Hello Again...hello!

[water_boy]

Well hello to everyone, i trust you are all well?

Ive been a busy little water boy since i last posted here and have been enjoying a river reef 94 system... i will upload some photo's at the weekend.

To cut to the chase though, i have been given the go ahead (by the mrs) for a larger system (as we move in together in a couple of months.)
Predictabley my impatience has taken over and i have picked up a bargain already... a 48x24x18 tank with hood, cabinet and sump for £200! Got to love the ebay!
So anyway i have been doing a lot of research in to sumped systems as this is my first plumbed sump system i have had (the rr94 kinda of has one built in to the back where i sit my skimmer etc but its not the same i realise). As a test for my research i have made a drawing (see below) of how i envison the whole system working...

I would welcome feedback on my drawing (about the system not my photoshop skills )

Basically at present all i have is the tank, cabinet, hood (trim thing, its actually open top) and sump all the other things listed are what i have reserached and are within my budget but any suggestions welcomed. The tank is drilled with down pipe only and feeds in from the return externally (Around the back) and i quite like the idea of having it feed back in through a spray bar (saw a guy who had done this on youtube by drilling holes in pipe work) let me know what you think of that and everything anyhow....

Dont be too harsh

 

[woody88]

Very nice drawing mate!.....Looks good! Both the drawing and the design!

One Q tho! Wouldnt the spraybar be better along the top of the tank on the surface of the water to give good agitation as it would help oxygenate the water as well as help with maintaining good PH?

Just a thought tho! lol

 

[-Nemo-]

I would skip the bioballs... no reason to have them, especially having LR in the sump, they tend to end up doing more harm than good.

 

[woody88]

Didn't notice the bio balls! Dis regard them mate like nemo said.
What you doing in terms of phosphate removal. Cheato, phos reactor?

 

[jameshughes1989]

Looking good mate. I quite like the idea of the spraybar hidden down the side but like woody said just make sure you have got one of the powerheads for surface agitaion.

Have you got only one down pipe? That will cause a hell of a noise?

Didn't notice the bio balls! Dis regard them mate like nemo said.
What you doing in terms of phosphate removal. Cheato, phos reactor?

There is rowaphos in the sump bud.


Cheers

 

[water_boy]

Thanks for the kind comments...

Good call with the spray bar, my only concern was how to fix it to the tank, any suggestions?

I will remove the bio bals from the plan, theyr just a force of habit really as i have always used them.

Phosphates wise i will be running rowaphos and i would also like to run cheato but not sure which segment of the sumpwould be best to put it in? Im guessing this would become clear when i set the system up.

Looking good mate. I quite like the idea of the spraybar hidden down the side but like woody said just make sure you have got one of the powerheads for surface agitaion.

Have you got only one down pipe? That will cause a hell of a noise?

This is one of the things i amnot sure of yet, as i have not picked up the tank yet lol nothing like getting ahead of yourself is there. I am going to look at it this friday in greater detail but one thing i have seen is a similar thing to the dorso fitting that sits on top of the pipe like a skimmer cup with an inlet which drastically reduces noise.

 

[jameshughes1989]

Instead of a spraybard you could have a ridid pipe coming over the tank. I did mine like this: (although internally)

 

[water_boy]

AH yeah thanks for that james,i guess that helps with surface agitation? Probably a dam site easier than me creating a spraybar too

 

[seffieuk]

back into the salty net

Looking forward to watching your tank evolve

Seffie x

 

[water_boy]

I have been looking in to lighting options and oh boy they are a lot of pennies!

I have opted for the "stick to what i know" option of t5's and have employed the skills of a german company to make me an aluminium frame similar to that of a metal halide with 8 x 39w t5's in it...heres the link

as standard this model that they do comes with the hanging kit and 8 white bulbs but for no extra cost the kind guys their are giving me a set of the brackets to attact to the tank with and swapping out 4 white for blue bulbs. Brilliant...saves me having to craft a solution to attach starters and ballast to and will probably work out cheaper as with the currency converion i am paying £200 and getting more light than in my original drawing. (bet this is not the last time something changes from the original plan lol)

the search continues for the other items i need...lots of fun to be had.

 

[woody88]

Doh!....didn't notice the rowaphos in the sump. Can you run both phosphate remover and cheato together. I can't see the point personally. I would rather do it the natural way and run cheato in the fuge with a DSB and plenty of LR rubble!

 

[water_boy]

Doh!....didn't notice the rowaphos in the sump. Can you run both phosphate remover and cheato together. I can't see the point personally. I would rather do it the natural way and run cheato in the fuge with a DSB and plenty of LR rubble!

Very ture, i think just for the space saving factor i will run rowaphos but still have asmuch live rock and ruble in the sump as i can cram in there

 

[water_boy]

My upgrade is still going ahead although i have had some problems...

I have bought all the equipment needed including the pipework and also a custom made light unit i had shipped in from Germany with 8x 39w T5's, but yet again life is getting in the way of my reefing.

Work being the major problem but also an imminent move from Manchester to Sheffield to take the plunge and move in with my girlfriend.

Hopefully i will get to set up my new tank in the next month or two...over a grands worth of gear just sat in boxes at the minute...you can understand my frustration

oh i also have a Vecton 400 UV steriliser staring at me from the pile of equipment ive added to the original plan too.

 

[seffieuk]

Hopefully i will get to set up my new tank in the next month or two...over a grands worth of gear just sat in boxes at the minute...you can understand my frustration

Indeed we can

 

[weezawoo]

That would drive me crazy! Bad enough with how long I have waited! Let alone buying it and not being able to do anything yet!
Good things come to those who wait as they say