Tomoko's new 180

Thanks, 8Ball. I suppose I need a good enough pump to keep up with the flow rate of these large pipes.

I am trying to decide on a return pump. I am considering either Eheim 1262 or an equivalent size OceanRunner pump. I am leaning a bit more toward Eheim because of the reputation on its reliability, but the price difference is really significant. I have Eheims on other tanks and I like them very much. I have not had any experience with Ocean Runners. Do any of you have an experience/opinion on Ocean Runner pumps?

I am also debating on Ice Cap ballast vs. Galaxy ballast. They seem to be pretty equal in performance. Any opinion on these?

Tomoko
 
Well can't really say whats best but I use Eheim pumps and Icecap ballasts. I'd probably recommend Eheim just for the fact they are bullet proof. I've still got two icecap ballast that I had on my first tank in 03 so they do hold up. I did have to get one repaired under warranty. Not sure if it was one of my first two or one of my newer ones. I've got 5 or 6 of them.
 
Thank you, gnoles and 8Ball. I will be placing an order for both Eheim pump and Ice Cap ballast later on.

I am still working on Durso standpipes at the moment. I need to get a pvc pipe cutter big enough for 1-1/2 inch pipe. Mine cuts only up to 1 inch pipes :(.

Tomoko
 
Wow Tomoko, your 120 has really grown up! The 180 was pretty much mandatory.

What have you decided on for flow control? The same as you have in your 120?

I plan on purchasing the MP-40w for mine. Just waiting month for another paycheck. One powerhead would look so much better then the four I have in there now.
 
I enjoyed your story and the pictures. Looks like you have a new hiding place under that cabinet. Book sale at Tomoko's!!! Just kidding. What are you going to do with your books now? Good luck on getting everything moved. I can't wait to see the grand finale!
 
I moved the bookcases and the books upstairs into a spare bedroom. That room will be the new library. Reilly said, "how about making the front room into a fish room? After all we have three tanks in here already." A nice offer, but that'll be too much water changes for me. 120 and 29 gotta go.

Curtis -

I intend to use two or three strong powerheads. I don't think I can create enough current for large SPS's with just one Vortech. I have two Koralia 4 in my 120. I will use these initially and either replace them with something stronger or add another Koralia. I might consider Tunze. Vortech is nice, but I understand that some Vortech pumps hum at full power setting.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15206360#post15206360 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tomoko Schum
I moved the bookcases and the books upstairs into a spare bedroom. That room will be the new library. Reilly said, "how about making the front room into a fish room? After all we have three tanks in here already." A nice offer, but that'll be too much water changes for me. 120 and 29 gotta go.

Curtis -

I intend to use two or three strong powerheads. I don't think I can create enough current for large SPS's with just one Vortech. I have two Koralia 4 in my 120. I will use these initially and either replace them with something stronger or add another Koralia. I might consider Tunze. Vortech is nice, but I understand that some Vortech pumps hum at full power setting.
Click to expand...

Tomoko, I replaced my 2 Tunze 6101's with 2 Vortech MP40W's and they are not laud at all if alligned properly. I cant hear mine over all the other tank noises. Dont be discouraged and get (4) of them for that tank.

Unless you have a generator already the battery backup is also a nice feature.

What skimmer do you have that sump looks small to have a skimmer in it. Is it external?


Congrats on the new 180.

Art
 
The sump is 36 x 18 x 18. The 1st section of the sump is somewhat small. Its inside measurement is 10 x 17. As long as the skimmer body is not much over 8 inches in diameter, I think it should fit fine. However, I am more worried about the head space above the tank. I only have 10 inches above the sump. It will be tight to put a skimmer in through the opening unless I take the sump out to put a skimmer in it first. The sump is very heavy and I hate to take that out :(.

Four vortech pumps? Boy, that'll be a real serious flow.

Tomoko
 
I don't know.. Tunze stream 2 model 6135 moves 3100gph only uses 24w all for 230.00 Even the controllable 6105s only cost 323.00 and they move up to 3400gph. Vortechs are ok. They do take up less space in the tank and they help keep the heat outside. But they are louder and the fact that they each have their own controller hurts them on larger tanks. If you need one great if you need 3 or 4 it doesn't make since to have several controllers to pay for and setup.. With tunze a single 150 dollar controller and your done. Its sorta of to each his/her own kind of thing. I've got both and I like the Tunze streams better. Infact my vortech doesn't work right and hasn't since it was about 2 months old.. It likes to switch modes on its own. I need to send it back to get it fixed under warranty, But I just haven't bothered with it.
 
BTW here is an old video I made when I got my vortech. You can hear it pretty good at +75% or so. This is in my equipment room with my return pumps and stuff still going. So the room isn't very quiet but the vortech is still pretty easy to hear. Vortech Video
 
I cut and fitted a 1 inch return pipe and 1-1/2 inch Durso standpipe into the left overflow box. It's a very tight fit, but I managed to get both into the box.

Ty needs to make the overflow box a little larger for the tanks with these larger bulkheads since many reefers use Durso standpipes, which take up a lot of room inside the box. It does not hurt to put the large bulkhead for the drain further away from the glass surface. It was tough to tighten the nut beneath the bottom glass.
 
Regarding the OR vs Eheim. I have never used the Eheim, but I am currently using the OR3500. I have not had any reliability issues at all. And at he time I was shopping around, it was one of the more efficient in terms of power usage. The only thing I don't like about it is the output fitting. It is a bit unorthodox in that it required gluing an adapter in place. I would prefer to have a threaded male fitting that is an integral part of the housing. Looking at the website for aquamedic, that appears to be unique to the 3500. http://www.aqua-medic.com/ocean_runner.shtml

Todd
 
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I postponed my project of trying Herbyfs Ultra quiet standpipe for the moment. From what I read recently, Herbyfs stand pipe (or an improved version of it) may need some adjustment. I have too much on my mind at the moment to conduct an experiment. Once 120 is empty, I intend to give it a try there before I sell the tank to see how easy it is get one going. Once I have a pretty good idea about how to configure the pipes best and adjust the heights correctly, I will adopt it in 180.

I also reevaluated the sounds in my front room. The loudest thing is by far the Aqua Medic HQI ballast. Sedra pump on ASM and Mag Drive 12 for return are other offenders. Durso (All Glass Aquarium version of it) is not bad at all actually.

Does anyone know a better needle wheel skimmer pump to put on ASM? I was going to mesh mod it, but I prefer to put a better (quieter) pump on it.
 
I haven't adjusted my drains since I installed them. I didn't really follow the thread much though. I just more or less did a controlled full siphon with drains to catch the excess. Doesn't matter though if your happy with a durso then no reason to change it.

Is it the pump or the sound of the air being sucked in? You can add a silencer to the air inlet that will cut down the sucking sound. I need to do this myself on my H&S cause even though the pump isnt' loud the hsssss sound from the air getting pulled in is.
 
It is the Sedra pump. The pump "hums". If I let the water level down by forgetting to fill the ATO reservoir, the pump sucks air and hisses loudly. It also hisses when salt builds up on the end of venturi air tube.

I heard a good thing about Octopus Extreme skimmers, but ASM is not so bad, either, IMHO. I have not decided yet if I want to replace my ASM with an Octopus Extreme skimmer.

I wish I could see a side-by-side comparison between various skimmers. So far the only article with a scientific basis that I can find is this one: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature2

The authors of the article did not find a significant difference among the four skimmers tested.

I am going to mesh mod my ASM by working Enkmart netting onto the pins first. If I cannot tie it down well enough with a finishing line, I will consider cutting the pins off.
 
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