Randy's 180G Reef-Photo Journal
- Thread starter rdmpe
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tgunn
Active member
:lol: I'm just lucky that the floor heaved up near the entrance and all the water STAYED in the room. Otherwise I'd have made an even worse mess..
When the skimmer overflowed it smelled like low-tide in there, so hey, it's a step closer towards it being a walk around reef!
Tyler
RDMP, I read this entire thread. Being Im goin large soon. Any suggestions on the "I wish I would haves". I love the floor drain thats a great idea and will be in my design definetly. I'll caution on the silicone as well. How do you plan of lighting? Ive got a 300 gal plan I want to go with. Seems to be the bigger the better but more planning involved. Nice job over all Im very impressed. Please post your overall tank when its to your satisfaction. I cant wait to see it.
rdmpe
New member
Hey Biggie, I'm glad you have found some helpful things here. It has been a lot of fun doing the thread and discussing different aspects of the tank.
Right now, there are two significant things I would like to do differently.
1) My stand height. It would have been much better if I could have made the stand 6" or so taller. It has been very difficult getting enough sump volume with the space constraints. If I had another 6" I could have used a standard 55 gallon tank under the stand. But as it is, the 55 would have been to tall to be practical. The thing about the sump is that you have to have enough extra volume to handle the drain back when the sump pump fails or electricity goes out. BUT when the sump pump is running, you need enough volume of water in there so that you can have some available for evaporation. Otherwise the sump pump will be practically sucking air after one day of evaporation.
On the other hand, my tank sits right behind a couch, and it is the perfect height to sit on the couch and check out the tank (which was why I originally set the stand height to 30").
So the point is, the bigger the sump, the better. And that requires some space planning. Also think about how you'll get the sump in and out of the stand...
2) I would have planned different bulkheads for the closed loop. If I had it to do again, the intake bulkhead would be either a single 2" bulkhead or two 1.5" bulkheads. And for the return to the tank I'd have four 1.5" or four 1" bulkheads (or maybe 1.25"?). This would give you many options including use of an OM four way or whatever, without having any pipes come over the side.
My lighting is a
72" Maristar Fixture that will hang from the ceiling.
Good luck with your system, make sure you start a thread so we can all follow along!
Right now, there are two significant things I would like to do differently.
1) My stand height. It would have been much better if I could have made the stand 6" or so taller. It has been very difficult getting enough sump volume with the space constraints. If I had another 6" I could have used a standard 55 gallon tank under the stand. But as it is, the 55 would have been to tall to be practical. The thing about the sump is that you have to have enough extra volume to handle the drain back when the sump pump fails or electricity goes out. BUT when the sump pump is running, you need enough volume of water in there so that you can have some available for evaporation. Otherwise the sump pump will be practically sucking air after one day of evaporation.
On the other hand, my tank sits right behind a couch, and it is the perfect height to sit on the couch and check out the tank (which was why I originally set the stand height to 30").
So the point is, the bigger the sump, the better. And that requires some space planning. Also think about how you'll get the sump in and out of the stand...
2) I would have planned different bulkheads for the closed loop. If I had it to do again, the intake bulkhead would be either a single 2" bulkhead or two 1.5" bulkheads. And for the return to the tank I'd have four 1.5" or four 1" bulkheads (or maybe 1.25"?). This would give you many options including use of an OM four way or whatever, without having any pipes come over the side.
My lighting is a
72" Maristar Fixture that will hang from the ceiling.
Good luck with your system, make sure you start a thread so we can all follow along!
rdmpe
New member
WHOA what the heck was that ???
WHOA what the heck was that ???
The funniest thing just happened.
With the liverock I bought, I also got a clownfish. Since being put into the display tank, the clown pretty much always hangs out near some xenia he has been hosting. So I've spent a considerable amount of time looking at this particular area of the tank...
So I happened to glance over at the tank and I saw that whole chunk of xenia that the clownfish hosts do a big jerk, as if that piece of liverock was breaking off the main rock and was about to fall to the bottom.
Well, I stood and stared at it for a while and it didn't move. So I thought maybe I had imagined it. Then it suddenly moved again! There was a big hermit crab crawling around on it. So looking very closely, I realized that it seemed like I was looking at the backside of a clam. Meaning that the part that opens would be sort of embeded into the rock.
Well, after watching for a while, the crazy thing opened up and I realized that there is a 2" clam there that I had never even noticed!
Here is a picture of it closed. Do you see it???
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And here it is open, viewed from the side
When it opens, it sort of rotates down away from the live rock that it appears to be embeded in, and a whole bunch of stuff above it also moves about 1/4" or so. It's a very strange sight. I can understand seeing little things on the rock that I hadn't noticed before, but a clam almost the size of a credit card? LOL
WHOA what the heck was that ???
The funniest thing just happened.
With the liverock I bought, I also got a clownfish. Since being put into the display tank, the clown pretty much always hangs out near some xenia he has been hosting. So I've spent a considerable amount of time looking at this particular area of the tank...
So I happened to glance over at the tank and I saw that whole chunk of xenia that the clownfish hosts do a big jerk, as if that piece of liverock was breaking off the main rock and was about to fall to the bottom.
Well, I stood and stared at it for a while and it didn't move. So I thought maybe I had imagined it. Then it suddenly moved again! There was a big hermit crab crawling around on it. So looking very closely, I realized that it seemed like I was looking at the backside of a clam. Meaning that the part that opens would be sort of embeded into the rock.
Well, after watching for a while, the crazy thing opened up and I realized that there is a 2" clam there that I had never even noticed!
Here is a picture of it closed. Do you see it???
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.
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And here it is open, viewed from the side
When it opens, it sort of rotates down away from the live rock that it appears to be embeded in, and a whole bunch of stuff above it also moves about 1/4" or so. It's a very strange sight. I can understand seeing little things on the rock that I hadn't noticed before, but a clam almost the size of a credit card? LOL
rdmpe
New member
The replacement dart arrived yesterday (great service by Sequence - kudos to them). So the new dart is now installed. Current temperature is 79.5. So now I will find out if the Dart was the heat source or not. One thing that I did notice, the new dart impeller is easier to turn than the old one was. Maybe there was a problem with a bearing or seal? Anyway, I sure hope the temperature slowly drops.
My brute trash can water is at about 69F with the lid on. So I assume that the tank would be at about that if there were no heat sources at all. So based on that, the tank has been running about 10 degrees hotter than a "room temperature" tank of water...
New dart on the left, old dart on the right.
My brute trash can water is at about 69F with the lid on. So I assume that the tank would be at about that if there were no heat sources at all. So based on that, the tank has been running about 10 degrees hotter than a "room temperature" tank of water...
New dart on the left, old dart on the right.
rdmpe
New member
Nothing good to report about my heat issue. The new dart with the AO Smith motor is also super hot. The larger diameter part in the back is not too hot. But the smaller diameter part of the motor nearer to the front is very hot.
So I'm not sure what to do about it. I think I'm going to shut the closed loop off for a while and see how much the temperature drops.
I just don't know how I'm going to deal with the heat of a normal photo period of metal halides. How much cooling can I expect from a fan blowing on the sump and/or the display? The tank is hanging around 81 right now and the lights only ran for about an hour...
So I'm not sure what to do about it. I think I'm going to shut the closed loop off for a while and see how much the temperature drops.
I just don't know how I'm going to deal with the heat of a normal photo period of metal halides. How much cooling can I expect from a fan blowing on the sump and/or the display? The tank is hanging around 81 right now and the lights only ran for about an hour...
rdmpe
New member
Nope, no auto top of setup yet, and I already get some decent evaporation! I'm not feeling really good about this situation at all. It kills me that the aquarium is 10 degrees hotter than the brute trash can full of water.
Right now, with the lights OFF, I have to place a fan blowing air into one end of the stand and let it out the other end just to keep the tank in the 80F range. When the lights come on, the tank steadily heats up to around 81 within about 1.5 hours at which point my lights turn off.
I'm so frustrated with this - I really expected much less heat addition from these external pumps.
Right now, with the lights OFF, I have to place a fan blowing air into one end of the stand and let it out the other end just to keep the tank in the 80F range. When the lights come on, the tank steadily heats up to around 81 within about 1.5 hours at which point my lights turn off.
I'm so frustrated with this - I really expected much less heat addition from these external pumps.
rock455
New member
One thing -- Your tank will be fine running up to 84 -- I have several friends in the hobby running a constant 84. There tanks look awesome - - great sps growth and many different types of zoas. -- you may be worring for nothing.
See where the temp gets when you run a full photo period on the lights -- how long were you planning to run the MHs?
See where the temp gets when you run a full photo period on the lights -- how long were you planning to run the MHs?
rdmpe
New member
Not sure yet how long I'll run the lights. Right now, I have them like this:
#1 on 5.30 to 6.15
#2 on 5.45 to 6.30
#3 on 6.00 to 6.45
Running them like this, I usually see the temperature rise to around 81.1 or so. The glass bottom of the fixture is 5" from the water surface. I could raise it up a little I guess. But I would rather not have it too hight since it might end up creating more light spill / glare...
The T5 actinics are on for a lot longer, I think they are on about 10 hours. But they don't add any significant heat to the tank (compared to the MH) as far as I can tell.
#1 on 5.30 to 6.15
#2 on 5.45 to 6.30
#3 on 6.00 to 6.45
Running them like this, I usually see the temperature rise to around 81.1 or so. The glass bottom of the fixture is 5" from the water surface. I could raise it up a little I guess. But I would rather not have it too hight since it might end up creating more light spill / glare...
The T5 actinics are on for a lot longer, I think they are on about 10 hours. But they don't add any significant heat to the tank (compared to the MH) as far as I can tell.
rdmpe
New member
I finally found a program that can be used to make an animated gif from a series of pictures. It's an old program by Micro$oft. It's called "Microsoft Gif Animator". You can download it here http://www.jhepple.com/gif_animator.htm
Unfortunately I didn't have the camera in exactly the same position when taking these two shots, but this is the clam that I discovered after it had already been in my tank for three weeks. I know I already posted pictures earlier, but I wanted to try out this animation thing...
Notice how the whole chunk of xenia and rock above it also moves when it opens...
Unfortunately I didn't have the camera in exactly the same position when taking these two shots, but this is the clam that I discovered after it had already been in my tank for three weeks. I know I already posted pictures earlier, but I wanted to try out this animation thing...
Notice how the whole chunk of xenia and rock above it also moves when it opens...
LittleBlueGT
New member
Cool set-up tagging along!
BTW I have had no problems (before bigger sump) with my temps averaging 83 and the odd spike to 85.
In fact everything grew faster! Only problem was fish swam faster too. (Regal Tank that is retarded to begin with was a complete moron!)
BTW I have had no problems (before bigger sump) with my temps averaging 83 and the odd spike to 85.
In fact everything grew faster! Only problem was fish swam faster too. (Regal Tank that is retarded to begin with was a complete moron!)
rdmpe
New member
Thanks GT, Makes me feel better about my temps, I think I'll end up in that range too...
Anyone know what kind of hermit that is in the above clam pictures? Here's another shot of him. I have a bunch of these guys, all different sizes. The have sort of yellow and black longitudinal stripes on their legs. Here's another picture of the big guy "King Coral" the kids call him...
Anyone know what kind of hermit that is in the above clam pictures? Here's another shot of him. I have a bunch of these guys, all different sizes. The have sort of yellow and black longitudinal stripes on their legs. Here's another picture of the big guy "King Coral" the kids call him...
rdmpe
New member
Been a while since I've updated....
I have found out that those hermits are Clibanarius vittatus. From what I've read and been told, these are not great crabs for a reef tank. So I'm looking to find them a new home or maybe will drop them off in the intracoastal - they are FL native.
I have found out that those hermits are Clibanarius vittatus. From what I've read and been told, these are not great crabs for a reef tank. So I'm looking to find them a new home or maybe will drop them off in the intracoastal - they are FL native.
rdmpe
New member
ID REQUEST !
ID REQUEST !
ID Request No. 1
I have a couple of these little things in my tank. They are about 1/4 inch across right now. They stay closed up during the day, and at night or during feedings they have 1/2 inch tentacles that are nearly clear, with a little white spec on the pointy tip.
It was really hard to get a picture of them. Especially since the MH are off. I had to shine a flashlight on it from the side to get the tentacles to glow in the last picture...
Anyone know what these are?
ID REQUEST !
ID Request No. 1
I have a couple of these little things in my tank. They are about 1/4 inch across right now. They stay closed up during the day, and at night or during feedings they have 1/2 inch tentacles that are nearly clear, with a little white spec on the pointy tip.
It was really hard to get a picture of them. Especially since the MH are off. I had to shine a flashlight on it from the side to get the tentacles to glow in the last picture...
Anyone know what these are?
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