natural reef (or as close as i can)

[tomtoothdoc]

cool sump

interesting looking sump. would you give some details of the flow pattern and how each section works? never seen a double decker sump before....i guess you brits like stacking things up...like the double decker bus....lol.

 

[reefnewbe]

nice tank & set-up

 

[benjamin]

interesting looking sump. would you give some details of the flow pattern and how each section works? never seen a double decker sump before....i guess you brits like stacking things up...like the double decker bus....lol.

not a lot to say really. the return pump is a maxijet 1200, giving me about 5 times through the sump. as the water enters the refugium it flows through the chaeto and above a 3" layer of fine sand. then it overflows down to the section below which, because of the sand above, is dark and will be a good place for filter feeders,like sponges and squirts, to grow.
a section of the bottom layer was built without anything above it to accomodate the mce 300.

small pics but these may help explain it

 

[tomtoothdoc]

thanks for the info. i'll keep the design in mind for the next sump. i could have nearly doubled my sump volume with that design.

ps. love your avatar. is that a cg of a your mate?.....she has a big heart....lol

 

[sjsoto]

like how your set up is coming along...

 

[benjamin]

thanks for the info. i'll keep the design in mind for the next sump. i could have nearly doubled my sump volume with that design.

ps. love your avatar. is that a cg of a your mate?.....she has a big heart....lol

yeh i have almost trebled my sump volume with this design, and on a small tank it can be an advantage.

the avatar was made by a m8 on another forum, who was designing tee-shirts . although it does look similar to the wife,lol. he also sent me a pic of her naked but thats in a secret folder :shhh:

 

[morphiii]

The yellow damsels will kill each other until 1 remains!

These are aggressive bastards.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

yeh i have almost trebled my sump volume with this design, and on a small tank it can be an advantage.

the avatar was made by a m8 on another forum, who was designing tee-shirts . although it does look similar to the wife,lol. he also sent me a pic of her naked but thats in a secret folder :shhh:

ummm......i'm a little confused. whose wife is naked?:bigeyes2: either way it's kinda weird....eh?.....lol

 

[benjamin]

lol, no-ones wife is naked, it was a naked pic of the girl in my avatar

 

[tomtoothdoc]

lol, no-ones wife is naked, it was a naked pic of the girl in my avatar

oh in that case send me a copy.....lol

 

[benjamin]

lol

 

[Social D]

So Ben does your real life missus know about this pic? I agree those two look very natural lol

Good luck getting the colour back in those acros ..Most people start the other way around

 

[benjamin]

thanks for the input tim

 

[benjamin]

everything is going pretty good. put a v2 600 skimmer on to replace the mce300, and this is working well. chaeto is growing like mad also.
not a lot of change to the corals except some slight colour change and growth.

 

[Dromaeosaurus]

I like the look of your tank. I guess by natural you mean more earth tones, right? And it makes the bits of color in the fish and coral really stand out all the more.

 

[benjamin]

I like the look of your tank. I guess by natural you mean more earth tones, right? And it makes the bits of color in the fish and coral really stand out all the more.

exactly right. i will also be adding a clam or 2 at some point which will also add a splash of colour amongst the less bright corals.

 

[Moonstream]

NICE! ive actually had the itch to do much the same many times, but always held back. IMO, if I were you I would add only 2 more YT damsels, and then no more fish. I hear what your saying with the whole unnatural colors of SPS thing, though they make tanks look more like living art and less like a piece of nature.

I'll be keeping tabs on this project, cant wait to see how it looks once everything grows out.

oh, and to morphiii, keep in mind that YT damsels are actually among the more peaceful damsels. I had one that was so shy my occy clown nearly bullied it to death.

 

[benjamin]

thanks. im actually thinking of taking the damsels out and adding a small schoal of red spot cardinals.

tanks going well at the moment. ive changed the skimmer to a v2 600 with aquabee pump and this is working very well. kh is being a bit of a pain and due to bad placement of a pump i have blown off some flesh from one of the acros.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

is it me or do you not have any coraline? i'm guessing it's due to the light. am i wrong?

 

[tomtoothdoc]

looks like things are doing well. they are starting to color up also. i went back and skimmed thru the thread....didn't see what kind of lighting and what color bulbs are you using? i'm gonna venture a guess on 10k? the overall look is kinda yellow. perhaps try a 14k, it would bring out some natural florescence without looking too fake, imo...... especially if you'll be adding clams. they would look better under 14k. are you leaving some algae on the back wall on purpose?