[quote=“reefman66, post:40, topic:7613”]
Not sure what’s your plans are for your tank. Are you looking to do ULN? (Ultimate Low Nutrient). ATS (Algae Turf Scrubber) are very effective way of striping away nutrients in your tank.
Maybe Jason or Tim will jump on here and give you their idea of why they use it and why they took it off.[/quote]
I’m not sure that I’m aiming for ultra low nutrient. I’m just concerned that my nitrates and phosphates are going to start creeping up over time if I add a shallow sand bed to the display. I’ve read lots of good things about scrubbers and even got to see one in action at Bryant’s this weekend. I’m still planning on running a skimmer just incase the scrubber crashes for some reason.
I spent the afternoon in Middletown trying to figure out the best configuration for my reservoir and sump and I think I came up with a winning configuration. Forgive the MS Paint skills. (And for clarification, this is just the 90 reservoir and sump in the basement, the 150 display isn’t in the diagram!)
I’m really excited about this layout for several reasons.
First, my drain line and return line will be practically vertical with no bends. How’s that for efficient? ;D
So the display will drain vertically into the upper right hand corner of my 90 gallon tank. There will be a filter sock at this location. My plan right now is for the 90 gallon to be completely empty and unlit. It’s is just acting as a reservoir to expand total water volume. I’ll need to drill a hole in the front upper left hand corner of the tank to act as a drain into the sump which will be sitting on a stand directly in front of the 90 gallon tank. I’m going to need help from anyone experienced in drilling tanks when the time comes. On to the sump.
The first compartment will contain the drain line from the 90 gallon tank, the algae scrubber and a filter pad to catch any algae scrubber waste. I’ll also have a clip-on cfl bulb in this compartment aimed at the left side of the scrubber.
The second compartment will contain the algae scrubber’s pump and a second light for the right side of the scrubber. Water level should stay constant in this compartment so there should never be a point where the scrubber runs dry when I have power.
The third compartment will house the sc aquariums skimmer. The water will need to pass through a bubble trap before moving on to the next compartment.
The fourth compartment will contain 2 heaters. There should be a good deal of water movement through this compartment and I think this is honestly the best place for the heaters. There is also a second bubble trap that the water will need to pass through.
The final compartment will house the return pump which travels very close to vertically back to the display.
[quote=“reefman66, post:43, topic:7613”]
What kind of drain line is on top of the tank on the right hand side? You mean the return line goes up and curve back down into the tank?[/quote]
I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear in my illustration. This was just the basement section of my system. On the main floor of my house there will be a 150 gallon starfire display tank.
To answer your question, the return line feeds the 150 gallon display upstairs (which isn’t pictured). The 150 will drain into the 90, which will drain into the sump.
I just realized that I should probably make sure that the lights for the scrubber should be higher than the potential water level in case of a power outage…
Our closing is only three weeks away and we’re pretty excited to be in our new home. More importantly, I’m ready to get started on this build.
I was in True Value today picking up some stuff for a few moving-related projects when I saw these bad boys next to the orange fiberglass rods that Bryant recommended using for stacking the dry rock.
They appear to be made of white fiberglass and they were less than $2 each. I grabbed five.
[quote=“Gotasplinter, post:51, topic:7613”]
hows the build coming along?[/quote]
We’re going to closing on December 30th so there isn’t going to be a whole lot of updates before then.
I do plan on ordering the tank immediately following closing. The only other update is that I bought a rubber mat to place between the tank stand and the new hardwood floors.
In the meantime, I need to stay focused on the move. I need to break down and move a 90 gallon, 34 gallon, 24 gallon, 20 gallon and twelve 10 gallon tanks between December 30th and January 4th… Ugh. :BB)
Thanks guys! The only tank I know I’m going to need a hand with is the 90 gallon and my buddy owes me a favor after I helped move his 150 gallon… twice. >LOL<
When our hardwood guys were finishing the job they dragged a propane heater across our floor. A few weeks back they replaced the damage section but the wood wasn’t a good match.
We finally got confirmation that next week they plan on ripping out our entire floor and replacing everything to make sure we have a uniform floor.
Good news is that we will have an awesome floor. Better news is that the tank didn’t get setup before they decided to drop this on me!
They plan to be out of there by next Saturday at the latest. I’m not sure if the floor needs a few days to settle before placing the weight of the tank on it.
Any experience with the curing time for a hard wood floor that’s glued and nailed into a proper subfloor?
