For Aw2, And Some Open Questions

[psusocr1]

AW2,
im not tryin to suck up to you or anything but people are always comin down on you as if you were really an

[hr]
.. Me, personaly, and looks like alot of other members think your class act. You always respond to my posts quickly with good advice and your usually the first one. Sometimes people dont like to hear the truth though, i know sometimes i dont but its good advice! And thank god you have a great attitude about peopel always raggin on you too cause if it were me i might get a bit upset you always keep your cool.
Anyway enough braggin bout you...Kepp up the good work and thanks for all the help you have given to me
Now to the questions...
1. I finally got my tank all setup with some exceptions. so without further a do. tell me if this is right... in my wet dry there are 3 chambers the dirty water in chamber # 1 dripping over to the bio balls in chamber #2 then to the clean water (return pump) in chamber #3. i have a large out of sump protein skimmer. The skimmer pump should go into chamber #1 and drain into chamber #3 correct??
2. in my overflow box the 2 pvc pipe's actually in the box with the water sucking the water down i think are too long. because every soo often you can see it suck a little air, and also it will spit the air out in my wet/dry(very loud and annoying)should i trim these down somehow?
3. I have 50 pounds of base rock in my tank and im going to add another 40-50 pounds of live rock( as soon as anyone wants to sell me some) how long (i know all cycles vary) will or should my cycle last?
4. For the aggressive setup that i want to achieve i was wondering about the flow in my tank. My return pump is putting out about 600 gph, i have a 800 gph powerhead in the right corner and a 1000gph powerhead in the left corner is this overkill? will fish be able to handle this much water movement..the water movement looks powerfull in the tank?
5. my salinity is at 1.017...a bit low, so should i just keep adding gradually and testing??
alright enough for now...
Thanks in advance!!

:jumping:

 

[aw2]

1. I finally got my tank all setup with some exceptions. so without further a do. tell me if this is right... in my wet dry there are 3 chambers the dirty water in chamber # 1 dripping over to the bio balls in chamber #2 then to the clean water (return pump) in chamber #3. i have a large out of sump protein skimmer. The skimmer pump should go into chamber #1 and drain into chamber #3 correct??You are correct, from the sounds of your setup.
2. in my overflow box the 2 pvc pipe's actually in the box with the water sucking the water down i think are too long. because every soo often you can see it suck a little air, and also it will spit the air out in my wet/dry(very loud and annoying)should i trim these down somehow?
One of the pipes should be longer than the other. In the event of a blockage, the water level in the overflow box will rise. That longer pipe will then kick in and water will drain through that, to stop an overflow. The bad thing about using overflow boxes is that are noisy...no way around it. You could try fitting a filter sock or a piece of foam over the drains, in the box, but they may not be able to drain water fast enough and the water level will rise, in the overflow box. It's really a trial and error situation. Put the foam or filter sock on the pipes and then watch to see if it'll drain correctly and then adjust accordingly
3. I have 50 pounds of base rock in my tank and im going to add another 40-50 pounds of live rock( as soon as anyone wants to sell me some) how long (i know all cycles vary) will or should my cycle last?
You cycle time will vary. It'll depend on if you get cured live rock or uncured live rock, if you have new sand or already established sand. There really is no "set time" for a cycle. You just need to check it consistantly and when you start to see your ammonia, nitrAte, nitrIte and other levels going down and stabilize, you'll know you're close
4. For the aggressive setup that i want to achieve i was wondering about the flow in my tank. My return pump is putting out about 600 gph, i have a 800 gph powerhead in the right corner and a 1000gph powerhead in the left corner is this overkill? will fish be able to handle this much water movement..the water movement looks powerfull in the tank?
That sounds fine. I have 1200gph returning from my sump, in my 200gal. tank. In addition to that, I have 4 "hidden" powerheads that each put out 1800gph. So, that's a total of 8400gph circulating in a 200gal. tank. My fish seem to have no problem with it.
5. my salinity is at 1.017...a bit low, so should i just keep adding gradually and testing??
Just keep slowly adding more salt, but make sure you test regularly. It's easier to add more salt than it is to put too much in. Then, you have to drain a little water and replace it with fresh, while testing, etc.
And, lastly...thank you for the compliments. I certainly dont claim to be right all the time or to know everything. I learn new things every day. I try not to give advice if I dont know, for sure, 100% of what I'm talking about. The last thing I want is to give someone advice and be wrong and it cause harm to their tank(s).

 

[psusocr1]

o.k got another question
1. In the long run after my tank cycles whats the rule on adding your fish? should you add one at a time and then wait like a week or a month or what? or can you add 2 at once? all at the same time?? whats the best way to approach that situation so i can begin planning.
also im going to get all babies, so i can raise them and in the long run watch them grow to their ptotential.
2. My water is fairly clear considering i just added the salt and got the filters running, but obviously not crystal clear as i dream it. should i run a can filter to clear it up? or can i get carbon bags and put them under my drip tray to let the water run through? i do have fliter floss in my wet/dry right now??
3. should i let the filters run for a few days or a week or so and then test everything or should i start testing and logging all my results right away?
4. When i start my protein skimmer up tomm. where should the water level rise too? where should the bubbles start? im nervous to start it up yet becuse the pump that came with it looks like its gunan throw ALOT of water through that skimmer!
also my salinity is between 1.022-1.023
sorry about all the questions but im extremely excited!!!!

:jumping: :jumping: :cheer: :joy:
Oh ya and i went with a 48 "blue actinic and a 48" 50/50 and i LOVE the lighting effect is creates!!

 

[unleashed]

I just have to get on this band wagon lol.j/k
accually I have a question reguarding the returm of water from the skimmer.
I have 4 sections to my sump/fuge but the main 3 are my question section one from downspouts skimmer pump both in 1st section also out of sump skimmer 2nd is trickle filter with media and bio balls then the 3 rd is the filtered water return I have the return tubing from the skimmer ran over section one and water flows onto the trickle filter to be filtered more then through the media polishing sponge the the return.did I do that wrong?? or just kinda extra totally new at this equipment thingy

 

[aw2]

1. In the long run after my tank cycles whats the rule on adding your fish? should you add one at a time and then wait like a week or a month or what? or can you add 2 at once? all at the same time?? whats the best way to approach that situation so i can begin planning.also im going to get all babies, so i can raise them and in the long run watch them grow to their ptotential.
Each species of fish will be different. Depending on what you're adding, you'll need to find out which one is the most aggressive and add that one last. Sometimes, you can add 2 at the same time, but with a new tank, you want to make sure you dont add more than a newly cycled tank can keep up with...especially with the new bacteria that's started growing. You add too many fish at one time and the tank wont be able to handle it and you'll see your levels skyrocket. To a brand new tank, I'd add one fish and then wait a week or so, continuing to test your water parameters, to make sure everything in in check
2. My water is fairly clear considering i just added the salt and got the filters running, but obviously not crystal clear as i dream it. should i run a can filter to clear it up? or can i get carbon bags and put them under my drip tray to let the water run through? i do have fliter floss in my wet/dry right now??
To get rid of cloudiness, you can run canister filters or just wait it out. Carbon, in your drip tray/wet dry will also work
3. should i let the filters run for a few days or a week or so and then test everything or should i start testing and logging all my results right away?
To get the best results, I'd wait a few days or a week until your tank has settled and the water has had a chance to stabilize
4. When i start my protein skimmer up tomm. where should the water level rise too? where should the bubbles start? im nervous to start it up yet becuse the pump that came with it looks like its gunan throw ALOT of water through that skimmer!
That's a difficult question to answer. What kind of skimmer are you running? Some skimmers need different water levels. Then, you have to decide if you want to skim "wet" or "dry" and adjust accordingly
also my salinity is between 1.022-1.023
"Standard rule of thumb" is anywhere between 1.022 and 1.026. Personally, I keep my 200gal. at 1.019 but that should only be done if you're planning to religiously keep track of salinity/SG. Keeping it at a low level, constantly, you need to be very precise when adding top off water. If you continuously add fresh water, to top off, then before you know it you can have a very low salinity. Sizeable/drastic changes in salinity/SG can be quite harmful to fish and inverts, as well as corals (if you're planning on keeping those)

 

[aw2]

Originally Posted by unleashed
I just have to get on this band wagon lol.j/k
accually I have a question reguarding the returm of water from the skimmer.
I have 4 sections to my sump/fuge but the main 3 are my question section one from downspouts skimmer pump both in 1st section also out of sump skimmer 2nd is trickle filter with media and bio balls then the 3 rd is the filtered water return I have the return tubing from the skimmer ran over section one and water flows onto the trickle filter to be filtered more then through the media polishing sponge the the return.did I do that wrong?? or just kinda extra totally new at this equipment thingy
When placing the skimmer on a sump that also has a refugium built in, you want to make sure the skimmer is placed AFTER the refugium setup, IMO. Water that is being skimmed before the refugium is just taking out nutrients that help the refugium inhabitants (macro algeas, etc) grow.
Although, you can skim from the first chamber and have the return, from the skimmer to another compartment AFTER the refugium. I state conflicting layouts because no matter how good your skimmer is, it's not going to skim EVERY bit of water that's coming through the drain. There will be some water that will get by the skimmer, flowing into your refugium, therefore feeding the macro and other inhabitants in the fuge.
My sump/fuge is set up like this:
First chamber water drains into the sump. Skimmer pulls from the drain chamber, filtering water and returning, via PVC, into the return chamber.
Water that bypasses the skimmer flows over/under baffles into the refugium and then over/under baffles into the return chamber.

 

[psusocr1]

whats the difference between skimming wet and skimming dry. i did a search but couldnt come up with the answer im lookin for. i know when i had my skimmer runnign befroe it immediatly filled up with water and i got rereal nervous, shut the pump off then i had to fix some plumbing anyway so i never put it back on :notsure:

 

[aw2]

Skimming "wet" means you have a lot of water bubbles collecting in the collection cup. This type of skimming pulls out alot of green "tea" looking water and you have to empty the skimmer more often.
Skimming "dry" means cutting the bubbles back, in your skimmer and it pulls out thick, green/brown goo, that looks like a dirty diaper and smells like it too.
My understanding that skimming "wet" makes the skimmer work harder, but I'm not 100% certain of that. Someone else (hopefully other people are reading this thread) can probably expand on my explanation, so I'll understand it too.

 

[unleashed]

ok heres a pic of my tank set up skimmer is hidden in the right hand corner of the tank no this pic was taken with an insump skimmer .
the refuge of the system also doubles as a tank this sump fuge dem are 48x24x18
its devided into 4 sections refuge is 48x12x18 the entire back half of this is the wet dry system 48x 12 devided into 3 sections the refuge is equipped with a return pipe that is fed with the same as the main tank but t'd off from the main with its own flow rate and shut off valve on the downspout end of the refuse is a 1 inch bulkhead with a small powerhead to pull water from the fuge into the same section as the downspouts.this ensures proper filteration of the refuge .without backflow of unfiltered water

 

[aw2]

I'd need a much closer, full tank pic of your sump/fuge to be able to see anything clearly, unleashed.

 

[unleashed]

Originally Posted by AW2
I'd need a much closer, full tank pic of your sump/fuge to be able to see anything clearly, unleashed.
i will email you a few that I have i dont have to shrink them so much lol

 

[moraymike]

AW2 has done his homework and seems to be very helpful to those that want to learn (in the same category of Novice150, AC, Tony D, and others). We need more like him and less of the immaturity. Particularly in the aggressive forum...

 

[triggered]

psusocr1,
I am excited for your new adventure.

I am truly a novice, however, here are my two cents. We were able to put two triggers in at the same time at the beginning of our tank.
Both had been in aquariums before, so they were used to the acclimation process.
We put a 4-1/2" Pinktail and a 3" Picasso in at the same time. We waited a couple months and then added the 3-1/2" Undulated. It seemed to work for the fishes. The Undulated is supposed to be the most aggressive so, accordingly we did it correctly. They have all been together for a few months now and all is well.
Good Luck and have fun.............Peace, Cindy

 

[psusocr1]

got another question
i have a little giant, and that sucker is gettin HOT .. i have seen pictures with fans pointing down on peoples pumps. Should i do this? do they get real hott?
also i have 2 large heaters in my tank keeping it at a constant 81.3, i however did loose the bracket with the suctions cups...i want to put the heaters in my wet/dry, but can i just lay them in there or are they hott enough that they will melt the acrylic?? i dont think they would but i must double check!!
update on my skimmer is that its working very wel, lots of bubbles etc,etc, but the collection cup is getting full of water WAY to quick. i tried to adjust the ring but nothing is really happening...any suggestions?
and thansk for all the kind words and help guys ,, im having way too much fun, and my tanks only beenr unning 2 days..

BTW i would post pictures but im in the process of writing my HOW-To BUILD A 220 GALLON AQUARIUM(alot of step-by-step pictures need to be shrunk).... so noone gets a peek just yet!!!

 

[aw2]

Originally Posted by Triggered
We put a 4-1/2" Pinktail and a 3" Picasso in at the same time. We waited a couple months and then added the 3-1/2" Undulated. It seemed to work for the fishes. The Undulated is supposed to be the most aggressive so, accordingly we did it correctly. They have all been together for a few months now and all is well.

All beautiful fish, but you have a killer hiding amongst them. Please, keep close eye on that Undy. It's only a matter of time, before you come home to a species only tank and find the other two Triggers dead. Undys get mean, fast and become very territorial.

 

[aw2]

i have a little giant, and that sucker is gettin HOT .. i have seen pictures with fans pointing down on peoples pumps. Should i do this? do they get real hott?
I've never owned a Little Giant pump, so I'm not sure how hot you're talking about. I wouldnt think that they'd design them so they got TOO hot. You can try the fan method and have it blowing onto the pump, but I dont think I'd worry about it.
also i have 2 large heaters in my tank keeping it at a constant 81.3, i however did loose the bracket with the suctions cups...i want to put the heaters in my wet/dry, but can i just lay them in there or are they hott enough that they will melt the acrylic?? i dont think they would but i must double check!!
Are these glass heaters? If so...take my word for it and get rid of them now and go buy Titanium heaters. If they're glass heaters, I would leave it sitting directly on acrylic. Titanium heaters are not that expensive and they're unbreakable. Plus, each end of the heater is moulded in rubber so that you can lay it on the bottom of your tank, sump, etc. without worrying about direct contact with the glass or acrylic. I've lost way to many fish to glass heaters
update on my skimmer is that its working very wel, lots of bubbles etc,etc, but the collection cup is getting full of water WAY to quick. i tried to adjust the ring but nothing is really happening...any suggestions?
I'm not sure what type of skimmer you're using. Hopefully, someone else can kick in on this, once we learn the type of skimmer

 

[jcrim]

Where can I sign up for the AW2 fan club? AW2 you are a wonderful human being and I say this with a staunch record of heterosexuality... you're a beautiful man. So much love in this thread.

 

[aw2]

Originally Posted by jcrim
Where can I sign up for the AW2 fan club? AW2 you are a wonderful human being and I say this with a staunch record of heterosexuality... you're a beautiful man. So much love in this thread.

HAHAHAHAH...well thanks, jcrim.
I'm hoping other people will jump in on this thread. As I said...I dont claim to know everything and dont people to think I do. I just do the best I can.
And...I havent said it yet but, congrats on that new beautiful baby of yours! She's gorgeous!

 

[jcrim]

Thanks

 

[triggered]

AW2,
I know, everyone has warned me. My man had an Undulated with other triggers previously, and all worked out fine.
The funniest thing is, she is the most timid of the 3. She is literally afraid of her own shadow. She ducks and hides at the first sign of movement. The Pinktail is definitely the king of the tank. We have only had a few territorial troubles between her and the Pinktail at the beginning, but those have gone away. He allowed her to rest in his spot the first two or three nights, out of the kindness of his heart I suppose, but then she had to find her own spot. No trouble since. The Pinktail is growning by leaps and bounds.
She still chased the Picasso, but seldom, and he has proven to be a match for her.
I thank you for the warning, we have them under surveillance all the time, because of the possibility.
Trust me, if there is any sign that she may be getting ready to munch on the other two, she will be out of the tank so fast it will make her head...........well...........swim. I wanted it to just be the Pink and Picasso, because they got along so well. But being a man, I think you know why my man wanted the Undulated.........right? They are the baddest

..yadda yadda. I do think she is a beautiful fish though. But weird............really weird.
Thanks again...............Peace