I agree... I found the stockman worked better for me,

Glad you got it running
Dan

thanks!!! i did the Durso standpipes today and they are perfect!!! except the noise....they ARE making a little noise. the size of the hole in the cap is .154? i dont know if thats mm or what but thats what it said under the bit itself. Its a #23 bit if that helps....anyways, is it possible to make them quieter???

you have too much flow going thru your durso pipes, that is why you are getting the sound, noise. THe only way to fix this, is to back down your pump with your gate valve or ball valve or get a bigger overflow pipe. Basically you would have to go with a bigger hole diameter.

Is the water level going up and down in the overflow? and makeing a lot of noise? I would add a johnguess fitting at the top of the Derso that way you can adjust the air intake. It helps a lot with noise but yes asmodeus is right if you have too much flow no amount of air will quite it down.

J

good call on the john guess fittings too. I just drill a 3/8" hole and air line tubeing witha small air valve ...

no, the water isnt going up and down. everything is running perfectly BUT the noise. Nothing will quiet this down???

if you would read then you will understand

try the JG valve its all about mixing the right amount of air and water flowing down the pipe... The mag 18 is probably only doing about 1000-1100GPH which shouldn't be exceeding 1 1/2" pipe

well, i have 5 days of successful running but still cant fix the noise....i turned the return pump pretty much all the way down and it still made the noise??? i dunno what to do, but lets look on the bright side...NO LEAKS IN SIGHT!!!!

Is the noise coming from the Drains. Is you can pin point the sound , I' trying to remember. Oh by the way i will see if i can come over som time this week ok.. I'm allowed to sit

ok, so i got a couple weeks of great running but im noticing lots of microbubbles in the water, can i fix this by putting nylon of some sort of the return pump intake??? o ya i have LR coming on Tuesday!!! yay

A filter sock on your drain pipe where it enters the sump will help with microbubbles.

What size is your sump? What is your return pump?

If the microbubbles are not from a skimmer, and they are making it from your sump to your display, then your sump design is not allowing enough time for the bubbles to rise to the surface and pop, before hitting the return pump.

This means your sump is of poor design, or your return pump is too powerfull for the size of sump.

By poor design I mean not enough baffles to act as a bubble trap. How many do you have? What is the spacing between them?

Sometimes the turnover rate through the sump is just too high to be dealt with by baffles. In this case I would throttle back your return pump. Don't try to accomplish too much water flow through your sump return.

You can also play with the angle the return line empties into the sump, try putting a 45 degree elbow on the end and have it enter just below the water line.

A filter sock is a patch, it doesn't address the problem. It may solve it, but they are notoriously undermaintained and end up causing more harm than good.

Most likely its from your skimmer running and the water is coming out and in the sump probably a little fast , Like stated use a sock you filter floss will work.

DUDE Where are the pictures of the display tank... OMG

lets get some out there...

No doubt. We need some pictures.

You definately have to find out where the microbubbles are being produced first.

It could be an air leak in the plumbing, from the water draining into the sump, or from the skimmer.

You need to narrow that down first. Testing is pretty easy. First a visual inspection. Is the drain line from the display into the sump making bubbles? If yes, follow them, are they throughout your sump, and going into your return pump? If not, shut off the skimmer for a while and see if the microbubbles quit. If they do, then it is from your skimmer. If neither of these seem to be the problem then likely you have an air leak in your plumbing somewhere.

I wouldn't put a filter sock on anywhere until you narrow down the problem first.

Rory the reason i am knocking out the pump its a flow pump so you not going to get the bubbles like a pressure pump.

the second it the sump is a 25 gal i think and the return is a mag18 so in Mine experience i would say it's the water is going thur the sump too fast.

A mag 18 on a 25g sump is asking for micro bubble problems.

It could be the skimmer, or it could just be the water falling into the sump from the drain line is creating microbubbles. That is what happened to me when I ran too big of a pump on too small of a sump.

I would cut back the return pump, and install baffles.

Better yet, use the mag18 on a closed loop and use a smaller pump for the sump return. Or use a much bigger sump.

exactly that is my point about the mag 18:mrgreen: What i would do is install a big power head like a hagen 800 400 gph and have the mag 18 on the CL like you have stated
and then you have all that reactoion time for the skimmer to clean the water even more. I can't remember where i have read about a lower return pump is better any ways. and a lower return pumpliek a Powerhead will save you in the long run.. less electricity

ok. got my LR yesterday and here is a picture.
http://www.freewebs.com/eriksnanoreef/Tank%20DONE.jpg
what do you all think??? i made a few changes since this pic but nothing big. this picture was about 20 min. after i was done so the water is a little cloudy but it is cristal clear now! what do you think???

ya know you have to change your name now that you have a 120 :)

Looks really good. Were did you get the rock

J

Cool aquascape. That will make for some neat coral placement.

AH now we have some color happening looking good man. BB good choice.

J&L. Its the premium Vanuatu. Im very happy with it. I got 1 kind of monti cap that is brown/orange that i think is still alive. lots of other incrusting stuff too!

Thanks! im hopeing to do SPS up the sides, LPS and softies in the middle, clams on the bottom, somthing like that!!!

Thanks for the kind words. Constructive criticism always welcome!

what is ideal calcium levels for a reef tank???? im wondering if i tested wrong but i got 640 ppm.....? i thought it was supposed to be 450 ppm or something??

Ideal calcium levels are about 400-450ish

You could have such high calcium readings because you have no corals consuming it. Wait til you add corals.

Then again, if you're unsure of the ideal calcium levels for a reef tank, I think you've got a bit of reading to do before adding anything! :mrgreen:

well 640 is a bit high the Cal should be around 425-450 and the alk at 8-11DKH or 3.5-4.5 Meg /per l

So just let the corals consume the cal until down to 450 or you can always per a water change to bring it down , But its should hurt it. If you run the Calcuim lever high on the tank your pumps will start to get affected by the high CAL.

hth

I'd give constructive criticism if there was anything to critisize:biggrin: looks great so far! I'm a big fan of your aquascaping! Can't wait to see it with life on it.

Hey Scott we posted pretty much the same thing and at the same time. but what 's a 3 minute window anyways

I did know what ideal cal. levels are but i didnt know why my test was that high. i said...
Thanks! i will try to get a bit better picture of the rock work later but for now im focused on getting coral in there!!!
again, thanks for the compliment

That level seems REALLY high, I would try with a different test kit if you can, or bring it to a LFS to test for you.

you really need to know ALK and MG as all of these form a balance... I would definately correct all these values before adding anything to the tank... see bev's chemistry links for more details
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=19425

Sorry, maybe I am not clear.. but it appears that you ARE asking what the ideal calcium levels are for a reef tank are, and your unsure of the proper level ? :confused:

Either way, good luck with the new setup. :)

Personally I think you have a good setup, However you really need to start reading up more to fully understand the background of Salt water. Its challenging alone just with Fish only. But when addign Corals to the tank you taking on a different ball game. I'm not saying that you don't know what you are talking about. But may be its me it seems that you are doing things as you go. I'm not saying it's wrong ,but you need to read more.
IMO doing a Reef tank its not about buying new equiptment and getting all top gear. Its about understanding Reef chemistry, knowing when to check when to add how long should i run This for. Etc etc.

You can run a setup with the bare bones GOd know, I have done it and most likely alot of us here who have more time in the hobby then me have done it too..
Maybe enhance your reading in the hobby more. read up on things that you wanna try. Every tank is different in its own little way. Now you can listen to me and the rest of the experince people who has alot more level then me or you can just ignore what I have to say and do what you want to do.:question:
good luck on your decision.

and remember I'm a 2 min drive away and a phone call

I agree with Mike 100%.

When I first started out with LR and two Clowns... I was confused enough (and I'm not saying you're new to the hobby). Then I started seeing pictures of corals, and instantly.. I wanted them all! haha. Then I realized you need proper lighting, then proper reef chemistry, then this, that and the other thing. What it all comes down to, is reading, and research. Ask questions , no matter what they are... someone will be here to help.

It's not worth losing a bunch of corals, and money... in the end, you'll just end up coming back to do the reading and research. I jumped in way too quickly myself... bought a big zoo rock (which thrived.. becuase, they're zoos!) and a hammer. Because I didn't know anything about calcium , or alk, pH, etc.... the hammer just died on me right away.

Anyways, by no means should this come across as an attack towards you, it's actually the complete opposite. We're trying to save you hassle, and money... and after all, what's a half hour of reading anyhow?

Good luck to you! Cheers.

if the sump is designed right it won't be a problem, I have 4000gph flowing through a 33 gal sump and no micro bubbles. I would be more inclined to look at the baffle design or a leak in the return pump plumbing.

Steve

hard to say, depending on your Alk even 400 may be to high. 380 to 400 is an ideal range to shoot for with a alk about 10dkh. anything over 400 and you are waisting Ca and increasing the deposits on your pumps for no reason.

Steve

Steve what is with answering the older posts.

well, i had a molly in there, and it was doing very well for abot 1 week. So i tryed a couple zoo frags. they are also doing very well, so today i put a green coral goby in and once again, he is doing great!!! im very excited, now the coral filling process begins!!! i will post pics soon!