Pirate's Reef
- Thread starter CoralFiend
- Start date
CoralFiend
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7376849#post7376849 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by davidsreef
Wow!! I really like that idea, really creative and original. Two thumbs up
Thanks for the thumbs!
Ha! I don't do lunch!
Appreciate it! Never thought of it as hypnotic!
I don't know, all these positive comments are reward enough for me. I really expected to get flamed pretty bad because it is so over the top for a nano. I just did it for fun and I am glad someone else is getting some enjoyment out of it.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7379558#post7379558 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kabal2
really beautiful set up, i hope you dont mind if we steal a few of your ideas, btw do you have more pictures of your set up
thank you
Fine with me - but I want pictures! I enjoy looking at other people's projects. I do have a lot more pics. When I get the chance, I will put up a link to a separate web page of thumbnails linked to pics of the project. Just have to find the time to do it.
Thanks. Maybe an inspiration for you to create something of your own? This was a real hoot to put together. For example, I have a 140 that I am also working on and it got put on the back burner to finish this little system. The big one won't have a pirate's chest around it, but I am hoping it will turn out nice also.
Wow! Thanks ER! :wavehand: Probably never saw anyone insane enough to use one of your skimmers like this before.
It's working great - of course!
CoralFiend
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Off topic, but here's a preview of my next project - the 140. There will a thread on this one soon also. To be continued...
CoralFiend
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Well, right now the jury is still out on how well this nano will function. If I can get the kind of display that I want, then I will consider it a success. For now, it's just an oddity that looks cool.
Wow! You are the second marine biologist that has told me they liked the set up. That means a lot to me, because that is the profession that I most wanted to pursue when I was growing up. But, unfortunately for me, I discovered girls, beer and cool cars. So, those plans all went to hell in a handbasket.
Seriously, I do appreciate the compliment.
CoralFiend
New member
Wow! That would be awesome! I see you are a welder. Would that be a metal sculpture? Be sure to post pics, if you build it.
If you click on the little red house, you can see a web site that I am currently developing on the tank. It, like the tank, is still a work in progress. But, there are some pics of the equipment that I have aquired so far in the ""System" section. The site will hopefully become more interesting as the project moves along. It is currnetly at a standstill, waiting on my LifeReef calcium reactor. I want everything on the ground here before I start running plumbing.
Are you speaking of the skimmer on the nano system? That is not a small skimmer. It is a EuroReef CS6-2, rated for 75 gallons. The skimmer on the 140 is a LifeReef skimmer.
The skimmer in your nano is a cs6-8 rated for 75 gallons. I can only find the cs -80, rated for 80 gal. and the footprint is 9"x9" and is 22" tall is this one similar in dimensions? Also I don't know anything at all about remote DSB's and I was wondering why you had that draining into our skimmer. Wouldn't that defeat the purpose? Other than that Beautiful set up. Great work.
CoralFiend
New member
Actually, I did have the model wrong. It is a CS6-1 (not 2). ER has renamed all of their skimmers, so what you are talking about may be the new name for the this particular model. I don't know. This skimmer is about four years old.
The purpose for putting the DSB in place was mostly because I used the black sand in the tank and that sand has no buffering properties. I wanted some aragonite sand somewhere in the system to help as a buffer. The second reason for the DSB in this system is nitrate reduction. I don't see how putting it before the skimmer changes either one of those functions. It's not being used as a refugium. Maybe I am missing something and would be happy to hear your opinion if you see something wrong with the setup.
CoralFiend,
I really love the idea of your tank. I think the reason why people put a DSB at the end is so nothing falls out of suspension above the bed. You read about the DSB in a bucket thread on Advanced Topics there is discussion on it I believe.
My sister-in-law is from Lake Charles and her family had to move to Austin for a month. No damage just no power. My brother-in-law barely survived the experience.
I really love the idea of your tank. I think the reason why people put a DSB at the end is so nothing falls out of suspension above the bed. You read about the DSB in a bucket thread on Advanced Topics there is discussion on it I believe.
My sister-in-law is from Lake Charles and her family had to move to Austin for a month. No damage just no power. My brother-in-law barely survived the experience.
CoralFiend
New member
Thanks.
My thoughts were that the DSB will need something to feed the fauna that will inevitably populate the upper layers of the bed. Some fauna is already obviously there (I put a good bit of live sand in there from different established systems). So, if some detritus settles on the bed; hopefully the fauna will take care of it. Might put a nassarius snail in there to help with housekeeping.
He was lucky - and maybe a tad foolish for trying to ride this one out. Not many people actually stayed behind for this one (Rita).
CoralFiend
New member
Well, there is no plumbing diagram. Not that difficult really. The drain from the tank's overflow goes to a manifold and is dumped (in small amounts) into the sump, the skimmer tub and the DSB. The DSB dumps into the skimmer tub and the skimmer tub empties into the sump. From the sump, the water is returned into the two main returns pipes on the back wall. The closed loop draws water from a bulkhead fitting located in the lower left side of the back of the tank and returns through a SCWD into the two return pipes on the left and right side. That's about it.
CoralFiend
New member
I didn't know there would be a test!
DSB is just a commonly used acronym for Deep Sand Bed. Basically, in a nutshell, the purpose of a "DSB" is nitrate reduction. The bed helps consume nitrates by creating an area of low oxygen (anaerobic) in the lower layers of the bed. This anaerobic area allows certain types of bacteria, which live in this type of environment and feed off of nitrates, to slowly remove the nitrates from the system.I got the idea for this particular type of DSB ("DSB in a Bucket") from a thread in the Advanced Topics area here on RC (as KafudaFish mentioned). Here is a link to the thread, if you would like to know more about the topic.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=595109
