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05/10/2012, 09:20 PM
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#1 |
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Registered Member
 Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 50
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Aquarium maintenance made easy!
Just made my life so much easier today.
I've got my mixing tanks in the basement for my 90 gal DT on the main level. Got myself some 3/4" flexible hose, a check valve, some 1/2" SuperPEX line, a couple valves and viola! I can now drain my tank using my return pump, then refill it using a giant lift pump I bought. With the check valve on the lift pump line, It now stays primed so I don't have to listen to it prime itself for 7-10 minutes before it spits out water. Whole process to drain + fill about 25 gallons of water takes less than 5 minutes. Now I just need to automate the mixing of salt water. |
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05/10/2012, 09:46 PM
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#2 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: New Jersey, near Philadelphia
Posts: 200
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Nice!
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185 gal. acrylic, in basement 100 gal refugium and 140 gal sump. 2 Ocellaris Clowns, 1 Coral Beauty Angel, 1 LyreTail Anthias, 2 Cardinalfish, Purple Tang, Flasher Wrasse, Neon Goby, Saphire Damselfish, royal gamma, blue tuxedo urchin, sps and lps Current Tank Info: 185 gal acrylic with 100 gal refugium, 140 gal. sump protein skimmer, heater, and ~3000 gph 150lb largo rock, 250 lb aragonite sand |
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05/11/2012, 12:29 AM
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#4 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: fairfield ca
Posts: 243
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Sweet..gratz..what did it cost ya?
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05/11/2012, 12:33 AM
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#5 |
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RC Mod
 
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Mag 12 in a 32 gallon Brute Rubbermaid.
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Sk8r "Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale, not meq/l; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp abt 80, nitrate/ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal will not rise if mg is low. Alk reading far more imp't than PH; WATER QUALITY MATTERS!" "If anything CAN go wrong, it will, and at the worst possible moment."---St. Murphy. "For beginners---nothing good happens fast on an ice rink or in a fish tank." Current Tank Info: 105g, kalk, 250mh 10000; AquaCEV120; Iwaki 100, bsemnt sump/fuge; hermits, snails, mandy, scooter, blue chromis, azure damsel, starry & tailspot blennies, firefish, royal gramma, redstripe goby, YWG pair, lps; |
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05/11/2012, 01:12 AM
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#6 | |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 50
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Quote:
The pump to bring water up from downstairs was about $300. Something about gravity being a real PITA, but that was the worst single investment. misc fittings and couplers/elbows/etc weren't bad. I'm really happy with it. Might start doing daily water changes just for the fun of it! |
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05/11/2012, 05:33 AM
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#7 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Cape Coral, FL
Posts: 3,902
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I'm halfway there. My tank is on a wall in the diningroom and the other side of the wall is a guest bathroom. So I ran a pipe off my manifold, thru a ball valve and then thru the wall and tied it into the drain under the bathroom sink. I open the valve and pump 25g out of the evap section (35g) of my sump (100+g) and then dump the 25g of new water back into the sump. I never have to turn anything off and the water levels in the 2 DT's and the rest of the sump are completely unaffected. I'd love to plumb the new water from the garage, thru the attic (most houses down here in SW FL have plumbing in the attic... I know, I'm originally from MI and OH and I was always in the basement, so it seems weird to me too), down the wall and into the tank. But it's a fair amount of plumbing (I can do it) and the attic gets really hot! Any water left in that pipe would be 120-130 degrees F. Just a bit warm for the aquarium. So I have to roll in a big garbage can.
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180g DT, 200 lbs LR, 2 EG IT2080 leds 70g nem tank, 1 EG IT2040 led 150g sump/refugium with cheap Chinese led, AquaMedic 5000 Shorty skimmer, DIY nitrate reactor, 2400gph Reeflo & OM4 CL, 3200gph su |
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