Doug's 250, now 300, in wall build

[mr_X]

i use multiple salts. usually different every time. right now i'm using coralife marine salt, but i've used all of the major brands.

 

[Gti_Leo]

i still can't get over the awesome color of the lights

how is the rock doing?

 

[mr_X]

i guess it's ok. up to temp and circulating. no sense testing water for a few weeks.

 

[Gti_Leo]

true enough

was the rock you got when you bought the 120 live or was it dried out?

 

[mr_X]

some was dried out and some was live. also i mixed that with the barrel of rock outside in the garage- that was stinky.

 

[Gti_Leo]

is it still stinky?

 

[mr_X]

na. it's not bad now. there was a slight film on the surface of the 120's water though....i'm needing to connect that skimmer and increase flow a bit.

 

[mr_X]

oh..i also just purchased this-
Bubble Magus BM-180EX Protein Skimmer Brand New | eBay
to pair up with the octopus 200 i already have. my sump will be large enough to accommodate both skimmers, and the ones rated for 400+ gallons are super expensive, so i think this will be a nice solution.

 

[Gti_Leo]

did you read the thread i posted about the 5 gallon water jug skimmer? the only real expensive part is the pump and thats tops $200 so you could basically have a skimmer rated for a few hundred gallons for about $200

 

[mr_X]

yeah, i saw that, and i felt the same way- i'd rather spend the few bucks to not have a cheesy looking thing like that in my system. kudos to the guy who went through the trouble, but i don't want severe diy stuff any more.

 

[Gti_Leo]

that makes sense and i can totally understand that, but in alot of peoples cases the skimemr won't be seen much so its not a huge deal what it looks like. in the case of your system the sumps won't be in a closed stand so whoever walks in the room will see it

 

[mr_X]

who's system won't it be seen in? who comes over and is in awe of your tank but doesn't care how it's kept?

 

[Gti_Leo]

then you can brag and say i built this wicked awesome skimmer that is keeping my system in such brilliant condition

its not like they will say "ewww that looks like crap" after they've seen what it can do

 

[mr_X]

yes, but they won't know what it can do.,..all they will see is a giant water bottle with holes in it...lol

 

[Gti_Leo]

keeping acroporas alive

 

[Unicorn]

Agree with X, most NORMAL people don't know that protein skimmer exist nor what acroporas are... They call em "pretty coral thingies"

 

[Gti_Leo]

then why would they want to see the filtration system, why not just drool over the display tank. more hobbiests care abotu the filtration and the type of lighting used not the girl you picked up at the bar

 

[Unicorn]

then why would they want to see the filtration system, why not just drool over the display tank. more hobbiests care abotu the filtration and the type of lighting used not the girl you picked up at the bar

I ment NORMAL people, not crazies like us that love to see the guts of the whole thing

 

[Gti_Leo]

exactly so why would they want to see the filtration system

 

[Unicorn]

exactly so why would they want to see the filtration system

They don't... But seeing something ugly that you don't know it's purpose looks even uglier... They don't understand the beauty in it