paneubert Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) Noob, Nice to see you posting again - can't say the same for myself. I like hearing about forward motion; I'm experiencing what seems to be a tank crash in slo-mo. Losing a lot of corals as the alk and salinity readings have been skewing negatively. How come the readings have been going wonky? Edited December 5, 2011 by paneubert Quote Link to comment
--chris-- Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I love these 3'x1.5' tanks! I had one similar, but it didn't turn out as well as yours. Good job! Quote Link to comment
Gort Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 How come the readings have been going wonky? As we used to say "You tell me and we'll both know.. " ..Right now I feel like a coral assassin. Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Bad refractometer and lazy dosing? Quote Link to comment
Gort Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Bad refractometer and lazy dosing? That's what I get for following your lead!! Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 In other news, I am convinced that the "lace" rock that I added months is leaching some sort of nutrients or something. I seem to have constant hair algae all over them....and not many other places. I took one piece out a couple weeks ago and I am thinking about removing the remaining one tonight. Doing that would remove about 90% of the algae that is in my tank. But it also will make my tank look like poo since that lace rock was really flat/thin and was propped up to fill a lot of vertical space. Although it is only a couple pounds, it is going to look like a lot more is taken out. Guess I will have to buy some shelf rock from BRS after Christmas to try to fill it all back in. I will take some before and after photos I suppose. Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 Yep. My tank now looks empty. I took out the remaining lace rock. We will see if it helps with my hair algae problem at all. I use RO/DI, do not feed heavy, run Bio Pellets, run Carbon, and sometimes run Purigen. I remove the algae I can grab about once a week. There is no reason why I would keep growing algae.....got to be from that rock. I hope. Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 (edited) Photo Dump. Android phone pics with no edits at all. Mostly these were just so I can document growth. That is why they are weird angles and stuff. Full tank shot to come at some point. Edited December 7, 2011 by paneubert Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 (edited) Someone just purchased a knock-off skimmer to replace his HOB Remora Who? Me? Hahaha. I figure since I am going with a sump, it makes sense to go with a skimmer that can sit in there and hopefully work better than what I have now. Not that the Remora sucks, but I have a feeling a cone skimmer is going to work better for me. I read the 21 page thread about the SC-65 skimmer over on RC and I can't see why I would regret buying it. It is pretty much a Bubble Magus BM-NAC3.5 ...... but for about 100 bucks less. Quality pump, same cone design as much more expensive skimmers (look at a photo of a NAC3.5 next to the SC-65 and you will have a hard time telling them apart) , along with 21 pages of people who say it works. Only major complaint seems to be that some of them crack in shipping. But that is just luck of the draw. More to come when it arrives. Edited December 10, 2011 by paneubert Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 (edited) "BM-NAC3.5" with Atman ph1100 pump for about 180 bucks plus tax... Versus.... "SC-65" with what claims to be the same exact Atman ph1100 pump for 75 with no tax and free shipping... The science of skimmers is pretty basic. Bubble size, dwell time, shape of reaction chamber, water height, etc. I see no reason why two skimmers of very similar construction.....essentially the same dimensions...run by the same pump....see where I am going here? Edited December 10, 2011 by paneubert Quote Link to comment
aykim2188 Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Seem identical to me . Not sure how replica skimmers work but I don't see what could be that different? as long as you get some great skimmate I don't think a comparison is even necessary considering how much cheaper it is. Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 aykim2188, that is sort of how I feel. After reading the huge thread where every page had at least one person saying..... "The "knockoff" issue has me worried, but now that I have it running it is awesome" , I am not that concerned. Seems like everyone was pretty skeptical but then saw the light. Only a couple people seemed to say they were going back to an old skimmer. One guy said he saw it more for a frag tank or quarantine tank instead of a main display tank. But he did not really back it up with a reason. Quote Link to comment
aykim2188 Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 aykim2188, that is sort of how I feel. After reading the huge thread where every page had at least one person saying..... "The "knockoff" issue has me worried, but now that I have it running it is awesome" , I am not that concerned. Seems like everyone was pretty skeptical but then saw the light. Only a couple people seemed to say they were going back to an old skimmer. One guy said he saw it more for a frag tank or quarantine tank instead of a main display tank. But he did not really back it up with a reason. lol Results are the only/everything. If it was something as intricate as an LED lighting system then I would be cautious about a "replica" but in regards to something as simple as a skimmer I would only care about feedback from others. As long as the pump is high quality I don't see any problems. How is the noise level? I think that is something everyone asks before buying any skimmer? Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 People did not seem to complain much about noise. A couple posts here and there. So I feel like it wont be any louder than what I already am hearing from my Remora that is hanging on my display. I assume getting the skimmer into my stand/sump will block some noise. I bet my drain pipe/overflow from the tank to the sump is going to be what I have to find a way to quiet down.... Quote Link to comment
i<3nanotanks Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 People did not seem to complain much about noise. A couple posts here and there. So I feel like it wont be any louder than what I already am hearing from my Remora that is hanging on my display. I assume getting the skimmer into my stand/sump will block some noise. I bet my drain pipe/overflow from the tank to the sump is going to be what I have to find a way to quiet down.... Sweet thread just read through it! Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 Thanks. I don't think it is anything special. Mostly just to document for myself if I want to look back on things years from now. I already wish I had taken and posted more photos along the way to document how the tank looks at different points in time. Quote Link to comment
iball1804 Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 I think it looks delectable. Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 You have not seen a full tank shot from the last few months I am hiding my shame! Hahahaha. Not really. It is not that bad. I just have it in a state that is not very pretty since I am in the middle of the conversion to overflow and sump. And I pulled out that dumb ass lace rock that I think was feeding my algae. So it looks like blehhhhh for the near future. But the corals are growing! I will add some new BRS rock and get the overflow and new skimmer going. Then we will be in the photo ready business. Quote Link to comment
iball1804 Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Quit the blub, post some pics. Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 Yeah yeah. I literally do not have any from recently. I have just been zooming in on the corals. But I swear they will be coming soon. I know that..... Quote Link to comment
iball1804 Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 I'm not amused. Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 Skimmer is here. In one piece! That seemed to be the complaint from people on the thread I was reading. I threw it in a bucket with some freshly made salt water along with the crap I cleaned out of my Remora skimmer. I just basically cleaned my old skimmer in the bucket with this new one. I want to see how long it takes to break this guy in. If it works as described, it should skim out that same crap that the Remora grabbed. Photos in a few minutes. Quote Link to comment
paneubert Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 Photo Dump of the skimmer. Well packaged...... This brand has a reputation for including weird extra parts for no reason. The extra parts also vary from person to person. Some people even get acrylic chunks or part of the skimmer that are not supposed to be on their own. Like the clear circular piece of the skimmer cup without the top or bottom of the cup, or two venturi tube things. I got two screw/threaded barbs.... Needle Wheel.... Same pump as on the skimmer that costs 170 bucks... Quote Link to comment
evo_2679 Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Love this skimmer / just installed mine yesterday and was skimming in a few hours. Quote Link to comment
siwelk Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Following SC-65 progress... Quote Link to comment
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