excellent post josh..much appreciated

SPS20 inspired me. So I added my SPS from my BC14 and raised the lighting to 1.5' above the water surface to better acclimate them to the intense light. Hope I didn't make the switch too early! Water params are perfect though - even calc & alk - so I'm pretty certain they'll be fine. Polyps from the Milli are already showing good extension. Here's some shots taken immediately after I added them to the tank.







I either need to mess with my camera settings or NEED A NEW ONE. It does well with brilliant white light, but it doesn't take clear pics with the 20k blue. Man, if it's not buying tank gear or corals, it's somethin else! This hobby is so damn expensive (but necessary).

very nice man..i have an order of sps commin next tuesday myself..im excited to get em

Yay!

Just keep up on the water changes, Ca+ and Alk, use some carbon and you should be fine.

That is a very crisp and clean design. Some of the designs people come up with on this website blow my mind. 75% of my tank, at least, is off-the-shelf gear. My next tank will be fully custom. It will be awhile bofore I can afford it, but I like the idea of building it piece by piece. It just seems gratifying.

Just try to match the light they re getting to what they had where they were before you moved them as close as you can, and you should be fine. (both photoperiod and placement)

Is the light they are under now a higher wattage than before?

Looking Goood Randy it's all coming together VERY nicely!!!

150W to 250W. I figure I should lower the light 2" per week until it's 10" above the water surface?

Sounds about right. Only bad things happen fast in reef tanks.

Wow PU I just caught up on your thread...you have been busy

Looks totally awesome in the Kitchen setup!!!!
Question: Is that a Purple and green polyp turbine front back top left??
Ive got a frag of one and isnt growing at all...Under t5HO almost at the top.

How much has that one grown??
Keep up the progress.

Izzue

Izzue, I have 1 that is almost in the shade and it is doing very well. It is in somewhat higher flow.

PU, I would have just fragged those colonies and tried them over in the new tank. It looks great though. Awesome job. That new system looks very promising, although I am not a big fan of overflows that require an air pump. Keep up the good work.

So your wife is ok with the tank sitting on the kitchen island? ..........Im not even allowed to wash my hands in the kitchen sink after i played in the tank........Nor could I have a tank with all that plumbing exposed. You got a good women.......Id keep her.

Thanks Izzue. It's actually a yellow turbinaria. Not sure if it's related to what you have, but mine has grown 20% in size in roughly 4 months. It's enormous. Last night, I moved it to a sweet niche at the front of the tank on the black sand bed. I'll take more pics when its star-like yellow polyps come out.

At first, I thought about fragging em, but then I decided that I didn't want to have to dose BOTH tanks. So I removed all of my SPS from my BC14 and put it in here. Up to this point, the only issue I have with the air pump overflow it that it's BLUE! Thanks for the words or encouragement, Gixxer.

Very nice tank! As I look at all of that unused counter space behind the tank, I can't help but think you have an ideal stand for a 90-P (basically two of this tank set back to back). Or... have you thought about drilling a hole right in the middle of your counter, through the granite for your tubes and wires? - LOL...

Ok, I'll stop filling your head with new ways of spending money. Great setup.

The thing is she is NOT OK with the tank on her kitchen island, but it's compromise. She's compromising by not permitting me to custom install a 2-way 180G monster tank in the entertainment nook of our living room. It's gonna look saweeeet with a 2-way view to-and-from our master bedroom. So that's the compromise. I get to keep the tank on the island as long as I don't spend $20,000 for my custom dream tank. Once that day comes, the island tank goes. That's why I couldn't drill holes right down the center of the granite tops, but rather the back side - hence, the black tubes to blend colors as best as possible as they wind down into the hole. But she has been fantastic, considering I've completely taken over her kitchen. (I do most of the cooking anyway

"Or... have you thought about drilling a hole right in the middle of your counter, through the granite for your tubes and wires?" LOL. Great minds think alike! I just mentioned why my wife wouldn't tolerate that in my prior post. But if I were a swinging bachelor? Then the entire living room would be an aquarium and the master bedroom would be the sump room. Realistically speaking though, a 90-P with a built in glass overflow would be RAW. Shoulda woulda coulda...

BTW: Very nice 5G ADA, dapellegrini.

Moved the yellow turbinaria to the bottom. It's such a large piece that it needed more presence in the tank.

wow man..i love ur tank!! i live only about 2 hours away from you lol..i want to see it in person lol

I love this tank.

I want a rimless now!

I think my next tank will have to be rimpless, and i will be bugging the crap out of you guys for construction tips..

BTW.. is your yellow turb pink between the polyps or am i hallucinating? If so, that is one cooool piece!

No, more like a brown in between the yellow polyps. When I first bought it, the entire piece was yellow! It's gotta be a captivity thing b/c the LFS' turbinarias also turned brown over time. I'll take a close up later today.Haha. Where you from? 2hrs ain't that far, especially since there are easily 3-4 fish stores you'll want to check out while you're up here. Ping me the next time you're in Sac or on your way to Tahoe. I'm sure it'll look better in another 3mos though.

ok dude will do..im in modesto myself so not far from you at all.

QUESTION! Looking at how you have the sump and auto top off container set up do you think I would be possible to get all that into a 20x20x24 stand? Looks like the dims are 15" x 9" x 20-1/2" h for the sump and a a little shorter for the auto top off...I'm having a 20x20x20 cube built and I'm not finding a lot of standard sump options that I like...or that will fit for that matter. Looks like the added height on the sump comes from the skimmer collection cup but do you think all the return tubes would be a problem since they come straight out from the top?

Wassup Java. I know you're thinking to have the sump and AFS side by side, making the combined width 18"+. You can easily curl the return tubes to fit, but the main problem I foresee is the AFS connection tube to the sump. It doesn't start to become flexible until 4", so it MIGHT BARELY fit but it could potentially squeeze your auto-fill tube closed. I wouldn't be so quick to say it absolutely won't work though b/c you could cut it shorter to fit just right. Minor adjustment only. (see pic)

how's it holding up? any performance updates?

Ok, here's the thing. The skimmer seams to be sensitive to the water level in the sump. WHEN THE WATER LEVEL IS LOW, the skimmer works incredibly well. However, micro bubbles enter the display tank due to the water level in the sump being low. WHEN THE WATER LEVEL IS RIGHT AT THE RECOMMENDED fill line, the micro bubbles immediately disappear but the skimmer stops skimming. At least that's where my theory brings me this morning.

So right now there are no micro bubbles but it's no longer skimming. I'm leaving out of town until Sunday. I'll leave it be until now so I can test the auto-fill unit and skimmer to find out where things are when I return. If it's still not skimming when I get back, I'll probably bring the water level down slowly to find that sweet spot where the skimmer continues to work well with no micro bubbles in the tank. I'm sure that's the problem.

Very, very nice.

Thanks Asin!

Hey, I'm thinking about growing chaeto inside the overflow of the display tank. I've seen pics of this on NR before but I wonder if it would be plain UGLY. On the other hand, it could add a more natural element to the tank and better hide some of the blue. Any opinions?

Nice tank, what sand are you using? Also do you have a problem with salt creep?

Hey Lokani. It's Black Tahitian Moon Sand and almost impossible to keep clean. Believe it or not, you can easily get away with detritus on your typical white sand but not this stuff. I do like the way it looks though.

No problems with salt creep, but then again, I've only had my overflow running for 6 days. I'll let you know if it starts to become a problem later.

do by chance have the dimensions of the rena filter you used to run on this setup...i was looking at putting this in a 12 inch ADA that i plan on getting

NP. I'll get em for you when I return home tomorrow night. It could be a tight squeeze but it might fit. IMO these RENA HOBs look very clean and do the job well. Especially for a 12G, where a protein skimmer may not be so essential.

Skimmers are such fickle little beasts, aren't they? If you can't afford to buy a reeeeally good one, be prepared to spend your days tweaking the damn thing. I'm in the same boat. I tweak my little ASM mini-g all the time. Took me almost 4 months to get to where i felt it was really "dialed in". If you can afford a Tunze or a euro-reef, you get to set-and-forget. If you are like the rest of us, you get to tweak.

I hope the skimmer starts behaving! Give us more pics! The fish nerds are getting hungry for reef pron.

Haha. I thought it was just me. I've never had much luck with skimmers, no matter which brand, make or model I own. I figure the more costly ones are costly for a reason. I can only hope this thing get working with enough consistency soon so I can reallocate my funds towards corals vs hardware. In the meantime, here are some shots of my old hardy corals recently brought in from my other tank.


This coco worm never ceases to amaze me. 4mos ago one of its heads freakin fell off. 2mos ago it came back!


I'm looking to get a watermelon or rainbow type chalice like this one. I've moved it from tank to tank 4 times over already. Looking to give it better care now. Are these in the SPS category? I know next to nothing about them, except that it's now looking better than ever in this new setup. This pic is 2 weeks old. Unless I'm seeing things, I can now see green tentacles protruding from the mouths.


It's cool having an open top. Whenever my hand goes in the tank, I can easily pet these perculas. If I ever need to take them out, I doubt that I would need a net.

Came home 2 days after spending Thanksgiving with the in-laws. First time I left the system unattended since it was first installed. NO FLOODING, but also no power outage. Water level in the display tank was the same, so my outflow and return rate are nicely in sync. Water level in the sump was lower, so apparently the AFS (auto-fill system) hasn't refilled the sump with freshwater yet. Looks like the protein skimmer tuned itself up while I was away.

"Hey Honey, that's not Chardonnay!"

6 days of accumulated gunk from the RapidsPro Protein Skimmer.

PurpleUp - Is any part of the Rapids protein skimmer molded to the sump? So if at some point in the future you want to put a different skimmer in there, can you easily swap it out?

Funny, I've been thinking the same thing. It doesn't look like it's molded to the sump, but I'm not sure how easy it would be to swap it out. The opening for the collection cup at the top is of a specific size. A different protein skimmer would have to be the same height and width. Like many other mods, I'm sure anything can be done though. If someone else was able to do it, I'd be curious to know with what and how. Shoot, find me one that will fit and it might be me! But for now, I'm gonna give this one at least another 2 weeks to dial in. It might make more sense to upgrade the air pump or drop in a submersible pump instead.

(on second thought, I may check out PetsMart for a more powerful air-pump/air-stone now.)

i had heard that swapping out for a more powerful air pump improved the performance of the skimmer, good idea

My first few reef tanks used air driven skimmers, and those things can be amazing if they get the right amount of flow of both air and water. I wouldn't give up on the skimmer just yet, but I wouldn't invest too much money in it either. I would try getting a bigger air pump and putting a tee on the end of the airline inside the skimmer and put 2 sirstones on it. If you push too much air through those limewood airstones, you just end up getting more big bubbles and less small ones. Better to divide the airflow if you add a bigger pump, imo.

Of course, if it comes out of the sump easily, you might consider putting a more efficient skimmer in there. And if that doesn't work, I have an old ETS 800 laying around. It would be hilarious to see what that would do to 25 gallons of water. 1200 GPH of skimming on a 25 gallon tank might be a bit too much. I hold on to the old beast in the hopes that I will one day have a tank big enough to use it again. It worked great on my 120, but I wouldn't dare put it on anything smaller than 100G.

I am one of those dying breed that still thinks nothing beats downdraft skimming, even if the pump to run it increases your tank temperature by 10 degrees and costs 15 bucks a month in electricity lol.

If you want to categorize, call it an "LPS" coral. It is probably an Echinophillia species. I have one that is a lovely combo of pink and emerald green. It is happy in moderate light, and does not seem to need to eat anything. Beware putting yours too close to SPS corals - mine puts out 3" sweeper tentacles at night that will burn the flesh off of any SPS they touch. Curiously enough, zooanthids are completely immune to this.

So that proved to be a big waste of time. Turns out that the stock air pump and air stone perform much better than a RENA Air 300 and ceramic air stone I picked up at PetsMart for $45. I swapped the stock stuff back in. It's actually higher quality and better designed for the protein skimming job.

Good stuff. Thanks for the info. Sounds like these new tentacles I see will continue to get longer.

Ok, here are your dimensions for the RENA Smartfilter 30. 13" X 6.375" is probably too big for a 12" ADA! Let me know if you pick up a bigger tank. Since I no longer have use for it, I'll give it to you for half of what I paid including 4 replacement carbons.

ok i just realized that you were not running the smallest model rena filter. I wonder if the rena 20 would be sufficient for the 12 inch cube because it would have to fit even with the heater attachment right? Maybe a canister filter would be my best bet, but i'm not sure about that. Thanks for the dimensions though and if you have any input it would be graciously accepted

Thought it couldn't be done. But at least one person did it.

Drilled ADA tank

Interesting. He drilled the bottom. I wonder if the bottom is NOT tempered. From what I understand, tempered glass *can* be cut, but there is an increased chance of breakage.

I had to compromise on aethetics a little in best interest of overall water quality. The system needed an extra pump for more flow, but more importantly a surface skimmer. The RapidsPro does a great job of adding a sump and much needed filtration, but it doesn't do a great job (on it's own) in skimming scum from the surface. I was concerned that this excess surface scum would reduce light penetration into the tank, so I added an MJ600 and attached a surface skimmer to the intake. Key placement of SPS corals will somewhat hide the MJ600 from view. Combined, the entire system runs in synergy now - even the protein skimmer below.

PurpleUp - Do you think the rimless ADA tank side (and the silicone) is strong enough to support skimmer and the weight of the water flowing up and down? I'm still flip flopping between the Rapids system and the Reefpack 200.

Concerning weight, the RapidsPro overflow is not any heavier than a HOB filter. Plus, the black nylon tubing I purchased from HD gives it additional support from the bottom. I've been looking at the Reefpack 200 as well, mainly out of curiosity. Depending on how heavy the support magnet is, the Reefpack should be ok too since the protein skimmer will sit on the inside, balancing the weight downward and inward instead of outward. If you have a rectangular shaped rimless, I would suggest hanging either unit on the shortest side. The two products differ in many ways and have clear benefits over the other:

Main ADVANTAGE I see for the Reefpack is superior protein skimming performance from a reputable company, Tunze. Main advantages for the RapidsPro, after having used it for 2wks, are the 1) integrated freshwater refill unit; 2) added wet/dry sump for heater/thermostat/skimmer/water volume; 3) three large compartments for filter media; 4) less space occupying the display tank; 5) 1000gph return pump (at 5ft), as a huge contributor to water flow.

Main DISADVANTAGES of the RapidsPro would be inadequate suurface skimming, which would be a problem for the Reefpack as well. It's BLUE, which is bad IMO. The RapidsPro isn't quite flood proof in that the outflow and return aren't in sync at power-up. IF there isn't enough space in the display tank for the sump to empty before the overflow kicks in, it can cause some minor flooding. [But proper planning and adjustments to the water levels and overflow height can minimize this risk.] Main DISADVANTAGE of Reefpack is the greater amount of space that it must occupy inside the display tank. It would appear much less clean, but b/c it's black it shouldn't look too bad either. You'd have to pull it out of the tank every time the filter needs cleaning, which would be at least once per month. However, you would not have to deal with tubes running behind your tank nor would you have to worry about having a storage area below your tank for the AFS and sump. You'd have to purchase a similar ATO unit for freshwater refills, which is difficult to accomplish in a rimless b/c of the floating sensors that must be placed inside the display tank. Your heater and thermometer would have to be placed inside the display tank.

With all of that said, I may purchase the Reefpack myself for yet ANOTHER nano system I plan to setup. But I'd have to think about a cleaner solution for using an ATO. I hate having to top-off since salinity can easily get out of whack. The only solution I can think of for this would be to drill holes for an overflow and have the ATO refill a sump, but with an added sump the Reefpack instantly becomes obsolete! So to sum it up, I would say if you're looking for an easy filtration solution without having an overflow/sump, then the Reefpack is great. It wouldn't solve all of your problems though. The RapidsPro solves *most.* See my previous post for the added surface skimmer, which solves the one problem the RapidsPro does not.

Hope this helps your decision making process.

You're right. As with most things in life, it's a compromise. What I don't like about the Rapids is the protein skimmer. So technically, I could buy the surface skimmer and the autofill separately and then connect them both to a cheap PetsMart 20 gallon tank. That way I can stick a protein skimmer of my choice in there.

Also, just FYI, the bigger version of the Reefpack, the Reefpack 500, comes with a built-in autofill (Osmolator). It can be special ordered through MarineDepot for about $500 I think.

Purple, I just caught up on you thread and I'm hooked. Very informative. Keep it coming!

the grommet

How does that surface skimmer work?