58 gallon...

[Flobex]

well.... just got my 58 out of storage, and i decided, instead of making my 20 a SW im gona make this my SW tank... it will have more water volume, so that will make it easier, and it wont cost too much more, since im going to make it a FOWLR...

i have my monster skimmer that im gonna run on it, and im going to use a mag 7 for my return pump... and 3? maxi-jet 1200's... will this be sufficient, or should i upgrade my return to a mag 9.5? the tanks drilled with (2) 1/2" bulkheads.

for lights, im just gonna use my 24" 130 watt fixture for now, thats 2.25 watts, and that should be fine for what i want...plus i turned it on the tank tonight, and its plenty of light for viewing... i'll probabaly upgrade later on.

i have been looking around live aquaria for fish, and i came up with this...

1 yellowstripe maroon clown
1 yellow tang
1 flame hawkfish
1 auriga Buterfly fish

will these be compatible? on the compatibility chart at live aquaria, it says so, but i am a little nervous, about the YS maroon being too aggressive for the butterfly... also, can i keep the maroon happy without an anemone?

lastly, is this a good number of fish? could i add more? or am i maxed out??

[brewercm]

I don't really see the need for that much flow if you are goind FOWLR. Maybe a powerhead pusing across the back and bottom to make sure not detritus settles and you have some flow but you aren't keeping corals that need the flow. With those fish you will probably be maxed out, maybe even a little too much, but with that skimmer it'll help to keep it cleaned up. I also still think that the skimmer is way overkill for that tank and the pump you'll need to run it will most likely make uf for any halides that you would have to run for an SPS tank. That's considering if you'll be using something like an Iwaki MD70 which is what that skimmer will need to run most efficient.

The size of your sump will dictate to a point on whether or not you want to run the Mag 7 or 9.5. How much water do you want running through the sump, the larger the sump the higher you can go of course.

[Instar]

1/2 inch bulkheads will be easy to over flow, even with 2 of them. If thats the real size, I don't believe they will handle a mag 9.5. Whatever pump is used, it would be wise to put some valves on the return line so they can be cut back if those bulkheads are too small for the flow.

[caferacermike]

You might be able to up the bulkheads to 3/4". I've upped many a bulkhead using sch80 electrical pvc connections and haven't had a bit of trouble yet. As opposed to normal NPT PVC fittings, electrical connections are not tapered so you can hand tighten them all the way until the connect. You can easily pick up a male thread/female slip adapter, and a female thread/female slip coupling to use as bulkhead fittings. Use a good O-ring on the adapter and put the adapter inside the tank with the oring between the glass and the adapter. Hang the threads out the bottom and hand tighten the coupling in place. This is an easy way to adapt to a larger size pipe as proper bulkhead fittings are much bulkier. I've found that the threads of the electrical fittings to be the exact same size as the holes for the next smaller bulkhead. I can take pics for those that do not believe but this method works. Also the electrical adapters are square where they meet the glass, white pvc fittngs are rounded and will leak. Maybe havea look around at HDepot, spend $2.00 and take a look and see if they will work for you.

[saltcreepette]

iffy on the maroon clown. if you get a small one and dont get a pair, and dont add an anemone, you might be ok till it gets bigger but when I worked at a LFS, so many people brought back their maroons once they got bigger because they tried to kill/harass the other fish in the tank (doesnt matter how big or small the other fish are). I had mine for years and she was getting to that point, especially if they went hear 'her corner.' No, you dont need an anemone to make one happy. if you have enough light and flow on a FO to make an anemone happy, might as well do the full blown reef :)

re: the maxijets, go with the 900's. almost as much flow and uses half the watts. esp since youre not doing a reef. (not that the extra watts of the 1200 is going to break the bank on electricity... your call.)

[Flobex]

^i dont really need bigger bulkheads, i just wasnt sure what size return pump i sould use to keep up with the bulkheads...

Larry- will go with the mag 7, and i have a valve on the line for the return pump :)

Cliff-i know the skimmer is way overkill, but i dont want to get rid of it, because ill need it in the future... and i might as well use it if i have it :P
i am getting an iwakai md 55-rlt to run the skimmer.1190 GPH. pete had the skimmer before me, and he said he was running about 1400gph, but he said it was too much, and around 1200 gph was what i should aim for.
what do you man bye it will make up for halides?price wise... im getting a extremley good deal from ace on the pump.

the sump is a 20 long.

for the fish, ill just have to get te tank all cycled,and add the fish slowly, and ill add the flame hawkfish last if my parameters allow it.


thanks for all th input!

[Flobex]

iffy on the maroon clown. if you get a small one and dont get a pair, and dont add an anemone, you might be ok till it gets bigger but when I worked at a LFS, so many people brought back their maroons once they got bigger because they tried to kill/harass the other fish in the tank (doesnt matter how big or small the other fish are). I had mine for years and she was getting to that point, especially if they went hear 'her corner.' No, you dont need an anemone to make one happy. if you have enough light and flow on a FO to make an anemone happy, might as well do the full blown reef :)

re: the maxijets, go with the 900's. almost as much flow and uses half the watts. esp since youre not doing a reef. (not that the extra watts of the 1200 is going to break the bank on electricity... your call.)

thank you, ill have to rethink my ideas on fish...

also, now ill probbably only run 1 or 2 900's, because i dont need all that flow...

and for electricity, i dont pay for it yet :P but i'd better give my parents a break if wanna keep my tanks :P lol.

[caferacermike]

Flo use the electricy calculator from the MAAST website. http://www.maast.org/page.php?file=calc.html&opt=0&idx=2

This website is great, I'm going Charter as soon as I get my Paypal up and running again.

I was only trying to give you an idea on how to use larger pipe if you wanted a larger pump. Tis cool with me if you stay with the 1/2". I'd still recommend using a step up adapter from the 1/2" suction side to 1" just to help reduce friction drag (K factor) that could slow down how much volume moves through the pipe and 90's. 1/2" pipe has a lot of drag to it as it has almost as much surface area as open area. Obviously I'm a pipe fitter by trade.

[saltcreepette]

i used the calculator and it said my tank only eats up $12.72 a month on electricity (2x175w mh, 2 maxijet 1200's --I already bought them before I got wise to the watts--, 1x900 maxijet, cpr bak pak, 300w heater, hob powerfilter. not too bad. guess its time to set up another tank. Wait! I'm already doing that! ;)

[RZA2222]

I have a Mag 5 on a 20L with (2) 1/2" bulkheads, and the mag 5 is wayyyyyyy to much flow. I have been trying to calculate the amount of flow that can enter the tank and exit through the 1/2" bulkheads, but with the number of variables in the equation makes it difficult. The Mag5 must be turned to about 75% or the tank will overflow. The Mag5 is running at about 36" of head.
Just my two cents

[brewercm]

What I meant by the comment about the cost on the skimmer was about electrical pull. The wattage on the 55RLT I believe is around 270 will run 6,480 watts in a 24 hour period. The wattage on the pump for my skimmer the ASM G3 is 50 running 24 hours a day plus my two 250 watt halides running 8 hours comes out to 6200 watts in a 24 hour period.

Sounds like you don't have to worry about that right now so it really doesn't matter then. Just don't let your parents know. ;)

BTW, I ran my system on the calculator and it shows around $53 a month. Dont tell my wife. :skeezy

[Flobex]

well... i think i was about as far off from the size of the bulkheads as i could be... i judged the size, because the tubing on that tank wouldnt fit on my 3/4" bulkhead for my 20 gallon, it was just a bit to small... so i just realized that there is adapters and such, but i took some pvc off, and got right to the bulkhead which measured 1.25" from inside edge to inside edge... :p ...woops

thanks caferacermike for the info on how to make a larger pipe, it will probably come i handy in the future :)

[Flobex]

Another Q...

could (should) i use a check valve on the line from my pump-skimmer, and on my return pump, so back siphon in an emergency is minimal?

[caferacermike]

I've heard both good and bad. Good that they work and bad that snails may get caught in the flapper preventing a seal. I think most drill a hole in the return line at the waters edge to suck in air and break the vacum.

[Flobex]

snails wouldnt be able to get into it, because 1 they wont have access to he skimmer, and if they did get ssucked in there, they'd be chopped through the impeller...:P and i think the high flow coming from my return may stop them from being able to enter that tubing...

[Flobex]

well... i had a crazy idea today... (thats what happens when im bored, and have extra tanks/stands lying around...

ok so i have (2) 36" stands (relativly same size, ones a few inches taller...)
anyway, i had the idea to put them next to each other, that way id have a place for my skimmer, and a seperate/bigger fuge... so on one stand would be my 58 gallon (drilled twice) wit the 20 long sump below it. then on the next stand, id have the skimmer, and a 20 high for a refugium... with a 10-20 gallon top-off tank below that.

so one of the drains from the 58 goes to the 20 long sump, and the other would go to the 20 high fuge which would then go through a bulkhead, into the 20 sump. it would be 100% gravity fed, and i dont have to worry about it draining a ton of water into my sump, because i have an overflow on it, so once the water level in the fuge goes below that level, it stops drainig water (ie: power outage).

then with this larger fuge, it will be very easy to isolate this 20 high from the rest of the system, when i need a Q tank, i'd just throw some powerheads in there, and it would be a cycled QT tank for new/sick fish, and it would be a sinch to hook back up to the main system/take away from the main system.

this probably makes absolutley no sense too you, so i made a rough diagram ...

would this be a good idea to put this with my system?

[Richard]

I had a 30 gallon fuge hooked up to my old 140 pretty much like that except I just tee'd off from the return line to the fuge. This way you can use a ball/gate valve to easily regulate the flow to the fuge. Also you won't have to deal with a bunch of bubbles in your fuge like you will if you drop a drain line in there.

[Flobex]

^ ok thanks, but if i do it that way, should i go with a mag 9.5 return instead of a 7?

[Flobex]

well, im throwing around ideas of having my dad make me a custom stand with a tall side, to house the skimmer, and it would be longer, and able to hold a bigger, better sump/fuge... the stand wouldnnt be to much, and would be similar to this http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=613868&perpage=25&pagen umber=1 (the second one with 1 tall side)
the sump, however, would cost an arm and leg... but i think it would be well worth it to have this sleek, more efficiant design..

also, for lighting... i picked up a 39 watt t-5 to go along with my 130 watt compact fllouresceennt fixture, and those things are bright!!! if i added another 39 wattts of t-5, making my total
78 watts t-5, and 130 watts compact flourescent, would i have enough light to house some corals in the upper portion of the tank?