The Road to DanaMcK's 240g and 180g Dream Tanks

[Danamck]

V -

Best laugh I've had in quite a while.

[CarmieJo]

Between this and my fish, I have no life.

Not a problem. Expensive hobby + expensive toys = no money for anything else anyway!

Nice set-up.

[Danamck]

Carmie -

Good point. And thank you.

[Danamck]

D, can i have a look at how you wired that sucker? You want to post up a pic of your wizardry please.

V - Here's a few photos of the plumbing. These are older, and a few things have changed, but the overall concept is the same.

The first photo shows the layout under the tank. The sump is on the left, the refugium on the right. Water enters the sump from (2) overflows that I had placed 2' in on each side of the tank. I did this because I knew the tank would be viewable from 3 sides, and the overflows would skim the surface from 3 sides rather than just 2 if these were installed in the corners. The overflows are combined into a single 2" pipe before going into the sump.

Photo 2 shows the sump, which is obviously a modified wet/dry filter. The 2" pipe goes into a diatom bag/micron sleeve/whatever you want to call them. Inside the sleeve is a bag of Chemi-Pure. The sleeve and the chemi-Pure are replaced every two weeks, which is about how long it takes before it gets close to overflowing. A good chunk of this water is skimmed with a Euro-Reef skimmer. Water then spills over into the second section of the sump. I currently have the main heater and a back up heater there in case the main heater fails. A small portion of this water goes through the Phosban Reactor, which is run 24/7 with RowaPhos. Since adding this, my phosphate levels have been undetectable and not a trace of cyano.

About 1/2 of the water is returned to the main tank via the Iwaki pump. The water is returned to each rear corner of the tank. The other 1/2 is feed to the refugium via a Mag 7 pump. (I have recently changed this to (2) Mag 5 pumps - to increase the circluation through the refugium.)

Photo 3 is the refugium, and is also an older photo, having recently added the second pump feeding the refugium. Before entering the refugium, one of the Mag5 pumps feeds water into an 25 watt UV sterilizer that is run 24/7. You can see a bit of the UV hanging above the refugium. The other feeds directly in the refugium (not shown - old photo.) There is a second Euro-Reef skimmer here. Why two skimmers? Becuase my sump won't fit the Euro-Reef I really want, so rather than one large, I have one medium and one small. It works. There are tons of sponges and misc filter feeders in this section.

The middle section is the actual refugium. There's a 3" sand bed, some live rock, and usually tons of Cheato. I had just prunned it back before this photo was taken. There's a couple of small hermits and snails in here, and a huge population of various pods.

The water spills over the back left section. There is 1/2 of a Poly Filter here. Some of the water passes through the filter, but most flows over it (otherwise the pods would get trapped here and die.) I basically use the Poly Filter as an indicator if something is wrong with the tank, as it changes colors based on what it's pulling out. From here the water goes to the front left section, where it is gravity fed back to the sump.

I realize this is not a perfect design, as some of the water returning to the sump will get fed back to the refugium, but most goes out to the tank. I tried running the overflows separately into each section, then pump them separately back to the tank, but it was impossible to get the balance right, even when using identical pumps on each side. What a nightmare that was.

The last photo is my closed loop. I really like my plumbing here, though all those 90s do restrict the flow. This closed loop was added after the tank was set up. I was really nervous drilling that intake hole in the back of the tank. The water comes in and goes through an identical iwaki pump as the main return pump. I like using the same equipment whenever I can so I need to keep fewer backup parts (I have a backup for every pump, bulb and balast ready to go in case of a failure.)

Anyway, the water is returned at 4 different locations in the tank. I basically use my closed loop to eliminate dead pockets of water behind the live rock. The closed loop returns are on each side of the overflows. They're hard to see, look behind the Seio pump on the left.

And finally, I added (4) 800 gph Seio pumps for increased circluation when the tank went from a FOWLR to a reef. Yep, they are ugly. But they move a ton of water, use very little power, are way chaeper than Tunze, and seem to be very robust. They simply hang on the overflows (no suction cups here!) and are angled out a 45 degrees and pointed up slightly. This creates some very random currents, as there is water coming from 10 different points in the tank.

So there you have it. I'm sure I'll make changes soon. I'm always tweaking with something!

[Pinecone_Jeff]

Josh -

Yes - big time. There's something about a fish that lives for over a decade and changes before your eyes. They are, to me, as much of a pet as a cat and dog. They have unique personalities and moods and swear they recognize me from other people.

I totally agree! I also saw my fish as I do my dogs and cats. My tang used to recognize me if I walked across the tank, but if anyone else did, he just moved along like they were tumbleweeds. I guess they learn who feeds them!

After a while, you can really see their personalities and preferences.
BTW, awesome thread. I love your descriptions of your past tanks and all the trial and error you went through, even with the best laid out plans! Great lessons for all of us. Thank you!

[Danamck]

I totally agree! I also saw my fish as I do my dogs and cats. My tang used to recognize me if I walked across the tank, but if anyone else did, he just moved along like they were tumbleweeds. I guess they learn who feeds them!

After a while, you can really see their personalities and preferences.
BTW, awesome thread. I love your descriptions of your past tanks and all the trial and error you went through, even with the best laid out plans! Great lessons for all of us. Thank you!

Jeff -

It's great to know I'm not alone! And yes - I'm sure it's all about who feeds them.

Thanks for the awesome compliments. I truly had a blast writing about the past tanks.

[V]

D, thanks for that bud. very neat & tidy, quality oozzes from the whole package. Just a pitty im not there to enjoy the view too i guess! ...........................................................

[Danamck]

D, thanks for that bud. very neat & tidy, quality oozzes from the whole package. Just a pitty im not there to enjoy the view too i guess! ...........................................................

My pleasure. Thank you. And anytime you're state side.

[Danamck]

It occurred to me that all of my full tank shots left a lot to be desired. I'm not the greatest photographer, and my camera doesn't help the situation. So here are a left and right side view of the tank. The photos came out pretty well, and you can see the rock layout much better. It was very important to me to have lots of open areas in the rock ... for fish to swim through and for better water circulation. It does mean I have less space for corals, though. The other thing I wanted was to purchase a few select specimens and give them the room to grow. It made for a very barren tank for a while there, but I think things are finally starting to fill in.

As you can see, my Xenia is out of control. Time to frag ...

[Danamck]

Ahhhhh - let's call this post:

"The downside of living in California"

or

"Why my fish tanks are all in the garage"

or

"Excuse me ... I need to change my underwear"

At just after 8pm this evening, we had a nice 5.6 earthquake that seemed to last for about 30 seconds! After a quick check on the family ... I checked on the tanks. I am happy to report that all is well.

Whew!

[V]

5.6 is a decent shake, speaking from my worldly earth moving window breaking girl scream, oh that was me....experience. -Not, whats that like, & i should ask how the house stood up, no gold fish pop-eye, bursting taps or surfer-wanabe children cashing in with a free ride? lol

[CarmieJo]

How do you earthquake proof an aquarium?

We are going to be in CA in a couple of weeks. Will you ask them to please hold the earthquakes while we are there?

[Danamck]

How do you earthquake proof an aquarium?

We are going to be in CA in a couple of weeks. Will you ask them to please hold the earthquakes while we are there?

There is no way to earthquake proof an aquarium that I know of. I have had friends try. One friend attached the stand to the wall. Needless to say, the aquarium ended up across the room, though the stand stayed put!

I'll do what I can about the earthquakes, though I'm probably not the one to ask. The last big one we had occurred a week before my wife and I got married. The only road that connected the church where we got married and the airport was closed due to major landslides. A few days prior to the wedding, they managed to open one lane each way, and you had to be caravaned with a police escort. Ah ... such memories!

[Danamck]

BTW - where in California, if you don't mind me asking?

[CarmieJo]

We are going to San Francisco.

[Danamck]

Fantastic! If you've never been, you will love it. There is so much to do and see. If you have time, you should plan on going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is a 2-hour drive from SF. And if you do go to Monterey, you will drive right by my house at the one hour mark! My wife, Rita & I would love to meet you in person, if your schedule is not too busy.

[Pinecone_Jeff]

You should look up the temporary Steinhart Aquarium in downtown. They have a 3 story tall reef tank experiment that is totally awesome. It's a prototype of the aquarium they plan to keep when the rebuilt Academy of Science is finished in 2008. They've crammed in quite a few tanks in a really small area. Too bad you're not coming next year to see the new aquarium!

[V]

oh & if you swing past hhmmmm, lets see, 23hours, you;ll hit the coast of australia, i'll try to meet you before a crocodile does ok!


Damn you guys, stop talking about catch-ups, you;ll get me started on beer again, & that lasts for a week solid!

[CarmieJo]

This is our first trip to San Francisco and are staying at Fisherman's Wharf! Got any restaurant suggestions?

We aren't renting a car but we are planning on taking a bus trip to Monterey and the aquarium. I will time it and wave when we go by your house Dana.

[Danamck]

They're all good - as long as you like seafood! I unfortunately do not. I don't think it has anything to do with my hobby of choice, though. I grew up in Maine - all the crab and lobster you could eat. Uggghhh - give me a steak or chicken any day.

I will ask a few co-workers for suggestions.

[Pinecone_Jeff]

I don't know much about the restaurant scene in Fisherman's Wharf, but the Aquarium of the Bay is right near Pier 39. I've never been to, but I hear it's pretty neat.

[nay,kid]

if you like garlic check out the stinking rose. it's awesome.

[CarmieJo]

Garlic, are you kidding, my husband is Italian. He tells everyone that we have paesano fish because they eat garlic!

[Pescaiolo]

Brief History? Thats funny hehehehe, seriously that was not brief at all. Or maybe I just can't read that well.

That is an awesome story and my jaw is locked open and I'm starting to drool...could someone please smack me in the chin?

[Danamck]

Brief History? Thats funny hehehehe, seriously that was not brief at all. Or maybe I just can't read that well.

That is an awesome story and my jaw is locked open and I'm starting to drool...could someone please smack me in the chin?

Thanks for the compliments. And you are absolutely correct ... it's not brief at all. I need to talk to Rob and see if there is a way to change the title. I think "not-so-brief" or "anything-but-brief" should work!