Squatch XXL
Well-Known Member
So, I re-read this entire thread to see if I could learn something. Update time:
I've got lots of photos, so if you are on 56k I am sorry about your luck.
Don't use Krylon spray paint and expect an urchin not to scrape it up.
2 overflows. I wanted to talk about it. It is wonderful. I would rather have a coast to coast to balance the flow, but I came up with some solutions. Also, I have issues with snails and hermits in my sump. They don't belong there. They need to be trapped in the danger zone where they belong. I made solutions to that. I hated the noise. I made one side full siphon. I also "hid" the bubbles in the sump.
I have a dual overflow. There is no way to get them both laser accurate on elevation for flow. One ALWAYS will have greater flow. In this case, my left side is my heavy flow. I finally started to fiddle with valves, and found a way to ensure that I can throttle flow and still not ever get a wet floor.
This is my left side overflow from the side. I am using a valve to throttle the flow. The holes drilled in the pipe ensure that no snails or hermits go down the water slide. The cap does have a very tiny 1/16" hole in it. It runs full siphon all day long. It is silent. No air and water mix, and no gurgle.
The right side overflow with my durso. It also has a modded pipe to keep critters out. I have cut the fittings in places shorter so that when restarting the pump this will go full siphon until all the air is worked out of the left side.
Also, Snail eggs.....That is a question for later however...
Then the pipes go down to the sump:
The left side sump line goes to the sump, and has no issues being below water level because it is running full siphon, and is not mixing air. The right side line is a standard durso and is mixing air and water. I have it running through 3/4" pvc into a 1" tee. The tee then has a street 90" looking up with a cap with a hole in the center. From the bullhead of the tee, I have 3/4" looking down into the sump about 3". This causes most of the air from the line to stay above the water, and it equalizes in the pipe through the small hole in the cap. Its the opposite of the durso. It is also very quiet. No more bubbles in the sump spraying saltwater all over everything.
Don't judge my beer can collection. I have had a few today.
This week I decided to add some sort of filter media to my system. I have a wad of rolled up diy aquarium filter in the bottom of the sump. Seems to work good, and is disposable.
Changed to a Mag drive 5 when we reset the tank after the move. The head height is certainly affecting flow. I estimate about 200-300gph from the sump to the tank, and may yet add a powerhead...but oh man....Aside from a bit of water flow, all I hear is the pump. It is not loud, but it is the only noise.
The generic skimmer is working marvelous. It produces consistent and tangible thick waste regularly. I have a small fish and a medium sized monster, and think that IF the skimmer was terrible it would do nothing. I have got the thing tuned in that it makes tar....Oh and the smell. Put some of that in your pipe and smoke it.. YUUUUCK.
I did extensive testing. Either of my overflows can handle 100% of the flow of the pump to the sump. In the event of disaster, one side can handle it all. I sleep knowing my floor won't get wet.
I modified my canopy a few weeks back. I think about all the trouble that glass canopy give......I switched to something that offered good GE, was cheap, and would not allow fish to exit.
Behold: Eggcrate.
I also used a piece to keep light from directly hitting me in my eyeballs. I painted it black, and the urchin cannot clean it off.
My coral collection has been doing "well" since the transition. I use quotes as an overall. The colony that I believe gave me the nudibranch has not been doing well at all overall. It has a few good spots, but it looks about dead.
I have a few spots that I will be doing some frags from only for the good of saving the life of something tied to a dying mass. I got 3 colors of zoas fragged already from this colony and they are doing well.
I don't know if it has a name, and it don't matter to me. its pretty neat. It looks milky clear, and grows well. Under blue moon lights it glows bright atomic peach.
Frag on agrocrete
This is my "wheel of shame". It is an agrocrete piece buried in the substrate. It is the mold of the bottom of a 2 liter soda container, and looks it (it has the legs). I have a few zoas glued to it that were acting up. I really want to get a frag of the one super goofy colorful one in the pic, but its so intertwined with the other grey ones....I do notice that some of the goofy colorful ones seem to have more matching grey at the edges....That is an article on its own.
Pocilipora is doing well at the top of the reef. Gets great direct light, and has great PE. One odd thing I noticed. The urchin will not get near this piece. It is not even glued in, but the urchin will not touch it. It aggravates me to find zoas relocated or missing entirely.....but that this is off limits somehow...
One thing I noticed. ALL of my agrocrete is covered with green coraline. All of my other florida rock is covered lightly with reds/purples. The urchin eats from the natural rock, but avoids the agrocrete...probally because it is dense.
So back to snail eggs. I have noticed a bit of surface scum in the past few weeks. It coincides with snails laying eggs all over the glass and rocks, but is it part of it? Can snail "mess" cause surface scum?
I've got lots of photos, so if you are on 56k I am sorry about your luck.
Don't use Krylon spray paint and expect an urchin not to scrape it up.
2 overflows. I wanted to talk about it. It is wonderful. I would rather have a coast to coast to balance the flow, but I came up with some solutions. Also, I have issues with snails and hermits in my sump. They don't belong there. They need to be trapped in the danger zone where they belong. I made solutions to that. I hated the noise. I made one side full siphon. I also "hid" the bubbles in the sump.
I have a dual overflow. There is no way to get them both laser accurate on elevation for flow. One ALWAYS will have greater flow. In this case, my left side is my heavy flow. I finally started to fiddle with valves, and found a way to ensure that I can throttle flow and still not ever get a wet floor.
This is my left side overflow from the side. I am using a valve to throttle the flow. The holes drilled in the pipe ensure that no snails or hermits go down the water slide. The cap does have a very tiny 1/16" hole in it. It runs full siphon all day long. It is silent. No air and water mix, and no gurgle.
The right side overflow with my durso. It also has a modded pipe to keep critters out. I have cut the fittings in places shorter so that when restarting the pump this will go full siphon until all the air is worked out of the left side.
Also, Snail eggs.....That is a question for later however...
Then the pipes go down to the sump:
The left side sump line goes to the sump, and has no issues being below water level because it is running full siphon, and is not mixing air. The right side line is a standard durso and is mixing air and water. I have it running through 3/4" pvc into a 1" tee. The tee then has a street 90" looking up with a cap with a hole in the center. From the bullhead of the tee, I have 3/4" looking down into the sump about 3". This causes most of the air from the line to stay above the water, and it equalizes in the pipe through the small hole in the cap. Its the opposite of the durso. It is also very quiet. No more bubbles in the sump spraying saltwater all over everything.
Don't judge my beer can collection. I have had a few today.
This week I decided to add some sort of filter media to my system. I have a wad of rolled up diy aquarium filter in the bottom of the sump. Seems to work good, and is disposable.
Changed to a Mag drive 5 when we reset the tank after the move. The head height is certainly affecting flow. I estimate about 200-300gph from the sump to the tank, and may yet add a powerhead...but oh man....Aside from a bit of water flow, all I hear is the pump. It is not loud, but it is the only noise.
The generic skimmer is working marvelous. It produces consistent and tangible thick waste regularly. I have a small fish and a medium sized monster, and think that IF the skimmer was terrible it would do nothing. I have got the thing tuned in that it makes tar....Oh and the smell. Put some of that in your pipe and smoke it.. YUUUUCK.
I did extensive testing. Either of my overflows can handle 100% of the flow of the pump to the sump. In the event of disaster, one side can handle it all. I sleep knowing my floor won't get wet.
I modified my canopy a few weeks back. I think about all the trouble that glass canopy give......I switched to something that offered good GE, was cheap, and would not allow fish to exit.
Behold: Eggcrate.
I also used a piece to keep light from directly hitting me in my eyeballs. I painted it black, and the urchin cannot clean it off.
My coral collection has been doing "well" since the transition. I use quotes as an overall. The colony that I believe gave me the nudibranch has not been doing well at all overall. It has a few good spots, but it looks about dead.
I have a few spots that I will be doing some frags from only for the good of saving the life of something tied to a dying mass. I got 3 colors of zoas fragged already from this colony and they are doing well.
I don't know if it has a name, and it don't matter to me. its pretty neat. It looks milky clear, and grows well. Under blue moon lights it glows bright atomic peach.
Frag on agrocrete
This is my "wheel of shame". It is an agrocrete piece buried in the substrate. It is the mold of the bottom of a 2 liter soda container, and looks it (it has the legs). I have a few zoas glued to it that were acting up. I really want to get a frag of the one super goofy colorful one in the pic, but its so intertwined with the other grey ones....I do notice that some of the goofy colorful ones seem to have more matching grey at the edges....That is an article on its own.
Pocilipora is doing well at the top of the reef. Gets great direct light, and has great PE. One odd thing I noticed. The urchin will not get near this piece. It is not even glued in, but the urchin will not touch it. It aggravates me to find zoas relocated or missing entirely.....but that this is off limits somehow...
One thing I noticed. ALL of my agrocrete is covered with green coraline. All of my other florida rock is covered lightly with reds/purples. The urchin eats from the natural rock, but avoids the agrocrete...probally because it is dense.
So back to snail eggs. I have noticed a bit of surface scum in the past few weeks. It coincides with snails laying eggs all over the glass and rocks, but is it part of it? Can snail "mess" cause surface scum?
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