you have plenty of LR for biological filtration, so only use the canister for mechanical and chemical purposes. IMO, the BioMax is your problem.

ReefCentral's DIY page: http://www.reefcentral.com/diy/

I take crappy pictures but here is a pic of my Naso "Tank"
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e384/RuthCh/Naso.jpg

More flow would help to keep detrius suspended, and skimmed out. Ditch the biomax, and run the canister with the bags only. Cut feeding down, and WC more.

Hi CF,
here is a link to my DIY skimmer. It's big, it's ugly and it works (Three check marks in the plus column). http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=28197

If you buy a cannister I might recommend not going for the FX-5. As suggested, the key in SW is to clean your filters regularly to export the detritus. The FX-5 is a great filter but it is also heavy and can be awkward to clean if you have a small sink. Look at a Fluval 405 perhaps. Still a good choice and much easier to work with.

I second that,(turkey baster does very little or nothing) flow is Very important and nothing does it better then "Tunze" kind of pumps even moded maxijets with props are great! You need this slow water front moving BEFORE you can skimm out dissolved cr*p.
Also you may want to take a look in to Sulphur Denitrator.
get rid of everything that collecting detritus in the canisters, leave only carbon and phosfate media, ie. no sponges.
Good luck with your tank.

repy
 

Dale, that's one crazy skimmer! I'll bet it could skim 300 gallons easily!

I think increased flow in your 65 gallon would help your situation. I might also check you nitrate test kit against a friends or something. I have a 65 as well and ditched my sandbed 1 week ago. So far the tank is much cleaner.

Also don't forget to varify your test kit results. Test kit reagents don't always react properly when they start to get old, and the better kits like Salifert apparently are much better than others. Get a fellow reefer or a LFS to test your water for you. Lots of good DIY skimmers in the DIY section, plastic places can cut the acrylic for you if you don't have access to a table saw.

Doug