Basement setup keeps growing - now at 5 tanks

[travis_]

I am cursed with a huge amount of space in my unfinished, dirt floor basement. I now have 5 tanks. I picked up the main tank this weekend for upstairs, a beautiful 100 gallon corner tank. Off CR in Seattle.

I obtained a lot of live stock and live rock with deal, so I have a large quarantine system setup right now for all the fish (leftmost tank). I finished my retention reservoir using a tub I found along the road (upper tank w/ 2 lights). I did not go with a mud bed, but instead put in about 30 lbs of sand from the new tank, some crushed coral and a bag of very fine "sugar" sand and loaded it on top with live rock, stuck 2 fluorescent flood lights and some macro.

I also now have 400 W over my "Clam" tank (far right), which is retrofitted from a hydroponics system. I tell you, the ebb and flow systems work great. Tons of surface area for growing the corals.

My 25 gallon refugium is doing great (center right), I added a bunch of live rock and am now seeing more life. BTW, are really large bristle worms anything to be concerned of?

My RBTA in my 25 gallon "display" tank (center left) spit and I added one of the clowns I got in my Seattle deal, and now I have paired up clowns with each with his own RBTA. I also have some frags in this tank, mainly on the frag tray.

What fun, now I can't wait to setup our 100 g upstairs tank....

 

[busdriver]

Nice set up. I wish i had that much room.
Does this mean you're never finishing your basement?
if you wrapped your tanks to fight heat loss make sure you slow down evaporation. it makes a HUGE difference!!! glass or plastic wrap that keeps food from spoiling works great.

 

[travis_]

Nice set up. I wish i had that much room.
Does this mean you're never finishing your basement?
if you wrapped your tanks to fight heat loss make sure you slow down evaporation. it makes a HUGE difference!!! glass or plastic wrap that keeps food from spoiling works great.

Would you recommend that I cover the entire surface of the clam tank with a piece of glass? It is about 4' x 3'. ANd yes, I wrapped to reduce heat loss. This basement is only slighly warmer than ambient and it has gotten near freezing down there already.

 

[gas4544]

That's a nice looking space that you have set up. I hope to have a dedicated sump and equipment room someday. Sigh.

Make sure that you are using reliable, consistent heaters. I recently changed the heater thet I was using on my 30-gallon Montipora tank. I had an old Ebo Jager heater, which was a high quality heater, but it was a good six years old. I replaced it with a Via Aqua titanium heater that has a separate temperature probe and separate temperature controller. Now my tank temp is stable.

Do you have a back-up power source? If you lose power, your water temp is gonna drop fast.

Gary

 

[travis_]

That's a nice looking space that you have set up. I hope to have a dedicated sump and equipment room someday. Sigh.

Make sure that you are using reliable, consistent heaters. I recently changed the heater thet I was using on my 30-gallon Montipora tank. I had an old Ebo Jager heater, which was a high quality heater, but it was a good six years old. I replaced it with a Via Aqua titanium heater that has a separate temperature probe and separate temperature controller. Now my tank temp is stable.

Do you have a back-up power source? If you lose power, your water temp is gonna drop fast.

Gary

Yes, I have thought about what would happen in the lass of power. I bought a generator on CR for $25 but it doen't run yet. Working on that. I have heaters in each tank so If one were to fail I should still be OK.

 

[gas4544]

Going with multiple heaters is good insurance. I'll do that when I get my sump plumbed.

When I replaced my heater, I also installed a Tom's Aquatics digital thermometer. I had doubts about the acuracy of my cheaper Coralife digital thermometer, so I replaced it.

A generator is on my list, too. Right now my back-up power source is a power inverter that I hook up to an idling car.

Gary

 

[busdriver]

I'm not an expert, but if you covered your clam tank at night that would be GREAT!
my tank is in the garage, and my temp wasn't very stable for a bit, then i put more covers on.

if i remember right from solar heating books, single pane glass "reduces" light output/throughput down to 92% double pane 86% and triple pane 76% or something... low lead glass (starfire as reefers know it) is like 95%-96% for single pane and 92% for double. I think it was like 84 for triple low lead glass.

they make things that look a lot like ping-pong balls that go the top of fuilds to cut down on evaporation in industiral applacatons. they sell them on usplastics.com if i rememeber right.
plastic wrap works well too. as long as the part on the sides it mostly clean and you don't take it off and put it back on. but it is cheap, so you could just get some more. AND it doesn't cut into your coral fund, b/c it is already in the house...

 

[travis_]

Here are some pictures of the individual tanks:

The "Clam" tank that is getting filled with SPS:

Close up of the Clams:

THe Clown tank with 2 RBTA (they split):

The Pre-Fuge(refugium) mounted on the wall (I found this tank on the side of the road):

THe Main Fuge:

A close-up of the LIVE sand:

And my Sump (curetnly home to 5 fish and a sea urchin - temp):

 

[busdriver]

You should be able to use a good cooler (coleman or other camping kind) as a fuge... it would be hard to put a bulkhead in one, but if you had a couple on the same level you could use U pipes to connect them...

 

[quibrzif]

Hello, fellow multitanks in basement keeper!
Also have 5 nano-tanks and rotifer cultures in the basement, with 90g tank, waiting for being set. Only thing are easier for me - the basement has the same regulated heating, as the rest of the house, and tanks have real chance to survive there in the middle of summer heat if the power will be off for more than few hours.

Beautiful thing you have, and in excellent health!

You already solved problem with insulation, but it could be interesting to know: I have seen some time ago on the Web photo of the tank near entrance door, in cold climate. It was covered by Styrofoam insulation sheets from all sides, except the front and top, which were covered by Lexane. Less heat loss, less possibility to break glass by owner's toddler :lol:

Good work!

 

[busdriver]

quibrzif has a point there. AND not only is it bullet proof, but it is lighter and lets more light through than glass. I only downsides I can think of are price, (but you might be able to get away with normal plexi-glass) possible warp-age (heat from the MH) and scratching (no way around that one)
if you used Plexiglas and made it fit the the lip of the clam tank (i couldn't see one, but I hope one exists) raised the water level in the clam tank so that the water touches the Plexiglas and used plastic wrap (for food) or hot melt glue and "seal" the edges... touching the water saves it from warp'n and reduces or elianate salt creep (which I hear can scratch Plexiglas if one isn't careful)

 

[travis_]

Hello, fellow multitanks in basement keeper!
Also have 5 nano-tanks and rotifer cultures in the basement, with 90g tank, waiting for being set. Only thing are easier for me - the basement has the same regulated heating, as the rest of the house, and tanks have real chance to survive there in the middle of summer heat if the power will be off for more than few hours.

Beautiful thing you have, and in excellent health!

You already solved problem with insulation, but it could be interesting to know: I have seen some time ago on the Web photo of the tank near entrance door, in cold climate. It was covered by Styrofoam insulation sheets from all sides, except the front and top, which were covered by Lexane. Less heat loss, less possibility to break glass by owner's toddler :lol:

Good work!

Nice to meet another fellow Canadian multitanks in basement keeper, eh! thanks for you comments. I would like to see yours. Do you have pics? I have a 100 gallon bowfornt in my garage that I will be setting up above these tanks. The cold weather is definetly a challenge, it is supposed to be getting -10 C this week.

And I also culture phyto and am planning rotifers as soon as I get a starter culture. By chance are you planning to be in the Bellingham area? Maybe I could pick some up next time I am visting family in Vancouver??

Travis

 

[travis_]

quibrzif has a point there. AND not only is it bullet proof, but it is lighter and lets more light through than glass. I only downsides I can think of are price, (but you might be able to get away with normal plexi-glass) possible warp-age (heat from the MH) and scratching (no way around that one)
if you used Plexiglas and made it fit the the lip of the clam tank (i couldn't see one, but I hope one exists) raised the water level in the clam tank so that the water touches the Plexiglas and used plastic wrap (for food) or hot melt glue and "seal" the edges... touching the water saves it from warp'n and reduces or elianate salt creep (which I hear can scratch Plexiglas if one isn't careful)

that is a great suggestions, but unfortunately the tank has no lip. I guess I could place it on live rock? Would be hard to get level and my level control is not the best, large ball valves. I have a large piece that I placed on top, but it fogged up really bad that it took over 2 hrs to dry off when the light came on (I since lowered the light a little more) plus was teribbly salt stained. I would have to wipe it daily. No thanks! I might also try lying stretch wrap acorss it and dip into the water. I have large rolls of it here at work. That way it could float on the surfact.

thanks so much!!

 

[JasonD]

For your clam tank, you might look into a clear bubble swimming pool cover. It would float on top. It would keep the heat in. I am not sure how much light penetration would be lost?

 

[JasonD]

For your clam tank, you might look into a clear bubble swimming pool cover. It would float on top. It would keep the heat in. I am not sure how much light penetration would be lost?

People use Magni-clear pool covers to cover their greenhouses. They would block some UV.

www.charleysgreenhouse.com ( I think they are based out of Seattle) - they sell a heavy duty clear greenhouse bubble wrap.