TheWB’s IM Lagoon 50

[TheWB]

Just received an email from PayPal. They are refunding my money from the Cadlights skimmer purchase. I don’t know what’s going on at Cadlights but wow do they suck in the area of customer service. I’ll wait until I actually receive the money back onto my credit card and then I will try to repair the broken air intake and see if the skimmer will work. I really wish it hadn’t worked out this way. If they had made even the smallest effort the problem could have been solved with the replacement of what I’m sure is a part that costs almost nothing. Instead they’ve ensured I’ll never buy anything from them again and I’ll badmouth them to anyone who’ll listen if the subject comes up. Just all totally unnecessary. Saddens me that it came to this and they obviously don’t care because they didn’t put up much a a fight with PayPal, I don’t even think they responded.

 

[Dj City]

Just received an email from PayPal. They are refunding my money from the Cadlights skimmer purchase. I don’t know what’s going on at Cadlights but wow do they suck in the area of customer service. I’ll wait until I actually receive the money back onto my credit card and then I will try to repair the broken air intake and see if the skimmer will work. I really wish it hadn’t worked out this way. If they had made even the smallest effort the problem could have been solved with the replacement of what I’m sure is a part that costs almost nothing. Instead they’ve ensured I’ll never buy anything from them again and I’ll badmouth them to anyone who’ll listen if the subject comes up. Just all totally unnecessary. Saddens me that it came to this and they obviously don’t care because they didn’t put up much a a fight with PayPal, I don’t even think they responded.

I'm sorry they did not do the right thing and I'm happy PayPal took care of you. I knew they would.
If you can fix the skimmer, that would be a real good thing!

 

[TheWB]

I'm sorry they did not do the right thing and I'm happy PayPal took care of you. I knew they would.
If you can fix the skimmer, that would be a real good thing!

Thanks Dj, I’m hoping I can fix it. I’ve never had a lot of success super glueing stuff, especially when it’s so small, but I’m going to give it a shot. As long as I can get the barb reconnected to the spot it broke off from I’ll be able to shore it up with more layers of glue around the base. I‘ll post pics when I do it and you can laugh at me.

 

[Dj City]

Don't use superglue.
Use weld-on #4

 

[TheWB]

Traded emails with Daniel at Reefi today. My Unos should be shipping out in the next day or two. This makes me happy.

 

[Dj City]

I'm happy for you!
It's been a long time coming.

 

[TheWB]

Daniel from Reefi texted me today and asked if I wanted to meet him at an LFS this afternoon to pick up my lights. Heading up there in a little while. It’s worth the drive to keep them out of the clutches of the shipping companies. Hopefully save some bouncing around in the truck or poor treatment by package handlers.

 

[Dj City]

So...

How are the lights?

 

[TheWB]

So...

How are the lights?

Well, you would think after waiting patiently I would have come right home and hooked them up immediately. However, I still had a bunch more work to do last night and we had our tax appointment this morning so I really have not had time to do it. I also need to do a water change (tomorrow) and kill off some Aiptasia later today so I probably won’t get to installing them until sometime tomorrow afternoon. Never underestimate my ability to make things take much longer than they normally would take

 

[TheWB]

Just to prove they exist

 

[Dj City]

Just to prove they exist

Lol!

 

[TheWB]

I’m not exactly making stellar progress today. I put together the tanks mounts for the Unos.

But I can’t install them yet. I need to get the skimmer installed first so I can see how far over from center I can mount the bracket. There’s so much in my back chambers that space on the back glass is at a premium. The first step is to fix the broken air intake on the skimmer pump so that has been done and seems to be bonding well. I’ll wait until tomorrow to test it out. Assuming that goes well I’ll get it installed and see where I’m at. At that point I should be able to attach the mounts and install the lights.

I’ve got work stuff tomorrow and a trip to the dentist so hopefully there will be time to properly test the skimmer and get it in the tank.

 

[TheWB]

Progress. New skimmer is finally installed after I made the repairs to the broken air intake and improvised the drain plug to the skimmer cup. I thought I was buying a protein skimmer, not a diy starter kit

It’s a beast compared to what was there before which is exactly what I wanted. Hopefully it performs as expected.

 

[Dj City]

Good work on the Skimmer!
I hope it works out for you.

especially with all the drama you went through with it.

 

[TheWB]

Good work on the Skimmer!
I hope it works out for you.

especially with all the drama you went through with it.

Thanks Dj, so far so good. It’s still breaking in but it’s pulling some stuff out. The pump motor is a little louder than I would like but hopefully it will quiet down as it breaks in.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Thanks Dj, so far so good. It’s still breaking in but it’s pulling some stuff out. The pump motor is a little louder than I would like but hopefully it will quiet down as it breaks in.

Looks like some serious hardware! Awesome to see that you got it going.

 

[TheWB]

Looks like some serious hardware! Awesome to see that you got it going.

It is indeed a serious piece of hardware. Hopefully it skims as good as it looks like it should. Still breaking it in. It does stick out quite a ways compared to previous skimmers and wouldn’t you know it, my wife noticed!!! She’s not too thrilled with the look of it or the pump motor noise. She ok’d a new coral order today though so I guess the tank gets to stay

 

[TheWB]

Placed an order today for these.

The LPS are all stuff I’ve wanted for a while. I’ve been wanting a torch but they always seem like they cost a fortune. I think I got a couple of nice small ones for a reasonable price. I’ve also been looking for a branching cyphastrea for a long time and I really liked the colors on that Favia. The Zoas are just cheap add ons for some different colors compared to what I already have. I absolutely love the ability to buy a polyp or two of the things I like from Hidden Treasure without having to pay a small fortune. I’d rather grow a colony out myself starting with just 1 or 2.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Placed an order today for these.

The LPS are all stuff I’ve wanted for a while. I’ve been wanting a torch but they always seem like they cost a fortune. I think I got a couple of nice small ones for a reasonable price. I’ve also been looking for a branching cyphastrea for a long time and I really liked the colors on that Favia. The Zoas are just cheap add ons for some different colors compared to what I already have. I absolutely love the ability to buy a polyp or two of the things I like from Hidden Treasure without having to pay a small fortune. I’d rather grow a colony out myself starting with just 1 or 2.

The prices there are awesome, like LFS prices but actually nice stuff! ;Hilarious Great finds!

 

[TheWB]

Thanks, I think Hidden Treasure Corals is just that, a hidden treasure. They may not have the huge selection of SPS that others have but for good prices, in stock LPS and a decent zoa collection it’s the best one I’ve found. I ordered 8 pieces from there last year and the only one I lost was a cheap Birdsnest that I didn’t have the lighting or flow to take care of properly anyway. Customer service and communication were great and the heat pack in the box was still warm when I opened it up. No complaints at all. Check it out if you get a chance.