Cheech's 90 g. build

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Cheech

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Jan 13, 2000
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Montreal, Canada



I've been out of commission for a while, (got married, bought a house, etc) and the time's finally come to setup the tank.


I'm still planning for everything, as I need to clean out the garage and get it ready for the tank.

This is what I'm planning on doing.

Main tank will be my 90 g 36x24x24,... That'll be in the basement. On the other side of the wall is the garage. The 90 will drain into the 45 (24X24X16). In there, I'll be installing my vortech skimmer. I'll use about a thirfd of the tank for a 7" DSB. On top of the sand bed, I'll place frags.

The 45 will then drain into the other tank (sump) which will have my filter sock, heaters, media reactors. I'll also be placing Chaeto in the middle chamber. I'll setup the RODI auto topoff here as well.


That'll get pumped back up into the main tank.

Any thoughts on the setup? I should be starting the plumbing beginning of next week. I'll take pictures of the process.


I have a question... In the 45g, do you think I'll need a powerhead (or 2) for extra water movement?
 

Cheech

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Jan 13, 2000
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Quick question... since this section will be lower than where the water will be draining from, should I add an elbow in this area that I can open only if needed (in case junk collects in that bottom section?)
 

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
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Looks good and exciting!

As far as the frags and DSB go, there may be some pitfalls. Depending upon the corals you'll be fragging and their flow needs, a DSB may not be the best option within the same space. I suppose if they aren't as demanding in terms of water motion, it likely won't be an issue or as much of one. More than likely, however, you will need supplementary water motion of some sort.

Lastly, I suppose, be careful of including a DSB in remote, relatively small areas. They generally need a lot of food/nutrient input to do well in the long term. Of course, that is also entirely dependent upon the meiofauna as well. Smaller surface areas are much more restrictive in terms of overall meiofaunal numbers and diversity. Considering that they usually avoid sharp corners, that reduces that functional area even more than the given space already allows. That's not to say that it can't be fully functional and effective over the long term, but you may be stacking the odds against you by doing it this way.

Edit: if that much of an upward rise in the plumbing is to scale, I don't think that will work terribly well. It would need to be shorter to work out correctly. I remember you asking about doing something similar, but if I recall, it was, at the time, much shorter as well.
 

Cheech

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Jan 13, 2000
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^ Thanks Amphi. Not sure if I'll do the DSB then. Maybe I'll put a bunch of rock rubble, and frags. then I can add a couple of PHs for more movement as well.


Yeah I wasn't too crazy about the way the drain is setup either. I gotta think of a better solution... The drain will be lower than what's displayed, not by much though. (it'll be flush to the hole in the 45 g. )
 

Cheech

Global Moderator
Jan 13, 2000
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Montreal, Canada


I think this latest setup will work. My biggest concern with the other setup was that the water would not rise from the bottom part of the tubing because because there was no air in the tube. With the addition of the "T", I'm pretty confident it'll work.
Any thoughts?
 

Lady G

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Oct 6, 2005
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YAY, a CHEECH thread!!!!!! Nice to see ya back and going...this is going to be exciting, can't wait to watch!
 
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