Over the years I’ve have a few freshwater and marine setups and I learned if you want to be successful at this hobby you have to learn patience. I had good luck with fish only tanks but when it came to keeping corals I always seemed to have an issue. Water quality is so important along with having whatever it is you need to keep it that way. I started my latest tank back in Feb 08 and at first it was going along just fine. I was in the process of adding the fish I wanted but I wasn’t using a QT. It looked like everything was going well until I picked up a purple tang which looked healthy and spot free, at least I thought so. Before long I lost most all the fish to ick but was able to save 2 tangs, the purple and a yellow which I still have today. I felt sick about it and didn’t move forward with the project until just recently when I was told I needed a hobby. After a trip to Dr. Mac’s shop, (a wonderful place) I had the bug once again but I knew I had my work cut out for me as I had to bring my unattended tank back to life. I’ve keep up with the min to keep the 2 fish alive but nothing more. I wanted to do this right this time around and do the things I should have done before. I’ve setup a QT and started with a new BRS 75pd RO/DI system which I’ve upgraded to a 150gpd system. I added the boost pump and auto flush valve which works well.
I then setup a 30g refugium
Ordered a few more things including a bio pellet reactor
Since this video I’ve changed the feed pump to a Aqua-Bee UP6000.
I’ve been busy to say the least. I also felt that my diy skimmer wasn’t working as well as I’d hoped it would and ordered a new skimmer. 
Here’s one with it just after I setup it up.
I reused an old sump from a previous setup and added a bubble trap to give me the ability to add a filter sock as well.
:Welcome)
Good luck with the new setup. GolfC
And you have a great idea …using the washing machine to clean your water!!! YahoO
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:Welcome)
how big is your tank? what do you plan on keeping?
Love the skimmer, is it a XP 5000 EXT? Hope you have a big tank to feed that thing! I just picked up a SRO3000INT still dialing it in.
:Welcome) to DRC! Looks like it’s gonna be a nice set up what ever size tank it is, But hope it’s a big tank build! Please keep us posted and good luck.
nice Angelo looks nice go big or go home lol. looks like your off to a new and great start glad to see you posting now you’ll be hooked lol
Looks like a great start :
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What size tank :
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BTW welcome to the club :Welcome)
I think it’s a 220 or 260
What… do i have the smallest tank in the damn club now?
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Lol I think I do.
Everything looks great Angelo, good luck with it. I see a potential conflict though. Since both the bio pellets and the fuge will require the same nutrients to function properly, they may become counter productive to each other, not saying it can’t work, but I think it’s going to be difficult to strike a good balance between them. Also, your bio pellet reactor should be kept in the dark, while obviously your fuge will require a good amount of light. Just food for thought.
Thank you everyone for a warm welcome. :BEER I guess I didn’t mention anything about the tank itself in the last post. It’s a 240g 72x30x27 from glasscages.com I first set it up Feb 08.
I had the tank for a year before I had a chance to build a stand and gets things going.
I had the tank drilled for a closed loop with 5 1" holes and I made a 3" hole myself for the return.
The return is run through the OM-2 way and out 2 Ocean Motions Revolutions.
I made a couple of changes to the placement of the skimmer to make it easier to access the motor for maintenance and the upper sump filter sock.
Yes the skimmer is a Reef Octopus XP 5000ext. I plan to keep sps coral mostly and lots of fish, I know the two ideas don’t always mix but it’s the reason I went so large on the skimmer. As far as the fish I plan on putting in the tank: I’d like a Sohal, Powder Blue, Hippo, Blonde Naso, and a Powder Brown for the tangs also a Flame Angel a Wrasse or two and whatever else I find attractive.
I’ve placed the bio pellet reactor in a way so that the light from the refugium isn’t directly shining down onto it. Hope it’s dark enough, and thanks for the advice. ::
[quote=“saltcreep, post:9, topic:4985”]
What… do i have the smallest tank in the damn club now?
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Size doesn’t matter… Oh, wait… wrong subject, of course it does!!! ::