Justjohnny86

Hey all. I haven't posted in some time but I have a question regarding Dimethyl Sulfoxide and it's potential interaction with my reef system. I am looking for a storage drum for mixing batches of salt water and I found a guy on CL with a couple for sale. Upon inquiry about what was stored in the drums, he informed me that the plastic is food-grade and that they were used to store DMSO, which I googled and determined to be the aforementioned dimethyl sulfoxide. I looked into it's potential interactions but only found an article regarding toxicity in a certain solution on males of a certain freshwater species. If DMSO remnants ARE harmful, I'm curious whether I can adequately clean the drums to dilute any existing chemical in them to within a safe range because, frankly, the price is right. If anyone has any insight into this matter, I would greatly appreciate it! -Johnny

Okay, so I grabbed a 55 gallon aquarium to build my sump/refugium and I just want to verify something...On the tank, it reads "Do not drill." Is it tempered all the way around or is that just one of those "warranty violating" warnings? I certainly intend on drilling the tank. Thanks!

So I have a question (as I'm planning my sump design): What is it with 40 gallons? I seem to hear about them relatively often and even Noobtosalt mentioned them being "hidden" from reefers during petco's sale...I'm debating a 40 vs 55 and I'm leaning toward the 55 for 1) increased effective volume and 2) only $15 more. Is this a sound line of reasoning?

Well this is absolutely great news! I'll drive down to petco tomorrow :-) Go team.

Hey, thanks for the update! I have been waiting for this special deal to replace my 40-gallon sump; however, upon review of petco.com, I do not see anything indicating the fabled "dollar per gallon" sale event I have heard so much about...

Hello everyone and good morning! I would just like to let you all know that I did end up finding a skimmer. I really appreciate how many people came to the rescue yet again!

Does anyone have a protein skimmer to sell? I have a 160 gallon with 40 gallon sump. I accidentally broke mine and now I'm looking at paying retail... So, if any of you have a quality skimmer you're looking to get rid of, I'm in the market as of 5 minutes ago. My number is 3605675299.

Thank you very much for your offer but driving out to Salem would be a bit too much out of the way for this operation. It's already going to take all day and we just cannot afford to add 60 miles (round-trip) to the move. On the brighter side, with Matty0206's support and a motley of friends I dragged out of the wood work for the price of beer and pizza, we're nearing the necessary number of laborers to successfully complete the process tomorrow!

Great idea. I've read up and that detritus sounds like pretty bad news once it's stirred up in solution. What exactly does it look like?

That's for sure. Haha, thanks for the reply, NoobtoSalt.

Hello, everyone! My name is Johnny if you don't already know (and you probably don't lol) and I have a bit of an emergency that I now ask for assistance. I am set to pick up reefsickness' 160-gallon, acrylic reef setup tomorrow morning at 8AM but my hired help has had to cancel for personal reasons. Reefsickness needs to do it tomorrow and I'm a bit stressed at this point. I know I am very new to the forum and this is very short notice, but I am asking for any volunteers to help in the move tomorrow morning. I have prepared food and beer for the after/setup party, but I am prepared to offer adequate provisions as required as per individual request due to nature of this request. I can provide transportation if necessary. We are picking up the aquarium in Sherwood, Oregon and setting up in Orchards, Vancouver. I'm aiming to leave Vancouver by 7:30AM to be in Sherwood by 8:00AM. I will be renting a U-Haul van to move everything; I just need laborers for the 200 gallons of water and all the equipment. It's about 60 miles round-trip and I plan on this taking basically forever to accomplish (lol, but seriously, from what I've read, it will not be a quick task). Also, anyone who has embarked on an endeavor of this proportion and thus has insight/expertise in this kind of matter is vital as this is not only my first reef tank move, it is my first reef tank owned. Please PM me or call (or text) 3605675299 if you can assist. V/r -Johnny

Hey, I checked out alibaba.com the other day and contacted a supplier. He responded with a pricing list of their LED products and whereas I am generally inclined to go for the more expensive items (having been conditioned to believe they are superior), I am curious how much of a difference there could possibly be. I personally cannot discern any useful data from this list beyond the lumen rating--which I've been reading isn't actually a very useful figure at all--but maybe someone with some insight can...[ATTACH]12653[/ATTACH]

Well, there is a canopy now that reefsickness setup. I have no preference.

No...Center overflow dead center in the aquarium.

No...Center overflow dead center in the aquarium.

Extremely insightful, AqusticEngineer! I am much obliged. I suppose the only question I have left is whether the aquarium having a center overflow makes any difference to light configuration. I suppose I would rather have a little overlap and make sure there aren't any unintended shade spots. Is this notion applicable?

Also, AquaticEngineer, congratulations on the new business! I am very interested in this project and whereas I have background as a reactor operator/electronics technician, I have been out of it some time now. My point being that I catch on quick but I am relatively lost as of now about the particulars of this endeavor. As I understand it, you have the LED and you mount it in some lens apparatus. The driver is some kind of power supply that goes between the wall socket and the LED assembly, which is mounted to an aluminum heat sink, which has a fan accompanying it to blow generated heat away from the sink and the LED. Is this accurate? Is it possible to get a single driver to power, say, four 50 watt LEDs? Also, would four be a bit much in a 36x36x30 reef cube? I have seen par ratings as well. How exactly does it come in to play and is it easy to control for? It seems like it's normally distributed and tapers pretty rapidly from the center-point. Furthermore, when it has been mentioned that an individual could use a giant piece of aluminum, is that to suggest that it would suffice to take some sheet aluminum (to provide as ceiling structure) to mount these babies to that perhaps had a fan or two to blow across the top of it for heat removal?

http://www.alibaba.com Reefsickness, you mentioned that you went there. I just checked them out and I'm curious if anyone has ever ordered from them before...I sent an inquiry but I've never dealt with them personally, so I guess I'm just a little apprehensive.

Also, I'm hugely into pictures and documenting everything so I will be taking plenty, I assure you!

Will do! The biggest concern will be trying to save as many of the livestock as possible during the move and subsequently getting everything setup correctly again. I am confident in my mechanical abilities, but I try not to count my eggs until they're hatched, so to speak.

Hey, guys. I'm just wondering what ever became of this project! AquaticEngineer, that looks like the perfect alternative to both inefficient metal-hallides and expensive made-to-order LED setups! Edit: Disregard my comment.

Lmao Robert. Good show, indeed!

Just paid my monies for a "family membership." Let the games begin!

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words! I'm sure I will be in touch with all of you. Reefsickness excited me about the entire community you have fostered here and I look forward to a long and prosperous future! I am especially excited to know there are people in my area who I can talk to about all this! After all, affiliation is arguably the fourth most basic human need after food, water and shelter...;-)

Hey, all. My name is Johnny and I was referred to this forum by reefsickness. He spoke highly of the community and made it sound like the only online community worth being a part of, so here I am! I actually just purchased his 160 gallon reef setup this morning and pick it up next weekend after finals. I have never had a saltwater aquarium before but I'm excited for the days that lay ahead. I currently have a 150 gallon planted aquarium and figured I'd get my feet wet in a different aquatic discipline. I am probably going to have tons of questions when I get going, so please bear with me I will spend some of this week plowing through available research and data to be as ready as possible for moving day next weekend. I am more than happy to receive any insight that may turn out the best possible outcome for this next chapter in my aquatic obsession! :-D Johnny B!