Carl

I do think it's a great idea to open up the side door...although I'm not sure if I'm ambitious enough to make a door. What I think I'm going to try...is assemble all the plumbing and electrical for a week long leak test in the basement...and then try working on the skimmer and see how bad it is. I figure I'll need to be able to install and remove the skimmer at least once per year??? You know...I hear people talking about cleaning their skimmer every month, emptying the cup 2x week. I figured everyone was anal...what I'm realizing now is my bakpak skimmer cup only needs to be emptied 2x month, because it takes a good 3 weeks for any skimmate to accumulate. With my GSA Shorty running for the past week on my "old" tank...I'm emptying 1/4 inch of skimmate every day! So I can see why I'll need to get to my skimmer at least a couple of times/week.

Last night I worked on the sump...glueing glass dividers for the over/under/over and the fuge. Using the Silicon I stuff...from what I hear...not toxic to the fish. The cups and books worked out pretty well holding the glass while the silicon dried. A question...as I've never had a sump before...and never had to deal with fighting for room under the tank...I have a question about which way to put the sump. Should I put it with the skimmer hidden behind the left side, or the Mag5 return hidden behind the right side? Should I assume I'll be doing more maintenance on the skimmer vs the Mag 5, and therefore should put the Skimmer dead middle, and "hide" the Mag5 behind the right panel?

Pictures? We want pictures!!!

Mike, what pump are you using into the OM? GPH?

Any pump would work...as their relay is rated at 1800 watts / 15 amps.

OK...from what I'm hearing...it's not wise to connect my RO directly to the tank...That makes sense to me...why increase the chances of a disaster if it can be avoided by a redesign. So, I'm back to a holding tank of some sort. I'll now design a holding tank in the basement, and pump it up either by a large pump (i.e. Mag12 or similar), or run it off of a dosing pump. Cliff- Yes, i would like to see your setup. PM me, and let me know your schedule...what works for you? weekday? weekend? mornings? evenings/ Steve - you're hilarious...I like the thread you wrote on your 5 gallon system! Who has a dosing pump...and is happy with it?

Remind me again...you've drilled 10 holes in what size tank? And all in the same pane of glass? I may do as you did...I already have 5 holes in the back of my 75...and am considering drilling 1-2 more...but fear disaster in a shattered pane.

Cliff - yea...maybe I should keep all my questions on the single thread for simplicity... I agree, putting the sump in the basement would make maintenance much easier. In your area, how do you top off? directly plumbed from your RO unit? or with a dosing pump and water storage tank?

I hate powerheads...my current 60 gallon tank (no sump) is cluttered with 4 powerheads, 2 heaters and a large bakpak preskimmer...and I just don't like the look. So, I'm working on ridding of all the equipment I possible can from the display on a new 75 gallon tank. I'll be using a dart/om 4-way, plus a single return from the sump/UV. For those of you that hate equipment in the tank as much as I do, what have you done? and are you happy with it? Would all 5 of my returns sticking an inch or so into the top of the water suffice? Do I need to run pvc up and over the back/top of the tank, back down inside the tank, run it toward the front of the tank, and angle it back at 45 degress toward the live rock? I would now see the pvc/equipment runnind down the back side of the tank. What do you think?

I will have a tank and sump on first floor of the house. I need to top off evaporated water...currently I won't be dosing anything...but may 12 months from now. I won't have room under the tank for a fresh water reservoir...the reservoir will be in the basement 10 feet below. What is my best option: 1) Hook up my RO directly to anAutotopoff.com solenoid that is powered on/off by an autotopoff.com double float valve switch in my sump. 2) Get some brand of dosing pump (which ones are good?) that will pump up or pull up the water 10 feet from the basement holding tank. I suppose this could be powered by an autotopoff.com double float valve switch in the sump? What is better/easier? push water up 10 feet or pull water up 10 feet? Do these dosing pumps to a good job pulling the water up 10+feet? I've heard good things about the autotopoff.com brand...if I go the dosing pump...what is a good brand to get? 3) any other good option? What do I get now...with the idea that I won't dose anything but ro/di water...but if I change my mind in the future, I can re-use what I buy now.

Vader...will do. I finally found some flex pvc this morning...and will start plumbing the CL tonight. And I'll continue to post lots of pictures. -Carl

I like what you did with the lights...T5 and VHO! I have the exact same project coming up in about a month. I have a 75 gallon, and an IC 660 ballast sitting in the closet. The ballast was running 4 VHO's but I'd like to do the same conversion you did! Where did you get the T5 parts? local? web? and can I borrow your wiring diagram? -Carl

And what is HDR?

Did you say that you're going to put a 1.5 inch return to your barracuda and into your OM? The Barracuda has a 2 inch input...I wouldn't feed it with a 1.5 inch pipe. -Carl

The Lowe's in Woodbridge has everything I needed!! I got the double union ball valves!!! I'm still out of luck with the flexible PVC...I've been waiting a couple of weeks for BRK to get some in...still on back order. In the meantime, I decided to hook up my GSA Shorty to the old tank...just for grins. I have the Shorty inline directly AFTER my skimmer. As you might expect...the Shorty has taken more gunk out of the tank in one day than my long standing skimmer of 5 years takes out in 10 days. Any my current skimmer has all but shut down production of the green stuff. Can't wait to get it hooked up and running on the 75! I called around today...someone suggested I go to a Pool supply store for some plumbing and piping supplies...so I may try that tomorrow.

I don't want to hijack this thread...but I do have a related question for NAGA. How do you clean the built up Coralline algae on an empty tank? Would soaking it in vinegar ruin the acryllic? I could put the tank on it's side, and leave vinegar on it for an hour or two...??? btw - with my 60 gallon acryllic, I've noticed the plastic Kent scrapers designed for acryllic still scratch my tank. I end up sticking my whole arm in the tank and use old credit cards once/month. Probably not a feasible option for large or tall tanks. -Carl

OK...points well taken...I'll try the Lowe's in Dale City...hopefully they have the double unions in stock. Has anyone used flexible PVC? I'm not even sure I've seen it before...Would it be good to use going from the OM back to the tank? 1 inch diameter. Or should I use the regular "stiff" pvc?

Would you recommend the Single Union Ball Valves? Here is a 2 inch single union ball valve for $9.00 http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=prod...&lpage=none

WAY cool !!

I agree with you...Two weekends, three Home Depots, and one lowes...and I can't find the unionized ball valves. I suppose I could order on line. Lowe's on-line has 2 inch ones for only $23. And 1" ones for $11. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=prod...&lpage=none http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=prod...&lpage=none Problem is...they say online that the store has them...but when I got to the store...no luck.

And I think I still need to go to HD again for a couple of pieces I'm still missing... :( More PVC pieces... And laying out some of the pieces to form the sump return to the UV, tank, and skimmer. Although I'm struggling with how to feed the skimmer? Gravity feed from the return to the sump? Or directly from the Mag5. Which is easier? And Is it easier to control one vs the other?? And the pieces...pieced together, not glued yet. I'll be using these American DJ "power strips". I won't be using any fancy aqua controller for now. Just a timer on the lights and fans. The Dart and OM getting dry fitted And trying to figure out how to plumb the UV. The connections are all glued, so not sure how I'll connect it to my return yet, as the connections are different sizes than my bulkhead and my return pump...I may have to buy two new 2" Sched 80 Unions, and use 1/2 of them to screw onto glued on unions on the UV. The 29 gallon sump and GSA Shorty squeezed under the tank. I'm not sure how I'm going to fit everything under there...sump, Dart, OM4-way, 2 power panels, a few timers, tons of plumbing etc....

I purchased my bulkheads and drill bit from BRK...and was succesful in drilling 4 holes in the back of my tank...no issues...no cracks...let's hope it stands up to the water pressure once it's filled. Then added the bulkheads. The two lowest ones are 1.5 inches for the CL The two upper ones toward the left are 1.5 inches for the drains to the sump. The one on the right was there already, and I'll use it for the sump return to the tank. It's 1 inch.

OK...back onto the 75 and time to post some pictures... Thanks to Eric...I decided to try dark blue adhesive vinyl on the back glass, instead of painting. Here is an extra piece of it sitting amongst the plumbing pieces. Eric any tips on how to apply this correctly?

My tank is acrylic. I bought it off a Marine Scene customer a couple of years ago. I forget the exact dimensions..but it's approx 9 feet long by 30 deep and 36 tall. And this is the last item that will complete our "tropical" basement project. I've been working on my basement for 4-5 years, as budget and time permits. I'm done with the whole basement now except for the fish tank, and part of the bathroom. The prior owner used the tank as a room divider, viewable on 3 sides. I'm converting it into a single sided view at one end of the basement. It will have it's own room...or at least share the room with the xmas decorations.

I think what Jeff is refering to...is that he wants to build me a sump for my 500 gallon tank...and wants to know when he can start cutting with his new toy! And the answer is...not sure...it all comes down to budget...my limited budget. You see I got the tank at a great price...and now everything else around the 500 gallon project is costing me a fortune...Just the materials alone for the stand, were twice the cost of the tank. And the skimmer was twice what the stand cost. But hey...if this hobby was about money, I would've quit long ago...