Penny's Lane Movin' On Up-Retired

[Pjanssen]

FTS 8/29/21

 

1st full tank shot 7/12/21

 

Yep, It finally happened. After years of contemplating, the BC 29 is finally gone, it's habitants awaiting a new and improved abode.  My dreams of a custom built tank and stand eventually turned to nightmares, so I finally settled on the Redsea Reefer 250, which I'm learning, as I put this thing together, was probably the smartest move. Having no experience with sumps, I would have been totally lost trying to put something together on my own.  I'm still not sure what to do with all of the chambers, but I'm sure, with the help of everyone here, I will figure it out.

 

So far alI have is the tank the sump and the stand, slowly get put together as we find a little time here and there to get the jobs done. I've no doubt that eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later, the coated MDF stand will be replaced with something much nicer-I'm thinking reclaimed wood...

 

More to come

[Pjanssen]

[Pjanssen]

Some equipment thoughts:

Pumps:

VECTRA S2 PUMP

REEF OCTOPUS VARIOS-4 CONTROLLABLE DC CIRCULATION PUMP

SICCE SYNCRA SILENT 4.0 

MaxFlow Submersible Pump SWP-3300

 

[Murphs_Reef]

Oh f u c k yeah this is my jam right here !!!

 

Cut like a razor to the chase and get a TMC reef pump for the return... Then your happy..Nero for water flow and then your loving the waves...

[Pjanssen]

18 minutes ago, Murphych said:

Cut like a razor to the chase and get a TMC reef pump for the return...

Never heard of it. I'll check it out

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure it's available in the US

[Seadragon]

Wow, I really like your new setup!  I’m thinking of taking the plunge into a larger tank with a dedicated sump in the future and the Redsea Reefer looks like what I need seeing that I have no experience in this area and no desire to custom do anything, lol.

 

Let me know how it holds up and if there’s any problems before I spend the money. 🙂

[ECLS Reefer]

1 hour ago, Pjanssen said:

Some equipment thoughts:

Pumps:

VECTRA S2 PUMP

REEF OCTOPUS VARIOS-4 CONTROLLABLE DC CIRCULATION PUMP

SICCE SYNCRA SILENT 4.0 

MaxFlow Submersible Pump SWP-3300

 

I mean for the price, I have a jebao and it runs just as well as the other high end ones. Going strong at a year now and they’re fairly cheap to replace compared to those you listed 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Murphs_Reef]

7 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

Never heard of it. I'll check it out

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure it's available in the US

Now that's mad 

[Zer0]

Tagging along ☑️
 

As much as I love Sicce pumps, I’d be remiss if I didn’t throw in QuietOne. I had one for many years that went in many different tanks. Would be worth looking in to! 👍

[Pjanssen]

1st aquascape. 

 

The sticks will go away once everything gets cemented together. There will be some other rocks incorporated in as I move things from the other tank over. I want to use as little old rock as possible in order to reduce the amount of past pests as much as possible. 

I'm feeling like the left side is a little heavier than the right, but I think I like it.

 

[Pjanssen]

13 hours ago, Seadragon said:

Wow, I really like your new setup!  I’m thinking of taking the plunge into a larger tank with a dedicated sump in the future and the Redsea Reefer looks like what I need seeing that I have no experience in this area and no desire to custom do anything, lol.

 

Let me know how it holds up and if there’s any problems before I spend the money. 🙂

Thanks. I'm new to sumps as well, which is why I finally decided to go this route. So far I'm happy with  how things are setting up. Follow along, I'll be sure to post about the many problems I'm sure I will encounter!

[Murphs_Reef]

Yeah I really like that Penny. Some very nice space for coral, and cave type areas for bolt holes.. very good bit if work that 👍🏼

[Pjanssen]

12 hours ago, ECLS Reefer said:

I mean for the price, I have a jebao and it runs just as well as the other high end ones. Going strong at a year now and they’re fairly cheap to replace compared to those you listed 🤷🏻‍♀️

Which Jebao do you have?

 

[kimberbee]

1 hour ago, Pjanssen said:

1st aquascape. 

 

The sticks will go away once everything gets cemented together. There will be some other rocks incorporated in as I move things from the other tank over. I want to use as little old rock as possible in order to reduce the amount of past pests as much as possible. 

I'm feeling like the left side is a little heavier than the right, but I think I like it.

 

I'm usually very into symmetry, but I like that the left has the barnacle clusters, and the right has the branch-y rock. 

[ECLS Reefer]

1 hour ago, Pjanssen said:

Which Jebao do you have?

 

The DCP 8000 and before that the DCP sine wave 4000, which is now my back up should there be a need for it. They both worked really well. 

[FISHnChix]

18 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

Nice!!! Cant wait to see this. I have this tank as well. My only thought is placement in your home. this thing is gunna need a 10 gallon ATO container bc the one that comes with it is WAY TO SMALL . That blank area in the cabinet next to the sump is going to be full of power bricks and equipment so no room for a ato container either.  So plan on having a container on the outside of ththe cabinet on the left or the right. 

[Pjanssen]

3 minutes ago, FISHnChix said:

Nice!!! Cant wait to see this. I have this tank as well. My only thought is placement in your home. this thing is gunna need a 10 gallon ATO container bc the one that comes with it is WAY TO SMALL . That blank area in the cabinet next to the sump is going to be full of power bricks and equipment so no room for a ato container either.  So plan on having a container on the outside of ththe cabinet on the left or the right. 

The ato reservoir  being too small has crossed my mind, but for now it will have to do as I really don’t have another spot for it

[FISHnChix]

9 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

The ato reservoir  being too small has crossed my mind, but for now it will have to do as I really don’t have another spot for it

Dang that sucks the included ato is 1.5 gallons. You will have to fill that almost daily... as an example this lasts me about 7 days..

[ECLS Reefer]

17 minutes ago, FISHnChix said:

Nice!!! Cant wait to see this. I have this tank as well. My only thought is placement in your home. this thing is gunna need a 10 gallon ATO container bc the one that comes with it is WAY TO SMALL . That blank area in the cabinet next to the sump is going to be full of power bricks and equipment so no room for a ato container either.  So plan on having a container on the outside of ththe cabinet on the left or the right. 

That is one of the things I love most about the cabinet/sump for my tank. Has so much room under there I’ve got all the guts stuffed in there, and the ATO container is balanced on the top right side of the sump tank. Worked out perfectly. 

[kimberbee]

22 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

The ato reservoir  being too small has crossed my mind, but for now it will have to do as I really don’t have another spot for it

I have much smaller tanks, but I personally don't like big ato reservoirs. If the pump gets stuck on, it can potentially flood the tank, and the room it's in.

 

I have ~1 gallon reservoirs for each tank and fill them every few days. If I ever go on vacation, I replace it with a 5 gallon jug (the kind I use to store/haul water). Yeah, sometimes it's annoying to do it so often, but I feel safer that if the ato emptied it all into the tank, the only negative effect would be high salinity for a bit. 

[Murphs_Reef]

3 minutes ago, kimberbee said:

I have much smaller tanks, but I personally don't like big ato reservoirs. If the pump gets stuck on, it can potentially flood the tank, and the room it's in.

 

I have ~1 gallon reservoirs for each tank and fill them every few days. If I ever go on vacation, I replace it with a 5 gallon jug (the kind I use to store/haul water). Yeah, sometimes it's annoying to do it so often, but I feel safer that if the ato emptied it all into the tank, the only negative effect would be high salinity for a bit. 

Agreed and this does happen with float valves as well. My Reefspace has a ato section of just shy of 3 gallon and it lasts about 4 days just fine. If it does stick on it's not going to be a concern..

[FISHnChix]

6 minutes ago, kimberbee said:

I have much smaller tanks, but I personally don't like big ato reservoirs. If the pump gets stuck on, it can potentially flood the tank, and the room it's in.

 

I have ~1 gallon reservoirs for each tank and fill them every few days. If I ever go on vacation, I replace it with a 5 gallon jug (the kind I use to store/haul water). Yeah, sometimes it's annoying to do it so often, but I feel safer that if the ato emptied it all into the tank, the only negative effect would be high salinity for a bit. 

Lol I cant stand filling mine up even once a week 😬.. got a tunze ato though. Has an optical sensor for maintaining level,  plus a mechanical high level float for override/shutoff. And if both those fail it has a timer built in that will turn it off if it stays running😊

[Pjanssen]

23 minutes ago, FISHnChix said:

Dang that sucks the included ato is 1.5 gallons. You will have to fill that almost daily... as an example this lasts me about 7 days..

Well, I guess I’ll have to go furniture shopping so that I have room for all of my fish equipment!!

22 minutes ago, ECLS Reefer said:

That is one of the things I love most about the cabinet/sump for my tank. Has so much room under there I’ve got all the guts stuffed in there, and the ATO container is balanced on the top right side of the sump tank. Worked out perfectly. 

You find the included reservoir to be big enough?

9 minutes ago, kimberbee said:

I have much smaller tanks, but I personally don't like big ato reservoirs. If the pump gets stuck on, it can potentially flood the tank, and the room it's in.

 

I have ~1 gallon reservoirs for each tank and fill them every few days. If I ever go on vacation, I replace it with a 5 gallon jug (the kind I use to store/haul water). Yeah, sometimes it's annoying to do it so often, but I feel safer that if the ato emptied it all into the tank, the only negative effect would be high salinity for a bit. 

Good point 

[FISHnChix]

3 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

Well, I guess I’ll have to go furniture shopping so that I have room for all of my fish equipment!!

Haha perfect!!!! 😎🍻🤙

[ECLS Reefer]

7 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

Well, I guess I’ll have to go furniture shopping so that I have room for all of my fish equipment!!

You find the included reservoir to be big enough?

Good point 

No the reservoir I got with mine was A a float valve type and B I think 2g and I’d just gotten those nice Trigger systems 5g reservoirs, so I didn’t want to give them away. I ended up able to sit the reservoir on the sump rim- the weight is offloaded and balanced by two PVC pipes sitting in the sump. Works out well- it’s a Smart ATO system with the little pump. The air purge valve is very important because like Kimber said, it can get stuck on and create a siphon but eventually the air purge valve breaks it. Thankfully that tank is big enough with a big skimmer and salinity runs around 1.025-1.026 and a little extra RODI water doesn’t hurt it.