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optikalus posted:Sure; the tank is a Mr. Aqua 11.4 gallon frameless. The light is a 7x CREE XR-E PAR38 bulb from RapidLED. It is plugged into a cheap swing arm lamp base clamped to my desk. The protein skimmer is a AquaMAXX HOB-1. I'm not totally satisfied with this skimmer as it doesn't seem to do anything but fill the tank with microbubbles or fill the cup with water. My co-worker bought one after I got mine and his skimmate is thick and green, so my tank's bioload just may be too small to notice anything. Skimmers operate best when the water level is consistent so you can avoid fiddling with it after it's dialed in. You stated you have an ATO though, so I'm curious as to why it's not quite right. Even without much of a bio-load you should still see reasonable bubble generation.
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# ? Jan 14, 2012 21:50 |
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# ? Apr 18, 2024 07:09 |
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I'm still relatively new to all this but on my 10g I do not even have a skimmer. A Yellow Watchman Goby and 2 Firefish. Haven't noticed any real problems. I change about 3g of water a week.
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# ? Jan 15, 2012 00:11 |
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Just picked up this baby for my downsize project. Now that I've had my 100g running for about 8 months I have a much better idea of the things I want to do differently. Rimless and pre-drilled was one of the things. Currently shopping around for a stand maker.
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# ? Jan 17, 2012 22:03 |
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porksmash posted:Just picked up this baby for my downsize project. Now that I've had my 100g running for about 8 months I have a much better idea of the things I want to do differently. Rimless and pre-drilled was one of the things. Currently shopping around for a stand maker. If you are even remotely handy you can build your own. Check out this thread - http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1169964 [Edit: I never really did a lick of woodworking in my life and I was able to build the stand for my 90g. It took me 2 tries, but the "stand" part really only took a few hours. The skin around it can take as long or as short as you want.]
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# ? Jan 17, 2012 22:42 |
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I definitely would if I, well, felt like it. I would rather pay someone to produce a quality piece of furniture while I work on the rest of the tank. I just heard back from a guy with 15 years of carpentry experience, and he also keeps reef tanks. He quoted me a reasonable price for a custom stand and I will gladly pay for quality. It'll pretty much be the same as this one in gloss black. I'm hoping for the effect of the tank itself being this amazing cube of color and light and motion and everything around it isn't even worth noticing. So, all black it is. Going to paint the back of the tank as soon as I can leak test it, which is difficult with holes on the bottom and no stand. Went ahead and bought a Vortech MP10. That plus sump return should be flow enough for LPS and a couple SPS colonies here and there. Now I'm just trying to decide if I want to build my own LED fixture or buy one. A local club member was posting his Mazarra LED fixtures and they produce some beautiful light. I may be copying their LED color ratios because dammmn they're expensive.
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# ? Jan 18, 2012 06:39 |
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Oh, as long as you're getting it custom made for a good price, then by all means. I just think that most of the store bought stands are awful. Congrats on the new tank and the MP10. Been thinking about upgrading to 2 MP40s for my 90g, but they are just so expensive. Going to upgrade the lighting first.
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# ? Jan 18, 2012 14:11 |
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Has anyone had their acros let out thin white strands? Not the usual 'i'm pissed off' slime strands but more like tentacles. I've heard it's a 'feeding response' but what does that mean exactly - do they WANT food or did they LIKE food I gave them?' I recently put a giant glob of chaeto in my sump so my nitrates have probably been falling a bit, which is why I was wondering.
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# ? Jan 19, 2012 03:38 |
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porksmash posted:I definitely would if I, well, felt like it. I would rather pay someone to produce a quality piece of furniture while I work on the rest of the tank. I just heard back from a guy with 15 years of carpentry experience, and he also keeps reef tanks. He quoted me a reasonable price for a custom stand and I will gladly pay for quality. It'll pretty much be the same as this one in gloss black. I'm hoping for the effect of the tank itself being this amazing cube of color and light and motion and everything around it isn't even worth noticing. So, all black it is. have you read this thread? Lots of good stuff to think about in there about LED ratios, and how to bring out the colors of your corals and fish. Generally the accepted conclusions of the thread. 2:1 ratio of Royal Blue to Neutral White 1:1 RB:CW is now deprecated as lacking too much red spectrum Don't bother with UV or Cyan LEDs Blue (called cool blue in thread to differentiate from royal blue) is a useful addin, but not too much of it Red can be added but doesn't blend well. Look for 660nm wavelenth Keep LEDs close together as possible to avoid "disco ball" look diffusers also help avoid color shadows Digital cameras cannot handle LED colors Chinese LEDs have a lot more green and yellow, so don't look as nice in the tank.
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# ? Jan 19, 2012 06:09 |
Melchior posted:Has anyone had their acros let out thin white strands? Not the usual 'i'm pissed off' slime strands but more like tentacles. I've heard it's a 'feeding response' but what does that mean exactly - do they WANT food or did they LIKE food I gave them?' They sensed planktonic food matter in the water column, the response is to extend the feeding tendrils. Any food that you feed that is plankton-sized you will see this response from your acros. The best way to feed acros is with the cyclopeeze freezer sticks (look almost like a candybar). Swirl a piece of that through your tank with the skimmer and circulation off, with just the powerheads on at low power. There is some discussion on what "modes" acros are in WRT polyp extension, and planktonic food OR nitrogen-based nutrients in the water, etc., but I don't think it's particularly well described or well understood.
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# ? Jan 19, 2012 20:12 |
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Jonny Nox posted:http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=246394 6 CW 6 NW 3 Blue 12 Royal Blue 3 660 Red 6 420 Violet I disagree with what you say that UVs and 660 reds aren't important. Everything I have read suggests the opposite.
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# ? Jan 19, 2012 20:33 |
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The Mazarra one is similar, but with warm white instead of reds:
I'll probably change the warm white to a neutral white to push the color temp up a teeny bit. I don't want my tank to look like blue kool-aid but I think I want something around 16-17k.
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# ? Jan 19, 2012 21:40 |
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Oh clowns... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r6UWiZ55rk&feature=related
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# ? Jan 19, 2012 23:33 |
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Melchior posted:Has anyone had their acros let out thin white strands? Not the usual 'i'm pissed off' slime strands but more like tentacles. I've heard it's a 'feeding response' but what does that mean exactly - do they WANT food or did they LIKE food I gave them?' The acros I have aren't big yet but I've seen them have the feeding strands out, I don't have the capacity to turn my whole system off to feed them in suspension but I still get a decent response during feeding. Using the freeze dried Reef Roids right now but I bought a few sticks of frozen Cyclopeeze that I'm going to try out soon when I've used the dry stuff up. SPS are majority photosynthetic anyway and I've had good colouring up and growth while feeding them randomly.
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# ? Jan 20, 2012 00:11 |
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arioch posted:They sensed planktonic food matter in the water column, the response is to extend the feeding tendrils. Any food that you feed that is plankton-sized you will see this response from your acros. I actually have an entire container of that freeze-dried phytoplankton substitute made from brewers yeast and some other stuff. It's made by Tropic Marin. It seems to do well, I guess, but its wierd seeing these tendrils since I only started getting them with my larger colony size acros I just picked up. The little frags don't really do it.
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# ? Jan 20, 2012 04:31 |
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SaNChEzZ posted:Oh clowns... Mine host in a Sinularia and it's almost as worthy of porno music.
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# ? Jan 20, 2012 04:34 |
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Melchior posted:Mine host in a Sinularia and it's almost as worthy of porno music. Video please!
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# ? Jan 20, 2012 19:17 |
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As loathe as I am to admit this, I got into a fight on another forum about the responsibilities of aquarium keepers when it comes to certain animals, like the Moorish Idol and the blue-ringed octopus. Most of the posters on this site were in a fervor that someone could tell them No to any animal they want; in their minds if they can take care of it, then no one should be able to ban the animal period. I don't know if any marine fish or inverts that aren't on the CITES list are banned (and nor did I ask the posters there their opinion on CITES) but overall, as ethical aquarists, are there some marine animals that do not belong in captivity but find their way there from time to time? I don't mean poo poo like the great white shark, but more common animals, like the blue-ring, the cleaner goby, etc.
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# ? Jan 23, 2012 05:07 |
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There are tank bred neon gobies, aren't there? And I think it is irresponsible to own venomous or extremely fragile animals who stand little to no chance to survive in captivity. At least, in a private home. There's a big fuss over lionfish since folks released them out into the wild and they ended up multiplying like mad. People can and should be told no. I saw one lady in Petsmart bugging out while I was buying a filter that OMG HOW DARE THEY tell her no, she can't keep a goldfish in a bowl. And that no, a Nemo fish was not a good idea either.
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# ? Jan 23, 2012 19:17 |
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Given that a vast majority of Marine species are harvested directly from the ocean its perfectly fair to have restrictions. Preservation of wild environments takes precedent over having a pretty aquarium and species that are not fit for hobbyist tanks should not be removed from their natural environment unnecessarily. Its not like they are being bred in a species program or anything, they are taken as pets to display, its proper to have restrictions.
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# ? Jan 23, 2012 19:34 |
There's stuff that's a bit unreasonable to have restrictions upon--like yellow tangs out of Hawaii. For the most part, clownfish in the average store is tank bred. I would have to go way out of my way to find wild clowns locally. And pay a hefty premium for healthy adult specimen.
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# ? Jan 24, 2012 14:53 |
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Lowering the price on my LED fixture, $160 shipped. Stark LED fixture, 50w (50x1w). The fixture is 19" without the connectors, it's about 20.5" with the connectors. The LEDs are about 16" wide. It's also about 3.5" deep and like 2.5" tall.
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# ? Jan 24, 2012 23:48 |
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Cowslips Warren posted:As loathe as I am to admit this, I got into a fight on another forum about the responsibilities of aquarium keepers when it comes to certain animals, like the Moorish Idol and the blue-ringed octopus. Most of the posters on this site were in a fervor that someone could tell them No to any animal they want; in their minds if they can take care of it, then no one should be able to ban the animal period. I think it is quite logical and reasonable to have restrictions on marine fish/inverts, even those not on the CITES list. Frankly, a number of fish could do with some kind of import quotas or something, if only so they would drive price up and put them beyond the reach of inexperienced hobbyists. Moorish Idols being 60-80 bucks isn't doing anyone any favors. However, that could be difficult to implement effectively. It would be great to have 'smart' regulations that are met with logical analysis of fish populations, suitability in captivity and transportation. Additionally, if it was done right, it could be the impetus for more investment in suddenly profitable captive breeding research and programs.
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# ? Jan 24, 2012 23:55 |
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SaNChEzZ posted:Lowering the price on my LED fixture, $160 shipped. Oh man if I hadn't just dropped 2 grand on my car I would be all over that. I don't have money for another 2 months now. If it hasn't sold by then I will definitely take it off your hands, though for you sake I hope you get a sale sooner
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# ? Jan 25, 2012 04:36 |
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Melchior posted:Mine host in a Sinularia and it's almost as worthy of porno music. My clowns just started hosting this week! They share the giant toadstool leather with the Starry Blenny. Clip of the hosting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIqx2y6lk_Y I also snagged a decent clip of two of my acro frags with the long feeders out (centre/right foreground): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqkpO7UqLKk Full tank comparison of about 8-10 months of growth, that Sinularia is about the size of a basketball now and the toadstool is easily 1' across: Early 2011 Jan 2012
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# ? Jan 25, 2012 07:21 |
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Spaceman Future! posted:Oh man if I hadn't just dropped 2 grand on my car I would be all over that. I don't have money for another 2 months now. If it hasn't sold by then I will definitely take it off your hands, though for you sake I hope you get a sale sooner Well it's up here and on Nano-Reef, granted it's up for 180 on NR.. but I don't really see too much interest in it at this point unfortunately
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# ? Jan 25, 2012 19:45 |
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MKLKT posted:Toadstool Leathers Hey, question for you on the Toadstool Leather. I have one and it looks similar to the one you have in your second picture at the bottom of the tank. I have had it for about 6 months. Will it ever look like the one your clowns are hosting in, or is it a different type of Toadstool Leather? The polyps are much smaller on mine, similar to the one at the bottom of your tank in the second picture. Any idea?
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# ? Jan 25, 2012 21:01 |
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Internet Explorer posted:Hey, question for you on the Toadstool Leather. I have one and it looks similar to the one you have in your second picture at the bottom of the tank. I have had it for about 6 months. Will it ever look like the one your clowns are hosting in, or is it a different type of Toadstool Leather? The polyps are much smaller on mine, similar to the one at the bottom of your tank in the second picture. Any idea? The polyps on the bottom one are much more flower like and fine compared to the big one, I think given enough light it would probably grow similar to the large one (I keep meaning to move it up but there's not much real estate in my tank). I'd say it's more dependent on the size that the crown(?) gets that would help. I'd be inclined to say that if it's squishy there's a chance it can be hosted as each species and pairing is different. The smaller one tends to be bothered by contact moreso as well. Personally I love toadstool leathers, when I get around to it I'm going to rip more of the Anthelia out and put more permanent fixture colonies. (There's a frag hiding in the back of that big toadstool that I did a test cut; it grew a stalk 3" high already from being a 1" slab of the crown). I'm curious about the consensus of who does/doesn't do water changes among us here. I personally do not do water changes, I think I've done *maybe* 3 partial (20-30%) water changes in the 1.5yrs I've had the system running. And have had decent growth/colour on SPS as well with only one or two bleachings due to physical damage.
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 00:09 |
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MKLKT posted:I'm curious about the consensus of who does/doesn't do water changes among us here. I personally do not do water changes, I think I've done *maybe* 3 partial (20-30%) water changes in the 1.5yrs I've had the system running. And have had decent growth/colour on SPS as well with only one or two bleachings due to physical damage. So you just top off?
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 00:33 |
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SaNChEzZ posted:So you just top off? Yeah, I built a garbage bin reservoir and attached it to an Eshopps float valve. I check the salt level with a refractometer every other month just to make sure it hasn't shifted and if any corals aren't happy I check the other parameters. I've got plenty of animals considered sensitive and they're all well (2 types of urchin, linkia seastar, 2 feather dusters, 1 coco worm, etc.) The only portion I have a hard time controlling is tank temperature; it's also located in front of a window so the back + right side get natural sunlight during the day. The heat killed my flame scallops and peppermint shrimp in the summer, I was not pleased. My parameters are a salt level of 35ppm @ 27C that I prefer to have, works out to be 1.026 SG/78F I think. I occasionally dose Reef Code A&B as well as I have activated carbon/phos-x/purigen in 2 reactors.
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 01:08 |
The Reef Code A&B keeps your calcium/alkalinity stable and supplements with some trace, etc., that you're losing, since you only have a few stony corals so they're not doing too much uptake. Your softies are eating up all the nutrients in the water. This is very much a valid way to maintain a reef tank.
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 04:18 |
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I guess don't mess with success. I think that success is largely dependent on your aggressive chemical filtration with Carbon and Purigen, so keep that up. Remember that softcorals, and Xenia in particular, pack some serious aleopathic punch, and you have to get rid of those toxins somehow. As long as you are pruning back your softies then you are exporting Nitrogenous waste as well, so for the most part it is a nice little closed system. Just don't swear off the waterchanges completely. I'm in the Water Changes crowd. Especially for smaller systems, where the economics aren't so painful and the consequences more immediate. Dilution is the Solution!
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 08:45 |
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That's pretty rad, I tried that with my 3gal at work, only a YWG and a hermit crab, didn't work out too well haha. Now it's an 8gal and I do 1gal/week
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 21:03 |
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I do about 1 gallon every day (5gal/week) in my 11 gallon at work. It's at work and right next to me so it's easy to dedicate more time to it.
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 21:36 |
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optikalus posted:I do about 1 gallon every day (5gal/week) in my 11 gallon at work. It's at work and right next to me so it's easy to dedicate more time to it. drat, a gallon a day? That seems like a lot. I thought just over 10% a week was a lot haha.
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 21:54 |
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Yeah, that seems like overkill to me unless you are having serious problems. I do like 2-3 gallons a week in my 12g at work. [Edit: And we don't have a skimmer.]
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 21:55 |
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Internet Explorer posted:Yeah, that seems like overkill to me unless you are having serious problems. I do like 2-3 gallons a week in my 12g at work. [Edit: And we don't have a skimmer.] I don't run a skimmer either at work. At home I go 4gal/week in my 24 which does have a skimmer, and lots of bioload.
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 22:01 |
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I just get the water in a 5 gallon bucket once a week then use it up through the week. I could likely get away with just a gallon but I've got it so I might as well use it.
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 22:31 |
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SaNChEzZ posted:drat, a gallon a day? That seems like a lot. I thought just over 10% a week was a lot haha. Using big water changes in a small tank in place of skimmers is awesome though.
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# ? Jan 26, 2012 23:54 |
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Nanos are a different beast, my sump also has a not exactly fancy Coralife skimmer, deep sand bed and a handful of random macro algae (a red botryocladia being the largest). I prefer the system to be fairly robust and it's proven correct so far. While having a super 'clean' system is nice, I personally think if the animals are too used to it there's an unnatural razor's edge of stability where any tiny thing throws the whole system out. That being said there are things I will change when I move up tank sizes in a few years, I've been accumulating parts for an intense system but I'm not in a rush. If you focus on the small parts of the tank the rest takes care of itself. (i.e. focusing on the bacteria and microfauna/flora aspect) And research the poo poo out of whatever you're going to buy, do it ahead of time so that if you ever have a chance to pick up livestock you already know what you're dealing with.
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# ? Jan 27, 2012 00:09 |
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# ? Apr 18, 2024 07:09 |
Speaking of un-fancy skimmers, my skimmer right now is (was) an ASM mini-G, modded with a gate valve. I took it out to clean it this past weekend, and it completely fell apart in the vinegar bath. I guess the coralline algae in it was the only thing holding it together. The body separated from the base, the brace fell off of both the body and the riser tube mount, the riser tube mount fell out of the base. I shoved it all back together and I'm running it like that right now, it's not like a skimmer has to be absolutely leak-proof (for a few days, anyway). In the meantime, I have a Reef Octopus recirculating skimmer on order.
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# ? Jan 30, 2012 19:13 |