fogcutter

I've been following this thread on RC. This guy was building a system in a confined space and wanted a way to lift the whole assembly up for maintenance and access to his sump etc. Of course he has some mad fabricating skills and it's an awesome build.

So I have the luxury of time for planning my new/next tank. It'll be my first tank setup since I left the hobby / moved to VA 6 years ago. I was going through the gear that I had left and testing to make sure everything still worked. I found out that the custom 20 gal acrylic sump I had in storage wasn't as ideal as I thought....I'll probably have to add some baffles and make some adjustments.....no biggie. The rockin' return pump still works great but it's a monster and it's an external/dry pump but I see no reason not to use it. What'd like to know is: What do you think the best way to plumb my return pump with my sump? I don't have a problem drilling the sump but do I need to? Any thoughts?

Has anyone seen / used these for a setup? Seems like you'd only have to add some blues to have a dimmable LED solution. I'm not sure about this particular bulb but they list Cree's as the LED manufacturer on some of the other models. : EarthLED LumiSelect PAR38 Dimmable LED LumiSelect PAR38 The premiere dimmable PAR38 spotlight, LumiSelect PAR38 allows you to install a high powered LED spotlight in PAR38 form factor downlights or track lights and maintain full dimming capabilities. Utilizing 12-2Watt LED Light engines, the LumiSelect PAR38 can achieve light output comparable to a 100-120 Watt Spotlight while only using 24 watts of power. Specifications and Dimensions: Power Consumption: 24 Watts Light Engine: 12×2 Watt with LumiSelect Technology Input Voltage: 110~240 V AC (Worldwide) Luminous Flux: 1000 Lumens (Warm), 1200 Lumens (Cool) Color Temperature: 2800 K (Warm), 6000 K (Cool) CRI: 75 (Typical) Beam Angle – 45 Degrees Lifespan: > 50,000 Hours (MTBF) Construction: Aluminum with Integrated Heatsink Physical Dimensions: Overall Length – 5.08 in (129.17 mm), Diameter – 4.78 in (121.87 mm) Weight – 12 Ounces Base Types Available: E26/27 Great For: Spotlights, Down Lights Cost to run for one year – $7.01 Calculated assuming 8 Hours a day operation, 365 Days a Year with $.10 KWh Electricity Cost Just curious.

I couldn't agree more. Have you seen any pictures of natural reef columns? I saw one or two on a RC thread about DIY rock but I haven't found any good pictures of reef columns for inspiration.

I like the looks of those...might have to consider that and maybe combine with some MARCO rock. I'm kind of a dyed-in-the-wool rock wall kind of guy but I'm trying to break out of my mold. It might be silly, but my main concern while I'm planning my tank is to create something that is found in nature. I've seen a few pictures of come columnar rock/reef formations that those ceramic rocks could be perfect for. I'm still trying to find some real life pictures of some non-rock wall or mound reef formations.

The dimmable drivers would be controlled by most of the modern controllers on the market from what I've been reading. That's one of the main reasons I want to have a dimmable LED setup....so I can make that future controller that I just spend $$$$ on work for me.

And then I found THIS site... http://www.reefledlights.com/

Those LED fixtures look to be the frontrunners on my quest for a LED lighting solution. I'm not so freaked out about the cost...well yes I am...but I know that a DIY solution (the one I want anyway) would be just as much if not more. In my searching I'm finding "almost perfect solutions" for my future LED lighting but it always seems to fall one feature short or one parameter that's just not enough. My ultimate wish list would include a 36" size LED fixture sufficient for a mixed reef that has moonlight capability and can be fully dimmable for use with a controller but I don't think such a commercial fixture exists.....yet. The Maxspect has it's own timer / controller and the KEY doesn't look like it can be dimmed. Still looking though.

These guys are apparently 50% owners: http://www.fish-stre...category_id=118

Ok, I'm pleading total ignorance here...why do you need two PH probe ports? Are you measuring PH twice? Or are you using the probe port for something else?

Hmmm....that's sounds like a definite possibility. Thanks!

I am still in the planning stages for my tank and I'm thinking about what I want to use for LR. Since I wanted to have some caves I was considering making my own rock with the various recipes and techniques I've seen here and elsewhere. Then I had another thought....could I take some dry rock like the Marco stuff and drill or chisel some holes and caves? Or would you think it would be too brittle to do anything like that? Just a thought....

I had a Dragon that stayed in the sand for over a week. I thought for sure he was dead and gone then one morning he was just swimming around like he'd been there all along. I agree with the others....wrasses are awesome and half the reason I got into this obsession...errrr....hobby.

Those kits still look insanely complicated to me but I guess that's half the fun of DIY. I still recommend a couple of these: http://www.amazon.co...h/dp/B0002DKBE0 They can be mounted either way to operate an outlet/switch for high or low water situations. Or heck...just go Cadillac and get one of these: http://genesisreefsystems.com/products.php?cat=10

So while I'm more than ready to buy and setup a new tank, I've been getting some pretty serious push back from my significant other. Can't say that I blame her too much since I was such a noob when I set up my first tank and I'm pretty sure she remembers some of the flooding / water spills. So in a compromise I've decided to go lower on my tank size.....a 29 gallon or lower. However, I already own a custom made acrylic sump that's 30 gallons. So besides that fact that I'll be looking at my setup and thinking "this is just WRONG" all the time....does anyone foresee any problems with having more water (relatively) in the sump than in my main tank?

Good news all. I heard back from Eric and he says he's actually already updated that article a few time for the science / biology community. He's going to see if he can put something together for the reef friendly crowd.

I'm really interested in making some rock as well. Do you have any pics?

Certainly good advice. Another consideration I have is the size difference between the 10's and the 40. I try hard to hide most of my electronics and equipment and I think I'll have an easier job with the 10's. As for the upgrades, I won't be upgrading my tank until I upgrade my house and by the time that happens they'll have developed powerheads that hover by themselves and moved about the tank using artificial intelligence. I'm just glad these things exist...can't wait to own them. Now to work on a bank loan for that controller I'm looking at as well.....

This is indeed a great article. After reading it here I wrote to him recently (I've met him a few times) about updating it for this decade. I'd really like to see his assessment on new equipment and practices. The only good addy I had for him unfortunately was on the RC boards and I don't know how often he checks him messages there.

I prefer that myself. My old tank had 3 Maxi Jets on a wavemaker and that worked really well. So if I get the two MP 10w ES's and run them on the Anti-sync program I'm thinking that would pretty much rock!

Are you running them in the master/slave setup or independently? IMO that's one of the coolest functions about these pumps.

ok...after reading the entire product manual for the EcoTech MP 10 and 40 ES pumps I can safely say that these are the COOLEST POWERHEADS EVAR!!! H-E-double hockey sticks they even have pretty lights!! haha They are so over-the-top cool that I can't believe I'm considering dishing out over $500 bucks for a powerhead(s) My plan right now if for a 57g rimless. Will two of the MP 10w ES's be enough? Not sure if I'm going to have any SPS's but I think that these two would be enough. Anyone running anything similiar?

Do I need a controller? Which is an entirely different question than do I WANT a controller. I'm still in the research phase of putting my new tank together. Based on some good advice and suggestions I've gathered here I'm beginning to settle on the 57g rimless. Although I don't like where the drain is...I think I can live with it. I'm all about the atomization and constant monitoring of my tank through ph probes, temp etc but if I decide to go with an MP40 ES or even two MP 10 ES's then I don't need wave maker function of a controller. I'm probably going go with the PAR 38 LED fixtures with are not dimmable so I don't need the sunrise-sunset function and I have my own custom ATO system so I don't need that function either. And besides the water parameter monitors, those are the functions I've seen most advertised in expensive controllers. And a good chiller is going to have it's own heater controller built in so I don't need that function. So really I just need something to run some probes for ph, alk etc..and I love the idea of being able to monitor remotely. At most perhaps a moonlight timer which I can do myself as well. I just don't need the majority of the bells and whistles that most of the controllers come with. Problem is I don't like to do things half-way...if I decide to get a controller I want the "big dog" but obviously if I spend the cash on an APEX or something I won't be using most of the features and technology moves too fast to rationalize having it for a future tank. At this point I don't think I'm buying one at all. Is there such a thing as an entirely modular controller with just probes and remote monitoring? My research so far hasn't turned up anything but I'm still looking. Are there any other arguments for having a "big time" controller? Thanks!

I'm just about sold on these lights. I was thinking of using 2 of the 60 degree on my 57g rimless. I sure wish they were dimmable though.

There are indeed many ways to skin this cat. I saw the Aquahub kits and they look great for what they are but when you start splicing wires and using relay's its starts getting a little complicated for me. Particularly when it can be pretty simple. I built my own ATO a few years ago just using some parts I got off the internet and some ideas I had in my head. I had a 20 gallon tank for my fresh water reservoir with a MAG 2 pump inside with a some clear tubing going from my reservoir to my sump. I bought a float switch from an online site that was tailored for aquarium use...they are not expensive and are easy to find. The switch went inside my sump and was set for my maximum water level. It was pre-wired to a box outlet that plugged into the wall. My reservoir pump plugged into that outlet and was on an electronic timer to come on at a certain time once a day and go off approximately 2-3 mintutes later. So as the water level in my sump went down the float switch would activate. My pump would come on at the prescribed time and fill the sump until the float switch hit it's limit and turned it off. The 2-3 mintute interval was just to make sure that if something went wrong my reservoir pump didn't run all night and flood everything. Obviously you have to be a little creative with your tubing and water levels so you don't get an accidental siphon situation. I had it set for just once a day but with the right timer you could have it working several times a day. It's an incredibly simple system but it worked really well for many years. When I set up my new tank I'll probably use the same system but I might modify it a bit. I might not use the same pole type switch and I'll probably use more than one float switch and do some more automation.