NeverlosT's 140g Cube in Paradise
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- Thread starter NeverlosT
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Browner20
Active Member
Equipment
i picked up this build on Facebook after R2R highlighted it... I am always interested in the equipment when I read these build articles... Saw a recent article about not using a skimmer... I grew interest in reef aquariums over 15yrs ago and worked in the local LFS as reef specialist for several years... One thing I have learned is that it is possible to run a tank without a skimmer but it is not advisable except for the most experienced reefer with a very low fish load and/or high threshold for human interference (ie constant/at least weekly water changes). The latter is not for the average reefer. All that being said the skimmer is THE most important piece of equipment in an reef aquarium set-up. When I started my love of reef aquariums (college) the skimmer of choice was the ETSS line that required an extremely powerful pump as they were downdraft style skimmers. There were Venturi styles at the time but it seemed as if the engineering in the venturis had not caught up with the down draft. Shortly thereafter Euro Reef (now Reef Dynamics) enters the fold with a very simple tt smartly engineered Venturi style skimmer. Wasn't a big fan of venturis, but long story short (I know already long winded), wife agreed to let me set up a tank for Father's Day several years ago, i Ebayed a euro reef skimmer. Besides the annoyance of unscrewing what seems like a hundred threads to get the top off to rinse, this thing produces the most dry foam that turns into the nastiest stuff you could imagine. My wife gets ****** when I decide to clean out the skimmer, once a week, cause it stinks up the whole house. They have changed names and increase functionality slighty but essentially the Reef Dynamics are the same skimmer. Would agree with this build they work amazing! Not only that you can find used ones at good deals for those allures by the diffusion plates and cone designs of these new skimmers. I have never used these new designs but seen many videos of new builds and I can tell you I have yet to see the "MILK" my Euro reef creates before heading on upti the collection cup. I am intrigued by the beautiful colors and designs of these build threads with the pretty (reef octopus) skimmers, sump "rooms" and colored coordinated PVC/sump arrangements for those with the funds to allow for such set ups, and I want that skimmer so bad!, but those who want a slice without all the cost please look for those allures by the pretty and selling their old (Euro Reef/ReefDynamics) and jump on that offer!
i picked up this build on Facebook after R2R highlighted it... I am always interested in the equipment when I read these build articles... Saw a recent article about not using a skimmer... I grew interest in reef aquariums over 15yrs ago and worked in the local LFS as reef specialist for several years... One thing I have learned is that it is possible to run a tank without a skimmer but it is not advisable except for the most experienced reefer with a very low fish load and/or high threshold for human interference (ie constant/at least weekly water changes). The latter is not for the average reefer. All that being said the skimmer is THE most important piece of equipment in an reef aquarium set-up. When I started my love of reef aquariums (college) the skimmer of choice was the ETSS line that required an extremely powerful pump as they were downdraft style skimmers. There were Venturi styles at the time but it seemed as if the engineering in the venturis had not caught up with the down draft. Shortly thereafter Euro Reef (now Reef Dynamics) enters the fold with a very simple tt smartly engineered Venturi style skimmer. Wasn't a big fan of venturis, but long story short (I know already long winded), wife agreed to let me set up a tank for Father's Day several years ago, i Ebayed a euro reef skimmer. Besides the annoyance of unscrewing what seems like a hundred threads to get the top off to rinse, this thing produces the most dry foam that turns into the nastiest stuff you could imagine. My wife gets ****** when I decide to clean out the skimmer, once a week, cause it stinks up the whole house. They have changed names and increase functionality slighty but essentially the Reef Dynamics are the same skimmer. Would agree with this build they work amazing! Not only that you can find used ones at good deals for those allures by the diffusion plates and cone designs of these new skimmers. I have never used these new designs but seen many videos of new builds and I can tell you I have yet to see the "MILK" my Euro reef creates before heading on upti the collection cup. I am intrigued by the beautiful colors and designs of these build threads with the pretty (reef octopus) skimmers, sump "rooms" and colored coordinated PVC/sump arrangements for those with the funds to allow for such set ups, and I want that skimmer so bad!, but those who want a slice without all the cost please look for those allures by the pretty and selling their old (Euro Reef/ReefDynamics) and jump on that offer!
OP
OP
NeverlosT
SPS nut
Hello Browner. I agree with your statement that it is not advisable for the average reefer to run a skimmer-less tank. The positive impacts on waste removal and pH alone are reason to keep one around, and the factors that influence these two impacts are air consumption and how efficiently the skimmer mixes the air and water.
My Reef Dynamics skimmer, though advertised to pull around 16 liters per minute (lpm) of air, would only do so for the first few days after installation, then it would settle around 8-9 lpm. This equates to about 550 lph of air being mixed with water in the skimmer. The skimmer has no bubble plate, so the mix is very chaotic and this results in less efficient bubble formation (the bubbles combine and pop in the chaos, instead of progressing in an orderly fashion up the skimmer neck), and sometimes micro-bubbles in the skimmer effluent.
The RD skimmer could be made to skim well by raising the water level high, and it would work ok, but for that much money, I wanted a skimmer that would pull more air and have a less chaotic and turbulent combination chamber.
I have since purchased an ATI PowerCone 200i, and retired the RD skimmer.
This is after many months and many emails working with Reef Dynamics to try to solve the low air intake issue. Our eventual conclusion was that they test skimmer air intake at the factory, but not after a few weeks, just after a few minutes, and I was told that they did not perform testing on "endurance models" or skimmers that have been in use for weeks/months. The skimmers, selling for $800 with pumps that sell for $300 alone, were pulling well under half as much air as a modern skimmer like the ATI. We won't even go into the ehiem pump failures when the skimmer would just drop water level and stop skimming (RD sent me a new pump which stopped this behavior).
The ATI has a gridwheel impeller that works great, its intake is filtered which helps keep critters out, it has a digital airflow meter, and a controllable pump. I currently have the pump set at 1800 lph, or roughly 30 lpm (compare that to 9 lpm on the RD!). The difference in tank pH was quick, average pH climbed 0.2 pH points and higher pH means better SPS growth all other things being equal. The skimmer being controllable is also quite easy to dial in for your system: for example, I run the skimmer at 30 lpm but it is CAPABLE of running at almost 45 lpm (according to its air meter), this much air makes it too finicky for me, so I run it at 30 and it works AMAZINGLY. It pulls more gunk than my Reef Dynamics INS180E, is quieter than the Ehiem pump, and the bubbles are smaller and the mixing area is much less chaotic.
The ATI does all of this for a $550 price tag, which is almost $300 less than the Reef Dynamics skimmer. I know that some people love RD, so if you do, I have an INS180E for sale with an almost new pump and impeller.
My Reef Dynamics skimmer, though advertised to pull around 16 liters per minute (lpm) of air, would only do so for the first few days after installation, then it would settle around 8-9 lpm. This equates to about 550 lph of air being mixed with water in the skimmer. The skimmer has no bubble plate, so the mix is very chaotic and this results in less efficient bubble formation (the bubbles combine and pop in the chaos, instead of progressing in an orderly fashion up the skimmer neck), and sometimes micro-bubbles in the skimmer effluent.
The RD skimmer could be made to skim well by raising the water level high, and it would work ok, but for that much money, I wanted a skimmer that would pull more air and have a less chaotic and turbulent combination chamber.
I have since purchased an ATI PowerCone 200i, and retired the RD skimmer.
This is after many months and many emails working with Reef Dynamics to try to solve the low air intake issue. Our eventual conclusion was that they test skimmer air intake at the factory, but not after a few weeks, just after a few minutes, and I was told that they did not perform testing on "endurance models" or skimmers that have been in use for weeks/months. The skimmers, selling for $800 with pumps that sell for $300 alone, were pulling well under half as much air as a modern skimmer like the ATI. We won't even go into the ehiem pump failures when the skimmer would just drop water level and stop skimming (RD sent me a new pump which stopped this behavior).
The ATI has a gridwheel impeller that works great, its intake is filtered which helps keep critters out, it has a digital airflow meter, and a controllable pump. I currently have the pump set at 1800 lph, or roughly 30 lpm (compare that to 9 lpm on the RD!). The difference in tank pH was quick, average pH climbed 0.2 pH points and higher pH means better SPS growth all other things being equal. The skimmer being controllable is also quite easy to dial in for your system: for example, I run the skimmer at 30 lpm but it is CAPABLE of running at almost 45 lpm (according to its air meter), this much air makes it too finicky for me, so I run it at 30 and it works AMAZINGLY. It pulls more gunk than my Reef Dynamics INS180E, is quieter than the Ehiem pump, and the bubbles are smaller and the mixing area is much less chaotic.
The ATI does all of this for a $550 price tag, which is almost $300 less than the Reef Dynamics skimmer. I know that some people love RD, so if you do, I have an INS180E for sale with an almost new pump and impeller.
Man, shes a pretty tank. Love the latest pics
ethridge78
Valuable Member
Very nice
mateomarinereef
New Member
Hey there!!! Just purchased my dream tank this week, the ML 150 cube I only have the stand in the house so far. Trying to find the perfect angle. I am so stoked about this thread. i have been planning on a very similiar sump plumbing design as yours. Do you find you have enough access through just the front and sides to get to the sump and plumbing? Also just bought alot of my pvc and fittings last nite at HD, are the ball values and unions that inadequate?? Should I order on line the ones you have?? Now that you added the LEDS do you wish you would have gone with the ATI hybrid? I am trying to stay on budget as I am doing a home renovation as well right now so I was thinking half t5s half leds?? Thoughts?? Also can you reccomend the best skimmer for around 400 or something used?? Thanks so much and i love your tank and sump set up!! Big fan of the manifold system, just makes more sense. Hope you and Suzi have a happy holiday season!! all the best Mateo
OP
OP
NeverlosT
SPS nut
Hi Mateo, thanks for stopping by! I am sorry that it took me so long to respond!
First, I enjoy very much the amount of access I have to everything in the sump area. I laid out the equipment so that nothing would need to be accessed from the back.
Second, Home Depot valves are ok in a pinch or in the short term, but in the long term they will get tough to turn, plug up, and seize up. It is worth the money to get real gate/union/ball valves. I have swapped my return pump twice, taken equipment online and offline and it is VERY easy with those big industrial valves. On my last system I had a HB ball valve feeding my reactors and it seized so badly that it broke when I tried to actuate it.
That ATI hybrid is very cool looking, heck they have the full LED unit now as well. I never had as much luck with LED, and to be honest, if I had more room in the canopy, there would be some 250W halides over the tank with LED accents. Halides just do such a great job. I always had shading issues with LED's (one side of a coral would be bright, the other side brown). I am currently running the T5 powermodule with two 12 LED DIY strips and I think that it is a great compromise. I have LED for pop, T5 for powerful diffuse light. We recently had the PAR meter at the tank and I have 800-1000 PAR in the first few inches of water, about 500-600 PAR halfway down, and about 300-400 on the sandbed, and it drops off at the front and back of the tank. Overall, it works well.
As far as skimmers go, if you can find a used ATI Powercone 200i, it is the best skimmer for the money hands down. Fully adjustable water level and DC pump, digital readout that shows air draw, great construction and quiet operation. New they are $550, so you should be able to find one used for $400 or less.
Congrats on purchasing your dream tank and good luck! I hope that you had a wonderful Holiday Season!
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OP
OP
NeverlosT
SPS nut
Tank update, the fish and critters are all doing great, we replenished the CUC since the wrasses and blenny took a liking to eating them, and everything continues to grow. Some corals remain tough, for example our RR Wolverine does not look great, but all of the other SPS look amazing.
Here is a question, can an Acro be bothered by an anemone that isnt touching it? Our Mag anemone is a few inches away from some of the SPS, but the acro has been upset ever since the anemone began growing. Any ideas?
We have lots of frags on the rack, and are on the hunt for a few new critters (tigertail cucumbers, and some sand-dwelling fish). Who knows, maybe a Blue Spot Jawfish will do the trick.
I'll try to update with pics soon.
Cheers,
Ben
Here is a question, can an Acro be bothered by an anemone that isnt touching it? Our Mag anemone is a few inches away from some of the SPS, but the acro has been upset ever since the anemone began growing. Any ideas?
We have lots of frags on the rack, and are on the hunt for a few new critters (tigertail cucumbers, and some sand-dwelling fish). Who knows, maybe a Blue Spot Jawfish will do the trick.
I'll try to update with pics soon.
Cheers,
Ben
OP
OP
NeverlosT
SPS nut
Ladies and Gentlemen... I give you... Gus the Japanese Elegance Blenny. Probably the coolest fish I've ever had. Tons of personality. Oh and a very happy Mummy Eye Chalice.
OP
OP
NeverlosT
SPS nut
Thanks Andy. Truth be told I am having difficulty with a few SPS pieces. Some are thriving but a couple are suffering from STN or just basically falling "dormant" and losing PE. Strangest thing. Water Parameters are just fine, so I plan to keep on chugging away and hopefully the two offenders (Reefpets Bubblegum Millie and RR Asia Wolverine) perk up.
I know that my ATO water was less than ideal, so hopefully that is back on track now, I know that my phosphate had crept up. It is always a challenge!
I know that my ATO water was less than ideal, so hopefully that is back on track now, I know that my phosphate had crept up. It is always a challenge!
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