Preface: This is a challenge I have set for my self for a neighbor. He runs a 110 and a 30 fresh tank but wants to convert the 30 to a salt tank on a budget. I am thinking maybe instead going with a 10 gal to see how far we can take this. I will be monitoring everything along the way to make sure that we have an adequate habitat for marine life. Projected live stock will be a pair of clown fish.
I am posting here for input, so please feel free to make any suggestions.
I want to use as much stuff as I can from what we have laying around. I am planing to modify his HOB waterfall filter to be a HOB sump. This means I will be using tupperware either laying around the house to do so. I want it to stretch most of the back of the tank to maximize the amount of space in the "sump." from the intake tube I plan to go into a basin of LR rubble, from there to a small chamber with a home made tupperware air stone skimmer. From the skimmer chamber I want to insert a standard 3 baffle system followed by media chambers (I haven't worked out how to do this yet) and finally return to the tank. For flow one of the maxi jets laying around ought to work.
My concerns:
1. Can I make an air stone skimmer that will be sufficient? Of coarse with this set up water changes will not be an optional maybe ill get to it this week maybe I will not deal.
2. How can I create a media chamber for carbon, and GFO not using media bags. My concern with media bags is that they tend to clog rather quickly and with no other options for direction water would flow over the back and onto the floor. I suppose i could use phosphate pads near the return, and carbon is large enough I could use a pretty coarsely woven material to hold it.
I will be donating a small amount of LR to this. We will also be hunting for good deals on dry rock that I can cure. Time is not an issue. I must stress that this is in the challenge of DIY spirit. Funds are available to purchase equipment but that takes all the fun out of this adventure. I am going into this on a trial and error basis, and trying to approach this from a ramin every night college student perspective though that is not the case. It does not have to be pretty, just functional.
I am posting here for input, so please feel free to make any suggestions.
I want to use as much stuff as I can from what we have laying around. I am planing to modify his HOB waterfall filter to be a HOB sump. This means I will be using tupperware either laying around the house to do so. I want it to stretch most of the back of the tank to maximize the amount of space in the "sump." from the intake tube I plan to go into a basin of LR rubble, from there to a small chamber with a home made tupperware air stone skimmer. From the skimmer chamber I want to insert a standard 3 baffle system followed by media chambers (I haven't worked out how to do this yet) and finally return to the tank. For flow one of the maxi jets laying around ought to work.
My concerns:
1. Can I make an air stone skimmer that will be sufficient? Of coarse with this set up water changes will not be an optional maybe ill get to it this week maybe I will not deal.
2. How can I create a media chamber for carbon, and GFO not using media bags. My concern with media bags is that they tend to clog rather quickly and with no other options for direction water would flow over the back and onto the floor. I suppose i could use phosphate pads near the return, and carbon is large enough I could use a pretty coarsely woven material to hold it.
I will be donating a small amount of LR to this. We will also be hunting for good deals on dry rock that I can cure. Time is not an issue. I must stress that this is in the challenge of DIY spirit. Funds are available to purchase equipment but that takes all the fun out of this adventure. I am going into this on a trial and error basis, and trying to approach this from a ramin every night college student perspective though that is not the case. It does not have to be pretty, just functional.
Has anyone ever tried an air stone skimmer? Even if it pulls very little I would like to try it just because it would cost me nothing but the power to plug in the pump.
