DigitalWeight's 28 Gallon Nano That I Wish Was Bigger

[DigitalWeight]

Originally Posted by Mike-fish

your skimmer chamber is probably way to deep check that against the specs for it

Good point - the skimmer is only 19.75" high. Does that mean I should lower the first set of baffles then - how would I accommodate the height of the sump to keep the water level lower in that first chamber? Based on the info for the skimmer, the deepest level of water the skimmer can sit in is 10" and the shallowest is 6".

[Mike-fish]

i would set the bubble trap baffles at 8.5" then the way you want to have the sump start with the deepest water chamber first in order of the flow path

[kien]

Originally Posted by DigitalWeight

Good point - the skimmer is only 19.75" high. Does that mean I should lower the first set of baffles then - how would I accommodate the height of the sump to keep the water level lower in that first chamber? Based on the info for the skimmer, the deepest level of water the skimmer can sit in is 10" and the shallowest is 6".

Your skimmer should have as part of its product specification a recommended water depth for optimum performance. You can easily find this out by reading the product spec. That will tell you how deep to submerge the skimmer.

If the current skimmer section is too deep you have two options. 1. Drop the height of the water or 2. Simply elevate the skimmer into a platform using egg crate or some such thing. Keep in mind the additional cabinet clearance to raise the skimmer tho. You don't want to make it difficult to remove the skimmer cup!

If you decide you want to drop the water level of the skimmer section (and you still want to keep your fuge, you can swap your return and fuge section in your diagram. From left to right it would be, Fuge-bubble trap-return-bubble trap-skimmer. With the return in the middle all three sections can be independent heights. However, doing it this way means you will have to send an additional drain line to the refugium. Just T off the main drain line and send some water to the refugium and some to the skimmer.

I guess if you didn't want to do it this way another option is to swap the fuge and skimmer sections. From left to right: return-bubble trap-skimmer-bubble trap-fuge. Drain the tank into the fuge and water flows and drops to skimmer and then flows and drops to return section.

[daplatapus]

You mentioned you were concerned about flooding. A very legitimate concern with sumps when power fails and you get water flooding back into the sump. Looking at the spec of that tank I think it is 20" wide X 18 long. If you lose the top 2" of water and the volume of the overflows your looking at somewhere around 3 gallons+ of water. There's 231 cubic inches per gallon so it's fairly easy to figure out roughly how much will make it back to the sump. Just make sure you have that room in cubic inches above the operating water line in your sump + a bit for margin of error. Freaky the first time you do it, but you get comfortable with it quick.

As far as the skimmer goes, it's nice to keep the water volume so sitting your skimmer on egg crate works well to lift the skimmer. I cut 3" abs pipe to 6" lengths to lift mine then drilled the sides with a bunch of 2" holes so water wouldn't get trapped inside them. With the holes in the side, water flows through them.

To save a bit of room I only put 2 baffles between the skimmer and the next chamber. Personally I think the first baffle in the skimmer section is redundant and unnecessary. This is when I was leak testing mine:


The chamber on the left that's holding water is my skimmer chamber. Notice only 2 baffles. I also only put 2 baffles in the next chamber, but if you wanted your refugium with sand there, you'd have to have 3 like you have in your schematic to hold the sand in place.

[DigitalWeight]

Originally Posted by daplatapus

You mentioned you were concerned about flooding. A very legitimate concern with sumps when power fails and you get water flooding back into the sump. Looking at the spec of that tank I think it is 20" wide X 18 long. If you lose the top 2" of water and the volume of the overflows your looking at somewhere around 3 gallons+ of water. There's 231 cubic inches per gallon so it's fairly easy to figure out roughly how much will make it back to the sump. Just make sure you have that room in cubic inches above the operating water line in your sump + a bit for margin of error. Freaky the first time you do it, but you get comfortable with it quick.

As far as the skimmer goes, it's nice to keep the water volume so sitting your skimmer on egg crate works well to lift the skimmer. I cut 3" abs pipe to 6" lengths to lift mine then drilled the sides with a bunch of 2" holes so water wouldn't get trapped inside them. With the holes in the side, water flows through them.

To save a bit of room I only put 2 baffles between the skimmer and the next chamber. Personally I think the first baffle in the skimmer section is redundant and unnecessary. This is when I was leak testing mine:


The chamber on the left that's holding water is my skimmer chamber. Notice only 2 baffles. I also only put 2 baffles in the next chamber, but if you wanted your refugium with sand there, you'd have to have 3 like you have in your schematic to hold the sand in place.

Thanks for the feedback - I appreciate the calculation for flooding - I will need to work that into the design.

In terms of two or three baffles I have read both sides of the argument. I think what I should do is lay everything out when it comes in and decide from there. If I have room, I would more than likely go with three baffles before the return to minimize the bubbles entering the DT. Does that sound like a reasonable option?

[DigitalWeight]

Originally Posted by kien

Your skimmer should have as part of its product specification a recommended water depth for optimum performance. You can easily find this out by reading the product spec. That will tell you how deep to submerge the skimmer.

If the current skimmer section is too deep you have two options. 1. Drop the height of the water or 2. Simply elevate the skimmer into a platform using egg crate or some such thing. Keep in mind the additional cabinet clearance to raise the skimmer tho. You don't want to make it difficult to remove the skimmer cup!

If you decide you want to drop the water level of the skimmer section (and you still want to keep your fuge, you can swap your return and fuge section in your diagram. From left to right it would be, Fuge-bubble trap-return-bubble trap-skimmer. With the return in the middle all three sections can be independent heights. However, doing it this way means you will have to send an additional drain line to the refugium. Just T off the main drain line and send some water to the refugium and some to the skimmer.

I guess if you didn't want to do it this way another option is to swap the fuge and skimmer sections. From left to right: return-bubble trap-skimmer-bubble trap-fuge. Drain the tank into the fuge and water flows and drops to skimmer and then flows and drops to return section.

Ok, so now I am torn between going with a fuge or the pellets. One thing I am thinking is just do a section with live rock and sand and have all the reactors feeding into that section. There would be more turbulence but from a pod perspective that would be ok I think I have read.

In which section do your reactors work in - how do you have that set up?

[daplatapus]

Originally Posted by DigitalWeight

Thanks for the feedback - I appreciate the calculation for flooding - I will need to work that into the design.

In terms of two or three baffles I have read both sides of the argument. I think what I should do is lay everything out when it comes in and decide from there. If I have room, I would more than likely go with three baffles before the return to minimize the bubbles entering the DT. Does that sound like a reasonable option?

Sounds totally reasonable. If you have another section (refugium or whatever) between your skimmer and return pump section, I doubt any bubbles would make it that far. I can more readily see the need for 3 baffles if your skimmer is beside the return chamber.
Looks like you're well on your way, keep it up. Learning about all this stuff is half the fun

[DigitalWeight]

Received the Hanna Phosphate Checker in the mail yesterday and gave it a go today. Even though I am running GFO I have suspected my phosphate was a bit high as I seem to be dealing with some brown algae in the tank.

The tank is not even a year old yet so there are going to continue to be some settling in. I use RO/DI water which my TDS meter is reading at 001 which is good but perhaps some over feeding along with the frozen stuff I am feeding are contributing to that.



This things is pretty easy to use. However, a couple of things I learned as it took two tests to get to the results.

1. Make sure you dry the outside of the test tube before you put it in the reader. When I didn't dry it, I got an error of not enough light. This went away when I made sure it was dry.

2. Get everything set up before you do the test. You only have so much for the second step of the test and the unit will shut off if you take too long which will mean that test is over, wasting your reagent. The biggest part is making sure the reagent package is cut and ready for you to dump into then test tube.

3. Don't cut the reagent opening too big. It is a pain in the a$$ to put the powder into the test tube. Keep it smaller - like half a centimeter - so you can pour it easier.



So, my reading was high. 0.31 on the LED display - I want 0.04 or less!

It had been about 40 days since I changed my GFO so I promptly did that and will test in a couple days to see if it is lower. I also used a bit more to see if that helps. I am going to cut down on feeding as well to see if that helps.

I liked this thing - it was easy to use and less tedious than going drop by drop and waiting for a magical colour change.

If there are other ideas on what leads to high phosphates let me know!

[DigitalWeight]

Originally Posted by DigitalWeight

Received the Hanna Phosphate Checker in the mail yesterday and gave it a go today. Even though I am running GFO I have suspected my phosphate was a bit high as I seem to be dealing with some brown algae in the tank.

The tank is not even a year old yet so there are going to continue to be some settling in. I use RO/DI water which my TDS meter is reading at 001 which is good but perhaps some over feeding along with the frozen stuff I am feeding are contributing to that.



This things is pretty easy to use. However, a couple of things I learned as it took two tests to get to the results.

1. Make sure you dry the outside of the test tube before you put it in the reader. When I didn't dry it, I got an error of not enough light. This went away when I made sure it was dry.

2. Get everything set up before you do the test. You only have so much for the second step of the test and the unit will shut off if you take too long which will mean that test is over, wasting your reagent. The biggest part is making sure the reagent package is cut and ready for you to dump into then test tube.

3. Don't cut the reagent opening too big. It is a pain in the a$$ to put the powder into the test tube. Keep it smaller - like half a centimeter - so you can pour it easier.



So, my reading was high. 0.31 on the LED display - I want 0.04 or less!

It had been about 40 days since I changed my GFO so I promptly did that and will test in a couple days to see if it is lower. I also used a bit more to see if that helps. I am going to cut down on feeding as well to see if that helps.

I liked this thing - it was easy to use and less tedious than going drop by drop and waiting for a magical colour change.

If there are other ideas on what leads to high phosphates let me know!

Did another test today after changing out my GFO yesterday. Got a reading of 0.00 now. Ran the test twice (have to stop doing that - going to cost a fortune). Lesson: change the GFO sooner.

[zhasan]

Nice tank! I like the progress you've made in less than a year!! I hope I can get to half that mark in the same timeframe!

Seems like this Hanna phosphate checker is a worthwhile investment! I was looking into buying one of those and lately been reading good reviews about them! It'll be on my checkout list tonight !!

I'm wondering about GFO and maybe you can help. I'm thinking of ordering this stuff from BRS. I'm not too sure how much to use at a time or how much 1 or 2 lbs will last me. I'm sure it varies from tank to tank but whats the general rule of thumb?