minimize the amount of dead spots you have in your tank from your aquascaping...damn this and the heat was one of my biggest mistakes...i tried to make these reef racks to stack my rocks on to give a fuller looks, boy was that a mistake...
- Location
- Huntington
Research and patience will save you a ridiculous amount of money down the line. I feel like I say this too much to customers on a daily basis. The ones that listen have great tanks that are doing well with minimal problems and the ones that don't end getting rid of the tank eventually ( or keep it as some sort of twisted "it's me or you" challenge).
DO NOT GET THE CHEAP STUFF BECAUSE IT IS LESS EXPENSIVE. IT'S CHEAP AS $H1T FOR A REASON. It kills me when customers buy Seaclones for 100-150 gallon tanks cuz the box says it will work...
If you have never done plumbing before or lack any kind of manual skills, it's ok to get someone who knows what they're doing to plumb your tank. It's cheaper than a new rug or worse...wood floor.
In almost every aspect of this hobby BIGGER is BETTER (sumps, skimmers, refugiums, etc.)
You are not the guy that's going to show the world that a Mandarin in a 10 gallon is a good idea. (insert any livestock with appropriately inadequate tank here)
If you ask an employee for their opinion (or the actual reason) as to why something in your tank is horribly wrong do not argue with them. I think this can be filed along with harassing food handlers and Dr's. Also, when asked about your parameters "Everything is good." doesn't help us solve your problems.
That's all for now, I could go on for days.
DO NOT GET THE CHEAP STUFF BECAUSE IT IS LESS EXPENSIVE. IT'S CHEAP AS $H1T FOR A REASON. It kills me when customers buy Seaclones for 100-150 gallon tanks cuz the box says it will work...
If you have never done plumbing before or lack any kind of manual skills, it's ok to get someone who knows what they're doing to plumb your tank. It's cheaper than a new rug or worse...wood floor.
In almost every aspect of this hobby BIGGER is BETTER (sumps, skimmers, refugiums, etc.)
You are not the guy that's going to show the world that a Mandarin in a 10 gallon is a good idea. (insert any livestock with appropriately inadequate tank here)
If you ask an employee for their opinion (or the actual reason) as to why something in your tank is horribly wrong do not argue with them. I think this can be filed along with harassing food handlers and Dr's. Also, when asked about your parameters "Everything is good." doesn't help us solve your problems.
That's all for now, I could go on for days.
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- Location
- Ossining, NY
Never use your windshield wiper fluid with sunroof open and driving.
:thrash:
House
:thrash:
House
You can learn a lot more looking at your tank instead of your test kits
It's not a poor mans hobby.
There is no one way to make a reef aquarium. No wrong or right way. Only opinions. The only thing you need to make a saltwater aquarium is saltwater and something to hold the saltwater. Everything else is debatable.
It's not a poor mans hobby.
There is no one way to make a reef aquarium. No wrong or right way. Only opinions. The only thing you need to make a saltwater aquarium is saltwater and something to hold the saltwater. Everything else is debatable.
Make sure you have a drip loop on your electric cords ,this will prevent your water from dripping on to the sockets and blow your fuse ,or worse cause a fire ..also dont over load your circut breakers .this will also lead to blowing a fuse or over heating your electric cords or sockets .
Oh yeah use GFI sockets ,so if incase you do have water spill on it ,you will only trip the GFI socket and not your fuse box ,
Hope i explained that right
Oh yeah use GFI sockets ,so if incase you do have water spill on it ,you will only trip the GFI socket and not your fuse box ,
Hope i explained that right
jrodjordan
Elway for President!
- Location
- Lower Manhattan
Some of my "lessons learned"
Always use RO/DI water. Tap water filters like Britta, Pur or Aquarium Pharm. DI wont be enough.
Take skimmer size seriously. Buy a big skimmer. period.
Test frequently. catch when something is off before it's too late.
Dont over stock with fish... Your fish will grow larger.
AND
Dont drink too many beers and smoke too much dope before drilling or cutting! I used to have 2 thumbs :anger2: :joke:
(but seriously folks, dont drink & drill):beer:
Always use RO/DI water. Tap water filters like Britta, Pur or Aquarium Pharm. DI wont be enough.
Take skimmer size seriously. Buy a big skimmer. period.
Test frequently. catch when something is off before it's too late.
Dont over stock with fish... Your fish will grow larger.
AND
Dont drink too many beers and smoke too much dope before drilling or cutting! I used to have 2 thumbs :anger2: :joke:
(but seriously folks, dont drink & drill):beer:
jackson6745 said:Gaskets go on the inside of the bulkheadsWhen I started my tank I originally placed them all on the outside and everyone of them leaked
not true the gasket goes on the flat side of the bulkhead. the gasket can be placed on the inside or outside of the aquarium it depends on how the bulkhead is placed. Gasket should never be placed against the "nut" of the bulkhead.
- Location
- East Patchogue - Suffolk, NY
Yes use mollies instead and or cycle bacteria, don't urinate in the tank like some have been mentioning....inkblue said:
- Location
- East Patchogue - Suffolk, NY
Come to think of it now.....which way did I put that gasket...j/k....it was my overflow box and it came with instructions!!!!!Sean said:
So please read instructions before any instillation and not after
- Location
- long island
Don't buy camel back shrimp for a reef tank. Bought some on the advice of fishtown and they ate about 50 mushrooms and polyps. Buyer beware of bad advice - do your own research.
- Location
- NY
DEEPWATER said:
Debateable. I DO NOT use GFCI outlets. It is against electrical code to install a GFCI outlet on any life support appliances.
don't let this happen to you
Sorry to bump this one up, but a fellow member just had a near disaster that could have been prevented if it wasn't for some simple mistakes.
First, if you are going away on vacation, let members of MR who live close by know that you are going away so they can check up on your tank for you. There are many members here willing to do this. Check the Sticky for emergency help posted in this forum. Leave any family members or house sitters with contact information if there are any problems. In this case, the house sitters know nothing about tanks. They were unable to contact him last night while he's away. They didn't know how to contact us. They finally got a hold of him this afternoon and we went over to fix the problem. This was close to 24 hours after the family members FIRST NOTICED water on the floor. 24 hours of more water pouring on the floor!!!
Second, if you are one of those guys who keeps a waste line running from your skimmer's collection cup to an external bucket, let me HIGHLY suggest that you spend the extra money (don't cheap out... advice already given on this thread) and buy the waste collection cups which automatically shut off air to the skimmer when the collection cup is full. This entire problem started when his skimmer went nuts, filled the 5 gallon bucket he had the waste line ran to and the bucket began to overflow.
Third, your sump should be able to handle tank water without overflowing in case of pump/power failure (again, this was already stated on this thread). Once the skimmer dumped too much water, the return pump burned out. His sump still overflowed from the excess water even after his skimmer bucket dumped over 5 gallons of water. There was water EVERYWHERE!!! If you can't get a bigger sump, you can drill siphon holes into your return to prevent siphoning. But a bigger sump is still the best bet.
Third, if you are going away and you did not take necessary precautions with a skimmer ran to an external collection bucket, either shut the skimmer off completely and run polypads/carbon or set your skimmers to skim dry. He set his to skim wet while he was away.
Fourth, Have some RO/DI made before you leave. Some mixed salt water would help too. He lost around 50 gallons of water and had ZERO RO/DI or MIXED SALT WATER! We all know how slow RO/DI fills up usable water. Conditioned tap water would do, but if given the choice, I'll take purified water.
Dave (spykes), Ronen(deepwater), Rich(jackson6745) and I went over today after he called us. We fixed the problems, but he lost some coral and has 50 gallons of water on his floor. Let people know you are going away. We will help you.
Sorry to bump this one up, but a fellow member just had a near disaster that could have been prevented if it wasn't for some simple mistakes.
First, if you are going away on vacation, let members of MR who live close by know that you are going away so they can check up on your tank for you. There are many members here willing to do this. Check the Sticky for emergency help posted in this forum. Leave any family members or house sitters with contact information if there are any problems. In this case, the house sitters know nothing about tanks. They were unable to contact him last night while he's away. They didn't know how to contact us. They finally got a hold of him this afternoon and we went over to fix the problem. This was close to 24 hours after the family members FIRST NOTICED water on the floor. 24 hours of more water pouring on the floor!!!
Second, if you are one of those guys who keeps a waste line running from your skimmer's collection cup to an external bucket, let me HIGHLY suggest that you spend the extra money (don't cheap out... advice already given on this thread) and buy the waste collection cups which automatically shut off air to the skimmer when the collection cup is full. This entire problem started when his skimmer went nuts, filled the 5 gallon bucket he had the waste line ran to and the bucket began to overflow.
Third, your sump should be able to handle tank water without overflowing in case of pump/power failure (again, this was already stated on this thread). Once the skimmer dumped too much water, the return pump burned out. His sump still overflowed from the excess water even after his skimmer bucket dumped over 5 gallons of water. There was water EVERYWHERE!!! If you can't get a bigger sump, you can drill siphon holes into your return to prevent siphoning. But a bigger sump is still the best bet.
Third, if you are going away and you did not take necessary precautions with a skimmer ran to an external collection bucket, either shut the skimmer off completely and run polypads/carbon or set your skimmers to skim dry. He set his to skim wet while he was away.
Fourth, Have some RO/DI made before you leave. Some mixed salt water would help too. He lost around 50 gallons of water and had ZERO RO/DI or MIXED SALT WATER! We all know how slow RO/DI fills up usable water. Conditioned tap water would do, but if given the choice, I'll take purified water.
Dave (spykes), Ronen(deepwater), Rich(jackson6745) and I went over today after he called us. We fixed the problems, but he lost some coral and has 50 gallons of water on his floor. Let people know you are going away. We will help you.
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