New to the page, Updated with pics!

[The Chefin' man]

Hello My name is J.c. I have been bouncing around on the net looking at different sites that relate to what we do. This seems to be one of the best that I have noticed. A little info on me. I am from Louisville, ky, and 33 yr old with a cool family. My wife bought me a 55 gal and stand for my birth day last year and I have been stuck in ever since. I am a Professional, Catering, and an Executive Chef also. My wife is a Corrections officer, with fish and reef mongers lurking in there too!

Now a little about our tank, We have a brand new 90 gal AGA tank with a mega overflow. I also purchased an Oceanic sump 2. Also in this new set up I purchased a Aqua C EV120 teamed up with a mag5, and for the return I have a sumersible mag9.5. I was going to build my own but I did that on my 55 with a custom built refigium (my first) and it was a pain in the keister but it got to be really reliable! That is why I purchased the sump. I have 160 lbs of live sand and 100 lbs +/- of live figi and marshall rock. I am going to buy more but I am going to get Marshal Island (any suggetsions that are better would be greatly appreciated).

I am having a problem with the operation of the sump. The mag9.5 will run dry and cause the tank to over flow. I used the suggested parts for the build. I just do not understand why it is pushing the water through all at one time (it seems like) instead of a more consistant flow to make it run rightor smooth. It is like the cycle of the water is all for one and one for all. Do I need to use a smaller pump for the return? Any input is always greatly appreciated. This is one of the reasons why I like non-predrilled tanks. I know that these are more efficient but damn getting it there is a real pain in the ass.

Thank you all,
The Chef

 

[shavo]

hey i have a suggestion for you with your problem here.

you can put a valve in the the return line after the pump and close it accordingly to what you need for flow. they sell them for just about any size, I put them in my UV lines so i can just close them to work on it, but you can throttle them for flow, closing it off as you need it for the correct flow, i think a little back pressure is actually good for pumps. (ex HVAC mechanic with 34" brine water lines) , back pressure doesn't hurt a pump as long as it isns't too much. if you put a valve in and close it alot then your pump is way too big, it sounds like your close though from to your post, just a little tweeking

shavo out

 

[trido]

Welcome to RDO if you havent heard it formally already.
The AGA 90 comes with Two holes in the over flow. One is drilled for a one inch bulk head and the other for a 3/4" bulkhead. The one inch bulkhead can only accept a maximum of 600GPH of gravity flow water. The 3/4" bulkhead can only accept 330GPH max. Even if you are using both of them as drains you are going to be pushing limits. Most reefers use the larger one as a drain and the smaller as a return. If this is the case then you have two options for your problem.
ONE, buy a smaller pump. TWO, put a valve on the outgoing side of the mag 9 and choke it back until you have a balance in the drain/return ratio. The second is less expensive for now, as a valve is only about $10.00. I believe that the mags will still use the same amount of electricity regardless of how much water they are moving. So in the long run you wont save any after all. Good luck.

 

[The Chefin' man]

I acutally was going to try a ball valve. But when I was talking to one of the guys from an aquatics store in Indiana he said that this set up could not use ball valve and I deffinately needed a 9.5 . Leave it to the Hoosiers! My aquatic monger over on this side of the bridge said the same thing. Oh! you will like this one. I talked to AGA today to see if they knew what the problem was. And their reply was that this tank is rated at 850 gph. Got to love companies that over rate their goods. I actually thought that they were full of poop, but. Now my wife is going to kick me real hard when she gets home, we just had new carpet laid last weekend. I will try the ball valve and I am going to get the right pump. So you stated it is a 300 that I need or do I need a 350? Thank for the welcome and the input. I can always use this pump for a wave maker? Maybe?

Later,
The Chef

That sounds so cool! I should put that on my work coat.

 

[trido]

You can use a ball valve just fine. Thay either lied or simply dont know any better.
Assuming that you have the one inch bulkhead designated for the drain, and 4' of return line from the sump back up to the top of the tank. I would recommend using a Mag 7. If you go to this page here it has specs on all of the mag pumps so you can be the judge of what best suits you. http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_pow ... sp?CartId=

 

[The Chefin' man]

I figured it out! I have an oceanic sump. On this piece of equipment, it has a 3/8 inch glass plate with 2 inlet holes. It is a 3 piece part for the bulkhead Well, needless to say! I made it a four peice the input shaft had 2 sides The 3/8 thick glass would not fit right either. So this was serioulsy restricting the flow into the sump. Wow, I had a stupid moment. Now you know why this happened.

Thank you all for the help. I really did not think about the floss stopping the flow like that.

It is acutally a beautiful tank now. I think I have more than enough live rock. I am having a had time deciding where and how to put them. I have 4 show peices for this reef. I actually have a live rock with a butt load of zoo on them. But the shape of the rock is one of a kind. It is a full circle with a 4 inch flat base. scrolling upto a about 2.5 inch top. Then slowly twisting into a full circle. I can't wait to get this in the tank. Unfortuantely, this tank has only been actually running. I have pics, but I do not know how to get them on here.

Talk to you all later.
Any help with pic posting I would be more than glad to post. I think it is a great start to a great tank.

 

[shavo]

yo post a pic!!!!

 

[The Chefin' man]

This 90 gal AGA was set up on saturday, October, 21, 2006

Sorry about the poor quality pics but it is a digital camera.


Here we go!

Please let know what is the best way to aquascape all of these rock I would deeply appeciate it. Also any critisim will be greatly excepted also. I deal with critics all day long. So if you feel that being discrental with my tank that will help me get better at playing with this.


Thank you,
The Chef

 

[Anonymous]

Chef,

Kentucky?

 

[The Chefin' man]

Yes, I live in Kentucky. Actually I live in Louisville.

Thank you,
The Chef

 

[SnowManSnow]

Cool! Keep up the good work. Looks like you got a nice start!

Whats it like.. your wife being a CORRECTIONS officer and all? haha

B

 

[The Chefin' man]

It kind of sux. But it is all good. We have a mutual bond. We have a great relationship. We also have our own time away from each other. So that keeps us in check with life and ourselves. I am very cool with that.

Hey what do you all think of the aquascape? any suggestions?

 

[trido]

I was a cook borderline chef myself for about ten years. Ill be more than happy to criticize your rock work........ It looks real good. Real nice looking LR with some coraline algea. The aquasacpaing has some nice eye catching pieces and doesnt look unatural as far as I can see from the pics. Just remember, make sure you have lots of semi-level places to put corals. Vertical surfaces are hard to mount corals to. I can be done though. Now the next step....... Take it slow. For two reasons. The benefit of your tank inhabitants, and the benefit of your marriage. Your wife will kill you if you go broke on your new hobby.

 

[SnowManSnow]

good advice from the tattooed arm man there.

 

[bleedingthought]

good advice from the tattooed arm man there.

That's his calf! :wink:

 

[SnowManSnow]

oops haha

 

[shavo]

nice pics. i am going to put some pics of mine up here soon, need mr. X to not only bring the camera but rememeber to take pictures lol!!!!