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koden's 32gallon m-tank


kinetic

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Return pump mod (try one):

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I realized this wasn't going to work, since the rain trays have smaller piping holes. The outlet here is 3/4" while the stock piping was 1/2". I later figured out a neat plumbing trick. This is the Quiet One 3000 pump that I replaced the stock one with.

 

This is the final coupling of the quiet one 3000 pump:

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I had to use a larger tube on the outside, stuff the outlet of the pump into one end, and the stock piping into the other. Used thick zip ties to secure them really tight.

 

Here it is sitting in the compartment:

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Here are the trickle trays with the piping all setup:

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Side view of how I got it to work. I took out two trays, I don't know why we needed so many. I have one layer microfiber, the other sponge.

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Here's where I mounted my corallife digital thermometer.

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Ammonia Alert from SeaChem

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Eheim Jager 250 Watt Heater (they're made by Eheim now, but still has ebo stuff in them)

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Above you can see the probe for my thermometer. I later moved the heater all the way towards the baffle, and the probe next to the outlet of the skimmer. as so:

 

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I carefully stacked my live rock. Made a bunch of caves. I got the LR from Alameda Aquarist (newalameda.com). They have awesome LR!! Only $2/lb. Then I put in my live sand from an established tank. Found a fighting conch or something, but it died already, ammonia!!! But the shell looks cool. (I know I want some ammonia).

 

After mixing 30 gallons of RO water with Instant Ocean salt mix, (5 gallons at a time, 1.022 on my Instant Ocean hydrometer) water.

 

I added enough water into the intake chamber so that the water just overflowed into the filter chamber.

 

Filter chamber I added water until 1.5 inch below the lowest tray, and the return pump was fully submerged.

 

The display I added water until the water just went over the overflow.

 

I turned everything on, and amazingly, everything worked, even the skimmer.

 

The overflow handled the 780GPH pump very well! So we have evidence that the quiet one 3000 780GPH can be installed successfully. There's still more space to overflow into (if that makes any sense). So on the record, 32 Gallon M-Tank can take at least 780 GPH (minus a bit from pressure head loss) in the overflow.

 

My Return pump is constrained now to a 1/2" ID pipe, which does restrict a bit of the flow, but it's perfect for the setup.

 

(btw I"m so exhausted now, started setting this up from 8pm to now, 3am, I might not make any sense)

 

I connected lights to the timers, actinic being on from 9am to 11pm, daylight on from 11am to 9pm.

 

The skimmer is kind of loud, but the pumps are great. The noise comes from the air intake tube! Darn.

 

I have rubber legs on the quiet one, plus a suction cup pushing it so it won't vibrate like crazy and rattle. Though it does hummmm a bit right now. Still very quiet.

 

The stock lighting is awesome! Ah everything is great. I"m exhausted. Here are pix of it running right after I turned it all on:

 

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skimming:

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front view (lots of sand floating around still):

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filter chamber side view:

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down low:

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kinda blurry:

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The intake chamber:

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I'm thinking of getting a tupperware, cutting holes in it, and making it intoa fuge, and putting it in the intake chamber. IT's full of water, and there's TONS of space.

 

 

another side view, the temperature is climbing. Jager is set to 78 degrees farenheight (is that good?)

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full side shot:

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Wow

Koden

Thanks for all the pics--- LOOOKINNNINNNgggg Good!!!!!!

Your gonna love this tank, and Ken at Finnex is a nice professional

business man. MY LFS is at a show in Chicago right now talking with Ken Im sure :)

Keep us updated...

Izzue

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first thing, i dont own this tank, but i think it came with the skimmer...... and second though i love this tank and wat you did, dont the shells look kinda cheesy?

other than my personal opinions, its AWSOME!!

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Yes, the skimmer is included with the M-tanks. Rated at 75 Gallons I think.

 

Good stuff Koden, good luck! Now that you have the tank, what are the prospects of "refugitizing" the back chambers?

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My skimmer bubbles don't seem to be reaching the top of the funnel into the collection area. When I first started it, some bubbles got over, but now it stays halfway through. THere's some ball valve looking thing on the outlet of the skimmer, but I can't tell what it does. Is this normal for a skimmer? Or do I need to play with that valve to make it allow more flow?

 

Thanks

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Originally posted by njfish77

hey whats up man where did you get that awesome skimmer it would perfect for my 15 gallon!!

 

Originally posted by njfish77

hey whats up man where did you get that awesome skimmer it would perfect for my 15 gallon!!

 

It came with my M-Tank, but I think it's not made by Finnex. "Made in Taiwan". The box has a brand, but I'm at work so I'll post the brand when I get back.

 

 

Originally posted by kidphc

Looks nice. Mine should arrive on Monday of next week. How much flow comes down into the rain tray.

A lot of flow goes down. I don't know how to tell or gauge, but all water levels stay even. I have a 780 GPH return pump, it looses a little pressure but it should still be high.

 

 

Originally posted by Open

firet thing, i dont own this tank, but i think it came with the skimmer...... and second though i love this tank and wat you did, dont the shells look kinda cheesy?

other than my personal opinions, its AWSOME!!

Cheesy! OOOOH you didn't ;) I dont know, I found the shells in the sand... i was messing with the conch shell since it looked like it died recently, all this black stuff came out of it, and it had air in it and floated around when I put it back in the water. THe other shells were also already in the sand... and I dug them out and put them on top of the sand. Won't the hermits need them later on? Thanks for the comments ;)

 

Originally posted by hkyreef

Yes, the skimmer is included with the M-tanks. Rated at 75 Gallons I think.

 

Good stuff Koden, good luck! Now that you have the tank, what are the prospects of "refugitizing" the back chambers?

Skimmer is rated at 75 gallons. It comes with a 315gph pump. Only complaint is that the air intake tube is LOUD! I might have to put this baby on a timer and have it off during the day or something.

 

For fuge ideas:

I will probably go cheap style, get a tupperware, cut some holes in it, and slide it into the intake chamber. There is plenty of room in there! I also have a AquaClear 10 (80GPH) that I'll probably have timed to go off every so often at night pumping water through the fuge. Any ideas?

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Koden

The skimmer with the Finnex is a venturi style-- it is acceptable to pressure changes due to incoming flow. Since you upgraded the return pump the skimmer may be off a little and need adjustment. The skimmer has a valve to adjust outflow-- hmm I think if its turned counterclockwise just slightly the flow volume will increase. Just make small adjustments until you get it right. In your pic where you have air intake wrapped around the skimmer-- hang it over the back to help reduce noise. BHP only ran his at night I think due to noise.

 

Izzue

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Thanks for the input guys.

 

I will try turning the valve around to see if I get better skimming. So I'm guessing it's not actually working since the bubbles don't spill over the top at all? How much do I want it to spill over into the container?

 

 

Longer tube will be quieter? I think it's just where it's sucking in air is where it's loud.

 

Maybe I'll get a REALLY long tube and put the intake in the basement, LOL!

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I haven't done that much research on fuges yet, but to my knowledge this is what I'm going to do (but I will definately do a lot more research before this is finalized).

 

The back compartment is 14" x 4" x 18" (approximately). I'll save half of the Intake Chamber for the skimmer and heater etc (that's all I have in there anyway, so much space just sitting around). The other half will be about 7" x 4" x 18". I'll find a really high quality tupperware that's almost that size (a tall container) that's completely clear. I've seen some in tank / in sump fuge's that are just clear boxes with little slits on the top for the water to pass through, they also have a small powerhead pulling water into the box, and it automatically leaves out the slits on top.

 

I want a pump because it'll help push out the water. In a sump fuge the water passes on to the return pump with the flow of the tank, in my case I won't have this flow so I'll need a powerhead / pump to do it for me. I'm not sure I want it to ALWAYS be pushing water out of there too, so I'll attach a timer to turn it on and off at different times. Any inputs on the timing of the pump would be great.

 

So in summary:

 

Clear Container (Tupperware) 6" x 4" x 12"

AquaClear 10 (80 gph) attached to timer. Turns on twice a day, once 2 hours after lights on, once 2 hours before lights off, for a duration of 30 minutes. (I need to research on this time.)

Small hole in side of tupperware for powerhead, this will be the input of water into the fuge.

The top lid will have slits for output from the fuge into the chamber.

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NeonDottyback

Maybe I'll get a REALLY long tube and put the intake in the basement, LOL!

 

That is some funny stuff. Nice Monet behind the tank.

 

The tank looks good so far, nice idea on the fuge.

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freakintiger

In one of your set-up pics you show your heater with the white plastic piece still connected to the bottom of the heater. I bought one of these once and discarded this piece as packing material. Won't this melt? I believe it is styrene plastic, like what model kits are made of, and will soften and warp when heat is applied...

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