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cabj1970's old 55G is my new 55G

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sur4die

everyone with an overflow box relies on a single U siphon with religion and no one ever questions that application... the baffles and siphon that i describe in my diagram operate on the same exact principles.

i'm planning on using store bought clear 1 piece U siphons. multiple. probably 3, but at least 2 each with their own individual siphon hold reservoir.

i agree that bulkheads are an order of magnitude more reliable, and i appreciate the devil's advocate position, but in this scenario i believe that i am too pressed for space and alignment to properly plumb the bulkheads. the floor of my sump area is a little bowed...
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
sur4die said:
everyone with an overflow box relies on a single U siphon with religion and no one ever questions that application... the baffles and siphon that i describe in my diagram operate on the same exact principles.
Click to expand...

Just one more thought on this, realizing that you have your mind made up...

The one thing that you don't have at the top of your tank (where the overflow box is) that you have an OVERABUNDANCE OF in a sump are bubbles. When the water comes down out of the tank it is splashing and sucking some air down with it. This typically results in a LOT of bubbles (so much so that "how do I keep these out of my tank" is a very typical question). Bubbles are the death of siphon. You will need to ensure that completely bubble-less water ends up in that u-tube or it will certainly fail.

Uniseals are cool and don't require the precise alignment. You just jam the pipe through the seal in both tanks. I know, you have your mind made up, but I figured the more information the better!
 
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sur4die

Phyl said:
Uniseals are cool and don't require the precise alignment. You just jam the pipe through the seal in both tanks. I know, you have your mind made up, but I figured the more information the better!
Click to expand...

now, see. i have never even heard of uniseals! that does seem like a better solution.
 
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sur4die

so after a long visit to melevsreef.com and looking at his sump designs i decided to slightly alter my sump. still has the siphons, but i think it will workout. check out the pic.

refugium is on the right, sump on the left. both have glass baffles to hold siphons and both are fed with ball valve restricted overflew pvc lines. the sump is also baffled where the overflow enters. in the fuge i added some clippings of cheato and this purple plant that grows in my 12G nano.

my nitrates have finally dropped to 20ppm. probably due to several factors including tuning the skimmer, removing the bioballs, adding the sump/fuge, water changes, and time.

i've taken a good look at the equipment that i have inherited and think that i need an upgrade. as for lighting i'm running with a 4x65w CF light. for flow i have a rio 2500 (748gph) return pump and a hanging aquaclear 301 (175gph). everything is showing its age and they all have me in what i understand to be the extreme low end of the spectrum. i'm looking to build a hood with a retrokit with either 150 or 250 w MH w/ T5 actinics. i'm also considering an inexpensive electronic wave controller with 3 MJs, either 400s or 900s. i was wondering what people think about the lights (150s vs 250s) and flow ideas. especially if the electronic wave makers are worth it or just a waste of money.
 
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sur4die

the sump and refugium are working great. I've also added an electric float valve controlled fresh water top off system from aquahub to keep the salinity in check.

however, I do still have elevated nitrates... they drop to almost 20ppm whenever I do a 10% water change, but creep back up over the course of the week to about 80ppm. I'm really not that surprised though, the sand is still brown with a layer of settled detritus on the top from the move. I'm convinced that I need to get some better flow so that the skimmer can capture the gunk and then I really need to introduce a capable cleanup crew. I also have a lot of cyano on my substrate and some on the rocks which further makes me think that I could really benefit from more flow and a good crew.

I have purchased a x10 controller and a pair of controllable x10 "appliance modules" that I plan to use as wave controllers with some new powerheads, likely MJ1200s, but I really can't decide/don't know just how much flow I really need. I think i'd like to have a sure flow modded MJ1200 as my always-on powerhead and then have a MJ1200 on the x10 controller to add some wave action to the tank. is there really no such thing as too much flow?
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

For sps tanks there can never be too much flow. One can increase flow by either using bigger powerheads - folks prefer hydor koralias over the maxijets. The maxis push water in a straight kind of line - which is gnerally not what you get on the reefs. This is referred to as "laminar flow".

If you really want to go bonkers on flow - there are a couple options -

closed loop - and then you could add eductors (spelling?). You'll need a pressure rated pump for this set up and there are pluses and minuses.

Alternatively you could go with expensive powerheads like tunze nano streams or ecovortechs (i'm not familiar with these though)

generally speaking wavemakers are NOT required for a tank - but they are a nice to have for those who desire one.
 
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sur4die

just picked up some new critters for my tanks.

for the big tank:
my local shop had fire shrimp mis-marked as coral banded shrimp and i picked one up for $15!
2 emerald crabs

then for my 12g:
few more nerites for cleaner glass
and a bicolor blenny.

i know that i'll probably eventually have to move the bicolor to the larger tank, but he should do fine for a while while he cleans out some plant material. especially since the only other large animals in the tank are a clown and its BTA.
 
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sur4die

the rest of these are things that i have upstairs in my 12g that will eventually move into the big tank.

the anemone and clown (and huge scratch)
 
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sur4die

got myself a new light fixture.

packaged great!
DSCI0255.jpg


DSCI0258.jpg




WOW, this thing is great! now i need to build a canopy for it to contain the spill over though

DSCI0259.jpg


DSCI0260.jpg
 
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sur4die

picked up a few blue damsels and a peppermint shrimp.

also, i built a hood to hold, elevate, and hide the blinding beauty that is my new T5 fixture.

DSCI0268.jpg

DSCI0270.jpg
 
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sur4die

i probably will eventually get a black background, but it is not a priority. besides, the longer they are up the saltier they get. i would like to create a shade for the overflow box and return hose though. because of the light/flow they receive they seem to get lots of growth.

i would eventually like to move the entire contents of my 12G tank to the 55, including the 20lbs of LR in both it and it's sump. i also have at least another 15lbs of LR in the sump and refugium setup beneath the 55, but almost all of the rock that i inherited with the 55 is smaller pieces, no larger base rocks. i do have 3 larger football shaped/sized pieces in the 12g.

i would like to leave some exposed sand bed though, and in a 55 that's tough to do. what's the general consensus about leaning rocks against the glass? i had always thought that this was a no-no but it would allow me some more room front to back as well as allow me to stack the rocks higher with more stability.
 
onefish2fish

onefish2fish

for your next tank, tape it off and do a bunch of light coats of spray paint. no salt can get between that.

as for leaning rocks it makes it impossible to clean in that spot and theres a risk of scratching the glass.
 
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