New To Fish Keeping, My Big Journal

[Trod]

All going along nicely now.
Have you got your LR, if not have a look at e bay or UR lots of bargains to be had at the moment

 

[Sharm]

All going along nicely now.
Have you got your LR, if not have a look at e bay or UR lots of bargains to be had at the moment

Yer i got some lr on the way, but not going to get it til tuesday

When I get my live rock, what would you recommend me doing? putting the LR on top of the substrate or putting the LR on the glass and putting the substrate around it? if i do the latter, will this mark the bottom of the tank?

 

[Trod]

Everyone seems to have differing opinions on this, so I guess it just comes down to personal choice.

You can either put the rock directly on the bottom of the tank then put in your sand around the rock (this is they way I did mine) or you can use egg crate, put that in first then add the sand then put the LR in. I wouldn't recommend putting sand in on its own then LR because if you get any burrowing critters/fish they can burrow under the LR and make it unstable, leading to rock falls, or worse squashing the critter/fish

 

[Sharm]

Everyone seems to have differing opinions on this, so I guess it just comes down to personal choice.

You can either put the rock directly on the bottom of the tank then put in your sand around the rock (this is they way I did mine) or you can use egg crate, put that in first then add the sand then put the LR in. I wouldn't recommend putting sand in on its own then LR because if you get any burrowing critters/fish they can burrow under the LR and make it unstable, leading to rock falls, or worse squashing the critter/fish

thanks for the advice, i think ill do it the same way you have done.

I'm not fitting anything until the weekend, when i have more time, but the tmc v2 400 i have seen mounted in two different ways. the first way i've seen it is mounted in the tank. but the other way was the skimmer was mounted on the outside of the tank, with pipes going into the tank? if thats makes sence haha.

 

[Trod]

Yes, makes sense, I beleive that the V2 400 can be mounted either way, so again just down to which way suits you and your tank

 

[Sharm]

Yes, makes sense, I beleive that the V2 400 can be mounted either way, so again just down to which way suits you and your tank

I going to mount the skimmer on the outside of the tank. I've just up packed the skimmer and I didn't realise that it came with a rio 2100. So know I have the koralia 2 and a rio 2100. I don't really want the rio 2100 because it looks pretty big. Do i need the rio to supply water to the inlet tube?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah the rio will be the feed pump for the skimmer so you will need to use it. The skimmer can be ussed in or out of the tank but I would do the same as you and use it outside (as a hang on back or HOB skimmer). Makes no real difference to how it works but saves you having to take up space in your tank with it.

 

[Trod]

You will need a pump to get water into the skimmer, so I would have thought yes, I would also assume that the pump should be positioned in the tank, but I don't know this for a fact, so wait for someone with more knowledge of these skimmers to come along

 

[rabbut]

Ah, so the TMC skimmers use Rio pumps? That could explain the reliability issues a few of my mates have had with them...

Anyhow, the TMC skimmers are pump intake side venturi driven, so they do need a pump (not nesisarily that pump) to inject the air

All the best
Rabbut

 

[TigerIssey]

Have to say Rabbut, I returned a Rio 800 pump (which I swapped for my 1100 which is now my return pump). The 800 ended up vibrating so badly I nearly threw it through the window. It drove me mad. The 1100 seems to have been much better, not sure if they suffer with dodgy batches or individual dodgy ones.

 

[Sharm]

I've put it in, not working since i'm waiting for my lr, the instructions say to put the pump 20 cm below the skimmer about and attach the inlet tube. I've put the pump where it says, and its a right eye-saw, hopfully the lr will hide it abit. I was thinking though, and could i put the pump on the bottom of the tank ( so the lr will hide it) and connect a longer tube from the pump to the skimmer?

 

[Sharm]

the rio 125 would be a better choice...its shallower and has stronger lighting. and will cost £200, just make sure you rip out the internal as they are nitrate factories because theyre hard to clean.

Just looking back at some post's at the start of the topic.

I haven't taken out the internal out, does this need to be done? and anyone else done this because on pretty solid.

 

[rabbut]

I'd remove the internal. They are easy to remove. Get a sharp knife and (carefully so as not to damage the seals ) cut through the "blobs holding it on. Once the first few are off, the box usually just pulls free. Then scrape (again carefully to avoid scratching the glass) the remains of the "blobs" off (or in my case, pull them off, they weren't as securely attached as they looked...)

I was thinking though, and could i put the pump on the bottom of the tank ( so the lr will hide it) and connect a longer tube from the pump to the skimmer?

You could do this, but it will reduce the air flow into the skimmer, or potentially stop it all together. The consensus is that you can get better performance from more air injection, so ideally you want to keep air flow into the skimmer as high as possible

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Sharm]

I'd remove the internal. They are easy to remove. Get a sharp knife and (carefully so as not to damage the seals ) cut through the "blobs holding it on. Once the first few are off, the box usually just pulls free. Then scrape (again carefully to avoid scratching the glass) the remains of the "blobs" off (or in my case, pull them off, they weren't as securely attached as they looked...)

I was thinking though, and could i put the pump on the bottom of the tank ( so the lr will hide it) and connect a longer tube from the pump to the skimmer?

You could do this, but it will reduce the air flow into the skimmer, or potentially stop it all together. The consensus is that you can get better performance from more air injection, so ideally you want to keep air flow into the skimmer as high as possible

All the best
Rabbut

okay then, im going to have a go at it once i've had a shower. If the doing just pull of like your did, what do you sugest scraping them off with. the internal had the heater in it, if i just put the heater in the water next the protein skimmer will the fish be okay?

I think i'm happy with the pump for the skimmer been where it is once ive taken the internal out.

 

[Sharm]

ive just been looking now and the internal is that close to the glass i cant the any knife down?