tunicate

If you're planning to have wavemaker, finer grade sand may get blown about. Especially for SPS setup where folks typically want stronger flow. On the other hand, if you're planning for LS such as star fish, mandarins, gobies, or other inverts & corals that lives on the sand bed in their natural environment, then choose sand instead of coral chips. Otherwise, going for BB will be lowest in terms of maintenance effort.

You've 2 options: (1) EM1000 in return pump sump compartment --> chiller --> Back to return pump sump compartment. Pro: Simple. You're getting approx. flow rate of EM1000 thru' chiller. Con: Extra power to chill the return sump compartment. However, this is quite negligible. (2) For "chiller pump at reture to chiller than from chiller output to maintank", you'll need a stronger pump than EM1000 for head loss. If we based on earlier chart with 1.5M head loss, Aquabee2000/1(pink line) would meet your 1000l/hr flow rate requirement thru' the chiller. Pro: Chilled water goes direct into display tank. Contributing additional 1000l/hr to your tank circulation. Can do away with Aquabee3000 & use an Aquabee2000/1 instead for return saving on pump cost as well as running cost. Con: Need extra plumbing into display tank.

Below is the flow chart for Aquabee3000(blue line). At about 1.5m which is about typical height from base of sump to top of the display tank, you'd be losing about half(i.e. 1,500l/hr) of its flow. Probably even more if you factor in the piping elbows for your return. With display tank volume at about 154liters, you'd be getting about 9.7x circulation per hour. Chiller for your tank size would probably require a flow rate of about 1000l/hr. If you redirect that portion from your Aquabee3000 to the chiller, you'd be left with about 500l/hr to your display tank (i.e. about 3.2x circulation per hour), which IMHO is quite low for a reef setup. You may want to reconsider for a stronger pump, or get a seperate pump for the chiller. If you choose to stay with one pump, below is a method where you can control the flow from your return pump. The T-joint splits your return water, left & right, each controlled by a ball valve(blue pieces). Right leads to your display tank. Left leads to your chiller. By reducing the flow to your chiller, you direct the rest to the main display tank. You'll find the optimum setting by observing the interval of your chiller's thermostat kicking on & off.

Bro, it's scrubber, not "scapper".

After reading what bro peacemaker wrote, I can say that crystal glass definitely not for me. I'm already taking too much time cleaning with a magnet glass cleaner. Imagine scrub-scrub, sayang-sayang, scrub-scrub, sayang-sayang,... it'll take the whole night.

Thanks reefer guy. I learn something new today.

Hi Fayeth, Firstly, a warm welcome to you. I encourage you to read up as much as you can from reefing forums as well as books to gather as much knowledge, as well as experience from fellow reefers regarding nano marine tank. As you current tank cycles, it is a good time to plan on how you'd like your tank to develop into.(This includes budget plans.) Besides our "Nano Reefs or Pico Reef ?" forum topics, other forums are: http://www.nano-reef.com/ http://thenanoreef.co.uk/forum/ http://www.nanotank.com/ Pictures in these forums serves as inspiration for your up & coming tank. Then zoom in to read about how it is done, or what equipment & husbandry is required. This is a hobby that demands both time & $$. As nano tanks are generally limited in real estate, you'll notice most nano reefers keep small size corals & fishes. There's even an online calculator to figure out how many inches if fish your water volume can support. For basic info on LS, you can visit: http://www.liveaquaria.com/ A Dolphin mini works in the same principle as an Iceprobe. It's just designed differently. If you do not intend to purchase a chiller, an Iceprobe (as compared to Dolphin mini) should be a better choice if it can fit above your "build in back filtering compartment". This is because the Dolphin mini would probably requires you to hook it up to an extra pump, thus introducing additional heat source to your system.

Hi, If your return is strong enough, your can T-joint it to the chiller.

When filter socks starts to clog up, it will overflow. Hence your holder design needs to cater for this. Most off-the-shelf filter sock holder have their bracket set lower than the edge of the sump tank. (Below is a sample pic showing what I meant)

Looking for neon goby. Any available?

Yes Puppet, I agree with you if viewed from hardware perspective.

Thanks Wilson, I never thought about that. TANK = COMPUTER WATER = DISK STORAGE WATER SURFACE FOR O2 EXCHANGE = SYSTEM MEMORY LIVE STOCK = SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS FISH DIES = PROGRAM CORRUPTION RETURN PUMP = POWER SUPPLY CHILLER = AIR-CON MECHANICAL FILTER = ANTI-VIRUS CHANGE FILTER MEDIA = UPDATE ANTI-VIRUS BIO-FILTRATION = HARDWARE MONITORING PROTEIN SKIMMER = APPLICATION HOUSEKEEPING PROGRAM TANK CRASH = BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH operating system = water parameters keyboard/mouse = dosing pump or CR

Having setup an office tank on my desk, it is not surprising to start seeing some similarity to the computer sitting not too far away. Below is what I came up with: TANK = COMPUTER WATER = DISK STORAGE WATER SURFACE FOR O2 EXCHANGE = SYSTEM MEMORY LIVE STOCK = SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS FISH DIES = PROGRAM CORRUPTION RETURN PUMP = POWER SUPPLY CHILLER = AIR-CON MECHANICAL FILTER = ANTI-VIRUS CHANGE FILTER MEDIA = UPDATE ANTI-VIRUS BIO-FILTRATION = HARDWARE MONITORING PROTEIN SKIMMER = APPLICATION HOUSEKEEPING PROGRAM TANK CRASH = BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH

1) Kelvin70 2) Raydiative (Simei) 3) Justin @ Pasir ris 4) digibee 5) peacemaker 6) dachkie (tampines) 7) nwyk153(tampines) 8) dazza ( Siglap ) 9) samsies 10) eChan 11) Magnet(Sengkang) 12) solo77(punggol) 13) cool guy (tampines) 14) BFG (Simei) 15) LemonLemon (Tana merah, but i sometimes live in the west too) 16) mengyang_neo (buangkok) 17) Legendz1987 (tampines) 18) chercm (pasir ris ) 19)Eniram (simei) 20)wilsontantw (Bedok Reservoir) 21) jythong (Changi) 22) Copperband (Aljunied) 23) jxlex (Kembangan) 24) Clam Chowder (Bedok) 25) weesy74 (Kembangan) 26) Cedric (Pasir Ris Elias Road) 27) tunicate ( Katong )

PS is typically placed immediately right after mechanical filter. BTW, it is good to cater for an additional overflow outlet into the sump to feed future equipments, or refugium, or scrubber, or...etc

Alternatively, you can also buy a surface skimmer available from most aquarium shops & hook it up to your canister. Below pic borrowed from http://mycichlidtank.oneinfostop.com/skimmer.htm.

Could you share a pic of your scrubber?

S$80 contact PMed

(1) You can size your refugium larger for more effective biological filtration. (2) The water level in your skimmer compartment will depend on your baffles in your refugium(currently indicated as 280mm), not 320mm. (3) The water level in your return pump compartment will fluctuate due to evaporation & water top-up. Hence, the smaller its size, the faster it will fluctuate. Having said that, I guess there's probably something occupying that corner that requires you to design the return compartment in that shape.

Guys, how about this one?

I've experience with Hyfro Flo previously. IMO, it's more reliable than the Dymax version. However, I've seen the internal plastic gears worn off on my friend's flo. I think he might have tried to force it to turn with his hands when the thing jamed. Rather, one should dismantle it to remove sand particles or whatever that caused the jam. I feel that Flo redirects your water, but at the same time its internal fins also applies resistance to reduce flow from your return pump. The effect is probably like adding a couple more elbows to your return piping. So it's a choice between redirected flow or more flow.

Try adjusting the air flow at the tip of the durso pipe.

So is the aquabee sitting in-sump or out-sump? BTW, I can pass you my remaining bacteria starter tablets. It'll quicken your cycling period. PM me if you're interested.

Stockman overflow - A more compact alternative to durso overflow.(link below) http://www.rl180reef.com/pages/standpipe/standpipe-ken_stockman.htm Perhaps this can be an enhancement mini project for your tank when you have some time to spare?

Initial setup cost is one thing, long term maintenance cost is another.