Looking for a bit of help and advice...

And hopefully this rain will help lower the temps around here so we don't have to go buy chillers ;). I would say 82 is fine, but wouldn't recommend letting the tank get much past 87 or 88 for a prolonged period of time...
 
Thanks again Shark!

I was planning on giving it two more weeks, adding another 20 pounds of live rock. That would bring me up to 50 pounds total. The live rock I am getting from Aquarium Center is awesome! (and the cool styrofoam containers they send it home in are definitely keepers too! LOL!)

Would you recomend adding a cleaning crew prior to the last 20 pounds of live rock, or finish the live rock and wait 2 more weeks for the cleaning crew?

I am trying to keep this at two week cycles to contain my normal impulsive enthusiasm. :)

I think I have narrowed down my sump pump to the Eheim 1260 (about 600 gph flat) and a hang on back siphon overflow that handles about 300 GPH. With the head room and a control valve in place, the pump should be fine with the overflow.

Still debating on skimmers. I'm second guessing the in-sump skimmer as my sump is only maximum 12" high, and will probably only hold about 10" of water depth in the skimmer chamber. That may not be high enough to operate the skimmer efficiently.

So, now I am researching the differences between operating a closed loop sump and a hang on back skimmer vs all equipment contained in the sump.

Now I'm off to research refractometers! Thanks for that one too!

Reading is Fundamental! LOL!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7625153#post7625153 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by whiteshark
And hopefully this rain will help lower the temps around here so we don't have to go buy chillers ;). I would say 82 is fine, but wouldn't recommend letting the tank get much past 87 or 88 for a prolonged period of time...
Click to expand...

Tanks hasn't gone above 84 yet. And quite frankly, I think that is the 3 powerheads submersed in the tank along with the crappy tank hood light currently on the tank. The room its in hasn't gone above 80 degrees room temp yet, even with the 95 temp we hit the other day.

And I hate rain. It makes my stoopid grass grow..... I hate grass too... Stoopid lawn mowers..... I need to buy goats or something.
 
I would say add your cleaning crew about a week after you add the next 20 lbs. of rock. IMO, you could add them before that seeing as the rock you are getting seems to have such a small die off. It is really up to you.

My skimmer (ASM G-2) works fine in my sump with the water being about 10 in. deep. I like to hide as much equipment as possible in the sump.

Return pump sounds good!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7625148#post7625148 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hrdneglcry
Thanks Mfish. The way to sex is to vent you are correct. There are always exceptions to those long dorsal fin, hump on the head, and better color rules, so they are not reliable. The most reliable way is to vent them as you said.
Click to expand...

I did discover something interesting last saturday on my trip to my favorite fish store. Appears they have SIGNIFICANTLY expanded their livestock selection since the last time I was there! Incredible selection of discus now available. funny thing is, the owner of the place never carried south americans and discus until I started hounding him to order them for me. Now he has tank after tank of them, and told me they are some of his best sellers next to the regular "tropical" fish. he uses a breeder in florida that tank raises them, so no "poison catching" etc. AND, he is a marine biologist, so is willing to sex them for me should I decide miss dances-alot needs a male. Although, she has decimated everything I have tried to put in the tank with her thus far, dunno if I would wanna waste the $100 bucks to find out she didn't like him!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7625176#post7625176 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by whiteshark
I would say add your cleaning crew about a week after you add the next 20 lbs. of rock. IMO, you could add them before that seeing as the rock you are getting seems to have such a small die off. It is really up to you.

My skimmer (ASM G-2) works fine in my sump with the water being about 10 in. deep. I like to hide as much equipment as possible in the sump.

Return pump sounds good!
Click to expand...

Cool. And the anticipation builds!

So the plan is to add the live rock in two weeks to bring it up to 50 pounds. Aquarium center has some really cool smaller pieces that I want to pick up for my refugium as well. They actually break some of theirs up intentionally and cure them small just for micro-tanks and refugiums.

About a week after that, road trip to the aquarium center for a clean up crew.

Have any recomendations as to type and quantity to start out in a tank this size?
 
Variety is key. I would say 5-6 mexican turbos. 5-10 Astrea, 5-10 nassarius, 10- 15 margerita, and maybe some hermits if you want. The hermits can be kind of a pain if you don't provide shells for them to swap. They start hunting down snails. However, I haven't had a problem with mine yet, and they are kinda neat to watch.

Found this guy just hangin around in my acro a few weeks back...

P5240034.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7625254#post7625254 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by whiteshark
Variety is key. I would say 5-6 mexican turbos. 5-10 Astrea, 5-10 nassarius, 10- 15 margerita, and maybe some hermits if you want. The hermits can be kind of a pain if you don't provide shells for them to swap. They start hunting down snails. However, I haven't had a problem with mine yet, and they are kinda neat to watch.

Found this guy just hangin around in my acro a few weeks back...
Click to expand...

Very cool. I can't wait to start seeing things moving around in the tank like that!

Yeah, I've read that the hermits can be really raucus neighbors for the poor unsuspecting snails. But, if I keep a good supply of different sized shells scattered about the tank, they should be ok. I think I defintely want some hermits. I know my daughter does! Wierd kids that she is, she wants the snails in there too. Daddy's girl, I guess!

Any specifics on the hermits? I see tons of different varieties with some being debated as to whether they are snail hunters or not.

And what do you think about the skun or pepermint shrimp?
 
Red and blue leg hermits will be fine...

If you want your daughter to have fun, get a skunk cleaner shrimp. Everytime I put my hand in the tank he comes running across the tank and jumps on my arm to clean off the parasites (actually just bubbles, but he doesn't realize that!)

The lighting is fine if you don't plan on having any coral, and if you will be upgrading to a larger tank fairly soon. You can get away with most softies under that light, if you decide you want to.
 
Any thoughts on this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ssPageName=MERC_VI_RSCC_Pr4_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT

I don't know why I didn't consider adding a pressurized storage tank to an RO unit before. That's another plumbing project.

Hmmmm..... Should be simple enough to run the RO/DI into a pressurized storage tank (probably any water storage tank from like Home depot or Lowes would work) and than add a switch activated pump on the out-flow of the storage tank to provide powered flow to the tank for top off, or vats for mixing....


(my wife is going to KILL me.... LOL!)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7625446#post7625446 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by whiteshark
Red and blue leg hermits will be fine...

If you want your daughter to have fun, get a skunk cleaner shrimp. Everytime I put my hand in the tank he comes running across the tank and jumps on my arm to clean off the parasites (actually just bubbles, but he doesn't realize that!)

The lighting is fine if you don't plan on having any coral, and if you will be upgrading to a larger tank fairly soon. You can get away with most softies under that light, if you decide you want to.
Click to expand...

Cool.. Adding up the equipment prices is SCARY! :eek1:

But, slow and steady wins the race, so they say.

Gonna tackle the sump soon, so I have to get the return pump, skimmer and overflow in place. I've been running the Aquaclear 70 for the time being to proivde some flow at that end of the tank, and for some particulant filtering and water polishing. So far, no negative effects from it (such as nitrate build up), but I want the sump in place and efficiently cycled through the system before adding livestock.
 
I'm not sure about the RO/DI. I am always a little skeptical of things that come off of eBay, but it may work great for all I know. What I would do is start a new thread asking if anyone has the unit or if they have any reccomendations on one. Mine is just a small, bare bones unit...

As for costs adding up, wait till the 180 starts... If you don't want any limitations on what corals you can keep your probably looking at over a grand just for lighting...
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7625527#post7625527 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by whiteshark
I'm not sure about the RO/DI. I am always a little skeptical of things that come off of eBay, but it may work great for all I know. What I would do is start a new thread asking if anyone has the unit or if they have any reccomendations on one. Mine is just a small, bare bones unit...
Click to expand...

Good idea. Still researching the RO/DI units. One of my options is to pick up the bare bones system, and plumb it myself. I have a utility sink in my "laundry" room just on the other side of the dining room (where the tank is) that has ample space underneath it (and in the basement area for that matter) to plump it. So, I'm considering adding it there and working out options for plumbing the storage tank in myself.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7625527#post7625527 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by whiteshark

As for costs adding up, wait till the 180 starts... If you don't want any limitations on what corals you can keep your probably looking at over a grand just for lighting...
Click to expand...

Shhhhh! hehe. Not telling the wife about that plan yet! I actually have someone from one of the colleges with a glass program that is going to help me (believe it or not) assemble the glass panes etc when we are ready to build it. Unfortunately, should I decide to move, the tank aint goin NO WHERE! We are experimenting with bow fronting, etc and it will be completely plumbed and drilled for external sump etc. But, that is at LEAST a year if not two away. :D
 
ACK! Temperature spike! Stoopid pumps and lights!

Came home today with a digital thermometer to find my water at 87.7 degrees F with the stoopid heater RUNNING!

Yanked the cord on the heater, turned out the lights and lifted the lids on the tank.

It's down to 84.6 now. Good thing I didn't have any fish in there! Would have been the equivalent of a broiled buffet!

I am pretty convinced that the heat issue is the in tank pumps (running 3 of them) and the lights combined.

So, I am stepping up the time frame on the sump.

I plan on plumbing the sump to a T and adding 2 return outlets to the tank, so I should be able to remove 2 of the in-tank pumps, and just move one of the smaller ones down closer to the bottom to direct water across the back of the rocks.

The pump will be eheim 1260. Runs about 600 gph. Head loss calculator (estimated) with the plumbing run I am planning should produce about 390 gph. the overflow is rated at 600 gph.

The question is, should I step up to the 1262? The 1262 is rated at 900 gph and is only about $10 more. (I can't get the headloss cals because that pump isn't listed in the headloss calculator, and I'm a math dummy..)

I am assuming, though, that the 1262 should provide at least another 150 to 200 gph, making it about 600 with the same plumbing configuration. Although assumptions usually end up poorly...

Also, with the 1262, do you think it would be possible to include 3 outlets into the tank for more directed flow?
 
You could step it up, i believe. I also don't see why you couldn't have three outlets, if you want. I will let someone else chime in here, though.

Actually, that temp wouldn't have killed fish, necassarily. More likely you may have lost a coral or two. Anyway, when you do have livestock in there, if that happens again it is important not to lower the temp. too fast. There is no need to shock the inhabitants more by having another large temp. swing in a short period of time.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7627430#post7627430 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by whiteshark
You could step it up, i believe. I also don't see why you couldn't have three outlets, if you want. I will let someone else chime in here, though.

Actually, that temp wouldn't have killed fish, necassarily. More likely you may have lost a coral or two. Anyway, when you do have livestock in there, if that happens again it is important not to lower the temp. too fast. There is no need to shock the inhabitants more by having another large temp. swing in a short period of time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, had there been fish in there, I would have definitely lowered the temp slowly. I've had similar incidents with fresh water, although generally it was the other way because the heater quit working in the off position. The temperature drop occurred over about 2 hours from the 87+ to the 84+. probably still a bit fast, but with no fish in the tank, I was less concerned about the drastic change.

The temp seems to be stabilizing at around 84.5. It has to be the pumps causing the excess heat.

As far as the pump, I am going to include a valve to dial back if necessary, so there should be no issue with the pump being that much larger. If anything, It will probably be a benefit.

I am also considering a little more seriously drilling the sump tank that I am building to reduce the heat as well. I would rather run heaters to maintain the temp than have to invest in a chiller to lower it... As far as I know, the eheim can be run internally or externally.
 
So, to the flooding point in the other thread...

I am considering designing something that would look similar to the dish that you see under a potted plant that would fit under the tank (or around the base of) the tank. If I use acrylic, and slant the pieces up like a rectangular potted plant tray, and include a drain in the bottom, any water that splashes over the edge SHOULD in all theory drain through pipe and to whatever destination the pipe ends at.

It would be minimal in the front and sides, and contain a bit more width in the back where the drain pipe would be. I could probably silicon the acrylic pieces directly to the plastic rim around the base of the tank, and silicon the seams to seal them.

This may turn out to be an interesting project. (I don't know how practical it is, but it is the challenge of a thing that generally spurs me on!)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7627912#post7627912 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by whiteshark
It would most definitely behoove you to drill the sump and run the pump externally, IMO.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing. I saw the picture of how yours is set up with the pump on the outside. (I think it was yours anyway).

And, I have 2 20 gallon long tanks should I destroy the first! LOL!

Is there a specific attachment, say, for a power drill, that would allow me to do this? Or is there some sort of manual glass cutting tool that would allow me to cut a circle? I assume that I would only have to cut a circle in the side of the tank and the seal in some sort of bulkhead to flow the water to the pump.

Shouldn't be that difficult. Off to do more research!
 
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