I may have just nuked my reef, but don't know

tur4k

tur4k

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3233204
Nice looking tank you have there, have you considered a solid background?
I also don't see any powerheads....you need some in there
Sounds like I got more bad advice from LFS. They told me that I would only need powerheads if my return pump wasn't strong enough.
I do seem to have a decent amount of current just from the return. Any particulate matter seems to zip around the tank. The Aiptasia that I killed off used to look like it was blowing in the wind. The substrate has formed little sand dunes.
I have the two return heads pointing in different directions to try to create more turbulence. How do I know how much current is enough?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
If you have spots in the sand that stuff settles on I guess.....
You could probably use a powerhead in gthe bottom right corner....pointing forward
I don;t see the 2nd return...only the one on the left
 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
There's only one return, but the nozzle splits into two streams. I have one pointed slightly down and across the back. The other is pointed towards the front and slightly down.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
If its any indication, I have 3 powerheads in my 90. Its 48L x 18D x 24H. The are Koralias. 2 of the 4s and 1 of the 3s. I also have a 9.5 mag drive return pump probably getting around 700 gph from it.
It really does depend on how you point them as to what kind of flow you will have. I have all of mine pointing off the back glass and angled towards the front glass. Really gets the flow going in all directions. In the pic the smaller of the PH is behind that clip.
 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
Originally Posted by Gill again68
http:///forum/post/3233290
I also have a 9.5 mag drive return pump probably getting around 700 gph from it.
I'm using an 18 mag drive return pump. It really seems to get the water moving. Makes the sump kind of noisy though. I guess that's my question. If you have a stronger return pump, do you still need power heads? LFS said I probably wouldn't need any, but I have less faith in them every day.
EDIT:
I'm using the same size tank as you. It's 90 Gallon, 48x18x24.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Your running a 18??? WOW! I would think that thing would flood your tank! Your pump should really be somewhere around what your overflow would handle. In my case thats around 800 gph. From that point you want to either get the rest of your flow from power heads or use a closed loop system. Can you post some pics of your sump set up?
 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
I can take some better pic's tomorrow after my camera recharges. This is the best that I have on hand.
- All-Glass Aquarium Mega Flow model 3 wet/dry sump rated for 120G
- Supreme Classic model 18 (1800GPH) pump
It really doesn't leave much wiggle room for evaporation. I added a PVC elbow pointed down to the intake because it was forming whirlpools and sucking air.
 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
On a side note, I was having issues with my T5's causing the water temps to rise a couple of degrees. I know that this two or three degree swing in temp is really not good.
I tried a fan that I bought at the LFS and it sounded like an airplane was taking off. Couldn't deal with that. So I went with what I know. Computers...
I ordered up two Noctua NF-P12 120mm computer fans. These are nearly silent. They probably don't move as much air as that monster from the LFS, but it should be more then enough for this task.
I mounted them to a 1x2 board, did some splicing of the wiring and attached a female 4 pin molex to power both fans. I have one fan blowing in and the other blowing out.
I then mounted the board to my hood behind my lights, attached a cheap AC to DC 12V (4 pin molex) wall plug to the fans and tacked the coard in place with a plastic staple.
I ran it for a few hours tonight with the lights on and the heat didn't build up in there like it usually does. No rise in water temps. I plugged the fans into the timer with the lights. So fans only run when lights are on. I can't hear the fans running at all.



 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Hey, I like the fans. One note though, you probably dont want to pull air out through the fan. I noticed you have one pointed blowing in and another pointed to pull air out. The reason people dont want to pull air through is that it pulls salt air which will kill that fan pretty quick. I have 2 computer fans that I use but they blow air straight down on my sump. I also have one of those giant fans, 120MM, from the fish store in my canopy. I designed my canopy top so that it has an open back, and I have the fan to one side of the canopy which allows it to blow in and the around the top escaping out the other side. There are many configurations you could come up with but the consistent one is not to pull air through the fan.
Your sump. Yeah you hit on 2 big factors. With that size pump it is probably moving more water than can be fed back to it and the evaporation will probably be about a gallon a day so if you dont top off your system its gonna kill that pump. Now if you want to you can do what I did with my pump. I found that my 9.5 was really cranking to much flow for my liking. So just above the pump I put a small return to the return section of my pump and above that I put a valve. This allows me to run my pump at full capacity while returning some of the volume back to the return section. I can tune my pump in, so to speak, with the needs of the system. Now this is not how most reefers do it but I think now that you and I have the investment in the pump its a good way not to have to go spend that money again. Ill get a pick up of what mine looks like so you can see the fans and such. Now I have a fully modded 40 gal breeder DYI sump so thats diff then your wet dry config. You may in time want to look at something like that as it will give you more room for evaportaion and what not.
Hope that helps. I am sure others can give you some options they use that would probably be even better but I think this would allow you to continue to use the equipment you have already bought.


 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
Nice. I have been thinking about trying my hand at building a custom fuge/sump. What I have now is what happens when you walk into a LFS not knowing anything and throw a bunch of $$ at them. I have a basic idea of what I want to do. It's just a matter of finding the time and purchasing the acrylic/Weld-on/pluming.
I didn't even think about salt corroding the fan. Thanks for the tip.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
If you are looking to go custom to the point that you are going to build the tank itself then let me suggest you visit Melvesreef. He has a site that gives full detail on not only the how to and techniques of building but also the to and not to do of the design of a sump. I really like his designs and may at some point start building my own sump. For now I found just putting the baffles in myself was good enough. Oh yeah, if you do decide to use a glass tank do NOT put acrylic in it for baffles. This use glass with glass. Its pretty cheap and the glass company can cut it for you. I used the same thickness as the tank was made our of. The Depot and Lowes dont really carry the stuff we need to make aquariums out of so watch out. You can get aquarium silicone there but the glass and acrylic are not really the grade you want.
Let us know how it goes. If you do a build then please post your progress, I would love to see the work.
 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
Originally Posted by Kacey
http:///forum/post/3234151
May I ask, what's the reason acrylic shouldn't be used?
I think he was saying not to mix glass and acrylic. It's hard to bond the two together. You usually use a silicon sealant for glass. With acrylic you use a bonding agent that actually melts the two pieces together.
Glass is a bit cheaper and actually a little easier to work with. It doesn't scratch as easily as acrylic. Acrylic is lighter and stronger, but you need to work with caustic resins to bond it together.
The main reason that I'm thinking of going full custom is to maximize the use of space under my DT. Well, that and the excuse for me to use power tools.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Well the reason I wont use acrylic in a glass sump is because I firmly believe that the acrylic that I got from either the Depot or Lowes expanded and cracked my glass sump and dumped about 15 gallons of water on the floor. Now, I like many have read this is a possibility but I said it will flex and it will never happen to me. Well Sir you can try it and you may even get away with it but if and when you crack a sump just remember to post on here why you wont do it anymore.
 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
Originally Posted by Gill again68
http:///forum/post/3234126
Let us know how it goes. If you do a build then please post your progress, I would love to see the work.

For now I've decided to keep my existing wet/dry sump and add two custom glass tanks. Both custom tanks are going to be 16wx10dx22h. One is going to be plumbed with an overflow to be used as a 15 gallon fuge. The other is just going to be a 15 gallon reservoir for my auto top off.
Instead of modifying my existing plumbing, I'm just going to add a pump to pump water from the sump to the fuge and let it overflow back into the sump.
At some point I'm sure I'll upgrade all of this to a single sump, but this should do the trick for now.
I had the video camera out tonight filming my 8 month old's first hair cut. After that was finished, I shot a quick 5 minute video of my reef. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iv976fDphM
 
tur4k

tur4k

Member
I've added the two 16x10x22 tanks. I need to add more sand, some chaeto and a light. I was having some siphon issues from pumping between tanks. So I made a siphon break from an old HOB filter.
There is a small pump that is pumping water from my main sump into the new fuge. The fuge overflows back into the sump. You can barely see part of the top-off reservoir on the far right. It is triggered a float sensor in the return pump chamber of the sump. This pumps fresh water into the fuge to replace evaporation.

Here is my make-shift siphon break. I ended up having to raise the tube on the right (top off tube) out of the water because it was basically siphoning from the other tube. I will probably make a separate siphon break for it to be on the safe side.
 
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