fritz's 58 gallon oceanic version 2.0

[fritz]

Ugh I've done so much to this tank and come so far that I figured I'd start a new thread for it.

I've redone my sump entirely (sump # 3 in the last 6 months.) I"m now using a 15 gallon AGA as my sump/fuge and a 5.5 gallon AGA as my RO/DI reservoir. I've added a Deltec AP600 (which rocks!) The new sump and plumbing layout is very compact and allows me to keep all of my equipment nice and tidy under my stand.

I"ve ditched the 100% drain idea. It sucks, it just doesn't work. Putting 100% of the drain into your skimmer gives you a wandering water level. Water, water, RUSH of water, RUSH of air, gurgle, surge, water. You are never able to dial your skimmer in because the amount of water and air fed to it keeps changing every few seconds. What I'm doing instead is T'ing off the drain and using a ball valve. This way I can feed my skimmer pure water at a constant volume and the surges, air and excess water go into my fuge.

 

[fritz]

Here's a Full tank shot. I've switched from Phoenix 14k bulbs to XM 10k. I found the 14k bulbs to be way to blue for my liking. The colors really popped but everyone that came over said "Wow they look great, that's a blacklight?" and that's what it looked like. Like I should put on some Pink Floyd and sit back. I wanted something more natural than the glow in the dark look that the 14ks give and I think the XM 10ks fit the bill perfectly. They are much brighter and although they've only burned in 12 hours worth so far they are bright white. There's also a hint of blue and and of yellow which I think gives it a very natural look. They do make my electric green slimer appear yellow but nothing's perfect.

I added a bit to my fuge as well. I plan on adding a kalk stirrer to the ATO reservoir and I've added some eggcrate and a 6,700k fixture for my cheato. The goal of the cheato was to offset my ph drop when the lights go out, so far I think the cheato is a bit starved thanks to my skimmer.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Lookin noiceee Fred!!

Blacklight??? Really?? :lol2:

 

[fritz]

Yeah I had a 5 minute argument with someone over it.
"No! Look at that, that's a blacklight!"
"It's really not, it's a little blue but look at it, it's not a blacklight"
"No! That's some kind of blacklight, look at the colors, you're trying to trick me"

 

[jhale]

love the sump plumbing Fred.

and I like the size of the tank, lots of room for the s.p.s to grow.

 

[inline6]

Really nice!
You are going to make me crazy with different sump configs now,
since I have the same tank

Nice work.

 

[fritz]

love the sump plumbing Fred.

and I like the size of the tank, lots of room for the s.p.s to grow.

That was my thinking. I like the look of some of the mature sps tanks that have only a few pieces but they are LARGE. I'm going to narrow down what I have now (well maybe another one or two) to the ones that really do well. This way there will be lots of room to grow both up and out.

 

[fritz]

Really nice!
You are going to make me crazy with different sump configs now,
since I have the same tank

Nice work.

UGh I had a 20 high, a 20 long and now a 15. I like the 15 best because it's like the illegitimate child of a 20 long and 20 high. It's the dimensions of a 20 high but the height of a 20 long. It leaves me room to work which the 20 high did not and it allows me to keep a 5 gallon RO/DI reservoir next to it which the 20 long did not. I'm very happy with this configuration. Also by not having a dedicated "skimmer section" I am able to use all the area around my skimmer as a fuge. Since it's gravity fed I don't have to worry about fuge animals getting sucked into the skimmer.

 

[SlamaJama]

very nice fred....brick by brick...

 

[fritz]

Brick by brick is right, I"m still moving stuff around. Chris advised me that I had some coral placement wrong. I've been battling to keep my green milli green, I had it directly under one of my halides. Now that I've moved it down low it's coloring up.

 

[fritz]

More tank shots. These are XM 10k no actinics.

 

[DEEPWATER]

Like the aquascape and plumbing..the pic in the 1st post are with the same bulbs ? It look great


srry dude ,its either the XM or your camera .cuz that is not the color of that colony

 

[drperetz]

...

Very neat, and cousy...
Feels like home.
:party:

Nice job, good insperation.

 

[MightyMike]

The plumbing on the sump looks great, could you show us newbies a schemat of what exactly is going on in there? It looks so simple and clean, really nice

 

[Omega]

Beautiful work Fritz. Very happy to see the black sand. Love the Plumbing.

 

[cali_reef]

Fred, which kalk reactor did you get??

 

[fritz]

I'm actually procrastinating on a thread for gravity fed skimmer plumbing (which is mostly what's going on there.) I also need to finish my eheim pump plumbing thread which will fill in the rest of the blanks. Essentially my drain has a "T" fitting in it. This "T" allows the air brought in by the durso (and some water) to escape into my fuge. The other outlet of the "T" is reduced to 1/2" pipe and brought around at a slight downward angle (again to allow air to escape) past a ball valve and into my skimmer. This allows most of my overflow water to go directly into my skimmer without air, which would cause turbulence and disrupt the skimming efficiency.

As a side note I've tried introducing some air into the skimmer to see if the extra air is beneficial, I believe that it is not. The bubbles are large and mess up the skimmate production in the neck. I also tried using 100% off my drain water going into my skimmer and again skimmate production was not as good. I ended up getting surges and gurgles caused by large air masses followed by a water surge. The completely inconsistent water flow really killed the deltec's ability to skim. Using the "T" and ball valve allows me to regulate exactly how much water enters the skimmer and keep it consistent.



Cali, no kalk reactor yet. I was leaning towards the cheapo Foster's & Smith jammy but I"m holding off. We're closing on the house soon so I'll be going to a 120.

 

[cali_reef]

I have a perfect kalk reactor for you if you go 120, Aquamedics makes a Deltec knock off that will work well for the 58.

I got some 1" spa flex if you want to eliminate the two 90 deg ells between the ehiem and the bottom of the tank.

 

[fritz]

Sounds great! I'll have to make a trip out there soon. Spa Flex, but that will kill my "Neat and Clean" look

I could definitely use the spa flex for the 120, on this one though I keep the eheim pump throttled back to around 50% all the time. The restrictions to flow caused by those 90 degree elbows are welcomed! It's just too much IMO for a tank this size. (Crazy talk I know)

 

[JHOV2324]

Fred do you directly feed you head sized candy canes....