The comet's 5 footer!!!

[mUAr_cHEe]

wad is the size of your pipes frm tank to sump???

i hope its not 1 one inch pipe like me....

[shoelevy]

mine is 16mm/22mm pipes

not one ich

3/4 inch only

wat's wrong with your 1inch piping?

[shoelevy]

Its true that coral chips will become nitrate factories over time but not NO2 though... the reason being corals chips do not have anaerobic region for de-nitrifying bacteria to survive. Hence the corals chips can only break down NH4 to NO2 and then down to NO3 and stops there.. hence NO3 will increase... detritus is also another reason causing NO3 to increase. IMHO, i think its good to have another form of biological filtration is the sump so as to decrease the chances of a tank crash to the minimum. Even when a few fish die, there is enough bacterias in the corals chips/bio-balls etc to break down the dangerous NH4 and NO2. Its true that LRs will serve the same purpose, but there's only this amt of BB that the LRs can house and chances of a tank crash is definitely higher than that of a tank which uses biological filtration.

I also think filter floss is important as it traps the detritus.. otherwise where will the detritus goes? Back to the main tank or settle down to the bottom on the sump. Hence its the same problem of detritus. But as mentioned, need to change to filter floss regularly.

Personally, I'm slowly replacing my bio-balls with bio-home as bio-home has anaerobic regions to house de-nitrifying bacteria which bio-balls doesn't have. Not sure how effective it will be as its still in the process of replacement

ya ekia...i agree with u on this....tt's y i employed coral chips

as for detritus, that's the exact reason y i put them in bags...so as to remove them easily and clean them

sorry brother zerocool....haf to disagree with u this time

[shoelevy]

i jus found this thing called biozyme in my cupboard....issit supposed to start cycling without need for market prawn?

[limsh1999]

great setup !

Ever think of adding more live rocks? looks inadequate.........

[williammuk]

full siphon from refugium back to sump

Thanks for sharing your setup.

I really like your idea of having the return pipe extend to the bottom to prevent

dead zone. Could you let me know what is the flow rate like at the top and

bottom? I mean, would the flow be much stronger at the bottom or at the top?

Hope you don't mind, as for the full siphon from refugium back to sump,

I'm just a little worried that there could be situations whereby the refugium

may overflow if the siphon breaks.

Cheers.

[mUAr_cHEe]

mine is 16mm/22mm pipes

not one ich

3/4 inch only

wat's wrong with your 1inch piping?

the pipe too small.... not much water can go into the sump at one go....

then my exchange rate btwn the tank and sump is quite slow....

no matter how good skimmer u run.... the water at the sump will be much much much cleaner than the water at the display tank....

if possible.... take out everything... and then drill more holes to put in more pipes for you to have greater exchange rate btwn the tank and sump.....

for my case... althought i am running md55 for return... but i can't on it at full power... i think most half only....

dun know if you understand what i mean....

[shoelevy]

the pipe too small.... not much water can go into the sump at one go....

then my exchange rate btwn the tank and sump is quite slow....

no matter how good skimmer u run.... the water at the sump will be much much much cleaner than the water at the display tank....

if possible.... take out everything... and then drill more holes to put in more pipes for you to have greater exchange rate btwn the tank and sump.....

for my case... althought i am running md55 for return... but i can't on it at full power... i think most half only....

dun know if you understand what i mean....

huh?

1inch is too small???

3/4 inch can take a flowrate of higher than 4500L/hr leh.

that's y i had to employ durso cos my pump pumping at 4500L/hr. since pipe can take higher u must make up by allowing pipe to suck air...so 1inch pipe can't possibly haf slow flowrate

[shoelevy]

great setup !

Ever think of adding more live rocks? looks inadequate.........

ah...my dad and i like this rockscape leh...we think putting more will make it look too compact....and my glass only 10mm....i don't wanna push it with more rocks

hehe...so don't think i'm adding animore for now....but will post new pics if i do add more!

[ZeRoC00l]

ya ekia...i agree with u on this....tt's y i employed coral chips

as for detritus, that's the exact reason y i put them in bags...so as to remove them easily and clean them

sorry brother zerocool....haf to disagree with u this time

I never say must agree with me

Just my thoughts . Everyone is free to choose their type of filtration, each have their pros and cons.

If it works for you then by all means please continue

One man's meat is another's poison

ah...my dad and i like this rockscape leh...we think putting more will make it look too compact....and my glass only 10mm....i don't wanna push it with more rocks

hehe...so don't think i'm adding animore for now....but will post new pics if i do add more!

Er.. if the rocks do not lean on the glass.. I dun think it will add any pressure right??? Or are you talking of the base glass???

[shoelevy]

Thanks for sharing your setup.

I really like your idea of having the return pipe extend to the bottom to prevent

dead zone. Could you let me know what is the flow rate like at the top and

bottom? I mean, would the flow be much stronger at the bottom or at the top?

Hope you don't mind, as for the full siphon from refugium back to sump,

I'm just a little worried that there could be situations whereby the refugium

may overflow if the siphon breaks.

Cheers.

ah....i don't exactly know the flowrate for top and bottom but all i can sae is bottom definitely stronger...aniwae...that's not for circulation, jus to prevent dead zones at the back so i don't really care about the flowrates out....haha...i'm using tunze for circulation...tha's wat i'm more concerned with.

ok....regarding the siphon ah..first...yr water level in the refugium MUST be higher than tt in the sump so tt water alwaes flows from ref to sump through the siphon so won't overflow.

2nd...the siphon IN THE ref must be shorter than the length of siphon in sump

3rd...regarding preventing the siphon from breaking...siphons will break in 2 cases..when air enters the siphon or wen water level is equal.

so u start off by filling the refugium to a water level equall to tt in the last compartment of sump....then u fill up the siphon with water...don't worry...it won't start ###### since water level is equal

now on yr pump to the ref....as the pump pumps, water level in sump drops and ref rise...flowrate in siphon will thus start to increase and there will definitely come a pt when the flow through siphon rate matches the pump rate of pump and ref reaches max water level....if blackout, siphon will keep ###### until the water level drops back to where u started off from....tt's y my siphon in ref is so deep

so if u understand and picture wat i'm saying...u wil realise the siphon NEVER sucks air in and will thus NEVER break and there will not be an oveflow prob

the only trouble is u mustn't use a pump tt's too strong...reason is simple - if pump too strong, for siphon to suck at same rate, water level in refug must be very high...if yr ref is not tall enough....might overflow

i use eheim 300...flowrate into the ref is about 200+L/hr

[shoelevy]

I never say must agree with me

Just my thoughts . Everyone is free to choose their type of filtration, each have their pros and cons.

If it works for you then by all means please continue

One man's meat is another's poison

Er.. if the rocks do not lean on the glass.. I dun think it will add any pressure right??? Or are you talking of the base glass???

ya...talking bout base glass...besides...looks too compact with too much rocks...i don't like....will fill up gaps and empty places with corals ah...

[shoelevy]

[shoelevy]

by the wae...no one knows wat biozyme is for???

to start cycling or speed it up?

[williammuk]

Hi. Thanks very much for the detail description. Really appreciate it.

It is good to know that you've got everything worked out nicely.

mmmm ... I suppose your refugium will have macro algae, yes?

Just be on the lookout that pieces of algae won't get stuck in the

siphon input. Hope you know what I mean.

Thanks again.

[shoelevy]

yup

will haf algae...i'll install sth to prevent algae from going in...don't worry

hope people copy my ref concept...hehe...cheap and works!

[osmosis]

it is always fun for the setting up process...

[shoelevy]

it is always fun for the setting up process...

u seem to imply sth not fun AFTER the setting up...

[shoelevy]

today i setup my FR!!! (fm93.3) yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!

put rowa phos in it....500ml worth

used a weipro 300 little pump to drive it....initially rowaphos doesn't churn...was very worried i wasted my money....but after running 10mins....suddenly see lots of bubbles coming out from fr....then i know wat's going on!....there were bubbles in the rowaphos and sponge that restricted flow....after the bubbles were cleared...the pump was too powerful!

haha

so i tuned it down using its own built in control valve

tuned down to min....now works like a baby

[shoelevy]

also bought a kent marine glass cleaner

SUPERB!!!

cleans glass damn well...must better than those magnet cleaners...glass is like crystal!

recommended to all....note the metallic blade used to scrub the glass....solid man

i got mine medium size from sea***e.

shold be a must haf for all

[lightningstrike]

also bought a kent marine glass cleaner

SUPERB!!!

cleans glass damn well...must better than those magnet cleaners...glass is like crystal!

recommended to all....note the metallic blade used to scrub the glass....solid man

i got mine medium size from sea***e.

shold be a must haf for all

a credit card is the must hv for all. can use it to buy reef-related products. then when expired, makes a good algae scrubber.

[shoelevy]

a credit card is the must hv for all. can use it to buy reef-related products. then when expired, makes a good algae scrubber.

AHAHAHaha

good one dude!

[weileong]

something like this?

DIY algae cleaner with expired credit card

[shoelevy]

kaoz

ahha

well...must sae that's real brilliant

[shoelevy]

ok guys

tonite i need to go back army camp

hm...so pls be patient with my update of this thread ah...thanks