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Micro-Reefs Aquariums

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Micro-Reefs Aquariums

Yeah, It's going to be really tough, but I'll figure super glue is going to be my best friend as I attempt to glue my corals all over this steep wall.

 

Mike

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yea, love those german deltecs, I have one on my 27x12x18, i think my tank is about 80 ltrs in total.

 

I'm in the uk, but like to catch up on you guys, i'm over in FLA. most years in november.

 

mines de-set now, but still have all mi gear, hope this works, here's mi link :- http://community.webshots.com/user/leewink

 

If i can help with anything, PM or EMAIL me.

 

A little tip, you may get vibration with that powerfull baby, and it is powerfull, if you do here's two things to include to shut it up :-

1) if its outside of a sump etc, stand it on some neoprene foam or rubber mat.

 

2) lid vibration - lift the top black lid off, off of the collection cup, see the top rim of the acrylic there, run a length of airline sillicone tube round it, just slice along it so it opens up and run it round there, place the lid on again.

 

looks good man,

 

lee

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Micro-Reefs Aquariums

Update,

 

Yesterday I raced home from work to fill up my tank with my catalina water. After lugging up 11 five gallon containers I fire up the tank to find that my Deltec skimmer has been connected totally wrong.

 

Ocean water starts to leak out of my cabinet and I freak out and have to do a major clean up work.

 

I then discover that the skimmers return pipe must be higher than the sump and that was not the case, I had plumbed it as a pipe fitting going up 90 degrees then back to the sump.

 

Man what a headache, needless to say I had to drain the tank to get to the back and re-do the plumbing, major work for me, but I did it and I got awesome results once I fired up this skimmer for a second time.

 

I have some new pics of the setup so you can see what I changed on the pipes to get it to work; you'll notice I fitted a elbow pipe at a 45 degree angle and it did the job.

 

I then played with the setting of the water flow intake to the skimmer and got the equilibrium that I need for adequate skimming.

 

I still see the haze in the tank from side to side, showing signs that my rocks have a way to go, they are still leaking out ammonia.

 

I'm wondering something, since I mixed them up with 20 lbs of cured live rock and 4 lbs of cured rubble in the sump will that help cure the other rocks quicker?

 

I've noticed that my sump which has the rubble rock is completely fogged up from the inside. Remember I do have a sump lid, I'm wondering if it's because the live rubble is cured and it's feeding on the ammonia, I don't know?

 

Any suggestions on what's happening and how long you think my wait will be?

 

Mike

 

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Hey mike, that deltec looks cool, they are good like you say, well worth there money ( although they cost a bit ! )

 

I'm not sure if i can see it, but to allow for maintenance, add some disconnectors / shut-offs in ya line from the skimmer to sump, thats if you cant just lift it out, they aint cheap either as the tubing from the skimmer is i think something like 30 odd mm, but will save the grief when it comes to maintenance.

 

When ya do your maintenance on the air/flow pump side of it, be carefull not to snap the shaft on the impellor, they are extremely fragile, and hard to source fast ( here in the uk ), maybe an idea to source one now for your "emergency bits cupboard", my local fish centre stripped a new pump for me, short of that the order wait would of cost me alot of panic.

 

To maintain the airflow intake on the deltec grey loop there, use a drill bit close to the size of the hole, they get blocked with calcium buildup quickly, I did mine each week, I left the pump on to maintain suction with no leakout, and just twist by hand a drill bit carefully in there, do a lot of passes wiping the bit of regularly, don't turn the pump off and disconnect and not drain the skimmer main body's water though, youll get very wet very quick, as you can see the air intake is below the water line, and guess who learnt that one fast !! lol .

 

I take it you are lucky and have no vibrations then, all looks sweet mike,

 

lee

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Mike, don't worry about coral placement. It is a little tricky at first but once you get the hang of it it is easy. I always just fing a good wedge shape piece of rubble so that I can glue the frag on and then just wedge it in a gap. With enough calcium helping it grow it will be no time until that sucker is encrusting all the rocks around it.

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Micro-Reefs Aquariums

Next project on tank is the water cirulation. After much debate on what type of powerhead to use in this setup, I went with EHEIM's 1212 Aquaball.

 

I went this route for the value of price, durability, heat transfer and nozzel direction. It gives off only 6watts of power and gives me 172 GPH that may be controlled. It's only $19 dollars.

 

They are large, I've seen them at the petshop but I can conceal them pretty well, you know me, clean look in the display is my goal.

 

I will be running three of them on my reef keeper; that will give me a total of 516 gallons of GPH at different intervals of water current.

 

I like the fact you can move the ball around like a quickcam ball for more accurate precise water control.

 

Here is a picture of the aquaball 1212.

 

Mike

 

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I'm loving this tank! I'm a big fan of all the sand real estate, and the rock wall. Coral placement could be tough, but could be made a little easier if you strategically place some select 'shelf' pieces. Best of luck!

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I agree with Slo. I'm not sure what gph the return from your sump is putting out, but 72 gallons is a large tank and alot of flow will definitly help keep skimmer production high and eliminate "dead spots" within the tank.

 

For instance...in my 25g I have a Tunze Turbelle, maxi-jet 1200, and a rio 400. This totals around 600 gph+. My reef is mixed, and I have the turbelle on the highest setting. I still feel I could use more flow, as there are some dead spots.

 

Additionally, I'm positive you know how to keep a very nice reef and will have success with the eheim pumps, but I would go with the seios, and try to get the gph (minus the sump return to about 800 gph+

 

Keep up the good work Mike, great thread!

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Micro-Reefs Aquariums

I really appreciate all you input regarding the eheim aquaballs and since I haven't received them, they were paid for and placed on order I will not get them; I'm taking your advice on this one.

 

You guys need to know that I have a mag 7 producing 700 gph, but with the head pressure at 4 feet it's at 480.

 

I saw a seio 6 that produces 620 gph and I will get two of them one on each side and then maybe a third pump to keep the reef keeper busy. It has a setting to work with three pumps for efficient water current.

 

Between my return pump and two seios I'm at 1720 gph. Is that okay and would I be able to run one more pump as pump three?

 

Any recommendation on a third pump for my tank?

 

Here is the link to the pump Seio 620.

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_powerh...eio.asp?CartId=

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Micro-Reefs Aquariums

Well,

 

I've been doing a little research on RC and found out I cannot use the Seio 620 in my 72 gallon tank. It's been discussed over and over by reefers and the SEIO company not to place these guys on a wavemaker controller and that includes the reef keeper by digital aquatics.

 

I'm back to square one so I would like a recommendation for three powerheads that will work nice for my reef keeper and my size tank, SPS corals with some LPS....

 

thanks,

 

Mike

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Micro-Reefs Aquariums

Okay,

 

I did some more reading and took some more recommendations. I'm going to go with the Maxi-jet 900. I will purchase three of them, I keep the wattage at 9.5 instead of 20 watts per powerhead if I went with a maxi 1200.

 

The maxijet 900 gives me 230 gallons per hour times three is 690 gph and added to my return pump of 480 gph I'm at 1170 gph.

 

What do you reefers think?

 

Mike

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Sounds like you'll have plenty of flow with that set-up. I don't know if you thought of this already, but I'd be concerned about detritus build-up behind the 'wall.' Maybe one of those PHs pushing water behind it would help.

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Trying to do the same on the cheap, as I slpurged on a $2000 Tenecor acrylic tank. I love it though. I wish I could have gotten the DELTEC...thats nice!! Had to opt for the CSS 120g needle wheel, which is basically a cheap ASM skimmer, but works well, thick dark skimmate. I am having huge problems though with hair algae, I have all the right snails, but I think my Oceanic salt mix is high in phosphates, might be time for a phosban reactor, their relativly cheap only 60 bucks or so. Your pics are awesome!! Cannot wait to see this baby running...woohoo.!:D

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By any chance did your tape measure rust after laying it on the sand? Personally I don't think you have enough flow. I have 3 maxi-jet 1200s running on my 29 gallon and I still have build up of detritus on the bottom, and this is a softies tank. 2 of the powerheads have hydro FLO deflectors on them, however they only reduce the flow by roughly 20%. The key is to create as much defused flow through the aquarium as possible without creating linear flows. I have a constantly changing current in my aquarium, going from left to right, top to bottom, and every other direction. The deflectors do not turn at the same rate, and they were not set up facing the same direction, so one will be facing up, one down, and eventually they will both be up, then both down, and once again facing different directions, all of this in one hour.

 

Just my .02 cents

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why not get two of the maxi's on a wave maker and one seio not on wave maker. that way you get the flow but also the wave effect.

 

i think your reasoning of using the lower watteged PH's is great, less heat and power used without a huge flow trade off.

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Undertheradar

I went through this song & dance on my tank as well. SEIOs are a good product...unlike their Rio cousins. They are supposed to be releasing a wave-timer controlled version later this year.

 

The one thing to note is that their ratings are subjective. After ordering the 620 and trying it out, I can see a problem. Sure, it moves 620gph, but that volume going through such a large outlet means less velocity than a 200gph pump. My Maxi-Jet 900 makes more flow than one. Also, keep in mind the extra water that a powerhead 'educts' with its outlet...sure, it might only be rated as and push 300gph out the nozzle, but it prolly drags another 300gph with because the velocity & pressure of the water as it exits the nozzle. Shroudless flow eductors work on this idea.

 

For a SEIO or TUNZE, I would rate their outputs by dividing by 3 if you want to compare velocities. Sure, I understand the attraction of a broader, gentle outlet...but dont go thinking that that 620gph rating stacks up the same as a 620gph powerhead.

 

I used to run a SPS dominated 10g with a 250gph return pump, and dual MJ900s on a wave timer. I doubt they will be enough for your tank. If you do three 1200s on a natural wave...that might be good...but you might consider forking the money for a nice TUNZE stream or two...I can see paying for the best isnt a problem (deltec), so if I were you, I would start with two Tunze 6100s on a timer, and go from there.

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Micro-Reefs Aquariums

Thanks for all the input on powerheads. I payed a visit down to my LFS and cancelled my order on the Eheim 1212 and opted for three Maxi-jet 1200.

 

I decided I would go with the higher GPH 295 x 3 = 885 gph + 480 gph from my return pump thats minus the head flow from a mag 700 gives me a total of 1365 GPH.

 

I have pictures to show you guys where I placed them and how well I tried to deflect the flow towards the bottom of my tank.

 

I ended up getting the sand bed to part like the red sea and noticed that within 1 hour my Deltec had picked up on this new current and skimmed a ton of debris from the bottom.

 

This indicated to me that the tank was under flowed with no powerheads and only the return pump.

 

Since my ReefKeeper is running all three on a wavemaker current, my flow is awesome but it's all for a major trade off. WATTAGE, I'm running these extremely hot pumps in my a tank, thats 20 watts a head, giving me 60 watts of heat.

 

My tank with no lights has shot up to 86 degrees while in comparison to without any powerheads at 83. I run a three degree differance and was bummed but hey, I want the current and didn't want to purchase the seio because my reefkeeper would not be able to run it.

 

I thought of the Tunze but I don't like the huge powerheads that they are, just looks unatural to me. If there was a way to conceal it, it would be a different story.

 

If you look closely at my pics you will see how well, I tried to conceal my Maxi-jets.

 

As for the heat, well I knew this would happen but did it anyway because I will be purchasing a really good Chiller to keep my bad boy at 77 degrees.

 

So reefers, start to recommend some chillers, what size, what brand.

 

I do have a small problem, will my current return pump the mag 7 with 700 GPH, will it be able to drive the water through the chiller and up my return pipe?

 

It would be a shame if my LFS sold me a pump that would not be able to do that.

 

Remember I have two mags in my sump already, I don't want a third...

 

Mike

 

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Mike

You are out of control--lol

Awesome setup :) I love how you are taking your time and researching everything out. I rushed my little 18 gal a little and Im paying the price with flow issues.. Luckily or maybe not - my tank had some acrylic flaws and is being replaced. I have a seio 620 in it now but I dont want any Ph in the tank. Gonna have it customed BEFORE I transfer everything with a 1800 in the sump for flow -- plus upgrade the original 1200 main return to 1800 and put Y attachments on each return to spread the flow for 4 adjustable streams.

Im a newbie and dont know much about chillers -- and this is probable mute cause I dont think they make a peltier design chiller to handle a tank that large-- but if they do=== dont get a peltier design, get something with a compressor. I have a 140 watt Azoo peltier design chiller on my 18 gal and when it has to chill (thank goodness it rarely has a heat problem with only 130 watt PC lighting) the heat given off by the chiller tends to raise the living room temp plus the fans for cooling peltier are noisey. Since temp is not a problem I will be removing it upon setup of new tank.

Keep up the great work !!!!!!!

 

Izzue

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