KeeperOfTheZoo

I thought chromis were supposed to be pretty hardy. I've had an adult pair for a few months. They're pretty voracious eaters! Always the first to the chow. When you say 'long term' survival, at what point did you loose the fish and consider it early demise? I'm still adjusting to how long saltwater fish live vs most freshwater fish.

LOL!! TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!!

Ric, When I moved my tank across town my fish were in storage containers for 24+ hours. I put aerators (pumps with an air stone, though I've read this can cause pH spikes so I'm not sure it's a good idea, I think a slow power head would be better) in the containers and everyone did just fine. No losses as all. All live rock was in containers and covered with water, ditto my CC and the few inverts and corals (tough stuff) that came with the tank. If you can get the real big containers it's like a mini tank. Fill it with water from your tank (which is what I did, didn't make new water), add in some live rock so the fish can hide. You'll be fine. Just make sure that you don't overfill the plastic containers and explode them, I've heard stories about it happening! Coolers make great water containers too. I brought inverts home from FL in a cooler, 48+ hours on the road and pretty much everything did fine and that was quite a massive change in environment.

Thanks Jeremy, glad you found a useful idea. I love that about this forum. So many ideas!

I'm not sure if this counts as DIY, but I wasn't sure where to stick it! Thought I'd explain how my HOB overflow is set up. This set up truly is as flood proof as any system moving water from one container to another can be. It is not complicated, it does not require lots of after market modding or expensive after market equipment. I have a HOB overflow and a return pump. Eventually here I'll add an Aqualifter pump when I install the actual HOB box I have. That's a $12 pump to improve performance... much like all the various gurgle buster, durso stands, blah, blah, blah added to drilled tanks. There's always a way to tweek things! The current tank shots are dusty, sorry... busy with kids. Lately here I feel less like a Mom and more like a chauffer, but that's another topic (oh the joys of teenagers). Let's start with a picture of my under the tank set up. This whole thing is very DIY and I am very much learning as I go. This is my original set up. A 10g fuge with a DIY overflow into a 20g sump. Great in theory, did not hold up (DIY overflow got dirty and stopped working, this is the main failure of this type of overflow). This is one instance where a DIY overflow (or any overflow) is NOT a good idea, I could not flood proof the 10g tank. I now have a 20g long drilled fuge overflowing into the 20g tall sump. No loss of siphon = no chance of a flood. And this is the #1 factor when installing a HOB overflow. Plan for loss of siphon. If you do that, you won't have floods. Look at how clean everything was when first installed! This is much harder to explain than to put into practice so if I loose ya, well, I've probably derailed my own train of thought so don't feel bad asking questions! Top side in your display tank you want to set the intake of the overflow high enough that when the siphon is lost minimal water will drain into the sump area, however don't run the water level at the rim of the tank, give yourself a little play. You will always have some back flow when your return pump cuts off and the water in the tank drains down because the water level will be slightly higher in the tank than the overflow lip. Not a big deal, just plan for it. There are calculators on the net that help determine the volume of water drained down 'x' inches over 'y' area. Blah, math. You will also need to drill a hole ABOVE the water level on what ever apparatus you're using to return water to the tank. Drill it just above water level. This breaks the siphon on the return just as soon as you loose water flow, also helps prevent back flow into the sump. Here is a picture of my PVC DIY siphon fed overflow. This is about to be replaced as soon as I get motivated to redo my plumbing with a overflow box, simply because I want more flow and a bigger overflow area. This is with the water flowing. Now, down below in your sump you need to create at least two chambers, preferably with baffles to a.) set the water level in the sump lower than the full capacity b.) create a small return pump chamber c.) keep the water level for your skimmer absolutely consistent no matter what the state of your ATO (or lack there of) and d.) work as a bubble trap. You also need to make sure that your sump can contain all the back flow from your display tank when the return pump is cut off. Just like for drilled tanks. IE- Don't skimp, get a big enough sump for your tank. Again, this goes back to that math formula. Find out the volume that will drain from your DT and make sure the sump is big enough to handle the additional volume. Here is a pic of the water level in the sump when the siphon is running. Note the fancy tape line? That's the 'do not fill beyond this point' line. It's actually a bit conservative, I can fill it higher and still have plenty of room in the sump for the DT to drain (better safe than sorry though and it's easy for husbands to understand). The smaller return chamber on the left probably holds about 2g of water, maybe a bit more. Just fine as a top off area and return chamber. Note the bits of media floating around? That's what happens when you let a 3 year old help with tank mainetance and he accidentally drops a media tray in the sump exploding its contents. *sigh* Kids are wonderful. So, what happens when the overflow looses siphon? And yea, they will sometimes. Supposedly if you use an Aqualifter it totally eliminates loss of siphon. I'll find out eventually here. Basically when the siphon is lost the overflow stops draining, so the return pump empties the return chamber. The water level in the tank rises over the level of the overflow intake like this, it's hard to see but when the pump runs out of water in my sump the level of water in the display goes up maybe 1/4" over the top of the overflow. No where close to flooding out of the tank: Down below in the sump the return chamber is as empty as the pump can make it (not bone dry though so the pump is ok), all the water has been pumped up into the tank but because of the baffles only a gallon or two can be pumped up before there simply is no more water to pump, this prevents a flood in the DT: That's really all there is to it. Control the amount of water that can be drained, control the amount of water that can be pumped into the tank and you have a completely controlled and flood proof HOB overflow.

I'd like both K3s please! I will be in Austin this weekend, would that work for picking them up? Edit- just looked at the desktop version of the site (surfing on my phone) so I could see your location. San Antonio is a bit far. Do you come N to Austin? If not I'll have to pass.

That sounds like an amazing tank with an even more amazing amount of planning and patience behind it. As of right now my unplanned and unwanted tomato clown is living in the sump after it spent the whole day beating up my sweet little ocellaris and stealing the mushrooms she hosts in. Tomato girl is very pretty, but as the old saying goes....pretty is as pretty does and that fish has won herself a one way trip to a new home. I've heard tale of the nasty attitudes the tomatoes and maroons can cop. I'm sure there are exceptions, I just feel bad about having subjected my poor ocellaris to one of the fish that prove the rule!

Was just reading an article that said stress is a top reason BT anemones split. Guess your guys wild adventure stressed him to pieces.

I know Gabriel and nothing you said was untrue. I just don't want to see Christian's enthusiasm for the hobby or desire to ask questions squealched. I don't think Christian is being any more irresponsible that a lot of adults in this hobby and he IS asking questions. I'll stop being a mother hen. For the record, I'm not taking exception to the advice just the strong tone. And Christian don't take offense to me calling you a 'kid'. I still call my 21 year old brother a kid all the time, drives him crazy!!

Lets do remember that we're helping out a kid here. I just spent an entire weekend hosting a camp out on my farm for one of our teen groups. Love the kids, but they are KIDS and they don't necessarily go about things the way adults do. The quickest way to get kids (many adults too) to shut down and stop asking questions is with snippy answers. Yes there are great resources online. There are great resources on this list too and if asking questions and getting interactive feedback is ones preferred method of research there's nothing wrong with that. I've read a lot about lighting and still find myself with a lot of questions. I'm not sure I would have had the patience or dedication for this hobby when I was a teen. Christian, do read other resources but don't feel like you can't ask for clarification here.

+1 for an attic fan. Its horribly inefficient to run an AC for circulation of air. If in doubt I can share my electric bill! There's a huge difference between when we use fans and when we kick over to the AC. I installed ceiling fans in our more open rooms (the larger living room, kitchen and playroom) with our floor plan it moves air pretty good. The attic fan is awesome for pulling new air into the house. When its running it'll suck doors shut! I don't run it all the time but its great for this time of year when temps swing a lot and warm air gets 'trapped' inside. My house is about 2500sqft and the attic fan can suck in enough air when it's cooler outside to cool the house down in about 10 min.