New System Running, Please critique

[YYZ_125G]

I started this system in November and would like comments. It is a home built stand, top, and filtration. My live rock came from an older tank and I used dead rock at the base, I hope to grow it out. Notice my stand design with a central removable door. I wanted full access to my sump without having to swing hinged doors out of the way when servicing. I will keep this short because I am not sure about posting pictures on this board and will put my first post effort into getting the picture up.

[connecticut cichlids]

looks good to me...rock looks real good!

[YYZ_125G]

Here is a pic with the stand open

[YYZ_125G]

Here is a close up of the sump

[YYZ_125G]

4 VHO lights in the custom hood it is real shallow and it was hard to find quiet cooling fans.

[katchupoy]

very nice setup... really like the color... and the very clean cabinet...

[WaterDogs]

Beautiful... Want to come over and do mine?

[spazz]

hale the sump king! i want your sump/fuge. mine cant compare to that! the rest of the tank looks great too. but the one thing i would do for now(until the purple alge grows) is put a background of blue on it to hide the electric cords and stuff. he he he

[Hong Kong]

All is nice but this speakers is NOT o.k. to be in the same room.

Fish doens't like vibrations and this is sure.

Aquarium is very well situated.

Branko from Slovenija

[YYZ_125G]

Spazz, I went down and moved the cords to hide them behind the overflows after I read your message. How can I look into the tank for hours and not see behind. Doh! Not much I can do about speakers, the reef shares the theater room. I think the fish like watching DVD’s, although the clown fish didn’t care much for “Finding Nemo�. Actually the fish seem less shy when lights are down and sound is up.

I really didn’t think the sump was all that great. It is a 30-gallon and I wish it were bigger. The weirs are 3 inches wide and I still get some micro bubbles without the sponges I have removed the pump sponge.

My components:
Dolphin DP1200 return pump, Dolphin DP560 skimmer pump, AquaC EV-120 skimmer, 500-watt titanium heater and two Maxi-Jet 900s in overflows piped back into tank.

I am using women’s nylons as filter sock (price was right) over drilled PVC tubing to muffle the incoming flow. At 600gph per side I was getting a lot of air and turbulence. I still need to make a Plexiglas sump top to reduce evaporation (2+ gal/day) and find a better refuge light. The 5-gallon bucket is for make up water with a Maxi-Jet 900 running on a flow switch. Good for a weekend away, but I will need to use a larger external container for extended vacations.

What do people think of the stand’s removable center panel? It is what I am most proud (original idea). Most DIY sump designs use four doors. With that plan I couldn’t remove the sump if needed (already have to increase weir space) and would be continuously opening and closing doors for regular maintenance.

Daniel

[Dave A]

YYZ_125G .............great looking set-up you have there. I also have a 125 with a 30gal. sump, although I was calling it a 35gal. sump. I think your right. My set-up is very similar to yours and can be seen here;

http://www.geocities.com/davesreeftank2003/index.html

I have a question for you. How long did it take your EV-120 to start producing good amounts of skimmate? The reason I ask is because I switched to that same skimmer about 3 weeks ago and it hasn't produced much skimmate yet.

Nice tank,
Dave

[YYZ_125G]

Dave, I like your tank and web site. I think it took a few days for my skimmer to kick in. But it doesn't consistently produce lots of wet waste. Sometimes the bubble column just doesn't spill over into the cup and I just get allot of waste building up in the column itself. This may be because I don't have the waste to pull out. I am not feeding heavy, and the sponges in my weirs trap waste. I checked the flow on my skimmer pump it is at 600gph so that is within specs. Tested my water last Sunday couldn't find any traces of nitrate so guess I won't worry. If the waste isn't there the skimmer wont pull it. If I do not have adequate export of nutrients I should start detecting nitrates. This may be the same thing for you. The two media trays maybe more effective than you think. The picture of your skimmer operating for 8hrs looks like mine when it's running at it's best. Daniel

[Dave A]

Originally posted by YYZ_125G
The picture of your skimmer operating for 8hrs looks like mine when it's running at it's best. Daniel

Thanks. My skimmer did that twice for about 8 hours each time then nothing since. That's it for about a month. My nitrates were always around 6 - 8, not bad for a FOWLR tank. But since I switched to the EV-120 my last reading was 12. I've pretty much given up on it and I plan on replacing it soon.

Dave

[YYZ_125G]

Dave, Have you checked your injector to make sure it isn't clogged? A piece of crap got stuck in mine and shut it down completely.

[msmello]

Love that stand. I haven't seen any like that in the stores - maybe you should market them. I, for one, would buy one, I hate my little doors on my cabinet. Getting my sump or even my skimmer out of there takes an act of Congress.

[Dave A]

Originally posted by YYZ_125G
Dave, Have you checked your injector to make sure it isn't clogged? A piece of crap got stuck in mine and shut it down completely.

I never thought to check the nozzle with it being only a month old but thanks for the idea, I'll check it in the morning.

Dave

[adrinal]

It looks GREAT!
Not too much not too little
Hope to see more as it fills out.