Ghazanfari

[Erin]

Thank you for hosting the meeting yesterday. It was a pleasure to meet everyone and to see your tanks.

I have been searching the forums to see if you did a diary when you set up your 215 gallon tank but only found bits and pieces. I'm looking for more information on how you did your plumbing (specifically the automatic water changer). I didn't notice where the co2 was running to yesterday nor did I notice an intake or spray bar. Do you run the water through a filter to remove chlorine? Also, are you using a pump to push the new water into the tank?


I have been planning an in-wall tank for while now. The plans have changed a bit over the past year. It was originally going to be a reef tank but I couldn't give up the planted tank and don't have room for two.

The tank is supposed to go into a non-bearing dividing wall between the family room and the laundryroom. There is a sink in the laundry room for easy access to plumbing.

The plan is to have acess to the tank from the laundry room with additional cabinetry above the top of the tank for front access.

After seeing your tank, I'm convinced that MH lighting is the way to go. I'll like this option http://oceanencounter.com/Merchant2/mer ... y_Code=MHS

or

http://oceanencounter.com/Merchant2/mer ... Code=EVMHR

Thanks for your help.

Erin

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

The biggest component of the automatic water changing system
is the overflow. If you tank isn't drilled, you can use a hang-on type
overflow box. New water enters the tank and 'overflows' into the drain.
I'm using a under-the -sink type filter to reduce the chlorine and keep
the % of new water coming in low enough so that it doesn't really affect
the livestock.

The filter I have is also plumbed into the overflow for the return line, as
is the 'closed loop' to run my CO2 reactor / circulation outlets.
No visible equipment was one of my design requirements when I set this
tank up - I guess it worked!

If you have a laundry room behind the tank - setting up an automated
water changing system should be fairly easy.

For the MH lights - if you want to retrofit, Hellolights has pretty good deals.

[Erin]

When you say "drilled" do you mean in addittion to the two holes the reef ready tanks come with? When my friends from the reef club talk about "drilled" they mean for a closed loop water circulation system so thier tanks have four holes rather than the normal two.

[tomterp80]

Ghazanfar,

I think I heard you mention that one issue with the central hanging of your lights was that when fish are towards the front, there is not a lot of direct light on the sides of the fish towards the viewer.

I was chatting with one of the Pennsylvania guys on the couch, and we thought you could easily attach a reflective strip to the inside of your swinging overhead door, that might thus reflect a fair amount of light towards the fish at a better angle than the overhead fixture.

Just an idea we had, but I forgot to mention it when the meeting broke up, just thought I'd cleanse my thought.

Your tank is of course outstanding in every way, although I'm still not sure you really have any rummynose tetras in there.

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

When you say "drilled" do you mean in addittion to the two holes the reef ready tanks come with? When my friends from the reef club talk about "drilled" they mean for a closed loop water circulation system so thier tanks have four holes rather than the normal two.

If your tank is reef ready - you're golden!

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Ghazanfar,

I think I heard you mention that one issue with the central hanging of your lights was that when fish are towards the front, there is not a lot of direct light on the sides of the fish towards the viewer.

I was chatting with one of the Pennsylvania guys on the couch, and we thought you could easily attach a reflective strip to the inside of your swinging overhead door, that might thus reflect a fair amount of light towards the fish at a better angle than the overhead fixture.

Just an idea we had, but I forgot to mention it when the meeting broke up, just thought I'd cleanse my thought.

Your tank is of course outstanding in every way, although I'm still not sure you really have any rummynose tetras in there.

Hm - not a bad idea! I think I'm going to try that out and see how it
works.

[Erin]

Thanks for the help.

I saw the hellolight retrofits, nice price, but I like the reflectors on the ocean encounter retrofit better.

[Erin]

Ghazanfar,



Where are your "circulation outlets" located? Are they under the substrate? I remember you saying that the water change system was on a timer. You must be using a solenoid to start and stop the WC but what type of mechanism actually opens the valve?

Do you have a pump pushing water into the tank, and if so, is it tied into the co2 and circulation system?

Sorry for all the questions (and for spelling your name incorrectly ). I'm hoping to have a plan worked out for my tank in the next few weeks. The only things I know at this point are that I want a 130 gallon (60 x 29 x 18 ) oceanic reef ready tank, lit with 2 x250 mh and filtered with an eheim. The details need a lot of work.

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

The circulation outlets are distributed through the tank under the substrate
via CPVC. The outlets themselves are loc-line 1/2 jet-style nozzles that
poke up about 1/2" above the substrate at 12" intervals. I have four outlets.

I'm using a garden hose timer from HD, it turns the water on/off at the
programmed frequency. Don't get the el-cheapo pressure powered ones, they
suck. The one I have is battery powered, got it for $24 I think.

The 'closed loop' that runs the circulation system is using a Quiet One 4000, and
the CO2 is fed into a reactor that's inline.

no problems with the questions - keep askin!

[Erin]

I'm having a hard time picturing the water change and circulation system and how they tie into the two overflow boxes. I think the problem may be that I don't have a good understanding of how the overflow boxes operate with the other equipment so I'm going to spend some time researching overflows and overflow modifications.