Josh Murrah's 240G project.

tbmoore · Post by **tbmoore** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 6:46 am

First on the skimmer It is marginal...had used it on a 110gal..it is a Preditor pdfs-1 with a mag 12
ps-MQPDFS-1

Predator Model 1 Down Flow Skimmer, 12 inch long by 7 inch wide by 27 inches high, includes a 1 inch outlet with KBI ball valve. Includes air control valve. Requires 800 to 900 gph pump. Rated for up to a 250 gallon aquarium. This item is a special order item only.…
Weight: 12 Lbs.

It does look like it is doing the job so far though but would like to run a bigger or second skimmer.

on the skimmer box looks are not everything. The thiner and larger area you skim the better it will wk for cleaning the surface water and noise. Remember the noise. Sometimes hard to get rid of. Took me a while. Another thought on the skimmer box is current flow. the more turbilent and different the flow the better growth in some cases. Depending on what corals you have.

I realize the pvc pipe rack saves rock and money but the live rock is the best filter you can have and provides food source in way of pods ect. Need to consider live rock is not just for looks but also filtration...I do realize money is an issue here that is why I do not have more rock. Had to make a give and take on other equiptment.

I am of a different opion on how much water to run thru sump. I feel the more the better. I can alway run a side stream to a Fuge if there is room.
I run (do wish I had gone external because of heat an sump room) a mag18 and a mag 24 return in the 240 and wish I could have gone bigger. I tried two mag 36's but the pump noise was too loud...they hummed. They did not have two mag24's or I would be running them and when the mag 18 goes out I will go to a mag24 or larger external pump.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 7:39 am

overflows: I think, from the discussion here, and from looking at Terry's setup, that a center/side overflow on each end, with two 1" drains through the bottom for each overflow, is gonna be the best. I can plumb and re-plumb the returns as I desire, and I'm sure I'll have to re-work it several times to get it right. Nice trick with cutting down the teeth on the overflow terry, I like it.

sump: I agree with you on the sump, I don't think high flow of water will hurt the functionality of a sump if I can keep the noise down. On the fuge, it is going to be fed seperately from the sump with a small pump (MJ1200 probably).

PVC rack: Deanna and I talked it out, and we are going to either a) not use a rack at all or b) use a very small one just for the middle "backbone" of the rock. For a see through, a PVC pipe rack doesn't really work as well (can't be hidden as well), that's my opinion. And you're totally right about the rock being filtration... although keep in mind elevating the rock on a rack means more filtration/living room on the surface of the rock as compared to sticking 1/2 of it in the sand.

Post by **snoopdog** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 10:42 am

I am curious Scott why would you not drill for returns ? So you can move them ?

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 12:35 pm

They look intrusive to me and I would rather be able to move them if I changed the aquascaping. I would rather have them above the tank like your returns in the 75 gallon. I will have my returns and closed loop returning to the tank through a manifold of pvc so that I can get a good amount of flow throughout the tank.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 12:47 pm

That's exactly my thought as well... I like the manifold idea because it's customizable to no end, and cheap if you need to re-do it

I think I'm gonna stick to the overflows, I agree with the folks that said you get more surface skimming with it. I talked with Charlie about their 500G, and he said that he wasn't 100% happy with his bulkhead drains, and would probably have rather done overflows instead.

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 1:00 pm

Are you going to put one on each end like Terry's? If you only put one that covered the entire end of the wall side you could gett 3 sided viewing and still be able to add a CL later if it was necessary.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 1:11 pm

I'm thinking one on each side like Terry's... 8 feet is a LONG way for surface skim to go to get to the overflow... if I have one at each side instead, I would only have to push water 4 feet instead. That's my thought anyway. What do you think?

P.S. The three sided viewing is overrated, IMO... what happens (witnessed it with Terry's) is that there's only a 30" walkspace on the short end so you can't sit and look at it from that side... so it's not really a big thing to miss. With the center overflow, you still get to look down the tank on either side too, if you want to.

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 6:12 pm

Why not just have a center overflow then or two small ones. You could use them for the support for your LR too. I think it is neat to look at end shots of tanks, kind of gives you a look at everything.

Amyjoe · Post by **Amyjoe** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 9:20 pm

I like the idea of the center overflow, the one they had at that old store- Aquatic Creations? On schillenger had a center overflow they used it for bracing rocks too.

tbmoore · Post by **tbmoore** » Tue Aug 12, 2003 6:36 am

If you decide to go with these overflows then I would recommend the returns being drilled inside the overflows from the bottom where they will be hiden.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Sun Aug 17, 2003 2:20 pm

The project just got a boost, since I've decided to sell off my race project. Instant $3k+ to spend! Mike, I'll be over there in a few weeks to place an order for a tank.

Post by **snoopdog** » Sun Aug 17, 2003 9:31 pm

Race Project ?

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 7:10 am

My Neon drag/roadrace car project... Here's what she looks like:

Post by **snoopdog** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 1:28 pm

Were you about to do something to it, or are you selling the car ?

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 1:37 pm

I was building it up to play with, but I've lost interest... and I have a LOT of money sunk into it... a goodly portion of which I can get back, thank goodness, by parting it out.