WATER!!!
almost fully assembled!
You have done a nice job on your setup, looks real good.
Just one question, have you simulated a power failure to make sure all the water from your display tank will be able to return to your sump without overflowing? Don’t forget, that when the power goes off, the loc line that you are using for your return flow will become a siphon to allow the water from your main tank to fill the sump, until the siphon is broken.
when i cut the power, the water in the sump seems to level off @13.5 inches, and the tank itself is just shy of 17 inches tall. i left it for a minute or so just to be safe. does that sound okay to you?
Sounds liek you can add a few gallons and increase you’re operating level. I’d suggest marking the sump with a piece of tape or crayo to indicate the maximum fill mark (or operating level) so that if you lose power you know you have enough room to handle the water.
Like John said a siphon break (a hole drilled in the lock line return) will prevent draining excess water from your display tank.
When you turned the power off did you remember to turn the skimmer off too?
So that’s what the hole in the return is just shy of the nozzle! I covered the top third of it because the water jet from it was so noisy to divert the flow down, but I could not figure out what it was. I’ve added a bit more sand, which brought the water level up a bit in the sump, but its still at a safe level.
[quote=“surfpunk, post:27, topic:3421”]
So that’s what the hole in the return is just shy of the nozzle![/quote]
[quote=“a1amap, post:28, topic:3421”]
[quote=“surfpunk, post:27, topic:3421”]
So that’s what the hole in the return is just shy of the nozzle![/quote]
[/quote]
lOl
hitchhiker on the new live rock!
Glad to see progress! looks like you’re off to a great start.
Ok. So one of the blue legged hermits always seems to end up on the top of the rock with the coral. I don’t see him bothering it, but the coral has closed up for the past day or so. Any reason for alarm? If he keeps on ending up there and he coral stays closed, is there any harm to him staying in hotel de refugium?
I don’t think there is any harm in him being up there -except that he is irritating your coral.
I do not reccomend adding predators to the refugium. The idea behind a refugium is to give “refuge” to critters to breed and grow without possibility of consumption by other animals.
Adding a hermit crab will greatly reduce the micro-diversity in the fuge as it will scavange for food and eat whateer it can find in the fuge. At least in the tank it will get scraps and leftovers from what you feed your fish - in the fuge there are no scraps - just pods.
i like the little guys. i’ll keep an eye on the situation. if it keeps up, i may have to find a new home for this guy.
by the way, congrats mr president! YahoO PBJ! YahoO :BEER
i wanted to make it to the meeting so bad the other night, and was even going to miss the game for it… but i kinda crushed my finger/ripped off the nail/maybe broke my right ring finger lol. so needless to say, i didn’t even stay up for football, let alone leave the house.
Ouch, sorry to hear surfpunk.
I keep only a couple random hermits in my 75 and don’t plan on buying any more when I move to the 120. Blue legs or tricolor hermits(as I prefer to call them) are usually the most peaceful and safest of the hermit crabs in a reef tank. Some people won’t keep any at all, but I like a sprinkle.
Thanks.
Sorry to hear about the finger. I’ve been down that road - -hurts like a B*TCH doesn’t it?!?!?!
Fortunatey for you we have meetings every month (except June-Aug) so there are plenty to attend a year and it won’t kill you to miss a few here and there.
It way nice to meet you finally Steve! sounds like you’re doing a good job with the tank so far, and asking all the right questions…now the hard part, deciding what you want to keep in it!
Yeah, it’s pretty tender. I don’t think its broken, which is great! The worst part is the fingernail. I took some vacation time off of work to play it safe. Its going to drive me nuts because there is nothing to really do with the tank (wish I had this time during the initial build). Haha
[quote=“saltcreep, post:36, topic:3421”]
It way nice to meet you finally Steve! sounds like you’re doing a good job with the tank so far, and asking all the right questions…now the hard part, deciding what you want to keep in it![/quote]
It was great meeting you also! I love finally being able to meet the people behind the name. I hope to bump into you again sooner rather than later! I know I want clowns, but I think I want to wait for Jared’s next batch of babies. I know I want a low stress reef community with eye popping colors where ever I can introduce them. I think I want to avoid anything in the damsel family. Any suggestions for a hardy and colorful fish to be the first resident?
Well the general rule is to put your least agressive fish in first. This would rule out clowns.
I’d start with a blue / green chromis - they are very pretty, very colorful, and VERY peaceful. I’d aslo reccomend a goby or blennie as an initial inhabitant.
A yellow tang will genrally remain peacefu l -I can’t remember how large your tank is though and they generally require a good bit of swimming room.
OK - just went back to the initial post - a 75 is more then capable of housing a yellow tang, you can also look at one of the more peaceful angel fish - like the swallowtail - stay away from the bi-color and flame angels at the beginning as they will be agressive and guard their territory.
Research research research. If you are at home and wish you could do something for your tank the best thing you could do is pick up a couple of good books. Many of the LFS carry a good selection.
[quote=“surfpunk, post:37, topic:3421”]
I know I want clowns[/quote]
[quote=“surfpunk, post:37, topic:3421”]
I think I want to avoid anything in the damsel family.[/quote]
Guess what? Take a look at the family, “Pomacentridae”. Aka the damsel fish family which contains clown fish.
Aggression is a complicated thing. Some fish are just hungry and eat what they can, other fish defend their territory against anything coming in too close(including your hand in the tank).
Jared recently told me he doesn’t mind too much getting bit by his clown fish and some of them have drawn blood 3-4 times. Other people might be bothered by that, lol. Some clown fish are more territorial then others. Gold stripe maroons hold their territory like no other and mature ones will stair you down before you even think you are going to put your hands in the tank.(and they are worse when they are mating) Common Percula and ocellaris aren’t as aggressive at defending their territory by far.
There is a wide spectrum of clowns with different temperaments and for every rule of thumb there is thousands of fish waiting to break the rules.
Read read read.