My new 215G

[adolph_09]

So I'm in the process of setting up this 215 I just got I have all the live rock already and am looking for a place to get sand cheap. Iv heard of lots of people using silicate sand from home depot, lowes, and Walmart with no ill effects except for possibly scratching the glass more often since silicates are harder then glass.

Has anyone used that sand before?

[hobogato]

it isnt a great choice because the grains of sand are much sharper edged than aragonite sand. this can cause problems with sand dwelling livestock. it also will not provide the buffering effect that you will get from crushed coral or aragonite.

[Scutterborn]

Also, diatoms feed on silicates. You may end up with a never ending diatom bloom.


- Ben -

[adolph_09]

Yeah I have heard that too do you think that would cause so much stress that the bottom dwellers would die?
And also is there anything else out there beside the caribsea sand. All my searching has only lead to the brand caribsea

I know that old castle (formerly Southdown) used to be sold at hardware stores and was the exact same sand used by caribsea except marked for garden use and sold for $5 for 40lbs.

[adolph_09]

Also, diatoms feed on silicates. You may end up with a never ending diatom bloom.


- Ben -

Most of what I read said that silicate sand might release silicates but it's no more then might be added into a tank with freshly mixed saltwater or leached from the aquarium glass since it is also made from silicate sand

[hobogato]

last i heard, you cant find southdown anywhere near here. wouldnt hurt to call around and check tho :)

[adolph_09]

Yeah iv been looking and have found some places selling it still but not around here so shipping would have to be paid so in the end it comes out to about the same as just buying caribsea from any local fish store

[Big_Pun]

why chance a tank to save some money? worst case you have bad blooms and kill fish and have to rip a whole tank down. I know this hobby is expensive but taking chances can be also. prob a reason no one runs that substrate any more.

[adolph_09]

why chance a tank to save some money? worst case you have bad blooms and kill fish and have to rip a whole tank down. I know this hobby is expensive but taking chances can be also. prob a reason no one runs that substrate any more.

Aint that true ha
And I wonder if any one does use that sand anymore? all the threads I have been reading where people used this sand were from a couple years back at least

[Big_Pun]

yea it's been a while since someone asked about this sand. best bang for your buck would be the 30lb bags of special reef grade. took me 4 bags to do my 150 with 1.5-2 inches

[adolph_09]

yea it's been a while since someone asked about this sand. best bang for your buck would be the 30lb bags of special reef grade. took me 4 bags to do my 150 with 1.5-2 inches

does anyone carry this sand locally?

[Ms_Big_Pun]

does anyone carry this sand locally?

We got our sand at Elegant Reef

[Big_Pun]

what my better half said ^^^^^

[adolph_09]

anybody know of a really good skimmer at a good price?

im thinking of getting the Reef Octopus Diablo ES-250 which comes with dual Sicce pumps but i can not find many reviews on it anybody ever use this skimmer or one like it? its only rated up to 250g so it might be a bit smaller than id like it to be but think it should still work good right?

[rrasco]

I like the bubble magus. Good price point for what you get. I was running a NAC9 on my 210. The NAC9 is rated for 300-500g so plenty of overskimming power.

I've never used RO but heard nothing but great things about them.

Keep in mind it needs to handle the load you introduce. If you only have 1 clown in a 215g then you don't need a huge skimmer. Skim according to what you stock.

[adolph_09]

im still trying to decide on my stocking list but im kinda thinking of doing lots of little fish instead of just a couple big fish in other words a 215G nano ha. i always thought a big tank with lots of smaller fish would look cool and iv never really seen a tank like that.

and that NAC9 was actually the runner up in my skimmer list ha, it only came in second to the Diablo because i read that some come with a mesh impeller which needs more frequent cleanings or it will not work good is this true?

[rrasco]

I don't know if there is any truth to that or not. I have never cleaned mine, mainly because I can't take the whole skimmer out of my sump/stand, but it doesn't mean I won't have issues at some point. It's generally a good idea to clean all your pumps periodically anyways. Especially in a saltwater setup.

[Bill S]

If you are interested, I have an Ace Built beckett skimmer I'd make you a heck of a deal on. I ran it on my 215 for a long time.

[adolph_09]

Thanks for the offer bstreep but I have my eyes set on a Reef Octopus I'm just not sure which exact one yet.

I was thinking of running a external skimmer plumbed directly into my overflow line seems like that would be really efficient since most the dirty water coming from the display will go straight into the skimmer, and there would be almost no heat transfer
has anyone had a skimmer setup this way and is there any draw backs?

[adolph_09]

im stuck between these skimmers right now

Super Reef Octopus- 3000 External (rated up to 400G)
http://www.fragtasticreef.com/SRO-3000EXT-Super-Reef-Octopus-3000-External-SRO-3000EXT.htm

Super Reef Octopus- 5000 External (rated up to 550G)
http://www.fragtasticreef.com/SRO-5000EXT-Super-Reef-Octopus-5000-External-Skimmer-SRO-5000EXT.htm

and the SWC 300 Extreme Cone Skimmer (rated at 300G with heavy bioload and 500 with light bioload)
http://www.fragtasticreef.com/SWC-Xtreme-300-Cone-Protein-Skimmer-Xtreme-Cone-300.htm

which do yall think i should go with?

[EpicWin]

I have 1 other suggestion. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bubble-magus-bm-nac9-cone-protein-skimmer.html. I own a swc and this bubble Magnus. Honestly the bubble mag out performs the swc. It is also cheaper and parts for it are less expensive. The swc gets points for being quieter but its really not by a whole lot. I've been running mine for 2 years straight and no issues what so ever

[g-ray]

I say super reef octopus 3000 no less if your dead set on an octo skimmer.!

[Scutterborn]

Personally, I got the SRO-5000int for my 185.


-Ben-

[Big_Pun]

not sure on how much room you have but i love the sea side aquatics line with sicce pumps very quiet and reliable. if you read reviews on sicce psk2500 they are true and suck! the new psk600 and psk1000 are great pumps ive used both, if you look on there store list there is a LFS that can get them for you locally.

http://www.seasideaquatics.com/?p=193 rated for 550g


http://www.seasideaquatics.com/?p=189 rated for 300g

[tylermonster]

not sure on how much room you have but i love the sea side aquatics line with sicce pumps very quiet and reliable. if you read reviews on sicce psk2500 they are true and suck! the new psk600 and psk1000 are great pumps ive used both, if you look on there store list there is a LFS that can get them for you locally.

http://www.seasideaquatics.com/?p=193 rated for 550g


http://www.seasideaquatics.com/?p=189 rated for 300g

i got my sea side aquatics CS1 from elegant reef, has a psk600 and runs like a champ.

[adolph_09]

not sure on how much room you have but i love the sea side aquatics line with sicce pumps very quiet and reliable. if you read reviews on sicce psk2500 they are true and suck! the new psk600 and psk1000 are great pumps ive used both, if you look on there store list there is a LFS that can get them for you locally.

http://www.seasideaquatics.com/?p=193 rated for 550g


http://www.seasideaquatics.com/?p=189 rated for 300g

the Reef Octopus Diablo XS250 actually comes with those same Sicce PSK-1000 pumps. but i heard that those pumps have alot of start up and burning out problems which made me lean towards the bubble blaster pumps which supposedly suck more air and are more reliable. not sure if any of this is true just what iv read

[adolph_09]

I say super reef octopus 3000 no less if your dead set on an octo skimmer.!

thats actually the one i went with!!! :thumbs_up:

the Super Reef Octopus-XP3000

placed the order yesterday from BRS so should be here tommorow or friday. i did go with the internal one though so im gonna see how that works out in my sump. i might have to sit it in the chamber where the refugium should go so if i dont like it i will most likely try and exchange it for the external

[Big_Pun]

the only start up probs ive seen are from the old psk-2500 pumps the new psk-1000 is great as well as the 600. ive had my cs-2 since march with no problem whats so ever. if you look around so many companies use them on their skimmers,and they also build tunze pumps.
the bubble blaster is a great pump, only complaints ive heard first hand is how loud they are. but they work like a champ and can do some serious skimming

[adolph_09]

yeah iv heard that the bubble blasters can be kinda loud but im sure it wont really be a problem once the stand doors are closed. i will let you all know if they are loud when it comes in friday

and can pictures be poted thru tapatalk? or straight from my iphone iv been trying to put some progress pics up but dont have a computer to do it on right now

[Big_Pun]

yeah iv heard that the bubble blasters can be kinda loud but im sure it wont really be a problem once the stand doors are closed. i will let you all know if they are loud when it comes in friday

and can pictures be poted thru tapatalk? or straight from my iphone iv been trying to put some progress pics up but dont have a computer to do it on right now

the icon that looks like a camera and the one that looks like a mountain and sun.i paid extra to have unlimited pics through tapatalk

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/18/rygumupe.jpg

[adolph_09]

Ok I wasn't logged into my maast account on tapatalk which why I couldn't figure it out ha

So finally here is a picture of the tank it looks more blue cause this was taken in the morning when mainly only blues are on the rest of the colors turn on as the day progresses

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/19/eqyjy5y5.jpg

Will take some pictures of sump and all that later today

[Big_Pun]

nice!! looks like you got a lil hair algae prob, are those mp-10s or 40's??

[adolph_09]

Yeah I waited a little to long to add a clean up crew so it grew out of control but they are slowly eating it all most the right side of the tank is almost cleared of hair algae
I still need to go by yalls shop though and get some more crabs and snails

And they are mp10s but I plan on selling them and getting some mp40s

[adolph_09]

Got some more pictures and also had nice present waiting for me when I got home.
Ordering things online is almost better then Christmas haha
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/20/e2egu4e3.jpg

This was I first added the rock a couple weeks ago http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/20/ureduvu8.jpg

My light setup
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/20/ahepyryp.jpg

And just a picture I took last night of my Florida fighting conch
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/20/2ana2uvu.jpg

[adolph_09]

I was finally able to take some decent pics of the tank all though im still working on the camera settings so some of these still look more blue then the tank actually is.

Still need to get 2 more maxspect modules, another MP40, and a couple more reactors but everything is going good so far. also going to be starting some kind of continuous Phyto culture that is dosed thru out the day thru my doing pumps just trying to find the right containers.

1744917450174511745217453

[adolph_09]

also just got this i believe male Mandarin and will be keeping an eye out for a female to try and pair them up

174561745417455

[KING]

Hey man..tank looks nice..good job on puting the rock work..

[adolph_09]

thanks it took me forever to get them to stay the way i wanted also took alot of zipties ha

[Mr Cob]

looks great! nice pics too

[cniles]

Tank looks awesome! Funny thing is I'm finishing up my 220 and gonna get the same exact skimmer and the maxspect razor R420R 160W myself.Would u recommend two MP40'S ?

[adolph_09]

Tank looks awesome! Funny thing is I'm finishing up my 220 and gonna get the same exact skimmer and the maxspect razor R420R 160W myself.Would u recommend two MP40'S ?

Haha that's funny they will be almost the same. And yeah I think 2 mp40s would be good enough I only have 1 mp40 right now the other is an mp10 until I can buy another mp40 but it does move alot of water and can even make a small wave!! So I think 2 would be perfect
and maybe we can work something out with the skimmer iv been thinking of switching to the external version because right now the internal one is taking up alot of room in my refugium which I don't really like.

[cniles]

Lmk I have a huge section perfect for the skimmer

[BBQHILLBILLY]

very nice pics. If you dont mind me asking what camera did you use? I really need to get a good camera for the tank.

[adolph_09]

im using a Nikon D3100 with the standard lens it comes with. I dont know too much about it cause i havnt had too long and im pretty new to the whole photography world but i heard it is a good intro camera. has enough features to take really nice pics but not so many that you get overwhelmed

[adolph_09]

does anyone have a phyto culture they would be willing to share with me? just looking for a small amount to start my own culture and i would be willing pay

[adolph_09]

Just realized its been about 5 months since i last updated this thread so now might be a good time. ha
Everything has been going pretty good within the tank. A couple pest aiptasia have starting to appear around the tank ever since i added a Marine Beta and all my peppermints disappeared so im planning on getting a aiptasia eating filefish maybe.
Well here are some pictures of everything

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_1031.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_1031.jpg.html)

Left Side
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_1035.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_1035.jpg.html)

Middle
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_1036.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_1036.jpg.html)

Right Side
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_1034.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_1034.jpg.html)

Green Slimmer
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_1010.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_1010.jpg.html)

Orange Monti
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_1014.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_1014.jpg.html)

Birdsnest
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_0990.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_0990.jpg.html)

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_0982.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_0982.jpg.html)

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_0987.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_0987.jpg.html)

Redplanet
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/6e77980d-9bd8-47fe-8c2b-33a933c0b94a.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/6e77980d-9bd8-47fe-8c2b-33a933c0b94a.jpg.html)

Marine Beta
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_0989.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_0989.jpg.html)

Corals
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/e69603b9-e697-4bc4-a08f-6bb5e6c12be6.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/e69603b9-e697-4bc4-a08f-6bb5e6c12be6.jpg.html)

Pistol Shrimp & Watchmen
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_1020.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_1020.jpg.html)

Forest Green Digi- This coral is about 5" from the sand bed and still manages to grow under LED's
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_1022.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_1022.jpg.html)

Cant remember the name of this one
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_0983.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_0983.jpg.html)

Montipora Setosa
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_1008.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_1008.jpg.html)

Blue Tang
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_0984.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_0984.jpg.html)

Lokani maybe?
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_0992.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_0992.jpg.html)

RBTA
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_1025.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_1025.jpg.html)

Flower Pedal Cap if i remember right
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s251/adolph-09/DSC_0977.jpg (http://s154.photobucket.com/user/adolph-09/media/DSC_0977.jpg.html)