chimera

i only get 4-5hrs a night at the moment anyway. its called polycoffeephasic

it's called work when you work on computers all day your brain fries so you need a break, what better than to stay on the computer and visit fnzas :lol: didnt even realise i'd broken the 4k mark

true that, my mm to ft conversion was a bit out there! a single halide would look cool, probably only need 70W.

Rennovations still in the middle of them. almost done and alarm is on next list of priorities. if only there were 30 hours in a day...

True. Ive got the mother of all alarms at home (not hooked up yet) Its actually an alarm system for companies as opposed to homes, but has a few inputs. Has a voice system and dialup to cellphone thingee so might have a read of the manual

At 700mm, the tank is reasonably tall. Even for freshwater and plants, I dont believe 8W will be anywhere near intense enough. Consider putting in 2ft 54W T5's, say 2 or 3 of them with a couple of whites and a blue. That should provide sufficient lighting for photsynthesis plus give an aesthetically appealing look.

from the manual, looks like i've got it pretty much spot on. except for the "desired" flow rate though. however reading further on it does say this is the size lph pump you should choose if you are feeding the skimmer (if non-gravity fed)

i work in computers everyday. have also setup an alarm companies network and alarm monitoring system so know quite a bit about how it all works. well as ira has said you can buy an aquarium computer for about that price (neptune is one that comes to mind) still it would be a good little product to sell if you could make a unit small and cheap enough - especially if sold in the states!

Pies, dont forget that the outlet of your AP902 is 40mm, the newer AP902 is now 50mm out. If I turn the ball valve so its completely unrestricted, the water level drops down the skimmer about 4" from the top (got it around the wrong way in my last post) The more I close it, the higher the bubbles rise. I have it turned enough so that the water level is sitting just below where the bit of the black plastic neck starts. Not sure if this is right (keep meaning to RTFM ) but so far it seems to be running exceptionally well. Will go check out the manual now... http://www.deltecusa.us/docs/APSeries.pdf

must be feature rich software, you can get free/shareware type packages for $50

Ok, I think we have all got our individual points across. Without scaring poppy away, let her just ask questions without going on and on

was interested, until i saw the price

thats coz it is

Getting over comments made by people on this forum is the second stepping stone, not taking them to heart is the first. Too many people with differing opinions. You will always get the similar responses from a few of us (myself included if you dont even know some of the basic terminology (where you could pick this up from books) There is SOOOO much to learn for someone to explain just the basics would take a month Not that you knew that, or not that I knew that when I started - hence why my first sentence above still stands. We (mostly grown men) have quite a few "cat fights" on this forum its actually quite childish... but then we know that so hiding behind a keyboard is the easy route See you're learning quick :lol: Are you saying you did not know these til now, or still don't know these? I'll pick one of the above and answer it for you since its the only one thats a question Better than bad light Lighting is all down to what you want to keep. If you were doing fish only, then basic lighting (medium/moderate power output) is sufficient as fish dont require intensive light. On the other hand, corals require more intense lighting as (most, not all) need to survive via photosynthesis. There are 3 basic types of corals, softies, lps and sps. Softies and lps generally require a moderate light, SPS (hard corals such as acropora) generally require intensive light. So all this leads to the types of lighting you can choose. There are many available, the most common are halides (pretty much closest to the sun) and T5's (often used as supplemental lighting or to provide light in the blue spectrum) Halides come in different wattages, the higher the wattage the greater the intensity (or lumens for a better word) Generally they come in 150W, 250W and 400W. 250W probably the most common. Next is the Kelvin rating of the bulb. This dictates the colour of the bulb, 6-7k yellow, 10K yellow/white, 14k white/blue and 20k blue. There are others but these are most common. Most opt for 10K or 14K's (these are the colours most aesthetically pleasing plus contain most of the colour spectrum used by corals) T5's and T8's are pretty much fluoros, the number indicating the size of the bulb. T5 thinner than T8 but more commonly used. These are a lower wattage than halides so not as intensive, usually around 54W each. Most use T5's to supplement the halides. So as you can see, that is just one aspect of a reef tank very basically put. I could go into considerable amount more detail on lighting, such as lux, brands of bulbs, etc etc. Additionally, it is highly likely someone will debate what I have written above, saying "6-7k is what most corals need as this is closest to sunlight" etc Biggest thing to understand is in this hobby even those considerably experienced in the field have widely differing opinions. And always remember "what works in one persons tank may not work in anothers"

yes, it is restricted. but if i 'unrestrict it', the water level in the neck of the overflows into the cup. its tuned to have bubbles half way up the neck at the moment. should i be skimming alot wetter?

not sure how i can make it pull more water than what im currently doing unless i put in a larger return pump. the skimmer is currently taking all it needs as the first 'T' from the downpipe runs to the skimmer. anything it doesnt need after that goes to chiller. anything chiller doesnt need flows to refugium. im planning on adding a ball valve to the refugium so that I can completely close it off and separate the fuge if need be. will also be a good test to see how much differently the skimmer performs with the extra flow to it!

:lol: quite clearly

the refugium is basically a royal size dining table for the lawnmower. makes me wonder if i should keep my old algae growing fluoros to satisfy his gut.

perhaps

stop trying to make excuses. LAME.

I measured the (approx) water flow through the skimmer, fuge and chiller last night. I did it a pretty basic way by holding same size containers under each output then measuring approx water levels in each container. After doing it a couple of times it didnt vary much so should be pretty close. The return pump does about 4,000lph. Water flows through each at approximately the following: Skimmer - 60% (2400lph) Refugium - 25% (1000lph) Chiller - 15% (600lph) Fuge is about 300 litres so only about 3 times turnover (excluding turnover of powerheads in it) Do these figures look ok?

finally got myself one of my fav fish, a little CBB. hes currently in my refugium til he learns to feed, not overly shy either and comes up to the glass. once hes feeding ok, he'll go into the display tank. also got a lawnmower blenny who will remain in the fuge. plenty of algae in there to keep him happy interesting fella, love watching blennies they have classic personalities! he is a BIG blenny, probably 4" long and fat! Will see if i can get some pic's up later. Any tips on keeping these guys?

:lol: nice one pies!!! whatever you build in, whether it be backup ups, alarms, battery powered pump for aeration etc please post it up here. i would be interested in doing all these.

you stated that i said 1. i did not say it would not work, i said "calcium reactors work better under pressure i believe" 2. i did not say it would leak, where did that come from?

i'd say 32mm would handle it, maybe go 40mm to be safe. i run 32mm out of my tank and do 4,500lph and it handles no problem. so as myself, suphew and pies have all said, drill your holes 10mm bigger than the hansen fitting. i think all hansen fittings are 'pressure' rated. its the plumbing that you need to ask about, non-pressure or pressure rated. pressure rated is thicker piping than non-pressure. make sure you get pressure rated glue too, as there is a pressure and non-pressure rated plumbers glue. non-pressure piping would probably be ok, but for the risk its not worth it. i use 40mm downpipe (non-pressure rated) from my tank down to the sump but use 25mm pressure-rated plumbing for the return and closed loop. imo there is little difference. through the bottom is out of the way but at the back is easier access. you wont see the back of your tank anyway so whatever is easier for you.