Undertheradar Posted September 12, 2004 Share Posted September 12, 2004 ???for you...is this your first tank? If so, I would highly suggest a bare bottom. If this isnt to your eye's liking, try a thin layer of sugar sized aragonite. Sometimes sand bottoms can create chemical problems for those who dont know about all the ins&outs of sand beds...even thinner ones. The sugar arag has minimal surface area for bacteria, and doesnt let alot of mulm in between it's fine packing structure...so it works out to be a non-sand bed sand bed that is easy to blow clean...if you catch my drift. Link to comment
mapv281 Posted September 12, 2004 Author Share Posted September 12, 2004 no it's not my first tank, i currently have a successful 5.5 gallon. Where could i get the sugar sized aragonite? i went to a lfs and they had it, but knowing they would rip me off, i would like to know other options. i would consider that, otherwise i think i might go with bare bottom. and yes i understand about sand beds and their chemical problems, i had problems with that recently, even though i fixed it, that pushed me over the edge into upgrading for more stability, i had it in mind already but that did it. anyways i will be running a mag 7 plus a couple of hagen 201 powerheads that i have laying around. Link to comment
TheIceberg Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 Originally posted by bill33 i have a mag 3 on my 29 and it is really powerful i had to put a ball valve to slow it down I have a mag 5 on my 29 and I slowed it down with a ball valve and it works great. I would say go bigger (with the 5) and slow it down if you need to. Obviously a lot of it depends on the holes and pipe you are working with too. Link to comment
nunez1980 Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 hi there, I have a mag 5 on a 10g and a mag7 on a 29g, on the 29g the mag is just perfect, but I use that because thats what I had laying around, so bigger would be better specially if you go BB, that way you can increase or decrease the flow to your liking, and not be sorry about buying another, but is always good to have a extra for an emergency anyway, so you if you to decrease the flow the best way in my opinion is to put a "T" pvc or pastic, depends if you are using pipe or tubing, and put the valve on a return back to the sump that way if you open the valve lower flow back to tank, close valve and all flow will go to tank, this way you don't force the pump if you want to decrease the flow, which can kill the pump;) good luck, sam Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted September 21, 2004 Share Posted September 21, 2004 you can get the sand online...custom aquatic, marine depot, premium aquatics, foster&smith, pet solutions, that fish place...dont compare which has the best price as much as finding which is closest to you...shipping tends to be the biggest cost here. you could call carib-sea (# @ www.carib-sea.com), and they are very helpful...even sending out free samples if you desire. They could help find the closest distributor/online store to you. Link to comment
seis66 Posted October 10, 2004 Share Posted October 10, 2004 are those pumps (mag 5, 7, etc) too noisy? i'm planning to get one for my 50g Link to comment
aggiereefer Posted October 10, 2004 Share Posted October 10, 2004 i have a mag 9.5 on my 30 cube :-) awsome flow gettin it ready for sps Link to comment
seis66 Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 aggiereefer are they noisy? Link to comment
OxInYourBox Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 9.5 and use loc line returns split out with the wide nozzles to decrease the direct flow and randomize it more. Check the GPH of your overflow to make sure it can keep up. You can always swap out MAG drives if you build the closed loop with unions. Makes for easy cleaning of the pump as well... Link to comment
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