Albuquerque

[skywhitney]

Hey all,
I just wanted to see who, if anyone, local is still lurking around here.

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[Garlic]

Still here, got a few crazy ideas for my "tank wall" project. Now just need to figure out where to start (when would be the actual word). So far it looks like 6 40B's, a 75 or 90 and possibly 2 55's. The room center piece will be a 120. Still trying to decide on filters, I want all canisters and all of them to be the same model, some will get 2 or 3 not sure yet. I have 1 Cascade 1000, 1 Rena 2, 1 magnum 350, 1 Fluval 306 and 3 Fluval 205's. So far the 306 has out preformed the rest but the 205's (want 206's) work great in the 40B. I kind of like the Cascade but the baskets are a weird shape, the Rena would be better if it was the XL. I have large sponges in all but 1 of the 5 tanks currently (1 23 gal cube (Ghost shrimp and platies), 1 40B, 1 20 (brackish and Fiddler crabs), 2 55's). Still playing with the light thing too, might not figure that out for a while. CO2???? the jury is still out, if I do it will be the large industrial welding bottle and automated controls. I figure with my work schedule it might be done by christmas of 2013 (she hopes so too) the living room is a disaster with half a wall missing. What ever I do it has to be simple and self sustaining for up to a month without assistance.

I have thought about sumps....... lets just say 'thought about' for now, not out of the question, the 120 will have a sump unless I can find an FX5 for a good deal and it will probably be drilled. I have alot of overseas projects right now that are filling up the schedule, so I don't know when the project will be done.

[Gomer]

Oh, I lurk :-D Reef is drained. Kessils acquired. Just need to get a new sump setup (and purchased) and some ADA and hardscape stuff. I'm a bit slow to re-start :P I guess I also need to clear out some more old gear from the garage too.

Garlic, having planted many tanks, front to back depth relative to width is quite desired. 40g breeders has really good dimensions while 55g have (imo) terrible dimensions. CO2 is necessary for some plants and light levels. Decide what you want there and then decide how important CO2 is.

As for the sump, that is my plan too. Gets more equipment out of the tank. Of course, it requires an overflow of sorts (which I already have).

[Garlic]

Gomer; Thanks for the input, its all good, Planned on one of the 55's not to be planted for sure, the 40's are my choice for plants at this time, so far no CO2 is used and very little liquid ferts in what I have, plant growth is ok, all of my inhabitants seem to like it this way, so far since all of them are very different in needs and requirements. Still in the plan mode for livestock and flora, when I get to the point of removing the flooring for reinforcement we will finalize what number and size tanks will go into the wall. Again thanks for the advice, points taken.

[Gomer]

55s are workable, just a challenge :-D Gotta really work with vertical space. If you do plant one, I'd check out the AGA contests to see what people have done to make the best use of space. I'm confident others have thought of far better and more effective ideas than what I can come up with!

[skywhitney]

I tried a sump on the planted tank for a while but if you're running injected CO2 I would not suggest it, I blew through a full 5lbs bottle in just over a week. For a low light tank it would be a good idea though.

Just my $.02 :-)

[Gomer]

where and how were you injecting? That seems way to fast even for a turbulent sump. Was this reproducible? A leaky regulator will also cause you to go through gas fast.

[skywhitney]

it was injecting into return chamber of the sump. I got the tank refilled and tried in jecting it into the tank, same results.

[Gomer]

Interesting. Although not exact, most people get about 3+ months on a 5lb cylider at 1 bubble per second. If you last only a week, that is 12-4 bubbles or so per second. Not even sure you can diffuse that rate in an active reactor or push that much through a normal glass frit without creating a massive bubble storm.

While I completely agree that a sump will increase CO2 loss, I still question whether you had a leak before the reactor.

[skywhitney]

I completely agree. I get roughly 3-4 months per 5# tank on average. I was having to fight hard to even bring my PH down to 7.5 (it's at 8 out of the tap). I leak tested the reg unit but I would not be surprised if there was a leak somewhere that I missed, I cannot discount that.

Either way it was hard to keep the CO2 in the water when I used the sump, the closed loop systems I have installed now are exponentially more efficient :-)

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[skywhitney]

has anyone seen manzanita growing locally by any chance?

[Gomer]

I don't believe it does. I've only seen it when I was living in California. I actually just ordered some from
http://www.manzanita-driftwood.com/Manzanita.html
Easy transaction/fast communication. The actually order should arrive later this week.

[skywhitney]

yeah i just ordered a nice piece from a guy here on TPT. I was just thinking if it grew locally it would be easier than spending $40+ on a branch.