beatle

I planned to build a manifold on my current setup, but quickly found it useless due to the lack of space under the stand. I can see how it would be helpful if you have the room, however.

Seems like if I budget for 12' of head and two 90 deg fittings, my overall head loss will be just over 13'. That puts a mag 12 at only 300gph, but a mag 18 will still be at 660 which is more than I need. My Eheim 1260 is rated for 600gph at 0' head, and is probably only giving me ~400 gph right now. As far as the humidity goes, I know the consequences of high humidity (mold, corrosion, condensation, etc.) but why does humidity become an issue in the basement, yet it's generally not a concern elsewhere, such as in the display? Temperature difference?

Wow, lots of great advice so far. Keep it coming! I really only need/want about 500-600gph going through my display anyway. Depending on where I locate my sump, I will only have about 11-12' of head pressure to overcome. I think a mag 12 could do what I need, a mag 18 would handle it no problem. I prefer having submersible pumps as it's one less thing to fail. I've read that some people's temps drop 4 degrees when moving the sump to the basement, so I don't believe the added heat of the mag pump will be an issue. Also, if I place the 75g tank on a stand, the pump can be self-contained within the sump. Are power costs that high in VA? My calculator does not show that big of a difference. I can double check when I get home. Good to know about the pipes in the wall. Drywall is easier to patch than flooring, and I have plenty of flex PVC to use. I do own a dehumidfier, but I'd prefer not to use it if I don't have to. Maybe this is a dumb question, but why is humidity a big issue in a basement but not on any other floor? Lack of circulation? I've also seen several people use the Rubbermaid stock tanks as sumps, but I don't see a way to create a refugium within one, at least not with a sandbed. I'd also like to have the ability to see in from the side. Maybe these are more useful if you're running a dedicated refugium?

After my near catastrophe with the sump under my 120, I'm strongly considering a basement sump. I know I'll need a stronger pump than my Eheim 1260 (Mag 12 or 18?) and I'll have to drill holes in my floor, but other than that, any advice? Most of the threads on RC are encouraging, but some people hate the humidity. My basement isn't damp to begin with, so I'm not sure if I'll have that problem. If I pull the trigger, I'll likely run a 75g as a sump/refugium combo, though I do wonder about having multiple tanks. I'd consider a drilled 75g with another tank below, perhaps as a refugium. Thoughts? Anyone have any sweet basement sumps nearby?

I think the crisis is over for now. I drained the sump and display into a couple 55g drums until the display was about 1/3 full, and slid the tank away from the wall. I emptied the refugium's DSB and pulled the sump out the back of the stand. I actually had a spare 40g breeder lying around that I hadn't sold yet, so I am back in business, at least for now. I'm strongly considering cutting a few holes in my floor or possibly running pipes through the wall into the basement. The tank is relatively new, so hopefully I won't have a mini cycle.

In preparation to give away my GSM that has been hanging out in my sump for the past month, I went to check on her this afternoon. I noticed there was a large crack in the front of the 40g breeder I'm using as a sump. The outside is wet along the crack. I've attempted to put silicone on the crack to keep it at bay, but I need to replace it ASAP. I cannot get the sump out of the front of my stand, it will have to come out the back, and the tank will have to move away from the wall. I'm guessing I'll need to drain the water out of everything to have any hope of moving the tank. Any other advice?

I actually picked up a jug of distilled to use as a container for adjustments to my sump level after acclimation. It was 0 TDS, just like RO/DI. I thought GFO needed to tumble to keep from solidifying into a block?

Super Smash TV for me: I don't dose anything, but there's still more than one way to skin the cat. It's actually easier most of the time to not dose.

Must not be quite as thick. To easily break off a piece of frozen, it needs to be huge to get the leverage I need, or I need to apply the tip of sharp knife and a hard tap on the handle to snap off a chunk. Hopefully the entire batch has not spoiled. I don't think I've left it out.

Hmm, I had no idea that would cause the issue. I guess I should have broken it up when I first got it? Is that the method? Trying to break off tiny chunks from a solid block is a chore. My mysis thawed on the long trip back from BRK, though I tossed it into the freezer when I got home.

It didn't do it at first, only recently. When I feed Scott's food, I just hold the bag in the tank until enough melts to break up and feed the fish. I take the bag out and let the excess water drain back into the tank, then I put it back into a second freezer bag and toss it back in the freezer. With mysis, I just soak a cube in garlic for 5-10 minutes, then dip the container in the water to distribute the shrimp. Doesn't seem as potent as the mixed frozen, but still noticeable.

I'm a huge fan of Scott711's food. My fish go absolutely bonkers for it; even my picky coral beauty angel devours it like she's on death row. I also feed PE mysis a few times a week, sometimes soaked in selcon and/or Kent's garlic. The issue I have is smell. Even with a fresh cup of ROX carbon in the reactor, my tank will stink up the room for several hours after feeding one of these frozen foods. Does anyone else have this issue? If so, is this just the nature of the beast or is there anything else to do to mitigate this?

I've always been a fan of midas blennies. Great color and personality. Plus, how can you say no to this face?

The LM3 is rated for 250ml/min which works out to about 4 gph. That's pretty low. I topoff 9.5 liters per day, split into 150 increments over a 24 hour period. That means each time it tops off the tank, it's providing only about 63 ml of water. I'm pretty sure that's low enough not to kick up sediment at the bottom, especially since the inlet tube doesn't extend all the way down. I might try less kalk next time.

I knew pH would rise, but I wasn't comfortable with the rate at which it was shooting up, possibly due to the fact that I had undissolved kalk powder in the effluent. How about refilling the reactor? According to the calc, I should add 2 cups every 2 weeks given my evaporation rate, but I didn't see anything about having to take the reactor offline for a period of time during refills.

Last night I put my gargantuan GSA/Avast kalk stirrer online. I evaporate ~2.5 gallons/day on my 120, topped off by a LM3. According to the kalk calc, I should add 2 cups of kalk powder initially, and then every 2 weeks to the reactor. I added the two cups of kalk, then poured in a little more than 2 gallons of RO/DI into the stirrer, put the top on, and plugged it in. I waited a few hours for it to settle down, which it did partially. I then moved my ATO tubing onto the stirrer to dose kalk. I noticed my pH rose relatively quickly (from 8.17 up to 8.29) so I pulled the line off the stirrer and put it back on my tubing holder in the sump. I'm looking at the stirrer and thinking "this is too cloudy." I've seen some reactors where the effluent is almost completely clear. Did I do something wrong, or just jump the gun on getting the stirrer online? Here's a pic from this morning, about 12 hours after I set up the stirrer:

Just now saw this thread. Looks great, Ian, especially the water storage tank! I may eventually do something like this when I finish my basement.

Interesting. My new midas blenny had what I believed to be HLLE for the past few weeks, just a day after I added him to the tank. I run BRS ROX 0.8 carbon in a BRS reactor (about 3/4 cup). It was rinsed well before starting the reactor's pump. The blenny seems to be making a full recovery now, and I've fed a lot of Scott711's high quality frozen food (blenny has always eaten well.) I'm wondering if I misdiagnosed the blenny with HLLE or if he had something else? I still like carbon, but I'm glad I started with a good brand.

Not sure how close Jan is to you, but I have ~30 or so for you in West Springfield. I also have premixed saltwater.

I had no idea that UV needed such high flow rates. I have a 40w Current Gamma UV that I was thinking of hooking up to my 120, but even at full tilt my Eheim 1260 won't even be half the flow I need.

I do have an AC3. Part of the reason I started this thread was researching at what temperature to turn my lights off and send an email. I only run my lights from 4pm - 11pm. The staggered photoperiod with one light on and one light off (same day) would be interesting, but I run a dual 250w ballast with one power cord.

Well this is somewhat of a relief. I'll still keep an eye on the tank, but I don't feel so bad about the temperature rising to 82. Hopefully the temps stay relatively stable throughout the summer.

Yeah, I've considered dropping the regular temp, though I can't go much lower than 78 in the summer as ambient temperature will be close to that. I may add an additional fan over my sump. This worked well enough on my 90 w/4x54w T5s and a much shorter canopy, but that was less than half the wattage! I really don't want to deal with the additional plumbing and placement of a chiller. If I thought this was a possibility, I would have just plumbed the sump into the basement.

With the recent temperature spike the past couple days, I've kicked my AC on for the first time since I've had my new tank setup with 2x250w halides. I have two clip on fans blowing into the back of my canopy (wish I had a push/pulll setup) to aid in dissipating the heat, but temps still rose to 82. I typically keep the tank @ 79, and the thermostat in summer is around 77-78. Is a 3 degree swing too much? If no, what is too much, and how warm is too warm?

I actually already have a spare tee. I guess that's what people use?