still cycling?

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by tufa44

Wow, you guys are awesome! Thanks for all the help. I do thaw the frozen food but I don't pour off the rinse water, will definitely start. I've tried some dry flakes and pellets but the fish don't seem too thrilled with them. I'll try some other brands and formulas.

I thought that was weird too, that's just how the previous owner had it rigged up. It was drilled for a sump but he hooked up the canister instead because there is very little space under the stand. I could possibly plumb it to have a sump in my basement but that will be down the road.

I think I got in a little over my head by buying an existing tank instead of starting from scratch and learning as I go. Thankfully, the fish are doing well and my corals are thriving so overall I think everything is good. Just not happy about the diatoms. Would a UV sterilizer help with that?

Thanks again.

Absolutely nothing wrong starting with a used system, maybe even better in your case since the tank is drilled for a sump already. Starting from scratch would involve a much longer cycle, curing rock, etc... etc..

Is the overflow drilled at the back/side or the bottom? Actually not a bad idea to use the existing overlow to hook up the canister, although the instructions for my Rena have something about there being a max/min height for locating the canister below the tank.

"Make sure the filter is a minimum of 24"(60 cm) to a maximum of 55" (140 cm) BELOW the water Level of the aquarium...."

Not sure why that is exactly but the distance is measured from the surface water level in the tank to the top of the canister, using the standard intake & output tubing. Don't know how the placement of your overflow would affect this measurement (if at all) since the normal intake tube for the filter takes water from a ways down in the tank and the output tube would discharge somewhere just below the surface. You might actually be getting more flow through the filter the way yours is set up.

I'm planning a basement sump in the future as well. Have all the parts, just need to get cracking.

[tufa44]

Originally Posted by mike31154

Absolutely nothing wrong starting with a used system, maybe even better in your case since the tank is drilled for a sump already. Starting from scratch would involve a much longer cycle, curing rock, etc... etc..

Is the overflow drilled at the back/side or the bottom? Actually not a bad idea to use the existing overlow to hook up the canister, although the instructions for my Rena have something about there being a max/min height for locating the canister below the tank.

"Make sure the filter is a minimum of 24"(60 cm) to a maximum of 55" (140 cm) BELOW the water Level of the aquarium...."

Not sure why that is exactly but the distance is measured from the surface water level in the tank to the top of the canister, using the standard intake & output tubing. Don't know how the placement of your overflow would affect this measurement (if at all) since the normal intake tube for the filter takes water from a ways down in the tank and the output tube would discharge somewhere just below the surface. You might actually be getting more flow through the filter the way yours is set up.

I'm planning a basement sump in the future as well. Have all the parts, just need to get cracking.

The overflow is internal in the back corner of the tank and the holes are drilled out the bottom. I measured and the canister is within the recommended measurements. Water flow seems fine although I haven't measured it. It's a bit of a pain to dig the canister out from under the stand every week to clean but otherwise it's a decent setup. There's just no room under the stand for a sump unfortunately. I plan to keep the Rena where it is for now and just start emptying the bio-balls, etc out. I may fill it with some more live rock rather than the various media I've been using.