A risky experiment

[Sea-agg09]

A new apartment means a new experiment. This is going to be the build and startup thread for my saltwater monstrosity. I am going into saltwater, but don't have the room for big tanks. I'm going to be setting up a 30 gallon native saltwater and a 40 gallon reef tank.

The twist? They are going to be connected. The pump under the 30 gallon will pump water into the 40. Then the water from the 40's sump will be pumped to the 30. This circulation means I only need 1 protein skimmer, 1 fuge. The plumbing is all identical, so head-pressure will be identical. In case something doesn't work as intended, I've built in a safety measure; a hardlined a pipe below the fill line which directly connects the outflow chamber of each sump. If one sump begins to fill too high, water flows down to the other sump and evens out the water level.

I made the sumps myself using new 20 gallon tanks. The design was very simple, and the same for both. They include an intake chamber for a filter sock, fuge-style chamber, and pump chamber. The fuge chamber for one tank will be just that, a refugium. The fuge chamber in the other sump will be for the protein skimmer (redline 100). Water height is set at 7", optimal height for that skimmer.

The 30 gallon is going to be a native saltwater. Oyster reef is going to be put in, and a combination of collected and purchased fish will be added. Most importantly, there will be lots of alga, and maybe a bit of seagrass if my noaa connections come through. The 40 gallon is going to be a classic reef.

[Darbex]

Any pics thus far? Keep us posted on the updates.

[Sea-agg09]

Took 4 quick ones with my phone real quick.

Rimless 40 Breeder, CPR overflow (600 gph), 2 Sicce voyager 1's (max flow of 600gph) on an Oceanpulse wavemaker.


30, same overflow, might put in another voyager 1 tuned down to around 300 gph.


One of the sumps. I have fans hooked up on both sumps, and I have enough connections to hook up more on the actual tanks. The fans are powered by a small comp power supply.


Closeup of some of the plumbing. The strainer connects to the safety tube. The tube against the baseboard is the connects the pump to the opposite outflow. The far right PVC comes from the other sump and curves up to the outflow.


My rock got stuck in Oklahoma thanks to the ice storm. It comes in tomorrow (I guess today now), so I can update this with a nice rockscape in the reef tank.

[FrontosaurusRex]

Sweet.

[cobraden]

this will be a fun one to watch

[coolname1]

so you are using 2 pumps? 1 for the sump and the other in the other tank for return? You gonna have fun adjusting the water level ifs that's the case.

[soymilk]

I think that's why he has that "safety tube" connecting the two sumps. To equalize the levels if one sump gets too much water.

Neat idea, but Personally I would have done it a little different. Both tanks plumbed to one sump and the other sump would be a super fuge.

[Sea-agg09]

Both are identical pumps in identical sumps, just about 3 feet apart. Water flow "should" be the same. If not, the connecting hose equalizes water depth at the return chamber of the sumps. I've tested it when the sumps were not under an aquarium, and the system works well. I had each pump putting water into the opposite sump, then cut off one of the pumps. At first water dropped down fairly low, but equalized out before either pump ran dry.

While the tanks are cycling, I'll shoot a video showing how the system works. It will give me something to do to ease my anxiousness. Months of sitting is going to drive me crazy otherwise.

Also, got my rock in today, so pics when I get a decent scape designed.

[Sea-agg09]

Got the rock in today. It's 40 lbs of BRS reef-saver rock. I like the whole "semi-eco friendly" thing, but I more like the whole lack of bristleworms and aptasia from the get-go. The scape is ok, but I might try again tomorrow night. I want a central cave for sure, but I also want a decent amount of sand free. It also still seems a bit pieced together to me.

[Sea-agg09]

There is water in the tanks and they are running. Everything is running great. I was filling the first sump and was so baffled as to why the water level wasn't going up. Then I remembered that it was draining to the other sump >< ! Getting the whole system going for the first time was a bit stressful. Not because it was difficult, I just wasn't 100% it was going to work. I kinda forgot to pick up filter socks and foam for the sumps... so it sounds like two massive waterfalls right now. I'll shut it down tonight after it has run for a good 8 hours and give my ears a break.

[soymilk]

Nice scape. Have you tried any disaster scenarios yet? Like one turning off one pump to see what happens to the water level? How much flow are you pushing thru the tanks?

Did you pick out a light yet?

[Sea-agg09]

Nice scape. Have you tried any disaster scenarios yet? Like one turning off one pump to see what happens to the water level?

Yeah. The basic test was long before I put the sumps under the tanks. I turned one whole side off (pump, aqualifter etc), and watched. It looked like one sump would flood, and another would run dry, but the sumps equalized after only a few seconds. I'll shoot a video of it in the next few weeks while I'm bored to actually explain it.

The pumps are Sicce 3.0, which have a normal flow of 715 gph. This seems wrong since the CPR overflows are only rated up to 600 gph. I did the math, and calculated the head height, which only gave me a flow of about 550gph. I wanted the maximum flow possible through the filters. People buy the pumps based on maximum flow rate, then are surprised when they aren't as fast as they expected. I also wanted to minimize the noise of the overflows, which become more noisy as more air is forced through them. Compensating for head pressure gave me a real nice flow. Once I get filter socks, I'll be able to tell what else is noisy, and I can compensate. From what I can tell so far, the pumps are absolutely silent and so are the overflows.

The 30 native might not even get a powerhead, at most a koralia nano. The coral tank has two Sicce Voyager 1 set to max at 615-ish gph. They are on an oceanpulse wavemaker, so things should look cool swaying back and forth.

I'm going with T5 lights on everything. The reef tank is getting an Aquatic Life 4-bulb. The tank isn't very deep (18"), so 4bulbs will be plenty to grow just about anything I want. Because the native is going to be basically a salty planted tank, I'm just going with a 2-bulb T5. Either a corallife aqualight or GLO fixture. I've used GLO fixtures before and have nothing bad to say about them, so that may be what I go with.

[decal]

What stock do you have in mind for the native tank? Naked gobies, hogchokers, killies? I've always wanted to do this. Never had much luck finding other gobies or blennies in Galveston though. A big Iwagumi style tank with a large school of sheepshead minnows could be very striking.

[Sea-agg09]

Here's a video I made real quick explaining the whole setup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJKrap1uVuU

Stocking for the native tank will be;

(1) Violet/Dragon Goby
(2) Skillet Fish, which I will probably never see
(1) Molly Miller Blenny, but others are options once things warm up along the jetties
(3) Gulf or Chain Pipefish, we've cought them already this year, so once the tank is cycled and I have some Gracillaria, they are going in
(2) small "Cool" Gobies, Naked gobies are most common, but I am looking for a few that are better, like a clown or highfin goby
The big prize will be pygmy seahorses. If I catch some Hip. zosterae, they are going in for sure.

I have large sections of oyster reef already in quarantine. As of now I am picking out pretty large bristle worms, but the real pests are the stone crabs. I pulled out at least 10 the first week, and 1 or 2 each day from now on. The oysters and barnacles are still feeding, so I think we will be well off.

[Sea-agg09]

A big Iwagumi style tank with a large school of sheepshead minnows could be very striking.

I will never have sheepsheads in my tank.

And for finding cooler stuff, you just have to know where to look. I worked for NOAA and NMFS for a number of years, so I know some "good spots". Anything bayside is going to be more up the aquarium route than oceanside, and going at night (22:00 or later), is a great way to get better stuff.