125 up and running!

[Clown Monarch]

Well, the pickup and setup went pretty smooth and without incident, thanks in part to the seller who was very organized, helpful, and generous (he gave me lots of extra stuff that wasn't even listed in the auction - including a $250 reverse osmosis unit).

The tank is now up and running. I managed to take back 25 gallons of his water, bio balls, and gravel which should insure a smooth transition, hopefully. The live rock (80 lbs) looks great with tons of growth including lots of those little featherdusters. He showed me a few pieces that he said had coraline algae growth but now I don't see it. I have 4 powerheads running currently.

I was very pleased to see the lights he had appear to be very nice. He didn't describe them well in the auction, but there are 6-55 watt coralife compact lights.

The only part not yet setup is the wet/dry (which includes the skimmer and UV sterlizer). I don't really want that big ugly pre-filter in the tank, so I'm building a siphon system with PVC including a valve to regulate flow to match a pump. I don't think I'll need a pre-filter with the HOT magnum filter which seems to keep the water pretty clear. I'm going to have the inlet hose just dump directly into the 10 gallon box rather than through the hole on the side of the box. The hole and that side of the box (which is all cracked) is going to be covered with a flat piece of plastic and sealed with silicone.

I'm pretty nervous about the wet/dry. It seems there's too many opportunities for disaster - leaks, uneven flow etc.

Which brings me to the questions -

1. Do you think my plans for the wet/dry are good?
2. How can you tell what is dead on the live rock and needs to be removed?
3. How much light should be provided for the live rock?
4. I added 2 small hermit crabs which appear to enjoy the live rock. Will they eat beneficial life on the rock?

 

[mhaynes01]

if at all possible get teh tank drilled

if not

get rid of bio balls plenty of posts have said they are nitrate factorys,

if tank is already running take them out slowly over a month or so

 

[Clown Monarch]

Well, it's all set up now and drilling the tank would be about the last thing I'd want to do (right before having the tank fall over on me while I'm sleeping).

How would a drilled tank be preferable over a PVC siphon system?

 

[Clown Monarch]

Run the wet dry without bio-balls you're saying?

 

[Clown Monarch]

Say, for example, something obstructs the inlet to the wet/dry and the pump runs dry for a time. I'm assuming this could mean a $50-$100 pump is now shot and worst case scenario a fire. Am I close on this?

 

[Hammer]

If your really worried about running the sump dry you could check out autotopoff.com and set the switch up to shut off your sump pump when the water level gets too low. But if your sump pump is going to put out 800 gph or so your inlet line should be large enough not to clog.

 

[mhaynes01]

true but if power goes out on you tank i would hate to see what happens i know they the ball valves or whatever , but if the power did go otu the pump would stop siphon would keep going and possible stop if water got low enough befreo pump could turn back on
but if the tank was drilled you could turn off the pump adn thur it back on with no troubles at all.

yes get bioball out, take out over a month so take a 1/4 of them out every week.

if i were ever start any reef tank 20 gallons or bigger i would get it drilled(but thats jsut me"

 

[Clown Monarch]

Well, I'll have the hole on the inlet hose drilled near the water level so electrical loss won't cause a flood, but if there' something that CAN go wrong - I'll find it. Like the PVC falling apart or something crazy.

Thanks for that link - I'll check that out.

It's 1" PVC with a valve at the bottom. I tested it as a siphon and it filled a 5-gallon bucket in about 10 seconds with the valve wide open, so flow won't be a problem - that's for sure. Unless, for some reason the siphon quits, which I guess is entirely possible with a 1" line...

 

[Bearfan]

How about some pix?

 

[Clown Monarch]

Good idea, Bearfan!

Actually I tried to get the camera running yesterday but the batteries were dead. I'll post some soon.

btw, I'm a Bearfan too.

 

[mhaynes01]

cool cant wait

 

[Clown Monarch]

Alright, after a couple days of planning, measuring, and building, my wet/dry box is now fully functional. I had good luck on my side that after the box was in, the siphon was flowing and the pump was pumping, I was able to fit the UV sterilizer and protein skimmer under there like a jigsaw puzzle - barely. The whole thing turned out pretty well and is actually pretty quiet. I patched a minor crack in the box that had a very slow drip, drilled the siphon relief holes which appear to work fine - and all is well.

It took a while to get the inlet valve coordinated perfectly with the outlet pump, but the water level in the box is now pretty consistent. After setup I realized that I should have had 2 valves at the end of the inlet pipe so that 1 can always be tuned to the pump, and 1 can be used as a shut-off valve (without having to use your adjusted valve as a shut-off).

The last problem that is bothering me is that if I lose power for even a few minutes, my siphon will break and the pumps will stop. Fine. But when the power returns, the pump will run until the filter box is dry and the siphon won't be pumping - and I'll likely come home to find a burned-up filter pump. This is a problem because the electrical service in my area is poor to say the least. It'll be a cool, clear autumn day, not a cloud in the sky - suddenly the power will go out for 20 minutes.

So my latest question - Can I get a power strip or some kind of adapter that must be reset upon receiving power from the source again? This way when the power returns, the pump will not start until I turn the pump back on again.

I'll feel much better about the wet/dry when I put this last failsafe in place. Pics coming soon.