Maelgrim

p.s how loud is the chiller (I shouldn't be asking) ?

starting to think that the digital thermometer has got issues (its new). I have the air con on 19 pumping out very cold air for the last 2 hours, Its night time and my half my tank lights have gone out (just blues on) and the tank has sat at 29.3 basically since I got home at 5:00pm, its now 9:15pm. Looks like I will be getting a 2nd thermometer as well as a fan this weekend. Chiller - yeah, trying hard to avoid that expense. Would rather shell out loads to upgrade the heatpump to a fully ducted system with outlets all over the house (and of course close to the tank) .

Normally set to 22

Currently cycling, have air con going pretty much all day and Tank is generally between 29 and 30 (Night and day) with 30.2 being the highest I have seen. Even have the lid open. Is this bad news come time for some livestock. I am looking at fixing a small fan across the top, plus will try dropping the Air con temp to freezing. But interested to here peoples experience with running for long times at high temp (29+).

good idea, except the water level is quite alot lower so I do get a waterfall whcih pushes the bubbles down and towards the return pump. Don't want to take the sump down again

well put in the over under over baffle. Still getting a crapload of micro bubbles, the Skimmer is pumping out heaps (reef octopus). I am thinking of putting some filter mesh in baffle pocket to try and trap them.

well I think I have the problem then. Aeration. I have removed the sump (to add some baffles), its been out a week meaning no Skimmer or overflow (just so powerheads running). I will recheck the PH once the sump has been back in operation for a few days. Thanks

My overflow runs into a 1" bulk head with some piping attached that runs into the sump. The piping has a valve that allows me to tweak the water level above the pipe in the over flow elimating the gurgling noise. Water also enters the sump submerged which reduces sump noise. No problems with power off. Overflow noise is low as the water level is high (less distance to fall), but the best way to eliminate this is have a suitably sized overflow (bigger better) so the water just runs down the walls and not gush over the top. I found this out to late, but I'm not unhappy the noise (like a mini water feature in the lounge). The main thing I fear is some crap or a fish getting into the overflow pipe and getting stuck in the valve which will end up overflowing the tank. I am working on some filtering mesh etc to prevent that from happening.

Yeah I tested twice just in case, both times in the afternoon with lights on, so I would have thought it would be higher.

New tank 2 weeks into cycling. PH was 8.2 when first setup. Now it is 7.8. So got an Alkalinity test which is showing 9.9DKh. I thought that the high DKh would mean the PH would resist lowering. Any thoughts appreciated

do you mean the under over ?

Typically all the sump bubble traps I have seen are over under over. Would under over under work as well ? The reason I ask is that for my existing sump it would give me more room due to position of an existing partition.

Cheers cool site, I will see how the Skimmer goes over the next we while (its only been running a day and a half).

Cheers for that, I would have expected that somewhere like Mitre10 would sell an arm length garden glove. So given how "easy" they are to obtain, do people use them ?

Anyone know where I can get some in AK ?

Yeah its new, I don't think the pump is making the noise but rather the plumbing I have going into it. It seems to be vibrating alot. Its mainly flexi fluval piping with a few joins to fit in a non return valve. I have wrapped the piping in some rubber matt stuff which helps. I wonder if using some hard piping would make it better or worse Ive read a bit on sump noises and it seems to be a bit of a black art in trying to reduce noise.

I'm not I understand what you mean. What is the mod I should look at ? Cheers

The skimmer pump is ok. Its the eheim 1262 return - the noise is not bad just a tad louder than I would want - no blockages. Also have some eheim powerheads that add to the noise. Don't think I can do much about them

Yeah that sounds good, there is certainly some crap still stuck to the rocks - although I did try and wash most of it off prior. have a basic liquid test kit that will cover the essentials for a while. And yes do have a skimmer (reef octopus NW-150 otp ) which has only really just been turned on only problem so far is a humming noise from the return pump which I have dampened down quite alot so isn't to bad now

Hi Finally have the tank up and going (plumbing etc took a while to sort out). So its just started cycling (2 days ago). I have the non live rock from HFF which should mean cycling will take a number of weeks (6 or so I guess). Is there anything I should do to help the process e.g tip in some amonia, chuck in a dead shrimp or add fish food ? Should I bother with the lights on while cycling ? (currently off) Also the water has yellowed quite a bit, I believe this is normal. Will a bag of carbon in the sump clear that ? and should I worry about it during the cycle phase (I guess its just asthetics). Cheers for your help

Yeah reafcon looks pretty good http://www.infinitysoft.net/ReefCon/ I will have a play Cheers

Hi All Do people use any software for logging tank activities / tests etc e.g http://www.joejaworski.com/aqualog/

Yeah the depth has been a concern (especially the cost in lights). However I think a deep tank looks fantastic - so i'll go with my gut and learn the hard way. I was thinking maybe starting with Fluro then upgrading to T5s at a later date to support Corals etc . One advantage I figured with a deeper tank is that I could potentially have Corals that favour different light intenisties at different levels. The refractometer looks great. Do people also use the electronic PH testers ? @TM 9 Chromis sounds great (My Wife would love), but I won't be able to fit that many - so prob 4 - 5. Good to here you don't have any issues with direct sunlight.

Would Jellyman be better

Actually I thinks its the Green Chromis my Wife likes