Taqpol's 220 gallon custom Miracles tank!

[Taqpol]

Originally Posted by drummereef

What's the deal with the skimmer? What's it doing?

The freaking thing either doesn't skim at all or it overflows. I have the twist valve thing wide open and seemingly randomly it will start skimming so crazy it will fill my Avast skimmate locker in minutes and shut off the skimmer.

[Taqpol]

Originally Posted by Taqpol

Underwater Cameras

I know many people that follow this thread have used or own their own waterproof underwater cameras, and I would like to directly ask their opinions about waterproof cameras. I have a waterproof "bag" for my DSLR, but it is bulky, cumbersome, fogs up, and enough moisture got in the bag while we were in Bora Bora to ruin the battery grip. I am now looking for a fully waterproof point and shoot. Some features I want are:

-Takes decent video and can auto-zoom/focus while recording

-Can take good photos on land without being too bulky or too distinct from a regular point and shoot. Our current point and shoot is breaking and I would be looking for a replacement.

-White balance adjustment

-Ability to stand saltwater to a decent depth

-And obviously, good picture quality.

I love Canon's, and it appears they have to good models out right now, the D20 and the less fancy D10. I'm pretty sure I heard that Fuji also makes good point and shoots. Basically I am open to any and all suggestions.

Originally Posted by kalgra

I have a panasonic Lumix which is water proof to 40' and has a reef setting that does a pretty good job with correcting the white balance. Its small and takes great pictures. When my wife and I went to Maui last summer I researched this allot. The underwater Lumix had the top rating for underwater point and shoots. Some pics I have taken with mine.

By the way your photos are incredible! Wish I had skills like that

Thanks for the reply! I love that picture of the hermit! were there any other features about the panasonic that made it stand out to you guys? Any features you wish it had, or that you didnt know it had but now you can't live without? Do you still have any links to the rating sites you used for underwater point and shoots?



Also, anyone else have opinions?

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by Taqpol

The freaking thing either doesn't skim at all or it overflows. I have the twist valve thing wide open and seemingly randomly it will start skimming so crazy it will fill my Avast skimmate locker in minutes and shut off the skimmer.

Remind me what skimmer you have again? I seemed to have a problem on mine a while back where the intake tubing connects to the volute, a small amount of salt creep would build up in that connection causing the skimmer to freak out and overflow. It wasn't in the tubing, it was in the short nipple that the tubing connects to. Might want to take the volute apart and give it a thorough cleaning.

[kalgra]

[QUOTE=Taqpol;20282891]Thanks for the reply! I love that picture of the hermit! were there any other features about the panasonic that made it stand out to you guys? Any features you wish it had, or that you didnt know it had but now you can't live without? Do you still have any links to the rating sites you used for underwater point and shoots?



Not being much of a photographer (compared to you) I cant really say if there were any other features that made it stand out photo quality wise. What made it stand out to me was the customer ratings, the depth it could withstand, and durability to drops and what not. My wife and I do allot of hiking and I really just wanted something near indestructible. I know my under water pics are not so good but I am willing to bet someone like you could do some amazing things with the manual adjustments. Being that's its a very small camera and allows for some relatively close focal lengths it could be really nice for reaching into those impossible to get to areas of your tank with an SLR.

Or maybe im just blowing smoke. lol

I will say one feature if there was one I could not live without was the sunset mode. I feel like I got some pretty killer shots in Maui. I wont post them here so as to not clutter up your thread but would be happy to PM them to you with some more links about the camera.

[Taqpol]

Originally Posted by drummereef

Remind me what skimmer you have again? I seemed to have a problem on mine a while back where the intake tubing connects to the volute, a small amount of salt creep would build up in that connection causing the skimmer to freak out and overflow. It wasn't in the tubing, it was in the short nipple that the tubing connects to. Might want to take the volute apart and give it a thorough cleaning.

You are a genius. I have a MSX250A, the same exact skimmer as you, so when you said this it got me thinking. I used to suck RO water into the pump of my Euro-Reef by just sticking the sucking end of the air tube in a glass of RO water because it would help erode the salt creep that would build up at the air water interface. The moment I unplugged the air tube from the silencer the water instantly dropped a good four inches and the bubbles must have at least doubled in size, without even having to wash out the interface. I took off my silencer and looked at it, and a whole bunch of carbon from a pre-filter I had made awhile ago had gotten sucked into it and lodged in all the tubes. It was still sucking air because when I covered the intake holes the water level in the skimmer would crash, but something about the way it was sucking the air must have made the skimmer overflow.

Now that I think about it, you keep the silencer off your skimmer anyways, right? Any reason to do that?

[LetsGetTanked]

wow, your two goby pictures are amazing!

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by Taqpol

You are a genius. I have a MSX250A, the same exact skimmer as you, so when you said this it got me thinking. I used to suck RO water into the pump of my Euro-Reef by just sticking the sucking end of the air tube in a glass of RO water because it would help erode the salt creep that would build up at the air water interface. The moment I unplugged the air tube from the silencer the water instantly dropped a good four inches and the bubbles must have at least doubled in size, without even having to wash out the interface. I took off my silencer and looked at it, and a whole bunch of carbon from a pre-filter I had made awhile ago had gotten sucked into it and lodged in all the tubes. It was still sucking air because when I covered the intake holes the water level in the skimmer would crash, but something about the way it was sucking the air must have made the skimmer overflow.

Now that I think about it, you keep the silencer off your skimmer anyways, right? Any reason to do that?

That's right, skimmer twins! Glad you found where the "clog" was. I've noticed the same thing with mine, if I let enough salt creep build up in the silencer it will start skimming funny. I also used to suck warm RO through the intake tubing but when that didn't do the trick I took apart the volute and found a salt rock in the volute nipple. Just one of the weird intricacies of that particular skimmer I guess...

I used to keep the tubing disconnected from the silencer because my system was so clean it was the only way to keep the skimmer from skimming super wet all the time. I have a height issue under the stand so the skimmer was as high in the water as I could get it. Now that the system has been running a while I'm able to get a nice foam head and keep the tubing on the silencer. I even have to close the riser pipe some to dial it in. My bio load is heavier since I've added some fish and it really started to settle in when I started using filter socks. Guess the gunk the socks pick up puts extra load on the skimmer.

[shaggy]

Excellent pictures of the tank!

[drummereef]

Hey Alex, I know you were looking into getting an underwater camera... RB has an underwater camera shootout on their site right now. I think it's the latest post. Might help you make a decision.

[chrisv]

I have an underwater camera with a macro kit that you are welcome to tinker with.

[moalvarez66]

Good job!!! Awesome pictures!

[jeffreylam1132]

Love the tank dimension and all the DIY skills. Great job!

[salali]

We need updates Alex!

[derek.reef]

Does your Hawk ever harrass your fish? I also got an arc-eye who has been causing problems lately. he was fine for 2 years though, then all of a sudden. maturity?

[M3AN ONE]

Nice Tank

[fishresponse]

I've finally gotten through reading your build and your tank is awesome.

[jdantunes]

Hey Alex...

Any updates? it has been a while from your last post

[Taqpol]

Hey guys, it has been a long time.

To cut to the chase, I am going to be selling the 220 gallon. I am going through some pretty major life changes, and coupled with graduate school I just no longer have the time or the energy to keep up with the big tank.

That being said, my current plan is to downgrade my tank to something along the size of a 4'x2' rimless reef a la Sunny's first tank, coupled with a complete overhaul of the fish room to make it more efficient. The thought of fixing little things that have bugged my entire time with this tank is awesome and revitalizing, but the thought of selling and moving my 220g while keeping the fish alive is a logistical nightmare. We'll have to see what happens.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by Taqpol

Hey guys, it has been a long time.

To cut to the chase, I am going to be selling the 220 gallon. I am going through some pretty major life changes, and coupled with graduate school I just no longer have the time or the energy to keep up with the big tank.

That being said, my current plan is to downgrade my tank to something along the size of a 4'x2' rimless reef a la Sunny's first tank, coupled with a complete overhaul of the fish room to make it more efficient. The thought of fixing little things that have bugged my entire time with this tank is awesome and revitalizing, but the thought of selling and moving my 220g while keeping the fish alive is a logistical nightmare. We'll have to see what happens.

Great to hear from you Alex!! I was getting worried, glad everyting is "OK". Hopefully the life changes are a positive thing for you. Definitely post a note here if you start a new build thread, I'll be your first subscriber.

[jerm_kozac]

wow, what a rollercoaster of a story. Glad to hear you will be back at it. I am very interested in your tank if that is the direction you end up going. Please let me know know if you do. PM sent.

[mpierce]

Do we get another FTS before this is all said and done? Also along the lines of the LEDs, did you ever make any upgrades/changes especially regarding new colors and spectrum?

[McGee10]

Alex, Thanks just went through your build nice work thanks for sharing

[Taqpol]

Figured I would update everyone here, I am selling the tank this coming Sunday. In the interim I will be keeping my QT tank, frag tank, and sump running to keep all my livestock alive while I make a big decision: downgrade to a smaller tank or throw in the flag.

If I downgrade I have picked out a nice 80 gallon rimless tank whose dimensions (48"x24"x16") fit into the corner where my anemone tank used to be perfectly, and I could keep the fish room layout and the majority of the equipment the same. There are still two pieces of equipment I need to look into, a return pump and a skimmer.

I hate skimmer shopping, so if anyone has any opinions please let me know. I want something that reliably produces skimmate for an 80 gallon SPS tank. I am interested in DC pump skimmers just because they are so adjustable and the price seems to be coming down, but thats not a requirement. I have overall been unhappy with my SWC250a, even with cleaning out the venturi weekly it would go through long periods of no skimming and then go nuts and overflow, filling up my skimmate locker in the matter of minutes.

[canyousee]

I certainly understand life throws us all some wicked curves,I hope you will be able to mange with just a down sizing. Ether way all the best to you and yours. After reading a lot of threads you may want to look into a Lifereef skimmer nothing fancy they just work.

[jdantunes]

Hi Alex.

I been running my 75 gallons rimless for almost two years. I been using the Reef Octopus Extreme 160 (which was rename Diablo 160 later on). I have been very pleased with the performance of the skimmer. It has a great energy efficient pump and a big skimmer cup.

I think their new skimmer line also features DC pumps. You should check them out....