give me feedback on newly finished setup

walkerbrody · 11/11/2007, 11:07 PM

I have just finished this setup after a few months of research. I am upgrading from a 29gal tank. Most of this is diy I have given myself a somewhat limited budget for this system which I have raised and exceded too many times.
My display is 110gal rr tank 48x18x30. I have 2 400w 20 mh lights. I have an octopus nw-150 skimmer, I wanted a nw-200 but did not have enough room for it. I have a 20gal high fuge with 4"-5" of sand and chaeto lit by 2 55w pc 10k bulbs. My fuge is drilled and flows into a 10gal sump with my skimmer, bubble trap, and a quiet one 4000 return pump. I have my display overflow split between my fuge and a 10 gal water change bucket with ball valves on each side of the split. I did this so I could exclude the 10gal container from the system for water changes. I pump the water out of the container, refill it with ro/di water, add the salt, stir, and turn the ball valve returning the container to the system with new saltwater in it. My auto top off system uses a tom's aqua lift pump on a float switch ran through a diy kalk reactor containing Mrs. Wages lime.
I do not post very often and do not need to. I manage to find the answers to 99% of my questions searching this forum. I would like to thank everyone for the great information I have recieved here and ask for any sugestions to this set up.

The diagram of my setup is in my gallery. Any suggestions/comments are appriciated

Scuba_Steve · 11/12/2007, 12:32 AM

Sounds good, what are you going to use for extra flow in the display? By your lighting choice I assume your keeping sps, and will need some. Maybe 4 koralia 4s, some tunzes, or maxi mods? Im going with the same tank when I get home probably, as I already have one laying around. I plan on using a over the back closed loop.

walkerbrody · 11/12/2007, 02:07 AM

I have 2 sureflow modded mj1200s on a chavet wave timer for extra flow

walkerbrody · 11/12/2007, 02:23 PM

Craig Lambert · 11/12/2007, 03:32 PM

Everything looks good, but I do have a couple of questions about your sump. First off, the baffles. Is the picture accurate as far as baffles go? With your baffles going over/under/over and standing as tall as they do in the picture, you've left yourself very little space to accomodate evaporation. If the sump is 10 gal it looks like you'll have problem if you evaporate more than a few quarts. If the water level in the sump falls below the height of the third baffle, your pump is going to drain the last compartment and fry itself fairly quickly. With 400 watt bulbs, you're going to have quite a high rate of evaporation.

Second question would be how much water the QuietOne 4000 is going to move back to the tank after accounting for head loss. With a 10G sump, I think you might have microbubble issues in your display if you're moving more than 250-300gph through the sump.

mg426 · 11/12/2007, 04:59 PM

Are you placing the Chaeto/fuge between the overflow and the skimmer??? I like to let the skimmer have first shot at the overflow water.

walkerbrody · 11/13/2007, 02:43 AM

I have an auto top off system to replace the evaporation water. It evaporates arround 3 gal per day. I use a toms aqualifter into a diy kalk reactor that has worked well so far. I havent had a problem with micro-bubbles, I didn't think about that when designing the system but luckly there wasn't a problem there either.

On my last set up I had the skimmer first. I think i liked that better. I got mixed responses on order some said to put the fuge first to give more nutrents to zooplankton. Due to lack of available space the plumbing seemed to work out easier the way it is now, but I am debating on putting the return im my skimmer section and pumping water into my fuge.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, keep them comming.

datablitz · 11/13/2007, 07:20 AM

im my experience you should relly consider removing the dsb from the fuge, just keep a thin layer of sand in there. it will cause problems more than likley down the road.

NealNano · 11/13/2007, 01:09 PM

dsb in the fuge are fine i would put the skimmer at the inlet from the tank drain

chrissreef · 11/13/2007, 01:18 PM

i'm going to seperate my chaeto and sand in seperate compartments in my sump

wmfsoll2 · 12/04/2007, 11:44 AM

Why would you want to separate the chaeto and sand?

Bill.

walkerbrody · 12/04/2007, 07:09 PM

here are a few setup pics

RicGio · 12/05/2007, 07:54 AM

Very Nice!! Only thing I can recommend is a bigger sump. 10 gal gal won't have much room for heaters or any added equipment. (phosban reactors etc). I can see you won't be able to fit it in your stand. Can you swap the sump and fuge?

Craig Lambert · 12/05/2007, 09:18 AM

I still see a major concern with your sump. It looks as though it is about 70% full of water, which would mean you have room for about 3 gallons of water. Have you tested for a power failure? When water syphons back through your return line it will fall to the level of the end of the lockline in your tank, and cause a flood in your cabinet and surrounding floor..

walkerbrody · 12/05/2007, 06:25 PM

yes I have checked for power failure. The return pump is located to the left of the door, the water level is much lower. This makes for very little room in the return section, but the ato keeps it at a working level. I filled everything with the pumps off, turned it on, then marked the water level. The lockline has a syphon break hole on the underside at the top of the water level.
I did flood floor though. Forgot to put a syphon break on my auto top off, made a big mess.
Thanks for the input.

11/11/2007, 11:07 PM	#1
walkerbrody lost ball in high weeds Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Gadsden, Al Posts: 504	give me feedback on newly finished setup I have just finished this setup after a few months of research. I am upgrading from a 29gal tank. Most of this is diy I have given myself a somewhat limited budget for this system which I have raised and exceded too many times. My display is 110gal rr tank 48x18x30. I have 2 400w 20 mh lights. I have an octopus nw-150 skimmer, I wanted a nw-200 but did not have enough room for it. I have a 20gal high fuge with 4"-5" of sand and chaeto lit by 2 55w pc 10k bulbs. My fuge is drilled and flows into a 10gal sump with my skimmer, bubble trap, and a quiet one 4000 return pump. I have my display overflow split between my fuge and a 10 gal water change bucket with ball valves on each side of the split. I did this so I could exclude the 10gal container from the system for water changes. I pump the water out of the container, refill it with ro/di water, add the salt, stir, and turn the ball valve returning the container to the system with new saltwater in it. My auto top off system uses a tom's aqua lift pump on a float switch ran through a diy kalk reactor containing Mrs. Wages lime. I do not post very often and do not need to. I manage to find the answers to 99% of my questions searching this forum. I would like to thank everyone for the great information I have recieved here and ask for any sugestions to this set up. The diagram of my setup is in my gallery. Any suggestions/comments are appriciated

11/12/2007, 12:32 AM	#2
Scuba_Steve Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Pooler, Ga Posts: 1,342	Sounds good, what are you going to use for extra flow in the display? By your lighting choice I assume your keeping sps, and will need some. Maybe 4 koralia 4s, some tunzes, or maxi mods? Im going with the same tank when I get home probably, as I already have one laying around. I plan on using a over the back closed loop. __________________ 40g DIY AIO. DT Size is 27"x18"x17" SCA-301 skimmer, DIY ATS 4"x4" 1 cube setup, Ocean Revive 120w LED, Quiet One 3000, Jager 150w TBS Rock

11/12/2007, 02:07 AM	#3
walkerbrody lost ball in high weeds Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Gadsden, Al Posts: 504	I have 2 sureflow modded mj1200s on a chavet wave timer for extra flow __________________ "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right." — Henry Ford Current Tank Info: 265 mixed reef, 110 fowlr, 40g fuge, 75g sump.

11/12/2007, 03:32 PM	#5
Craig Lambert Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,897	Everything looks good, but I do have a couple of questions about your sump. First off, the baffles. Is the picture accurate as far as baffles go? With your baffles going over/under/over and standing as tall as they do in the picture, you've left yourself very little space to accomodate evaporation. If the sump is 10 gal it looks like you'll have problem if you evaporate more than a few quarts. If the water level in the sump falls below the height of the third baffle, your pump is going to drain the last compartment and fry itself fairly quickly. With 400 watt bulbs, you're going to have quite a high rate of evaporation. Second question would be how much water the QuietOne 4000 is going to move back to the tank after accounting for head loss. With a 10G sump, I think you might have microbubble issues in your display if you're moving more than 250-300gph through the sump. __________________ "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will spend all day in a boat drinking beer." Current Tank Info: 75G Tank, 29G Sump, 100lbs LR, AquaC EV-180, Iwaki MD-20RT return Tunze nano streams 4X54 t-5/Icecap Ballast & SLR's 2x110 vho actinic Last edited by Craig Lambert; 11/12/2007 at 03:39 PM.

11/12/2007, 04:59 PM	#6
mg426 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: maryland Posts: 6,923	Are you placing the Chaeto/fuge between the overflow and the skimmer??? I like to let the skimmer have first shot at the overflow water. __________________ I found a way to make a small fortune running a reef tank. Start with a large fortune. Unofficial President of the SEACLONE haters club Current Tank Info: 125 mixed reef 110 lbs LR, 1x250watt XM 20K MH 2x175watt XM 20K MH on Magetics 2X96 watt actinic PC, 220 watt VHO actinic, 30 gallon refugium, closed loop system powered by Sequence Dart MSX 200 skimmer 38 gallon sump, Oceansmotions squirt

11/12/2007, 02:23 PM	#4
walkerbrody lost ball in high weeds Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Gadsden, Al Posts: 504

11/13/2007, 02:43 AM	#7
walkerbrody lost ball in high weeds Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Gadsden, Al Posts: 504	I have an auto top off system to replace the evaporation water. It evaporates arround 3 gal per day. I use a toms aqualifter into a diy kalk reactor that has worked well so far. I havent had a problem with micro-bubbles, I didn't think about that when designing the system but luckly there wasn't a problem there either. On my last set up I had the skimmer first. I think i liked that better. I got mixed responses on order some said to put the fuge first to give more nutrents to zooplankton. Due to lack of available space the plumbing seemed to work out easier the way it is now, but I am debating on putting the return im my skimmer section and pumping water into my fuge. Thanks everyone for the suggestions, keep them comming. __________________ "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right." — Henry Ford Current Tank Info: 265 mixed reef, 110 fowlr, 40g fuge, 75g sump.

11/13/2007, 07:20 AM	#8
datablitz Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Blacklick, Ohio Posts: 347	im my experience you should relly consider removing the dsb from the fuge, just keep a thin layer of sand in there. it will cause problems more than likley down the road.

11/13/2007, 01:09 PM	#9
NealNano Moved On Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Gilbert, Az Posts: 764	dsb in the fuge are fine i would put the skimmer at the inlet from the tank drain

11/13/2007, 01:18 PM	#10
chrissreef Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Dallas Posts: 1,252	i'm going to seperate my chaeto and sand in seperate compartments in my sump __________________ One's standard of living is determined by the size of their reef Learn and you continue to adapt, stop learning and you become obsolete We live with each other, not for ourselves, protect our planet Current Tank Info: 300g Starfire/Starboard A.G.E. mixed reef

12/04/2007, 11:44 AM	#11
wmfsoll2 Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: California, Maryland Posts: 222	Why would you want to separate the chaeto and sand? Bill. __________________ Bill. Thomas Edison : "SUCCESS is 90% ATTITUDE and 10% KNOWLEDGE" Current Tank Info: Setting up new 90 Gal.

12/04/2007, 07:09 PM	#12
walkerbrody lost ball in high weeds Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Gadsden, Al Posts: 504	here are a few setup pics __________________ "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right." — Henry Ford Current Tank Info: 265 mixed reef, 110 fowlr, 40g fuge, 75g sump.

12/05/2007, 07:54 AM	#13
RicGio Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 658	Very Nice!! Only thing I can recommend is a bigger sump. 10 gal gal won't have much room for heaters or any added equipment. (phosban reactors etc). I can see you won't be able to fit it in your stand. Can you swap the sump and fuge?

12/05/2007, 09:18 AM	#14
Craig Lambert Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,897	I still see a major concern with your sump. It looks as though it is about 70% full of water, which would mean you have room for about 3 gallons of water. Have you tested for a power failure? When water syphons back through your return line it will fall to the level of the end of the lockline in your tank, and cause a flood in your cabinet and surrounding floor.. __________________ "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will spend all day in a boat drinking beer." Current Tank Info: 75G Tank, 29G Sump, 100lbs LR, AquaC EV-180, Iwaki MD-20RT return Tunze nano streams 4X54 t-5/Icecap Ballast & SLR's 2x110 vho actinic

12/05/2007, 06:25 PM	#15
walkerbrody lost ball in high weeds Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Gadsden, Al Posts: 504	yes I have checked for power failure. The return pump is located to the left of the door, the water level is much lower. This makes for very little room in the return section, but the ato keeps it at a working level. I filled everything with the pumps off, turned it on, then marked the water level. The lockline has a syphon break hole on the underside at the top of the water level. I did flood floor though. Forgot to put a syphon break on my auto top off, made a big mess. Thanks for the input. __________________ "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right." — Henry Ford Current Tank Info: 265 mixed reef, 110 fowlr, 40g fuge, 75g sump.