Rob A

I just moved about a mile but i'm odering a new acrylic tank that could take 8 weeks so I put all my livestock into a 150 gal tub with a 50 gal tub on top for coral. Since this pic I've added drain lines on the 50 where those 2 bulkheads are, light, skimmer, return pump, powerheads, heaters and an egg crate cover for the bottom tub. The plywood sheet is bolted to the top of the 150 to help prevent bowing. I will add some sort of ATO when I get a chance. This might be obvious but before you move make a box or bag to put your hydrometer, test kits, food, etc so you know where it is. I had partially packed my stuff but then movers finished it up and I'm having trouble finding all the little things i need on a daily basis. I have tons of fittings but couldnt find them when it came time to set this up. Also couldn't find my sawzall blades to cut pipe (I had the sawzall), couldn't find my pvc glue, or my hole saws to drill the tub, etc. So I had to go buy a bunch of stuff. Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

I would have used a 75 gallon on mine except that it would have been too tall for inside my stand and would have made it hard to get into for skimmer maintenance, etc. I also considered a 55 but after calculating the operating height of the water the amount of space left over for overflow during a power outage wasn't enough...so I came up with this other plan. As far as which one you should use it depends on a few things. A few things I would consider: -overall water volume-do you want/need more to increase stability? If you already have a 95DT then it might not matter much -overflow levels during a pump failure or power outage -room for equipment, skimmers, reactors, macro algae, etc -room in the cabinet-maybe you don't mind filling it up completely with a sump or maybe you need room for power strips, power bars, etc -thickness of the glass if you are or if you want to run an external pump. I just bought a used 300 gal that came with a 125 gal sump and external pump. The glass on the 125 is a lot thicker than a 40 or 55 so I am not worried about the stress on the glass of the bulkhead being connected to a pump.

My sump is kinda dumb...I have a 29 gallon tank and a 40 gallon breeder connected by two 1-1/2 pipes. The display drains into the 29 gallon also with two 1-1/2 pipes, then that flows into the 40 gallon tank where the mag-18 sends it back up to the display. I have this 1500gph overflow kit from glass holes that uses two 1-1/2 bulkheads http://glass-holes.com/1500-gph-Overflow-Box-Complete-Kit-gh1500kit.htm

Congrats! That is awesome!

The mag-18 is in the sump and at 5ft head moves about 1100gph (not counting the drop caused by elbows, etc) and that is all flowing through the sump. So the sump is seeing 1100gph or roughly 5x the volume of the display per hour. My total volume of tank and sump is around 270 if you don't subtract the displacement from rock and sand...so maybe I only have 220 to 240 gallons if you subtract the volume of sand and rock (just guessing).

I think the reason those numbers vary so much (5x to 20x) is that people forget that you can have flow inside the tank that is not related to the sump/return pump, and the higher numbers are needed for some corals. You can have a sump with 5x turn over and then have a display with 20x flow rates using power heads. On my 220 I have a mag 18 return (so, approx 5x) and then a Gyre 150 as well as 2 MP-40's which, if all of them were running at full speed it would be 40x flow. Some considerations for the sump flow rate...contact time for the skimmer and any macro algae. Bubbles from the skimmer need time to pop before they get sucked back into the return pump and pushed into the display, etc, so I wouldn't want too fast of a return.

I use extension cords. I have several 6 to 8 foot ones to make up the gap between where my controller is and where my lights are. I did have an issue once where salt water dripped on the connection where one of the lights was plugged into one of the cords and it smoldered a lot before I figured out where the smoke was coming from. So watch where the connection points end up, preferably keep them high or under something that will prevent drips from getting in the joints (prongs/socket) area.

Beautiful!

. You deserve the recognition and we can all learn form your experience. Also, your tank is beautiful.

Ah, the floss and mesh might solve the problem entirely. If not, you could try increasing the water height in the pump chamber to make the bubble trap taller, then slow down the flow until the bubbles aren't getting sucked down to the pump.

I am no skimmer master, as I have an Aqua C EV-400 that I run externally that I can barely get to work, but I also have an ASM G-2 that works like a charm... If your skimmer is brand new then it will take time to break in as there will still be oils and things in/on the plastic, even if you washed it first. If it was used it could still take time, but I would make sure the air lines and venturi (if applicable) are not obstructed by salt crud, etc. Tuning a new skimmer can be a pain. If it's working properly then at some point there should be a layer of discolored babbles on top of the bubble column. As far as driving up the height of the bubble column so that the top of it overflows into the cup, you'll have to experiment. I would make small adjustments and wait for at least a few hours before making another adjustment.

I don't think there is enough baffle area (bubble trap area) for your bubbles to rise and pop before they just get sucked in to the return pump.

I upgraded from a 125 to a 220 and just moved the sand and rock and water and fish over the course of a day. Didn't have any problems. I had to add more sand and used several bags of new sand.

I have an 80 gallon frag that is 4ft by 3 ft and a 220 display that is 6 x 2. The display has a sump that is twice as big as the frag sump but both loose a similar amount (the display looses a little more)- about 1 to 3 gallons a day based on the season (more in winter, less in summer). So 1% to 3% of total volume but when it comes to tank size vs evaporated rate I think the evap rate has more to do with total surface area than total volume.

Interesting observations. I wonder if fish excrete any hormones when their density increases that would trigger a reduction in growth in other fish as an evolutionary/survival tactic, since more fish means less prey. If someone discovers that, make sure they give me credit, lol. I have 4 lookdowns that I picked up at MACNA in my 220. Right now they are 4 or 5 inches long but can reach 16 or so. I'll let you know if they get huge. Supposedly they need a ton of swimming room but for the last 6 months they have been swimming in the same place, front left side of my tank. Must be a good current there.

Mag 18 on a 220 with about a 4 foot head and a couple elbows and whatnot, so I guess that's about 6x per hour. (Not counting the real volume after rock displacement...just based on tank size of 220)

Foxface's are supposed to like it. But as with any critter that is supposed to eat something in particular, you will find stories online about how some will and some won't. I was having a horrible problem with bryopsis and then hair algae in my frag tank. I added a foxface but also upgraded my RODI to dual carbon cartridges (both 1 micron) and now, a few months later I have none (well, the odd bit occasionally pops up here and there). Whether it was from the fish alone I can't say, but I still have chaeto in the sump that is growing so I don't think the decline of the other algaes was just from the cleaner RODI water. The foxface is not for small tanks though. I think the recommended size is like 125. My frag tank is about 80.

Also, location of power outlets and distance to panel in case you need to run more circuits.

Another issue is the name. The call it Louvered Ceiling Light Panel Lowes Item # 18429 Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

At my Lowes it's on the back wall by the ceiling tile. If you get the Lowes app on your phone it will tell you where items are in the store. I have found that useful for odd things like egg crate. I can't tell you how many times I've asked for help locating something and had someone tell me they don't carry it, and then I use their app to find it and discover they really do have it.

The pipe I have inside the tank goes almost all the way to the bottom, it's maybe 4 inches from touching the bottom. The piece on top of the tank is bent at an angle so the pipe inside starts at the top left where the uni-seal is and ends up at the bottom right side. Initially I tried heating up the pipe to put a gentle curve in it but I gave up and just stuck an elbow on it.

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Where the return line enters the top of the mixing tank there is a slip adapter and it is only a few inches below the top. Then the piece that runs down to the bottom of the tank with the elbow is just jammed into that slip adapter. I have it aimed so that the water just goes counterclockwise in the tank . Its not glued together yet. You could do something like that and try different configurations, try one out then pull it out and try another one, etc. I'm seeing some little vortexes on the surface when I have it in mixing mode. It's like little tiny tornados swirling around the surface, but they are tiny. Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

Mixing station so far... Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk