Are snowflake eels considered "Reef Safe?" And other questions.

[oodan]

I ran a full HOB system for 2 1/2 years no problems I finally went to a sump and love it my water is clearer and it is awesome easy maintenance as well I do use a HOB overflow siphon just had my tank set up and did not want to drill with running tank just a pain to house it all to do the work And I have my sump lvl at a lvl to where if power does turn off or if something fails My tank will drain into the sump and stop just before it overflows this is something to play with the height Of the return is the key to this and a Stockton valve is awesome for noise

 

[Cowfish928]

Hey! So I talked to my LFS, they said I have to get like some sort of siphon thing. They said it has to be more or curved or something. They said stay away from the cheap candy cane shaped looking ones. This one is supposed to make sure no air bubbles get caught or something so it doesn't stop the siphon? Sorry I am bad at explaining.
@Duke4Life

 

[Duke4Life]

Hey! So I talked to my LFS, they said I have to get like some sort of siphon thing. They said it has to be more or curved or something. They said stay away from the cheap candy cane shaped looking ones. This one is supposed to make sure no air bubbles get caught or something so it doesn't stop the siphon? Sorry I am bad at explaining.
@Duke4Life

I'm not the 1 that can help in this area. Hoping someone else will because your on the right track.

 

[Cowfish928]

Oh I think it is called an overflow?

 

[Duke4Life]

Oh I think it is called an overflow?

It is but an add on, mine came built in, so a bit different there

 

[oodan]

This is the one I have my whole setup is Ehopps my over flow and my sump it work flawless I have had power go out a few times never had a problem never went over never lost syphon ever the only thing I did is make a Stockton valve to make it quite very easy to do local fish stores will some times make you buy there crap that's just my opinion and it's also with there experience I have a local fish store swares by bio balls will fight and give you all kinds of this and that its all really personal preference and what works for you

 

[oodan]

This was my setup brand new I took out balls and now run a sock

 

[yassin.ghanem]

My eel ate my green spotted puffer in front of my own eyes. Now the fish I have with him are at least 10 times the size of his mouth

 

[Cowfish928]

Thank you for all that information @oodan! I feel better about doing a hang over the back overflow.



Also, I got my stand! So happy. @Duke4Life
@Eienna
@Humblefish
@FeliciaLynn
@Koolaid

What is the next step?
Do I need to worry about electricity in my room? I have 3 other Freshwater aquariums in my room. My room have 20 amps

 

[Duke4Life]

Thank you for all that information @oodan! I feel better about doing a hang over the back overflow.



Also, I got my stand! So happy. @Duke4Life
@Eienna
@Humblefish
@FeliciaLynn
@Koolaid

What is the next step?
Do I need to worry about electricity in my room? I have 3 other Freshwater aquariums in my room. My room have 20 amps

You should be fine electrical wise. Looks like you're ready for sand, rock, and water.

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Looks great on the stand! In terms of electrical, you should be fine. However, its always safest to put aquariums on GFCI outlets (like those in bathrooms) in case of a water spill, but that's not always possible to do. You can install them yourself on the current outlets and I believe its pretty inexpensive and straight forward. I'm in an apartment, so I didn't want to modify any electrical, so mine is just running off of regular outlets and I haven't had any issues. Just be careful to put drip loops in your cords so that water can't run down into the outlet. Also, you'll need to plug in quite a few things for the tank, so just get a couple high quality power strips. I like the ones where each outlet on the strip has its own power switch, so you can switch different equipment on and off easily. I use ones like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-I...=8-1&keywords=power+strip+individual+switches


Sorry I didn't get to chime in about the sump! I've been out of town, so I haven't been online much. I just wanted to tell you that I definitely recommend a sump, especially on a larger tank like this. Of course each person will have their own preference, but after running with and without a sump, I much prefer having the sump. I think it makes it much easier to access and maintain the equipment and it hides all the messy parts of the tank under the stand so that the tank itself can look sleek and uncluttered. Designing and installing a sump system can be a bit daunting, but if you take your time and think through it all, its actually very feasible to design it so that there is absolutely never a risk of an overflow or flood. Your LFS sounds like its probably more freshwater oriented and probably just isn't as familiar/comfortable with sump systems. I can't put every single detail about installing a sump in a single post, but feel free to ask questions as you get it set up. I'd also go read other people's threads about installing sumps to see what they've done and to learn the ins and outs of setting one up. Here's a few pointers to make sure you don't have any risk of flood/overflow:

1) Design your sump so that its only partially full of water when its running. Make sure that you leave enough height unfilled so that when the return pump is turned off, the water in the display can finish draining down to the bottom of the overflow teeth without overflowing the sump. You can figure out the volume of water that will drain into the sump when you turn the return pump off by entering the length and width or your aquarium plus the height of the water above the bottom of the overflow teeth into an aquarium volume calculator like this one:
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/converter/volume-calculator.php

2) Drill a small hole into your return pipe just below the display tank water line. When you turn off the return pump, the return line will develop a siphon and drain water back down into the sump. Drilling a small hole in the pipe just below the water line in the display means that the siphon will break after just a small amount of water has drained back down into the sump.

3) You also want to design the water height in your display so that there is some extra space for additional water from the sump in the case of the overflow siphon breaking while the return pump is still running. If your overflow gets clogged or the siphon breaks, the return pump will still be running and will pump the contents of the return pump chamber up into your display. You need to figure out how much water will be in the return pump chamber and make sure that amount of water can be added to the display or you could have a flood.

4) If you're going to use on of those hang on back overflows, I highly recommend spray painting the siphon tube black before installing it. The clear siphon tubes are a nightmare because they're under your reef lighting so they'll grow tons of algae, which then clogs them and breaks the siphon. I had one of these style overflows and I was constantly fighting with it because of the algae growth. If you paint the tube black, you won't get any algae growth from the lights. Personally, after having one of the hang on back styles and then moving to a drilled overflow, I much prefer the drilled overflow. However, that's again personal preference. I just feel like I have absolutely no issues with my drilled overflow compared to my hang on back one.

5) Make sure your overflow has a cover so that snails and fish cannot get into the overflow box. Snails can clog the overflow and you don't want your fish ending up down in your sump.

6) Make sure your filter sock is mounted down low enough in the sump that if you don't replace it and it overflows, that it will just be overflowing into the sump and not onto your floor. I have a mount for my filter sock that has the top of the filter sock a couple inches down below the top rim of my sump. For example, I'm on vacation right now and the sock isn't getting replaced regularly, so I'm sure its clogged. Since my sock is down a bit into the sump, this just means the water is pouring over the edge of the sock into the sump and not making a mess.

That's the advice I could think of off the top of my head. Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[Cowfish928]

Woah thank you for that response! Man, that must have taken you a while to type all that! Hahahah. Before I get the sump, do you recommend a sump that I could order online? That has its own filter sock slots, maybe a refugium, and like a place where I can keep a skimmer, have some carbon in it even. Just like a sump that has lots of different things in it that I could use? Also, is it safe to drill Glass? I mean I know Joey, TheKingOfDIY, on YouTube did it, I just.... I don't know hahahaha I just wouldn't want to risk anything if I drilled it, because I would prefer doing that. @FeliciaLynn

I'll also buy some of those good outlet strips you were talking about.



Also @oodan I ordered a PF1000, you said your PF800 works great, so I'll try it out!

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Woah thank you for that response! Man, that must have taken you a while to type all that! Hahahah. Before I get the sump, do you recommend a sump that I could order online? That has its own filter sock slots, maybe a refugium, and like a place where I can keep a skimmer, have some carbon in it even. Just like a sump that has lots of different things in it that I could use? Also, is it safe to drill Glass? I mean I know Joey, TheKingOfDIY, on YouTube did it, I just.... I don't know hahahaha I just wouldn't want to risk anything if I drilled it, because I would prefer doing that. @FeliciaLynn

I'll also buy some of those good outlet strips you were talking about.



Also @oodan I ordered a PF1000, you said your PF800 works great, so I'll try it out!

Haha, yeah that took a bit to write, but I had a ton of help when I was figuring out how to add a sump, so I figure I'll contribute myself now that I understand it

What kind of sump you want is really personal preference and should work around the dimensions of the inside of your stand and what equipment you're going to be running. I'd figure out your max footprint based on the inside of the sump and then decide on what filtration and equipment you plan to run. You can get the dimensions of each piece of equipment and then find a sump that will fit in your stand and has space for your equipment. You'll need to decide if you want to run a filter sock, what skimmer, do you want media reactors, do you want a refugium, what size return pump, etc. You can either buy a prefabricated sump that works for your equipment, or you can build a DIY one. I ended up designing and building my own using a standard 20 gallon long glass aquarium. I just got the glass baffles cut at a local glass store and then siliconed them it. Either way works just fine!

Its really not hard to drill glass and its very safe as long as you wear some gloves and safety glasses. I had never done it before and I drilled my glass 40 breeder without any issues. Just watch a bunch of Youtube videos so you see other people do it and know the best method. Then my other big advice is just take it all slow and don't rush. Its one of those things you want to do carefully and precisely. Also, lay a towel down on the opposite pane of glass inside the tank, so that when the puck of glass you drill out falls, it doesn't crack the opposite pane of glass. I know several people who have done that. Basically, its easy if you just plan and do it carefully.

 

[Cowfish928]

Should I get an apex controller thing? Is it worth it? Like what stuff should I buy in order. Like a list? I'm just not sure

@FeliciaLynn
@Duke4Life

 

[Duke4Life]

Should I get an apex controller thing? Is it worth it? Like what stuff should I buy in order. Like a list? I'm just not sure

@FeliciaLynn
@Duke4Life

Not necessary but nice 2 have.I've been setup for over a year without anything like that and been fine. You can always get this after your setup

 

[oodan]

Yes a apex system is nice but over kill get used to your system first then get your gadgets I have had tanks for years never owned one

 

[FeliciaLynn]

Should I get an apex controller thing? Is it worth it? Like what stuff should I buy in order. Like a list? I'm just not sure

@FeliciaLynn
@Duke4Life

Controllers are nice to have but not a necessity. I'd say they're more the thing you put on your list as an add-on if you have enough money after you buy the necessary equipment. A lot of people enjoy having them for convenience, but I've been reefing for almost 5 years now and I've never had a controller on any of my tanks. You really want to make sure you get all the necessary equipment first and then think about a controller. In terms of most importance, I'd say:
(1) Light - you want to get a good quality reef light and not cheap out on this part
(2) Skimmer - especially if you're doing predators like an eel, you'll need good filtration, so you want a good quality skimmer
(3) Flow - flow is definitely important in a reef tank, so you'll want to make sure you have enough flow and good quality powerheads and a return pump

Then of course you have all the other equipment like the overflow, plumbing, sump, heater, media reactor(s), etc. Its best to start making a list of what you need and get people's opinions on brands and models of equipment. Then you can make a budget and decide what add-ons like a dosing pump and a controller you might want or be able to afford.

 

[Cowfish928]

Ok sounds perfect! Does anyone recommend any brands for power heads, a Rodi system, salt brands, skimmer brand, reactor brand? And return pump brand? @FeliciaLynn @Duke4Life @oodan

 

[Duke4Life]

I have hydor koralia's for powerheads at the moment, more money I'd go eco-tech.

 

[Duke4Life]

Here's a pic I just took a few mins ago of my boy: