New setup question.

[Clown79]

3 hours ago, 1st reef said:

Thanks for the tips. What did you plug the lower hole with? 

I have a heater with the return pump. 

I kept the black sponge in the chamber with 1 bio media bag and 1 carbon. 

I should replace the sponge with floss? 

The light Im getting is a 14k.

Where do I find a better pump to fit in the tight space? 

I got more questions than I thought. Lol

Will check it out. Thanks. 

Heaters shouldn't be in the same chamber as the pump. Its dangerous.

That chamber the water evaporates plus the heater being near the return hose can possibly damage it. 

 

Most don't use sponges. Those are for freshwater biological filtration. Most use floss because its meant to just trap particles but it needs to be changed(discarded) twice a week. We all buy floss in bulk.

 

Pump wise, you need to measure and search for one. I used an aqueon.

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, 1st reef said:

Can't you just rinse the sponge every week? 

Yes, but it never gets clean enough. Even with freshwater, it needs replacing.

[1st reef]

53 minutes ago, Jakesaw said:

Sure, 

 

When you rinse the sponge you don't get everything out, you get most out ( whether that be good or bad ), and I was rinsing sponge in sink.  Created alot of brown water in sink as I rinsed, squeezed, rinsed some more, but I didn't know if my sink water was going to be bringing chlorine / chloramines, etc over slowly into my tank.  

Filter floss is easy toss and go, and when bought in bulk and cut to size it's pretty inexpensive.  Had been using it 2 weeks and I like the process of remove and swap vs clean sponge.  At the moment I'm trying no filter pad at all as I attempt to raise nitrates in my tank.

 

I got this stuff.  comes in a rolled sheet and you cut it to dimension for use. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0765BK73V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I'll be rinsing with ro water but might just do the floss and carbon. 

As for the nitrates... Some try to lower them other try to increase them lol. 

What's the target? 

 

[1st reef]

8 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Heaters shouldn't be in the same chamber as the pump. Its dangerous.

That chamber the water evaporates plus the heater being near the return hose can possibly damage it. 

 

Most don't use sponges. Those are for freshwater biological filtration. Most use floss because its meant to just trap particles but it needs to be changed(discarded) twice a week. We all buy floss in bulk.

 

Pump wise, you need to measure and search for one. I used an aqueon.

Thanks. I get flossing then lol. 

The heater isn't close to the return tube and the bottom of the heater is covered as to not damage anything it touches. 

[PeterU]

23 minutes ago, 1st reef said:

As for the nitrates... Some try to lower them other try to increase them lol. 

What's the target? 

5-10 is my understanding.

[Jakesaw]

22 minutes ago, 1st reef said:

As for the nitrates... Some try to lower them other try to increase them lol. 

What's the target? 

As a fellow newbie, who just started testing them regularly, my initial target is 2-5 range.  There's a bit more to it with phos / nitrate ratios but I'm not at that level yet.  So for now, I'm just trying to get things off of zero to a level to for coral health.  Other more informed reefers can inform beyond that.

[1st reef]

So, I removed the sponge and just dropped the carbon in the chamber and also moved the heater there. Will go out and get a small pump for increased flow (approx 200gph) how much floss should I add? 

[Jakesaw]

12 minutes ago, 1st reef said:

 how much floss should I add? 

When I asked that question I got alot of answers and made the decision as to what fit my filter best.  I had a whisper 20 HOB filter so I cut a square pad to fit the size of filter frame so all the water flowed through it. 

 

If you have a chamber and media basket your water all flows through, you could cut it to that size.  Others with your tank setup can give other suggestions.

[Clown79]

31 minutes ago, 1st reef said:

So, I removed the sponge and just dropped the carbon in the chamber and also moved the heater there. Will go out and get a small pump for increased flow (approx 200gph) how much floss should I add? 

I cut my floss to square size to fit in my media basket

[1st reef]

Thanks. Will just shove some floss in there till I make a basket. 

[ReefTaco]

4 hours ago, 1st reef said:

Thanks. So I should remove the sponge and replace it with floss only? Change the floss weekly? 

Look into a media basket first pulling wet floss out by hand out that small chamber can be cumbersome. Like I said before most people either get the intank aquatics basket or do a DIY basket usually out of eggcrate. Quick Google search you can copy some designs. 

Hope that helps

[1st reef]

Is 110 gph enough for filtration?  It's over 20 times the turnover. 

[1st reef]

Just added a 240gph powerhead. Should I put it right under the return spout but pointing to the rocks? 

[Jakesaw]

3 hours ago, 1st reef said:

Just added a 240gph powerhead. Should I put it right under the return spout but pointing to the rocks? 

Those small rocks sure do look interesting.  Any rock would be a great frag plug to attach a frag to.

[Seadragon]

7 hours ago, 1st reef said:

Is 110 gph enough for filtration?  It's over 20 times the turnover. 

 

3 hours ago, 1st reef said:

Just added a 240gph powerhead. Should I put it right under the return spout but pointing to the rocks? 

 

Let me know how this turns out for you.  Oddly enough, I'm going to end up using this exact configuration, but different brands, roflmao.  A Sicce Syncra Nano Pump (110 gph) and a Hydor Koralia Nano Circulation Pump (240 gph).  I will put the Hydor Koralia Nano in the opposite corner diagonally of the output nozzle and point it straight across so that it skims right below the waterline and this will make the water current move in a clockwise fashion in the tank.

[1st reef]

Yeah.. Will leave it under the return pointed at the rocks since I don't want to have the cable hanging on the other side. 

[Clown79]

Powerhead placement is different for everyone as aquascape and coral placement determines where the powerbead should go.

 

You want to aim for no dead spots

 

I've made a few media baskets and i preferred the ones made out of craft plastic mesh to eggcrate.

 

Its cheaper, easier to work with, easier to clean. 

[filefishfinatic]

On 9/11/2021 at 6:07 PM, 1st reef said:

thats dry rock. get live sand 

[1st reef]

2 hours ago, filefishfinatic said:

thats dry rock. get live sand 

2 big pieces in the center are from my lfs. 

They keep "live" rock in a basin. Took the myself out of the water. The rest are dry rock. I checked ammonia yesterday but the water was very hazy. So I checked nitrite. It was at 1ppm. Will continue to ghost feed and monitor. First the fish will go inside. How long after should I add corals? 

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, 1st reef said:

2 big pieces in the center are from my lfs. 

They keep "live" rock in a basin. Took the myself out of the water. The rest are dry rock. I checked ammonia yesterday but the water was very hazy. So I checked nitrite. It was at 1ppm. Will continue to ghost feed and monitor. First the fish will go inside. How long after should I add corals? 

Nothing should be added until the tank is finished cycling.

[1st reef]

Well, I'm ghost feeding for now. Once cycled, can I add 1 fish and 1 coral? As for the light, it's going be the 11k that comes with the evo. What corals can I even consider based on this set up? And will 10hrs be too much on time for the light? 

[Ratvan]

10 hours ago, 1st reef said:

Well, I'm ghost feeding for now. Once cycled, can I add 1 fish and 1 coral? As for the light, it's going be the 11k that comes with the evo. What corals can I even consider based on this set up? And will 10hrs be too much on time for the light? 

I would look at softies and lps as your first corals, maybe not a euphyllia straight away as they can sting other corals and with a small space thats not a lot of fun. 10 hours should be fine for teh light cycle, most people seem to run lighting between 8 and 12 hours

[1st reef]

2 hours ago, Ratvan said:

I would look at softies and lps as your first corals, maybe not a euphyllia straight away as they can sting other corals and with a small space thats not a lot of fun. 10 hours should be fine for teh light cycle, most people seem to run lighting between 8 and 12 hours

Just trying to avoid algae outbreak. 

But as this is a new setup, I'm sure it'll go through its ugly phases as it matures. 

[Ratvan]

11 minutes ago, 1st reef said:

Just trying to avoid algae outbreak. 

But as this is a new setup, I'm sure it'll go through its ugly phases as it matures. 

yeah i run mine at 10 hours on, trying to burn off the uglies asap 

[Jakesaw]

55 minutes ago, 1st reef said:

Just trying to avoid algae outbreak. 

But as this is a new setup, I'm sure it'll go through its ugly phases as it matures. 

It's a balancing act.  

 

I'm 8 mo into hobby and I started as a fish only system w/ standard florescent aquarium light for a few months to let tank stabilize a bit before adding reef light and never really had an ugly stage or algae breakout.  Got some algae coloration on rocks ( started white and are now a shade of light green ish brown ), but never a bad outbreak of any sorts.  

 

Recently I got a dino issue I'm working through, but it's largely due to a low nitrate environment that I am correcting by raising nitrates.  I wasn't testing any parameters for a long time prior to dinos.