siskiou

I'd go glass, especially if you have the room for the larger tank! My 120G looked insanely huge when I first got it, and now it seems pretty small! And having had an acrylic before: what a hassle trying to be careful and keep it clean! It got scratches so easily! The weight is a consideration, especially for larger tanks. Not sure how much a 180G glass tank weighs.

Yeah, I have my controller set to turn off the co2 if tank pH falls below 8.2. I have two ph probes on the controller, one in the reactor, the other in the tank. At first, I tried getting the co2 dialed in without the controller, but the bubbles would always slow down more and more after a few hours, and by morning the output pH was above 7.

Ah, okay! I thought the Alk needed to be at least 30dkh. It's at 20 with slow drip (4 drops per second), and with a broken stream, Alk reads at 14-16dkh.

The thing is that I have a probe in the reactor, and my controller keeps the pH around 6.5-6.6, no matter the flow. But the Alk is still lower in the effluent, when the output is higher. Not sure why.

I still check the parameters pretty obsessively, but it seems to be pretty much at those levels. Good to know they sound okay.

Nice buy! I have a coral like that, except the base has turned a orangy-golden color. Might it be getting too much light (though it's at the bottom of my tank)?

I'll check into that when I have to refill it next. It'll be some time before I can put together a DIY calcium reactor for my second tank anyhow. I'm liking how much easier it is to keep the ALK and calcium steady with a reactor, instead of the constant dosing. I have a little ozone reactor that may be just the thing to convert. Or an extra RO canister. Or maybe even a small cheapo ebay job, since the tank it's for is only 60G.

Yes, thanks! This looks exactly like the thing I would need!

Is this possible? Can I add a second needle valve somehow?

Thanks for the input! When I do that, the pH in the reactor gets too low.

After using mine for a few weeks, my tank seems to hold at Alk 9 and calcium 420. Does that sound like reasonable numbers to keep sps corals happy? Whenever I try to speed up the output, the Alk in the effluent falls to about 14dkh, even though my controller keeps the pH in the reactor at 6.6.

I had no idea the cheap glass ones are so accurate! Would a glass food thermometer do in a pinch?

Do you know the price, by any chance?

Ah, Clay! Why not?

Did you see it in Eugene? Is it small?

Yes, I love the stomatellas! Great little workers!

Could your heater be stuck on "on"? It's happened to me before! And as someone already said, check your thermometer, because they can out, too. Edited to add: I should read better! You already got a new thermometer.

Thanks! I think I'll pass on that brand, though. Maybe they are better nowadays, but they used to have a bad rep, I think.

Oh, I've been looking for a 15 or 15k 250w DE bulb! What brand is this? I'm very interested!

Sounds like a good way to save on adding yet another pump, if the GPH work for both the chiller and the skimmer.

Good luck with that!

I'll give that airstone idea a try! Thanks! I didn't take any pics before setting it up, and now it's hard to see. It's a dual overflow and I have one drain totally without standpipe and then the other drain with a standpipe that's just a little higher than the water level in the utube portion of the overflow. The gate valve is connected right below the drain without standpipe, and the end of the pipe into the sump from that drain is submerged. Here is the best I could do, trying to take a pic with it set up:

It's up and running as of today! Got it all dialed in and tested it by closing the gate valve on the main drain all the way, and it's working just fine! The back-up drain takes over, if the main drain should ever get blocked. I'm running a 4800 L per hour pump and use one U-tube. It's sooo nice and silent! Now I just have to build a silencer for the skimmer air intake...

I'm kinda looking for the same thing in the Eugene area (meaning old 14-20k 250w DE bulbs).

Great idea! Pump is in the tank, working as it should! Thanks!