The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread

[shilala]

Okay, I joined the reef club. So far, I've met 3 of the members, great guys.
I have procured a bunch of live rock I needed to fill out my tank, and I got a few corals.
I got a bunch of powerheads, just picked up another Koralia 1400 today. I have a wavemaker in the mail.
One of the reef club guys came over and gave me a checklist of stuff to unscrewup in my tank and I've done most. I didn't fix a sand pile because he had me clean my skimmers and I cleaned them so good that they just won't make goo very good. The water is getting bad enough, so I'm not gonna make a bad thing worse.
I stopped feeding for now till the skimmers re-break-in. They should come around in the next day or two, we'll see.
I'm really getting a grip on how to get reef water right and keep it right. These are things I needed to learn. Now if I can apply that knowledge on down to my equipment, I'll be in real good shape. That won't take long at all.
Oh, I'm going to a Frag Swap in Cleveland on Saturday. I should be able to get some cool stuff there, I'm excited about that.

[OLS]

Originally Posted by shilala

I stopped feeding for now till the skimmers re-break-in. They should come around in the next day or two, we'll see.

Scott, I was wondering about your skimmer. Do you have a way to keep your water level constant?
i.e. a top-off system? Sump? Most skimmers are pretty reactive to water level changes.
Not sure what your setup currently is, but some skimmers are pretty picky

[shilala]

Originally Posted by OLS

Scott, I was wondering about your skimmer. Do you have a way to keep your water level constant?
i.e. a top-off system? Sump? Most skimmers are pretty reactive to water level changes.
Not sure what your setup currently is, but some skimmers are pretty picky

Brad, I have two otb skimmers. Each are rated over the tank size.
I noticed that when they are new, the acrylic is so frictional that it severely retards the whirlpool. As soon as an algae film grows on it in a few days, they kick in. In a few weeks, they work like madmen.
I screwed up. I should have never cleaned both at once. One was practically brand new and didn't need cleaned, as far as I was concerned. They were chugging out the junk every time I fed.
I had a kid come in and help me out, and I got nervous. He had great ideas and was a HUGE help, but he thought stuff out like kids do. In an effort to do honor and respect to the favor he bestowed upon me, I did a couple things that I knew I shouldn't have done in haste.
The one thing I haven't done is disrupted my sandbed and thinned it out as he suggested. I'm not doing that until the skimmers are 100%, my diatom filter is hooked up and running, I have 20 gallons of replacement water ready, and I've removed all my corals down by the bottom.

Oh, I have an otb filter that makes a crazy racket when the water level drops a quarter inch. The tank is right here in our office. If I don't hear it, Lisa points it out. It gets topped off by old Dad every couple days.
My skimmers aren't real sensitive to water level, either, being over-the-backs.