tunicate

In that case, a single 3W LED spot light would probably perform better than what you currently have on a small patch of chaeto. But cost may be something you would want to consider too. Example:

SPS has much more stringent requirement on water quality compared to LPS & FOWLR. Lighting is only part of the equation. Coming back to your question, your 5 gal (i.e. 18"x8"x8") tank is of unusual dimension. The problem here is you can hardly find quality T5 tubes at 1.5 feet size. If you want to stay with this tank, the likely choice would be to go for LED lighting.

That's great! Can do a product review on this NPX on the forum? Very interested in its performance. Currently finding info on the other kind(pic below).

Go ahead with the change. Replace filter wool after cloudiness in water have settled down. Perform water perimeter test. Take necessary actions. Then move on from there.

C328 sells this kind of betta box. Call to ask about price. http://www.arowanaclub.com/advertisers/C328/C328.htm

Below are some info that may help. (1) How Many Fish Can I Put in My Aquarium? http://www.howmanyfish.com/ For a 36"x24" tank, it shows 18" worth of fishes. (2) Fish Compatibility chart http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm (3) Below is one of the fish info web site where you can check out the fish before purchase. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15&pCatId=15

Can understand your frustration. I'm also very nervous when it comes to plumbing. One carelessness & its water disaster. That's why it took me so long to upgrade to tank with sump. I put in hose clamps on every join. Can't sleep properly if I don't do that.

Your skimmer should be in the compartment where water level is constant irregardless of return pump performance. BTW, having brown diatom is normal if your tank has not fully mature. With proper husbandry it should go away later.

heh heh...Guess I was lucky when I Goggled.

If the tank is not too big, I'd pack up the equipment, water, corals & shrimp, & move them home, rather than making a few more trips over the 48hr period.

Hi Fayeth, In below chart, flow for L40 at 2M is mere 700L/h.(probably lesser if you factor in the twist & turns in the chiller) At 2.3M, it drops to 0L/h. Looks like you're not getting sufficient flow in your 42gal. See if you can get a stronger sump that'll fit into your sump. Of course a cheap alternative is to just raise you chiller to the same height as your tank.

Not too slow, otherwise you're just slowing down the food supply for the chaeto. Thus, it growth would slow down too.

Does the water coming out feel colder than those going into the chiller?

It uses raising bubbles from the air pump to 'push' water into the beta box, then overflows back to main tank. Water movement may be too weak for to be effective. In addition, your chaeto light will be penetrating into main tank during lights out period. This will be a problem unless you somehow block the light.

Let me give it a try. The cold water goes straight to where you want it most.

If removing the chiller from your sump is not too difficult, try running it on a big pail of water. Can it go down to 26 degree in a reasonable time? If not, something else is wrong besides inaccurate temperature reading on your chiller.

3.2w x 40bulbs should be super bright for chaeto. Many folks just use normal florescent lighting.

if you want to customize, can try below suggestion. "Go kelantan lane. This shop name kwang ling framemaker. Uncle friendly,price reasonable (cheap) Workmanship good. (base on the price u paid)..." - Posted 25 December 2010 by DUCADOS Get all the details down on a piece of paper. Better still, I made a model of my sump using cardboard with dimension drawn onto each assembled piece. It helped me to visualize what I wanted, & minimized explanation at the shop. No surprises during collection, that's what I was trying to avoid.

I jest changed mine today. It was 62!!!

That's a HUGE piece of rock! BTW, the shallow tank seems a little restrictive for the tangs.

Wow...how you manage to keep the 'tree' upright?

If you have plans to move house, then you have to reconsider carefully before starting to spend on this 5 footer. So it's either decomm or move the whole tank in 2 years time. Alternatively, sell off the 5 footer now & go nano during this interim period.

Yes, I understand. My tank also has both over & underflow. Once you plug the gap below, the water will go via overflow into your sump.

Hi kira76, Welcome to our reefing community. If your intention is just FOWLR, you probably need to just get a HOB skimmer. (BTW, you may not need a chiller for a FOWLR.) If it is corals you intend to keep, then I think you'll need to hook it up to a proper sump tank. This is because corals have more stringent demand on your water quality. A sump tank can accommodate the equipment to make this happen.