Slowly starting a salty tank

[Darbex]

Yeah I am getting one in my house soon. But there is no need for a 20Kw. 12Kw or there about is fine. You dont need to run everything in the house when the power goes out. Just AC, frig and tank(s)

[myjohnson]

And TV!

[Darbex]

Not important. But yeah you can still run that. AC is about 6Kw start-up and 4Kw run. Frig is about 2Kw. Tank like mine fully on is about 1.5Kw but it only needs the pump and PH which brings it down to about 300w. TV is close to that depending on your tv

[myjohnson]

It is important when you can't stand your gal.

[Andrew_B]

Both of my drains are all cemented in and set - I'm reading up on Mag Drives raising the temp a couple degrees in tanks, should I look at using the pump externally?

[sunkenmetal]

My new house is definitely getting the natural gas generator, keeps the fish alive and comfort level for the humans.

That is one thing I have sold to the misses and we have factored that into our cost.

I am still waiting for my NG generator...

but you have to get a Haugue water filter for your house they are the bomb

[myjohnson]

Both of my drains are all cemented in and set - I'm reading up on Mag Drives raising the temp a couple degrees in tanks, should I look at using the pump externally?

What temp is your apartment?

Mag vs. eheim is a solid 2-3 degrees. I thought you should still be fine. Just depends on your system set up.

My 60p got too hot....but I ran a mag 3, skimmer pump, and reactor pump and it was a small tank.

Are you going with a skimmer?

[Andrew_B]

I have my apt set at 74 pretty much at all times. My 55gal tank with no heater runs at about 80degrees with only a k3, k4 and 36" marineland doublebrights about 1' above water levels. I don't think eheims heat water up either.

Im just going to have both of my pumps external, my skimmer external as well. Got everything I need to make it clean looking, so I'll be doing that while the rest of my junk comes in the mail.

[Andrew_B]

Started playing with the skimmer setup - Seeing if I can get the rio2100 pump that came with the skimmer to mount on that back cross brace. Right now its just ziptied with a piece of velcro cloth stuff between the pump and wood. Location of the pump is nice since the skimmer intake is behind the clear plastic part near the top, and the pump intake will just drop straight down into the sump. My worry is the pump making too much noise up against the wood, or effecting some of the structure with all the vibrations. I'll have to go back to the store to try it out as the pump intake is 1" ID, not OD like the outtake of the pump and I don't have any tubing that size currently.

[Andrew_B]

Water Test #1:
- Water through skimmer

Result:
Flood!

Apparently the water from skimmer wasnt strong enough to go up and over the tank with 1" pvc piping. It started flowing out of the emergency holes in skimmer. Made quite a mess, and even bigger of a mess when taking it apart! Bad thing about those drain pipes being in the sump already, doesnt make it easy to clean up mistakes like this. Since it's a short skimmer, i'll make a platform for it to sit on so the water doesnt need to rise over anything. A shame its too big to be inside this sump

[Darbex]

Yeah you dont want the skimmer to push the water back up that heigh. If you want it to go over like that then you need to put the skimmer on a pedestal or you need to drill the sump and run it through the side. It should be any higher than the current gate valve is.

[Andrew_B]

Live and learn - I was expecting errors. Whats makijng me angry is that i overlooked if i actually ever ned to take sump out of stand by completey cementing the pvc drains. I have to buy a saw to cut the legs off the drains, clean up the water, then reattach the drain pipes but maybe just use some teflon tape on las elbow instead of cement. Thats worse than the skimmer overflowing to me due to me having zero skimmer knowledge

[myjohnson]

Do i see carpet?

[Andrew_B]

Maybe 1/4gal actually got to the floor. Rest chilled inside of my stand (im going to drill drain holes in the stand so it has a place to go. Yeah carpet, first floor - concrete under the carpet so no problem. I moved the tank a little to let it dry up. It was just tap water, no salt or chems

[Darbex]

Unless you make a channel. Its not going anywhere if you make drain holes. I would leave it alone. If you coated the inside with paint then it will repel it for long enough for you to clean it.