Hello to all of you!!

texas14tom

texas14tom

Member
I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to the forum. I have recently been given a 200 gallon tank!!! I've had it up and running now for about 4 months. I've used a lot of the information provided here in this forum and wanted to join. I will be having a lot of questions and wanted to say hello before bomb'n ya'll with questions!
 
texas14tom

texas14tom

Member
Thank you very much Jerth & Meow!!
I've been out of the saltwater tank world for about 10 years. I oddly enough got the tank from a buddy of mine who has had the tank for 20 plus years. We took it salt for a couple of years and when he got married the tank went with him to his new home. It went back to fresh at that point and now that I have it back to salt! I've got a 50gal sump on it with dual pumps and after doing a lot of reading on here I went and picked up a Coralife Super Skimmer 65 and put it in the sump. I'm sold now, is all I have to say about that! I see a massive skimmer upgrade going down in the next few months!!! I just want to understand the skimmer a bit more when it come to "tune'n" it. I have two adjustments on it and I only find information on one of them. There is a valve to control flow from the power head to the skimmer. There is also a red knob for adjusting flow I'm told?? The guy told me to set it up and keep the red knob as close to closed as I can keep it? What does that mean? Why would I not want to keep it as open as I could? The doc's that came with the skimmer talk about dry skimming and wet skimming but doesn't really give you much info. I've been just wing'n it for 4 days now and I cannot believe how much junk it's pulled out of my water!!! It's never been past 1/4 full for the waste bucket and it's dumped it twice so far. If someone can point me to an old post that addresses this that would be great. I couldn't find it if it exists (things are best hidden right in front of my face so this isn't saying much) and would love a bit more info on using a skimmer.
Thanks,
Tom
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
You have a 200G tank...with a 300G sump
With a skimmer rated up to 65G's????
Sorry if I misread..that is why I am asking
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
That's ok...still confused though....what size is the actual sump? and if your tank is 200 gallons, the skimmer you have is way too small...
 
texas14tom

texas14tom

Member
I know the skimmer is too small, I just got a cheap one to see if I could figure it out and if it would do anything. Which brings me to the next big question about the skimmer.. If my tank has good water and I've never even had spike since the cycle on the sump alone, do I even need a lets say 200gal skimmer?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
IMO, Yes you do...and you need a bigger one.,.....you always buy a skimmer that is rated larger then your tank size.
 
texas14tom

texas14tom

Member
Hmm ok interesting, then can you help me with this part of my post:
I just want to understand the skimmer a bit more when it come to "tune'n" it. I have two adjustments on it and I only find information on one of them. There is a valve to control flow from the power head to the skimmer. There is also a red knob for adjusting flow I'm told?? The guy told me to set it up and keep the red knob as close to closed as I can keep it? What does that mean? Why would I not want to keep it as open as I could? The doc's that came with the skimmer talk about dry skimming and wet skimming but doesn't really give you much info. I've been just wing'n it for 4 days now and I cannot believe how much junk it's pulled out of my water!!! It's never been past 1/4 full for the waste bucket and it's dumped it twice so far. If someone can point me to an old post that addresses this that would be great. I couldn't find it if it exists (things are best hidden right in front of my face so this isn't saying much) and would love a bit more info on using a skimmer.
 
tangs rule

tangs rule

Active Member
Welcome neighbor!
Well - at least you're within 700 miles of me - lol
+1 on a better/larger skimmer - They really are about the most imporntant filtration types available, and about impossible ot over-doo with a large tank. It'd be a great idea to either supplement your existing one with another unit - or replace it with a larger capacity one. I know large skimmers can run over $1000 - but There is always the used market where alot of $$ can be saved over new. The more you stock your tank with fish, the more a good skimmer will pay off.
Again, welcome to the boards
 
texas14tom

texas14tom

Member
@ tangs rule: LOL almost neighbors!! I'm outside of Austin so it's a bit of a haul to you. I've been sailing several times on lake of the pines! Nice are and thank you very much for the warm welcome!!! You'll be seeing more of me!! This forum seems to be a lot more intelligent than my pet stores in the area!
I don't have the money to run out and get a big skimmer so I'm going to keep going with this for a bit. I am now sold on the fact of using one and want to learn more and more about them.
The tank is a fish only tank and I won't be adding anymore fish unless I loose a couple.
Speaking of which, I did a fresh water dip on my new bluefaced angel, he is rub'n on rocks and i've only had him 2 days. Think he came with parasites... That was nerve racking and the last time I do something like that without checking here first. The more I read the more doubt I have on my local pet store of choice. He survived 4 minutes in fresh water and is back in the main tank and crazy enough eating again already!! We'll see if the dip worked, I was told if it didn't to do it again the next day. Ruff on the fish I'm sure!
After finding a couple of good posts on tune'n the skimmer I've got it backed down on the flow valve and don't plan to touch it again till the waste bucket is full! I was cleaning the green gump off of the cone and I see now that is a no no....
 
tangs rule

tangs rule

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas14Tom http:///forum/thread/386964/hello-to-all-of-you#post_3401420
@ tangs rule: LOL almost neighbors!! I'm outside of Austin so it's a bit of a haul to you. I've been sailing several times on lake of the pines! Nice are and thank you very much for the warm welcome!!! You'll be seeing more of me!! This forum seems to be a lot more intelligent than my pet stores in the area!
I don't have the money to run out and get a big skimmer so I'm going to keep going with this for a bit. I am now sold on the fact of using one and want to learn more and more about them.
The tank is a fish only tank and I won't be adding anymore fish unless I loose a couple.
Speaking of which, I did a fresh water dip on my new bluefaced angel, he is rub'n on rocks and i've only had him 2 days. Think he came with parasites... That was nerve racking and the last time I do something like that without checking here first. The more I read the more doubt I have on my local pet store of choice. He survived 4 minutes in fresh water and is back in the main tank and crazy enough eating again already!! We'll see if the dip worked, I was told if it didn't to do it again the next day. Ruff on the fish I'm sure!
After finding a couple of good posts on tune'n the skimmer I've got it backed down on the flow valve and don't plan to touch it again till the waste bucket is full! I was cleaning the green gump off of the cone and I see now that is a no no....
Be warned - the 2nd red quote usually leads to the first..
The fresh water dip is fairly old method, and really only handles any parasites on their skin SURFACE.....sadly the parasites bury under the scales where a FWD or dip in copper or formalin really does very little. I'd HIGHLY suggest getting a seperate small tank set up for qtine and treatment ASAP. There is a fish disease & treatment section on this site and I'tll help identify the parasite, and give data on qtine treatment.
Welcome again.
 
texas14tom

texas14tom

Member
@ tangs rule: I hear you, I have to admit the angel is acting much much better now. He is not rubbing on the rocks anymore... Still eating well... I'll go read up on how to treat it.
@ florida joe: Not sure if I can pull off describing the thing correctly so I took a photo for you. The sump is a new purchase and has been running for 1 month now. I was using an Eheim AEH2262380 Classic Canister Filter but the pump died on me so I picked up a sump and dumped the media in there and kept everyone alive... here is a photo of what i have. It was all done in haste so keep that in mind.

 
tangs rule

tangs rule

Active Member
2 words of advice - more liverock!!
(or if the rock you have is really live - get about 100# of dry base, it's cheeper and lighter, and if added in like 2 batches over a couple months, will become all live in about 6 months.)
 
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