Dary's tank!

[mr_X]

I still have accounts with many suppliers. Please consult with me BEFORE buying retail next time
You and the guy with the creepy house and tank on the third floor are welcome.

 

[Dary421]

I still have accounts with many suppliers. Please consult with me BEFORE buying retail next time
You and the guy with the creepy house and tank on the third floor are welcome.

Lol,.... Geeez wonder who that guy may be ?


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[Gregcoyote]

I bought used, so I doubt I left any money on the table, but thanks I will take you up on the offer. Creepy house? Not so much. I'm the one who is creepy. The house is not as in your dream...

The skimmer looks very nice. The proof is the skim it produces. I think Doug is right, they can rate them for anything, but the real number to look at is air flow. The more the better. The DC motor is interesting, never had such a thing in a fish tank.


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[Dary421]

So far so good with the skimmer ,.... She's doing her job and pulling out a lot of crap out of the water ,... Really hated to pull the plug ( pun intended on the MRC skimmer ,... That's really a gnarly piece of machinery ,... Maybe one day dr Frankenstein will reconnect the electrodes and fire up the beast again to terrorize the countryside .
I'm getting rather tired of trying to fight with the Alk levels in my tank using the tropic Marin " pro" reef salt ,..it seems to be extremely low to start off with so it takes a ton of Alk just to get it to where it needs to be and then it's like trying to chase a ping pong ball in the wind trying to keep up with it,. Calcium seems to be very high ,...Research on many other forums mimic the same findings No matter what they claim on the bucket ...I've got a few bags of instant ocean reef Salt and some Kent salt left over that I may utilize in the meantime , not quite sure where to go from here salt wise but open for suggestions as always .
Still tweaking an idea or two on modifying the sump area too,..but that'll be on the back burner for now ,...hope All's well with everyone !




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[SeanMonster]

Dary, I've been running Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for over 3 years. I've been really happy with it and am running a 90g and 180g reef with it. My 90g requires about 60 ml each of B-Ionics every other day between water changes. The 180g only requires about 90 ml once or twice a week.


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[Gregcoyote]

I have used reef crystals since they came out. I have found it works fine for me. It does leave some residue in the bottom of the mix barrel, but it settles out and is easy to remove while still wet. I think it's a tiny bit of clay mined with the salt.


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[Dary421]

Took down the my buddy the MRC skimmer today ,...kind of sad ,... like taking the 427 cubic inch engine out of your 1960's muscle car and replacing it with a fuel efficient 4 cylinder putt putt,... Somewhere down the line the ol' beast will return again!!


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[Dary421]

Replaced the area where the ol' mcr skimmer lived with a little cabinet to hold the Hanna testing equipment ,... A fair trade for the time being I guess


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[paul87]

Replaced the area where the ol' mcr skimmer lived with a little cabinet to hold the Hanna testing equipment ,... A fair trade for the time being I guess View attachment 279641View attachment 279642


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How big of an area does that whole stand take up? Its a beast! Nicely done thought. I don't think I've ever seen that much of it until now.

 

[mr_X]

Took down the my buddy the MRC skimmer today ,...kind of sad ,... like taking the 427 cubic inch engine out of your 1960's muscle car and replacing it with a fuel efficient 4 cylinder putt putt,... Somewhere down the line the ol' beast will return again!! View attachment 279636


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I think it's more like taking the thirsty 427 out and putting in a 800 hp 6 cyl that gets 20 mpg

 

[Bdonaldson]

Nice new skimmer you have there Dary. I'm glad its working out for you. As far as sea salt goes, I've been using the instant ocean reef crystals since i started and i have been very happy with it.

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[mr_X]

I have heard that the regular tropic marin is better (closer to nsw) than the TM reef salt. That said I tried to use a different salt mix each time I bought it. I found that the dirtiest salt mixes (the ones that left a brown soot in my mixing barrel) were:
IO, and IO Reef Crystals
Seachem Reef
Kent

I still used them on occasion even with the nasty brown crap, but not as often as other brands. Recently the price came down on "Royal Nature" which mixes pretty clean. It's not a bad salt mix. You might want to get a dosing pump and start a constant drip. Could it be possible that your corals are simply using the alk as fast as you are putting it in?

 

[Dary421]

I have heard that the regular tropic marin is better (closer to nsw) than the TM reef salt. That said I tried to use a different salt mix each time I bought it. I found that the dirtiest salt mixes (the ones that left a brown soot in my mixing barrel) were:
IO, and IO Reef Crystals
Seachem Reef
Kent

I still used them on occasion even with the nasty brown crap, but not as often as other brands. Recently the price came down on "Royal Nature" which mixes pretty clean. It's not a bad salt mix. You might want to get a dosing pump and start a constant drip. Could it be possible that your corals are simply using the alk as fast as you are putting it in?

Yep,...ditto on everything ,...been using a dosing pump full speed for a couple years now


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[Dary421]

I think it's more like taking the thirsty 427 out and putting in a 800 hp 6 cyl that gets 20 mpg

You're prob right but there's just something about the roar of the 427 that kind of makes you smile no matter how much gas it sucks up ,... The mcr did a great job ,.... Time will tell on the ev6 dc


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[Dary421]

How big of an area does that whole stand take up? Its a beast! Nicely done thought. I don't think I've ever seen that much of it until now.

Paul,.. 16 feet of cabinet ,... Took a couple of quick pics to kind of give you an idea,... Rodi water on a roll out system,..and pwc change water barrel on the other end


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[Dary421]

Nice new skimmer you have there Dary. I'm glad its working out for you. As far as sea salt goes, I've been using the instant ocean reef crystals since i started and i have been very happy with it.

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Barb,..so far the new skimmer is doing well,... I did use reef crystals for a year or so, but switched around alittle ,..I'll spin the roulette wheel and see where in salt land it stops this time


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[Bdonaldson]

Barb,..so far the new skimmer is doing well,... I did use reef crystals for a year or so, but switched around alittle ,..I'll spin the roulette wheel and see where in salt land it stops this time


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Sounds good to me Dary. Hope you find a salt that works great for you.

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[ImACoolguy]

Whoa nice stand

So is there a salt mix that reigns supreme right now? My LFS is convinced AquaVitro is the best right now.


Caleb

 

[Dary421]

Caleb,... I've tried reef crystals,Kent ,coral pro etc,..been on this high priced tropic Marin pro reef Salt but I'm fighting keeping the Alk up ,...I might try their regular salt mix just once ( suppose to be better balanced ) and see what happens there ,..if that doesn't work for me then it's off the roulette wheel :-/


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[Gregcoyote]

I'm with Doug, I don't think it matters that much. I tend to use what is cheap and that's Reef Crystals around here. Everybody has a favorite, but I don't think it matters in the end. If you have a densely populated coral reef, your going to be adding alk/cal/mg anyway. The advantage of sticking to one brand is that the additive amounts you use shouldn't change much. If there is a bit of clay precipitate, that stays in the barrel and I clean it out now and then.


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