Recent content by Damseluver

His electric bill alone for a month would probably surpass the average hobbyist total set up cost. I wonder if the cops stopped by to make sure he was not running a grow house. I have heard of it happening Its nice but I kind of doubt I would go this far even if I had the money. Probably...

It just makes setting up the plumbing and maintnence much easier. You can do it standing up behind the tank rather than crawling under the stand. You also eliminate any 90 or 45s in the plumbing to direct the water back under the stand if you are useing hang on over flows and most all of the...

Just for yuks I would get a copper test kit and find out just how much your lfs is running. Most lfs these days will run copper in there fo holding tanks to prevent losses from parasites. The problem is they don't test often enough and are either running to low a dose or to high. Tangs and...

Biff pretty much got it. I would recommend however that if you have the room to place the sump in back of the tank on a shorter stand. Make sure its low enough to accommodate a hang on overflow if that's what you are using. This will make it much easier to access for setup and maintenance...

Come on guys. Expensive is a relative term. As CEO of my own corporation I can tell you that this is exactly how it is done in America. You take an average product and then mark up up 3 or 4 hundred percent. Of course you never have return customers after they find out how bad you screwed...

I have seen this scenario getting played out more and more these days. Since it looks like you are going to loose your fish (sorry about that one) the advise I would give you is to take the opportunity during your tanks fallow period to get the water quality in tip top shape with water changes...

The sand belongs in the sump/fuge, if you run one. A relatively small unlit deep sand bed can export nitrates at an amazing rate and can be cut off from the display via plumbing and replaced without problem.

I too am from Florida and would advise against using any wild wet sand. Its not the sand as much as what comes with it. I have set up a few experimental tanks with wet sand collected from various locals around south Florida and its always full of unidentifiable things that a good percentage of...

I have the cl220 and IMO it is by far the best skimmer in the price range. AS long as you have good micro bubble production in the reaction chamber it should only be a matter of time before it starts producing. Follow the directions to the letter for the break in period which for me only last...

Wow; it sounds like you have quite project on your hands. I agree with the others that you need to find a lfs to take much of the live stock too. All of the fish. They will be a pain in the arse while you are working things out any way. Hopefully you have a good lfs that will work with you...

It is most likely the water additives that are makeing the skimmer go nuts. Start doing some water changes. ON the first one save the water to a different container/ten or five gal tank and run the skimmer on/in it so it can start breaking in. Perform water changes on the main tank until you...

Well I posted a few weeks back about some tank boredom setting in. I finally decided to trade in my soft corals and go all sps. This also involved a break down of the 125 and setting back up in a 75 gall tank that my light fixture was meant for anyways and was a necessity for the sps. Tank...

It might also help to steer new hobbyist away from the notion that they need two to three pounds per gallon of LR to start there tanks. Given time a combination of base rock and live rock will achieve the same results. Basically culturing rock right at the hobbyist level and greatly reducing...

For a ten gal I don't think I would worry about having a skimmer. Dont get me wrong though I am a fan of small tanks. They are inexpensive and easy to maintain. As for equipment I would just use a simple hang on filter a power head and a refractometer to be certain on salinity levels. Unless...

yes I know the trigger is a no no with the corals. I could probably trade in my corals and get the clown trigger for trade. I will have to get rid of the existing fish for my tanks fallow period on the parasite problem so no concerns there either Skimmer less on a species specific mostly...