dunpeal

External skimmer and use part of the sump as a frag tank? Just trying to think outside the box

I'd do clear. One of my favorite part about acrylic tanks is the clear joints. But I will never own another acrylic tank because of the scratches. It doesn't make sense to put black silicone on an acrylic tank. So why would you put black silicone on a glass tank? I Would not want the joints to stand out in any way. Black silicone to me seems like you're encouraging the joints to stand out. In woodworking as well you want the joints to be seamless and almost invisible.

Dnw150 skimmer??? I have a ddnw 150 that desperately needs the intake venturi elbow. Its been shelved for years

I have two of the big blocks in my sump right now seeding for the new tank. After two weeks my algae turf scrubber has been slowly failing. Absolutely no other changes to the system. The algae isn't growing hardly and may pull the ats out. In short, so far the blocks exceeded my expectations.

"So that brings me to my questions about sump design. I had a game plan of building it so I would enter through filter socks and then onto the skimmer chamber to refugium chamber to return chamber. but then I ran into conflicting points that you want water to go straight into your refugium before being skimmed...." Id run skimmer first if for no other reason than keeping loose algae from getting stuck in my skimmer pump and shutting it down until I notice. I've ran a few different types of refugiums. My favorite was a display one with mangroves and a 250w halide over it. They were TREES not cute plants after a while. Current setup is an algae turf scrubber (ats). New build is using the refugium space for a frag area with marine pure blocks under the rack and using carbon dosing and gfo for nutrients the skimmer doesn't take care of on its own.

Is it GFP? https://reefbuilders.com/2016/04/15/fluorescent-friday-focus-on-world-wide-corals-grafted-cap/

I've had two crashes in the last ~11 years. One was a tank babysitter not showing up while I was out of town for a couple weeks..... (I mean really? Still pissed about that) Other was a partial crash from equipment failure that I caught early. Like Jorge said, we learn by making mistakes. I tell my daughter all the time to not be afraid of making mistakes because that's how we get better at things. "Dad, I'm not good at _________ and want to give up". From my mistakes, I learned that i needed more automation and simpler maintenance methods. Saltwater is a hobby that needs continual research on what others have done to improve their tanks. New tech comes out every year. Many people have success with an apex/rk and then choose your own adventure on nutrient control. Ats, refugium, DSB, carbon dosing, skimmer, gfo, et cetera. My new build (wip) is reef keeper, ato with built in safety measures, carbon dosing, skimmer, gfo, carbon, dosing alk,calc & mag and a super tricky way to make water changes super simple. Also if you go freshwater, you will be doing water changes nearly every ten minutes ????

Nice day job. I agree with needing more light. I have a 'red' led flood light on each side. I think they were 15watt (Chinese watts ????) each. My regret was not upping the lights. My man's intuition tells me that more light helps the algae react quicker to surges in nutrients. I'd bet a six pack of cheap college beer that if you up the lighting your spikes will go away. The lights I bought were ~$20 each from aliexpress I think. I keep thinking of buying two more and doing two per side but haven't gotten around to it.

Another box came. Whew, I thought it didn't look like 100 lbs. SoooOOOooo many more options now. This box has a couple rocks that are really dirty. Big deal bristle star and other things to get with some needle nose pliers. The rocks actually stink in this box. Bought two gallons of muriatic today to clean them up.

Do share which fb group ????

Wow, you're the anemone king. You must have the happiest clowns in the state

Sweet setup! Layout looks killer. The green with bright blue tips is my favorite. Any frags coming up in the next few months?

I setup my Google calendar reminders a while ago. First one! Many more to come I hope.

I'd check your alk, euphylia get grumpy at high numbers. If it looks good I'd try a iodine dip. Also run some carbon to knock out coral toxins in the water.

I have one that's 48x24, New. Going to build one instead. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Aquascape is cool. What's the whitish colored fish under the hippo? Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Thanks. Was planning on doing a quick muriatic acid dunk. It doesn't look overly dirty which is nice but definitely has some stuff Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

100 lbs and 20 lbs of rubble. Haven't weighed it all yet to see what was exactly shipped. BRS service rep said 80 lbs. I'm glad I got a 100. If I'd do it again maybe another 20 lbs, but I'm happy just the same. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Coral to me looks best at NSW levels. Else they kinda die Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

What was your favorite thing you got out of the reef? Great pics

Working on the new 200g build and thinking of doing a 3d background. A few tanks ago I made one out of portland cement, rubble rock, and sand for my 80 gallon. Wow that was heavy. The eggcrate and foam seems like a much better idea. Someone made one? reviews on it versus painting the glass black? A partial background gives a vanishing point which looks cool too. A few rocks on the top part drilled out for frag plugs.

Going crazy on carbon would be what I would do too. When corals get po'd they give off toxins and carbon will hold on to it. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Welcome to the forum and the hobby. Soon I will be breaking down my current tank to make room for the upgrade tank which will be sps dominant. I will be using new rock and 99% of whats in the current tank will hit the classified ads and craigslist. If you want a great deal on some established rock covered in coral send me a PM.

That would be cool. Another option would be freeze dried shrimp and a hang on food ring with an auto feeder. I use the eheim auto feeder set low with Aquadine. LFS sells it in bulk and I blend an algae and carnivore type. I also supplement with reef chili and diy frozen cubes.

Here's a link to a chat forum on the same subject. The last post has some good info for you. http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/76727-how-to-breed-pom-pom-crabs/