Cool.
Good luck on moving Al! ;) I dread the 31rst of August when i have to.
Good luck on moving Al! ;) I dread the 31rst of August when i have to.
surfn's 50g cube tank
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OP
OP
surfn
I bleed orange and maroon
i think you said you were moving up to pennsylvania? what for? are you gonna take your entire tank?
Yup, job changes, and hopefully so. We are doing it within a day (18-22 hours)
OP
OP
surfn
I bleed orange and maroon
man, thats a BIG change in climate! lol where in pennsylvania? ever experienced a winter up in the mountains there? brrrrrrrr
Yeah we moved down here just because of my dad's job change but the company that he previously worked for has offered him a bigger salary. So we are moving back to Pennsyltucky wher my all my relatives live. Emmaus, Pa (suburbs) around 20 minutes from center city Allentown.
I personally love the climate changes and on a plus it wont be that bad of shipping from your place for some cool sps!!! :D
I personally love the climate changes and on a plus it wont be that bad of shipping from your place for some cool sps!!! :D
patedship
Well-Known Member
Al. I would really consider changing that SE to a DE. I have a 250 double end over my 60 cube and I regret not putting 2 de 150watters over it instead. But the tank looks nice man, good start.
OP
OP
surfn
I bleed orange and maroon
i'm just going to feed it with a MJ600 in the mean time, maybe i'll eventually feed it from the overflow but i'm not really worried about it right now. simplist way is via a small pump.
no way! lol i hate DE bulbs. SE bulbs and reflectors put out way more spread than DE bulbs, are tons more efficient, less expensive, less heat, and greater variety of bulbs and reflectors. the radium bulb i run is the best bulb i've ever used and i'm never switching to anything else. :D
i'm assuming you would rather have 2 bulbs b/c of acros developing a shaded side and a colorful side. i'm aware of that problem. but i dont want to have to deal with having to buy 2 bulbs to replace.
patedship
Well-Known Member
But while the spread is larger on the SE you are not getting the same intensity of a DE. eh just my 2 cents. I have another quick question too, are all the sides of your canopy open?
OP
OP
surfn
I bleed orange and maroon
thats the thing, i dont want high intensity straight down the center, i'd rather have the light spread out more evenly. but at 330w its still gonna pack quite a punch for that size tank.
the sides of the canopy are covered in that mesh stuff like i mentioned above, so while closed to prevent fish from landing on the carpet and glare from the light in the rest of the room, air can still pass through easily to cool things off. :)
OP
OP
surfn
I bleed orange and maroon
yeah, i washed it out with hot water and vinegar the other day, then set it up with a maxijet 900 dialed down with a tiny ball valve, so i have no idea if the gph going in is right or not. i'll have an MJ600 by the end of the week.
the skimmer sat idle for about a day, now its doing some skimming but not much. maybe some dark tea like stuff, but i have the wedge pipe almost fully closed.
so i'm not sure if i have the MJ900 dialed back too much, or i just dont have that much in my tank to really skim (which isn't surprising since i have 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates).
i only have a couple of fish, 2 clowns, mandarin, neon goby, watchman goby, bangaii cardinal, 6-line wrasse, and i just swapped out my flame angel for a purple tang the other week.....so thats not really a heavey bioload for 65g and feeing once every 3 days or so.
i do need to get some silicone lubricant stuff (marvin suggested this stuff) to put on the O-ring on the wedge pipe, cuz its a b!tch to turn.
so basically, i hope to get the thing dialed down better once i get the correct pump (MJ600) and adjust the wedge pipe correctly.
....fingers crossed....i want to see some sludge! lol
jocoxVT
Community Member
I use to run a MJ 900 on mine and then switched it to a MJ 1200 which runs full bore but sends some to my calcium reactor as well. Thats interesting about your wedge pipe I have never had to do that with mine and mine turns fairly easily.
I am sure you will start seeing the nasty stuff within no time.
I am sure you will start seeing the nasty stuff within no time.
OP
OP
surfn
I bleed orange and maroon
thats a good idea, maybe i'll run the maxijet 900 full open, and then split it b/w the skimmer and a phosban reactor filled with carbon......no point in running 2 pumps for each piece of equipment.
this is what the silicone lubricant looks like, its non-toxic and meant for O-rings in use with water. just rub some around the O-ring i guess.
OP
OP
surfn
I bleed orange and maroon
well, i've got most of the plumbing done now. its a bit more difficult than it looks...lol getting everything perfectly alligned is a PITA!
here is the return line going back into the main tank.
the return line is on the left, drain line from the external overflow box is on the right
i have it plumbed so the drain dumps straight into the sump area where the skimmer will be, eventually one day maybe i'll plumb it straight to the skimmer......i'll need to figure out what the drain gph is first though.
then as for the return, i have it T'eed off with a ball valve, so i can re-direct water back into the fuge for some more water movement in there. i plan on only using a Mag 3 to Mag 5 in the sump, so the flow through the sump will be relaitively small b/c i dont think the baffles in the sump and the overflow teeth in the main tank can handle much more.
i may end up using a mag 5 so i can dial it back a bit and get good counter current flow through fuge section.
i was going to put in some 45deg PVC so the mag drive would be in the center of the return area, but i just noticed that it fit perfectly with a straight down piece of pipe. not sure if this is gonna work though b/c theres barely a half an inch b/w the intake of the pump and the side wall of the sump. so i'll probably end up re-doing this.
i'm contemplating doing a tap-water test run this evening to see how everything flows.
here is the return line going back into the main tank.
the return line is on the left, drain line from the external overflow box is on the right
i have it plumbed so the drain dumps straight into the sump area where the skimmer will be, eventually one day maybe i'll plumb it straight to the skimmer......i'll need to figure out what the drain gph is first though.
then as for the return, i have it T'eed off with a ball valve, so i can re-direct water back into the fuge for some more water movement in there. i plan on only using a Mag 3 to Mag 5 in the sump, so the flow through the sump will be relaitively small b/c i dont think the baffles in the sump and the overflow teeth in the main tank can handle much more.
i may end up using a mag 5 so i can dial it back a bit and get good counter current flow through fuge section.
i was going to put in some 45deg PVC so the mag drive would be in the center of the return area, but i just noticed that it fit perfectly with a straight down piece of pipe. not sure if this is gonna work though b/c theres barely a half an inch b/w the intake of the pump and the side wall of the sump. so i'll probably end up re-doing this.
i'm contemplating doing a tap-water test run this evening to see how everything flows.
OP
OP
surfn
I bleed orange and maroon
crap.......i just realized i dont think that one section going to the fuge is going to work like i want it to. i think i need to put a ball valve in the line going to the fuge, not the line going to the main tank....
yeah, pretty sure thats what i need to do, oh well, shouldnt be too big of a deal. i can cut out a section and put in a ball valve w/ unions pretty easily.
yeah, pretty sure thats what i need to do, oh well, shouldnt be too big of a deal. i can cut out a section and put in a ball valve w/ unions pretty easily.
OP
OP
surfn
I bleed orange and maroon
alright, made a quick fix and put in that ball valve to the fuge.
also did a lighting test in the canopy since i completed putting most of the mesh stuff around the sides of it.
also did a lighting test in the canopy since i completed putting most of the mesh stuff around the sides of it.
OP
OP
surfn
I bleed orange and maroon
i got the MJ600 for the skimmer, and it works ALOT better now. wow, i had the MJ900 dialed WAAAAAY down. with the MJ600 at full throttle, its about twice the flow i was putting through it before, cuz i had the wedge pipe almost completely closed. so its doing MUCH better now.
although, when i took the wedge pipe out to put that silicone stuff around the O-ring, the O-ring completely fell apart. :( no big deal though, i'm picking up a replacement O-ring next week from the place i got the skimmer from. doesn't really seem to be any negative side affects without it though...
although, when i took the wedge pipe out to put that silicone stuff around the O-ring, the O-ring completely fell apart. :( no big deal though, i'm picking up a replacement O-ring next week from the place i got the skimmer from. doesn't really seem to be any negative side affects without it though...
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