camnbron

I use the ball valve to reduce/control turnover through main tank. The pump is 3600L/hour. Thinking about it that might help with the amount of water I get going down my overflow. I also think it helps to reduce bubbles going up to main tank since I don't have a baffle in between return pump and the rest of sump.

Sounds like you need a new heater - that is an indication the thermostat is poked, its jammed on. Go get a new one

You can get hansen fittings for connecting up the hose. If you have a look in my tankbuild in the salt water section, you can see how I have set my sump up like including fittings. My sump doesn't have baffles, just dividers with the gaps at the bottom, so isn't normal (and probably wrong!). One section was supposed to be a refugium but it all got modified to a point where it won't really work like that anymore.

Here is a picture showing how my sump is currently: I am using foam packing stuff for sound deadening on the doors, also under the aquaone 620 tank as I was getting resonance from either pumps in the tank (return and skimmer). Have added a tee with ball valve off it on the return line and have an elbow on end of hose from overflow. I don't have baffles, just dividers to section off the sump with a gap underneath.

Ok so if i understand you, i should reduce the length of the pipe so that its only 2" under water? The flexible hose might be a good option, the tee you have, its at the end of the hose and allows the water to exist from 2 sides? or have you put a tee at the suface of the sump water so that air can go out the side and water out the botton?. Any chance you have a picture to explain?

Hi Jolliolli, I have picked out the bits of your post that I have suggestions for.. 'cept for #3, Under my tank i have a 1" Double Union Ball value ( so i can removed the sump), 2x 90 deg elbows ( put together in the shap of an S) and then a straight bit of pipe. The elbows are used to off set the pipe so that it goes into the correct part of my sump. Any way you could get away from 90 deg elbows, try to reduce the number of sharp bends as they are restrictions. Can you get 45 deg elbows? 1. Im looking at either using a Durso, Aqua Silencer or Full Siphon,... Will any of these effect/fix the turbulence in the sump? ( i assume full siphon will ) I don't think these will have an affect on the sump turbulance - from my understanding they are all methods of getting the water out of the display tank. They are all going to have similar flows to the sump so I don't think one will be better than the other at helping you there. 2. Is there a modification i can do the the pipe entering the sump so that it doest cause so many bubbles? Tee junctions or wye or something? should it be so far into the sump water, or less or more. Try reducing the distance from the sumps water surface to around 2 inches. Also, I am trialing flexible hose with a tee at the end. The flexible hose has a more gradual bend which should reduce agitation. The tee is there to allow bubbles to vent at sump water surface Seems to be helping 3. Should the piping under the cabinet be the same size as the overflow pipe or larger? eg should i use 32mm under the cabinet and 25MM bulkhead? Don't know I have used 1" for all my plumbing

Any idea on what day? (I'm a shift worker). I've got a single axle trailer and quite happy to do a trip to help out. Does it have stock in it? What are the dimensions of tank also stand? Feel free to PM me, Cam

Cheers Tui, I'm pretty darn happy with how its going! No, no, its a durso going down into a tee piece with 2 ball valves. One that goes directly to the sump, basically so if I wanted to pull the whole sump out, I wouldn't get any drips. The other ball valve is there just incase something else gets added in the future. Nope, it would have been a good idea and I should have done it really. I am now relying on my overflow comb and regularly checking the overflow for obstructions.

Yup, you want to get different shapes so you can make ledges, overhangs, pretty little structures... If it was just one big blob of rock it might look odd. What I had explained to me was also to have the rock have as little as possible contact area with the bottom of the tank - put it on points. Its ok to lean it against the sides and back and to stack, but be sure to give it the tap/prod check once submerged in water - you don't want to have a avalance onto you fish or corals! You can secure the rocks to each other using cable ties, or some forms of putty if you want to. Thats the way though, go harrass John, ask to have a look at how his system works (I haven't met him, I assume he will be happy to show you). Its always handy to actually see something in the flesh (or rock) to get a better understanding

After starting with a Freshwater tank of 60L then 240L, I got drawn to the Marine Reef Tanks Pretty My wife gave me the go ahead on the condition that we have a clownfish in the tank, thanks finding nemo! So after a bit of research and tyrekicking, I decided to build my own 4foot system with a sump underneath to hold the heater and skimmer. The display tank is 1.22M wide x 0.5M deep x 0.55 high The sump is my old aquaone 620 The stand is constucted of 30MM box steel that is powdercoated, and enclosed in marineply and kitchen cabinetry The skimmer is a Deltec MCE600 that I got second hand The lights are 2x 150W metal halides with Osram electronic ballasts I have around 30-35kgs of live rock around a dozen frags I purchased off Cookie Extreme 2 clownfish 1 firefish I have now pointed the top nano towards the overflow comb to get surface agitation The sump has since had a shuffle around to remove the 90degree bend I have had a few issues with noise that I have been working on. The sump was sitting on polystyrene, I removed that and replaced with a sheet of foam - that made a huge difference. I have now attached foam to the back of the doors also - it is much better at reducing the noise. I am not sure how it will survive long term. Now I am hanging out to add the next couple of fish, am thinking of getting a blennie and either a tang (Naso?) or a Dwarf angel. I also want to get my hands 5kgs of calcium chloride of the grade that medchem sells (25kgs a bit too much for me!) Any ideas or pointers would be appreciated,

I probably didn't help.. :-? My rock was live because I purchased it from living waters in Tauranga when she closed down. Some pieces of rock had organisms living on/in it - mushrooms, red lettuce, feather duster worms, bristleworms, corraline algae, bubble algae (not good). Some of my rock was cycled as it was from the shop sump, it may have had critters in it but had nothing attached to it. I plonked all of this into a 120L Bunnings bin with a heater, a pump for flow and some T5 Lights on a timer (and saltwater ). I just left it in the garage and treated it like a tank until I got my setup sorted. Which reminds me I should post what it looks like.

Look for interesting shapes, also look for inhabitants/hitchhikers. Here is a link to a hitchhiker page I have found useful to begin with: http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm I had my rock in a bin I picked up from bunnings for a few weeks while I got my tank sorted out. Was a good opportunity to look over the rock and identify what I didn't want in my tank i.e. bubble algae

You basically have 4 options when it come to going to the darkside- a)build your own (hands on) b)buy a new all in one system (like redsea's), c)buy second hand. (there have been a few for sale in CHCH this year), d)don't go marine, just visit other people tanks (looking is free) It really depends on you. I have just added the first fish to my marine tank (I went option a), when I decided to go marine I went with the recommended beginners size of 4ft (300Lish) but with a 90L sump. I've welded my stand together, got a tank made, converted my old Aqua-one 620 into a sump, bought a good second hand skimmer (deltec), purchased 2x metal halide lamps reflectors and electronic ballasts, got the metal frame powder-coated and a kitchen cabinet maker to close it in. Also purchased a return pump and a couple of tunze nanos and plumbing bits That cost about $2600 Test Gear - Refractometer, PH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Calcium, Alkalinty, Magnesium Not much change from $300 Something to look at in tank - 35kg live rock, 10 mushrooms, 12 coral frags, 10 snails, 2 clownfish + 1 firefish. About $500 And my tank looks empty! My advice is to do research, have a big think about it, and go with whatever option suits you. Anyhow, good luck with your decision making

Awesome to hear it all went well Jolliolli! What a top fulla Layton was helping you out with your move, don't forget to pick his brains! Looking forward to see what your tank looks like when you have done the changes you mentioned. :bounce: :bounce:

Another way could be for the "lucky" mod to select posts that are of use and can fit into a sub-category and move those, leaving the remaining posts in the parent/general category. To assist the mods experienced reefers could scour the posts and pm the above mentioned mod with links to those posts and suggestions of which sub-category they would fit into.

So if the splitting into sub-categories is to go ahead, would it be for going forward only or will all historic posts be moved into the most suitable section? It would be a tedious job but would be much appreciated by people looking for information

Hello Iduncan, where in this subject did Cookie say that? I have searched but can only find this post. From your post where you qoute him it looks like there is some interesting reading. Is it on a previous subject, can you please post a link to it so I can read the complete post? Thanks in advance

Wilsons suggestion is on to it. If you were to contact some Reefers in the Christchurch area, they may be able to look after the corals and the fish while you get prepared. Also, that would enable you to meet another local reefers and learn from them. There seems to be quite a few people with marine tanks in your area, and no doubt they would be keen to help you. Good luck with your decision making! And if you do make the move, don't forget your other tanks!

I also have a CF1200, what you are describing sounds like an airlock. 1. Fill your inlet from your filter with water to allow it to syphon from your tank and close valve. then, 2. Connect to filter assembly, disconnect outlet from assembly. then, 3. Crack open inlet valve carefully to help bleed air out throgh outlet, you only need to do a little. Have a towel handy to mop up a little water. 4. Good to go. connect outlet back on and you are away.

Hi and welcome.

Hi there, Have a read of the saltwater forum to see what other people are using, I am setting up a 4 foot marine (300L) with sump (90L max) and have gone with a Deltec.

Thought we should post a picture of our Freshwater tank (currently building a marine tank) It is an Aquanova tank, 240Litres with an Aquaone CF1200 Canister filter. Current inhabitants are: 2xgolden rams 2x blue faced apisto's 2xdwarf gurami's 1x redtail shark 4x neons 4x harlequins 5x prescillas 2x pleco 2x turq discus runts (have not grown in 9months) 2x red melon discus and 2 albino catfish I gave the trickle filter it came with the boot in favour of the CF1200 - much better.

Holy moly! Thats awesome!

I too have the CF1200 and had one of the isolation valves leak. The leak was coming out from under the isolation handle, contacted the supplier and they couriered another set of isolation valves direct to me within a few days. Have had no other problems apart from that and definately better than the trickle filter that came as standard on my 240L aqua nova tank.

Cheaper to get a Sodastream Bottle. I paid $30 for a 885gram Sodastream bottle brand new from Noel leemings. Just wandered in, asked if they had replacement CO2 bottle and how much they were. Not sure if they were supposed to sell it to me as it states on it "NOT FOR SALE" on the back. The drama that everybody that has gone the soda stream way seems to have is "How do I get that darn CO2 from my bottle to my diffuser?" The thread on the bottle is 1/2 Inch BSP - a very common pipe thread. I got one of my friends to make me a little adapter by butchering an old 1/2 Inch BSP needle valve and welding a 1/4 Inch BSP Reducer on the side. This allowed me to attach my Regulator and needle valve after it. I have been told that you can get a similar adapter from the USA for around $60NZ as per Picture Aaaarrgh!! This is the best I can get the picture! :evil: