N70SJ Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 In 1998 I had been in the hobby 16 years. I had a 240 gal tank when I was in College. I could only afford it because I maintained 2 large tanks. One for the local plastic Surgeon and another for the towns main Orthodontist. Anyway I thought I knew a lot back then in the day of: ..Removing the water from the bottom of the tank not the top, ..The heart of our system was one or more PEP canister filters, ..UV light, ..Running your water over Bio-Balls was the Hot new thing. Back then only the Germans had Protein Skimmers and Calcium Reactors. Anyway In 1998 I owned "Eco-Reef" of Oregon. A TINY little business I had on the side mainly to get wholesale accounts so I could afford the hobby. I got ti spend 3 days with: Julian Sprung (He's bald now and owns "3 Little Fishes": Alf Nielsen: And Martin Moe: Julian convinced me of the Amazing qualities of the Mangrove trees and I have had them as a part of my systems ever since. Below is a picture of one of his small tanks: I could not understand 3/4 of the chemistry Alf was talking about but I came away with eliminating (due to bio-load remaining in the active water column) mechanical filter; ie, 100-300 micron filter socks and pads and implementing a in-line sediment trap: Moe was Awesome. He came out with his book 9 years earlier "The Marine Aquarium Reference" I still refer to his and the other 4 books often. I copied this page of Martins book and still keep it taped on a wall for reference: Anyway, hopefully that "Blast-From-the- Past" wasn't too boring. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Thanks for sharing. I love the history of reefing and what guys could grow back in the day. Protein skimmers really were a great advancement. Your experience will be very helpful here ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 Thanks.....But I just a fellow Clown fish lookin for a better Anenome. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 Agreed. Skimmers are the perfect recreation of ocean waves and surf break. Foam fractionation. You remember seeing a wave wash ashore on a sandy beach filled with dark muddy colored foam. Have had this one in service for 9 days. Its pulling 42 liters/min or over 10 gallons of air a min. And thats with-out opening the pump ports wide open. I have to release more water flow through it just to keep it in line. No need for Ozone. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Great stuff! Do you still use the inline sediment trap? Loving that idea... Any more information out there on that one? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 This is my in-line sediment trap: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Excellent, keep us posted on how it works, like some dirty sediment cleanout shots would be awesome. So many people are debating on r2r and reefcentral if they work using math and flow calculations, I like your approach better 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Hey Steve... it's been many years. Good to see you are still around! I sent you a pm message. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 Nice to hear from you John! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HyphyMike Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Such an awesome setup! Im jealous 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 Get out your shovel and start digging in your crawl space. That's how I got room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmas_one Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 That Fossa/Nilsen book takes me back. I had volume one when I started my first reef. That book was like my bible. The tank was a 10g Clear for Life tall cube. The guy that sold it to me had me set it up with a Jaubert plenum under the sand. The light was a Custom Sealife power compact, it had a 23w 6500K quad bulb with a 9w "actinic". He sold me a Rio 180 I think for water movement. Memories... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N70SJ Posted January 25, 2017 Author Share Posted January 25, 2017 Jaubert plenum......Power Compacts, I still have a older fixture I don't use with 2 400W MH sockets and 2 96W Power Compacts....7200 Kelvin I think. Hey Man it grew some narly Ca stick! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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