xxticy007
11/21/2004, 08:09 PM
ReefCentral Members,
I have been reading your posts on initial setup of a saltwater aquarium and want to first thank you for some outstanding information. I have been reading a LOT of sites the past few weeks and this is the best information I have found. I am currently in the process of setting up a 50g Saltwater and have the following setup. 50g Oceanic Takn drilled in the upper corner with a 12g sump below the stand. I have bio-balls in the sump and have it hard plummed from tank to sump. I have a RIO 210 pump in the sump for a return and there is about 3' of distance for the water to travel so I don't forsee the pump being ineffective. I just added 50g of RO/DI water that I got from the LFS in two 30g rubbermaid trashcans. After adding the water I added one bag of Instant Ocean that equated to 50g of water. I let it set for the night and stirred it so everything finally disolved. The next day I added the 40lbs of Aragonite and I am currently waiting patiently for the dust storm to settle. I have a few questions if you don't mind answering them.
1) Should I be running the return pump while I am waiting for the sand storm to settle?
2) Should there be a "foam" around the top portion of the tank and on the edges of the sump? It is also covering the heater that is located in the sump.
3) What should the water level be at in the sump? I currently have it over the top of the Rio pump and the 300w heater I have there.
4) I only have one "drain" to the sump and I am kind of worried about what will happen if this becomes clogged once I get stuff in the tank. What can I do to keep this from happening. As I assume the main tank will overflow if this happens because the pump in the sump will put all the excess water there into the main tank. This also kind of relates, but the return that I have where it goes into the tank has a hanger with a hole drilled in it above the novel. Should that hole be above the water level or below it and what purpose does it serve?
I hope that isn't too many questions, but I am just trying to make sure I do everything right the first time so I don't have to start over from square one. I have a bunch of pictures that I can send if that will help in getting an idea of what I am talking about. Thanks again for all the expert advice. Pix are below...
V/R,
Nate
http://www.greatlakesalliance.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=414
Second Image...
http://www.greatlakesalliance.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=415
I have been reading your posts on initial setup of a saltwater aquarium and want to first thank you for some outstanding information. I have been reading a LOT of sites the past few weeks and this is the best information I have found. I am currently in the process of setting up a 50g Saltwater and have the following setup. 50g Oceanic Takn drilled in the upper corner with a 12g sump below the stand. I have bio-balls in the sump and have it hard plummed from tank to sump. I have a RIO 210 pump in the sump for a return and there is about 3' of distance for the water to travel so I don't forsee the pump being ineffective. I just added 50g of RO/DI water that I got from the LFS in two 30g rubbermaid trashcans. After adding the water I added one bag of Instant Ocean that equated to 50g of water. I let it set for the night and stirred it so everything finally disolved. The next day I added the 40lbs of Aragonite and I am currently waiting patiently for the dust storm to settle. I have a few questions if you don't mind answering them.
1) Should I be running the return pump while I am waiting for the sand storm to settle?
2) Should there be a "foam" around the top portion of the tank and on the edges of the sump? It is also covering the heater that is located in the sump.
3) What should the water level be at in the sump? I currently have it over the top of the Rio pump and the 300w heater I have there.
4) I only have one "drain" to the sump and I am kind of worried about what will happen if this becomes clogged once I get stuff in the tank. What can I do to keep this from happening. As I assume the main tank will overflow if this happens because the pump in the sump will put all the excess water there into the main tank. This also kind of relates, but the return that I have where it goes into the tank has a hanger with a hole drilled in it above the novel. Should that hole be above the water level or below it and what purpose does it serve?
I hope that isn't too many questions, but I am just trying to make sure I do everything right the first time so I don't have to start over from square one. I have a bunch of pictures that I can send if that will help in getting an idea of what I am talking about. Thanks again for all the expert advice. Pix are below...
V/R,
Nate
http://www.greatlakesalliance.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=414
Second Image...
http://www.greatlakesalliance.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=415