I had a group of Zoas that looked very weird today, and knowing I haven't had a chance to do a water change, I went ahead and did the first one today. Everything has tested good since day one, and due to my busy schedule I let it go a little longer then I like, or should I say a lot longer. I changed about 20 gallons, and just finished up.
I also have taken some pics along the way, planning to update the thread, so here goes:
I ended up going with a Mag9.5 pump that I bought from Kalgra, it was brand new, or almost brand new, and he gave me a good price for it. To avoid any sort of vibration, I ended up building a little mat out of tubing. Pic below:
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My ASM 3 skimmer wouldn't fit, so I returned it to Rob, and took an old Euro-Reef skimmer. It is about the same size as a ASM 2, and worked very well, but the impeller didn't last very long. I then bought a used ASM 2, with pump, and put it in. It works "ok". I have thought about using this pump with the Euro Reef, but would like to try the impeller/mesh mod first. The impeller's has lost some teeth, and could be the reason why I'm getting such wet skim.
Overall, the euro reef is much better built, but it's cup does have a slight leak. The ASM's cup is much easier to empty, and doesn't leak.
Here is a pic of the lights. Over all, they are working great. The middle one (which was used from Luke in FC) needs a new fan. When I tested it with the PAR meeter, I had close to 500 up towards the top.
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I also intended to build a water change station in the basement. I ordered a 2nd RO tank (14 gal), and added it to my RO system. I also added an output in the basement. My RO and 5 gal tank is under the kit sink upstairs.
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I also ordered a water storage tank from Boyd (here locally). I thought it was such a bargain, $70 for the tank delivered, but when it showed up, it wasn't very clean. I thought about washing it, but not knowing what could have been in there, I returned it. Here are some pics of how it looked:
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It almost looked to me as if they stored grass clippings in it. But the guy told me it was "brand new, he just kept them outside".
I also regretted being in such a hurry when setting up the tank. I had to search for a plastic (non-toxic) tub that I could use for my RO ATO water, that would also fit through the doors on my cabinet. I ended up with the 7 gal tub from Target. I am using one of Gary's old JBJ ATO's, with one of his pumps.
I installed it about 2 weeks ago, and it seemed to work well, but the float valve has been having issues this past week. I should create a new post to see if anyone knows of trouble shooting of them.
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Here are a couple of pics of the rock work. I tried to create bridges, over hangs, and lots of holes for the fish to swim through. It's hart to tell in the pictures, but the right 2/3's of the tank turned out very nicely. The left 1/3 is a little more clumped together. It's mostly the rock from my biocube.
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Here is a pic of one of the 3 anthias I picked up from Aquatic Art. Sadly, only 2 of them made it past a couple of days, but on the bright side, those two have been doing great.
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