Basement sump - ideas for stand and general installation

[BarIzoN]

Yes, the rocks are there temporarily, and I'm exploring the best situation for the tank. Unfortunately, I don't have many options since my tank is quite tall and slim, so, I'll have to be creative on it.

Now a front view of the aquascape...

Thanks for the tip on E-Marco. I'll definitely need that to have the rocks fixed in place.

 

[Sk8r]

Suggest a piece of molded kitchen formica shelving, from somebody's old countertop or new from Lowes. Impervious to everything. Strong. Heavy, however.

 

[BarIzoN]

Hi Sk8r!

Are you talking on the sump's table?

I treated it with coats of stain and had 3 coats of varnish on all the tabletop and legs as well... It's pretty much protected from saltwater spills and looks great!

 

[JohnL]

Now a front view of the aquascape...

Looks good ?

 

[BarIzoN]

Thanks, JohnL!

I built some "caves" that couldn't be seen from the first picture... I'm thinking about connecting the middle part and having it a cave as well... I ordered the E-Marco Mortar and I'll work on it when it arrives!

 

[JohnL]

Thanks, JohnL!

I built some "caves" that couldn't be seen from the first picture... I'm thinking about connecting the middle part and having it a cave as well... I ordered the E-Marco Mortar and I'll work on it when it arrives!

Excellent. Keep us updated.

 

[BarIzoN]

Thanks, JohnL!

I built some "caves" that couldn't be seen from the first picture... I'm thinking about connecting the middle part and having it a cave as well... I ordered the E-Marco Mortar and I'll work on it when it arrives!

Hello!

A quick update about the Marco Mortar... It works like a charm.

Today I built a "negative" aquascape, and I used fiberglass rods to help secure the structure and used the Marco Mortar mix.

The product does what needs to be done and as I used live rock, I kept the rock as wet as I could.

The result isn't the coolest ever, but for me, on my first try, I think it was quite cool. My wife said it was "too minimal", but I liked it.

Now, I'll have to search for some cool corals and fish. Any suggestions for this type of aquascape?

Also, the Tunze Osmolator arrived.

Should I have it on my saltwater or on RO/DI bucket to feed water into the sump?

Thanks!

The rock on the top of the red bucket was only for support while the cement cured...

 

[JohnL]

Nice work ?

 

[reefing102]

Looks great! If using the Osmolator for an ATO, it would go in RO/DI as salt generally does not evaporate

 

[BarIzoN]

Nice work ?

Thank you, JohnL...

Looking better now, the rockscape on the left looks like "Pitfall" crocodile head from Atari's video game! LOL....

 

[BarIzoN]

Looks great! If using the Osmolator for an ATO, it would go in RO/DI as salt generally does not evaporate

Sounds good!

Installed in RO/DI bucket...

 

[BarIzoN]

Hello,

Now, to the next level -

I started populating the tank:

Bought a Dragon Soul Favia coral, and fewer shrimps, some cleanup crew, and two frags.

However, I think I precipitated and ordered online from Liveaquaria some other fishes and frags.

The point here is that I don't have a quarantine tank.

In fact, I bought everything to set up yesterday, but the fish will arrive on Tuesday - a couple of days from today.

So, I'm thinking about letting all these fishes in my DT while I set up the quarantine tank and for the next batch of fishes and corals, I'll use a quarantine protocol.

Talking about that protocol, how did you guys do? I read a lot about copper and other medicine, but I have no clue where to buy it.

Any tips on that?

Thanks!

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Many like the Tank Transfer Method, TTM. Look it up on RC for instructions.
If you put fish in the tank now you toss the dice on disease from the start.

 

[JohnL]

Prior discussions about quarantine tanks

 

[BarIzoN]

Looks great! If using the Osmolator for an ATO, it would go in RO/DI as salt generally does not evaporate

Hello,

I put the ATO sensor - I bought the Tunze Mini - in the last section in my sump where the pump sends water upstairs.

Today I had a flood in my tank - probably the sensor didn't stop - but I noticed that the level of water in that section always fluctuates. Sometimes it's up and sometimes it's down by the whole from the pipe... It's never stable.

Is that something I need to do to control the water level keeping the last section always filled?

I think the water went up and didn't return. I'm using a filter sock downstairs, but it isn't clogged.

BTW, here's a couple of pictures of my first coral: a Dragon Soul Favia - one in the day and another in the night when I fed.

 

[JohnL]

Nice corals. Sorry to hear about the flood. You want the ATO sensor to be positioned in an area where the water level is consistent. Did you post a photo of your current sump setup with the ATO?

 

[BarIzoN]

Nice corals. Sorry to hear about the flood. You want the ATO sensor to be positioned in an area where the water level is consistent. Did you post a photo of your current sump setup with the ATO?

Luckily I was able to see the tank flooding and took quick action!

Nope...

Find below a picture of my sump with the ATO - Tunze Mini - by the last chamber...

At the moment, it's unplugged.

 

[JohnL]

Luckily I was able to see the tank flooding and took quick action!

Thank goodness ?

 

[reefing102]

So usually the ATO sensor is put in the return pump chamber. I don’t have the Tunze, I have the APEX ATO. The chamber it is in should only fluctuate due to evaporation. If it’s constantly going up and down through out the day, that will throw off the ATO.

I will usually mark the tank with a sharpie where I want the water level to be maintained in the chamber that the ATO is in.

I hope this helps some!

 

[BarIzoN]

So usually the ATO sensor is put in the return pump chamber. I don’t have the Tunze, I have the APEX ATO. The chamber it is in should only fluctuate due to evaporation. If it’s constantly going up and down through out the day, that will throw off the ATO.

I will usually mark the tank with a sharpie where I want the water level to be maintained in the chamber that the ATO is in.

I hope this helps some!

That's exactly where it is, but for some reason, the return chamber fluctuates a lot during the day, and for me, that's a mystery - or perhaps simple physics, but I'm intrigued about that.

I'm not sure if there's a balance on the tank return flow that needs to be constant - and the filter sock may get normally clogged and there's less flow in and the pump keeps sending water up in the other end...

I change the filter sock in two or three days, so no major clogging. This also happened before the filter sock as well...

I also fight a balance of noise from my Overflow box (my tank is not drilled) so, I have to limit the water flow upstairs, but limiting the flow also causes bubbles because there's not enough water into the return and air gets in the pipe going upstairs making a lot of bubbles.

I'm fighting with this for months now, and I couldn't find a balance - I tried the ATO, but I had the flood and now I'm afraid to turn it on and get another flood again...