albertareef

Looking forward to seeing the shop and Miles' talk. We use fluorescent proteins in a lot of ou work. Sorry we won't see you Scott but hoping to catch a lot of folk down there today!

Yeesh - I think my 1909 bungalow was in better shape than that. Granted, I still got some knob and tube. I think I would ask for a rebate from my home inspector if I was you! Maybe after you track down the electrician...

That is sweet! This is the new tank build correct? Came out nice! Good luck with the exploration. If you can figure out a way, I bet it will be worth it.

Yeah - If I had a basement space like yours I would probably have gone that route but not an option in my place. Danik's setup sounds like it was ideal - I'm always envious of those that can have the DT in their primary living space but all the wet works behind the scenes but convenient for tinkering! 'Cause you know you are going to tinker!

Hmmm. Tough call. Any chance you can drop the plumbing down through that partition wall into a convenient spot in the basement and have the best of both worlds? That upstairs spot would be sweet if you had a peninsula tank on a tall stand and could view from both the kitchen and living room but I don't think that is what you ended up with (Marineland DD right?). Think will probably be a bit low (and one-sided) to take advantage of that. There looks to be a fair amount of natural light from that window (assuming it won't be covered) which could cause you a bit of pest algae maintenance but I wouldn't let that decide. This kind of thing is always such a tough call. I would love to have my tank somewhere where the water issue wasn't such a big deal (concrete, other impervious surface) but I also know I would see a lot less of it if I had to go downstairs. As it is, we pass by it constantly - which adds enjoyment and also helps us keep an eye out for problems before they become too drastic. If you could possibly figure it out, I would definitely try and find a way to have the "wet works" downstairs - maybe tied to a nice frag system and specimen tanks - with just the display up top. Given your ingenuity, I am sure you can figure it out If not, maybe integrate the stand into a larger cabinet that runs the length of that wall to give yourself some extra room for equipment underneath. I find the "in stand" limitation to be really challenging (says the guy with a chiller sitting next to his tank).

Hmm. Anyone have experience with these? Specs suggest it could be a fairly effective skimmer in a small footprint. Might make a great backup at the very least.

Hi Kate, Glad to hear that your school might be interested in the tanks for teachers program. The best bet would be to include @kknight, our TFT coordinator and @Emerald525 our president in the loop to make sure you get to the right folk. If I am not mistaken, we may have an unclaimed tank at this point. Also, we will be having an event next month, the first NW Frag Festival (www.nwfragfest.com) that is intended to support the tanks for teachers program and has a fantastic guest speaker - you might be interested or might care to send someone from your group just as an introduction. Hopefully you get the info you need but feel free to contact the officers or board members directly if you need anything.

Yeah - really want to see pics of this setup. Good luck getting it all dialed in!

Hear hear! Best wishes to a most generous reefer - happy b-day Bert

Jorge - you are killing me my friend. How many dream skimmers is that now??? Where are you hiding this tank anyway? I figured the answer to that was obvious - we all want to be like Jorge! (I know I do)

Yeah - I'm always jealous of those who can organize the chaos like this... especially if they can run remote in a nice waterproof environment. Water leaks on the dinning room hardwood floor are no fun

Wow - very generous of you Robyn! Someone is going to get lucky!

Nice looking setup! Good to see another example of Scott and Brian's stand making skills put to good use. How many different SPS are in that big cluster?

Good luck with the reboot. Sometimes it can pay off to rethink the plan once you have spent some time with a tank.. that and been forced to accommodate ones available free time and budget Post up some pics once you get things going.

I think there is also a bit of the "yeah, but I am smarter/more experienced" thinking that goes into that as well and we all assume, at some point, that we will avoid problems others have fallen into. Until they actually happen to us that is! As Kim notes - sometimes you just have to experience it for yourself. Unfortunately, that tends to be costly and painful experience in this hobby

The boyz let me down today. Was looking to them to give the broncs a better game. AFC west is going to be brutal this year and the Raiders could have used a hand. Oh well - No favors today I guess.

Bummer! Was hoping to see you there.

That is a really nice looking piece! Glad you were able to get it off intact.

I have also run both. Aside from the overflow issue (which I can relate to) the other things to consider are footprint and sump design. I you have room and want to go large then external can give you some additional flexibility as you won't be confined by your sump chamber compartment dimensions. This also allows you to not worry about the effect of the sump level on your skimmer performance as most in sump models are sensitive to the "resting" water level. You can, of course, compensate for this to a degree by putting skimmers on risers and/or using the built in return adjustments to help optimize but it is something to consider. I would recommend either using a sump with a constant level compartment for the skimmer or have a really good ATO setup with level detector cutouts on the skimmer for those unforeseen circumstances (this is what I run). Anyway - lots of great skimmers in both groups so you really have lots of options. If you were running a remote sump in waterproof location (e.g. cement floor with drain) I would lean toward and external just for the flexibility of size/design but I don't have that option

You say that like it's a bad thing. Oh, wait...

This might be the first time we have had a link to the Protein Data Bank posted on site. Nice job Miles

Oh man... that is pretty special. Nice Rudy!

Haven't heard that one before... guess I need to get out more.

Some nice looking pieces there Bret!

Been there - feel your pain. Tore down my last 125 due to an overrun of those little unmentionables. Good luck!