Rascal

I agree with the 2x2xL recommendation. I just think 18" is too limiting as far as aquascaping. You will want adequate swimming room for fish, space b/n the glass and the rockwork for cleaning, space under the stand . . . As far as length, bigger is always better, but don't underestimate the cost. More rock, more sand (if you choose it), bigger lighting set up, bigger skimmer, etc. . . . it adds up fast. In other words, just keep in mind that the difference between a 120G and a 180G is much more than just the price of the tank & stand. At some point you may also have to start considering how your floor will support the weight. That said, I recommend you base your decision on what type of fish you want to keep - especially if you are considering tangs. If you have your heart set on multiple tangs, or one of the larger species, you will need the bigger tank. I went with a 2x2x5 tank and am very happy with the dimensions. It was a good compromise for my needs/desires/budget (although my wife wouldn't agree with the last).

I just got one from BRK last week and they had several more if I remember correctly. Price was just as good as you'll find online minus the shipping costs. Of course, if you're anything like me you won't really save any money by going there, b/c I can never seem to make it out the door of that place w/o buying another frag. Mine was used to mod my G4. Took about 1 min and was well worth it.

For the bubbles in the sump you've just got to keep experimenting -- as if you haven't already figured that out with all of this plumbing stuff. What I found works best for me is to have the drain pipe coming in at an angle, and then put another 45 degree elbow at the end of it. I position the elbow so that the opening is only about 1/2 submerged. The water ends up coming into the sump at maybe 10 deg below parallel. This way there is no splash or large bubbles, and really very little sound at all. I also have a T just above the elbows and I think this helps as well. As far as the pump, I have used the Quiet One 3000 before and while I was not satisfied with it overall (heat & reliability issues), I did find it to be quiet. I guess it just depends on what you are used to. Quiet as a powerhead? No, but this one will give you over 550 gph at 4 feet of head, which is about 100 gph more than a Mag 7 but with much less noise. A few tips to quiet it down: 1) If it's new this is probably not an issue but be aware these pumps are very-prone to calcium build-up so be sure to clean it regularly; 2) Either (a) put some foam or bubble wrap or something between the pump and sump floor/walls to stop the vibration of the pump from being transferred to the sump or (b) configure your plumbing so that the pump is suspended slightly off of the floor of the sump and not touching any of the walls; and 3) Use a short section of either (a) vinyl tubing with hosebarb fittings or (b) flex PVC after the outlet of your pump. If you have the pump hard plumbed with PVC all the way to your tank this is most likely the root of your noise issue. The PVC seems to almost magnify the sound of the vibration. Of the two ways of doing it, the vinyl tubing is definitely quieter but you will lose some flow due to the restrictions of the hosebarbs. Flex PVC has the same dimensions as regular PVC and uses all the same fittings, so there will be less head loss but a little more noise perhaps. All depends on what is easier, more important to you. FWIW, I would use a true union after the pump anyway b/c for ease of removal/maintenance. HTH.

I used Flexible PVC for the same reasons -- also reduces head loss due to friction if you've got a lot of turns to make. This is also available at BRK (Blue Ribbon Koi: www.blueribbonkoi.com) and online. I have some extra 1" if you just needed a few small sections, but Johnny also carries the right PVC cement for flex pvc and this is important (I think).

I know what you mean. There is something just so incredibly depressing when you see something so magnificent and so totally dependant on you suffer and die. It s**ks. Plain and simple. As far as eliminating failure points in the future, one thing I would add (in addition to getting a quality controller and using the controller on the heater as a back-up) is to use 2 or more smaller heaters rather than 1 larger one. It may be less efficient, but there is less chance of something really bad happening really fast if just one malfunctions. Just my $.02. Sorry again for your losses.

I had the same problem - combination of a wavy floor and then settling in the first 2 weeks. I used composit shims, about 2-3" apart all across the front and then hammered each one in a little at a time until I got everything where I wanted it. I drained about 1/2 the water out of my tank first. It was a royal pain but definitely worth it for piece of mind in the end. The nice things about composit are that they won't swell/warp when they get wet and they break off nice and clean with a gentle tap from a hammer and chissel. Good luck.

I installed a Calfo style horizontal overflow on my recently set up 150G from Glasscages. Erik is right -- all the way across the back will give you more surface skimming, but I went with only 24" across the back, 4" wide, and 6" deep. My tank is viewable from the front and right side, so the overflow is in the back left corner. I was willing to sacrifice some surface skimming for more in tank real estate. I have 3 x 1" drains through the back of the tank, I think about 3 inches down from the top. The top of the overflow box is about 3/4" from the lip of the tank (which is 1/2" thick), which puts my water level about an inch from the the top of the tank. I used slip-slip bulkheads. Outside of each bulkhead is a T fitting with a short section of pipe coming up which is topped by a cap. The caps have a 1/4" hole in them with airline tubing inserted with a silencer valve. I have experimented with various fittings inside the tank, but finally settled on this: The outside two drains have a T fitting, the top of which is open and the bottom of which has a strainer. The middle drain just has an elbow to a strainer. I have the flow adjusted so that the strainers are submerged (so no "sucking sound) and the water drops about 1 1/2 inches from the overflow. I opened the strainers up a bit with a drill, but when/if they get clogged anyway, the water level will rise until it hits the open tops of the two T fittings. This is my safety back-up. In theory, water will continue to drain through the unimpeded tops of the T fittings, while the loud "sucking" sound alerts me to the need to clean out the strainers. Now for the lessons learned part: 1st and foremost -- use bigger drains. This will give you much more of a safety factor and will help in noise reduction. If you look at the designs for the Durso & Stockman standpipes, both involve an initial drain through a larger diameter pipe which then necks down to a smaller diameter after a short distance. I don't know why, but this seems to really make a difference in the noise department. I had this design on my old system's standpipe and I never heard the water going down the pipe. In my current system I get the noise from the overflow which isn't too bad but I also get the noise of the water going through the pipe. I think larger diameter pipes would just be quiter overall. If I had to do it all over again, I would use 1.5 at least, maybe even 2". Make sure the overflow is perfectly level. If not, the massive waterfall on the lower side will never let you forget it. Thankfully, this is one part that I did not screw up. Use a lip at the bottom of the overflow. You can use this to place frags of some sort of encrusting coral -- zoas, gsp etc. . . . Or you can just wait for the coraline to grow. Here's a pick of my tank just after i set it up so you can get the general idea. I am hoping the whole thing will become invisible behind massive sps growth eventually , but first I have to deal with the massive HA I am experiencing currently. :( Sorry for the long post, but hopefully there's something in there helps.

A little OT but here's kind of a funny story: When I was in Iraq from 8/04 - 3/05, my wife (God bless her heart) looked after my tank the best she could. This meant lugging 5 Gal buckets around to do water changes at least once a week. The kicker is that we found out she was pregnant 2 weeks after I arrived in-country, so . . . you get the picture. 5' 2", 7 months pregnant, husband off to war, and there she was carrying 5 gallons of saltwater up the stairs and onto a chair to pour into the tank. How's that for dedication? The kind of funny part is that after I got back I put in a basement sump and automated everything. It just so happened that the plumbing had to pass over a utility sink. So I threw a T into it with a ball valve and now when I want to do a water change I just turn this valve to drain . Tubing from a MJ in my SW container feeds the sump at the flick of a cord switch. Another switch turns on the feed pump from my FW resevior to refill the SW container. The FW tank stays topped off with direct feed to float valve from RO/DI unit. I can change 20 G and prep new water in about 10 minutes just by turning 1 valve, flipping 2 switches, and adding some salt. Every time my poor wife looks at this she just shakes her head.

IMO you don't need the kit. It's one of the easiest DIY projects you could do -- if you are just doing the basic mod. I am using the stock Sedra 9000 that came with my G4+ and feeding it with a MJ1200. Works great for me. With 2 9000s on the G5 I would imagine you could just recirc 1 and leave the other as the feed and see what that does for your production. All you need is a hole saw and a short section of 1 inch PVC.

I use the PanWorld 100PX-X with Dandy mod. It is rated at 1270. My tank is also viewable from the front and right. The pump is fed by 3 drilled bulkheads: 2 in the back, 1 in the left panel. The return manifold just comes over the top of the tank in the back. There are 4 outlets, 2 in the back and 2 in the front, all opposing each other. Overall I am happy with it. The pump works great and with the mod it is extremely quiet. If I had it to do over again though, I think I would have gone with one of the Sequence pumps to get more flow. I have never used them myself, but everyone who has seems to think they are great pumps.

I know you are talking about camera stuff, but I just wanted to say that the color balance in your tank itself is outstanding. Truly a work of art.

I used the OR 2500 on my former skimmer (AM T 1000). Nice pump all in all, but I would have some concerns about using it as a return. First, I'm not sure how it would handle the head pressure. Second, and more importantly, I had a problem with them restarting. The first one was a little more than a year old. Took it apart. Soaked it in vinegar, scrubbed it, soaked it again, . . . Put it back into operation and the same thing happened. So, I figured it was just time to replace the pump. My new one lasted only 2-3 months before I had the same problem. If I unplugged it for any reason and then plugged it back in to restart it, I would have to partially take it apart and push on the propeller (while it was still plugged in) to get it going again. I haven't really heard much about others having the same problem (unlike the Quiet Ones, for example), but that was my experience.

It looks like that would be about a 40 minute round trip for me, so I can do it. What I would ask in return is tank-sitting for one long weekend in January (probably 12th-15th) and then most importantly the week of April 1-7. Let me know.

I think they are 1 inch drains and 3/4 inch returns, but I am not 100 % sure on that. What is connected to the bulkheads at the bottom of the overflows? Is it clear tubing or PVC? In either case the size may be marked on there (measured by it's interior diameter, or ID). If not marked an easy way to size it is to just take a piece of whatever size tubing/pvc you think it is and hold it up to what is there to compare. You can figure out the flow of your pump against head loss by using this calculator: http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php Re: the anti-siphon hole. Yes, if not cleaned regularly it will get clogged and cease to work. Solution is simple: every time you do (pick a task), stick a tooth pick in the hole. If your return is Tee'd to 2 outlets, I would put a hole in each one. Also, you just want to submerge the return lines enough to get rid of that splashing sound and avoid any vortexes, there is no need to stick them half way down your tank. HD and/or Lowes will have all you need for a standpipe, but not every store carries the same stuff so you may have to shop around. I think the guy or guys who invented them are now selling them already made, so you might consider this as well. As far as bulkheads and other reef-related plumbing stuff, your best bet is either online or a good LFS like BRK.

Did you have a GFCI hooked up? The reason I asked is that I have always considered this a back-up just in case I did have a problem with salt-creep getting in my light sockets. I figured that if it started to short out the GFCI would trip and cut the power before anything caught fire. My main concern is with the HD-style clip lights I have over my refugium: I do unplug them and clean them every few months, but still . . . Let's assume I got lazy/forgetful for a while, and then went away on vacation for a week. Should I be worried about coming back to nothing but smoldering ruins and overcooked seafood?

Erik's advice is solid (of course) re: using a balve valve and/or diverting some back to your sump. IMO, however, I wouldn't do either of these. To answer your original question, I don't think your pump is too powerful for a 120. As long as you have the drain capacity (and you do, if it hasn't overflowed yet) there is no reason to reduce the flow. In fact, if you do end up going with a SCWD, you may end up wanting to increase the size of your pump, or at least get one better able to handle the pressure . . . but that's another story. You will get an immediate, very gratifying reduction in noise and bubbles if you follow BeltwayBandit's suggestions. (1) submerge your returns below the water level (with a small -- 1/8 in -- siphon break drilled JUST below the water level in each one) and (2) put in a standpipe -- either Durso or Stockman, depending on what will fit in your overflows. There are lots of designs out there, just keep in mind the "what if" factor when deciding which one to use. As in, "what if this hole gets clogged with algae, snail, etc. . . ." Once set up they do require some tweaking before you get it the way you want it, but the final result will be well worth it. Good luck.

So will I, and so am I. Especially for any of you in the Alexandria, Annandale, Falls Church, Fairfax area, I really wouldn't mind keeping an eye on things for you. We will be in Puerto Rico the week of 4/1-4/7 so I wil be looking for someone to return the favor.

I like the wrasse suggestion, but another good option for you would be a royal gramma. Great fish. Very colorful. Fun to watch. Actually, IMO in your tank you could probably add both a small wrasse and a gramma.

Hmmm. A mystery then. Maybe you should scrub it out with bleach and rinse it well before filling it up next time, or better yet just start over with a new container. If that doesn't work the only other thing I can think of is to run a bunch of tests on your rodi water. I can't think of any reason that a sealed container of pure water should start smelling unless something is being added to it somehow. So, either the water is not really pure, or the cat is pi**ing in your trash.

If you are talking about your mixed salt water then yes, you should definitely keep a pump running to circulate and aerate it before adding it to your tank. If you are just talking about your fresh water resevoir though, I am not sure this will solve your problem. I don't have any circulation pumps in mine, and it has never smelled like cat pee. Have you tested it for ammonia to make sure that is indeed what you are smelling? If so, my guess would be you are somehow introducing a nutrient source into the water. If your RODI is new and set up properly, I doubt this is the source. Maybe airborne? Do you have a top on the container? Was the trash container used for anything before this?

Anyone know of a good place to get this stuff locally? I have been using CC in my reactor but I am concerned I might be adding too many phosphates that way so I want to try something new.

In addition to those named above: Petland (Pickett Shopping Center, FFX) Vienna Aquarium & Pets, Mill Street, Vienna Centerville Aquarium