Trading UP!!

jacquesb - I don't currently have MH, I have T5HO. Was thinking about adding MH into the hood ... and yes, definitely 250 Watt for this tank.

Any suggestions on the sump setup?
 
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picts of current tank.

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Current tank is looking good too.

And if your new tank would have been a shallow tank (ie 500mm to 600mm), then I would have said that T5HO's would have been good enough - you would just had to get a few more of these.

BUT, for a 30 Inch deep tank, I would definitely say go for the 250 watt metal halide. You can perhaps have a mixture of one 250 watt metal halide, and the rest T5HO's....

W.r.t the sump design - I always believed in "keep it simple". A 3 compartment sump, with a DSB section in the center, is more than good enough. IF you can - make the sump as big as possible.....
 
jacquesb said:
Current tank is looking good too.
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Thanks for the kind words.

jacquesb said:
And if your new tank would have been a shallow tank (ie 500mm to 600mm), then I would have said that T5HO's would have been good enough - you would just had to get a few more of these.

BUT, for a 30 Inch deep tank, I would definitely say go for the 250 watt metal halide. You can perhaps have a mixture of one 250 watt metal halide, and the rest T5HO's....
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Yes, that's what I was thinking. Since the new tank is wider, I was hoping that I could get a wide MH and put it in the front of the top cover then rig up the old T5s on the back half of the cover. Then I should have plenty of light, right?

jacquesb said:
W.r.t the sump design - I always believed in "keep it simple". A 3 compartment sump, with a DSB section in the center, is more than good enough. IF you can - make the sump as big as possible.....
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So DSB in the middle and the sump in the left side compartment or right side? Do you think the compartments are big enough for that skimmer?
 
Okay, so talked with the tank people and basically they'll configure the sump anyway I want them to. so here's a sketch (I know, it's crappy but it's the best I could do). Assuming the sump is 48 in (~1.2 meters), I need at minimum 13.5 in wide for the skimmer... made it 15 in for some wiggle room. Still need to determine what size the return pump will be... the one I have now might be too small for the new tank.

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Hey man, no offence, you seem to have the heart and desire but something seems to be amiss if you're losing so much lifestock, I stopped Reading the thread about half way through (White anemone with pink tips) sounds like Lfs is giving bad advice etc etc. With the yellow tang, try different kinds of nori, maybe the red variety will get the guy eating. Large bioload (nitrates) are pretty much tolerated by fish so have you checked for ammonia, nitrites? (ps. Had a big Friday night session at the pub so may be talking kak)
 
Sump design looks awesome! Are you going to add any algae or stuff? The return pump just depends on how much flow you would want over your DSB but with your design(if I'm correct) it doen't matter to much of a sand storm because the left pannel is a few inches lower then the right one. How strong is your courent pump?
 
gaboon said:
Hey man, no offence, you seem to have the heart and desire but something seems to be amiss if you're losing so much lifestock, I stopped Reading the thread about half way through (White anemone with pink tips) sounds like Lfs is giving bad advice etc etc. With the yellow tang, try different kinds of nori, maybe the red variety will get the guy eating. Large bioload (nitrates) are pretty much tolerated by fish so have you checked for ammonia, nitrites? (ps. Had a big Friday night session at the pub so may be talking kak)
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No offense taken. The "crash" was last year... the recent issues with new fish were most likely bad LFS stock. Like I said, it's one of those really large, discount fish places and their fish, corals, and nemmies look pretty questionable most of the time. I used to go to a small store with owner/operator who had really good livestock ... had no problems with stock from him. Started going to the new place because it's closer. (And yes, the white anemone was bought before I started reading up on them and found out that white is a bad sign... so the LFS was pretty much just wanting my money.)

Yep, check ammonia and nitrites along with everything else. Have been tracking 0 for quite a while. But thanks for the advice.

Trying nori with the tang... still not eating. Don't think he's going to make it. :( I truly believe it's HLLE and he had it when I bought him b/c as I said earlier (I know, long posts so you may have missed it) I didn't notice it right away.
 
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Annoying said:
Sump design looks awesome! Are you going to add any algae or stuff? The return pump just depends on how much flow you would want over your DSB but with your design(if I'm correct) it doen't matter to much of a sand storm because the left pannel is a few . lower then the right one. How strong is your courent pump?
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Thanks. I was thinking about doing algae in the sump. I didn't think about a 'sand storm' do you think I need to raise the partitions and lower the sand bed a bit? By the way, the difference in height wasn't intentional... I'm just crappy at the drawing program. I planned to have them at the same height. (sorry)

Current pump is pretty small. It's supplying the 55 gallon (200 lt) just fine but don't think it'll cut it for a 190 (720 lt).
 
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No don't think that pump would be big enough...Ok so the glass is the same height, no need to lower or raise any glass. Now it just depends on how strong you want the flow over the DSB. Fast flow can cause sand storms and that would be a big problem. You don't want to little flow because that wouldn't give the skimmer enough nor the DSB. You just want that Goldylocks zone:). Ok so if I'm correct your tanks is 720 Litres right? I think for the bare minimum would be a 3000Lph pump and not much above 6000Lph (please correct me if I'm wrong), but it all depends of you on how strong the flow has to be.
 
Thanks for the info. I'll look for a return pump within that range 3000 - 6000 lph.

Oh, and I just found out the sump tank is 36 in wide so the middle chamber will be as wide as the skimmer and the last chamber is 2 inches smaller. So, 38 cm for sump and middle chamber and 15 cm for return pump.
 
Ok,am I correct when you say cm you mean inches? What lighting are you thinking of for the macro?
 
Annoying said:
Ok,am I correct when you say cm you mean inches? What lighting are you thinking of for the macro?
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Okay, so I tried to "convert" inches and am obviously confusing the issue so, sorry I'll just do inches from now on. The sump measurements would be 36 x 18 x 17 inches. The skimmer I'm looking at has a 13.5 x 8 inch footprint so I thought 15 inch compartment for the skimmer, 15 in compartment for DSB and 6 inch compartment for the return pump. Would that be sufficient for a DSB?

Don't know what lights to use for the macro. What do you suggest? Shouldn't need anything too powerful, right?
 
1 inch = 2.5 cm;)

Haha just kidding, no it's much easier for you and for us if all the meaurements are the same but it doesn't matter. Ok the DSB is actually a bit small to be ery effective but it will do it's job just not as good on such a big tank. I think(under correction) the rating of if a DSB to be sufficient is that your DSB's area should be 40% the size of your main tanks area... but it doen't matter if your happy with that size and don't want to enlarge thats fine.

For macro algae you can get away with almost any light... The best is normally a small halogen light but even normal energy savers work fine. The small floodlights you buy at a hardware store (the 50 watt ones) think wwould work the best for fast algae growth.
 
Thanks for the info. I can see if the tank manufacturer can make the sump tank longer and still fit it in the cabinet. doesn't seem like it would be an issue since the cabinet is 60 inches long.

Still shopping around for best options.
 
It would be great if the sump is 60 inches then it would be sufficient. Good luck with all the shopping and everything this can become a mager headache;),but it gives you permission to use some money:razz:
 
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