first saltwater tank, 75 gallon build thread
- Thread starter hahnd37
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Although have drilled many tempered glass tanks, if you are not comfortable with such procedure, over flow prefilter box is not that risky as we used to depended on such prefilters for long time.
Only drawback on prefilter is that collection of air bubbles (reduces amt of water being drained) on top of U-Tube which can be easily modified to eliminate the all the bubbles collecting on top of U-tube with check valve and air tubing. New models may have such thing already built-in.
Apply TWO prefilter boxes, a back up to each other in case one fails or being maintained/cleaned.
As far as canister filters, I always felt that it would become nitrate factory when it is not cleaned often. If you can maintain it properly, why not?? as I am using one on my local collection of s/w fishes.
Ive tried reef/fowlr with nothing but PH, PS and of course massive amt of LR, but required more physical work from time to time. Before mulms buld too much in the tank, I would hook up Quick Filter Cartridge on the PH temporarily which kept tank sparkling CLEAR.
Utilizing sand shifting/burrowing stars, sea cucumbers and Gobys also assisted in prevention of mulms.
I feel that not all will have same outcome as results are depended on many factors.
No matter how many PH I ran, blowing in all different directions, there always seeems to dead spot where mulm will accumulate. Put some food in there and you will see some will land/collect in dead areaS.
Hope all goes well.
Only drawback on prefilter is that collection of air bubbles (reduces amt of water being drained) on top of U-Tube which can be easily modified to eliminate the all the bubbles collecting on top of U-tube with check valve and air tubing. New models may have such thing already built-in.
Apply TWO prefilter boxes, a back up to each other in case one fails or being maintained/cleaned.
As far as canister filters, I always felt that it would become nitrate factory when it is not cleaned often. If you can maintain it properly, why not?? as I am using one on my local collection of s/w fishes.
Ive tried reef/fowlr with nothing but PH, PS and of course massive amt of LR, but required more physical work from time to time. Before mulms buld too much in the tank, I would hook up Quick Filter Cartridge on the PH temporarily which kept tank sparkling CLEAR.
Utilizing sand shifting/burrowing stars, sea cucumbers and Gobys also assisted in prevention of mulms.
I feel that not all will have same outcome as results are depended on many factors.
No matter how many PH I ran, blowing in all different directions, there always seeems to dead spot where mulm will accumulate. Put some food in there and you will see some will land/collect in dead areaS.
Hope all goes well.
Thanks for the input. My biggest problem with overflow prefilter boxes is that my house tends to be subject to a lot of quick power failures. Never more than a minute, usually just a quick flash, but the guys at Premium Aquatics told me if you lose power they have trouble recovering the siphon on their own.
Maintenance isn't a problem for me. If anything I probably need to leave the tank alone a little more. I can also use the skimmer box on the remora for chemical media.
Maintenance isn't a problem for me. If anything I probably need to leave the tank alone a little more. I can also use the skimmer box on the remora for chemical media.
If that is the case you should definitely look into the U tube overflows and avoid the CPR type boxes that require an additional pump to keep the siphon. Numerous power outages may damage the aqualifter pump and if it does not restart you will get a flood. If a U tube style box is set up correctly one should not be overly concerned with a sihon breaking. You still need to be wary of something blocking flow through the tube but that's no different than something blocking a drain in a drilled system. I am not saying a drilled tank isn't safer because of course they are.
When using a U tube siphon overflow make sure the external overflow box has a wier/baffle in it to keep the water levels at the same height in both the external and internal box to maintain the siphon. Lifereef and eshopps boxes have these, not sure if others do. The Lifereef boxes have a deep U tube with ends that extend well below the baffle whereas the eshopps tubes extend past the baffle by just an inch or two. I have an eshopps and I ended up using a couple pices of velcro to "lock" the U tube in place so if I accidently bumped the tube or a snail somehow was to somehow wedge itself bewteen the tube and the box, the tube would stay in place. I have also seen where others have purchased a Lifereef U tube to go with their eshopps box or just extended the eshopps tube.
The other important thing with a U tube style is to get a little larger than necessary pump to ensure you have enough flow to keep bubbles out of the U tube to start with. You can use a ball or gate valve in the return line to dial in the flow for best performnace and also to quiet the drain down if necessary.
The above assumes you want a sump to start with
FWIW I have seen many successful tanks without one. It all comes down to how hard you want to work and being reasonable with stocking/bioload.
When using a U tube siphon overflow make sure the external overflow box has a wier/baffle in it to keep the water levels at the same height in both the external and internal box to maintain the siphon. Lifereef and eshopps boxes have these, not sure if others do. The Lifereef boxes have a deep U tube with ends that extend well below the baffle whereas the eshopps tubes extend past the baffle by just an inch or two. I have an eshopps and I ended up using a couple pices of velcro to "lock" the U tube in place so if I accidently bumped the tube or a snail somehow was to somehow wedge itself bewteen the tube and the box, the tube would stay in place. I have also seen where others have purchased a Lifereef U tube to go with their eshopps box or just extended the eshopps tube.
The other important thing with a U tube style is to get a little larger than necessary pump to ensure you have enough flow to keep bubbles out of the U tube to start with. You can use a ball or gate valve in the return line to dial in the flow for best performnace and also to quiet the drain down if necessary.
The above assumes you want a sump to start with
FWIW I have seen many successful tanks without one. It all comes down to how hard you want to work and being reasonable with stocking/bioload.
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Common U-tube Prefilter box have partion in rear/back part of the prefilter in order to keep both end of U-tube constantly submerged so siphon is never lost, even with power outtage.
Only time when siphon is lost/dimished is the collection of possible fine bubbles at the top of U-tube which will eventually develop into large air pocket.
At such time occasional overflow may occur from main tank thus should modify U-tube to eliminate these air pockets which can be reguarly removed via check valve with air line tubing incorporated on top of the U-tube.
Only time when siphon is lost/dimished is the collection of possible fine bubbles at the top of U-tube which will eventually develop into large air pocket.
At such time occasional overflow may occur from main tank thus should modify U-tube to eliminate these air pockets which can be reguarly removed via check valve with air line tubing incorporated on top of the U-tube.
I have actually seen a tank that is 180 Gallons that has no filtration what so ever! only thing running on it is the skimmer and about 160 lbs of live rock and it is beautiful! and has been running so for about 8 years now with no major loses!
I haven't been good at posting on here. Been busy lately. Tank has been running great for a while. I got a great deal on HOB aquafuge just so I had a place to grow pods and macro. I do weekly ten gallon water changes and use a powerhead in between the rocks. Once a month I clean the skimmer and powerheads. Only losses I have were the my own mistakes, not the system's. I lost my first fish because I was dumb enough to trust a hydrometer and my salinity got way to high. I now have a refractometer. The other loss was just plain stupidity. I did a tear down cleanup on one of my powerheads and forgot to put the screen cover back on and my tailspot blenny got too close. The other fish have been happy and doing well. I unfortunately have to chalk those first two up to beginner errors and take those lessons and move on. I plan to keep the tank lightly stocked. The fish seem to appreciate the extra room. pictures are coming.
