satnu Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 First off, Hello all! Been a lurker for a looonngggg time and finally got the bug. The bug for a smaller system. I just tore down a 60G LRFO system during my move. After a lot of research here and that "other" place I went out and bought the glass Finnex 30 with T5's. As I go forward I will post here a bit. I have created a Blog for the purpose of tracking my progress and hoping that other will find it useful in the future. Not that forums are not useful but sometimes post get buried or photo's get deleted/moved. SaltyPolak Yes I'm Polish and I've heard them all! Don't forget to leave comments/opinions if you want. Any input helps! I want to thank a few people for their inspiration. bluebastion, Phixion, NYproDJ, ReefinChicago (Go NFC!), kinetic and masterswimmer! All of your tanks are amazing and if my looks (and runs) half as good I'll be happy! Link to comment
Phixion Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Good luck with your tank! Make sure to share anything new you discover both in here and in my 30g Finnex owners thread as well! And of course, get up some pics of your setup when you take some. Link to comment
kinetic Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 woah, what an honor to be mentioned. goodluck with your tank! great blog page too =) I went to poland two years ago. it was great!!! Link to comment
satnu Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 Well if it wasn't for the likes of you guys tweaking and experimenting, the hobby would stagnate. I love the enthusiasm and shear joy that ALL of you get out of this hobby/addiction. Pics of leak test and DIY 175W MH's tomorrow sometime. To DAMN cold to build stand in garage. -15 here tonight! -5 for the HIGH ! Man I'm chomping at the bit. "Patience Grasshopper", I know. Thanks for the Welcome. Link to comment
GMan Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Hey satnu ... You a Gopher? I recently started up and live in MPLS, you live in the area? Link to comment
Phixion Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Make sure to keep your home well heater or at least lots of heaters in the tank, lol! I too am honored to be mentioned and am glad I can share my experience and tips with others. 175w MH, that sounds awesome!! Link to comment
Hoobahans Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Satnu, good luck with the tank, it is a good one. Im also from MN, saint paul, though. Im at school in WA, however. Did you get your tank recently? I got one of the first and missed out on all the fixes, Ill be following your to see how it turns out. Link to comment
satnu Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 GMan- Of course I'm a Goof! As our friends at Mariucci West (the RALPH) like to call us! EastSider transplanted to Burnsville! Only follow Gopher Hockey. Phixion- Not to hard, my "manhole" is below grade so I have an advantage. 71 and holding with 5 puters running Hoob- Just got her Tuesday! SomeThingFishy in Richfield $359. What school in WA are you attending? Fixes? I don't need no stinking fixes!!! LOL! Skimmer is one area of concern for me. Not a lot of experience with these skimmers. Seems like they need a bit of babysitting. May just build one. Built one for my 60. We'll see. Blog will have flow (opinion), DIY MH's(old RC post) and actual tank shots tomorrow. Next week plumbing starts after MarineDepot delivery. I heard the Tunze Nano's ROCK! If not, SCWD is in order! Link to comment
satnu Posted February 4, 2007 Author Share Posted February 4, 2007 Has anybody done any mods to get a little more flow in the fuge? Did my leak test (no leaks!) and the fuge flow was non existent. Shouldn't it have a little flow going through it? What are most people doing with their fuges? Sand and Macro, Liverock, or mangroves? My camera decided to take a dump so no pics. Need to break out my video camera and get some stills. Stand construction starts tomorrow. Link to comment
satnu Posted February 5, 2007 Author Share Posted February 5, 2007 All right stand is built (not finished). SaltyPolak Check out the blog for more details. Any Finnex owners with the T5 lighting have a noisy fan on their hood? Mine whines to beat hell. Going to disconnect it and find a replacement. Still contemplating the reef wall idea. Not sure if I want to do that. I have some time to decide. Link to comment
Hoobahans Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 My fan is real noisy. They are so tiny too, I cant figure out how such a small fan makes so much noise. I'm at Whitman College in Walla Walla. What lfs do you prefer in the citites? I was always underimpressed at WOF and that place right down the street from them...forgot the name. Anyway, that stands looking great. I picked up an old hexagon table to use as my stand from a thrift store here in Walla Walla for 5 bucks. Link to comment
Phixion Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 My fan is super noisy too. If anyone replaces theirs, please provide the specs of it so I can match a replacement one. Link to comment
satnu Posted February 5, 2007 Author Share Posted February 5, 2007 My fan is super noisy too. If anyone replaces theirs, please provide the specs of it so I can match a replacement one. I'm going to crack open the lights tonight and replace existing fan with a "good" computer chip set fan. Part of the noise is caused by the mounting to the hood. I only see two screws. Something spinning at a high rate of speed needs four corners held in place not 2! Ahhhh World of Death! Nope don't go there any more. Something Fishy is the other store down the street. Very helpful and cheapest in town. Link to comment
Cshradr7 Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 sometimes in shipping the reflector moves around. if you take the screws out of the side with the switches on it, you can pull the reflector out and figure out whats making noise. it seems like this tank is popular to people in minnesota...i live in Orono, Minnesota for those of you who didn't know that. my tank has been up for aobut 3 months now and is looking pretty nice. i have a hydor flo on the outlet that works nice. if you play around with the valve that determines how much water goes through the refugium you can turn up the flow. keep turning it and it'll change, not just an open/close valve. Link to comment
billm Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 sometimes in shipping the reflector moves around. if you take the screws out of the side with the switches on it, you can pull the reflector out and figure out whats making noise. it seems like this tank is popular to people in minnesota...i live in Orono, Minnesota for those of you who didn't know that. my tank has been up for aobut 3 months now and is looking pretty nice. i have a hydor flo on the outlet that works nice. if you play around with the valve that determines how much water goes through the refugium you can turn up the flow. keep turning it and it'll change, not just an open/close valve. For some reason when I turn up the flow into the refugium I get bubbles. Have you ever noticed this? Bill Link to comment
Cshradr7 Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 when i do just about anything inside of my tank now i get bubbles. this includes putting my hand in or anything. they go away in a few minutes. i have the flow turned up as far as it can go through the refugium without it going over the top. Link to comment
Phixion Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 My tank seems to run hotter when I have the fuge flow turned on... Yesterday my tank hit 82.8F Granted outside got up to the high 80's here in the LA area. Guess it's time to set up my chiller I got recently, I didn't think I'd have to so soon yet. That or fire up my A/C by day... Anyways, as for the fan noise, I've noticed that the fan can vibrate the splash guard for the lighting, so sometimes moving that around a little can quiet it down some if it sounds like it's going to take off... Link to comment
satnu Posted February 6, 2007 Author Share Posted February 6, 2007 My tank seems to run hotter when I have the fuge flow turned on... Yesterday my tank hit 82.8F Granted outside got up to the high 80's here in the LA area. Guess it's time to set up my chiller I got recently, I didn't think I'd have to so soon yet. That or fire up my A/C by day... Anyways, as for the fan noise, I've noticed that the fan can vibrate the splash guard for the lighting, so sometimes moving that around a little can quiet it down some if it sounds like it's going to take off... 80 nice! Hit a whopping 2 here for the high. Stand is stained and ready for placement. MarineDepot order in tomorrow. Still going to drill a few holes in bottom of fuge so some flow gets to the main tank from the fuge. I have to have the flow from the main chamber to the fuge almost all the way closed. If not, it wants to over flow the tank. Hummm? We'll see. Hood will be opened up and fan replaced this week. Link to comment
satnu Posted February 6, 2007 Author Share Posted February 6, 2007 Not much new yet. Waiting for MarineDepot orders to arrive. Going to drill a few holes in fuge area tonight to create a bit of flow through the fuge. I'll post results on blog with photos. I have a question for you lighting guru's. I currently have an extra Coralife Dual 65watt PC. I had 2 actinic's in the fixture, which are shot. These would be additional to the 96Watt T5's in the stock hood. What would you all add for bulbs? I'm liking a 10000K and a Dual Actinic. Bulb options are Here! Let me know your opinions and why? Link to comment
satnu Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 Update: Plumbing almost done. Bulkhead installed. Most of the original Finnex parts were scrubbed. LocLine Y installed. I did run into 1 problem however. Due to the length of the bulkhead and MPT to barb fitting I needed to relocate the flow control for the fuge towards the back glass and add an elbow to make the connection to the T. I know it's going to knock down my flow a bit. What after market pump are Finnex owners using. May need to "jack up" the flow a bit. Pics added later tonight after saltwater hits tank. Link to comment
Phixion Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 I've like to know what aftermarket pump works good as well and fits. I've heard the ViaAqua pumps work and fit good though, the 9xxgph and 1xxxgph flow rated models respectively. Satnu, what size locline did you use, I'm assuming it's "1/2 or "3/4?? Link to comment
satnu Posted February 9, 2007 Author Share Posted February 9, 2007 I've like to know what aftermarket pump works good as well and fits. I've heard the ViaAqua pumps work and fit good though, the 9xxgph and 1xxxgph flow rated models respectively. Satnu, what size locline did you use, I'm assuming it's "1/2 or "3/4?? 1/2" with a double threaded bulkhead. I'll be posting assembly pics this evening! Link to comment
Phixion Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 1/2" with a double threaded bulkhead. I'll be posting assembly pics this evening! Awesome! And the threaded bulkhead fit the stock sized hole with no modification?? Link to comment
satnu Posted February 10, 2007 Author Share Posted February 10, 2007 Awesome! And the threaded bulkhead fit the stock sized hole with no modification?? Unfortunately no. Stock hole is about 1/2". You need 1 1/8" to fit the bulk head. To accommodate the new bulk head you need to enlarge it with dremmel or similar tool. Hole bits don't work because there is an existing hole and all the bit does is dance. My blog has been updated with the current set up. Water, sand and live rock added Saturday. Hood being started Saturday. Slowly but surely I'm getting there. My live rock looks good. Suprised that there is NO smell at all. It was wrapped in wet paper for a week after my move. I have about 75lbs. to work with. Lots of Coraline growth still there! Purple GOOD! CHECK IT OUT! Link to comment
kinetic Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 not sure if the design would allow, but I'm using a Quiet One 3000 (or I was) in my tank without a sound, without a problem, and plenty of flow. I only supplemented with a seio 620 about a year later when I started keeping major SPS. It's pretty low power driven and footprint is tiny! Link to comment
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