SnowHeart

Just wanted to add my own experience. I placed an order for 50 pounds of Marco Rock back in... gosh... late October? Based on what I read here, I expected delivery to take some time so I didn't worry about it (not too much, anyway -- I confess I wondered how the heck I was going to contest a several months-old Paypal charge). Anyway, my rocks finally arrived via FedEx Home. Included in my 50 pound box (actually 54 pounds) were seven good sized pieces of rock, very porous with lots of surface area, ranging form the size of a football to a soccerball. There was also a lot of rubble, a fair amount of which I believe was chipped off in shipment due to the not-so-tender ministrations of FedEx -- this will make good material for my fuge. On the whole, I was happy with what I got. If you're willing to wait for the shipment, it seems like a good buy for the money. (And my setup is probably one of the slowest ever... coming up on a year and a half, and I still don't have the tank or stand!)

Beady red eyes? Must be H-E-double hockey sticks spawn. Don't take the risk, kill it now before it consumes your entire tank and then comes after you in the middle of the night! (Sorry, haven't a clue, but interesting.)

Do you mean the overflows or the intake on the return pump? For the return pump I was going to use the supplied foam prefilter. For the overflows, I doubt any snails will survive in the main tank (snowflake eel??) but the overflow boxes (from lifereef.com) are also slotted around the rim to allow water in, and then there's going to have to be mesh, wire or something else cover the top so the eel doesn't get into it. Am I missing something? (deleted last part; brain fart)

Paul: Thanks! Really appreciate the help with the math there. (I think most lawyers go into their career not because they love the law but because they hate math.) Vader: I sent an e-mail to Danner yesterday (only address I could find was sales, though). Hopefully I'll hear something back. I think it's odd, too, but when I ran it through the headloss calculator on Reef Central it showed 1000+ gph even after the 4' of vertical 1.5" piping and everything else. (I seem to recall that's a loss of 350-400 gph from peak, or about a third... so maybe it does make sense.) Oh well. One way or another, it either works or it won't. And, once I finally get this thing setup, I'll be sure to share the results and probably start by own dedicated tank thread with the trials and tribulations.

Jason, finally came across this thread and was so excited as I read along... like many great stories though, it included a bit of tragedy. Very sorry to hear about your p. volitan. If you're up for it, please keep us updated on what you decide to do. Regarding the anemone problem you had, I wonder if the vertical space was just too small. This is coming from a complete moron on inverts, lighting, and sw generally, but if the anemones required a lot of light, they might have been competing for the "top spot" on your live rock... downside of the column is that there wasn't a lot of prime real estate near the light sources. If they just couldn't share that space, well...

I found the last sentence particularly interesting: "[These fish] are very edible,

Yup. I know. I scratched my head on it, too. The inlet and outlet on the Mag 12 are actually 3/4", but it says for maximum flow on the return the pipe should be twice the diameter of the outlet, so 1 1/2"... seems like a LOT of water to me, but... (Maybe I'm having a total brain fart?) If you follow this link and then look underneath the first chart on page 2, it says 1 1/2" is the MINIMUM size pipe for maximum flow. Says something similar over on Melevsreef.com discussing the closed-loop prototype he built:

Short Version: If the return line from the pump is 1 1/2", what size should the pipes be after splitting at a "T" to feed the tank? Long Version: After taking a closer look at what will be my return pump (a Mag 12), I remembered that it says you need a 1 1/2" diameter pipe for maximum flow. (This meant I had to scrap the idea of a SCWD with a 3/4" diameter.) So, the beginning of the return line is 1 1/2" and that goes up about 4 feet from the sump to the tank, then there will then be a "T" to split the return to a couple of outlets. Obviously, that pipe after the "T" doesn't need to be 1 1/2", but what size should it be? (I seem to recall that a 3/4" diameter actually has less than half the volume, so maybe it should be 1".) Thanks all.

Thanks guys. Two options to consider. (The closet is actually on the opposite side of the wall to the right of this picture, rather than the opposite of the wall behind the sink, so cutting into the drywall probably doesn't make much sense.) Brian, as for the workmanship... yeah. There is a similar plastic valve used on the toilet in our master bath. Guess what? It doesn't work. I think the previous owner did some bad DIY work... better than I likely could have done, but I still figure either do it right or hire someone else to do it for you. If I'm going to be futzing with this much more than just tapping in behind the valve as you suggested, I may just ask the hardware store what I need to rip out the whole thing and do it right. Anyway, thanks again guys. Helpful as always.

Here's a pic. After looking at this, I'm guessing I should be able to unscrew the flexible hosing, put in a short extension of some sort, and then reattach the feed to the faucet. Make sense?

I've been trying to figure out where in my condo to install a water filtration system. The only two options on the same floor as the aquarium are the kitchen faucet and the powder room. It won't fit under the kitchen sink and the faucet won't accept an adapter, so the kitchen is out. That leaves the powder room, which shares a wall with our coat closet. I was thinking of putting the filter in that closet, and running the feed through the wall to a tap off the powder room's cold water line but, when I looked under the sink, I saw that the line is actually flexible tubing, about 1/2" in diameter, solid white in color. Is there anyway to tap that kind of tubing, or install new tubing with a 'T' intersection to create a feed for the filtration system? I can provide pictures in a little bit if it would help.

Thanks! I'm guessing that means put the adapters on as soon as possible to quickly increase the throughput.

Okay, another question, and this regards the plumbing for my return pump. I'm looking at the outlet for the Mag 12 and read the instructions. The outlet is 3/4". Now, it says that for maximum flow, the pipe should have an internal diameter of 1 1/2". So, this is where I get confused. The pumps outlet valve is said to be a "threaded" outlet but it's not what I've generally considered threaded... meaning the grooves are parallel to one another, they're not angled so that something can be screwed onto it. I'm flexible between using vinyl tubing or PVC for the return, but I think I need to use PVC to get the requisite diameter and I have no idea how to hook it up the Mag Drive's outlet. Help!

Yup. I think for folks who are on city sewage, it's more likely to get out into open water.

Carl, In your build based on this design, do you have enough depth there to include a DSB or are you just going with a layer of substrate and the chaeto? P.S./Edit: Also, if you're using a Mag 5 return, it looks like you're going to have less flow than I will and thus a less turbulent sump. In light of that, perhaps I shouldn't use a DSB regardless. Hrm.

Actually... since we're talking about this... Obviously if a fish is dead, you throw it away and if it's alive you either find another responsible aquarist to take care of it or give it to an LFS. But... what is the proper way to dispose of plants? For something like Caulerpa, it would seem tossing it in the garbage disposal is not a good idea. Just put it in a landfill? Compost heap?

Eh, my username isn't that creative... just what I've always used since freshman year in college and what I've always used since for my "online presence"... I looked over your thread and am definitely going to try your plastic cup and book trick. Have you decided to go with a DSB in your fuge? (I feel like an idiot... I just saw your thread asking if 7" is big enough for a fuge!" Someone slap me.)

Jokes about Californian's aside, I do believe aquarists and anyone else who deals with the importation of non-native animals and plants has a responsibility to protect the environment from the irresponsible release of those species. We've seen it with snakeheads in the freshwater community, which has led to many states banning all species regardless of the danger they present. Plants can be no less devestating to a native ecosystem. It's an important note and one more example of how irresponsible disposal of unwanted species or waste can have devestating consequences.

THAT egg-crate is a really interesting idea. I wonder if I could achieve the same thing just by drilling a lot of holes (say, 1/4") in an acrylic baffle... Did you get an impression as to whether a DSB was feasible, or just go with a small bed of substrate and macroalgae? BTW... great name! ('Carl' is my name, too.)

The following is basically seeking advice on filtration (including a small fuge in my sump) versus convenience (a larger area to store water for the return pump). Advice would be greatly appreciated as this is both my first SW tank and my first DIY sump. I finally have my protein skimmer, skimmer pump, and return pump (both pumps are Mag 12s) and am trying to figure out a good design for the 29g tank I'm converting into a sump and (hopefully) small fuge. This will be going beneath a 90 gallon tank with about a 4 1/2' head. The tank is 29 1/2" long and 12 1/2" wide (minus thickness of glass). The skimmer is an EV-240, a bit bigger than I need but, as they say, you can't have too much filtration. So, the skimmer and the Mag 12 pump for it take a minimum of 10" of width, and I added 2" for room to manuever and extra water. Three baffles take roughly 2 1/2" (one inch between 1/8" thick baffles). The effective baffle height can only be 8" because of the skimmer's gate valve's height (which is 8"). So, this limits the depth I can allow for water in the rest of the sump. Because of the skimmer's height (about 24") I really can't elevate it within the sump without getting a custom made stand (something I can't afford to do). That leaves me about 14" of width to play with for a return and fuge. Elsewhere and much earlier, someone was advised to consider that the smaller the area was for the return pump, the more frequently they would have to top off the water. So, I'm trying to find a reasonable balance between that and maximizing my filtration potential. Without having done any real number crunching (math is not a forte), I think the best I can do for a fuge is 4.5" wide, 12" deep, and 8" high. Another option would be to put the return in the middle of the tank, with seperate overflows for the fuge and skimmer, and as a consequence I could increase the height of the baffle for the fuge, even if I couldn't get much more width. Question: Is a fuge that size worthwhile? If so, what for? I'd have liked to be a DSB in it but I don't think I'll have the space to make it worthwhile, so I'm thinking just some chaeto or other macroalgae.

I found a number of helpful tutorials on installing a GFCI outlet and one of them was helpful in terms of figuring out if you wired it correctly with the load-line deal if you don't have a voltage detector. It said once everything is installed and you've turned the circuit back on at the breaker panel, plug in a night light. The light should turn on. Then press the "Test" button. If the light turns off, you got the load and line wires correct. If the light stays on, however, you screwed it up and need to rewire it. Thought that was a helpful tip worth sharing in case folks don't want to buy yet more once-time use equipment.

Thanks flowerseller. I actually have installed ceiling fans in our new home so I'm not completely ignorant as to working with electricity (although, with one of the fans that turned into an extended project I did at one point forget to turn the power off and had an interesting arc of electricity and smell of ozone in the air... learned my lesson good). As long as the wires aren't all futzed up, I should be able to figure it out... If not, well, can always hire an electrician.

As someone in the process of buying all the various thinks to setup a money pit... I mean saltwater tank... this thread is VERY helpful in explaining the ins and outs of grounding. Just ordered a GFCI outlet and a grounding probe. Now... if only I can install the outlet without killing myself.

I'll definitely post it once I get started and I'm sure I'm going to need advice on plumbing, although I don't want to jinx it by getitng ahead of myself (already had to put it off for several months). Right now I'm leaning towards one of the stands from glasscages.com and then staining it a rosewood or dark cherry (try to get something that looks nice with the rest of our furniture without spending $1000+ just for the stand and canopy). I gather they have terrible customer service but...

Exactly right.