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EvilTwin · 06-03-2006, 04:33 PM

It's been a while since I have posted anything about my tank as it's been a bit hectic these days. I spent a lot of time battling a red slime alage problem which now seems to be under control. I have built and installed my first attempt at a sump. Since my tank backs up to a wall that is empty on the opposite side in my basement, I was able to plumb through the wall and place everything in the unfinished area of the basement. The most notable and desirable effect is that my skimmer is now in the sump and I can't hear it. The plumbing took two evenings to do along with a few trips to Lowe's. Here's the final pics:

Initially, I was concerned about things running too slowly. The overflow box I have is a Tidepool SOS, which has an interesting mechanism that helps keep it quiet but slows the flow down a bit. It took some adjusting but I finally have it working well. I removed one one of the sweeping powerheads I had as they weren't doing a great job and put in the 400gph unit I have. Lots of flow going on right now. The nice thing about the sump location is it gives me options for plumbing in a good RO/DI unit there and space for a water recepticle for auto top-offs as future upgrades.

As for my critters, the fish all seem to be doing well. My clowns have each adopted one of the two BTAs. The BTAs continue to grow:

06-03-2006, 04:33 PM	#59
EvilTwin One lucky reefkeeper Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: PA Posts: 192	Updates It's been a while since I have posted anything about my tank as it's been a bit hectic these days. I spent a lot of time battling a red slime alage problem which now seems to be under control. I have built and installed my first attempt at a sump. Since my tank backs up to a wall that is empty on the opposite side in my basement, I was able to plumb through the wall and place everything in the unfinished area of the basement. The most notable and desirable effect is that my skimmer is now in the sump and I can't hear it. The plumbing took two evenings to do along with a few trips to Lowe's. Here's the final pics: Initially, I was concerned about things running too slowly. The overflow box I have is a Tidepool SOS, which has an interesting mechanism that helps keep it quiet but slows the flow down a bit. It took some adjusting but I finally have it working well. I removed one one of the sweeping powerheads I had as they weren't doing a great job and put in the 400gph unit I have. Lots of flow going on right now. The nice thing about the sump location is it gives me options for plumbing in a good RO/DI unit there and space for a water recepticle for auto top-offs as future upgrades. As for my critters, the fish all seem to be doing well. My clowns have each adopted one of the two BTAs. The BTAs continue to grow: __________________ In my tank: 75g SW 48"x18"x21" 29g high tank used for a sump. about 15g of water volume Tidepool SOS overflow Seaclone 150 skimmer 90 lbs live rock 80+ lbs of sand and aragonite MAG3 return pump and 2 PH's Critters: 2 ocellaris clowns, bicolor pseudochromis, 2 yellowtail damsels, yellow tang, peppermint shrimp, a single green polyp zoanthid, Blushing Finger Leather, TWO Green Bubble Tip Anemones, Xenia (withering), Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, mushrooms, Kenya tree