Starting the Addiction! 75gal Garage Build

[Qube]

Horrible sentence structure, sorry...

 

[shady3210]

Looks good! Have you thought about ditching the 300w heater and going with 2 200 watt heaters? I run two smaller ones just in case one goes, I have a backup that can maintain temp in case one goes out.

I probably should have done 2 smaller heaters but because this is in a garage I was worried about the winter. I may still have to add another healer in the winter we will see.

I have changed my sump design!

I decided I wanted the bubble trap before the return and I wanted a 2 " gap rather then a 1". So I inverted my original design and in my mock setup last night with most of the equipment it works great. It gives my return and fuge sections a bit more room. Now the bubble trap only has 2 baffles but I have read a lot of success with just 2 so i'm going to give it a try(I can expand to 3 if needed). Going to get the glass cut tonight after work.

 

[shady3210]

Well been pretty busy the last couple days. I finished my sump yesterday and installed it this afternoon. Everything went great and all my measurements were thankfully correct. Here are a couple pics of the finished product.

I also took a trip down to my LFS today and picked up the chaeto you see in the pics as well as my latest addition!


My little juvenile Engineer Goby who is currently in quarantine.

 

[RickkyBobby]

im going to be making the same sump for my 65 gallon tank..what size hoses did use from your skimmer to your sump and what size was your return pump and hose size also? i think im going with a 600gph overflow with a mag 7 return pump.. i wild just like to know what you used.. thanks.. 4ft head height for me

 

[shady3210]

im going to be making the same sump for my 65 gallon tank..what size hoses did use from your skimmer to your sump and what size was your return pump and hose size also? i think im going with a 600gph overflow with a mag 7 return pump.. i wild just like to know what you used.. thanks.. 4ft head height for me

I'm assuming you mean from my overflow to my sump? It is 1" pvc and the hose from the return is also 1". I will say if possible do everything in PVC that black hose has a tendency to kink and I had to set it just right to get it not to. I used a 700 gph pump with about the same head height so you should be fine with the mag 7.

My goby is doing fine he has found his spot between 2 PVC pipes in the QT and I fed him for the first time today. I went to a LFS I hadn't been to today and of course came home with something. I added a very nice red brittle star who is still pretty small.

So my tank was in the diatom stage but seems to be moving on into the hair algae stage. My turbo snail does a great job at it and my hermits munch on it too so its not too bad right now but i'm keeping an eye on it. I also found a few small bubble algae than I need to get rid of. I also have several small patches of some sort of polyp coral that has come back to lie on my rock.

 

[RickkyBobby]

yes sorry i meant from your overflow to your sump.. ty for the info.. also .. i see you have a fan on top of the sump.. whats that for? just for air circulation in there?

 

[shady3210]

yes sorry i meant from your overflow to your sump.. ty for the info.. also .. i see you have a fan on top of the sump.. whats that for? just for air circulation in there?

Cheap way to cool the tank down. This tank is in a semi finished garage and in the heat wave this summer my tank was getting close to 84 the fan keeps it around 80 and tops out at 82.

 

[RickkyBobby]

lol.. ok.. makes sense.. ty for the ifo.. greatly appreciated.. is the sump working ok with just the 2 baffles in the tank instead of 3?..i might just set mine up the same way, with just 2

 

[shady3210]

lol.. ok.. makes sense.. ty for the ifo.. greatly appreciated.. is the sump working ok with just the 2 baffles in the tank instead of 3?..i might just set mine up the same way, with just 2

Haven't had an issue with bubbles yet.

 

[shady3210]

Well I really need my LFS to be farther away from were I work because I picked up a pink "emerald" crab yesterday to my daughters delight. I acclimated him for around 2 hours and I dropped him in. He first had to show my clown he wasn't lunch then started working on the hair algae like it was spaghetti lol. My brittle star(well i'm sorry my wife's brittle star!) was also out when I woke up today so he seems to be doing great and my fighting conch has now cleaned all the diatoms off the sand. I believe I am starting to enjoy inverts more then fish lol.


Speaking of inverts it seems what I thought were dead hermits was actually just the hermits molting! Since all hermits are accounted for I have had 3 molts floating around the tank since I put them in.

 

[Keithhjs]

Ya inverts can be some of the most interesting additions to a tank. I always enjoy watching shrimps (as it amazes me how brave they are at stealing food from my fish and anemones) and crabs such as emeralds and a personal favorite, the arrow crab.

 

[shady3210]

Ya inverts can be some of the most interesting additions to a tank. I always enjoy watching shrimps (as it amazes me how brave they are at stealing food from my fish and anemones) and crabs such as emeralds and a personal favorite, the arrow crab.

Its true I love just sitting there watching my fighting conch motor around the tank while the hermits and snails work on the algae on the rocks lol

 

[shady3210]

Well just an update I moved over my Engineer Goby to the DT and he is happily rearranging my sand bed.

I'm still in the middle of a hair algae battle that I think I am beginning to win! I actually went to the LFS to pick up a second turbo snail only to discover that they were out but of course my wife found something else....

Meet my Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish, he has a great red coloring and was already eating frozen food at the LFS(tested at home to and he ate a piece of krill that I simply dropped in the tank) so he was just too good to pass up. He is also not the least bit shy and will regularly run to the front of the tank. He is slightly smaller then my Clarkii so there shouldn't be any danger. He is in quarantine now but I doubt I will have any issues with him.