New System, problems?

[Anonymous]

Not a reef, but a temperate seahorse system.

Finally. I'm getting the chiller I need to get this system live. It will have a closed loop AND an open loop. All tubing will be flexible soft vinyl or silicone, to cut down on vibration and noise. I will have check valves on all tubes in the open loop so the system won't drain in case of power outage.

45-gallon display tank with a 7" sand bed.
30-gallon sump/fuge with rock, crushed coral, macros.

Closed loop: tank to cannister filter to chiller/UV unit to tank.

Open loop: Tank to sump/fuge to pump to tank. There will be an auto-shutoff on the return pump in case the drain to the sump gets clogged.

There will also be an auto top-off to keep the water level/salinity constant.

The display lights are MH with PC actinics (because I'm growing seagrasses) and the 'fuge has a 12" PC fixture.

Please let me know if you can anticipate any problems with this set-up.

I don't have the cannister filter or the pumps purchased yet, need help figuring out what I need.
Thanks for looking!

 

[Anonymous]

Seems like a good plan to me Clare. I do not like check valves. IMO it is something that needs to be serveced. I prefer anti-syphon holes. A 3/16" diameter hole drilled in the return line just under the running water line of the tank. You can visually check them every time you feed the tank to make sure they are open.

I've never kept seahorses so I do not know what kind of flow they can tolerate.

Are you planning to use a skimmer?

 

[Anonymous]

Not planning on a skimmer, as it will be heavily planted with vascular marine plants and macros, and I want PODS PODS PODS. No corals. The water temp will be 66 degrees f.

Oh, and about the anti-siphone holes ... the tank is drilled in the upper right corners of the back glass, very near the top. The sump will have 3" of empty space for flowback, just in case. But I may do the break holes anyway, to be on the safe side.

If nitrates DO become a problem, I will ad a hang-on skimmer on the far right side of the sump, where the water comes in from the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, and the cannister filter I was going to fill with some of those ceramic donuts and maybe a bag of carbon.

 

[Anonymous]

use chemi pure instead of carbon, and if you'll have any LR in there, nix the 'noodles' as well-they're a nitrate factory

 

[Anonymous]

No live rock. Tufa/lava rock, live cycled sand and live bacteria from the monster sponge filter I've been using for months. I don't want to get hydroids or bristleworms in the tank, as I may be raising the fry in with the adults, in a breeding net. And all the live rock I know is colonized with tropical critters, not temperate stuff.

Cool on the chemi pure, though, I'll start with that. And I'll nix the noodles.

 

[Anonymous]

Schweet Claire! What supplier are you planning on getting the 'ponies from?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm getting six H. breviceps from Seahorse Source. They're in Florida, wher they breed tropical species, but they import the brevies from a breeder in Australia (South Australia Seahorses, SASeahorse.com).

 

[Anonymous]

Now I'm the green eyed one. Always wanted to setup something like that!

 

[Anonymous]

Pictures will abound when it's all done. If you ever want to set up a seahorse tank, you know where to find me if you have any questions! :mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

I've had them before Clare, but with things the way they are for me right now it'll be years before I set up another tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Ah, okay, I gotcha. Well, still, if you wanna talk Hippocampus ... not that I'm an expert, they're just the only fish I can talk about from experience.

 

[Anonymous]

Mount your power strips above your tanks. That way no water can run down into them.

Looks like a good plan. I like the 45gal picture window tanks.

 

[Anonymous]

The chiller shipped! Have tracking number and everything! Wooooo hoooooo! Next weekend will be setup time!

 

[Anonymous]

Post pics for us, please???

 

[bleedingthought]

Clare, yeah, definitely share some pictures!

And oh:

"What if you were trapped on a 747 full of deadly snakes?" :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Not set up yet .... here's the tank and sump (dividers have since been siliconed in).

 

[Meloco14]

Nice setup. Are those floating rocks? It looks like an asteroid belt 8O .

 

[Anonymous]

They're rock "ledges" siliconed to the back of the tank with black aquarium sealant. I'm going to anchor red and brown macroalgae clumps onto them. the white pipes are just PVC pipe sections siliconed to the bottom, to support a rock or two, because the sandbed will be deep and I don't want rocks just resting on top of the sand. This way, the rock will be secured to the bottom but won't take a lot of the sand volume away. I want the sandbed to be mostly planted with eel grass and widgeon grass. The majority of the rock is going into the sump, not the display.

 

[bleedingthought]

Very cool! 8)