Photo journal of my Miracles in glass starphire 280 (pics inside)

[jthnhale]

man now I want a big FOLR !

I have no room

reefwaters that's one beautiful grouper.

[ReefWaters]

Originally posted by jthnhale
man now I want a big FOLR !

I have no room

reefwaters that's one beautiful grouper.

Me too!

Groupers are incredibly smart too. I had a panther that would let me pet it. It would also lay on the bottom and watch TV with me when I was on the couch. No really, he would.

[NOLACLS]

Originally posted by ReefWaters
With that skimmer I would consider not running a fuge. You don't need the food production from it, just the nutrient export. I just don't think it would be a big benefit. And it would be much easier not setting up a fuge on the system.

I would go with a thin layer of rock rubble and crushed coral with a bunch of brittle stars, snails, and other detrivores. No DSB. You will regret it when you go to move the tank.

On the lighting, I don't see the need for the MHs with fish only. But with that size tank you may need to purchase more fluorescence to make it look bright enough so its kind of a toss up. Go with whatever you already own.

Id also consider a 25w UV just to be safe. You could run it behind the return pump. You can get an AquaUV for around $150.

Just my 2 cents. FO is sounding better than an empty tank.

I wasnt sure about the fuge really. I have never run one before but planed on it for the reef. But I think your right...I guess my small skimmer should handle teh poo.

Would I have to vacuum the rock rubble/CC. I wouldn't do a DSB either is it was sand it would be just enough to cover the bottom.

I would use my MH's because I have them and would like to use them really. I have three 400watters but I could use only 2 and put them higher up to cover the tank.

I was going to run ozone on the reef...doesnt that accomplish the same parasite task in a way as a UV? I had a angstrom 25watter I sold some time ago

[NOLACLS]

Originally posted by ReefWaters
My thoughts on stocking....

Id do the blue face and a V. louti (lyretail grouper). Or any Cephalopholis for that matter. Argus and Miniata are awesome.


I would then maybe consider an Acanthurus achilles. Or a pair.
Or even try an achilles with a powder brown (Acanthurus nigricans). I thought I read somewhere that they will hybridize in the wild but I could be wrong. That would be awesome to see in a display tank but probably VERY difficult.

One last concern I have is what you do when you switch back to a reef. What would you do with all these BIG fish? I just worry about them ending up in a system that is not as nice or with a less experienced hobbyist.

Good luck.

The blueface is a definite and I have had and loved the miniatas groupers, but did see a big lyretail before that was stunning. SO maybe one of those as well. I also love the H. tusk so maybe one of those as well.

Thing I wonder about is these types of fish are hard on hermits snails and brittles arnt they?? What would I use to clean up the sand/rockrubble/CC??

Who knows what I will do with them when I go reef...probably sell them to someone on here hopefully. I think the wife would smack me if I said I was getting another big tank for the reef now

[NOLACLS]

Originally posted by ReefWaters
Me too!

It would also lay on the bottom and watch TV with me when I was on the couch. No really, he would.

Were you drinking/smoking while on said couch?



I really like the groupers too...and lions. I would like to have a big Vol in there too.

[jthnhale]

I don't know about watching TV, but groupers are smarter than your average fish.

I had 55 FO in my college dorm room with a big ugly grouper. He learned to recognize the green net we would feed him his goldfish with, this was back in '87 no comments.
you could pick the net up from across the entire room and the grouper would be at the top of the tank splashing around and waving back and forth

who knows maybe reefwaters grouper was watching TV, did he like Baywatch?

[NOLACLS]

This is another one I had that I really liked...saddle back grouper

[ReefWaters]

Originally posted by NOLACLS
I wasnt sure about the fuge really. I have never run one before but planed on it for the reef. But I think your right...I guess my small skimmer should handle the poo.

Again, I havent read everything, but my little 10 gallon fuge is AWESOME on my sps tank. It took a good 4-5 months to really kick in but now there are TONS of pods and the macro grows like crazy. On the reef, I would go AS BIG AS PHYSICALLY possible with a fuge. But dont bother with the fish only.

Originally posted by NOLACLS
Would I have to vacuum the rock rubble/CC. I wouldn't do a DSB either is it was sand it would be just enough to cover the bottom.

You will get a lot of differing opinions on this but I do not touch my "shallow" sand/rock bed. But its a reef and there are tons of little critters cleaning it all day and night. If you can support a large population of detrivores, without them getting eaten, you shouldnt have to siphon. If the critters get eaten, you will probably need to siphon fairly regularly.

Originally posted by NOLACLS
I would use my MH's because I have them and would like to use them really. I have three 400watters but I could use only 2 and put them higher up to cover the tank.

I agree here. I would probably go with higher Kelvin bulbs though to keep away from the intense white light you can get with lower K. But I think a lot of fish look better with some white light. I would do some more thinking on bulb selection.

Originally posted by NOLACLS
I was going to run ozone on the reef...doesnt that accomplish the same parasite task in a way as a UV? I had a angstrom 25watter I sold some time ago

I've only just started to even think about ozone so I really dont know. Anyone else want to comment? As for your old UV, you never need anything until you sell it or break it.

[ReefWaters]

Originally posted by NOLACLS
Were you drinking/smoking while on said couch?

Possibly both.

This is what I do know. He was in a 110 long, with the side of the tank next to the side of the couch. He would lay down as close to me as he could get, face the television and look right at it. He looked like he was paying attention to the shapes and movement. If I got up, he would follow me. If a stranger walked in the room, he would hide. He would only come out with certain regular friends in the room. I could pet his dorsal fin sometimes when he came to the top for food. But I had to be careful to come from behind him or he would snap at my fingers. No one said they don't like to eat.

I also had a juvenile Argus (blue spot grouper) in there. She was about 3" when I got her. I separated the tank with a piece of plexi to keep the panther from having a $50 lunch. She would stuff 2 goldfish, totaling more than her body weight, in her mouth at once. I know, gold fish bad, Ill never do it again.....

My new vote.....

Lyertail Grouper
Blueface Angel
2 Vol. Lions


PS, you need to get this thing cycling pretty soon if you want to be bugged about posting pictures of these fish.

[NOLACLS]

So how much live rock you think would be needed for the bio filtration since the sand would be real thin is any. With a tusk,lions, and groupers I think it would be tough to keep any sand cleaners alive.

I was thinking 20k's for the bulbs so I wouldnt have to run 03's.

I am pretty sure ozone helps like a UV but I dont know for sure just yet...have to do some reading when I get time. I only have internet at work and I cant use it to much these days. To many people looking

I have to get home and back to semi normal before I can set this sucker up so there wont be pics of fish just yet. But I will be working on my list for sure.

[NOLACLS]

Well I dismantled the 110 and cleaned up my sump I had on it. I will use this for now to run the tank FOWLR until it becomes a reef one day

I am thinking I can have one Seq dart on the CL with the OM and one pump (don't know what one yet) as the return that will be enough to gravity feed the skimmer. The skimmer output will go into and through the sump and then back into the tank. I had about 1000 gph going through it for the 110 with no bubbles problems. I think I need 800gph on the outflow if the skimmer so I guess it will be about the same. Not the filter system I wanted but for now it will do.









Darn that was close to fitting up snug

So does anyone know how I can make the holes bigger on this sump? I don't want to crack it...will a normal hole saw still work if there is a hole already?

I will finally be moving back home on nov 12th...FINALLY!!!

[steve68]

yes u can use a normal hole saw to make the hole bigger, the trick is to start the hole slow once u have the patern it goes right through.or put a piece of plywood under ur skimmer to raise it just enough.
or if u move it back a bit u can use flex PVC pipe so it bends just enough.

[jthnhale]

wow, great job cleaning the sump it looks brand new.

about the holes, you can do it but you have to be careful when starting the new hole.

first place the sump on it's side on top of a piece of plywood you can drill through.

make an outline inside the existing circle and then find the center of the circle in the outline.

place the sumps hole over the outline hole and start drilling the new hole using the center point to line up the center hole saw bit. does this make sense?
it's pretty easy, just don't try to make the hole a tiny bit bigger. your going to have to give the hole saw something to "bite" into otherwise it won't have enough support to make it the new hole.

I hope your move back into your house goes well, and smooth.

[jthnhale]

I was slow typing
what steve68 said

[NOLACLS]

I need the hole bigger because the skimmer outflow is bigger than what the bulkhead will take...same goes for where the return pump plugs up. I want the hole bigger so I can use the right size bulkhead.

Is it a bad thing to reduce a pump a lot....I was thinking about using another Seq dart for the sump return still but I only need 800gph coming out of the skimmer. The dart starts at 3600 so would reducing the flow that much hurt anything?

I have only had that sump for the last 4 or so years so it was easy to clean

[melev]

Well, it looks like you went out and bought it.

Drilling the holes larger will be tough. I'd almost recommend covering them and drilling new holes where you need them.

Or use a dremel to make the hole larger. Or get a rasping bit and put it in a drill and waller out the hole to make it larger.

Or use wood under and over the acrylic, and drill the hole through the first piece and the acrylic. Everything should be clamped so no shifting occurs.

I was just looking at the floors, the baseboards and your walls and thinking how lucky you are that your home wasn't flooded.

[NOLACLS]

Its only about 4 years old and I cleaned it once when I moved it into the kitchen, so this time it wasn't so bad. When I bought it it had the holes already drilled in it. The acrylic they used is to thin really, you can see how it kinda bows out in the middle. All in all nice little sump and most importantly it will work for now!

I was thinking about covering them and re drilling some new ones like you said Marc so maybe I will do that. What type of acrylic glue for that...I know theres a real thin kind and a thicker goopy kind right?

I am so glad I didnt get water in my house...it would have messed up a lot of stuff! One of the guys that works for me for like a foot or two in his house

[ReefWaters]

NOLACLS, do you have a piece of the same acrylic that you could use to do some test drilling on? I think you might be okay drimeling out the excess to make a bigger hole like Marc said. I would brace behind the acrylic as best you could. Maybe just clamp a piece of 2x6 or a thick piece of plywood directly to the sump on the inside of the hole. Take your sweet time and go SLLLOOOOWWWWW.

I dont know a lot about acrylic but I know I've messed a bunch up trying to rush it and do it half assed.

There are a TON of acrylic threads if you do some searching.

I believe that your skimmer would be fine flowing through that bulkhead personally. Just raise the skimmer like steve68 said, or whatever you need to line it up. What size are the two bulkheads? 1"? If so, maybe you could get a PanWorld for your return rated at about 1000gph and your flow through the skimmer would be about perfect. Then you would not have any drilling to do.

Good luck and keep us posted. Just eleven more days before you can stare at this thing ALL night.

[NOLACLS]

I am not sure on the holesize...didnt measure before I left to come back to lovely houma I know the skimmer outflow is bigger than the one on the sump. The return pump hole is maybe 1". I would like a real quiet pump since I might not be skinning the stand for a while. My Iwakie was soooo loud!

[melev]

The Little Giant and Sequence pumps run silently. I don't know about Panworld.

Drilling a hole, or enlarging a hole can be done in about 45 seconds. It isn't a 10 minute ordeal.

Matter of fact, if you can get really really creative, you can drill a board with the correct hole size, then insert that in your sump and secure it with clamps or 3M double stick tape, then use a router to enlarge the hole. The bit would have a bearing on it, and this would trace the inside of the hole as the blade cuts the acrylic wall. Routing would be a breeze, using a 1/4", 3/8", or 1/2" laminate trimming bit. The most important part is that that board not move at all. Thus the clamps.

[NOLACLS]

I dont have a router.....maybe I need to get one

[NOLACLS]

Car update....they found it and it should be ready tomorrow or the next day for me to pick up after this 4 month ordeal. To bad it wasnt stolen or something...now I have to deal with selling it.

[melev]

Okay, then drill the hole into the lumber (3/4" plywood is fine, and clamp that on the outside of the sump, and glue it with 3M double-stick tape. Now drill through that predrilled hole into the acrylic. The wood will keep it from wandering. Still 45 seconds of actual drill time.

Then clean up the edges for 4 minutes, and you're in business.

[NOLACLS]

Thank you sir...I will have to take a look at it when I get some time at home. This weekend is a skeetshoot and then next weekend I move home!!!!!! So maybe I will have a lil time to mess with this....Shoot I just remembered my drill and my big ol box of bits was jacked from my office when the "workers" were cleaning out the wet mess!

Arrgh always something

[melev]

Okay, buy a dremel and mark the larger circle with a Sharpie, and get to wittlin'. Quit coming up with excuses why you can't do this. Soon I'll be tell you to heat up a hot poker and pressing it through the acrylic.