. I remember the days of putting clamps on airlines to "valve" them down
The sale seems to be recurring until they're gone, as I bought it with 2 days left, and the current one is a newer listing.
As for the pump, it's nice as it saves space, and the skimmer can be easily disassembled to remove the pump. It's easier to clean the entire skimmer, but more challenging if you were only cleaning the pump itself. But, as we normally only clean the pumps 1-2 times per year anyhow, it's a good time to clean the entire skimmer...
I completely love this thing. The pump was a little noisy at first, with slightly noticeable vibrations, but is completely silent after a couple of days. I've had SWC's, EV's, LifeReef's, BubbleKings, H&S's, Barr Aquatic, and I-tech's, and this one is right at the top. Much better than everything but the BK(though I'd buy several of these before I went that route again), comparable with the SWC and I-tech. For the price, you just can't go wrong...

Wow, now that I sit back and look at that list, I've gone through a LOT of equipment LOL

Here is when I sent the lid to Avast Marine to have a swabbie installed, but you can see what 2 days did:

 

[shaneh]

Thanks I think I will pull the trigger. The PM XL-2 that I have is a good skimmer but its 3+ feet tall and between the watts and noise I’m ready to move on. Also I want to move back to an internal skimmer. I had an overflow of the skimmer right before I hosted a meeting and burned a pump, made a mess, and was working on the simmer when everyone was walking in......frustrating. No more external for me. The skimmer can spill all it wants it the sump.

So from your review you think it's as good or better then the SRO cone 3000? For the price it sounds like a deal.

I looked at the ATB skimmers but they are almost a $1K for the size we use....no thanks. But these skimmers have the same shape as ATB.

The only reason I ask about the air input is so i can attach the o-zone.

On a side note- With out the large leopard sturgeon fish i feed 1/4 of the amount. I'm sure my water quality is going to massively improve....lesson learned....no big meat eaters in a reef tank. That guy was eating a large flat of mysis a month and snacking on my shrooms in the day. When I got him in the net it was like I was pulling a bass out of my tank. I'm happy he did not break the bulbs when I was pulling him out, put up a big fight to get him in the bucket.

 

[shaneh]

One more thing - last night i was cleaning out the overflows down in the bottom where all the crud builds up that you never see and think I had about a pound of algae growth in there. It all collected in the filter sock and I found that if I leave the scrubber sponge with the handle partly blocking one of the drains I made the tank drain almost silent.

I don't use the durso attachments that come with the tank, I have the sea swirl for the input and 2 drains for each over flow but I was always making a bit of noise. Glad I figured that out. Since the tank has been running it was the first night I could leave the door open and not hear the drain. But I can start to hear one of my MP40's making a bit of noise when it surges. I think the bearings may be going......any suggestions?

 

[northbay-reefer]

That is a beautiful skimmer

 

[jtarmitage]

Thanks I think I will pull the trigger. The PM XL-2 that I have is a good skimmer but its 3+ feet tall and between the watts and noise I'm ready to move on. Also I want to move back to an internal skimmer. I had an overflow of the skimmer right before I hosted a meeting and burned a pump, made a mess, and was working on the simmer when everyone was walking in......frustrating. No more external for me. The skimmer can spill all it wants it the sump.

So from your review you think it's as good or better then the SRO cone 3000? For the price it sounds like a deal.

I looked at the ATB skimmers but they are almost a $1K for the size we use....no thanks. But these skimmers have the same shape as ATB.

The only reason I ask about the air input is so i can attach the o-zone.

On a side note- With out the large leopard sturgeon fish i feed 1/4 of the amount. I'm sure my water quality is going to massively improve....lesson learned....no big meat eaters in a reef tank. That guy was eating a large flat of mysis a month and snacking on my shrooms in the day. When I got him in the net it was like I was pulling a bass out of my tank. I'm happy he did not break the bulbs when I was pulling him out, put up a big fight to get him in the bucket.

The SRO has what many consider a better pump, and the true gate valve. I was looking at that skimmer as well, but felt I'd need to go up to the next model. With the budget being non-existent, I went with the cheaper model. Plus, I wanted the pump in the skimmer body to clean up the sump area. I think performance wise, the SRO3000 and the BM220a are fairly comparable. The BB pump has better airdraw, so it will clean the water better, while the atman has a higher flow through, so it'll process more water. So it's a tradeoff of better cleaning of the water in the skimmer vs. ability to clean more water. Too many people simply focus on airdraw, but that's only part of the equation. You really can't go wrong with either choice.