Sam's 75 Gallon Cuttlefish Tank

[L8 2 RISE]

Thanks very much for coming over, it really did help (hopefully that shows in the new and improved design). Sorry if I kept you longer than you wanted to be kept, but it really did help. .

 

And that brings me to the new and improved, and hopefully nearly final plumbing design. The closed loop will obviously be in the stand, but it was just easier to draw this way. Does anyone have any suggestions or comments here?

 

[ReeferMan]

looks alot better, go for it!

[paenian]

The only thing I'd suggest is a bubble trap in the refugium - bubbles are evil, they'll eventually coat the world in salt. I recommend a trap with a lid section, so all bubbles pop under the section and only spray the lid. I suppose that some salt creep is inevitable, but I still fight it!

 

Paul

[stevearlen]

.... Does anyone have any suggestions or comments here?

 

 

 

Very nice progress. This is much better. In any case, I suggesting waiting a bit to hear from others with more expertise than I have.

 

Steve

[DaveS]

Question, with only one hole being used as a drain in each overflow, is there a risk that bad things will happen if that drain gets clogged?

[dbartco]

I would say you really don't need the ball valves on the overflow going into the refugium. You don't want to restrict flow there, and turning off the return pump will stop the water. Keep them on the return to the tank to restrict if you need more in one tank or another.

 

I have also heard that if snails or anything like that can get suck on valves if they go ride the slide out of the tank. Blockades mean flooding.

[L8 2 RISE]

ok, thanks for the feedback!

 

The ball valves on the overflows to the refugium have been scratched .

 

If the snail thing could happen, what should I do to prevent? should I just put nets on the end of all of the pipes?

 

I'm going to wait for a real experts advice for DaveS's question, but as far as I know, most people only use one hole for an overflow. But as you say, a blockage could lead to a serious problem...if the 75 overflow is blocked, that means all the water drains from the 40, ends up on the floor, and alot of water from the sump and refuge... I've actually been thinking about all of these problems with overflows, is there a device out there, or is there one that is buildable that can be mounted on the aquarium and be plugged in between the appliances and the outlet that could shut everything off if it is triggered by water touching it, so if the water starts to increse to the point of overflow, it would shut everything off?

[ReeferMan]

I have never had a blockage issue with my single overflow but then again its 1.5 inch pipe. No snail going to clog that badboy!

[paenian]

ok, thanks for the feedback!

 

The ball valves on the overflows to the refugium have been scratched .

 

If the snail thing could happen, what should I do to prevent? should I just put nets on the end of all of the pipes?

 

I'm going to wait for a real experts advice for DaveS's question, but as far as I know, most people only use one hole for an overflow. But as you say, a blockage could lead to a serious problem...if the 75 overflow is blocked, that means all the water drains from the 40, ends up on the floor, and alot of water from the sump and refuge... I've actually been thinking about all of these problems with overflows, is there a device out there, or is there one that is buildable that can be mounted on the aquarium and be plugged in between the appliances and the outlet that could shut everything off if it is triggered by water touching it, so if the water starts to increse to the point of overflow, it would shut everything off?

 

Float switches. Most people only have one to turn on at low water, but you can get a NO (normally open) switch that'll turn off at high water. Mount several inches above the normal overflow height and you're all set. It'd be slightly nicer if you had one pump per tank, but as long as there are some powerheads & live rock in the breeder it could go without filtration for a bit.

 

My (cheap) solution is to have a giant coarse filter around my overflow, a 4" PVC pipe with lots of holes wrapped in filter floss. As it gets clogged, the overflow level rises & more holes are available for the water to flow in. Change it once a week, or if the water level's a bit high for your liking. Bonus: swap it out with a micron filter to remove fine particulates - but you need to change that one more quickly.

[tbittner]

I would say you really don't need the ball valves on the overflow going into the refugium. You don't want to restrict flow there, and turning off the return pump will stop the water. Keep them on the return to the tank to restrict if you need more in one tank or another.

 

I have also heard that if snails or anything like that can get suck on valves if they go ride the slide out of the tank. Blockades mean flooding.

 

 

 

That's a good point! I never thought of snails getting hung up on the ball valve. How do you control the flow to the fuge then? The flow through the fuge should be controllable and slow. Although, I just put a large screen basket on the inside of the bulkhead and I've never had a problem.

 

I have never had a blockage issue with my single overflow but then again its 1.5 inch pipe. No snail going to clog that badboy!

 

 

 

Sam's overflow drain is a 2" drain. LOTS of room for capacity.

Edited July 12, 2008 by tbittner

[dbartco]

That's a good point! I never thought of snails getting hung up on the ball valve. How do you control the flow to the fuge then? The flow through the fuge should be controllable and slow.

 

From the diagram, everything is going through the fuge, so why a need to restrict anything? Seach rc for problems Chris, you'll find plenty examples of things accumulating on open ball valves. Why push it.

 

Float switches. Most people only have one to turn on at low water, but you can get a NO (normally open) switch that'll turn off at high water.

 

Just mount the switch upside down...

[L8 2 RISE]

Time for a little update!

 

I haven't really moved anywhere on this project, just saving up and planning for the most part, but now I'm about ready to start spending

 

Bob (YBeNormal) has agreed to build the stand for me and I'm really looking forward to what it will turn out as. I've decided that instead of going with the 40 breeder, I've spoken to NAGA and he has agreed to build me a custom 60 or so gallon tank with the same footprint (36X18).

 

I don't know if I'd mentioned it before, but I'm planning on going with a bubblemaster skimmer. I've finally saved up enough to buy whatever model I want, but that's what creates a sort of problem. I haven't decided what I'm going to put in each of my tanks, but I know for sure that one of the tanks will have cuttles and the other will have either an octo, a different species of cuttle, or a reef. My system will have about 200 gallons in it, and the bubblemaster 200 is rated for "aquariums up to 250 gallons", the 250 is rated for "aquariums 500+ gallons." I can't decide what to do because you're supposed to go "over board" on skimming for ceph tanks, but the 200 isn't over board enough and the 250 could be too overboard. Over on the cephy sight, they suggested the 250, but they also said that they had heard over skimming can be bad for hard corals, so that would mean no fully blown reef for me. What do you all think? What should I do and what would the effects of over-skimming be?

 

Also, This weekend I'm going to set up a temporary tank in the form of the 50 stock tank that I plan to use for a refugium. This is so that I can get my rock cycled, and take part in all of these awesome sales that I'm missing. I'm going to be using a euro-reef RS-80 on that tank, and a Small T5 24" dual light fixture.

 

Thanks in advance for the advice,

[Vader]

Sounds very exciding, I can wait to see the pics as you move forward with this tank build.

[L8 2 RISE]

I got the 50 stock tank up and running, below are a few pics. I ended up picking up LR as well as the skimmer and lights from dhoch on Saturday and then stopped by Mr. Coral and picked up a couple frags. I'm having trouble with the skimmer though, it's creating a LOUD gurgling noise through the air intake tube, and it's not skimming the dark, gloppy, nasty stuff that I see from all of your skimmers. Instead, it's just a dirty water type thing that is filled with little pieces of "crud". Any suggestions? The "crud" and skimmer are shown below...

 

 

really nice zoa's that came on the LR and were out of the water for the ~12 hrs it took to transfer the rock and still servived!

 

What are these? they too came on the LR and have a sort of pink base that they're growing out of?

 

"tinker bell" coral from Mr. C

 

Toadstool from Mr. C, it was white and now, under the lights, is turning pink...

 

The LR

 

The Set Up

 

ETS80 Euro-Reef, what's wrong with it?

 

Typhoon III = AWESOME!!!!

[MisterTang]

What do you mean, "What's wrong with it"? It looks like it's producing...

 

What are these? they too came on the LR and have a sort of pink base that they're growing out of?

Looks like Green Briarium, commonly called long GSPs. The pink base is the mat/stolon.

 

The zoas may be watermelon zoas, but I'm colorblind and so can't really hazard a better guess than that. I would be happy to take a frag of it for further examination, just to be sure

Edited November 26, 2008 by MisterTang

[capsfan]

really nice zoa's that came on the LR and were out of the water for the ~12 hrs it took to transfer the rock and still servived!

 

me likey

[L8 2 RISE]

What do you mean, "What's wrong with it"? It looks like it's producing...

 

 

Looks like Green Briarium, commonly called long GSPs. The pink base is the mat/stolon.

 

The zoas may be watermelon zoas, but I'm colorblind and so can't really hazard a better guess than that. I would be happy to take a frag of it for further examination, just to be sure

 

I'm having trouble with the skimmer though, it's creating a LOUD gurgling noise through the air intake tube, and it's not skimming the dark, gloppy, nasty stuff that I see from all of your skimmers. Instead, it's just a dirty water type thing that is filled with little pieces of "crud". Any suggestions? The "crud" and skimmer are shown below...

I said at the top of my post....

 

And the next time you're in the area, I'd be happy to give you as big a frag as you want after the help you've given me... just PM me next time you're around

[MisterTang]

Whoops, missed that while I was ogling the zoanthids.

 

Sounds like it's running too wet. In reality, most of the skimmers I've seen produce this, Sam - that is, the little brown specks. Mine isn't like a crap geyser that spews skimmate. Lots of these bubbles collect and pop, and when they pop, the crud falls into the skimmer cup. As the skimmer continues to run, the water gets consistently darker. Let it run for 72 hours and then post what it looks like. In the meantime, start Googling your skimmer name and see if anyone has experience on adjusting the intake to produce a thicker skimmate.

[L8 2 RISE]

Question, should I be feeding? Do I have to feed any of the corals that are in there? I plan on getting a clown or some sort of small, easy fish from one of the Black Friday Sales in two days, would they be fine on the "left overs"? could the skimmer not be producing "anything" because I'm not feeding?

[davelin315]

a crap geyser that spews skimmate.

 

That's the best description I've ever heard for a skimmer!

 

I'm going to do a CG scale for skimmers from now on.

 

Sam, I'd say that on the CG scale, yours is about a 5, or a decent production skimmer at first glance. Don't worry about it not being a high level CG skimmer for now, you just put the rock in the tub with brand new water so there's probably not a lot of organic matter in there to be skimmed out. It is running wet, as well, though, if you're getting too much water in the collection cup. Basically, just lower the level in the skimmer. The foam beneath the lid is a telltale sign that it's producing bubbles efficiently, the water in the cup just means your level is too high. Run it "wet" for a few days where you're simply allowing it to break in and let the skimmate all flow back into the skimmer. After it's been running for a few days, dial the water level back until you get the bubble column about mid-way up the skimmer neck and then fine tune from there. One problem you'll face is that with the tub, the water will fluctuate and so the skimmer level might as well (I'm assuming non-recirculating no feed pump except the skimmer pump right now).

[MisterTang]

Question, should I be feeding? Do I have to feed any of the corals that are in there? I plan on getting a clown or some sort of small, easy fish from one of the Black Friday Sales in two days, would they be fine on the "left overs"? could the skimmer not be producing "anything" because I'm not feeding?

 

 

What kind of lights do you have 'em under? You 'can' feed those corals, but they're primarily light-feeding.

 

Also, it's entirely possible that your skimmer isn't producing anything because you're not putting anything in. I actually asked the same question back in June, and sure enough, it didn't produce anything until there was a bioload.

 

Aaaaand now I'm embarrassed.

[L8 2 RISE]

2x24w geismann 6000k midday, and 22000k actinic+...

[MisterTang]

Ok, you don't necessarily need to feed them, but as mentioned before, you can. They will probably accept small pieces of mysis (the stuff left over after you thaw a frozen cube of 'em), or you can also use dried phytoplankton once a week. I've got a little baggie of it you can have when I see you next.

[MisterTang]

Ok, so it has been a couple of days. How's the skimmer doing?

[L8 2 RISE]

 

The skimmer is working better, still a little wet, but it's working...