Many questions
- Thread starter schubert
- Start date
schubert
Member
Also, how do you guys keep your tanks so clean looking, meaning without all of the powerheads and intakes and heaters and probes and etc etc showing. Look at my pathetic tank, the equipment is way too visible...it's ridiculous. I attatched it b/c I can't seem to find a way to put the picture one here.
tthemadd1
Active Member
I have a heater in my Refugium and another at the lower side of my tank. I am also looking to pile more rock into my tank tomorrow. If you get a refugium/sump you have alot of choices because you dont have to have powerheads in your tank. Alot of people just use the Sump pump to provide circulation. Mine puts out 600 gph which is plenty for a 55 gal. I am actually looking into splitting my return line like some of the tanks I have seen recently. I must say they do look good. I also like the way they are setup with all pvc piping. Makes it look really nice. Try getting a background as well. I have a blue one which covers up all of the return piping. Good luck to you and Good Fishing.
Themaddhatter
Themaddhatter
schubert
Member
Nice tank, love the angel.
I was considering getting a sump/refugium but then I told someone that the tank was in my bedroom and that the pump would be too loud. Is this true and if so are there any better alternatives to what I'm doing right now as far as plumbing/equipment goes...I'm using a whisper filter that doesn't seem to do anything for my tank, an AquaC skimmer running on an MJ 1200 powerhead that works well, two MJ 1200's (a bit much?) for circulation, a heater that is never on because the powerheads unfortunately heat my water to a little over 81 degrees depsite raising my two 24 inch flourescent corallife light strips off of the top another 4 inches or so, and a pH probe that works great...I'm possibly looking at making a slow and steady change to a reef so what can I do to make this look better. Thanks.
I was considering getting a sump/refugium but then I told someone that the tank was in my bedroom and that the pump would be too loud. Is this true and if so are there any better alternatives to what I'm doing right now as far as plumbing/equipment goes...I'm using a whisper filter that doesn't seem to do anything for my tank, an AquaC skimmer running on an MJ 1200 powerhead that works well, two MJ 1200's (a bit much?) for circulation, a heater that is never on because the powerheads unfortunately heat my water to a little over 81 degrees depsite raising my two 24 inch flourescent corallife light strips off of the top another 4 inches or so, and a pH probe that works great...I'm possibly looking at making a slow and steady change to a reef so what can I do to make this look better. Thanks.
murph145
Active Member
it looks like you have pleanty of big rocks.... what u can do is kinda stack the big rocks lower then get some more LR some smaller and not so round shaped ones.... then i would carefully stack those rocks giving it a random look ....
meaning place bigger rocks at bottom of sand bed..... then stack others of random shapes higher in the tank till they lean back to the back of the tank touching the glass giving them support and making them steady.... this gives it more of a 3dimensional look instead of a flat pile of rocks........ key to your tank is getting more smaller random LR
hiding equipment is tricky nothing you can do with powerheads really... what a lot of people do is paint the back of there tank with a flat black paint so that the tubing and powerheads blend in better.... blue back grounds are nice but they make the equipment stand out more.... u can also stack rocks to kind of hide certain things like heaters....
my tank is not in my room but the 2 fluval 404 canister filters r not that loud.... the only thing kind of annoying to me are my 2 3" computer fans in the hood used to cool down my 470W of pc ....
i would go for some PC lighting for your tank with a mix of actinics and 10K daylight gets rid of the purple effect .... u should be able to find some kind of retro kitsonline that will fit the size of your canopy just do some searches.... i would try to get a kit with around 200watts of power
as for corals... as long as your parameters are good i would start off with some polyps&mushrooms they are easier to take care of try those for a while and see how they do... when u want some other corals test your calcium u will need correct levels... whatever your interested in you should search info on it online first to see what requirments that specific coral has.... but mushrooms and zoo's can handle lower light cond.
heres a pic of my tank which might let u see how i stacked my rock.... i have some bigger pieces at the bottom for support then some other random sizes placed to creat a ledging effect.... everyones got there own taste just play around with it... good luck!!! :happyfish
meaning place bigger rocks at bottom of sand bed..... then stack others of random shapes higher in the tank till they lean back to the back of the tank touching the glass giving them support and making them steady.... this gives it more of a 3dimensional look instead of a flat pile of rocks........ key to your tank is getting more smaller random LR
hiding equipment is tricky nothing you can do with powerheads really... what a lot of people do is paint the back of there tank with a flat black paint so that the tubing and powerheads blend in better.... blue back grounds are nice but they make the equipment stand out more.... u can also stack rocks to kind of hide certain things like heaters....
my tank is not in my room but the 2 fluval 404 canister filters r not that loud.... the only thing kind of annoying to me are my 2 3" computer fans in the hood used to cool down my 470W of pc ....
i would go for some PC lighting for your tank with a mix of actinics and 10K daylight gets rid of the purple effect .... u should be able to find some kind of retro kitsonline that will fit the size of your canopy just do some searches.... i would try to get a kit with around 200watts of power
as for corals... as long as your parameters are good i would start off with some polyps&mushrooms they are easier to take care of try those for a while and see how they do... when u want some other corals test your calcium u will need correct levels... whatever your interested in you should search info on it online first to see what requirments that specific coral has.... but mushrooms and zoo's can handle lower light cond.
heres a pic of my tank which might let u see how i stacked my rock.... i have some bigger pieces at the bottom for support then some other random sizes placed to creat a ledging effect.... everyones got there own taste just play around with it... good luck!!! :happyfish
murph145
Active Member
thanks...
what i try to do when picking live rock is look for certain pieces that i think would be useful in completing certain looks im going for such as the ledging effect...
i also look for pieces that have a good amount of coraline growth already present.... that way it is easier to have it take off and spread..... i think ull be able to get a lot of great ideas from people here but im sure u will find a look in your tank that u really like ....
good luck :joy:
what i try to do when picking live rock is look for certain pieces that i think would be useful in completing certain looks im going for such as the ledging effect...
i also look for pieces that have a good amount of coraline growth already present.... that way it is easier to have it take off and spread..... i think ull be able to get a lot of great ideas from people here but im sure u will find a look in your tank that u really like ....
good luck :joy:
wax32
Active Member
What is your calcium level? If you don't have a test kit for it, I'd stop dosing it.
A closed loop would get the powerheads out of your tank. The pump I use to run mine is a Blue Line 30... it isn't loud at all. My chiller is louder by a lot!
Room temp in my room is never below 82 so with my lights my tank gets warm, thus the chiller.
A closed loop would get the powerheads out of your tank. The pump I use to run mine is a Blue Line 30... it isn't loud at all. My chiller is louder by a lot!
Room temp in my room is never below 82 so with my lights my tank gets warm, thus the chiller.
schubert
Member
Originally Posted by wax32
A closed loop would get the powerheads out of your tank. The pump I use to run mine is a Blue Line 30... it isn't loud at all. My chiller is louder by a lot! Room temp in my room is never below 82 so with my lights my tank gets warm, thus the chiller.
So what's the best way to just have a closed loop like that, with the pump, and then might as well add in either a small sump or wet/dry filter, etc?
I'm not good at this whole mix and match plumbing thing. I like to lean towards the strategy of buying everything at one time and forget the guesswork, but I guess that's not really possible in this case.
A closed loop would get the powerheads out of your tank. The pump I use to run mine is a Blue Line 30... it isn't loud at all. My chiller is louder by a lot!
Room temp in my room is never below 82 so with my lights my tank gets warm, thus the chiller.So what's the best way to just have a closed loop like that, with the pump, and then might as well add in either a small sump or wet/dry filter, etc?
I'm not good at this whole mix and match plumbing thing. I like to lean towards the strategy of buying everything at one time and forget the guesswork, but I guess that's not really possible in this case.