a new clownfish/anemone system

[Ron Popeil]

in my current system theres just 1200 or so gph going through my sump and then back into my tank. and this is then supplimented in my 120 via 4 outlets from a 3600 gph reeflo dart. this is perfect.

as for the new system, not a single thing has been purchased for it yet, its all just being planned out so that i dont have any mistakes to look forward to.

i do agree that much over 20x tank volume/hour might be a tad excessive. however, im thinking a sump return through a 1" sea swirl with around 1200 - 1500 gph as a sole source of flow in two cube systems should work out nicely for the two species of anemones they intend to house. i could be wrong however....

so if i decide to keep the dart, it will be throttled back quite a bit, as it can be reduced down to 1% its output without any harm on the pump. but sequence's new snapper pump looks to be a bit more appropriate at somewhere around just 2500 gph.

please keep the suggestions coming. i really appreciate all the help and ideas. thank you!

 

[reverendmaynard]

Your current flow through the sump is much lower than what you have planned, which is why I say you may run into problems you didn't anticipate. Things like microbubbles and/or plumbing bottlenecks that are not a problem in your current setup may pop up when you try to double or triple the volume of water running through that same sump.

You do already own the dart, right? I understand your desire to use it in these new applications, but you don't want to deal with endless hassles just for the sake of reusing that pump.

I agree, in a perfect world it would be great to run the whole system with just one inlet and one outlet per tank and just one pump, I'm just not sure you'll be able to get over the technical hurdles associated with it. After all, brighter minds than yours and mine have been in this hobby for decades, and they all say it can't/shouldn't be done that way. Then again, if nobody ever tried anything new, we'd all still be doing FO the FW way, right?

I don't really have anything "new" to add, other than good luck. I hope that if you try it, you'll be able to make it work.

 

[Ron Popeil]

here are the two tanks. prior to drilling for a 2" bulkhead placed in the corner of each tank. over the top of each tank will be a lumenarc A3 mini. unless someone suggests otherwise...

here is the magnifica tank:

here is the haddoni tank:

one question that has now come up has been which standpipe to use for the overflow box? ive always used dursos, and know they work. however, to save space a stockman has been suggested and claimed they work just as well. a two inch bulk head using two inch pcv will require some 6 inches of space by about four inches in order to fit. that takes up not a terrible amount of space, but enough. a stockman would probably require something around a 4x 4 size correct? instead of holes, my main tank assistant suggests large slots....

am i correct in hearing a stockman would run just as silently as a durso?

 

[Ron Popeil]

ok well, here is the update on my system:

two tanks were drilled and overflows installed and ready to be used. but first i had to find the time to take down the main tank. what a chore. i skipped all my classes for the day and started at 12 pm. this is what my tank looked like just before i tore it down:

about five hours later i was only about here:

after the 120 came down the 60 gallon went up without any problems.

 

[Ron Popeil]

then disaster struck.

in setting up 45 gallon, it was set down a bit too hard on the stand, cracking the bottom pane of glass from under the bulkhead with a hairline fracture. needless to say, i was not amused. at all. it really threw a big wrench in the gears of my up-till-then smooth operation. ugh. so i focused on setting up the 60 gallon and by 10:30 pm, i was finally finished. Literally 10 hours of dismantling, catching fish, organizing...

...lifting, cutting, plumbing, glueing, bleeding...

...filling, releasing and lots of crossed fingers. i had horrendously generous friends help with the set up. without them, it would have been a nightmare. i practically threw everything i wanted to keep in the 60, or in the refugium, kept everything else in a big 45 gallon tub until i could take it to portland to trade in and used some old crappy PC lights over the top of the new tank. after waiting for three weeks for my lumenarcs, they finally arrived, and my animals are much more happy with them. everything is still a mess, finals are coming up, my other tank is being repaired, and so i havent done much as far as organize the tank or its surroundings.

 

[Flighty]

Cool project. I have seen a couple of people make a box out of acrylic and put a tunze in it. That way it is almost as discrete as your overflow, but gives you the turnover you need without the noise and microbubbles.

How did your flow work out?

 

[Ron Popeil]

eventually the two 1" sea swirls will be on the back side of the tank with some loc line nozzles. the 45 gallon will be seated right next to the 60 and in theory be running two 3/4" sea swirls, again, on the back side. the large spaflex tubing will be cut down a bit below the stand, and basically all the tubing and such will be cleaned up and organized better. the idea behind these two tanks is i wanted a nice clean, easy to tear down, easy to move, easy to set back up system strictly for clownfish and anemones.

the stockman standpipes i was hesitant about using, but now enjoy. their slim design and silence keeps me happy. only problem im really working on is getting the sea swirls to attach nice and even to the top of the tanks, and getting rid of a large portion of microbubbles down in the sump.

and trying to get those nigripes to loosen up and stop being such a terribly reclusive fish.

 

[Ron Popeil]

 

[Ron Popeil]

well, so far the flow is nice. its directly surrounding the magnificas but not nearly as randomly as it had in the larger tank. which i think i kind of like. the anemones dont lay flat like they had done previously, instead they sit very upright and i love being able to see their bases. as far as flow around the rest of the tank for the corals, again its not nearly as intense as they would prefer, but as long as the anemones are happy, im happy. its been well over two weeks now since the tank has been set up, the anemones have not moved since i placed them, so i assume they are content.

im hoping to try to get more flow downward with the loc line adapters that go in the sea swirl nozzles.

 

[Flighty]

Keep me in mind if they ever spawn. I'll pay for a cup of cloudy water overnighted to me I dream of the pitter patter of baby magnificas.

 

[Ron Popeil]

well at least twice in the 120 system, id come home from work in the evenings to find a very cloudy tank. the refugium would be clear, so i assumed it wasnt the macroalgae or the bubble tip anemones.

really the only thing i could think of was the magnificas, since theyre the only thing large enough to pump matter to cloud 120 gallons of water. but ive never seen any spawning events personally nor do i know what a recently spawned magnifica would look like (deflated or extra inflated or...?)

 

[Flighty]

I have heard someone say the tentacles looked different leading up to a spawn (wide at the base and triangular I thought?) The two clones I have now are from one that hadn't spawned in 7 years, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that might mean females and that they are internal brooders. Yes, I know it is a lot to hope for, but I can dream. Of course I need to get them out of the woods health wise too, but that is a different issue.

 

[Ron Popeil]

in about two weeks, after the silicon has dried, and hopefully the tank is ready to hold water, the 24x24x18 will be set up and ready for the chrysopterus pair. this is the tank im most excited for. more details to come.