HoCkEyGmC
Aquarium Advice Addict
Lets go red wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here comes another stanley!!!!!!!!
Here comes another stanley!!!!!!!!
System build
- Thread starter lynxpilot
- Start date
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CaptainAhab
Thanx but no.....
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2008
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well, so much for the friendship! LOL
HoCkEyGmC
Aquarium Advice Addict
i dont really understand where that came from but hey, ill embrace it where ever i see it.
Sorry,
Had to clear that up right away.
I've noticed from other build threads here that a lot of people are using PVC to plumb their tanks and sumps. Just out of curiosity, is there any reason why more wouldn't use tygon tube and hose clamps? Just seems to me that it would be a lot more flexible in terms of modding, upgrading, or replacing broken stuff, no?
And on that note, I will have a refugium (about 30 gallons) that is store-bought and has the 3 chambers. I've ordered the NW200 in-sump skimmer. I know this sounds moronic, but I'd really feel a lot more comfy with a diagram of a refugium with an in-sump skimmer. 55 Gallon In Sump Refugium < that is what I've seen so far but the skimmer is outside of the sump.
Also, if my tank is pre-drilled for 2 overflows, how does the water get back to the tank (or does pre-drilled mean 2 holes per overflow?)? Should the tank have another hole that is an 'innie' or will I have to run hoses up to the tank for the return? It's supposed to be here Thursday, but I'm a little curious about plumbing so I can buy the bits and have them ready.
One other. Does anybody have a dedicated pump for a wall scrubbing vacuum?
Thanks a mil for the answers so far. I'm really impressed by the way folks here share information.
Dave
And on that note, I will have a refugium (about 30 gallons) that is store-bought and has the 3 chambers. I've ordered the NW200 in-sump skimmer. I know this sounds moronic, but I'd really feel a lot more comfy with a diagram of a refugium with an in-sump skimmer. 55 Gallon In Sump Refugium < that is what I've seen so far but the skimmer is outside of the sump.
Also, if my tank is pre-drilled for 2 overflows, how does the water get back to the tank (or does pre-drilled mean 2 holes per overflow?)? Should the tank have another hole that is an 'innie' or will I have to run hoses up to the tank for the return? It's supposed to be here Thursday, but I'm a little curious about plumbing so I can buy the bits and have them ready.
One other. Does anybody have a dedicated pump for a wall scrubbing vacuum?
Thanks a mil for the answers so far. I'm really impressed by the way folks here share information.
Dave
CaptainAhab
Thanx but no.....
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2008
- Messages
- 2,333
take a look thru here : Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums and http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/gt/index.php
Flex vs rigid is a personal choice. I used PVC. Glued and screwed makes me more comfortable. I think the headloss calc a bit different for flex also. Mine has been setup so long I can't remember.
Flex vs rigid is a personal choice. I used PVC. Glued and screwed makes me more comfortable. I think the headloss calc a bit different for flex also. Mine has been setup so long I can't remember.
Got the first of the goodies today. Got a sump, 2 overflow kits for the tank, protein skimmer, light for the sump, 2 circulators (HK 4), splurged and got full test kit, and a bucket of salt.
I'll have to mod the sump. The skimmer doesn't fit in the end slot and the highest barrier levels are below the lowest setting on the skimmer level adjust. I'll have to shave 2 acrylic walls off and move them about 1 inch.
Tank, Coralife Aqualight Pro 48", stand, 1800 gph magdrive pump, aragonite are supposed to arrive tomorrow. Since I have to mod the sump, I'm holding off on live rock for the tank and sump.
Heater, refractometer should arrive this week.
90 lb. base rock ordered from Marco, but they shipped DHL, so who knows when it will arrive. I'll buy live rock from LFS.
Sump will have one big live rock, a bunch of reef rubble where the bio balls are now, and a bed of aragonite. I'd like to know what else I should be spiking it with. Isn't there a microbio somethingorother that I put in? Also, any reason I couldn't keep feeder hermit crabs in the sump, maybe starfish, maybe clams, maybe shrimp, starfish, and corals and such?
I'll have to mod the sump. The skimmer doesn't fit in the end slot and the highest barrier levels are below the lowest setting on the skimmer level adjust. I'll have to shave 2 acrylic walls off and move them about 1 inch.
Tank, Coralife Aqualight Pro 48", stand, 1800 gph magdrive pump, aragonite are supposed to arrive tomorrow. Since I have to mod the sump, I'm holding off on live rock for the tank and sump.
Heater, refractometer should arrive this week.
90 lb. base rock ordered from Marco, but they shipped DHL, so who knows when it will arrive. I'll buy live rock from LFS.
Sump will have one big live rock, a bunch of reef rubble where the bio balls are now, and a bed of aragonite. I'd like to know what else I should be spiking it with. Isn't there a microbio somethingorother that I put in? Also, any reason I couldn't keep feeder hermit crabs in the sump, maybe starfish, maybe clams, maybe shrimp, starfish, and corals and such?
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HELP!!
Looking at the attached, would the arrangement of the skimmer in the sump work as shown? I'd drill through the barriers and run a pvc pipe from the pump to the skimmer.
Didn't realize how big the skimmer was before I ordered it. If I use this arrangement, I have to drill and plumb the main pump outside of the sump. It's a mag drive 18 and the instructions say it can be internal or external. There's not enough room in the sump output chamber for both pumps and I don't want either of them in the refugium where they could suck up sand and stuff.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Looking at the attached, would the arrangement of the skimmer in the sump work as shown? I'd drill through the barriers and run a pvc pipe from the pump to the skimmer.
Didn't realize how big the skimmer was before I ordered it. If I use this arrangement, I have to drill and plumb the main pump outside of the sump. It's a mag drive 18 and the instructions say it can be internal or external. There's not enough room in the sump output chamber for both pumps and I don't want either of them in the refugium where they could suck up sand and stuff.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Attachments
Trying to connect everything now. The overflow kit bulkhead fittings have flex hose taps on them and I'm trying to figure out how to rig the pump return to the tank. The sump came with ribbed hose that fits on the overflow drains, so I hose clamped them.
Still haven't figured out how to get from 3/4" PVC at the pump outlet to the style of connectors on the overflow. For now, I'll plumb the pump in PVC with a bypass (for excess flow) back to the sump inlet and stub the tank return off until I can sort out the last connections.
I'm keeping the skimmer in the refugium. I drilled a hole from the refugium to the sump inlet so the intake of the skimmer pump fits loosely into that section and will not draw from the refugium itslef. It's been frustrating today because I'm absolutely clueless about this equipment since I've never used it before. I'm afraid of getting to a point where I'm committed (like tank full of water) when I found out I screwed something up.
Still haven't figured out how to get from 3/4" PVC at the pump outlet to the style of connectors on the overflow. For now, I'll plumb the pump in PVC with a bypass (for excess flow) back to the sump inlet and stub the tank return off until I can sort out the last connections.
I'm keeping the skimmer in the refugium. I drilled a hole from the refugium to the sump inlet so the intake of the skimmer pump fits loosely into that section and will not draw from the refugium itslef. It's been frustrating today because I'm absolutely clueless about this equipment since I've never used it before. I'm afraid of getting to a point where I'm committed (like tank full of water) when I found out I screwed something up.
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fijiwigi
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hi and Welcome to the site. looks like you are off to a great start you seem a bit confused on the plumbing what exact questions do you have? I attached some pics of my return line plumbing its 3/4" to 1" adapter 1" vinyl tubing to 3/4" locline adaptor to 3/4" locline flow directors Hope this helps
P.S. I like the Les Paul Guitar
P.S. I like the Les Paul Guitar
All plumbing pieces-parts on hand. I'm going to plumb tygon tube off of the overflow barbs and between the main pump and intermediate plumbing so I can remove sections and add flex to the system. Valves and such will be in PVC and pipe clamped to the stand. I'll put a valve on the pump discharge to throttle it and add and extra valve with hose to do water changes. I'm out in the boonies and have a septic tank, so I'll have to pump to a bucket and dump the SW on the driveway (gravel).
Just got FL base rock from marco. They need lessons in packaging. I have about 90 lb. of base. Holding off on live until later. I'm going to sculpt the rock into ledges. Probably 3 tiers for varying light levels so I can do all types of corals and clams. I'll probably support it by drilling and using 316 1/4" stainless rod. I'll epoxy horizontals but leave verticals just rod so I can install/remove the rock in layers. Don't want to have to hoist 150 or 200 lb. into the tank all at once. Bottom will have crevices for cave critters.
Plumbing will probably be done tomorrow. I'll also look at bracing my floor joists. Tank will be next to a wall, so foundation will carry one side and I'll brace just opposite tank center from wall. Probably put levels on tank and have my wife call out zero-bubbles while I'm in the crawlspace running the bottle jacks.
I'll be adding water this coming weekend. Plan on using half of the salt bucket with initial fill (it says for 150 gal. and mine is 120). I'll make minor adjustments from there. I bought 80 lb of live sand and had planned to have a sand substrate in both the tank and the sump. I'm thinking I might put a cotton filter in the inlet or outlet slot of the sump when I do the first fill to get rid of the cloud when you first wet the sand or rock. After running the system, I'd remove it and just use the refugium.
I was thinking I'd just run the system with nothing more than base rock and live sand for a few days (or weeks) while I got used to the plumbing, chemistry, and other stuff. Hoping that the live sand would suffice for a cycle. Once I'm used to that, I'll add some live rock and see what happens. I'll see if LFS has some good green junk to put in the refugium about that time.
Plans are to have:
Corals- not sure what types, but hopefully the lighting, sculpted levels, and everything else would support any type.
Clams- once tank is stable and very clean.
Anemones- blue/green carpet and bubble tip.
Clowns- one or two mated pairs of gold stripe maroon.
Moray- one zebra.
Lions- one pair of antennata.
Crusty's- ????. Would like to keep cheap hermits in the sump to feed the moray. Not sure if any snail or crab would survive in the tank with the above fish. Or could I just keep replenishing them?
Anglers- If the clowns were big enough to avoid predation.
I'm keeping it slow and pacing myself. Hopefully I'm not on any wrong tracks here. Again, any advice is appreciated.
Just got FL base rock from marco. They need lessons in packaging. I have about 90 lb. of base. Holding off on live until later. I'm going to sculpt the rock into ledges. Probably 3 tiers for varying light levels so I can do all types of corals and clams. I'll probably support it by drilling and using 316 1/4" stainless rod. I'll epoxy horizontals but leave verticals just rod so I can install/remove the rock in layers. Don't want to have to hoist 150 or 200 lb. into the tank all at once. Bottom will have crevices for cave critters.
Plumbing will probably be done tomorrow. I'll also look at bracing my floor joists. Tank will be next to a wall, so foundation will carry one side and I'll brace just opposite tank center from wall. Probably put levels on tank and have my wife call out zero-bubbles while I'm in the crawlspace running the bottle jacks.
I'll be adding water this coming weekend. Plan on using half of the salt bucket with initial fill (it says for 150 gal. and mine is 120). I'll make minor adjustments from there. I bought 80 lb of live sand and had planned to have a sand substrate in both the tank and the sump. I'm thinking I might put a cotton filter in the inlet or outlet slot of the sump when I do the first fill to get rid of the cloud when you first wet the sand or rock. After running the system, I'd remove it and just use the refugium.
I was thinking I'd just run the system with nothing more than base rock and live sand for a few days (or weeks) while I got used to the plumbing, chemistry, and other stuff. Hoping that the live sand would suffice for a cycle. Once I'm used to that, I'll add some live rock and see what happens. I'll see if LFS has some good green junk to put in the refugium about that time.
Plans are to have:
Corals- not sure what types, but hopefully the lighting, sculpted levels, and everything else would support any type.
Clams- once tank is stable and very clean.
Anemones- blue/green carpet and bubble tip.
Clowns- one or two mated pairs of gold stripe maroon.
Moray- one zebra.
Lions- one pair of antennata.
Crusty's- ????. Would like to keep cheap hermits in the sump to feed the moray. Not sure if any snail or crab would survive in the tank with the above fish. Or could I just keep replenishing them?
Anglers- If the clowns were big enough to avoid predation.
I'm keeping it slow and pacing myself. Hopefully I'm not on any wrong tracks here. Again, any advice is appreciated.
Started the official fill. I have the RO system installed. It's painfully slow. I started filling initially from the stub end that would feed the top-off unit, then connected the top-off and will pump from the sump as the sump is filled. I put the first batch of base rock in. I have about 90 lb. in that batch and have about 50 lb. more coming this week. The last of the rock will be live rock to seed the rest of it and I will buy that from the local LFS.
We filled and tested the entire system a few days ago to do leak checks and functional checks of the equipment. I have 1" drains from 2 overflows in the tank and a 1800 gph pump and they seemed to be well matched. Skimmer pump worked fine too, but no indication of function until I get some good goo in the water. I'm already considering the mod on the skimmer to get better bubbling.
I'm really curious about reliability of online purchases of the fish once I get started. I'm not really impressed by the local supplies. Anybody getting good results from online live purchases? Please let me know who doess well with sending fish by mail.
Thanks again in advance.
We filled and tested the entire system a few days ago to do leak checks and functional checks of the equipment. I have 1" drains from 2 overflows in the tank and a 1800 gph pump and they seemed to be well matched. Skimmer pump worked fine too, but no indication of function until I get some good goo in the water. I'm already considering the mod on the skimmer to get better bubbling.
I'm really curious about reliability of online purchases of the fish once I get started. I'm not really impressed by the local supplies. Anybody getting good results from online live purchases? Please let me know who doess well with sending fish by mail.
Thanks again in advance.
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Latest update. RO system installed. Tank filled. Rock installed, mostly with reef rock (not live) but I went to the LFS and got two big hunks of live rock and some chaetomorpha to get things going. I've been toying with the chemistry set and haven't noticed anything of consequence. pH is about 8.2, ammonia just about undetectable (maybe 0.1), nitrite same, nitrate almost nil. I was gone over Thanksgiving and could've missed any point in the cycle. SG showed high (about 1.028) but my well water was showing about 1.005, so I need a cal. I have a bottle of DI I got from work that I'll use as my standard, check and adjust this weekend with the first ever water change. We're still trying to figure out a good system to do that. I'm plumbed to do easy draining from the power head, but I still have to take it outside and drain in the gravel because I don't want salt in the septic tank. Moved all cords out of cabinet because I don't want the power strips getting misted by saltwater. It isn't attractive, but I also don't want to burn down the house.
Latest photo attached.
Latest photo attached.
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