Noob 55g diary. - Page 2

ratherbediving · #26 07/22/2005, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pechert
ARC is the manufacturer of the tubes. Just wondering if there are good manufacturers of flourecent tubes. Like is PFO better than ARC? Who made the T5's you are using Ratherbediving?
...

The lamps that came with my fixture (Sunlight Supply retrofit from Reefgeek) were ATI lamps. I like them, but have nothing to compare them with. However, I think whatever bulb you use would be fine.

pechert · #27 08/07/2005, 05:26 PM

After a long break from my tank I decided to look at it again. I put some water in my tank today to test the closed loop/tank for leaks (tank has never had H2O in it ). Well I had two leaks... both on the sqwd. Are these known to leak at the seams? I will have to take it out and check all the connections again. I have a cheap T12 fixture on top for now.

Any barebottom tank owners out there have any suggestions as to rock placement? Is anyone ever worried about a rock falling and cracking the bottom? Just wondering, I don't know when I will getting my rock but I like to plan ahead.

pechert · #28 08/07/2005, 06:36 PM

Looks like its leaking at the barb connection on the sqwd. Where I have the clear tubing on it. So I changed the small piece of tubing and it still leaks (slow little drips about 1 every 2 minutes so not a major leak). I am going to try to put some teflon on the barb and see if that helps.

I also have air in the loop for some reason.

spongebobby · #29 08/07/2005, 07:22 PM

You should change all your clear hose to black or something like that due to the algae will grow faster in clear lines (due to light being able to get through hose). I've seen the inside of clear tubes covered in Hair algea. Just a tip for ya.

pechert · #30 08/07/2005, 08:56 PM

No more leaks. Now I have to figure out how to set up my lifereef overflow. I didn't get instructions. I had it flowing but the overflow wouldn't keep up with my return pump. B'ah. The overflow wouldn't keep up. What am I doing wrong.

How do you set these up?

J diggity · #31 08/07/2005, 09:14 PM

I use t5 lighting on one of my 90 gal. reef tanks, and I am more then happy with them ; however that being said I wish I would have used regular florescent bulbs until I had the money to buy VHO lighting . VHO or Very High Output florescents are quite literally 3 times the light and are what I will be using paired with halides for my 11' 225 Gal. tank. the color range that you can get out of the blue bulbs is amazing.

Grunthor · #32 08/08/2005, 03:23 AM

You're going to want a ball valve on the output from your sumps pump just in case it is faster than your overflow. That way you'll be able to throttle it back a bit to keep your sump from running dry.

pechert · #33 08/08/2005, 12:22 PM

I had to put a 90 on the back of my overflow. Would that be the cause of the resrticed flow? I mean it sure doesn't seem like 1400 gph.

I had to put the 90's on so the hose wouldn't kink.

I will post a picture after work today.

ratherbediving · #34 08/08/2005, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pechert
...

Any barebottom tank owners out there have any suggestions as to rock placement? Is anyone ever worried about a rock falling and cracking the bottom? Just wondering, I don't know when I will getting my rock but I like to plan ahead.

Not a bb owner myself, but assuming you have a glass tank (not acrylic) then a lot of people use Starboard (cutting board material) on the bottom of the tank. Otherwise, a rock slide could potentially shatter the bottom pane of glass. Do a search on 'starboard' or 'starboard reef' and you should find all that you need to know.

Not needed IMO with an acrylic tank.

ratherbediving · #35 08/08/2005, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by J diggity
I use t5 lighting on one of my 90 gal. reef tanks, and I am more then happy with them ; however that being said I wish I would have used regular florescent bulbs until I had the money to buy VHO lighting . VHO or Very High Output florescents are quite literally 3 times the light ...

I was a little surprised at this... T5 is definitely as or more expensive than VHO IMO if you are going with a high quality fixture. If you are using one of those EBAY fixtures, or a T5 setup without a proper reflector, then perhaps VHO is better.

With a parabolic reflector (Icecap reflector or Sunlight supply reflector are two examples) then the light output of a 54 watt T5 HO bulb has a PAR value that I believe is as high or higher than a 110 watt VHO with a simple flat reflector. There may be more color options with VHO, but I am quite happy with the color combination that I have (2 blueplus, 1 6500 k and 1 Aquablue)

J diggity · #36 08/10/2005, 12:20 AM

Well if the arguement is whether t5 or VHO is better, I would love to hear the arguement that t5's are more expensive and better quality lighting. Russian made 03 actinic 45w t5 bulbs and 110w VHO bulbs are no comparison. The range and depth of the VHO anre far better.
t5s are 5/8" flor. bulbs I don't care what ebay they came from. Anyhow after my 3rd tank all running t5's, VHO 03 act. and 16-20k whites made them look dull. You CANNOT get shimmer off even the highest t5 bulb, Halides and some VHO's, are the only light you will get that off of ,that I have come across. Anyhow I could go on and on; however my thoughts are that t5's are great until you get serious. Then a VHO/Halide hood is the only way to go IMO.

J diggity · #37 08/10/2005, 12:25 AM

Also I would like to say that I have 4x48" VHO 03 actinics running off an icecap 660 balist and 3x24" VHO bulbs running off a 440 icecap, that sit with my 4x250w Ushio Halides running on the new 11' 225 gal tank.

pechert · #38 08/10/2005, 06:06 PM

Hmm... I have been looking into MH and T5 now. I am going to take a look at my sump return and my overflow again tonight. I am thinking about building a spraybar to keep the bottom of the tank clean. WE will see tho.

pechert · #39 08/10/2005, 08:34 PM

OH UH!!! Looks like I need a check valve! HAHA lots a water everywhere.

CRAPPY!

What kind of check should I get?

ratherbediving · #40 08/11/2005, 12:42 AM

I think you are better off designing your plumbing such that if the power fails, there is no flood. Check valves have been known to fail.

What caused the flood?

titleist · #41 08/11/2005, 12:50 AM

I use the coralife 220 on my 100 gal and works great. You can put it in your sump and do not need to worry about adding an extra B/H. Has its own pump ( aprox 550 gph)

I posted a thread about T5's and have surmised that they probably work well but limmit you to what you can have in your tank. T5's can be very powerful and do a good job for SPS. Mushrooms on the other hand will have to be placed in caves. The light going into the tank is evenly spread out where as MH seem to focus the light in one area. I am going with MH, VHO combo. I figure that with a fan in the sump and two under the hood I can get away with out a chiller.

pechert · #42 08/11/2005, 08:57 AM

The water was being syphoned into the sump from my return line. I was sitting there trying to fine tune the overflow (it was gurgling alot). Then after a few minutes I looked at the water level in the tank and it was low. I think "where is the water going?". Oh into the sump. OH INTO THE SUMP. QUICK plug in the pump. HAHAHAH! So yeah I guess I need a check valve so that it doens't suck back thru the pump and into the sump.

Or how else can I do it?

I seen a 50,000k aquarium MH the other day. Only 150w. INteresting tho.

Snakebyt · #43 08/11/2005, 09:21 AM

you cna drill a small hole in the return line, so if it starts draining back into the sump, the level in the main tank will lower just enough to hit the drilled hole and break the syphon..

hope that makes sense

Timbor · #44 08/11/2005, 09:25 AM

Yeah, I second the small hole... drill one that is about 1/8-1/4" just below the water line... when the power goes off, the water will drain out the return line until the water level reaches the hole, and then air can get in the hole and break the siphon... thus saving you a flood!

If I could have afforded it, I would have gone with a full T% setup... right now I will just be running 2 VHO's off an icecap 660... anyways, rjwilson started a great thread about his 55 that he is running on T5's... take a look:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...5&pagenumber=1

Tim

ratherbediving · #45 08/11/2005, 12:36 PM

I third a small hole

However, I'd do two small holes, to make sure one doesn't get covered by a snail. AND I had a problem where the water coming out of the small hole was causing a little water turbulance near the surface... not really a problem by itself, but this extra agitation caused me some grief with salt creep.... I was getting a lot of it on the top of the tank. I'd recommend moving the holes to about 1/2" below the water for that reason, after I did that I got a lot less.

pechert · #46 08/12/2005, 12:39 AM

Small hole seems to be the best idea. I will go with that. Although I am finding it very hard to get the overflow adjusted so that it is flowing the right amount. Any tips? It seems that if I have the ball valves open full bore I get a very loud gurggling. If I close them half way the back of the overflow fills up to much... I have been trying to fine tune it with slight adjustments but have not been able to find a happy medium yet. As well how high up should I set the inside of the overflow? I noticed tonight that I can adjust the hieght of it. Is this just to adjust the water level?

I can tell you tho this tank has some water moving thu it. I can see how you can flood really easy when you pump that much water around.

pechert · #47 08/12/2005, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by titleist
I use the coralife 220 on my 100 gal and works great. You can put it in your sump and do not need to worry about adding an extra B/H. Has its own pump ( aprox 550 gph)

Good to know! Another 550gph pump!!!

The water in my sump already has crazy current! HEHE oh well.
Have you done any mods to your SS220?

titleist · #48 08/12/2005, 01:49 AM

No mods yet...... too many other projects going on right now. I use a mag12 for my return and only a single overflow. Crazy current for sure. There is no markings on the pump but have read other posts that said that was the pump size. I doubt that it actually gives that much as it is adjusted down quite a bit. I had to add floss to the sump to get rid of micro bubbles. I will have to fix that one of these days.

ratherbediving · #49 08/12/2005, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by pechert
Small hole seems to be the best idea. I will go with that. Although I am finding it very hard to get the overflow adjusted so that it is flowing the right amount. Any tips? It seems that if I have the ball valves open full bore I get a very loud gurggling. If I close them half way the back of the overflow fills up to much... I have been trying to fine tune it with slight adjustments but have not been able to find a happy medium yet.
....

Be careful using the ball valve on your drain line to quiet gurgling noises. Over time, the dynamics of your system can change, so that additional organic buildup (or something clogging in the drain line) can slow down the flow into the sump.... you could end up with a flood sometime in the future.

IMO it is better to design the drain line to accomodate more than what your pump can supply.

I know the loud gurgling can be a big pain. Don't know much about your overflow, but you might want to look into 'Stockman' standpipes; these are similar to Durso standpipes, but are designed for smaller areas. The idea is to keep the intakes to the drain submerged, so that only a small amound of air is allowed into the drain line (which prevents the gurgling)

ehser1 · #50 08/12/2005, 08:50 PM

ok i like this thread a great deal so far since id like to DIY a sump/overflow myself...im not a big fan of this but im thinkin its better for my tank in the long run...and im in the process of gathering all the info i can..my only concern is the partitioning for the sump tank...what determines the distance and height of each...i ahve a 50 g cube abd i plan on using a 20g tall tank for sump/overflow...
also...pechert...you might want to look into mh lighting..they cost a little more but their well worth it ..i did the same as you and did some research on my lighting before i bought wich realy confused me...but a quick tip ..think about what youd like to keep in your tank in the long run as far as corals and determine what lighting youll need that way...i chose to go with 250w mh because with them you can keep just about anything and its cheeper in the long run then T5 or vho...with the T5 & vho you need to change out the bulbs every few month...you save yourself money goin with the mh lights...but thats just my 2 cents