ok so im on the back of the house this past weekend hammerin on some siding and i hear a crash in the house - - -find out the clock on the wall fell off and slammed right behind the fish tank taking out the HOB skimmer and the left side of my overflow box all in one fail swoop. so now i have wood blocks leveling the overflow and duct tape on the skimmer and we're chugging along ................barely
i'm not happy with the old skimmer and definately not happy with the tom aquatics wet/dry filter so im thinking about buying a 5 gallon tank and doing a old school filter sock sump, maybe a little fuge not sure and ive looked at the Octopus hob skimmers so im thinking about one of them - - -
other thoughts on retrofitting an established tank with all new filtration??
Boss
damage = new parts?
8 posts
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newbie916 - Posts: 375
- Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:12 pm
I would go with the little fuge. Take some of your Live Sand from your main tank to seed the fuge. I get some live rock for pods to live in and add some macro algae. Chaeto, red lace, Grac, and Ulva are in my fuge. Since I set that guy up my green hair algae is virtually gone. There still a little that grows on my powerheads every once and a while, but the urchin keeps my rocks clean.
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saltwaterpimp - Posts: 1307
- Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:22 am
Pimp sock ......I would get the biggest tank you can, I dont think a 5 will cut it, and if your adding a fuge it should be even bigger..Boss do you have a UV ? for fish only i would run a uv and a small skimmer and thats it,Mabie carbon once and a while.If you do run the sock make sure you clean it every other day .If you where keeping corals i'd give you a diffrent answer,but none the less Keep It Simple.
Duct Tape...Typical redneck move..
Duct Tape...Typical redneck move..
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Snowboss4492 - Posts: 2098
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm
the friggin pump fell out of the bottom ofthe skimmer today....what a fuckin mess, of course it's right over the powerstrips.............
THANK GOD FOR DRIP LOOPS !!!!!! USE THEM PEOPLE THEY WORK !!!
apparently when the clock "clocked" it the plastic ears on the pump that hold it in there broke and it vibrated out over night and into today and finilly fell out along with a skimmer full of water
Pimp, i have a UV light but its friggin huge, i could easily use it as a return pump and even then id have to put a T in with a relief valve to slow it down
http://s625.photobucket.com/albums/tt33 ... uip035.jpg
i dont think i could get much more than a 5 gallon under there, ill do some measeureing though - i have two 10 gallons that arent doing anything right now
Boss
THANK GOD FOR DRIP LOOPS !!!!!! USE THEM PEOPLE THEY WORK !!!
apparently when the clock "clocked" it the plastic ears on the pump that hold it in there broke and it vibrated out over night and into today and finilly fell out along with a skimmer full of water
Pimp, i have a UV light but its friggin huge, i could easily use it as a return pump and even then id have to put a T in with a relief valve to slow it down
http://s625.photobucket.com/albums/tt33 ... uip035.jpg
i dont think i could get much more than a 5 gallon under there, ill do some measeureing though - i have two 10 gallons that arent doing anything right now
Boss
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fihsboy - Posts: 1837
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:20 pm
5 gallons......your going to have to top off every couple of hours. My 10 gallon tops off every 5-10 minutes.......of course its only 50-100ml...but it still tops off. Build yourself an ATO if your going to use the 5 gallon.
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Snowboss4492 - Posts: 2098
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm
i measured, i can get a 10 gallon under there - tight - - but it'll fit, i think it'll be this weekends project, i modded the overflow so it now surface skims so thats helping alot
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fihsboy - Posts: 1837
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:20 pm
ohh yea! surface skimming is the only way to go. You get all the oils and derbris that float on the top. mmmm tasty. :) You saw a picture of my 10 gallon. just keep your top off in mind when you build your sump. its worth the extra 15 minutes.
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Snowboss4492 - Posts: 2098
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm
lol - i will have a ato on the big tank when i fire it off but thi is justa 20 gallon, so adding 1/2 gallon every coulple days isnt a big deal for me
and yes surface skimming is a must...................dirty top water and seeing the water line in the tankl are two of my biggest pet peeves..............i go ape when the top of the water is nasty and for the past month or so the ol prism skimmer wasn't pullin its weight, and then a clock fell on it and finished last weekend so i talked to Pimp and we figured out a mod for the tom aquatics overflow to make it surface skim, just got to run it through a power down and up now and see if it still auto starts then i can make the mod permanent
Boss
and yes surface skimming is a must...................dirty top water and seeing the water line in the tankl are two of my biggest pet peeves..............i go ape when the top of the water is nasty and for the past month or so the ol prism skimmer wasn't pullin its weight, and then a clock fell on it and finished last weekend so i talked to Pimp and we figured out a mod for the tom aquatics overflow to make it surface skim, just got to run it through a power down and up now and see if it still auto starts then i can make the mod permanent
Boss