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View Full Version : I'm in a pickle!!!


Gools
12-24-2004, 02:15 AM
Well I've got a dicision to make, and I can't decide. So tell me what you think. I have a 205 which I'm thinking of setting up. But I don't know wether to set it up to my excisting 180, or set it up on it's own. If I set it up both together, then I'd need to buy a pump, which I've been debating the dolphin amp master 3000. Or if I set it up on it's own I will need to buy myself a new skimmer, which will be in the same price range as the pump. So what do I do?

trilinearmipmap
12-24-2004, 02:24 AM
Separate gives you more versatility, less chance of one disease wiping out both tanks, I would go with 2 completely separate systems.

Gools
12-24-2004, 02:34 AM
Ok Thanks! Your on my wifes side. Anyone else?

StirCrazy
12-24-2004, 03:06 AM
are they both drilled?

Steve

Gools
12-24-2004, 03:15 AM
yah they are both drilled and ready to rock, just trying to figure which route to go

Murminator
12-24-2004, 03:58 AM
I think this one is easy to figure out..................GIVE 1 to ME :mrgreen: 1/2 the headache.....1/2 the worries....1/2 the $$$$$....done problem solved....send to Murminator thats M.U.R.M.I.N.A.T.O.R.......Edmonton AB. :biggrin:

Canadian Man
12-24-2004, 05:33 AM
comming from the other prespective, I very much enjoy having all my tank hooked up together. It add's water volume to disperse bad things that can happen. Less equipment, more simple, one skimmer...etc.

I'm all for hooking them up together with a common sump.

:biggrin:

Dez
12-24-2004, 05:50 AM
I agree with Jonathan....one system is great. I have a 46 display tank and 3 other tanks hooked to the common sump in the basement and I enjoy it.... about 220 gallons of water. Wouldn't change it for anything..

Des

StirCrazy
12-24-2004, 06:03 AM
ok if there drilled I am all for a common sump.. one skimmer, one ca reactor.. ect.. instead of two of everything. also a heck of a lot easier for water changes and so one.

Steve

Quinster
12-24-2004, 11:26 AM
I am with all the one sump people...oh wait Gools....you allready know that...

MitchM
12-24-2004, 01:25 PM
larger water volume=greater buffering capacity, more gradual temp changes, greater life diversity.

It's more gooder. :mrgreen:

Mitch

muck
12-24-2004, 02:11 PM
It's more gooder. :mrgreen:
haha! I second Mitch... :lol:

Doug
12-24-2004, 02:19 PM
I also like the single large sump idea.

Only one top-off unit. :biggrin:

Delphinus
12-24-2004, 05:35 PM
I'm going to go against the grain on this one and suggest that it depends a little on what are your end goals for the two tanks. If they are similar then yes it probably is better to make them one system. One skimmer, one reactor, etc. is theoretically half the cost of two skimmers and two reactors and so on.

Basically all the reasons stated so far are valid.

But if you have vastly differnet end goals then it might be better still to keep them separate. I.e., if you have a heavily laden predator tank as one and a pristine reef on the other, and if the reef can't keep up to the bioload of the other.

Or as in my case, where you have animals that don't play nice together. I had problems with too many anemones in a single system and they would impact each other without even touching. So if without touching one can impact the wellbeing of another, what's to stop that from happening just because they're in different glass boxes (but the same water)?

But not everyone will have this, so it depends on your situation.

For me, for now, it's nice to have a little redundancy. When my 24" ritteri released something into the water that killed almost all the fish in the one tank, it was nice that I had a second system going completely independent that I was able to save my one last remaining fish by moving him into there.

If you don't have ambitions for keeping high-risk animals then you probably don't have to worry as much.

So I mostly agree with the points listed above, I kinda wish I could have one system too, but I don't feel it's an option for me. Even when I move to a larger system down the road my intention is to keep the ritteri in a separate system independent of the main focal tank.