Ready For The Marine Challenge (again)!

[Lost_Jock]

Thx Jetbox,

Didn't have any choice in the colour, as it's all they had!

The tank came pre-assembled (except piping) and the filter tank in the instructions is not clear enough to see if its been assembled wrong. Its an easy job to take the cupboard lid off and swap it round. Will wait till I understand a bit more before following suit.

Thx a bunch on the filter material advice.

PS SkiFletch - Pipes are 27mm (outer diameter) and 5mm thick.

Down the weir

Difficult to get an overall photo of the filter tank, so heres one above each side

My diagram of hows its set up

Pump isn't connected to flexi pipe yet.

Is a protein skimmer beneficial and could it fit in with the pump and heat in the same compartent. Would I also need a heater in the main tank?

If you need bigger photo's they are at this site (except the diagram)
<a href="http/nixeat832.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html" target="_blank">http/nixeat832.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html</a>

Regards, Mark

 

[jetbox]

Update.

MCE 600 skimmer arrived and installed today. Perfect fit on the sump in the cabinet. Needs running in for few days yet but looks like its going to work a treat. well pleased with it.

Also got some cheato today to put in the sump, waiting for a better light to arrive to light the sump at night when the main tank light is out.

Making progress. Can't wait to get my first fish now.

Jetbox

 

[chrissaysyes]

Very nice man! Keep it up and keep us posted

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Looking really nice. I really like these tanks. I wanted to get one for my nano but it was too big for the space I had so had to go for the orca instead.

What do you think of the build quality on the tank and plumbing? I'm still thinking of getting the 5ft betta lifespace tank instead of getting one built (I havent been able to find one tank builder yet that everyone agrees is good ).

Any plans on stocking yet?

 

[SkiFletch]

Looks good to me. My only concern with the overflow setup as-is that it might be gurgly or noisy...

 

[jetbox]

Barney.

The tank is fantastic, really pleased with it for the price. I have some cosmetic problems with the tank cabinet at the moment. but hope these will be resolved soon. plumbing is fine, works a treat.

Skifletch.

you raise an interesting point. At present I have no durso fitted... the tank drain has a shutoff valve, I have been using this to control the flow slightly. not sure if this is a good thing or bad??? If you leave the tap full open the water level in the weir section is basically empty a you get a gurgleing noise as the water goes doen the pipe. If you shut the valve very slightly it balances the flow and leaves acouple of inches of water in the wier and it runs silent. I have had it running like this for the last 3 weeks now and it seems fine so i have not gone down the durso route. I was thinking that even with a durso you may need to control the flow slightly anyway.

your thoughts?


jetbox

 

[SkiFletch]

Using a valve to control it will do exactly what you described. Now imagine what happens when a snail, piece of algae, detritus accumulates, and creates a blockage? A partially closed ball valve is a block waiting to happen and if it's your drain side, it's even easier to get a blockage (there's no pressure behind a drain to force a clog through). And not if, but when that happens, you'll have a dry sump, wet floor, a burned out return pump, and hopefully not a bunch of dead livestock.

A Durso self-controls. If the flowrate is too low, it sucks more air down the drain with it, if it's high, it sucks less air. Attaching a Durso is easy once you allready have the standpipe

 

[jetbox]

thanks for the reply. I understand what you are saying. time to get the durso sorted then. It needs to be very compact as the space is limited but it can be done.

there is a safety feature on the setup though to stop this happening. There is a second dain pipe which has a standpipe, if a blockage occurs (or I simulate a bloackage with the valve) the water just rises approx 0.5 inch on the tank and then drains down the second drain pipe and continues to function. Both pipes would have to block to drain the sump..

just off to find durso plans.................................

 

[Lost_Jock]

Hey guys,

Decided to stop asking soooo many questions and get things going!

Got the water added and played about with the flows and the valve is just less than fully open (get what u mean Jetbox, had some strange noises going on).

If a durso is used, would it be better / dangerous to completely replace the valve with a plain pipe to avoid any friction for build-up? (need to look into durso)

What is the best filtration to use in the (3 x chamber) sump, bearing in mind I don't fancy adapting it as I'm crap at DIY? I made an error in my previous diagram, as the the panel between the LH & RH chambers has a gap at the bottom.

What I'm thinking of is

LH chamber (with inlet) -> live rock + skimmer -> as Jetbox
Middle chamber -> no idea (as newly found gap will mix with LH chamber - if not solid)
RH chamber -> return pump + heater

Grateful for any help.


Mark

 

[SkiFletch]

If you already have the valve there, just put it fully open and dont worry about it. If you're still building your system, just build it without the valve.

As for chamber stuff, do not, I repeat, do not put the heater in the final compartment. That's a disaster waiting to happen. If something goes wrong and that final chamber drains too low, the heater will be exposed, come on, break open, and spew all kinds of nasty electricity, copper, and other bad stuff in your tank. Put the heater in the first or second compartment where the water level remains constant

I'd reccomend a lit refugium in there (the middle chamber)

 

[jetbox]

oops

better move the heater then

 

[jetbox]

There are lots of tiny white bugs on the glass of my tank tonight. really small less than 1mm long what are they???

 

[chrissaysyes]

copods. Good thing. Smile

 

[jetbox]

hoped they were..... loads of them but no fish yet to eat them.....

can't wait to get my first fish..

My stocking wish list

pair of clowns
coral beauty or fire fish
scooter blenny
???

 

[chrissaysyes]

coral beauty's are really fun to watch...I dunno why I like them. Anytime I see them they always sit still for a moment then dart all over the place, then stop, then dart...I see a lot of damsels behave like that. Like theyre being cautiously playful.