Marine tank

[zad]

Evening all,

m8 of mine has a marine set up 450lt he has pipe work in 32mm from sump to tank and has squashed the end of the pipe into an oval shape to kind of increase the end pressure.

It looks ok but not befitting to the set up and we have been wondering what if any thing would look better and perhaps help with back syphoning if for any reason he needs to turn pump off.

I had an idea of like a silicone flexible pipe, picture an inner tube piece flattened out water pushed through it opens and with no pressure closes up.

any one come across any thing like it? I am sure I have ssen some thing like it but for the life of me can't remember

Cheers

 

[Mick]

you need to know what power his return pump is pushing to make sure that the 32mm is enough... I think for 32mm pipe you need less than 4000lph on your return (i think) remember the pressure into the tank is what will travel down the weir - but again gravity pressure is very different from the pressure your pushing in EVEN though they are the same through the pipe.

If he has a problem with the end of his pipe making to much noise ???

Then he could use that pressure to gravity feed a skimmer, reactor, this will decrease the flow into the sump.

I think he should also consider having some filter floss or filter socks (fine grade) to cover the end this will reduce the noise and also take out the detritus build up... but be warned on a marine tank this will need cleaning daily depending on the stocking of the tank.

Regards
Mickie

 

[Mick]

Lol just re-read this and you are worried about the pipe from the sump to the main tank lol.

To counter the back syphoning you can make small holes in the pipe out of the water that will stop it from back syphoning if the pipe is entering the water.

But you do know that the more you agitate the surface there more gaseous exchange you will have which is one of the most important things you can do... so on that note can he not add 2 x 90mm bends(maybe 1 x 45mm angled at the water) and have the pipe hit the water causing it to ripple and allow the gas to exchange.

Maybe your friend could use a spray bar on the end giving movement where ever he wants to the tank.

Regards
Mickie

 

[MOAMB]

@ Mickie D

Do you have a marine tank mate?

I have been looking into this over the last few weeks and am almost on the verge of buying a tank but would like any advise if u can help mate?

 

[Mick]

Yes 3 years almost now mate.

But still very green compared to some lol.

The problem I found with marines is everyone is an expert and there is so much room for error when setting up... its very important to get your setup right and your plan.

I would suggest also getting a bigger tank now and not spending extra money in the long run because its very addictive and expensive hobby.

I have had 3 tanks starting from a nano tank (12 gallon) then a bigger nano (30 gallon) and now a 230 gallon 7.5 footer lol. I have two sumps and its not getting cheaper lmao rofl.

Initial planning and setup is probably the most important part mate because if you setup the tank right you will be off to a great start, also the bigger the tank the more room you have for error - bigger the volume of water less chance of anything contaminating the water and more chance your skimmer can get it out.

I can only give advice that I think is right and would probably not be right in someone elses eyes.

If you want to get into marines you must spend time cleaning your tank, checking the water levels with chemical test kits. you need to keep an eye on 5 main elements out of allot lol.

PH - most important the ph is how stable your tank is and the ocean is 8.3 and swings in this can wipe a tank out.
Salinity - salt in the water... you will need to make sure the swings are small or you can kill many corals.
Ammonia - this must be zero you cannot do anything until this is zero!!!
Nitrite - not as deadly as ammonia but will kill everything in the tank too at high levels - must be zero before stocking.
Nitrate - this is the leat important and you will have small amounts of this from time to time. I would suggest you not stocking anything till this is below 10ppm.

Copper cannot be treated in a marine tank for whitespot because it will kill the inverts and corals.

Your tank will need a mature time of about 4-6 weeks before you will be able to stock if you are using uncured live rock... if the rock is cured then you might get away with a few days to a week but I would test the parameters every day until you are 100% that the ammonia and nitrite and below zero.

What system are you going to be looking at - liverock with fish, full reef setup with corals, inverts, live rock and fish ???

I know it sounds a little off putting but unless you can look after a tank and care for the animals we should not really take them from the wild.

But if you are sure then great you will really enjoy marine fish there is nothing better than buying a frag (thats a small coral cut from a mother colony) and watching it turn into a colony.

I lost £400 worth of corals about a year ago when a coral fell on another coral and stung each other it caused a disease named brown jelly, and by the end of the day when I got home all my corals had this and was dead - gutted lol nearly packed it all in then

So another tip always glue your corals pick your location and glue and let nature take its course.

 

[chrispeters]

i have had marines for years...
i give u this tip !!
DO NOT put any fish in yer tank for at least 3 month after setting yer tank up. Just let it run .
Get your water tested by a pro before any fish go in there .
Filtration is the key.
please do not use hardys to break in your tank..this is cruel , and not natural

 

[Shindig]

Would be amazing to see some pictures of your setups.

 

[dar1437]

The most paramount rule is (do not put the tank anywhere where direct sunlight can shine on it)

There was no avoiding it in the only room i could put mine in (it was a constant battle with algae) there was a few months in the year when the sun was too high to shine in and it was great, but after 5 years i gave up (i'd use the magnet to clean the front/sides every day but the algae would then float around and stick to the coral/gravel and anything else in it) what should have looked spectacular, ended up an eyesore.

Gutted really.

 

[Mick]

i have had marines for years...
i give u this tip !!
DO NOT put any fish in yer tank for at least 3 month after setting yer tank up. Just let it run .
Get your water tested by a pro before any fish go in there .
Filtration is the key.
please do not use hardys to break in your tank..this is cruel , and not natural

I would say that 3 months is excessive - the life of a cycle at most will last 6 weeks at the very most.

If people are getting more spikes its because they are changing the configuration of the tank in one way or another - adding rock, changing filters, this will all cause the bacteria to bloom or shrink because of the surface area that they need to populate.

I agree that the longer the tank is allowed to mature the better but a tank will not fully mature for years sometimes.

And I agree with putting hardy fish in the speed up a cycle this is not good for fish and it will stress them out.

If you have good quality live rock that is cured there is no guarantee that you will even get a cycle... my last tank never cycled because the rock was straight from my original tank and vats I setup for over 6 months... and the sand was also stored in containers with flow and steady temp.

When starting up you should really try and get as much information as you can - one tip I always use is to read up on what you want to buy... never impulse buy as you could wipe out a tank.

Always wash your hands with water and try to keep them out of the tank only put your hands in if you have too.

Do not over light your tank... you will cause algae blooms from having your lights on too much shorter hours when first starting up is a very good idea.

Try and keep your temp stable - I have a an aquatronica computer that controls the levels of the temp, water top ups, and also salinity.

I would honestly say it really helps with maintenance and would not be without it - very costly though I think the setup was about 800 for all the probes plugbars interface etc.

Make sure you have good flow around your rocks this is key to a low nitrate setup because if you keep the flow around the rocks it gives the skimmer better chance to pick up the crap.

I will post a few pics of the fish later.

Regards
Mick

 

[zad]

Mickie D do you use corals? I know of a very good frag farm in manchester, thats where my m8 gets his from and does some growing for him etc..

The pipe thing I was on about is mainly for aesthetics, he gets very little noise from the water and is just in the process of cycling it as it is a fresh start, gone from 120 lt to 450lt.

Got live rock direct from far east, but all coral is grown from frags no ripping out same as the few fish he has etc..

 

[Mick]

I have a few corals about 10 at the mo I am still configuring my lighting and only light one side of the tank - until my new hood gets made by a chipie mate.

I have 2 anemones which one is hosted by a maroon clown... I have a torch coral, elegance, hammer, duncans, green bubble, ricordias, green mushrooms, and a massive leather coral.

I will be adding more but the most important thing is to get my lighting right.

Regards
Mickie

 

[terminator2k2]

this was mine till the tank crashed.....

 

[Mick]

Here are a few pictures.

 

[zad]

I have a few corals about 10 at the mo I am still configuring my lighting and only light one side of the tank - until my new hood gets made by a chipie mate.

I have 2 anemones which one is hosted by a maroon clown... I have a torch coral, elegance, hammer, duncans, green bubble, ricordias, green mushrooms, and a massive leather coral.

I will be adding more but the most important thing is to get my lighting right.

Regards
Mickie

Cause of the depth of my m8's he had to get 2x 450w hoods to throw the light to the bottom... they are in a sort of prism with very reflective surface... great for growing corals apparently

 

[Mick]

this was mine till the tank crashed.....

How did you tank crash ?

Did you give up ?

Cause of the depth of my m8's he had to get 2x 450w hoods to throw the light to the bottom... they are in a sort of prism with very reflective surface... great for growing corals apparently

Wow 900watts he must be going SPS, for me I wont use that amount of electricity I am thinking about 6 T5's suplimented with aquarays (i already have 8) to give the shimmer effect on the tank.



Regards
Mickie

 

[chrispeters]

i always used metal halide pendants fixed to the ceiling ...like this one

Arcadia 4 Series Silver Metal Halide Lighting 70cm 1 x 400 Watt 14,000K

edit : its a bloody expensive hobby for sure...supply of salt is unbelievable how much it costs !
electric .. etc etc

 

[terminator2k2]

@ mickie d

i went away for the weekend one summer and had me bruv go over to my place to feed em and just look over it....

went away friday afternoon...came back on monday and the water temp had risen so much, i think at the time was roughly 35 - 37 degrees....

heater must of got stuck on full or something......

this really got me down and because i was trying to do this on a budget i gave up......

i still really get the urge....but cash flow would be a problem.....its a great hobby but very expensive.....

chris

 

[Mick]

That's a shame chris, If that happened to me I might pack it in too.

And your right its very expensive hobby, That is why I recommended going as big as you can now instead of later it just adds to the cost.

I have an aquatronica setup that controls the heater and I also keep it on 28 on the thermostatic adjustment on the heater, Its just double safety because a heater getting stuck on will destroy everything as you know.

Regards
Mickie

 

[terminator2k2]

hi there, i learned quite a lot from the experience too,i had not long swapped my t5s for a aquamedic ocean light with t5s just before the crash hehe

if i were to start again and go reef, i would go with a 6ft tank and go soft corals and live rock with clean up crew for around 6 -12 months....then add a couple of anemones and a few clowns....ive read anemones needs clowns as much as clowns need an anemone...for food , shelter etc...

let the tank settle then add a few fish......

i think reef tanks look stunning if done right with very little fish......

i dont think ill attempt a 6ft tank in me flat lol.....dont think the floor would take the weight......

any way like your pics mate......tank looks nice and clean......

how bout a full tank shot.....

 

[Mick]

You would be surprised how much your joists could take mate. if you span across them and not along them it will be fine... you could always get an engineer to take a look, my tank ways over a ton, well over to be honest.

ahh a full tank shot lol.

The chipie mate that is making the hood has also got to put the doors on the veneer cupboard he has made, and is now on holiday for 2 weeks, plus the house is a little messed up as we are decorating and putting a small office in next to the tank.

Once we have cleared everything up I will post some full shots but its messy, and the cupboard is half finished until my mate gets back off holiday!

Regards
Mickie