My 90g + 20g sump mixed reef

[Hookup]

Good point about winter.. was not thinking about that. Will probably pick up a booster tonight. Thanks

I also do not think about winter.. cause it sucks...   

Do some photos of your install of that pump... don't think i've seen one before...

[salvini55]

What do you plan on getting now that your selling you tank?

[mikerobart]

I have purchased a 90g reef ready perfecto, should arrive in 2 weeks or so. The stand I bought was for a 90, and the 80 looked a little weird on it. The 90 rr perfecto also comes with a plumbing kit which will save me a few headaches I think.

*Hopefully* I will post pics tonight of some equipment and my diy light bar... which is now basically complete.

[mikerobart]

Quick pic that almost shows the light bar  . I took the pic for someone who was interested in the 80g. 90g coming in a little while hopefully. The aquamedic light and stand will remain. Oh, and that's my skimmer collection cup in there. 

[mikerobart]

My 90g reef ready perfecto with corner overflow will be delivered Sunday evening! . Then things should start to get more underway. I expect the plumbing to be quick and painless.. the perfecto comes with everything from the bottom of the tank up, and I am going for a very simple system here.

Once plumbing is done, will take awhile to fill'er up I think, I don't want to run the RO/DI when I am not around/ awake to keep an eye on things.

Just ordered an auto-top off system from www.autotopoff.com. It is the dual-float system, with a snail guard and aqualifter pump.

I bought a chair from Canadian Tire the other day which has under the seat storage. It's sort of a fake/bonded leather, they went discontinued I think, so picked it up for $49.99 regular $ 179.99  (Although probably worth much closer to the former .)

Anyways, my plan is to use the chair beside the tank, and put an ATO  reservoir in the storage area under the chair. I will drill / cut out a small hole to run 1/4" OD tube from the aqualifter to the sump, which will be very close to the chair. I think I can fit at least a 10g reservoir in the chair with room to spare for other fish goodies !

An ATO was a priority, as I want to make sure I get my money's worth out of the wicked skimmer and keep it dialed in all the time.

The ATO reservoir in a chair / ottoman was an idea I saw on reefcentral.. pretty cool if you have to keep it in same room, don't want an unsightly bucket or tote beside the tank, and no room in the stand (who has room for an ato res under the stand ?!? ).

I have heard good things about the autotopoff.com system, I know I coulda diy'd for cheaper but at this point I just want to get on with it!  Anyone have experience with the ato unit?

[mikerobart]

Here are my stocking thoughts once I have everything set up.

To start, the clowns from my 29g, sixline wrasse, skunk cleaner shrimp, and rest of cuc. Then ... if this doesn't seem too crazy, a yellow tang and regal tang, which I would buy small and add at the same time. I understand if they got bigger they would need a larger tank.

When I have the refugium producing amphipods successfully, I do want a mandarin.. they are such awesome fish.

Other fish I am considering are a Bangai Cardinal and one or two bartlets anthias. Maybe one or two more skunk cleaners.. so much personality... or a pistol / goby combo.

I want some sort of large carpet anemone perhaps for my clowns, or something else they will enjoy and not kill. A good assortment of LPS. Some sps in the top half of the tank but with some room to grow so not right at the top. One crocea clam.

I think I will do a SSB in the display... would a DSB in the refug be advised? It's not a large chamber for the refug so not sure if it would make much difference.

I think water quality should not be a problem... the skimmer is way more than I need, so a heavy bioload should be fine. I know manufacturer claims are sometimes optimistic, but they say something like 175g heavily stocked would be manageable.  Add in a good amount of chaeto and top quality RO/DI water and I should be in good shape.. Maybe 5g water changes biweekly.

Anyways, please share your thoughts and advice on anything and everything!

[mikerobart]

Tank is filling with RO/DI as I write this. Unit it rated at 75 gpd but I am getting 70 gpd at the moment. I will take it. Appears to be level, and bulkhead seals seem to holding, although not much water in the tank yet! Hopefully some pics will generate more responses to my thread!

The first drops of water in the tank:


SWC Extreme 200 ( looks bigger in person!)


Just because I have always been Jealous of these collection cup shots, and it's got a nice beefy one. Rye lovers will approve of my size comparison.


The overflow and return go through bulkheads, which are fitting with 1" nipples. The smooth pipe part of the nipple is slip fitting inside the bulkhead and glued, while the threaded part screws into 1" tru union ball valves. Just barely fits. I need to get a few more pieces to run flex to my sump, but it will be another few days until the tank is full enough anyways. Nice thing about the true unions is I can take them apart, and work on the under sump plumbing without having the remove the whole valve (can keep it sealed off.)


My absolutely ghetto looking RO/DI arrangement. I'm current living in a basement apartment.. very nice actually but this is in the landlords laundry area... slop sink working for me well enough though. Can't really do a permanent install here. Booster pump is not actually running at the moment and I am happy with the pressure.

[mikerobart]

I really wish this tank didn't have a center brace, especially since my 2x24 pc actinics are in the center of the light. Compared to the 2x250w hqi's, I think they make no noticable impact but will be good for dawn / dusk. Might even have them go off when the daylights come on.

I am definitely happy with the brightness! When I have the light on, it overpowers every light in the room  . Can flick the ceiling lights / floor lamps on and off and hardly notice a difference in the room.

[salvini55]

looking good, im jelouse of your skimmer...    What do you plan on keeping in the tank?

[mikerobart]

Check a few posts up for my thoughts. I am going to take it slow and steady, but I would like to get one, or two ( ) tangs, if the tang police don't come at me too hard for that idea.

In terms of corals, primarily lps with a smattering of sps. Hopefully an anemone for the clowns to host in... they are quickly killing their torch coral!

[Dave and Diane]

Shooting you a pm Mike.

[JD]

Curious, what booster pump do you have there? Where from and how much?
I am considering something similar. What kind of pressure do you get?
I have a 75 gpd and am only getting around 50 with pressure at 45-65 psi(on a well).

[JD]

Funny about the "tang police". With a regal and a kole in a 24G Aquapod, no one has yelled at me yet! Mind you, once they grow a little I will move them to a different tank.

[JD]

What did you end up doing on your overflows? I tried notching mine awhile back but found them way too noisy.

[mikerobart]

If they are small I don't see the issue, like you say. If I had two that outgrew my tank I would do the same. That being said, tell people at reef central you've got two tangs in a 24g and the tang police will be all over you .  

[mikerobart]

What did you end up doing on your overflows? I tried notching mine awhile back but found them way too noisy.

You mean on the reef ready perfecto tank? Already has an overflow "grate" sort of.. I have not done anything to it.. and tank is still only about 35% full!

[JD]

It was in this post you spoke about cutting teeth and spacing. I think this is the 80g.

Plumbing (Please help  )

Plumbing a sump is something I am doing for the first time, so advice would be appreciated. I am trying to keep my plumbing relatively simple, and because I want to transfer my livestock this weekend, I need to set it up in a timely fashion.

I am using a very simple standpipe to my 1.5" bulkhead. I have a reducer fitting to make a sort of DIY surface skimmer. I am still looking for advice on how many "teeth" I should cut into this, what size the openings in the teeth should be, spacing etc.

After the bulkhead there will be a ball valve, and another small section of pipe, going below the water level in the sump. This feeds the skimmer chamber,which overflows to the refugium section, which overflows through to the smallest chamber, where the return pump will be.

I am considering just running spaflex back over the top of the tank from the return pump, but would like some suggestions here as well. I do not want to be drilling holes at this stage.

I know with only one downpipe and one return I am not exactly fail safe here. Hopefully this is not too foolhardy. I guess I could always run multiple water level switches to the RKL to shut off the return if the main tank started to overfill.

Please any plumbing help would be great, keeping in mind I
don't plan on any more holes at this time.

[mikerobart]

The 80g was aborted due to it not fitting my stand quite right. I had a 3" to 1.5" reducer that I was going to cut teeth into but never went ahead with it. Nice to not have to worry about it though!

[mikerobart]

So, yesterday afternoon I noticed some wetness on my bulkheads under the tank. Not a drip drip drip, but they had a small amount of water on them. Put on some gloves and hand tightened as tight as I could at the awkward under tank angle.

No wetness this morning.

Any advice on whether I should do another 1/4 turn with a wrench, or even silicone the bulkhead where it meets the glass before tightening the nut? I have heard varying opinions and want to get it right the first time. I am going to assume that when I finally finish the under tank plumbing there will be a bit of stress on the seal as I play with the ball valves a fair bit.

I picked up some more pvc bits the other day, all that's left is some vinyl hose. I will be using 1" hose on overflow and return. Stainlees steel hose clamps where the hose is out of water, and if I need an underwate connection, plastic hose clamps or zip ties. Hopefully it all works out with no leaks

[Hookup]

I have always used a wrench (lock jaws) to tighten mine up... but they really are not much tighter than you'd get doing it by hand...

if it aint broke, don't fix it.