Ok...shoulda let this one sit another 5 yrs...


I dont think he meant offense fellas, easy on the guy.

He thought it a good idea for someone who may be setting up a new tank.

Comon....

A couple hints for someone getting into a new system:

- Always plan for worse case scenarios.

- Try to do it in a basement. Temperature control is so much simpler when you're not dealing with a muggy upstairs atmosphere (most homes).

- Leave a space between the sump and the wall that you can reach behind. Sometimes fish jump, tools or frags drop, or cords need to be fished out. That space gives you the play you need to get in behind the sump to retrieve these items.

- When choosing a pump, go external unless you absolutely cannot afford it or find space for it. They run with less heat transfer, have better pipe diameters right from the volute (most brands) and, IME, run quieter with less maintanance than internals.

- Try to get a temperature controller/computer to regulate your heater. It makes no sense to invest thousands of dollars into a system then cheap out on the component MOST LIKELY to kill everything. Ranco controllers are very well regarded as they are an industrial utility component.

- Give yourself a good height on the stand. Your back will thank you and it will give you access to MUCH better skimmers and other equipment down the road.

- Go straight to Metal Halide or HO T5's. Everything else is just going to need an upgrade once you get bored of Xenia, Frogspawn and Mushrooms.

That's it for now.

Well my first "tip" would be to first and foremost please yourself - be happy with the way your tank looks even if it doesn't conform to traditional setups - if your happy with the way it looks and everything is doing great - just be happy:mrgreen:
My 2nd tip would be if you do your water changes manually - like I do - get a smaller pump and attach a piece of vinyl tubing or spa flex to the outlet and use it for both taking water out of your tank to your change bucket and for putting the new water back into the system. I use rubbermaid garbage cans for mixing my new water so I just put the can right by the tank I am going to change the water in - mix the water for about 24hrs - and then use the pump with spa flex to replace the water I have just removed with new.

gluing colonies to rocks
 

Some people (like me) have difficulty gluing mini or large colonies to rocks because of water flow or the size of the rock. What i've done that works really well is make a mould of the epoxy and then superglue it.
1) mix up a ball of epoxy and stick it into the rock where you want to put the coral.
2) Then push the base of the coral into the ball of epoxy and mould the epoxy around the base. Then gently pull out the coral again and let the epoxy harden.
3) When its harden, turn off all water movement in your tank, squeeze some superglue onto the base of the coral and insert it into the epoxy mould.
Its a guaranteed fit.

Tank placement
 

Always leave enough room behind the tank for YOUR arm to fit behind. If and when the time comes that you HAVE to put your arm back there, its too late.

putting rocks on glass
 

If you are paranoid about putting rock onto barebottom glass, cut some 1/4" lengths of 1/2" pvc pipe to make little round discs. Then place these between the rock and glass. Its so thin, you won't see them and it allows water flow under the rocks. You can even glue them down with super glue if you want to stop them from sliding around.
FYI - they will come off (with a pair of pliers) if you ever want to move or rearrange the rocks again.

plumbing an external pump
 

When plumbing an external pump, on both the inlet or outlet, you should always put a union and ball valve.
This will allow you to conduct maintenance on the pump by
a) shutting off the ball valve
b) disconnecting the union
c) you now have your pump with only about 1 cup of water spilling out

WoW 4 posts in a row.I think someone's trying for 1000 posts :mrgreen:
BTW great tips everyone,I'd add but all the good ones are taken

Ok here is a simple one and a different way of doing something you said at he beginning.. if you want to bend PVC of any size and can't find a spring or don't want to buy one, fill it with sand tightly and cap the ends, then bend with heat slowly and let cool. cut off the amount of the bend you need and save the sand for the next one.

Steve

to get a more even flow though out the tank build plastic hangers to attach your power head brackets to. this will allow you to make different length ones so you can put power heads at any hight so you can have a couple at the bottom, couple in the middle and a couple at the top or what ever. also by using a hanging system you can slide it over a few inches when you are cleaning the glass and not suction cups to come loose.

Steve