chimera

i havent seen mine (hes in the fuge) for about 6 weeks. not even sure if he's alive or not. never fed him yet - although theres HEAPS of algae for him to munch on. if he has died im sure the brittle star would have eaten him :-?

hell yes, first thing i noticed when i turned mine on!

picked it up today, funnily enough from medchem. had glysterine in it - pretty much brand new in mint condition. going to put this one under the house for saltwater storage - especially considering how crap the weather has been lately, when you cant collect NSW its a real pain. considering getting a 2nd and welding to a trailer now for collecting - hard part is finding a small but cheap trailer with strong enough springs to handle over a ton in weight. anyone got one for sale? chassis needs to be in good condition, not worried about the deck or sides as i'll be ripping these off

yeah its been under the sticky at the top for quite sometime. check out the other calculators under there as well

definately worth it for the effects

cool, PM me

ahhh haaaa haaaa haaaaaaa! funny coz its true

good work mate, coming along nicely!

ahhh steve, sarcasm at its finest hence why he should come see my setup and do it right first time rather than learning by mistake like i did... several times...

now wouldnt that be convenient!

simple really, work out the total surface area of each devices inlet that you want to gravity feed (ie: add them all together). then, make sure that the surface area from the outlet of the overflow is at least this size or larger. in my case the overflow pipe down is 40mm. when you T it off, add reducers and piping to match the exact size of the inlet of each piece of equipment you gravity feed. for example, my skimmer inlet is 25mm, so i t off the 40mm pipe with a 40mm T then immediately add a reducer to bring it down to 25mm. just before the skimmer is a ball valve (which is always left wide open) - i simply use it to turn the skimmer off for maintenance. likewise with the chiller, its inlet is 20mm, so after the skimmer T is another T which is then instantly reduced down to 20mm (however there is a 20mm ball valve sitting right next to this T so I can turn this off completely over winter, disconnect the chiller and store it til next summer. any thing left over goes down to the fuge. basically, the total surface area of the overflow has to be the same size or larger than the combined surface areas of each gravity fed device AND each pipe to each device should be matched to the devices inlet size. its not necessary to go larger as its only gravity fed, not forced like a return pump is. the way i see it is its designed at that size for a reason so give it what it wants! (this is different for a return pump though, as you should go a minimum pipe size to be the same as the return pumps outlet or supposedly its better to go slightly larger. likewise feeding it, go the same size pipe or larger) make sense? duke, come have a look at my setup and get some ideas before you spend the cash on plumbing!

Not making sense here? Anways I think you've got all your measurements incorrect (around the wrong way). According to.... http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=EH1260 It says here that the Eheim pump inlet is 1" and the outlet is 3/4" http://www.deltecusa.us/proteinskimmers/ap851.php (Ok, so it's the 851 so Im assuming its still the same) From this site, it says that the Skimmer inlet is 1/2" and outlet is 1" Regardless of pipe sizes, you first want to find out what lph you have and what you need... The Deltec AP850 requires 350gph (1300lph) of flow The Eheim 1260 produces 635gph (2400lph) of flow The Chiller (???) requires an unknown amount of flow (however, they can usually handle a reasonable amount) Clearly, the Eheim can pump more than what the Deltec requires (by almost double) You say you plan on circulating through your sump, so I assume by this you mean you have a separate return pump and the skimmer/chiller combo is just like a "sump closed loop" Personally, I would gravity feed both the skimmer and chiller but if thats not an option, I would do the following (or at least take what you want from it)... PUMP: Plumb the outlet from the Eheim using 1" pressure piping (clearly you'll need an "enlarger" straight off the eheim, 3/4" -> 1"). Split the pipe after this (as close as practical to the pump outlet) into two using a 'Y' pipe, lets call the split paths 'A' and 'B'. SKIMMER: Along path 'A' (where ever is practical) add a ball valve (optional, but I'll explain the benefits below). Then, continue 'A' piping from the ball valve to the skimmer (reducing the piping just before it enters the skimmer back down to 1/2" again) Then run the outlet from the skimmer back into the sump. CHILLER: From pipe 'B', continue this plumbing straight to the chiller (again, reducing the size just before the chiller) However, I would make sure it is possible if you "unplug" the pipe from the chiller that you can direct that piping straight back into the sump. This allows the inlet to be "unplugged" so you can disconnect the chiller completely, rinse it out and use it again the following summer! Obviously direct the chiller outlet back into the sump as well The reasons for the above are as follows: 1. You have large enough piping (1") so flow is unlikely to be restricted if you ever add a larger pump. 2. If you ever need to upgrade to a larger skimmer (say with a 1" inlet), you just cut the reducers off and plug it straight in 3. Its very unlikely you will ever need to "tune down the ball valve" to reduce flow because theoretically, 50% of flow should go down each pipe as they're both the same size and coincidentally, 50% of that flow is the optimal amount required by the skimmer. However if the pump is upgraded to greater flow you have the option. See next point for the convenience factor though... 4. You can turn the ball valve off completely so the skimmer can be cleaned or completely stripped and cleaned without the need to turn the pump off (I have this just before my gravity fed AP902, works an absolute treat - the fuge handles the extra flow in the interim) Remember theres more than one way to skin a cat I really recommend you consider gravity feeding all this, saves on an extra pump (and power costs) which could otherwise be used for circulation or sold to buy some frags :bounce:

yes and yes

helps if you put it in last. i assume you want to buy the one off trademe dont be lured by the cheap price, theres a reason why they're cheap. some arent too bad, but most are aggressive to a stage where they can bully other fish to death. luck of the draw really!

interesting comments made by warren, just goes to show you shouldnt always believe what you read 8) aye layton?

i see reef is already keen.... http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pets-animals/Fish/Fishbowls-tanks/auction-55820794.htm

btw it's input, not imput. interesting, a 32mm overflow hole should be able to handle the flow from the laguna. are you saying the tank overflowed over the top because the water level simply raised 5-10mm or because the overflow could not handle the extra flow? how high from the top of the tank is the overflow/overflow comb? when i increased the piping coming from my return pump (iwaki 55rlt @ about 3 metres head) from 20mm to 25mm, the water level in the tank went up about 7mm. the 32mm outlet still easily handles the flow back down to the sump (pipe size down is 40mm though, still the restriction is the 32mm outlet) i have a formula somewhere showing the maximum flow you can get through different size piping i'll see if i can track it down.

thats what i was thinking. i gotta dolphin ampmaster for my closed loop, 13,500lph. the pump itself is almost dead silent. its a beast to say the least. the noise that IS generated though is a strong hum from vibrations running through the floor boards!!! and its sitting on two mouse pads :-?

Argh! Arghhhhhhhh! got it for $110 off trademe. still think its not too bad a price - and it didnt have PVA in it at least :lol: food grade and in good condition supposedly. now i just gotta cut the roof off my landcruiser, slide the tank in then weld the roof back on again :lol:

i would suggest a stream, maybe a 6060 (6000lph) or similar. you would only need one

the secrets of mankind and our history most likely lie on the bottom of the deepest part of the sea maybe like an alien city or something

just bought me one of these 1000 litre tanks off trademe anyone else use them? how do you find them? i figure i can fill it up then use it gradually over several months. im just working out how i can get it under my house either that or i weld it to an old trailer i got and use it for water collection

just dose zeovit, after all thats all it is well someone had to bring it up!

but not a definate sign. there are a considerable number of variations of cyano, all sorts of shapes and sizes. make sure that you physically remove as much as possible otherwise as the cyano dies off, it adds more nutrients to the water causing more growth. i would try the vodka dosing as cracker says, i think it's 1ml per 100 litres twice a day from memory. this is only a workaround, you need to reduce feeding though

make the most of it and pick up some cheap goodies while you're over there