My new reef of 2005!

[Sushi]

looks like everything went smoothly w/the light upgrade

 

beautiful & congrats on a beautiful tank... time to get more corals!

[smokez01]

Hey guys! addition time

 

 

i am planning on purchasing two 5 1/2 gallon tanks to place underneath my tank inside the cabinet, they can fit side by side long ways inside the cabinet, one is going to be used as a sump, so i can get rid of those damn powerheads and put that protein skimer down there, and can only have two return nozzles, and the other one is going to be used as my auto top off resovior

 

Guys, now here is where i am stuck, i do not know how i am going to make the baffles for this thing, and i am going to be using a tiny overflow box that i can get from work as the intake, and for the return pump, i am stuck between getting a mag 9.5 or a mag 12,

 

i am estimating with about 4 feet of head loss on each one, and i am also going to be hooking up a SCWD, so i get the alternating flow with no energy costs,

 

if i go with the mag 9.5 i am estimating it wil only be about 700 gph, and with the mag 12, it would still be good with the flow at about 1000 gph

 

rigt now, with the two seio 620's, i have about 1200 gph flowing in my tank

 

Any suggestions from the people who have set this up before would be wonderful, and please help me choose between the 9.5 or the 12, this is going to be a SPS tank with some LPS, like a brain coral, sun coral, maybe something else, i want a few clams, and maybe a small RBTA, but mostly what i am aiming for is SPS, so i am assuming to get a mag 12,

 

Thank you guys for your help, i really appreciate it

[Travis]

I'd go with the Mag-12 in a 15g reg. as the sump. The 5.5g won't be able to handle that much water running through it, and probply would fit most skimmers.

 

SCWD...

No, lol ...

They are useless, get noisy after they have been in use for awhile, and take away 20% of the water flow. Just go with a PVC "T" and be done with it, JME.

 

HTH Man

[smokez01]

unfortunatly the only size tank i am able to fit underneath my tank is a 5.5 g, there isn't any room for anything else, the stand that the tank is on is an old TV stand, and i recall you using the scwd, i am very interested in using it because of the random flow it would give to the future corals in the tank, and that would only benefit, could you explain more on why you dont suggest it?

 

also, so go with the mag 12? i would think so too as i do not want any power heads in the display area, i want it as open as possible, i am getting sick of the powerheads that i have in there and that AC surface skimmer,

 

 

would you suggest a normal overflow box with U tube, the High Tech manager at where i work said there is a way to make it noiseless, the reason why U tubes make so much noise is cus the air that the water brings down, but the air rises agian, so he said there is a way to silent it, and we have them silented at the display tanks at work

 

that cpr overflow is cool but i dont like the idea of having something pluged in for that coninuous siphon

[Travis]

Well, I realy don't think that coral "NEED" the random current, an indirrect jet stream is just as random if not better. BTW, if you are going to run the SCWD on a mag 12, don't be supprized if it breaks. The litte spinner/switch is some what delacate (cheap).

 

The overflow box w/ U tube is fine. Do a search for Stockman Stand Pipe or Durso Stand Pipe. Those are two methods of making the overflow silent.

[smokez01]

so a mag 12 isnt a good idea on a scwd, lol

 

too much flow,

 

jeebus,

 

maybe i should hook up two mag 5's and two SCWDs

 

how about that idea? eh, eh

[reefin300]

Originally posted by smokez01

would you suggest a normal overflow box with U tube, the High Tech manager at where i work said there is a way to make it noiseless, the reason why U tubes make so much noise is cus the air that the water brings down, but the air rises agian, so he said there is a way to silent it, and we have them silented at the display tanks at work

 

that cpr overflow is cool but i dont like the idea of having something pluged in for that coninuous siphon

 

If you are planning on using an overflow and are trying to silence the air that is being taken down, take a piece of airline tubing and start pushing it down through the bulkhead/hose until you hear the noise stop. Then ziptie it cut the tube from the top and be done with it. LOL

[smokez01]

Yeah, thats how i was planning to do it.

[emokid]

[smokez01]

so here is what i have planned out so far

 

i am going to have a 5.5 g sump, with a small over flow box as the intake to the sump, i am going to remove the ac500, and the two seio 620's,

 

 

i am then going to move the aqua c remora skimmer to the sump, so this way, everything on my back will be free, and no cluttered powerheads

 

 

as my return i am going to have a Quiteone 3000the GPH is 780 and i am going to have it flowing into a SCWD, which i will have one return at one corner on the left , and the otehr on the right corner,

 

As with those, i am going to either place a Rio 1400, which is 420gph, a rio 1700, which is 642 gph, or a rio 2100 which is 692 gph, in the middle of the tank poiting to the front, and on the end of the pump i am going to have one of these Hydor FLO rotating water deflector so it will be added flow throughout the whole aquarium, and it will give the most random bursts of water flow, because with the SCWD and this 360 degree rotating thingy.

 

Now, i plan on having that RIO only running during the day, and off at night, at night it will be the SCWD and during the day it will be the SCWD with the Rio,

 

I am assuming with the head loss and the SCWD consuming about 20% of the flow, that the quietone 3000 will eventually put out about 600gph

 

I want this tank an SPS tank, so with that 600gph from the scwd, i do not know which type of RIO to purchase, the 1400 is 420 gph, the 1700 is 642, and the 2100 is 692,

 

this will have 0 head loss, it will be blowing straight into the aquarium

 

 

Any ideas/ suggestions? I am definatly going to have the SCWD with the Quietone, i just do not know which RIO i should purchase for most efficientcy,

 

also, is it a good idea to have the RIO off during night time, and on during the day time?

 

I am thinking the 420gph will be too low, and the 642 will be the best bet, as the 692 would be too high

 

but i could be wrong

 

Feel free to post any ideas that you may have

 

Thanks everyone!

[smokez01]

Anyone>

[onthefly]

Keep an eye on your QO.

 

I know Travis and myself have had to replace ours because they failed to restart after a power outtage. In my case, was just a simple brown out that shut it down. Luckily I was standing right in front of it when it happened! Some people have had no problems, so just keep an eye on it.

 

Personally, I have a mag9 now driving my SCWD.....I love it!

[smokez01]

Thanks OTF

 

How about the Rio pump?? I bought the Rio 1400, it has 420 gph at 0 head, so that with the SCWD i will have about 1000 gph, Should i keep this 1400 or go with the 1700?

[onthefly]

You know I've had 4 rios over the years and they all worked pretty good. No melt downs, but they do calcify easily.

 

I do think that the Aquarium systems pumps (maxi, micro, mini's) are better built PH's, but in terms of submersible/return pumps I like Mags. A little more cash, but they are truely PNP.

 

I say stick with the 1000gph through the SCWD. Any less and you really notice the flow restriction, any more and you begin to enter the areas where the unit could fail.

[Fishfreak218]

hey, i used to live in Coral Springs too....i dont like Beverl's Pet Center THAT much...all they ever have is the averadge softies....why did you hate the black sand??? also what size tank is the new one???thanks in advance

Josh

[smokez01]

Guys, after a hard days work on saturday, i got the sump set up, the plumbing for the scwd, and ran into problems with the quietone, OntheFLy, i duno what in the world was wrong with it, but it would not stop making a racket, i went to the store where i work and exchanged it, did the same noise, after getting fed up and trying to fix the impeller and ######, i went to the store and exchanged it for a Rio 2500

 

I am now using the Rio 2500 , which is rated at 780gph with 0 head, so im assuming with head and the scwd its about 500-550 ish gph? when i put my hand infront of the return nozzle it sucks hardcore, i have one seio 620 tucked unerneath my overflow box , and i took the back round off and it looks EXTREMELY clean cut, no powercords showing, nothing hanging on the back, looks very good

 

im just worried about the flow, would that be enough with the seio 620 for sps to thrive? its about 45x turn over rate. i really wanted to place the Rio 1400 that i bought in the middle of the tank with one of those Hydor Flo thingys, and it gives extremely good flow, and in an oscellating motion. the result though is a bulk powerhead in the middle of the tank.

 

im trying to watch the wattage that the things consume, and the rio 2500 consumes 55 wats, and that rio 1400 i wanted to place is 26 watts, which is 81 watts of electricity, but major random flow in the tank

 

should i ditch the idea of the Rio 1400 and hydor flow and return the rio 2500 and get a mag 9.5? i am not sure if it will fit in my sump, but its worth a try

 

so the question is, will the mag 9.5 be alot beter than having the rio 2500, i guess ill sacrifice the extra 12 watts of energy for less bulkyness inside the fish tank,

 

ill take a picture of how it looks with out the rio 1400 in the middle of the tank, and one with it.

 

i LOVE the idea of the oscellating motion and the scwd for major random flow,

 

Im in a ditch guys, please give me your opinions

[onthefly]

Well the Mag 9.5 consumes 90W, so the difference would be 35W, not 12W. I did notice some extra heat when I went with the mag over the QO.

 

However, the Mag9.5 is pushing a ton of water thru my SCWD. Restriction or not, there is a ton of water coming out!

 

I've got 45x turnover and the SPS are loving it!!

[smokez01]

So here is the update

 

Picture without Rio 1400 in the back

 

 

 

this is with the rio 1400

 

 

 

i am not sure if i should keep the rio 1400 in the middle of the tank like that

 

what do u guys think

[Babycakes]

great aquascaping by the way. i hope your sps frags will recover, they look a little bleached to me. why don't you put the rio1400 on the right side and point it to the middle? i'm pretty sure your tank will still get a good flow