361 m sq km
New member
Greetings fellow marine aquarists,
I stumbled upon this great hobby of ours by sheer luck as I was redecorating my flat and, after some deliberation, foolishly thought that having a marine tank as a room divider would be interesting. Subsequently, I hired a so-called “professional†who was referred to me by one of my university friend. After contracting him to design and install a marine tank in the middle of the living room, I patiently waited for its completion.
That was one and a half year ago, and the resultant tragedy still greets me twice every day, first before I depart for the office, and then as soon as I return home. It is like being married to a girl you only intended to date, but somehow ended up being married to inadvertently. She will always be there as a perpetual reminder of your naïveté and foolishness.
Having endured the so-called “professional’s†incompetence and moronic efforts for almost six months since the installation of the tank, I ran out of sympathy for the guy. Although I still do empathise with him as he has honoured the commitment to correct the almost endless number of incidents with his so-called work. Nevertheless, he has totally expunged any faith I may have had that he is capable of delivering anything of professional quality.
That was the dawn of the quest that has brought me to my present state of obsession. At first, I began to venture into various local fish stores talking to fellow enthusiasts, as well as to browse casually through the vast amount of information available online. I am unable to recall as to why, and when, what began out of mere frustration of another’s incompetence and my desire to get things right developed into such an obsession.
Having acquired the desire to get things right by myself, I began earnestly to study the art and science of successfully maintaining a marine aquarium through various books and online sources. I have been reading through the threads on this site for over a year, trying to absorb all your experience and knowledge in order to equip myself with the knowledge and understanding necessary to become a successful marine aquarist. While success is relative, the numbers of astonishingly stunning tanks are numerable on the internet, thus numerous benchmarks are readily accessible. With diligence and effort, as well as the necessary resources and commitment, I believe one’s potential to succeed in this hobby is consequently increased.
At the beginning of 4Q08, I decided that it was time for me to design a new tank, my “first†tank. I have collected most of the equipment llisted below, but would be most grateful for your advices and comments as I have not ordered the display tank and the sump yet.
PLEASE POST YOUR ADVICES AND COMMENTS ON THE FOLLOWING DESIGN TO PREVENT ME FROM MAKING UNAVOIDABLE MISTAKES. Thanks in advance to all your help.
I have posted an identical thread in my local reef club, Siam Reef Club, in Bangkok in the follwing thread:
http://www.siamreefclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19089
So far, an issue regarding the water level in the tank has been raised. I am planning to vary the output of the return pump so that the flow in the tank will be calmer at night. However, someone has very kindly pointed out that in this scenario, I will not be able to use the Auto Top-Up device as the water will be higher in the display tank, and lower in the sump, when the return pump is operating at a higher rate, and relatively lower inthe display tank, and higher in the sump, when the return pump is operating at a lower rate.
Since the total volume of water remain relatively constant in our tank system, ignoring the evaporation of the system. I thought that as long as the total amount of flow from the display tank to sump remained unobstructed, i.e. a large enough pipe diameters or adequate total drainage area is provided, the water going into the sump from the display tank should be equal to the return pump rate of flow into the display tank at that given moment.
Reefcentral Drain Calculator calculated that, at minimum, a single 3" pipe will be needed to handle the return flow rate of 20,000 l/hr. Since the drainage capacity of my tank is 4 x 1.25", which is equal to that of a single 5" pipe, I thought that adequate drainage has been provided. Hence, there shouldn't be an issue with the water level and Auto Top-Up.
Will my reasoning hold in practice?
Additionally, please comment on my sump design. I plan to order the tank as soon as it has been 'audited' by you guys at RC and by the guys at Siam Reef Club.
Cheers,
Art
I stumbled upon this great hobby of ours by sheer luck as I was redecorating my flat and, after some deliberation, foolishly thought that having a marine tank as a room divider would be interesting. Subsequently, I hired a so-called “professional†who was referred to me by one of my university friend. After contracting him to design and install a marine tank in the middle of the living room, I patiently waited for its completion.
That was one and a half year ago, and the resultant tragedy still greets me twice every day, first before I depart for the office, and then as soon as I return home. It is like being married to a girl you only intended to date, but somehow ended up being married to inadvertently. She will always be there as a perpetual reminder of your naïveté and foolishness.
Having endured the so-called “professional’s†incompetence and moronic efforts for almost six months since the installation of the tank, I ran out of sympathy for the guy. Although I still do empathise with him as he has honoured the commitment to correct the almost endless number of incidents with his so-called work. Nevertheless, he has totally expunged any faith I may have had that he is capable of delivering anything of professional quality.
That was the dawn of the quest that has brought me to my present state of obsession. At first, I began to venture into various local fish stores talking to fellow enthusiasts, as well as to browse casually through the vast amount of information available online. I am unable to recall as to why, and when, what began out of mere frustration of another’s incompetence and my desire to get things right developed into such an obsession.
Having acquired the desire to get things right by myself, I began earnestly to study the art and science of successfully maintaining a marine aquarium through various books and online sources. I have been reading through the threads on this site for over a year, trying to absorb all your experience and knowledge in order to equip myself with the knowledge and understanding necessary to become a successful marine aquarist. While success is relative, the numbers of astonishingly stunning tanks are numerable on the internet, thus numerous benchmarks are readily accessible. With diligence and effort, as well as the necessary resources and commitment, I believe one’s potential to succeed in this hobby is consequently increased.
At the beginning of 4Q08, I decided that it was time for me to design a new tank, my “first†tank. I have collected most of the equipment llisted below, but would be most grateful for your advices and comments as I have not ordered the display tank and the sump yet.
PLEASE POST YOUR ADVICES AND COMMENTS ON THE FOLLOWING DESIGN TO PREVENT ME FROM MAKING UNAVOIDABLE MISTAKES. Thanks in advance to all your help.
I have posted an identical thread in my local reef club, Siam Reef Club, in Bangkok in the follwing thread:
http://www.siamreefclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19089
So far, an issue regarding the water level in the tank has been raised. I am planning to vary the output of the return pump so that the flow in the tank will be calmer at night. However, someone has very kindly pointed out that in this scenario, I will not be able to use the Auto Top-Up device as the water will be higher in the display tank, and lower in the sump, when the return pump is operating at a higher rate, and relatively lower inthe display tank, and higher in the sump, when the return pump is operating at a lower rate.
Since the total volume of water remain relatively constant in our tank system, ignoring the evaporation of the system. I thought that as long as the total amount of flow from the display tank to sump remained unobstructed, i.e. a large enough pipe diameters or adequate total drainage area is provided, the water going into the sump from the display tank should be equal to the return pump rate of flow into the display tank at that given moment.
Reefcentral Drain Calculator calculated that, at minimum, a single 3" pipe will be needed to handle the return flow rate of 20,000 l/hr. Since the drainage capacity of my tank is 4 x 1.25", which is equal to that of a single 5" pipe, I thought that adequate drainage has been provided. Hence, there shouldn't be an issue with the water level and Auto Top-Up.
Will my reasoning hold in practice?
Additionally, please comment on my sump design. I plan to order the tank as soon as it has been 'audited' by you guys at RC and by the guys at Siam Reef Club.
Cheers,
Art
