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Mr. Fosi's drilled 20H


Mr. Fosi

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Wow, onto my third tank already. I suppose it was time to upgrade to MH though.

 

Equipment (list will be modified if things change):

 

- AGA 20H, drilled for 1x1" drain and 1x3/4" return.

- 150W Sunpod with a phoenix 14K lamp

- 10g sump with 4 baffles

- Sump lit by 20W "under-cabinet" halogen fixture from Home Depot

- MJ1200 as sump return

- 3/4" thin-walled closed loop with a modded SCWD

- Closed loop powered by QuietOne 3000 (780 gph at zero head)

- 1x150W Hydor Theo heater (one crapped out after 7 months)

- DIY ATO with one float switch.

 

The perspective shot. The tank is near our sliding glass doors. It'll get some sunlight at different times of the year.

 

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The FTS. Still slightly cloudy from the aquascaping. Still not enough sand in there, but I plan to get some in there soon. It's such a bright, crisp blue! I love it! :happy:

 

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Can't for the life of me remember what this guy is. He was clinging to the underside of one of my rocks and let go when I rinsed it with FW. Took him a while to get over it, but he soon burrowed into the sand.

 

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Half of my big neon-green sponge. The other half is in the sump. I was careful to move them submerged.

 

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The toadie.

 

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The Madracis colonies.

 

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A shot of the sump. I have the mangroves from yardboy stuck in my chaeto wad because I don't have another place to jam them. Also not the "safe" and "danger" hash marks. If water is above the "danger" line, the sump could overflow during a power outage. So far, this system practically breathes water... I am going to be lugging my topoff reservoir a lot more often.

 

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And finally, my son's tank. It's slightly overstocked but it doesn't require much feeding at all.

 

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I didn't bother taking pics of the colt frag, the GSP or the mushrooms because they are still adjusting. I'll put their pics up eventually.

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looking good! i almost pooped my pants in your old thread when you said you took down your tank... but then i saw the link and remembered you said you were starting a new tank...

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sweet!

 

so whats the deal with the pumps? You are using the 1200 for the return from the sump? 300 gph is enough to get it up the 3-4 feet?

 

and how is the quiet one running?

 

Is it the 1200 direct up to 2 heads and the quiet one ran through the SCWD to the other 2 heads?

 

 

any plans for a skimmer? what corals are you gonna do? any mechanical filtration?

 

 

so sorry for all the questions. :unsure:

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disaster999

i guess you have close loop so doesnt really matter, but a mj1200 for a return doesnt seem like to be a good idea. pushing water 2-3ft up, plus from the looks if your picture at least a 1.5in tube. not very efficient

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Heck yeah Fosi....looks awesome. Love how you ended your old tank thread :)

 

This thing is going to be amazing once you start stocking it up. Once you start adding SPS though, it's hard to stop.

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Wow! Lots of responses! :o Thanks for the kind words guys.

 

And your mystery critter, Fuzzy chiton??

 

I couldn't remember how to spell it! I kept thinking chitin, which is pronounced the same way but has a very different meaning.

 

The last time I saw this guy was almost a year ago and he was only half the size. I guess he didn't mind the old tank at all. I hope he stays around for a good long time. I may not see him much but he is really cool.

 

I also noticed that you might have some caulerpa problem in your son's tank. :D

 

Indeed, but the good news is that this species of caulerpa requires no trimming at all! :lol:

 

so whats the deal with the pumps? You are using the 1200 for the return from the sump? 300 gph is enough to get it up the 3-4 feet?

 

and how is the quiet one running?

 

Is it the 1200 direct up to 2 heads and the quiet one ran through the SCWD to the other 2 heads?

 

any plans for a skimmer? what corals are you gonna do? any mechanical filtration?

 

The 1200 is a stop-gap until I decide what sump return I want to stick with (and can afford). I have a spare Mag5 laying around but I don't want to swap it in. I am not happy with the amount of energy it uses or the heat it puts out and I would need to work out some way of distributing the flow so it didn't firehose.

 

The Q1 is running great! I read about their restart issues but I haven't experienced that myself. Sometimes it is a little noisy when it restarts but always works itself out. Not a bad little pump for the $10 I paid for it. ;) I have a confession to make though: I initially plumbed it in backwards and I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working right. :wacko: The good news is that I put a union + a ball valve on both the in/out so it was a simple matter to unhook the pump and turn it around. Just a couple splashes of water on the floor.

 

The 1200 returns to the white elbow top, left of center. The Q1 runs through the SCWD and out all four outlets. The outlets switch two at a time. I had a line on a $100 Oceansmotions 4-port but I don't have the $$ to buy it. :(

 

I do plan to run a skimmer but I am still working on it. Raywhisperer sent me an old UTR skimmer that he laying around and I have been messing around with making it a recirc model even thought it wasn't designed for that. I think it's gonna be too much of a PITA though so I'll probably just plug the two holes I cut in the body and run it as it was designed: feed pump supplies the bubbles. Thanks again Ray!

 

Let me know when you feel it's ready.. I'm sure you know why.

 

;) I think it'll be a little while. Wifey wants another fish... I also want to make sure everything is settling in and get a skimmer operating.

 

i had a theo heater, mine can't seem to keep the temp below 90 no matter what setting. I would watch the temperature.

 

I know what you mean. They take more tweaking than your average heater but the two that I have are working fine now. I still have one in the 20L and the other is in the sump of this system.

 

The one in the 20L is on almost all of the time and I don't know if it is because it is too weak or because of the open top + surface flow = heat dissipation. The one in this system is on a little less but I think that is because of the heat entrained in the sump compartment. The cheap magnetic ballasts running the NO lights put out some heat.

 

Looks great! How did you go about establishing the "safe" and "danger" lines?

 

Empirical testing. :D When I did my outdoor FW test I did several blackout simulations to give me an idea of how high the water level in the sump could be. I actually overflowed it twice, which is one reason I did the test outside. When I got it set up in my living room, I tested one last time just to be extra sure.

 

I suppose I could have done some calculations regarding volumes based on the measurements of the tanks. I figured that empirical testing would trump such theoretical models and since I was doing an outdoor FW test anyway, why the heck not?

 

..a mj1200 for a return doesnt seem like to be a good idea... not very efficient

 

I won't disagree with you there. The MJ series powerheads were never meant to pull this kind of duty but at 20W it consumes less energy than the Mag5 (45W), doesn't put out as much heat and doesn't require me to mess around with more return plumbing right now. It also provides at least 150 gph at this head, regardless of what the headloss calculators say (empirical testing again). Inefficient? Yes, but it is currently the option that meets my requirements.

 

I'd like to get a more durable and efficient pump but, as I am sure you've seen in my other tank threads, I am always short of cash for my aquarium projects. I have developed a siege mentality about these things... If I wait long enough, what I want/need will come to me and at a price I am willing to pay. In the meantime, I'll use what I have.

 

Once you start adding SPS though, it's hard to stop.

 

Yeah, blue is ready to get me hooked. :lol: I need to make sure that I can achieve the kind of water quality needed for SPS though. So far, I have never run a skimmer and I have stuck with the easier to keep corals.

 

I want to get a skimmer running, maybe add another fish (my wife wants one) and see if I can strike upon a good feeding regime.

 

Got my my ATO moved over and tested last night but there is a slight problem... The reservoir is taller than the sump water level so it siphons if I just lay the tube on the sump lip. I ghetto-rigged it up higher with some duct tape so I could get it running but I need to work out a more permanent solution. I may just run it up behind the overflow in the display. I figure that if the FW comes into the overflow, it'll have plenty of time to mix before it makes it into the display.

 

I also haven't finished emptying the 20L. There is still a lot or detritus, snail shells small bits of rubble and sand. If I have time tonight, I am going to suck out as much detritus as I can, then vacuum up the sand. The sand will go into the new system, hopefully much cleaner than it is now. I don't want to do anything too intense to rinse it though because I don't want to lose any of the detritovores that are in there. Once the last of the old sand is moved, I have a good idea of how much new sand I need to buy. It'll be dry sand.

 

Wifey brought over two friends last night to show off the tank. Normally, she feigns indifference for my obsession but she really likes the new tank. She was showing off few couple corals that were in there and all the custom work that went into it (even the plumbing!). I'm glad that I have finally made a tank that she can/will enjoy.

 

That leads to the next issue: she wants to buy another fish. She keeps asking for a blue damsel and I keep saying no. I am not sure what I what fish to go with, since I have virtually no experience with any SW nano fish outside of clowns. Most all are going to be $$ but I am sure we'll find one we can compromise on. I think I'd like to have a goby or another fish that makes use of the rockwork but I think wifey wants one that spends time in the water column.

 

Future plans:

- Sort out dangerous bird's nest of wires. Possibly mount powerstrips to the wall.

- Set light(s) on timer(s). Sump might go 24/7.

- Make something to cut down on the light shining out the back of the sump. Probably a shroud of some sort, may cause heat problems.

- Make myself a fan controller, get it hooked up and looking as non-ghetto as possible.

- Get skimmer running.

- Figure out what return pump to go with for the long run.

- Design some in-tank return plumbing for said pump.

- Consider fish options.

- Move frogspawn back from the labtank.

 

And most important of all...

 

- Enjoy tank! B)

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You mean the tank you linked in your sig? :)

 

I siphoned out 99% of the sand in the 20L after I sucked out a large amount of detritus.

 

Here is what it looked like a couple min after I finished.

 

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And here it is after 45 min later. That HOT magnum is packed with filter floss.

 

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Just for the heck of it, I did an NH3 test on both the bucket and the display and they came back with the same concentration: zero. B) I'm gonna let the bucket run until tomorrow because it is a bit late for me to be doing tank stuff.

 

I am thinking that I will load the sand by hand into a food storage bag, submerge the bag (while closed) in the display, turn it upside down, then slowly let the sand pour out.

 

Bunch of asterinas left in the 20L and they will mostly go into the sump of the new system. Not much to report, except that the 20L looks pretty forlorn. I can't wait to get the rest of the water + sand out of it and get it (and the AC70s) cleaned up.

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so you like that SCWD? can you tell a huge difference?

 

So far, yes.

 

A difference in what? There is certainly a noticeable back and forth motion to the water current if that's what you mean.

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lakshwadeep
That leads to the next issue: she wants to buy another fish. She keeps asking for a blue damsel and I keep saying no. I am not sure what I what fish to go with, since I have virtually no experience with any SW nano fish outside of clowns. Most all are going to be $$ but I am sure we'll find one we can compromise on. I think I'd like to have a goby or another fish that makes use of the rockwork but I think wifey wants one that spends time in the water column.

 

You could try going with the masked goby (shown to stay in the open) or a Trimma/Eviota (depends on species). Any neon goby from the Elacatinus (formerly Gobiosoma) genus will be good since some (not sure if all) are cleaners in the wild.

 

 

some info on small fish and gobies:

http://www.tidelineaquatics.net/newsletter.../06_26_2007.pdf

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You could try going with the masked goby (shown to stay in the open) or a Trimma/Eviota (depends on species). Any neon goby from the Elacatinus (formerly Gobiosoma) genus will be good since some (not sure if all) are cleaners in the wild.

 

 

some info on small fish and gobies:

http://www.tidelineaquatics.net/newsletter.../06_26_2007.pdf

 

+ 11T Billion for masked gobies.

 

I have a school of 5 in my 20L and I love them. They are very active, have alot of personality, keep the sand agitated, and are very hardy and eat well.

 

As for the SPS thing:

 

Some SPS will die if you look at them funny, and others are every bit as hardy as mushrooms provided the calcium/Alk levels are good.

 

I think alot of people get the impression that most SPS are more delicate than they are because of the extraordinary lengths some people go to to keep them happy. In short, 90% of the time the extra effort isn't strictly needed.

 

Some species really earn the reputation for being touchy, but most don't.

 

I have no doubt you will do a fine job with the SPS. You just have to be a little anal, and i'm sure your laboratory background has bestowed all the anality you will need.

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You could try going with the masked goby (shown to stay in the open)...

 

I took a look and it seems like they might be a good addition. A nice compromise between wifey and I because, afterall, (a good) marriage is all about compromise isn't it? :lol:

 

I have almost the same setup, but this makes me want to spring for that MH fixture.

 

I won't be going back to fluorescent any time soon. It gives the tank a much more crisp, dynamic look what with the rippling and lack of that soft quality fluorescent light has to it.

 

This doesn't mean that I will be getting rid of my 130W fixture(s) though. I am thinking about starting a grow-out tank some time in the future and they would be an inexpensive way to get started.

 

Some SPS will die if you look at them funny, and others are every bit as hardy as mushrooms provided the calcium/Alk levels are good... I have no doubt you will do a fine job with the SPS. You just have to be a little anal, and i'm sure your laboratory background has bestowed all the anality you will need.

 

That's the impression I have gotten from my reading and experience with the school's big tanks. It is a matter of consistency, not necessarily the absolute value of your water quality, temp, light, etc.

 

As for the anility, sometimes I am anal enough and sometimes not. I always seem to make dumb mistakes and my wife calls me "the original absent-minded professor". I guess it's all part of being a student of so many things. The original jack-of-all-trades and a master of bolloxing them up! :rolleyes:

 

In other news, I finished tearing down the 20L and I've moved it into school for the cleanup. It's gonna need a soak then a scrub, then an acid soak to be rid of the calcium.

 

Also, I moved my brain coral back from the school's surge tank so I'll try and get pics up soon. The MH pissed off the kenya and toadstool so I moved them into the shade and added a couple layers of screen between the light and the water. The Madracis loves the higher intensity light, so I made sure that it is sitting in a place where it gets the full amount of light while the others are shaded.

 

I've put most of my asterinas into the sump but I left a couple in the display for some added biofilm control. I also need to pick up some new snails and another hermit or two (at the request of my wife). I can't believe the number of shells I pulled out of the 20L... So many dead snails and none of them with bashed-in shells. I wonder what it was that did them all in and I hope that whatever it was really did die in the old setup.

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I am having heat problems with the system. It is hard to keep the temp below 84F when the sump lights are on, even when the MH is off. Consequently the corals, except the Madracis are really pi$$ed.

 

I've ordered the parts for a DIY temp controller and I plan to hook it up to at least two 12V PC fans when all is said and done. Until then, I will be focusing on how to control the temp without it.

 

I have a small fan set to blow across the water's surface but if I let it go too long, it drags themp down into the mid 70F's. I might add a second heater and just leave the fan on all the time. It'd be a waste of energy but at least it might help get the temp under control.

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Very, Very nice tank.... I hate heat issues... Now if I could only get my pics to show up like yours... LOL....... AWESOME TANK>>>>

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Damn Fosi you beat me again but this time it wasn't answering a thread but setting up a new tank! I'm looking at a 20H for a frag tank. Love your tank I'll be tagging along.

 

steve

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