Jeremy0322's 55 gallon build

[tbittner]

That is my experience with the mag pumps, they add a fair amount of heat to the water. I'm also pretty sure that I read that it's not recommended to run the mag's external.

*EDIT*

Here is where I read that.

[Jeremy0322]

Yea, that is what i have been reading also. That kinda sucks. Anything else anyone can think of to cool the water down besides a chiller. Not only is that overkill for a 55 but I am 19 and dont have a job during the school year, and with the price of chillers it is out of the question. I also elevated the rights another 2 inches off the surface, and will get fans for those tomorrow hopefully.

[tbittner]

I never used a mag external so I don't know what the issues with it are, so hopefully someone else who HAS used it like that will chime in. Maybe it's not really a problem.

I based my comment on what I read at Marine Depot's site.

[Jeremy0322]

This was what the instructions said...
"Centrifugal pumps cannot pull water from a lower level. In order to start, pump must be below water level and filled with water. Unless the air can escape from the outlet, the pump will not start. Do not use glues or solvents to connect the pumps threaded fittings. Use Teflon pipe tape. The pump cover is not designed to support long pipe runs or correct pipe misalignment."

What i got from this is that you cant do it because it has to be at the water level to pull water, meaning that if i want a crap ton of bubbles in my tank then it would be a great idea to run it above the sump like i wanted. Also, in the event of a power outage it would not start up again. It just seems annoying. I am going to go to walmart tomorrow and buy 2 fans, one for the tank and the other for the sump. The Display tank fan will run with the daylight timer and the sump fan will run 24/7. I am also going to use a 1 inch hole saw and make a few holes spread out along the back of the stand so that air can get in and out. I have been reading alot over the past few hours on here and fans are apparently the way to go, makes a huge difference with the temp of the tank, but you also have to top off more. If anything is wrong here please correct me.

[elliottb]

Your tank is an open top? No glass.....right?


You may want to look into some little fans, kinda like computer fans. I think either...drsfosterandsmith or aquatraders sells 4 of them in a row.

[Jeremy0322]

Alright, to answer Elliotts question yes, the tank is open top. I am going to go the fan route and sometime down the road get some eggcrate probably because i would like a sand sifting goby and i heard they have a taste for carpet...lol. The fans dont have to be anything special I am assuming though so I am probably going to try Big Lots or The Dollar Store for them, and then Walmart, because with how expensive this hobby is I am looking to save money in the spots I can.

Now for the fun part. Temp is at 79 because I thought my room heater was off yesterday, but i dont think it was because i woke up this morning and it was pumping out some heat. I turned it down and let the tank go today, and when I got home from school it was at 79, which is sweet. More good new i think, is that I got my Diaton bloom starting yesterday and its looking pretty gnarly today. I have a small clean up crew in the 10 gallon and with all the levels being 0 or close to it I was wondering if it is their time?

[Jeremy0322]

Just realized I committed sin #1 for saltwater forums, vague parameters..lol. Here is the list of what i just got done testing....

Temp - 79
Salinity - 1.025
Nitrates - 0
Nitrites - 0
PH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Phosphates - .1
Calcium - 400

The phosphates are a little high but i dont think thats anything to worry about,do you guys?

[tbittner]

.1 phosphates isn't too bad, but corals prefer zero.

Just curious, how much cooler was it outside today where you live? Around here, yesterday was quite a bit warmer and today was quite cool. Ambiant temp will obviously affect the temp in your tank.

[Jeremy0322]

It hit almost 65 yesterday and the ac didnt come on because we didnt have it set to. When it gets warmer in the summer the house will stay cooler than it did yesterday, plus i will not hate cold then and turn my room heater completely off. I do have one other questions too, it is safe to control the water level in a skimmer using an on off valve. My tube does not have a very high water level right now and i think its because it is meant for a HOB and the water level in the sump is lower than most tanks. When i put my hand over the return pipe for the skimmer thought the water level rises drastically. Also, would it be safe to put the cuc in yet?

[Jeremy0322]

This is the newest of the issues that i am having, the skimmer water level is still really low.



Anything anyone can think of to fix it. I tried an on off valve and it either overflowed the tube or did nothing, there was little to no middle ground.

[Jeremy0322]

The skimmer was fixed, i just needed to take the tube off of the return and the water level was alright. Its still a little low but foam is making it into the collection cup(after a nice cleaning of the tube) so I feel much better. Test the water again and all the levels are still wonderful, and I was able to make most of the noise from the return pump go away by cutting up a car washing sponge to fit it and having the pump sit on that, i made sure there was no soap already on it and cleaned it off nicely. I will have to clean it frequently but at least it is much quieter now.

I also bought another fish, which is in quarantine right now. It is a yellow tang, about 2.5 to 3 inches long, which is a touch bigger than I wanted, but i got one hell of a deal on it and just could not pass it up. The guy offered it to me for 28 dollars and had been in its own tank for 3 weeks at the store there. It is in my small(10 gallon) QT tank and is showing no signs of ick or any other parasite, but i do have a suspicion that there is a touch of HLLE. I noticed it in the store, it is almost unnoticeable, and made me almost want to buy it more just to save it. Anyways, its eating algae from the clip and mysis shrimp that has been soaked in kents garlic. It will even eat the flake food because i tried that too. It is my favorite fish in the market and the reason i set up the tank, so i am STOKED.

And, i bought the majority of the clean up crew for the main tank, and acclimated them and introduced them. I did not see a reason to QT a clean up crew, maybe I was wrong? I have, at the moment, 12 Astrae snails and 14 hermit crabs, so i may need more eventually but that is almost 1 crab and 1 snail per 4.5 gallons, so its a good start. I would also like an emerald crab or two later on, but patience is awesome, and I am trying really hard to practice what i preach...lol.

Last Paragraph, i promise. Once the water cleared up from the sand I had to put the clown fish and the blood red fire shrimp in the DT because i needed the other tank as the QT, so they are chilling in the DT and loving the new space. Dotty, the shrimp, already made herself at home in the entrance to the cave and the clown has no idea what hes doing, just swimming around with no rhyme or reason. The main tank is staying at around 79 and night and just hitting 81 during the day, so it is all working out nicely. There are pods everywhere and no major problems as of yet, so life is great. Pics will come when i can get a camera.

[tbittner]

Great news all the way around! Congrats on the yellow tang. I'll be purchasing one of those myself one of these days.

I don't QT CUC members either. I never read anything about them carrying in diseases that would kill off the other members of the CUC but I don't doubt that they exist.

[Jeremy0322]

I just cant wait until he goes in. I will more than likely shave a little bit off of the QT time if he keeps doing as good as he is, because i will need the tank for the next fish i plan on getting. I am starting to think that I am going to need 2 QT tanks. The tang was by itself in somewhat of a QT for a long time at the LFS though, so if he is in there for 12-14 days at my house he should be really safe, thats how im looking at it atleast.

[Jeremy0322]

HE WENT IN TODAY!!! I know I know, it was really early for a tang, but he was doing so well with no signs of sickness or ich and was in a 10 gallon tank, I felt so bad for him in that baby box. He is loving the tank, eating still and found his new home in that cave i have build. I am trying very hard to get the small amount of HLLE to go away but I do not know how long it will take. I think I am taking the appropriate action, alot of algae clip, algae flakes, normal flakes, mysis with kents garlic, and brine one time but thats baby brine so its so small it just floats away, seems useless to me. Anyways, here is the pictures, i will stop blabbing on and on.







And as soon as the digital camera gets back I will get better pictures of the clown fish and the fire shrimp, but the shrimp is hella camera shy.

[tbittner]

He sure is pretty! Please do consider adding SelCon to his food. I really think that that is the key to the health of my fish. I soak their food in Garlic, Selcon, and Zoe. The Selcon is full of vitamins.