Recent content by davidian

No help on the heaters, return pumps, skimmer pump, or overflow dimensions? Keep the feedback coming, guys. :)

Also still looking for feedback on the red items here: http://davidian.x10.mx/reef.html

I've read that RTV108 is stronger bonding and, rumor has it, that's what the aquarium manufacturers use.

I don't really care about how rare something is. And an unreasonably high price is a huge deterrent for me. So there probably won't be a collection of the rare and exotic in my tank. My main concern is, does it look good? I want as much color in my tank as possible. And a variety of forms...

Something else I figured out while visiting some local fish stores... I need to learn a LOT about coral. I see pictures of people's tanks online, and they're all full of beautiful, colorful corals. Everything at 5 local stores I visited pretty much looked about the color of a corpse, some with...

After checking out a wide variety of skimmers up close and personal, taking them apart, and poring over every detail, I can now say with every confidence that I can build a skimmer FAR better than the $600 jobbies for less than $200. I know this for a fact. They are all the same. There's...

I haven't bothered looking at commercials skimmers online because it just can't compare to actually seeing the thing in person. I would love to take every one out of the box and look at them. And I wasn't calling a bubble plate a gimmick. The fact that they talk it up like it's some piece of...

The big question is what design elements of these superior skimmers makes them so superior? What are some guidelines to follow when designing a DIY skimmer? For example, why does this thing cost 2 grand?? It's just clear acrylic, some tubing, and a pump, just like all the rest. Hand made in...

You could use essentially the same design as the venturi skimmer I described, but with the addition of a closed-loop needle wheel pump running counter-current, could you not? If not, why not? If so... would this be a good way to go? I was also looking at thread wheel or mesh wheel mods for...

I was going to put a DSB/fuge chamber in my sump for the purpose of denitrification and growing pods and cleaners, and hopefully some of the pods will make it back to the DT. I'll probably have some chaeto but in a separate chamber.--I mean... why not? Can't hurt. And it's cheap enough...

Just curious about the bubble disk. Wasn't sure if/how it differed from regular airstones and had never seen/heard anything about them. Not trying to get the setup perfect; I just want to eliminate any foreseeable need for major changes once I begin stocking it. As far as a DSB goes...

From the picture it looks like these bubble disks are a force to be reckoned with as far as bubble output. I know you can't always trust the picture, so I was just wondering if these would be good for use in a DIY skimmer, and if so, if they require regular cleaning and how often.--Basically...

Thanks, Andy. I do want to avoid spending any money unnecessarily (like on a brand new tank only to be hidden from view). However, I also want to do things right the first time. I'm all for DIY, but I don't want to jury-rig or half-ass anything. (Not to say that there's anything inherently...

Hey, everyone. New to this site. I put up a page so people can check out my setup and offer feedback. Please take the time to check it out. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking. http://davidian.x10.mx

Like I said, that's not nearly the volume I am looking for. The sump won't be full so any water that drains back in a power failure won't overflow it, so that would give me significantly less than 40 gallons with a DSB in the sump.--Closer to a quarter of my DT water volume than half. If...