62 replies to this topic

[tranced]

surface skimming is really good :thumb: you would not believe the film of crap you can end up with, and most of the nutrients sit in the top 1cm of the water. so if you take water from the top and feed it into your skimmer, its more effective

[Simon A]

So if you were to cut the power leave it for 5 and turn it back on it would still work fine??

Yes it will, I have never had a problem.

surface skimming is really good :thumb: you would not believe the film of crap you can end up with, and most of the nutrients sit in the top 1cm of the water. so if you take water from the top and feed it into your skimmer, its more effective

If you haven't got your tank yet get one with a wier. Not only does it give you peace of mind it also gives you surface skimming which is a good thing in marine. here is a pic of one of my tanks the give you an idea what is possible.

I agree with this, a wier is great and surface skimming is important and this overflow skims the surface look at "A" on the sketch, I added 3 inch adapter to the top of section "A" on the sketch to increase the surface area, if you are on a tight budget this overflow is the go, also there is no need to drill the tank, the only down turn to this is that you have a pipe inside the tank. A wier looks much better.

[Neakit]

not only does it look better but the flow rates are much higher, it has been proven you can run a bigger pump on the same sized pvc pipe with the siphon dorso setup.

[Simon A]

not only does it look better but the flow rates are much higher, it has been proven you can run a bigger pump on the same sized pvc pipe with the siphon dorso setup.

I agree, I will be replacing my tank in a month or two and will definitely be getting one with a wier.

I will still use this setup in my fresh water breeding setups though, because it is cheaper and I can customize them for the duty. You just need a sponge over the "A" pipe

[gilz]

thanks for all that guys
im going to have to weigh up whether i can afford a weir. unfortunately i realized today ill have to change 6 of my t5 tubes =[
and iv gotta get the skimmer as well
if i have the spare cash i'll grab a weir. or maybe i might just set one of those diy ones up for now just to get things running and change later. should be easy enough i still have at least a couple of months before i'll even be thinking about adding fish.
where can i get a good reliable weir when the time comes?

[Neakit]

its built into the tank. the tank needs to be drilled.
If you read the link i posted you will find out what im talking about.

[gilz]

i meant i would just buy one of those ones that hang on either side

but yeah iv just finished reading that thing
wow
have you set up one of those 3 standpipe systems?
if you have i'd love to know how you found it
was it difficult. it looks very fiddly
and very comple/fancy givven im going for such a small simple tank
ill see how many of the pvc parts needed to make that i have access to
i would like the piece of mind that would come with that setup

[Neakit]

its a set and forget system, very easy to use once you understand whats going on. that setup is truely the best i myself only run 2 channels i dont have the emergency overflow, but i have never had an issue.

[gilz]

the way he put it it seemed the emergency was important "you're asking for a flood"
if i didn't need the three id be far more tempted to do it.
so you think that the 2 is fine?
did you just silicon in the overflow part yourself?
if so did you use glass? how did you get the right size?

[Neakit]

im using 2 channels, I honestly cant see anything blocking up both lines if you put teeth on the weir. If you want to put one on a tank get the dimensions and go get them cut for you then silicon it in then get the holes drilled. I cant recommend perspex for the weir cause silicon just doesn't stick to it.

[gilz]

Given my pump is only 3000 (2500 ish by the time it goes up) can I use 25mm and 20mm rather than 40 and 25. Also where can I find the proper tank sealing parts. (the black parts on the diagram. The washer, nut and other part) or did you use something different

[Neakit]

i would be using both 25mm bulkheads, you can get them from bunnings or a irrigation shop.

[gilz]

Yeah iv decided to go the 40 mm drain. I ordered something very similar to the bulkhead from dcw. Was unable to find them at bunnings. Canning irrigation or galvins. Looks the same. Where can I get the holes cut in the glass?

[Neakit]

there was a sticky some where, but there is a bloke in perth who will come to your house and do it, or you could buy a diamond hole saw off ebay and try yourself.

Edited by Neakit, 24 February 2011 - 05:48 PM.

[gilz]

ok well it'll be a couple of weeks before i can cut the holes and install the overflow. i've made them up and so far they look great. only other thing is.. is there any reason i can't have the overflow on the side instead of the back? i dont see why they would be. it would just mean less surface skimming im thinking
thanks for all your help. no doubt i'll have a couple more questions when it comes time to set it all up haha

[Neakit]

there is no reason you can't do a weir on the side. People just use the back cause its furtherest out of sight and you get great surface skimming, but if you want to use the side by all means go for it. Also we need pics when your done

[aussiemcgee]

Yeah iv decided to go the 40 mm drain. I ordered something very similar to the bulkhead from dcw. Was unable to find them at bunnings. Canning irrigation or galvins. Looks the same. Where can I get the holes cut in the glass?

40mm is a good idea and veebas cut 2 holes in my tank, i just took it down to them and it cost bugger all. Mark it out yourself and maybe give them a call to arrange it before you lob on their doorstep on a busy day.

[gilz]

ok i had to put it on hold for a while. but im slowly getting there
getting some glass for my sump and overflow soon and the tank will have the holes cut soon as well.
getting that done is all thats really slowing me down now

with the lighting.
i have at my disposal. 2 mh currently with 70watt globes but can run 150watt
and a 6 x 39 watt t5 unit
now i originally wanted to do the t5s and one mh
but its going to be really hard to get them in the hood
whereas 2 mh would fit easily
and i came across this awesome little extraction type fan which im going to cut a hole in the hood and mount in there
lighting is something iv never put a huge effort into understanding so i was wondering if anyone had any ideas here

increasing the height of the hood is an option and i may have to do it for the mh's even if i dont go the t5s
so what setup will be best 2 mh or t5 and 1 mh
thing is ill have to buy 6 new bulbs for the t5s straight up which is a bit of a downside to using them. and i dont like the whole replacing them after a year thing either.

cheers

[Paddy]

Michael from Seaview Aquariums on Wanneroo Road Cut holes into my tank.

Only ever used two dorso's the third is great if you have plenty of space (most people use this if they are drilling into the back of the tank)

Biggest thing I believe when looking at lighting will be ensuring you can pay the energy bill! 2x200w MH is 400w for at least 10 hrs a day being 4Kw Hrs at ~21cents is 84cents per day and $50 over your billing cycle.
(All numbers are estimates!!)

You add a few pumps/heaters etc and you will probably be looking at an extra $100-150 per billing period. Point is to only get the lighting you need based on what you plan to keep.

[gilz]

ok i made my sump last night (siliconed the panels into a tank)
but i made a bit of an error.
looking at the very well drawn diagram i did in paint. (the water comes in on the right)
now iv gone and made the final overflow too high. which means that the water level has risen above the first and second overflows. is that going to be an issue at all?
i did initially want the far left overflow to be a little lower. but i must have measured wrong or something.
what will be the best way of removing the panel? i used a far bit of silicon

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