SpecialTang
Banned
That light going to drive the people in your office crazy. You might want to buy the legs for it and build a box around the sides and front of it to help keep the light in.
Jesse's 40B with 20L sump
- Thread starter Jesse_emel
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Jesse_emel
Well-known member
Na I'm in a 2 person office with a cube wall separating me and my boss. All is well! I kind like how it hangs over the tank. It's easy to move up and down to put rocks in. But a hood might not be a bad idea in the future. Good idea!
Skimmy
SKIM FU
10x represents some pretty antiquated reef methodology IMO, i'd like to think that we have progressed in form and function since the 90's, and care more about energy consumption in the context of waste as opposed to personal cost.
and i for one like the hanging t5 fixture as opposed to a boring, cruddy, 70's looking wood canopy.
Workaholic
Millipora Addict
with all that backpressure on that mag18 i'll be honest, i'll be surprised if it lasts a year. thats putting allot of pressure on the internals of that pump necking it down that far.
As for flow i'm with mark, 10x is what I would use on a freshwater discus tank not a reef. I've got a 58g that I run ~4000gph through via my return pump and my reeflo dart.
Jesse_emel
Well-known member
that isn't 10x the volume in flow that's more like 70x the volume in flow. Do the fish just swirl around the tank like a toilet bowl? HaHa
Jesse_emel
Well-known member
Came into work this morning and the tank was looking amazing. I can see the back wall of the tank and the sump looks clear. That rock and chaeto did their job. Crappy thing is i forgot the battery to the camera. Sorry no pictures of the morning after. But everything is working fine despite everyones opinion about my pump choice. There is no sand storm and it actually feels like i could use more flow in the display not less.
Xtremedave67
Well-known member
good thing is the pump is YOUR choice LOL regardless of varying opinions...awesome now go get batteries and take a pic LOL kidding
Jesse_emel
Well-known member
I will this evening before the lights shut off. My office mates are in for quite a surprise when they come in tomorrow.
Jesse_emel
Well-known member
The progress in the tank is amazing. It's really clear but not totally clear. Here is a shot from the front. I put in 2 colonies of zoo's that were not doing well in the 29 gallon biocube. They were dying in there so i figured they would have a better chance in the new tank. the blue ones opened up right away but the green are lagging behind. If i see any improvement i'll post their progress. A few hitchhiking snails and brittle stars have been seen and moving around. the feather dusters in the sump are wide open and loving life.
from an angle.
and the sump is looking hot.
from an angle.
and the sump is looking hot.
Skimmy
SKIM FU
your poor return pump choice isnt going to make the negative side effects visible on your first couple days of running...
and of course without powerheads there isnt enough flow in the DT...
you said the mag 18 is only pumping like 500-600gph though a 1/2" valve, and as i have mentioned over and over on this site, it is a mistake to even try to make the return pump provide the high flow requirements for the main display anyway...one of the most common mistakes i see made in designs for reef plumbing.
the amount of flow needed in your DT is determined by the livestock you keep, and shouldnt be much less than 30x for softies and lps, and 50x-100x for sps. you should use wide flow outlet pumps like tunze/vortec/koralia and set it/them up in a laminar gyre configuration.
for instance, in my 20g, i have a tunze 6045 wich provides 1200gph of flow(60x) for my lps/zoa tank, by placing the rockwerk just right i can have sand on the bottom without it blowing away, and while it is alot of flow, the corals love it, and it promotes better water quality. at one time i was thinking it was too much flow, but then got the rockwerk and coral placement right and it is now perfect.
another cool thing about your light is that they are soon to release LED tubes that fit in and are powered by the t5 ballasts that you can use in conjunction with your regular t5 tubes, so you'll be able to combine LED's and t5 easily for shimmer and more blue.
Jesse_emel
Well-known member
When i tightened the bulkhead with the bubble trap attached i cracked my 1st sump. So it did not get installed in the 2nd sump build. Protein skimmer should be in today. I'll get some more pictures up soon.
Jesse_emel
Well-known member
i temporarily put a piece of white felt (organic un-bleached) in there to polish the water a bit. I figure the chaeto and the new skimmer will kill most the micro bubbles in the near future. The skimmer they sent me was the "new model" and it was 1/2" to big to fit in my skimmer area. So I had to send it back and order the next size down. BUMMER but it will be another week with no skimmer. Installed a personal fan last night in the sump area and when i arrived this morning the water temp was 76.3 let see if the fan kicks on and keeps the tank cool with out my intervention today.
mcdonaldjosh7
Coral!!!!
Great looking sump
Jesse_emel
Well-known member
I'm using an original digital aquatics reef keeper has a temp probe you put in the water. You tell it when the water reaches 78 degrees turn on the fan till it cools to 77. Badda Bing Badda Boom It shall be done.
