Supernoob's 250 gallon tank buildout! Help!

[skywindsurfer]

The tank can't flood because everything is internal.

This is not exactly true. While everything is internal, there needs to be a specific amount of water in the back filter area for the pump to work properly. If the pumps push water into the main tank faster then it can flow out and back into the filter area you will have to keep adding water until it equalizes or dial down the pumps. If this happens and the pumps push more water then can flow back into the filter area you will flood the main section of the tank.

 

[Supernoob]

Oh I see. Well I hope that since it came with the three rio's that they will work. I'll have to test it. Live rock and sand question. Can I gather it myself or is that a bad idea?

 

[DWhatley]

IMO, live rock should be aquacultured and not native for reef protection. In addition to environmental concerns, it is illegal in most places to take LR from the environment now so if you decide to collect your own, check HI's laws.

Live sand is an opinion and location argument. If you take if from an area of any pollution, you will likely never be able to correct for the problems in an aquarium setting. If you take it in a clean area, you still must be careful about what is in it that will die off. I avoid live sand and use a thin layer of cleaned, buffering argonite and even replace it every couple of years to keep nitrates down and avoid build up of noxious gases. Others, however, feel live sand is beneficial and taken out of an open environment with care not to disturb near-by animal life has no negative impact.

 

[skywindsurfer]

I prefer to collect my own as I take a more naturalistic approach to aquarium keeping. It all depends on your approach and what you want to do or keep with this aquarium. You will definately want to make sure that you do not have any undesirable hitch hikers in the rock and sand and no contaminents either. Also check with the local laws in your are to make sure that it is not illegal to do so. You can get A LOT of interesting and sometimes benifical flora and fauna when you collect straight from the while. Most of the times you will have to view them with the lights off using a flash light. I once collected some rocks form the coast and returned with a variety of crustaceans and mollusks. My wife and I were startled awake many times by the clicking of tiny pistol shrimp. They all died off eventually though. Strangly enough I also managed to bring back something that has a voracious apotite for aptasia and majano anemones. I have actually placed several rocks covered in both anemones into my tank and within a month or so all rocks are bare and there are no trace of the pests. So like I said, collecting from the wild may get you some good things, but it is a game of chance and you don't know if you will bring back something nasty and infect your system for the worse.

 

[Supernoob]

Thanks for all the input guys. I just found out about a faucet right by my work that is free natural sea water. I was wondering if I add a few gallons of it from time to time would that be good for my tank?

 

[skywindsurfer]

I would check the water for any heavy metals or contaminants first.

 

[CaptFish]

Thanks for all the input guys. I just found out about a faucet right by my work that is free natural sea water. I was wondering if I add a few gallons of it from time to time would that be good for my tank?

I use only natural seawater. I do 100% water changes about once a month to once every two months. But i would definitely test it before you use it.

O. Cyanea is one of the larger species, similar to O. Vulgaris, and can reach arm lengths of 30 inches or so. I think with this species every inch counts. A full grown animal might find it a bit cramped.

I disagree. I still don't think that a few inches will make a big difference

 

[iAlex]

I agree, I don't think it'd be worth it if it already runs fine.

 

[Supernoob]

New question. Protein skimmer. How big? How many? And will I need any other mechanical stuff other than the pumps? I'm going on a shopping spree after work. Also does it matter what chamber in my sump I put the skimmer?

 

[SabrinaR]

The protein skimmer should be rated for 2 to 3 times the size of your tank, so I would say something rated for around 500 gallons as your tank is so large.

You will only need 1 protein skimmer. I am not really sure what you mean by other mechanical stuff. Protein skimmer and a return pump should do it... besides the lid of course.

As far as which chamber that depends on how the flow works in your sump and how big it is... I will admit I havent read this whole thread so you might have said which kind it is, but standard rule of thumb is, if you have 3 chambers then the skimmer would go in the middle one so as to not have many air bubbles returned to the tank. If you have 4 then one would be the return, one would be the flow from the tank one would be refugium and one would be for the skimmer. It all just depends which kind of setup you have.

EDIT**

Ok just briefly scanned the thread... I have no idea where you should put your skimmer

Since everything is internal, the only option I see is a LARGE HOB (hang on back) protein skimmer. Someone else might have a better idea though.

Good luck.

 

[DWhatley]

I think if was configuring this tank and leaving the back as is for filtration, I would use two smaller HOB, skimmers, one on each side. If I understand the design, the center chamber is the return so your skimming should be at the earliest point of filtration. If you place charcoal and filter media in the same chamber, you should elminiate the microbubbles from the skimmer without needing additional baffeling.

Joe-Ceph uses natural seawater dispensed similarly and may have some pointers on any additional (if any) filtering. Is the tap intended for aquarium use or is it for fish clean-up?

 

[Supernoob]

Tap is for aquarium use. Thanks for the filtration advice. I have set up my filtration as follows. The aquarium is designed with a wet/dry system in mind so I have followed suit and taken into consideration everyones input. The overflow spaces I have left open for protein skimmers, the next space is a chamber that the water must rise through to get to the next chamber. The rise chamber is empty of filtration equipment. The adjacent chamber that it overflows into is partially filled with bio balls. The next chamber is a ground flow, the water doesn't have to rise to enter. Between these two chambers I have placed a porous filter block. It's almost like a synthetic sponge. The final filter system is the charcoal bags. They are between the sponge thing and the in flow to the return pump chamber. Basically I went with a largest to smallest filtration system. Thoughts? I kinda just used everything everyone said. Please let me know if this setup is bogus. Thanks again!

 

[DWhatley]

Can you take a picture of (and mark with a photo program) the filtration you are describing. We have found that this clears up understanding issues far better than just text.

 

[skywindsurfer]

This was posted in supernoobs other thread about bobtail squid and O. Cyanea...

Yeah about vulgaris sized/bigger. Mantle length can get up to 190 mm easy, and the arms almost a meter long- big animal used to covering a lot of ground in a day. Definitely not a good aquarium species.

 

[Supernoob]

I've had the tank up and running since august 31st, I made some adjustments here and there with the filtration and i think the setup I have going now will work just fine, judging by the other tank builds I've read. I'm going to install a skimmer when the tank is done cycling. I put about four inches of live sand in the bottom of the tank and a bunch of live rock. Last weekend i went out to the tide pools and caught a bunch of small goby fish and various other small critters to help cycle the tank. Some small crabs and hermit crabs, also some shrimp. Is that a good idea or not? I've been checking the water quality every day and have done a couple 10 gallon water changes. All the critters in there seem to be thriving. Nothing has died except for what the crabs have killed. Which is mostly each other.