New Tank

[labrat]

Hello all,

 

First let me say thanks for all the help the kind folks have given me on this site! Here are some pics of my new 20 gal high that I built from scratch. It took a damn year but it’s starting to pay off. I have 40 lbs of LR, 20 lbs of LS purchased from Dr. Mac (http://www.drmaccorals.com/sys-tmpl/door/), and 10 lbs of the home depot play sand. The lights are 2x 65 watts from aquadirect (http://www.aquadirect.com/catalog/lighting...diycompacts.htm) which were very inexpensive since it was a DIY kit. I have a 20 gal sump that houses my Kent marine protein skimmer and an additional hang on filter for running carbon and Phosban, pumps and etc etc. I’ve herd good and bad reviews about these skimmers, for me the skimmer has worked like a champ and the maintenance is marginal. About 2 days after installation the skimate looked like chocolate milk and I have to empty it about every 5 days. I had the tank and sump drilled at a local glass shop which cost about $ 50.00 for 4 holes, a little pricey but I did not want to risk it myself. Got the bulk head fittings and float valve from that fish that pet place (http://www.thatpetplace.com/intro/main.html). The water 5 gal reservoir came from my lab and I dose Kalk and other trace elements in my water top off. The tank has been setup for roughly a month now and after a little hair algae I recently purchased a few cleanup critters from Dr. Mac. They consist of the following: 12 margarita snails, 2 queen conch (which are great), 1 cucumber, and 6 jumbo nassarius snails. Within 3-4 days the algae problem was resolved. I have 2 Rio 2100s for water return and circulation in addition to 2 mini power heads, can’t remember the name/manufacture but I found the link through this website. Well thanks again for all the help and enjoy the pics.

 

Cheers,

Rick

[SLOreefer]

hey man sound slike you are on the right track...you should have posted all of these under one thread though instead of making htem all new threads. consolidate them and ask for the others to be deleted.

[Spencerx]

yes very true slo