Tom

Received a Sicce Syncra 3.0 pump yesterday. This looks identical to the Tunze line. I thought Tunze is German and Sicce is Italian; I wonder who really made either pump.

So the new pump is quiet and has more flow. I was hoping to use either the Tunze or Mag5 as a pump for a reactor. However, this sump is just too small. Will probably visit one of the LFS to get a smaller pump for the reactor. May tee of this pump for water changes.

Measured some ammonia and nitrite.How long would you leave the shrimp in?

Oh, a filter bag. That way you don't have to keep saying "pardon the rotting shrimp". Of course, your CUC won't get the lovely treat, either.

No CUC yet. What's to clean?

true, i left mine in there until the tank cycled and i added a clean up crew. so, as soon as they got in there was a ton of algae and some tasty shrimp to eat.

Curious as to what you added as CUC? You have a 40 gallon?

Added a shrimp to the tank in a filter bag hanging from the Kessel. That should give me some ammonia; also added some bacteria.

Decided to replace the return pump with Sicce 3.0. This should improve my return flow. Also folks seem to think it's fairly quiet.Pump is coming tomorrow. Also went with a BRS reactor to run GFO.

Skimmer is still bubbling over; not liking this Magus Bubble Curve 5. Been running for nearly 4 weeks so don't think it's a break-in issue.

Started with a Tunze 1073.02 return pump; then changed to a Mag5. Still not impressed with the flow of the return. May look for something bigger. But due to the size of the sump it has to be no wider than 3.75".

Not much space but I made the most of it. I like this stand with the open back. I was able to push the sump a couple of inches over the edge.

Two weeks into adding rock; still no ammonia.

Checked Alkalinity - is at 7. That's kind of low; but probably not worth doing anything about yet.

Thinking of adding reactor to run GFO and carbon.

I've had TLF 150 before; they were okay but didn't like the rubber elbow connections. Spectrapuure looked cool in that it had 2 valves to adjust the 2 canisters' flow separately.

Tom, you can remove the plug at the end of the hose and you can then drain it into a container (I use a gallon jug). You probably have it in too much water. Either drain some water or put the skimmer on a stand so it sits higher no had the same problem when I first started using mine.

Hi,

Thanks. How high do you have the skimmer? Mine's sitting on the bottom of the sump. I'm using an ATO so the level in the sump is constant.

Any experience with Bubble Magus skimmers out there? At the wide open (MAX) setting it's still bubbling into the cup and then out the drain on the bottom. Probably nothing to skim yet.

It came with 2 hoses. LFS said one was just a replacement hose and the other has a block in it. But I thought LFS said the second hose could be used to skim into another container with this hose. But wouldn't you have to break the blockage?

Not loving the skimmer yet.

Checked ammonia, and nitrites; nothing yet. I was expecting some die off from the rock. Could kick start the cycle but I'm not in a hurry.

I added a pipe connected to the bulkhead on the sump so that drain water flow is under water. This quieted things down.

Also added some filter material between the overflow and the return. There was a gurgling sound where the return pipe into the tank has a hole. I think this breaks the siphon when the return pumps shuts off.

Any recommendations on running lights this early in a cycle?

I was looking on Reef Central and there was a thread on quieting the sump using a valve to control the flow through the drain. However, it looked like it was recommended to have 2 drains the second as a fallback.

Anyone try this with one drain?

My tank is pre-drilled, for one drain and one return.

Hi there,

Is this a 36 X 18 footprint? Did you stick with the Mag 7 return pump? Is some of the flow from this diverted to reactors?

Where did you put the MP10s?

Great looking tank.

Cheers

Question on pumps:

Initially I bought this as the LFS recommended it:

Pumping power: 200 to 2,400 l/h (50 to 630 US gal./h).
Pumping head: 2 m (78.7 in.).

I posted on the Tunze forum that I was thinking this was under-powered. The Tubze guy saiid:

I don't know where you got the info that it could do 300 gallons at 6ft, it definitely cannot. Per the flow chart in the manual, a 1073.020 at 1.5 meters of head (4.9 ft) does .5 cubic meters an hour (132 gallons per hour). The pump is likely working properly, it is just way to small for this purpose, the 1073.040 does 396 gallons per hour at this same head pressure and is better suited.

So I went to the other LFS and bought a Mag Drive 5 rated around 300 GPH at 4'. Still not super impressed with the flow.

I only have 3-3/4" width to fit the return pump. Any other suggestions?

Maybe I should think about getting power heads once I've cycled.

Some questions on builds:

1. Overflow to sump connection, I'm using the standard vacumm hose that came with the sump. Any advantage to using PVC on this? I did some pumbing on the return.

2. Any suggestions on making the sump quieter?

3. Need for a chiller? House ambient is 77; Went with a Kessel 360 fixture; no glass cover. Presently running at 79.4 which is a little high.

Received 70 lbs of Marco Rocks and first pass at aqua-scaping.

(first attempt at uploading pictures)

I agree with what victoly said, just go with the full apex. I have the narrow 360 kessils and the spread is a lot wider than I expected. I'm so glad I didn't go with the wides. If you're planning on corals that like more light I'd definitely consider the narrow one. I can see what the angle is that mine are putting out if you want, it's easy to see if I stir up a little sand and cloudy the water.

Is the difference between "lite" and full blown the ph probe ($45) and Variable voltage ports($99)? I guess that makes up the difference in price of $130. That would look cool controlling the intensity and spectrum automatically.

Welcome! I'd stick with the apex, the local community has more users (that participate on ARC) who are apex users than RK users if that makes any kind of difference to you.

Additionally, while lots of folks love the kessil, keep in mind that it is a spotlight, and due to tank dimensions you're going to have a super bright point in the middle with a pretty rapid fall off around the edges of the tank.

Curious what Apex version most people have. It looked like the "Lite" version could be updated to the same features as the full blown.

Thanks for the ideas on the LEDs. Kessil has normal and wide for a 24" x 24" x 24" tank which would make sense?

You can control the intensity and spectrum on the Kessil. Is this just a personal preference? Does anyone do automatic control other than turning it on/off?

With the BlueLine I turned the actinic (BlueLEDs) on 30 Minutes before the white LEDS and then turned off the actinics 30 minutes after the whites went off. With the Kessil do you get the advantage of actinic light? Not sure of the wavelength difference of the actinic versus the white leds. But I though corals liked both forms of light.

Ordered 70 lbs of Marco Rocks today.

Hello all,

Relocated from Boston, last year; moved into the house and now starting to build.

Went with the Marlineland 65 gallon cube (frameless).

So far system looks like this:

Tank/stand

Sump - Eshopps RS75

Skimmer - Bubble-magus Curve 5

Return Pump - Tunze 1073.02

Two 50 W Eheim heaters

65 lbs Instant ocean Live Sand

Return pump is rated from 63 - 634 gph. Unfortunately I find it difficult to read the capacity versus height chart; not overly impressed with the power of the pump. First time using Tunze return pumps. Is this pump big enough?

So now decided on what to get for::

• Rocks - think I used Marco rocks and liked them
• Lighting - definetly will be LEDs; had dual BlueLine 120 LED fixture. Was wondering about trying something else. The BlueLine had a mix of blue and white leds with dual power cords.
• Circulation pumps - looking for ideas
• Controller - had Neptune don't really need the ethernet; may try Reef Keeper this time.

And away we go untill the money runs dry.

I think I have 2 people who will buy the whole thing. Probably won't part it out. Thanks to all who were interested.

Moving Sale: Call Tom 512-638-0278

Corals include

open brain

plate

bubble tip anemone

hammer coral

encrusted gorgonia

mushrooms

smal xenia

Livestock includes:

clown

chromis

some snails

cucumber

brittle star

shrimp

20 lbs of live rock

Deep Sea Aquatics 30 gal. Neo Nano Reef Ready Waterfall Tank with Sump Tank

Pictures on CraigsList

Make an offer; call 512-638-0278.

Tank Measurements

25”x25”x13” high plus waterfall

Tank Includes:

20 lbs Live Rock

Corals:

Bubble tip anemone

Hammer coral

Encrusted gorgonian

Plate

Open brain

Mushrooms

Clean-up crew:

Turbo snails

Cerith snails

Nassirus snails

Cucumber

Brittle star

Peppermint shrimp

Fish:

Clown

Chromis

Tunze Power head

Aqualight Metal halide

Coralife nightlights

Stand Measurements:

25”x25”x32” high

Stand holds sump includes:

Euro-Reef Protein Skimmer

Pump

Automatic Top-off system