New tank circulation questions

[darkblade]

This is my first saltwater tank....EVER.

 

I saw this site and was hooked...(gotta get one o' those)

Anyway... I set my tank up two days ago as follows:

 

10gal. glass

15lbs. cured LR (LFS)

10lbs. Aragonite

5lbs. LS

2 AquaClear PH.

2x36 watt 10K and 50/50 (modified JBJ clamp-ons)

1x13 watt Actinic

 

DIY overflow with 1" J tube....into....

 

10gal. sump/refugium

5lbs. LR (approx.)

3lbs. Aragonite (approx)

2lbs LS (approx)

RIO 1400 return pump. (in sump)

Ebo-Jager 150 watt heater

Berlin skimmer..(i know, i know,...it was cheap) :

 

I'm planning to keep mainly softies, maybe an SPS or two AFTER I get some experience under my belt.

 

My question is this. With this setup, how often should the water volume turn over ? I think I read somewhere that it should cycle approx. 10 times an hour.

 

If that is the case, wouldn't that be too much water movement for the refugium, or am I being too cautious ?

 

Any help/suggestions would be great.

 

Thanks

??? ???

[darkblade]

sorry...forgot to add the 13watt 50/50 in the sump... :|

[darkblade]

sorry...forgot to add the 13watt 50/50 in the sump... :|

[tinyreef]

Berlin skimmer..(i know, i know,...it was cheap)

 

??? must be nice having money.

 

you'll like this hobby then. X) lee's and coralife are cheaper btw.

 

water turnover is sometimes translated into water movement and vice versa but i treat them as exclusive to each other. diff'rent strokes for dff'rent folks.

 

the refugium should be a low flow imo. i run my refugium containers around 1x~3x per hour but it could probably take 10x depending on how you have your input into the refuge (i.e. 100gph from a 1/2" elbow or a 1" tee).

 

watch the rio : i use them for PH's but not for pumping (for that i use mag's).

[glazer]

As long as your not blowing your sand out da 'fuge you are fine...

 

Sonds like a schwwwwwweeeeet setup.... post some pics dammit!

 

Showoff that DIY overflow as well.... we just lub "ho-made" goodies, hehe

[reefist]

Can you afford a chiller, your going to need one unless you keep the room cold. What is the temperature in the system? If you have fluctuations of more than a couple degrees you're going to have problems. I have found that most typical reef systems (return pump, skimmer pump, powerheads, lighting) tend to run 7-8 degrees above the ambient room temperature. You have a lot of equipment that one would use on a larger tank. With such a small water volume I wouldn't be surprised if your system ran at 10 or even 15 degrees above room temperature. I would 86 the skimmer or at least run it intermittently with a timer when the lights are off.

[tinyreef]

i don't think you need a chiller. a desk fan would do and get an auto top-off to combat the evaporation that results. and that'll still be cheaper than the iceprobe (cheapest chiller around) and you already have the auto top-off you will need (or at least like to have for less worries).

 

it'll get hot in the summer but with the fan it shouldn't get much higher than 5F ambient ime.

 

edit: i just realized i typed 'skimmer' when i meant 'chiller'. X) freudian slip there, i guess.

[glazer]

I musta missed something.... when did heat become an issue?

 

No enclosed hood, clamp ons (remote ballasts) ... two 36 'ers

13 watter over the sump/fuge....

 

I would think there would be more than enough surface area for air exchange and evaporation to keep everything cool enough.

He has a decent sized heater that should have no prob keeping the temp stable..... oh and I thought when he said "cheap" Berlin skimmer he was talking about an air driven one.

 

Oh and by da way.... I'm not trying to be a "dick" in the slightest, I'm just paying close attention and doing lots of searching as of late on peep's setups and all looking for problems as I am putting together another system myself right now.

[reefist]

All those submersible pumps, we shall see. If the Berlin is an air driven model that changes things a lot. I agree a fan would be a good choice to help keep temperature fluctuations to a minimum. I wasn't literally suggesting that you buy a chiller. I was simply bringing to your attention that all your pumps may create a heat problem. Better to talk about it now, before it does become an issue.

[darkblade]

Thanks for the suggestions...

 

I'll post pics tonite.

 

Actually, this wasn't as expensive as it may seem. The only full retail item was the heater.....

 

Both tanks were leftover from upgraded freshwater setups, 1 PC was Ebay ($42.00 w/shipping), 1 PC was swap meet. (15.00....DEFINATELY a better deal) ( 13 watters were modified (torn apart) WalMart desk lamps for $9.97 (AND they came with 6700K bulbs). Skimmer was close-out/discontinued, powerheads were 6.00 ea. (another closeout).

 

BIG box o' used saltwater stuff was bought from Mom&Pop shop that was closing their fish dept for 25.00.....among other things, it included a BIG HOB wet/dry that must have been for a 200gal or so. I could make another tank with the plastic....if it wasn't black. Other stuff in the box was, fittings, ball valves, tubing, filter material, etc. It also included the overflow that I modded/DIY'ed....

The skimmer box was 6Wx4Dx8H. Needless to say, it needed work to fit.

 

Had an older deep water air pump that I used for the Berlin.

 

Heat may be an issue, but I figure that by running the 'fuge lights opposite from the main tank, heat will be minimized...if not....clamp-on fans work great.

 

I may have to put fans in my DIY canopy though....

...no prob...I got some 90cm computer exhast fans and an inverter. (left over from overclocking project that needed more airflow)

 

Waiting for more life to show on the rocks.....

 

(haven't figgered out how 2 post pics inline yet... )