Basement Reno And In-wall 205g Reef

[curiousphil]

What are you all putting in it Phil? Chambers?

It was built with three chambers in it, which I am using as follows...

Right:
-skimmer
-full siphon drain pipe

Middle:
-fuge (I threw a baseball sized hunk of chaeto in there last night)
-heater
-emergency & secondary drain pipes (just wanted to get things back up and running with what plumbing I already had handy, these pipes will be moved to the right chamber when I feel like going across the city to Lowes)

Left:
-return pump (Mag 18)
-reactors
-float valve for automatic top-up

 

[Shooter000]

Sounds like a good plan

 

[Shooter000]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around big tanks and sumps, as I dont have one on the nano, trying to get as much info on everything and where people like to put stuff, for when I do my upgrade

 

[curiousphil]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around big tanks and sumps, as I dont have one on the nano, trying to get as much info on everything and where people like to put stuff, for when I do my upgrade

Good plan. It took me a long while to figure out how everything fits together! At some point you just have to dive in though, that's when the real learning begins!! Lol. I'm a major hands on learner, so building a system was the best way for me to really figure things out. Which is why I started with the 90 "nano" haha.

Here's some pictures of the sump with everything back in place:

The return & reactor chamber:

The fuge chamber:

The skimmer chamber:

This weekend I also moved a table into the fish area, beside the display opposite to the hot water system. I'll be plumbing in my 30 gallon acrylic cube as a frag tank soon.

And sometime after that, I'm thinking maybe early September when I'm taking a week off, I'll finally drywall around the tank.

This winter I'll resume the basement renovation in earnest.

 

[heath]

I know exactly what your saying, it is hard to wrap your head around until you do it, mine is really simple, water in, clean the water and water out.. I am still trying to get an understanding of the fuge thing ...don't have one YET..

 

[teebone110]

what are you running in your reactors?

 

[curiousphil]

Gfo, carbon and sulphur (nitrate reactor)

 

[Shooter000]

Thx Phil! pictures help alot just to figure out all the in an outs of the plumbing, sump looks by the way!!

 

[curiousphil]

Bad news.... My marine betta looked like it had totally recovered, so I reintroduced it to the display when I switched sumps (since she was living in the old sump and I had to drain it anyways). Yesterday I came home from work and found her half eaten carcass deep in the right island where I can't get to it... I hate losing fish, and she was one of my favourites... used to eat hunks of mysis right out of my fingers [emoji25].

 

[teebone110]

Sorry to hear the sad news, losing fish sucks- especially the good ones

 

[BIGSHOW]

RIP. You did your best for the little guy. Sorry for the lose

 

[curiousphil]

Thanks for the love guys.

 

[Big_Als_London]

poor brittany

 

[teebone110]

C

poor brittany

c'mon Aaron.. Make it better with a other one -Brittany 2

 

[Big_Als_London]

All he has to do is ask.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

 

[curiousphil]

Lol. I don't think I will go with another marine betta, they don't like the bright lights of a reef tank, dont like the high flow, and aren't aggressive enough to stand up against boisterous tangs. She was a neat fish when I had a smaller tank with a higher proportion of rock to water, but this tank didn't have enough quiet places for her to hang out. I think it was forcing her to be too active for the amount of food she was getting... normally they have a slow and lazy metabolism and go for days without eating, while they sit and wait for prey.

I need to figure out another larger fish that I can add which will do well in this environment. I would love a red tail triggerfish but I am afraid of what it might do to my rockscape lol.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

If you dont care about inverts, crustaceans or have anymore small fish, i think lion fish look bad ass in a reef lol.

 

[curiousphil]

Yeah I think a lionfish is out of the question haha

 

[Big_Als_London]

I think a harlequin tusk would be a sweet addition

 

[curiousphil]

It looks like my skimmer appreciates the new sump:

I'm still undecided on a new fish, but I think it might be down to either a red tail trigger or orange spotted rabbitfish - leaning more towards the rabbitfish.