From Hair Algae Farm To Seahorse Tank

[coyoteseven]

Steve, I'm from a small town called Hobbs, New Mexico... about 200 miles slightly northeast of El Paso/Juarez.

Agu, not only do I have mezcal from '78, I've also got a pair of black elkskin Tony Lamas from '76.

Any way, back to the tank... since I'm probably looking at a max of 3x-4x turnover, do you think that a plain elbow with strainer will work?

 

[Agu]

The plain elbow/strainer will work but it'll be loud at first. After it gets slimed up it'll be pretty quiet. I'm running about 10X turnover and there's minimal noise.

The good part of the plain elbow/strainer is that it's easy to control level in the tank and surface skim just by rotating the elbow (don't glue the interior elbow in place).

Bad part is that the strainer can gunk up quickly and effect water level in the tank. I have two strainers and just swap them out whenever that happens, it's easier than having to clean the dirty one right away.

 

[coyoteseven]

Sounds simple enough, what do you use as a strainer? I recall you having a thread on your setup, but can't remember the title... you wouldn't happen to have the link handy, would you?

BTW, as far as the noise is concerned, I actually like the sound of 'swooshing' water... it's when everything is quiet, that I become concerned. :lmao:

 

[Agu]

Strainers


There are plumbing pics on my web page, click the red house. BTW you can make an acceptable bulkhead out of electrical conduit. Don't use the white PVC though, it has NPT threads and won't tighten down all the way. The conduit threads aren't tapered and tighten down snugly.

 

[coyoteseven]

Thanks for the link, Agu.

I used electrical fittings on a 10g I was going to turn into a fuge and they worked great. Just have to remember to teflon tape the threads for a good seal (me: Why is this %&*@$# still %^@#% leaking??? DOH! :lmao: )

 

[coyoteseven]

Update 09/03/06

Update 09/03/06

Just another update on the transformation project. Today I hooked up the PVC parts for the overflow. At first I was having micro-leaks around all the connections but I didn't want to glue the PVC in place, just in case I needed to remove it for a thorough cleaning in the future.

The solution... teflon tape! :thumbsup: A few wraps around the ends of the pipe sealed off the leaks and actually makes it more friction-free and easier to disassemble.

I bought this acrylic sump off a guy a couple of years ago. It had some pretty bad stress fractures in the side and top braces. However, a few pieces of scrap acrylic and Weldon 16 and it's back in operation... ... ... ugly as sin, but working great. :lmao:
I'm going to have to do a little modificaton to the pentagonal stand to get it underneath the tank, but it's nothing that can't be easily handled with a jigsaw and a couple of scrap 1x6 I have lying around.

Thanks to Agu's suggestion, I bought a couple of strainers and used a plain 1" street ell for the internal overflow. As you can see, just a twist of the ell controls my water height. The sound is minimal with just a slight gurgling... quite relaxing actually.

Well, that's it for now. Because of the red tides, I'm sure it will be awhile before any livestock see their new home. Meanwhile, the old LR is still 'cooking' and I'm still dreaming of seahorses.

 

[Agu]

Looking good :thumbsup:


Shouldn't admit this but the overflow I linked earlier isn't glued either. All the joints are sealed with teflon tape, all the way down to the sump :lol: