Recent content by sh00tist

Really looks sweet,love that drain pan,I have something similar under my tank but never thought of adding a drain,hope you get some help and get it going this weekend. On your equipment list I would opt for 2-3 smaller heaters as opposed to one big one,if one sticks on or fails it isnt as...

If at all possible I would try and plumb the 2 tanks together with a common sump(a big rubbermaid with a hole cut in the lid will work fine). This will allow you to place all of your heaters and skimmer out of eyesight as well as giving you the luxury of maintaining ONE water column cutting your...

I use a long handled Kent scraper,its going to be a chore whenever you scrape coraline growth,the scraper makes it a lot easier when faced with holding a razor blade.They are also quite inexpensive and the blade is replaceable if you bend it. I would try and do a little bit at a time working for...

Both will work fine, the Tunze will cost you more but they are one of the best names in the business and will not disappoint.

Let me chime in with Flame scallop, you see them at many LFS,they are very attractive and cheap but without a constant supply of food(basically not possible in our systems)they give in to starvation within a few short months.

If you arent sending enough water to your tank to run 2 u-tubes then you need to remove one and only use one. Ive never seen a smaller diameter u-tube though they may exist,I do think one could be DIYd however

Really looks sweet man,love all the fret work. Are you going to stain it or just seal it?

I believe I saw a mod about this pump it was a bit techy though. I guess the pump was real loud and the guy wound up removing the fan and installing a big eat sink that is typically used to cool the CPU in computers,if its the same pump Im thinking of.

Your return pump is outpacing your overflo. You can add a gate valve to your pump where you control the water that is sent to your tank,the excess returns to your sump so you dont throttle the pump back placing undue stress upon it or get a larger overflow.

If you can gravity feed it you can make one really cheap. I use a Kent-float and a rubbermaid . The container is in the room behind my DT but higher than my sump,one small hole in the wall is required but its down low and behind your tank. The cost of the hole in the wall can be quite high if...

Many people use a clip-on light,the round shiney chrome one with a large flourescent bulb,I think there is one around 6500k, daylight spectrum.

I would put it before the fuge so you dont skim off all the pods and such. I also wee them with the skimmer on one end and a fuge on the other,both overflow into a center chamber where the return pump sits. The overflow from your tank is split between the skimmer and the fuge with the majority...

Very creative. i have something very similar going,I call it a fragmas tree. Its a piece of tonga as tall as my tank with holes drilled in it. For my fragsickles I drill a hole in the frag rock and glue in a short piece of ridged airline. To keep it standing straight up I drilled an itty bitty...

Plumbing tanks together is where the fun comes in. If you have a crawlspace or basment you can string them throughout your house but still only maintain one water column.

If you can plumb them together with a common sump you will save yourself a TON of work and headaches and have a larger more stable system. It may seem like a lot of work and a PITA but you will thank yourself everytime you do any maintenance.