JC Pollman

Something to think about: you want redundancy. If you only have one pump and it dies (for what ever reason) you could have a very bad day. I am in the planning stage for my next tank, and it will have 2 return pumps with each being on a separate circuit.

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I have done full setups of both, and have settled on VHO for actinics, and T5s for day/par. Note: T5s are only better than VHOs when they have individual reflectors. Eventually I will be going to LEDs, but they have to come down in price a bit before I go that route.

I have given up on closed loop systems as they never seem to hold up for very long. In the tank I am building, I will use a Tunze pump with a DIY wavemaker controller. Here is a video And here is a link to building the controller: DIY Controller If you have LPSes, or softees, I think this is the way to go. Plus, the Tunze pumps are very low power users. JC

DSBs do not need to be an all-or-nothing issue. Make a remote DSB. I am planning my new sump to have a large DSB which can be taken off-line and replaced every so often. I should add that I had a DSB in my last tank - 6 inches deep. Even after 5 years it was never a problem. But one day I scooped out some sand with my hand, and boy, did it sink! I can not imagine what my fish and corals must of thought.

And at 4 feet head pressure - which is probably what the average sump will need - what are the differences? Reeflo makes great equipment, but not everything they make is for every situation. This intro price is also great, but if you do not need the head pressure, you are going to be paying a bit more for electricity.

I think when I was looking at the 2500 model, it was running about 200 watts, versus a regular DART at 100 watts.

Yes, I know we should not post links to other DIY sites, but this is a first rate setup and description of how put use LEDs as your primary (even sole) lighting for your tank - now, if I only had a tank.... DIY LEDs

Be sure to read the specs carefully - they are drawing twice the juice compared to the regular pumps, but they have much better head pressure.

Redundancy and safety should go hand-in-hand. Your power should be split into two lines, so if one goes down the other still works. Example: put your main pump on one line and your closed-loop pump on the other. Also, put half your lights on one line, and the other half on the other. When I say "split", this is not complicated: just split the wire when it gets to your sump (or fishroom) you do not have to run two wires from the main fuse box. Then, you should have multiple GFCIs (come on, they are on $10 a piece at the hardware store). If you only have one GFCI protecting each line, then when something goes wrong, and entire line is shut down - which also makes trouble shooting much harder.

As I plan my next tank, the wheels are moving (or perhaps grinding) at full speed, and I have tentatively come up with several key parts that I think will make a difference from the last tank. This one will be 84x30x24 and be a plywood tank again. I had a DSB in my last one, and it gave me problems, plus, at the 5 year mark, when I pulled a handful out, it really stank, so I want to avoid that again. But I also think barebottoms have problems too, and in the end, getting the gunk out of the tank is most important to a long term happy aquarium. I am thinking of doing the following: 1.Running the return water through pipes in the bottom. I will probably have 4 3/4inch pipes running the length of the tank. The idea is to have a vertical flow of water from the bottom to the overflows. I am planning on using a dart pump on this. The biggest issue I have with this right now is what to put between the pipes. Cement, like the kind used for DIY live rocks, would be ideal, but seems like an awful lot of work. I will put some plastic tubing in the holes in the pipes to keep the cement out

This is what it looked like before the wall went up, and looks the same today: Picture of aquarium

I have decided to build a new tank, so my old one has to go - your only cost is the gas to come and pick it up. The tank: plywood, glass front, 6 coats of epoxy paint. No issues with it. It is 5 years old. Measures: 96x24x19high. Might be a really nice grow-out tank. The stand: 2x4s - you are more than welcome to it as well. In the interest of making sure you know what you will be getting: if I were to set it up again, I would give the inside and outside another coat of epoxy paint - the tank does not leak, but moving it might stress things. The sand has been cleaned out of the tank, but that is about it as far as my cleanin efforts have gone - it needs a good scubbing. The stand is just 2x4s, I would recommend a piece of plywood or styrafoam between the tank and the stand. Also, I would put a couple more 2x4s in the stand as this is a heavy tank. The tank weighs about 200 lbs, I can help with the lift, but it really is a 4 man lift and my back is not going to let me do it with just one other person. I live in Burke and will be out and about the rest of today (Sat) but will be in all day tomorrow. If the tank is not gone by next Sunday, it is going to the dump. You can call me at 7 0 3 4 5 5 1 0 8 7

Few things get me as angry as heaters! I have posted this before, but it makes me feel better to post it again <rant> My opinion - based on my experience: Never trust the controller on a heater. Never! Spend the money to get a Ranco controller - you can get one for about $80 plus shipping. Rancos are industrial strength and I have never heard of one failing. I think heaters are the poorest quality piece of equipment we use in our tanks - and the controllers are the worst part of the heaters. They ALL suck! In the past two years I have gone through 6 heaters (four different brands - glass and titanium) - and only by sheer luck did I not loose any carbon based lifeform. Well, actually not quite luck: I have a thermometer mounted on the front side of my tank so I noticed the problems fairly quickly. I also use a grounding probe which was truely life saving during one of the heater problems. The worst problem I had was a heater that was always on, but its d@mn light was off! After getting the Ranco I sleep much easier. O, and getting a spare heater is also essential - though they will stick in the "on" position sometimes, they can also stick in the off position, so a spare heater, this time of the year, can be a life saver. Did I mention: I really hate heaters! </rant> JC

I built a plywood tank years ago, and now want to remove it to build a new one. The front glass is siliconed in, and I was wondering if there is any easy way to take it off. Not only would I like to save the glass, but the tank would be much lighter without it, and hence, easier to remove. Note: this is inside, and fumes can be an issue.

One of the problems with a big tank (mine is 200 gallons) is that a small pump just isn't going to make any difference. I might look into a good car battery with a converter - should be able to get me through 24 hours with just a couple of pumps going. I finally got up enough courage to turn on the lights and look inside. Dead worms everywhere. Surprisingly, the conch made it - but I think he is going to get lonely. Also, a couple of mushrooms and a fist sized leather also look like they survived. Anyway, they are going to be on their own for a while as I have no time, or inclination, to spend much effort on them. But at least the stink is slowly fading...

The storm this week knocked out our power for a day and a half - enough to kill everything in my fish tank: fish, corals, everything. Now, instead of a 200 gallon aquarium, I have a big stink tank - and boy does it stink. Some of my fish were over 5 years old. What to do? I am not going to do anything until after I finish the upstairs remodelling - which will probably take until August. I am just going to let the pumps run until then. Eventually I have to take all the rocks and the 500 lbs of sand out - not something I can do in a day. My plan is to rip the tank and stand out as I did not build the stand correctly and it needs to be replaced anyway. Then, I will either build a new tank and stand, or drywall up the hole and forget aquariums. I have some time to think about it http://picasaweb.google.com/jcpollman/Aqua...910638929750978

Something to think about: We all want to keep the gunk in suspension and then get it up and out of the tank via the overflow at the TOP. And how do we usually do this? We shoot water across the TOP of the tank - which then hits the sides and goes DOWN. Or, even better, we angle the water flow pointing DOWN from the TOP. And yet our overflows are all at the TOP!?!?! In other words, we are helping gravity by pushing the gunk down and defeating our goal. Soooooooo, after thinking about this for a while, I have a plan - of sorts. When I get around to building my next tank - probably next summer, I intend to run the return pipes to the bottom of the tank and feed some sort of lattice/matrix of pipes covering the bottom which will have small holes every-so-often pointing up. Which means, the water flow will start at the BOTTOM and move to the TOP where my overflow is. I have not quite figured out how I am going to do this as I would like a sand bed as well. I figure I will be able to run a pretty good sized pump, and with something close to an even distro of flow across the bottom, really crank up the gph flow. I will also have a CL to give the flow some variation.

DSBs are a blessing and a curse: I think they provide a great buffer (and help) for the filtration system, but, when they are in the tank you are stuck with them - and they do not last forever. My tank has been up for over 3 years and has a DSB. When I disturb the sand (rearranging things) the "crud" that gets kicked up is amazing - and it stinks just like a sewer! Unfortunately, the only way to fix it is to completely remove it - which is way too much work for me right now as I have 500lbs of sand. When I do tear down the tank (and replace with a new one) I will have a DSB, but external to the tank. That way, with the proper plumbing, I can take it off line and clean/replace it when necessary - while still getting all the benefits of bare bottom and a DSB. The whole controversy of DSB vs BB seems a bit silly to me: we want to get every bit of crud/bad-stuff out of our tanks any way we can. Using EVERY tool in our kitbag that we can (afford) seems like the ONLY real solution.

I have had these guys several times. From my experience: 1. I collected my first one when I was living in Hawaii. I netted him, and when I dumped him into my collection pail, he jumped right up out of the the pail, about groin high, and snapped! darn thing got my undivided attention!! Anyway, got him home and put him in a quarantine tank with a large crab. I was feeding the both of them shrimp when the crab jumped in front of the eel and grabbed the shrimp. The eel went nuts and grabbed the crab and they went round and round in the tank - pretty impressive fighting with water splashing everywhere. Eventually I got the crab out, but the eel did not eat for 3 weeks. Eventually he did eat, and eventually I put him in my main tank, and he never bothered anything. But, he did grow about a foot in a year's time. 2. I bought one on line. Lived for about 2 months - eating very well - and then went carpet surfing. So: 1. These buggers will jump! 2. They can go a long time without food. 3. Also, they have really nasty crud growing on their impressive fangs - do not ever ever ever hand feed them! From what I have read, they will not knowingly go after your hand, but they have very poor eye sight and could snag your finger by accident. But fif they do nick your finger, you are probably going to have to see a doctor and get some very powerful antibiotics to stop the wound from turning into gangrene - no joke!!!!! Feeding using a chop stick is the preferred method. 4. A moray eel in the tank, especially during feeding time, is a real crowd pleaser. If I could cover my tank better, I would get another one.

You can use this link to calculate how much you need. The Prestone Driveway Heat is the same as Dow Peladow: http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/chemcalc.html

Dowflake is sold in very large quantities - at least 40 lbs. A better deal is to go to WalMart and buy Prestone Driveway Heat - about $10 for 10 lbs.

I would only get the MAG if it is run submerged - I have had consistent bad luck with them run external. As for the 12 vs 18, I would strongly recommend the 18. Even if you dial it back for now, I am quite sure you will find uses for the added flow later. Also, MAGs are rated in a less than reasonable way and in real life they will likely perform lower than your expectations, so , again, get the bigger one.

My 2 cents: I think there are a variety of ways of reducing the "bad stuff" in the water, and it basically comes down to costs IMHO. There is an economy-of-scale based on the size of the tank, and so there is no one solution that fits every tank. Here are my thoughts, and costs for a year, for my 240 gallon system: 1. Water changes are probably the best over solution, as they permanently remove bad stuff. A 20% water change every week would equal ~$300 per year plus the cost of making the rodi water. Note: there is no start up cost. 2. Running granulated activated carbon (GAC) and replacing it every week: ~$100, plus a 10% water change every week: $150. Yearly total: $250. 3. Setting up a UV system: start up costs would be something like ~$300 for the UV Sterilizer and ~$50 for the pump. After that, all you would need is ~$50 for a new bulb each year. Plus $150 for the 10% weekly water changes. Yearly total: $200. 4. Ozone is used by all large public aquariums as, at that scale, it is by far the cheapest. However, for my setup: start up costs: ~$200 for the ozone generator, ~$200 for the air pump, ~$50 for the ozone reactor, ~$100 for the ORP controller. Yearly costs: $0.00 plus ~$30 for GAC and the $150 for the weekly water change. Yearly total: $180. A couple of notes: 1. You can spend less, or more, than the figures I list above, but I tried to make them reasonably consistent. You can also combine some, or all, of the above, but there are diminishing returns on your investment. 2. Your own time is also not entirely free. For example, if I were to do the 20% water changes a week routine, I would also invest in a setup that automates much of it - which adds more costs. 3. There are plenty of secondary benefits/problems with each of the above solutions, but I reckon that if any of them were really significant, we would all have switched over to just one method by now. 4. I did not add in the cost of electricity for each of these as it probably is not significant (compared to what we pay for our lighting), and is too variable to even guess at. 5. One last note: the above "solutions" and their costs, is how I would do it for my tank, and there is probably no one else who would do it exactly the same way - I offer the information only as a way to start comparting the various methods. YMMV.

i guess my point is: if you are going to spend $100 on a monitor, you might as well spend the $200 now and get a controller. In other words: spend $200 now for a controller, or $100 plus $200 for a monitor and controller. Getting a monitor is like getting a medium quality skimmer or light setup - in the end you will buy the more expensive/best quality equipment any way and spending money on equipment to get-by for now is a waste. I certainly went this route (monitor and then controller) and it looks like other folks have as well.