Starboard Reef is up and running

[Bomber]

[Bomber]

[Bomber]

[gregt]

Jacque Cousteau + Frank Lloyd Wright = Starboard Reef



Or is this formula better?

DSB + months of hair algae headaches = Starboard reef

[Bomber]

ROTFL

it's the last one Greg.

DSB + months of hair algae headaches = Starboard reef

[Metznreef]

nice tank. i can only dream of the day i will be able to get a 450 gallon reef. so your not doing any sort of substrate at all?

[Bomber]

Nope I don't need it.

I don't want to support a DSB anymore and I don't want all the demands that a DSB puts on a closed system either.

[visualscapes]

Nice aquascape! I really like the open structure. How many lbs of rock is that?

Chip

[Bomber]

I have no idea Chip.

[visualscapes]

I have no idea Chip.

LOL- I guess guys like me who have to pay god awful sums of money for rock, know exactly how many ounces are in our tanks. Anyway cant wait to see some more shots of your tank in the future.

[piercho]

Bomber: is this the same tank and eqt that was that the RTOTM a while back? Is there a planted tank hooked to this one, or will you operate with just a sump + skimmer? The purpose of the starboard is to provide a less-slick surface for the rock than just glass, plus provide protection against tumbles, or am I missing the point? TIA.

[Bomber]

That's really about it Howard. Just a white bottom and it protects the glass in case of me or a rock slide.
Just a skimmer and the sump will settle some detritus that I can siphon out.

Something I noticed this morning for the first time. The skimmer is barely pulling anything out, you could say it's nothing. Without all the DSB was producing, there's not much for it to do now.

[hcs3]

Something I noticed this morning for the first time. The skimmer is barely pulling anything out, you could say it's nothing. Without all the DSB was producing, there's not much for it to do now.

interesting...i've noticed the same thing in my system since removing the DSB.

looking good jerel...looking forward to the next time i get to see it in person

henry

[Bomber]

ROTFLMAO

Henry, I just caught your sig line!
You know I was talking about Clifford, right?

You mean to tell me I bought this nuclear powered skimmer to support that stinking sand bed? It should work great for the job now. LOL

[Bomber]

Originally posted by bluereefs
Nice and clean start(or restart ),beautifull ciliaris .
Something I noticed this morning for the first time. The skimmer is barely pulling anything out, you could say it's nothing. Without all the DSB was producing, there's not much for it to do now.
Remind me at my post before few months or year when I wrote that all auxiliary equipment(big skimmer,refugiums)only have a purpose to remove waste from DSB.Is also good reason why becket or downdraft skimmer never become popular in Europe(besides that you need smal personal power plant to power them) .

Thanks blue.

Seeing what little the skimmer is pulling out now, compared to what it used to do, has made a true believer out of me.

[Zoom]

Seeing what little the skimmer is pulling out now, compared to what it used to do, has made a true believer out of me.

i observe the same thing in my tank, three days of skimmate

[coralite]

So bomber, what is going to be the theme of your tank? Are you doing a FOLR or will you do more corals in the future? I assume you are going to do corals since it looks like you have the tank setup with alot of flow. How would you describe the eductors and what can you compare the flow characterisitics to?

[Yellotang]

Nice and clean, thats for sure. Looking good bomber.

[Flatlander]

Now I dont understand why the skimmer would not skim the same. Organics and detritus is what causes the sand to crap and algae problems, {in the previous arguments}.

Where does that come from. Food, fish waste, etc. Even if a tank is bare, that input is still there. Jerel,s idea is to keep it from becoming trapped and in suspension, to settle in the sump, where I assume it can be siphoned OR, taken out with the skimmer.

So why would the skimmer not be taking this same crap out now. Is it because the changes in the tank, equate a fairly new tank with new water,etc. Perhaps thats more the reason, than the bare bottom. No??

If not, then I ask, where does the crap that wrecked the sandbeds and our tanks go now?

[Bomber]

Doug, I don't think the fish and corals and live rock can hold a candle to what the DSB, and everything that goes with that, produces.

Thanks YT

[Bomber]

Originally posted by coralite
So bomber, what is going to be the theme of your tank? Are you doing a FOLR or will you do more corals in the future? I assume you are going to do corals since it looks like you have the tank setup with alot of flow. How would you describe the eductors and what can you compare the flow characterisitics to?

Right now it's FOWLRAOC (fish only with live rock and one coral), I don't know. Right now I'm enjoying having a clean tank in the living room.
The flow helps the tank all the way around, with or without corals.


A big humongous flow or water, moving really fast!

[Zander]

I agree with Doug that it's still the same stuff entering your system... but why's the skimmer not working?

maybe without a dsb, all that crap is removed with water chages, siphon, etc. since it doesn't have any place to sit and be absorbed by the dsb sponge.

everyone complains that they're dsb smell like sewage, etc... makes me wonder why you'd want all that collecting at the bottom of your tank in concentrated quantities...

everyone should know the best solution to pollution is dillution!!

the starboard looks intertesting...

Bomber- i noticed you have it cut in 2 sections. Is it possible for detritus and other organics to accumulate in those tiny gaps, and eventually spread underneath the starboard??

[gregt]

When the bed is new, it's collecting the crap for you. Years later, after it's well seeded, it starts becoming an import instead of an export.

[Bomber]

Originally posted by sdgtivr6
Bomber- i noticed you have it cut in 2 sections. Is it possible for detritus and other organics to accumulate in those tiny gaps, and eventually spread underneath the starboard??

It's collects in the tiny gaps in the rocks too, right? Nothing to worry about, even if it does it's minuscule.

[BigE]

And history repeats itself... first bare bottom is in, then CC, then sand, then DSB, now back to bare bottom... soon our fish will be wearing bell bottoms.

So what about a thin layer of CC... that way you can still siphon out detritus with water changes and you don't have to look at a glass bottom.