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New additions to the Pioneer school! Bigger Better skimmer edition!


Emerald525

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Today I got to hang with Lowman and Shaun I felt privileged to be in the FFO club (former fishstore owner) club. Lowman is a human GPS it is awesome having him drive around! Shaun came along for the ride too!

Special thanks for those who helped fund the skimmer for the school:

1.Lowman 10 and thanks for getting us a good deal on the skimmer!(clap)(clap)

2.Stylaster 10

3. Emerald 10

4. Reefsafari 10

5. Algae 20

6. LC scott 5

7. TFT auction of Westside chalice 65 dollars (thanks Smann and Tim)

8. Reefboy 15

 

Thanks to Barelycuda (Dave or is it now Lightning Maroon Dave with that secret breeding project you have now (scratch):p) for providing the replacement Ocellaris and Cinnamon clowns.(clap)(clap) They are so cute!:D

 

Thanks Tim at Westside for the purple firefish.(clap) Thanks Garrett for the sweet deal on the chromis but alas it didn't make it(sad)...

 

 

 

Thanks Mohaynow and Reefnjunkie for the generous donation of zoas, chalices, mushrooms(clap)(clap)

 

 

 

Thanks to Nick at Rosecity for supplying the saltwater and freswater for free! (clap)

 

 

And now pictures! The school has been out for 2 weeks for spring break so the glass is not as clean today but everything looks great in the tank and I did another 5 gallon water change

 

 

Brand spanking new skimmer!(clap)

 

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That's Shaun helping to put the thing together! He's great with equipment and knows how to use it!:D I do hear he's had a little experience in the saltwater hobby! I think he would be great for a certain Sunlight supply job I saw posted...(scratch)

 

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Lots of donations and fish being floated

 

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Lowman's gonna kill me but I had to... I just had to

 

That's Lowman showing his best side! Love ya man!(laugh)

 

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Tight fit but the skimmer fits! Works great too and it's better than the one I have on the reef tank!(clap)(clap)

 

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All hooked up and ready for the children on Monday won't they be surprised with all the new additions!(clap)

 

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Dave knows his clowns the Ocellaris in the tank bonded with the little clown and one of the cinnamon clowns right away. Do you think they recognized each other from the clownhouse?(laugh)

 

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LOOKS GREAT!!! Thanks everyone for you donations of supplies, money and time to keep this tank going!

 

But I did spot a small problem when looking through the pics, one we need to think about a possible fix for. After the skimmer was put in the water level in the sump needed to be raised to get the proper bubbling.... See pic below...

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As you can see the water line is about 2-3 inches above my max line I originally put on the sump when I power outage tested it. SO... at the moment if there is a power outage the floors gunna get a little wet(scary).

 

Can anyone think of a good solution to this problem? Do they make a taller 20 gal tank? Should we bit the bullet and get one our great acrylic people build us a custom sump, maybe just for materials?

 

Any thoughts?!?!?

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Beth, I think you'd be better off getting a custom sump made to fit in the stand. You might even be able to get slightly more water volume as well with a custom sump. Get some measurements, talk to Doug or Eddie or Charles and see what they can come up with.

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Beth' date=' I think you'd be better off getting a custom sump made to fit in the stand. You might even be able to get slightly more water volume as well with a custom sump. Get some measurements, talk to Doug or Eddie or Charles and see what they can come up with.[/quote']

 

Yes that's what I was thinking too Mick we need a bigger sump and a custom one wouldn't be a bad idea. Squidhc also does acrylic work and had offered to make one in donation...

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I was sitting here plotting what kind of special order medication I have you try to search for because of your comments in my other thread.

 

I don't search for meds... I have minions that do that for me!

 

you rock mike! Tell me what ya need and can I get it at tap plastics? I think they are near our house. I can go get it wed!

 

Tap is pretty expensive... What size are you thinking (dimensions)? I usually buy my stock from James at Envision but he rarely caries less than 1/2 inch material. I know someone who has some 1/4-3/8 I think I can probably get for a decent price. Sketch something up and send it my way and I can get it done.

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Dave may have some scraps laying around. Give him a shout....I think all you have to do is take some water out of the system to lower it to the max line. I overfilled it too compensate for the volume the new skimmer holds compared to the old one.

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Dave may have some scraps laying around. Give him a shout....I think all you have to do is take some water out of the system to lower it to the max line. I overfilled it too compensate for the volume the new skimmer holds compared to the old one.

 

Yeah but the problem Lowman was with too little of water the skimmer was sucking air. I think the same thing will happen if we lower the level to the line again and may just need to get a bigger sump.

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Beth' date=' let me know the dimensions of the stand and WxLxH of the sump. I picked up about a sheet of 1/2" cast material donated by Vinh at Blue Ocean Marine today so I can build a rimless sump however big you want :)[/quote']

 

That is awesome! The soonest I can get to the school to measure is wed. I will let u know measurements then!!

Thanks so much!!

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Ok, so Beth got you PM.... We think the overflow section.... on the far right can be more like 16" since we will have extra room on the left for overflow when power goes out. Middle 12" like you two discussed and the far right 8".

 

Now.... which section would we put the MAX line on for the school so they know where to fill up to when they add the fresh water? The far left one?

 

Thanks Mike for your time and skills! We appreciate it!

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So here is the finished product, this is a photo from the back side. I didn't see your response above until after I cut the acrylic, so I went with 13" tall on the drain side, 12" for the center section, and I changed the bubble trap slightly to a 2 wall setup. We were running out of room using the 1/2" material and the return section was going to be very narrow so I didn't want to run into the pump not fitting into the chamber, lol. This chamber can be run anywhere from 4-12" of water and this is where you will place the "fill to" line for the topoff. This is exactly how my sump is setup and I have had no problems with bubbles getting through to the pump.

 

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Its ready to pickup and install anytime... just let me know when :)

 

I NEED to thank Vinh and Blue Ocean Marine for donating all the acrylic for this project which would have cost at least a couple of hundred dollars or more! THANKS VINH!

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Thanks Madmike and Vinh

 

That thing is sweet Madmike!(rock2)(clap)(clap) Wow that's nicer than my own sump! Thanks so much and for doing it so quickly. I kept hoping there would not be a power failure at the school(scary) Thanks Vinh of Blue Ocean for the acrylic. Very very nice! I will check with Beth about coordinating a time to pick it up!

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Love that sump!

So if you guys need more frags let me know. I have surplus softies in various nice shades of green, some bright red good looking macro that the clowns might nibble now and then, and dare I suggest the beloved/dreaded purple star polyps. Where there's one there's a million.

I have some birdsnest and montipora frags too, but I don't think the tank is ready yet, or is it?

Kate

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Love that sump!

So if you guys need more frags let me know. I have surplus softies in various nice shades of green, some bright red good looking macro that the clowns might nibble now and then, and dare I suggest the beloved/dreaded purple star polyps. Where there's one there's a million.

I have some birdsnest and montipora frags too, but I don't think the tank is ready yet, or is it?

Kate

 

Yeah I wouldn't advise doing birdnest and montipora frags at this time. Tank is still pretty new. Kate you're welcome to check out the tank and see what it needs. We already have green star polyps. We are probably going to pick up the sump this weekend and then Beth will have to replumb it and set it up next wednesday unless someone else can help out.

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