• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

DIY Skimmer problems

O

ocmsolidsnake

Hi.
This is my first post here so hi everyone. I was recomended here by redstratplayer on tropical fish forums. I am from East Brunswick, nj. I have recently set up my first marine tank. I have a 55g, and my live rock has been in for a week and I am coming off of my cycle. Im starting to get alot of diatoms and some green algea growing. I am wondering what lfs in my area you think would be best for my clean up crew. I was debating between Pets Pets Pets, Animals and Things, and Pet paradise. Are any of these shops with good prices, or good stock of inverts? Thanks!
 
S

saltwater4life

Re: New to njrc, First tank

Welcome to the forum i'm sure you'll love having the SW i'm not sure about those pets stores since i'm not in that area but i know there are a few members here that might be of some help in that area hopefully you can make it to a meeting this month it's up north, Whats the tank going to be?
Good luck
Nick
 
O

ocmsolidsnake

Re: New to njrc, First tank

Im planning on keeping it FOWLR for now until I have at least a year of successfully maintaining the tank, then maybe getting corals slowly.
 
O

ocmsolidsnake

Re: New to njrc, First tank

Alright I think Ill be heading out to animals and things today to check out what crabs and snails they have , but I was wondering what types are best and what number I should be looking for. I am in the process of making a 5 gallon water change and then Ill probably head out. Anyone know about their stock here?
 
Edwardw771

Edwardw771

NJRC Member
Re: New to njrc, First tank

I have heard bad things about Animals and Things. Alot of things die from that store. Tanks are not healther Keep going on RT. 1 and go to ST. George and check out the store in the post above.
 
O

ocmsolidsnake

Re: New to njrc, First tank

Yeah, I will not be going back to animals and things, or pet paradise. Only animals and things had hermits and snails, but they were extremely tiny, and the snails looked dead. Small scarlette hermits were 4 dollars. I was not going to pay that much for a tiny crab. The snails were 2.15 but they all looked dead. Then I went to pet paradise which used to be a rather large store, but they moved across the street into a tinier store, with only a few tanks. So basicaly I did not get anything today. I was stupid and did not look up the address, but still knowing it was nearby. I think I may hold out a trip to aquatic obsessions, pets pets pets, or maybe absolutely fish. It would be nice if pets pets pets had hermits and snails, but Im not sure. So I guess ill be waiting for now. Any advice you guys have is great. Ill try and get some pictures tomorrow.

Another question: Is there a difference between land and sea hermit crabs, because I know where I can get those. I know it might be a stupid question but are they one in the same?
 
O

ocmsolidsnake

Re: New to njrc, First tank

I bought 10 turbo snails from pets pets pets @ 1.99ea, and 3 scarlette hermits @ 2.50. They have all been acclimated, and do a surprisingly good job taking care of diatoms. Though I will defiantely be going back to get more, they said they were waiting on a shipment of blue legs, and others.
 
O

ocmsolidsnake

Re: New to njrc, First tank

Just found a huge blue knee hermit (i think thats what its called) at petco for $1.69, a great bargain. Hes huge and has corarline on his shell. Also my family is thinking of taking a ride to north jersey today. Anyone have any suggestions for good north jersey Lfses
 
O

ocmsolidsnake

Re: New to njrc, First tank

Well we took our ride up north and checked out aquatic obsessions to see what they had. Very nice place with some good prices. I found a small huma huma for like 25 dollars which was a very nice fish. We then headed to statin island and found a store up there. We went in and they had perculas for 9.99. So needless to say I pick myself up a pair. They are floating right nopw for temperature adjustment.
 
O

ocmsolidsnake

Re: New to njrc, First tank

Well over the past few days I have been DIY(ing) a skimmer. It is stable with the water level and has been running all night. The air bubbles arent doing anything though. I have an airstone in there, but the bubbles will surface and pop. So right now I have an HOB container full of water. Anyone know if its the sheap airstone Im using or could there be other problems. The Skimmer intakes with a modified powerhead to the bottom of the tank and outfolws manualy. If you need pictures to demonstrate my problem I can post them.
 
O

ocmsolidsnake

Re: New to njrc, First tank

Ok now Im going crazy. I bought a wooden air stone, and the skimmer ran for 30 mins, and still no air accumulation. Then I went out and bought a t joint to connect my two pumps to run. Let in run, still no air accumulation. Now I set up a nebulizer, which is internally just a powerful air pump to the system, and its making tons of bubles, but they are big and wont accumulate. What am I doing wrong, why is this not working? I have the airstone at the bottom of the chamber, I have the thing running as it should, everything I have read tells me it should work. What is going on? I believe I have a significant bioload to produce scum. Does the skimmer need to skim off the surface, My bowerhead is about two inches below water level, is this a problem. DO I need a better air pump, if so what kind of power do I need? Im desperate to get this to work, as I have spent a ton on this by now.
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Re: New to njrc, First tank

Do you have a link to the plans you used and pics of what you've done so far? It's kind of hard to diagnose with the info available.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top