My First Reef Tank -

aaa1234

Member
I have not setup the sump yet. The black thing that you see on the front of the tank is my temporary carbon filter just to get the water circulating. And yes that is a pump sitting on my coral skeleton. It just happened to hold the pump up well and steady :D Let me know what you all think, suggestions and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks!

-Sven



 
good lock?

good lock?

hey don't take what he said personal. I think that guy might be a little slow. I think he meant good luck! Don't think that just because you got a tank your cool like me now, you will have to keep workin on that one! Good luck have fun with it! :bum: :smokin: :artist: :beer:
 
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>
This is the welcome you need :D
It looks like you only have one power head? That and the power filter wont do. You need at least 8-10x the tank volume. I would get another power head or two for more flow maybe 2x MJ 1200's, looks good though.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10184427#post10184427 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Criminal#58369
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>
This is the welcome you need :D
It looks like you only have one power head? That and the power filter wont do. You need at least 8-10x the tank volume. I would get another power head or two for more flow maybe 2x MJ 1200's, looks good though.

Yeah thats not even the pump that im planning on using for in my display. Thats the pump from my skimmer that i have yet to setup. I just rigged it to pump water into my little carbon filter because the pump for it was too old and didnt work. I do plan on getting atleast 2 in each back corner to get some circulation going. And im not sure what you meant by "8-10x the tank volume" but if you meant more live rock; i am planning on getting more rock as i get some more money :P Its still in the setup stages i just wanted to get some stuff up and get some advice. Thanks!
 
coasterma

coasterma

Coasterma is going to make both of us look like tards with a 170g bowed tank he's keepin it gangster, right lol

as soon as we got our new tanks he went off and went big way to go coasterma but you can't take what glory we do have hahaha:lol:
 
On the 8 to 10-X turn over is the total amount of water X water flow. Say you have a 10 gal tank and want 10-X turn over you would need a pump that puts out 100 GPH turn over.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10185002#post10185002 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by meco65
On the 8 to 10-X turn over is the total amount of water X water flow. Say you have a 10 gal tank and want 10-X turn over you would need a pump that puts out 100 GPH turn over.


Ah ok i have a 30 gal...so i would need a pump that puts out around 300gph right? And same for the return in my sump when i get it? Thank for the insight on this matter
 
There is a lot of debate on the amount of turn over you need I hope some one more negligible will chime in. My self I think 10-15 times is ok with more flow directed at the things that need it. I also feel that the flow through the sump should be around 8-10X and the over all flow made up with power heads.
 
Good start cabbage0709! I just set up a 29g tank and I bought the Eheim 1250. I am really pleased with the pump so far - it seems to give me great turnover. I also have one powerhead in each back corner. Keep posting pictures as you progress! What are you planning for a sump? I take it you are going to use an overflow box?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10185298#post10185298 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by iwishtofish
Good start cabbage0709! I just set up a 29g tank and I bought the Eheim 1250. I am really pleased with the pump so far - it seems to give me great turnover. I also have one powerhead in each back corner. Keep posting pictures as you progress! What are you planning for a sump? I take it you are going to use an overflow box?

<u>Sump-</u> I have a 20 gal that was used as the sump by the previous owner but it is in pretty funky condition. So im thinking about either purchasing a new one from meijer or using a 10 gal. But im not sure if the 10 gal would work or not because of its size in comparison to the 30gal display. Any suggestions?

<u>Overflow</u> At first i wasnt sure about the concept of DYI'ing an overflow because i thought that it required drilling. But after discussing it with one of my friends who knows quite a bit, it shouldnt be that hard to create one in one of the corners of my tank. Its just going to be a beeeeeya because ive got everything going in my tank already and its going to be a pain in the rear to start it all over again just for an overflow. So i dunno yet.

I will definetly get some pictures in soon because i have a few things growing that im having some trouble identifying atm. So keep checking back for updates! Thanks everyone

-Sven
 
I have a 10g sump under my 29g display. I would have liked to have gone bigger, but I have space constraints. At least it makes up for some of the water that is displaced by my 45 lbs of liverock, sand, overflow, and powerheads! I probably only have 24-25 gallons in my whole system now.

I use a Lifreef overflow. I bought it for its reputation of dependability since I live in a 3rd floor apartment. It is a little bulky, but I am really pleased with the siphon and flow.
 
You can buy a hang on back overflow if you dont want to drill. As for flow in the tank, you want 5x coming from the sump, but you have to take head loss into consideration. Usually you can find a chart that tells you this on the manufactures website. In the tank, depending on what you want to keep, I would get powerheads, and shoot for around 15-25x. So thats 20-30x total.
 
Looks really nice. I would suggest adding some more live rock though. If you want your rock to act as a bio filter I'd suggest at least 1lb/gallon. ;)
 
UPDATE:
Hey everyone i got the full circulation going in my tank now. I setup the return and away lines for my sump and display. I got the over flow box on the right side of the tank - my return on the other side. I also got another 12lbs of live rock and one of the pieces is sweet. It has a hole in the middle of it so fish and **** can swim through.

When i went to my LFS to have my water tested, the guy there said that my nitrates were low and that i would need a few Chromies to put in there. (After a week of having my tank up?) So i gave in and bought 3 for 10.

After getting my sump hooked up and everything had settled...i noticed this yellowish brownish goldish tent of...well...it looks like sh/it but i cannot figure out what this stuff is. Is it good/bad and do i need to get rid of it? Thanks...and once i get my camera from work or get a card for my good one, ill have some nice pics up.
 
Back
Top