Higher Thinking

The system continues to improve! This time the upgrade comes in the way of an improved water change process. I've got my remote sump plumbed to the water change barrels in the garage. With this system I can pull water from the sump and pump it outside down the drain. Then I can flip some valves and pump new saltwater into the sump. I primarily do 50 gallon water changes at the sump. However, that's not ideal to siphon the actual display and clear detritus out of it. So this is my new gadget. Changing water straight from the display can be tricky because you can't tell exactly how much water you're pulling from the display. The display is large enough that you can't just eyeball how much to drain and refill. So I got this flow meter that tracks how much water goes through it. I installed quick disconnects so I can pull water from the display, track how many gallons have been drained, flip the meter, and fill up the exact number of gallons. Hopefully that all makes sense. Anyway, it's a pretty slick piece. The biggest drawback is the quick disconnects reduce the size of the flow so it takes a good amount of time to drain and refill 50 gallons. Now I can use the long hose and go around the tank and suck up all the detritus and not worry about draining too much or not enough. And just because it's time to show off Christmas trees, here's the wide angle shot from sump to tank.

Congrats to the winners so far. These prizes are just going to keep getting better!

Good looking fish for sure. The not reef safe aspect is likely what's holding everyone back. Have you checked in with any local fish shops? You might get yourself some solid credit.

Some pretty good advice here. I agree wholeheartedly with the patience factor. First thing I would research (if you're not familiar) is the nitrogen cycle. Learning to actually cycle your tank is the most critical aspect of setting up a new aquarium. Getting a tank going is a months long project, not something done overnight. The other element I would recommend is getting plugged in to a reliable local fish shop. There are several in the area and depending on where you live, you'll likely spend a good amount of time at one over the others. Be a good customer, a nice person, and ask questions...you'll find your way in no time. For what it's worth, Cuttlefish and Coral is located in SW Portland. I think I've gotten dang near every fish I own from them (including the tank and a lot of the equipment). That's my recommendation if you're anywhere in that area (and even if you're not 😉😉). Check out our sponsors page and see what local shops are around, they're all great!

You can certainly add another clown. I think getting a juvenile would ensure it develops into the correct sex.

I agree that you can definitely over export nutrients. What I'm not sure of, is whether you could skim your way down to zero. Skimming works due to the presence of dissolved organic compounds. I feel like if you had near zero, the skimmer wouldn't operate efficiently enough to reduce it to zero. That's totally just a guess though and you may be able to Google something that confirms or overrides that. I have heard of people running their skimmers on timers because it will bring nutrient levels lower than they want. Are you testing at all for nitrates?

Do you make it to the Portland area much? I could throw him in my 360 with 4 other yellow tangs.

I feel like excess light will definitely accelerate the growth on the glass. That's why it always grows must dense wherever the light is strongest. Sometimes it's unavoidable, others times you can make adjustments to reduce it. I'm not sure I would jump right into gfo. Your call of course. I wouldn't be making any major course changes in the first 6 months, arguably a bit longer. Do you have a lot of coral already? If not you could try reducing your lights. Just a thought...

That sucks. I've gone topless for the last 7 or 8 years and finally got tired of losing fish and/or not being able to buy certain known jumpers. I just bought some diy screen kits online and used bird netting. You can definitely buy the smaller netting materiel from BRS or others. This is my setup.

Solid piece right there.

Don't worry, he'll probably like it even more now 😆😆 Looks really awesome by the way!

And... We're off!! Best of luck to all the members!

Thanks for being all over this!

What's the policy when the renter kills them? 😁😁

You can usually get it at CnC.

I think I'll just break out my wallet on this one, Bill Nye...

Yooo! My man, thank you! Let's chat this weekend.

https://www.servapure.com/Serv-A-Pure-Mixed-Bed-DI-Resin-Bulk-10-cu-ft_p_7722.html There ya go. Sounds like I might just hop onboard with Jeff.

Yeah it's one cubic foot. With free shipping. 😁

Looks like you can buy 40 pounds of DI resin for $195. Is there one or two people who want in on this and we can split it? I'm in the Portland area. Let me know.... Before I end up dropping two hundo myself 😨😰😱

I am a supporting member! Super excited to see this stuff given away to our great members.

We still made it out for some fun last night.

Thanks for coordinating that, you two!

https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/10/24/tapatalk-has-been-pulled-from-the-google-play-store/?amp Thanks for trying to make it work y'all. I'll be honest, my presence is greatly reduced without Tapatalk. As user friendly as our platform is, nothing beats Tapatalk for me. I've been an ad free Tapatalk supporter for a few years and it's definitely been worth it.

Where you at these days? I'll take them off your hands if you're still around these parts.