After having a FW tank forever (>30 years), I am making the transition to a SW reef tank. I've been doing a lot of reading the last month, and luckily I discovered this website. The posters here are very knowledgable and helpful, and the discussions have helped me decide on several aspects of my tank.
I purchased the tank and much of the equipment ~2 weeks ago. This is what I have so far:
Tank: 120 g dual Mega-flow (48x24x24)
Sump: 20 g Berlin
Pump: Blueline 70 (rated @ 1400 g/h)
Skimmer: Euro-Reef CS series
Heaters: 2 x 300 W
No lights as of yet (more on that later)
Over July 4 weekend, I setup the tank and all the plumbing. I split the pump's output into 4 returns. I filled the tank w/ FW on July 2/3, and fired up the pump on the 3rd. To my amazement, there was not a single leak or drip. I let the pump circulate w/ FW for a day to ensure no leaks, and added salt on July 4th. My SG = 1.022, and everything looks good.
After listening to the pump for 2 nights, I realized that the pump was just too loud for its environment (in the family room next to the entertainment center, with my bedroom on the other side of the wall). More disturbing, the tank was running at 84F, while my A/C is set at 75F. I ended up moving the pump from inside the cabinet to outside to improve airflow (which ironically also quieted the pump some), and ended up taking off the styrofoam boards I had sitting on top of the tank to prevent evaporation and bad things from falling in the tank (I am in the process of building a canopy). These things helped a bit - my tank has been running at 80F. This is still 5F above room temperature, and I haven't added any lights yet. The LFS recommends me switching to 2 smaller Blueline 30 pumps (590 g/h each) to replace the pump I have. My questions are:
Has anyone experienced this kind of heating from just a pump?
Will running 2 smaller pumps be cooler than 1 large pump?
Does anyone have experience with Blueline 30 pumps, and are they quiet?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Also, if anyone would be interested in me keeping a "diary" on here as I get things set up, let me know.
Lastly, I have a really neat setup (I think) where I plumbed my RO/DI water line through the attic and down the wall behind my tank. The line then connects with a float valve in the sump, and the RO/DI water system itself has a pressure-activated automatic shutoff. I should never have to top off the water myself, and so far the system is working great. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll post how I did it w/ pictures.
I purchased the tank and much of the equipment ~2 weeks ago. This is what I have so far:
Tank: 120 g dual Mega-flow (48x24x24)
Sump: 20 g Berlin
Pump: Blueline 70 (rated @ 1400 g/h)
Skimmer: Euro-Reef CS series
Heaters: 2 x 300 W
No lights as of yet (more on that later)
Over July 4 weekend, I setup the tank and all the plumbing. I split the pump's output into 4 returns. I filled the tank w/ FW on July 2/3, and fired up the pump on the 3rd. To my amazement, there was not a single leak or drip. I let the pump circulate w/ FW for a day to ensure no leaks, and added salt on July 4th. My SG = 1.022, and everything looks good.
After listening to the pump for 2 nights, I realized that the pump was just too loud for its environment (in the family room next to the entertainment center, with my bedroom on the other side of the wall). More disturbing, the tank was running at 84F, while my A/C is set at 75F. I ended up moving the pump from inside the cabinet to outside to improve airflow (which ironically also quieted the pump some), and ended up taking off the styrofoam boards I had sitting on top of the tank to prevent evaporation and bad things from falling in the tank (I am in the process of building a canopy). These things helped a bit - my tank has been running at 80F. This is still 5F above room temperature, and I haven't added any lights yet. The LFS recommends me switching to 2 smaller Blueline 30 pumps (590 g/h each) to replace the pump I have. My questions are:
Has anyone experienced this kind of heating from just a pump?
Will running 2 smaller pumps be cooler than 1 large pump?
Does anyone have experience with Blueline 30 pumps, and are they quiet?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Also, if anyone would be interested in me keeping a "diary" on here as I get things set up, let me know.
Lastly, I have a really neat setup (I think) where I plumbed my RO/DI water line through the attic and down the wall behind my tank. The line then connects with a float valve in the sump, and the RO/DI water system itself has a pressure-activated automatic shutoff. I should never have to top off the water myself, and so far the system is working great. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll post how I did it w/ pictures.