Leave of absence is over!

[katlongo]

I'm back in the hobby -- I hope! I had to break down my 180 a few years ago after Sandy destroyedit. I used the funds to purchase a beautiful setup (I think so anyway) - which has never been set up. I'm about to embark on this project but need a bit of advice.

I'm now in Westchester (instead of Bergen County) and need someone that can help me add glass baffles to the tank I'm going to use as my sump - is there anyone up here that you would recommend? A LFS? A glass place? I'm also in North NJ once a week if someone knows anyone up that way ---

and a more technical question -- I'm using a Tunze Silence 1073.05 as my return pump -- it's a 3/4 in fitting - the stand pipe for the return is also 3/4" but the overflow is 1"? I'm sure I did the research on this when I bought this setup, but I can't remember why they're different and what problems I may run into with the overflow being larger than the return --

And, lastly, I sold off most of my live rock when I broke down the tank, but kept enough to set up my new, smaller tank. I just opened up the buckets they've been stored in for two years -- I expected to have totally dead, dry rock - one of the buckets is. The other has two huge rocks that are still damp and filled with hair algae!!!!! What's the best way to kill this crap off???

 

[redfishbluefish]

I can't help with the baffles and any recommendations for folks up north.

The overflow with 1 inch drain and 3/4 return is normal. Your drain is by gravity, and one inch gravity is around 700 gph. The return is under pressure, albeit fairly low, and with the Tunze rated at 792 gph (at 24 volts), with headloss, you should be just fine.

With the rock, I'd soak it in bleach, rinse real well....actually soaking and changing water, and then letting air dry for days. At that point, I'd now allow it to cure for a month or two before considering any life in the tank.

 

[kschweer]

Welcome back! I agree with Paul your drain and return will be just fine.

 

[katlongo]

Thanks Paul -- I was pretty sure I'd done my research on this -- just got concerned because my 180 was 1" all around and I couldn't remember why this was different.

Thanks for the rock suggestions -- I have plenty of time. We're moving in May so I just want this thing plumbed and ready to put water in when we move. My two 15-year-old (?) clowns are living in a hair-algae infested 10 gallon tank and seem happy! ??? so I'm hoping they can hang on for several months until I get their new home ready.