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Brandon's WTH was I thinking 125 gallon madness

Brando457

Brando457

It is 3 x 150 W version.

RO DI I'll probably be buying in 2 weeks or so.


Salt I am using Instant Ocean and havn't had any problems with it, my corals all seem to be doing really well. Not sure the differences in salt besides nutrients or anything.


Powerhead - I bought 1 Mp40 off ebay today at $304 shipped :)
 
dangerbird

dangerbird

Alright I'll throw my .02 in too. Two things I would suggest. Really plan your rock work and think about actually drilling and dowling it the way you want. Once you have stuff growing on it you don't want some stupid crab or urchin to start knocking stuff around. Also, make sure you plan for enough volume in your sump to hold the water that will come back down when the power goes out. If you don't have enough extra volume in the sump, you will have a very wet floor, carpet ect. And an very angry wife. These things I tell you from my experience being inexperienced. :)
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

IO is OK but Reef Crystals is the better reef salt both same company.
The difference is that RC has more calcium then IO.
I would suggest testing your current water for Calcium, Mag, PH, and Alk minimum. If you have more SPS you are going to want to go with RC IMHO or another premium salt.
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

JRWOHLER said:
IO is OK but Reef Crystals is the better reef salt both same company.
The difference is that RC has more calcium then IO.
I would suggest testing your current water for Calcium, Mag, PH, and Alk minimum. If you have more SPS you are going to want to go with RC IMHO or another premium salt.
Click to expand...

I'm using reef crystals. Have been for a few years now. I'm considering switching to Tropic Marin. I have been fighting algae outbreaks I cannot nail down the source of for months now. And I have been reading ALOT of similar experiences with Reef Crystals. Don't know if any of it has any merrit, and I'm sure there are just as many people using RC that do not have this problem, but it's about the only thing I have not taken steps to eliminate as a potential source.

I even switched to the smaller bags instead of the bucket thinking maybe I wasn't using it fast enough, and I do know that bucketed salt can have a tendancy to not be completely mixed if it sits too long.

Disclaimer: I do not run a nutrient free system, however, algae growth seems to accelerate with water changes, and I DO run RO/DI testing between 0 and 1 TDS after DI.

Just my .02 on salt... Don't wanna spark a salt debate! LOL! Those are usually worse than lighting debates!
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

Disclaimer: I do not run a nutrient free system, however, algae growth seems to accelerate with water changes, and I DO run RO/DI testing between 0 and 1 TDS after DI.
Click to expand...

I read the Reef Magazine today on Manhattan Reefers....one of the articles was by a guy who was using a TDS meter that was not working .... gummed up his tank. He had the same problems algae outbreaks after a water change. Test your pre RODI water at least to make sure it is working.

I have switched around some, RC, H20, and Tropic Marin.....my experience only is H20 was the worst of the three.
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

JRWOHLER said:
Disclaimer: I do not run a nutrient free system, however, algae growth seems to accelerate with water changes, and I DO run RO/DI testing between 0 and 1 TDS after DI.
Click to expand...

I read the Reef Magazine today on Manhattan Reefers....one of the articles was by a guy who was using a TDS meter that was not working .... gummed up his tank. He had the same problems algae outbreaks after a water change. Test your pre RODI water at least to make sure it is working.

I have switched around some, RC, H20, and Tropic Marin.....my experience only is H20 was the worst of the three.
Click to expand...

HOLY CRAP! You might be on to something there!

I just tested my straight water, and it tested at 42. NO WAY that's right! I have well water, and probably the worst well water in the state being slapped smack between the bay and the wetlands.

For ****s and giggles, I have a pur water filter on the tap, tested that and it tested HIGHER than the straight water at 88!

Somethin aint right here, batman!
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

Brando457

Brando457

So I picked up my sump today from a fellow member jcurry. Great guy and gave me a lot of things to think about.

Here are some pictures of it, he ran an external protein skimmer, but I'm wondering if I could possibly run an internal or what is a good external one to get in that case.

Oh and what can I use to clean this puppy up?

Gallery:
http://s97.photobucket.com/albums/l240/Brando457/oceanic/sump/


IMG_0211.jpg
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

Nice! Grats. You are well on your way.

Shouldn't be any reason why you can't run your equipment internally. Just gotta plug up them holes.

And for cleaning? VINEGAR! A good white vinegar bath cures alot of crud! LOL!
 
Brando457

Brando457

mfisher2112 said:
Nice! Grats. You are well on your way.

Shouldn't be any reason why you can't run your equipment internally. Just gotta plug up them holes.

And for cleaning? VINEGAR! A good white vinegar bath cures alot of crud! LOL!
Click to expand...

Even on acrylic? I was under the impression that you had to be careful while cleaning it. Mfisher where would I fit a skimmer in there though if I wa sgoing to run the middle as refuge?
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

Hmm. Hard to tell dimensions from the pics, but it LOOKS like you could move that baffle on the far right over. Looks like there is a slot for a baffle there. Only need one coming from the skimmer chamber to the fuge.

Not quite sure about that chamber on the left though. if that stuff is removable or at least rearrangable, you could use the left side for return pumps.

Like I said, kinda hard to tell from the angle what the dimensions are.

As for cleaning, I don't think vinegar is an issue with acrylic, just don't use a metal scraper! :)
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

What if anything is removable? You can use the holes for your return pump or pumps or some sort of media chamber using two holes and the pump one. Just a thought. If you did that then the skimmer could go on the right but you wouldn't have the baffles to get rid of any microbubbles.
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

It looks to me like some of the baffles might be "backwards" too. If you plan to have sand etc in the refugium area in the middle, you don't want "under/over" baffles, you want "over/under" baffles so the sand is trapped in the refugium. Made that mistake with my first sump, and had sand flying through the display via the return pump.

Really hard for me to say without seeing it in person.
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

Heres the basic gyst of my sump.

Water is from left to right. Dumps from tank to first champer. Skimmer and media reactor pull from this chamber, but flow to the refugium in the center.

Water runs over the first baffle to the refugium (sand, rock, chaeto).

Then through the over/under baffle/bubble trap to the return pump, and back to the tank.

Note the first baffle between the skimmer chamber and refugium and the first baffle of the bubble trap both go all the way to the sump floor to trap the sand/rock/etc in the refugium. Occassionally, small shards of chaeto will make it over the bubble trap and get shot into the tank, but I don't mind that because my tang doesn't mind that! ;D

SimpleSump.jpg
 
Brando457

Brando457

mfisher want to build me a sump :) lol

I picked up my skimmer today ASM G2 I never realized how massive skimmers really are.

Moving along and making progress, feeling pretty good about this whole thing so far.
 
Brando457

Brando457

So I placed the skimmer in the sump and got to thinking.

The first chamber pictured here I can have the water flow down in and then the one baffle separates it from the skimmer. Would I be able to use this small space as a refuge?

This is where the water would fall into:


This is where I am proposing keeping a refuge:


This is a full shot of the area where water would fall into from overflow and where the refuge would be:


Here you can see what I mean by the baffles being over, under, skimmer, over, under:


Anyone think this would work? I would probably do external pumps if this was the case or right after the last baffle do internals, still debating.
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

I know i'm confused LOL.

You want to make a refugium between the first chamber and the skimmer or in the last chamber after the skimmer??
 
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