LR filter/refugium/ top off res.

[drty811]

here are the pics of my new project......

left camber will hold my top of water and ATO pump.
front center chamber is refugium, rear center chamber is the sump.
right chamber is LR filter, going to completely fill with LR.

will haev pics of the progress......

new stand being built also......

 

[chineseknife1]

Looks fantastic so far...

 

[drty811]

stands almost done, will try to have pics tomarrow. all i have left to do is swap current canopy and ballasts to new stand.

also got some new goodies for the new tank.

 

[aquemeni5110]

Nice job. How many gallons is that tank you're using? Can't wait to see more pics!

 

[drty811]

15 tall

 

[skipm]

The more I look at this the better I understand it and the more I like it. I have a 15 tall that I am considering modding into a sump for either a 15 long or a 10 gallon that I found a deal on a 20" Sunpod I want to set up as an SPS tank. Probably no fish or maybe 1 small goby but I will most likely move my blue coral banded shrimp into this tank. I still have to decide where to set it up, build the stand (if necessary), etc. before this goes any farther than some random ideas.

 

[drty811]

hopefully i can transfer everything tonight, i will have pics when i do it. ill try to get some pics of the sump/thingy so everyone can better see what i did.......until then

 

[reefman23]

cool... im looking forward to seeing it!

Jesse

 

[drty811]

well my fuge/sump has been up for about an month and all i can say is that i works great. couple little mods here and there but nothing major. one of the mods was for the return of the top off to cross middle section and dump into the LR filter instead of the sump area. i was getting to many bubbles and sturring up of all the "debri". the other mod is another overflow box. my overflow dumps into another overflow box which dumps into the LR filter. i built this so i didnt have to rumage around the LRfilter to find same pieces of LR for my frags and gives me more room for some cheato. so my water filters through fine pieces of rubble first then through medium and then large pieces before flowing into the fuge. i have added the mystery crab from chacha, four pepermint shrimp, cheato, large leaf caulpera, some sort of toadstool caulpera, and a small bristle star (about 4inch diameter). not to mention after lights out i have noticed a billion stomella snails, tiny turbos, and acouple chestnut cowrie snails which are really tiny. tomarrow i finsh the install of the overflow box and ill get some pics posted.

 

[drty811]

ok so my worst nightmare has come true.........i had just finished my new plumbing job, when i noticed the fitting to my bulkhead was loose, so what did i do....tighten it, way to much and broke the bottom of my tank. god im an idiot, i knew better, i was so happy i finished that i wasnt carefull. luckly ten gallons are easy to come by.......already drilled and overflow installed, now im just waiting for the silicone to dry enough. my fngers are crossed.

 

[reefman23]

Bummer... so it all worked out okay?

Jesse

 

[drty811]

yeah need a few more hours until the silicone is set enough to start filling the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

that is a bummer - but thats the life of a DIY'er - good thing it was only a 10 but thats prob why it broke - very thin glass
can't wait to see it up and running - thats a cool sump

 

[TimSchmidt]

Ouch, everything make it ok?

 

[drty811]

i hope so, everything is still closed and acclimating.

four hours to set up aquascaping, endless hours of build time, and five to emergency breakdown. this will be the third time something like this has happened, and all of them different. like J&D said " in the life of a DIYer", that statement couldnt be any truer. will post pics after everything is acclimated.

 

[drty811]

well here is what i was doing before i broke my tank.........
blue valve shuts off overflow into fuge. red valve is for water changes......

red valve leads to here.....

second overflow box......holds small frag rocks and some cheato.....

full pics of set-up........

 

[reefman23]

Cool setup Erik. Are you getting things back in order again?

Jesse

 

[drty811]

yeah i cleaned all the LR off of the dead and decaying corals. pulled all dead hermits and what not out also. now its empty except for LR. doing 50% water change weekly. other than that just whating for it to cycle.

 

[EDGRAY]

:cry: ..... Hope everything goes well right now that you are starting from scratch, this crashing histories are getting more frequently... im scared whats next EDGRAY cube is gonna crack :neutral: ... ill have a heart attack if that happens 4 sure...

anyways keep us updated in your tank erick and you'll see this tank will be even better than last one ;-)