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Need plumbing advice for nursery

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Jun 3, 2007
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I'm preparing my tank for cuttlefish eggs so I have a 20 gallon that I just split into two with acrylic and silicone. I plan on keeping shrimp alive on one side and cuttlefish eggs in a breeder net on the other.

My idea was to have two flexible overflow tubes - one going from main to the cuttlefish egg side, and another tube going from the shrimp back into the sump. From what I've gotten from others this is very dangerous if the siphon would break?

I attached a picture of how its going to be setup unless you guys suggest I hang something inside of the sump.

Edit: What I just thought about was adding two overflow boxes on the display and nursery and raising the nursery as much as I can. Is that my best option?
 

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Siphon failure is frequent and very problematic - I never rely on one inside the house. If you can drill the 20 I would suggest putting a bulk head in and let it drain to the sump then add a pump to the display to fill.
 
Ditto. Do not count on a siphon to work. If your 20 is glass, consider using something else that is cheap and easily drilled, like a big plastic bucket. you don't really need to see through the walls.

I would suggest putting the new tank a little higher than the sump, pumping from the sump, into the new tank, and letting it overflow through the bulkhead back into the sump. Also, think about what happens if your pump quits, will water back siphon from the new tank back into the sump? Yes, but only until the back siphon is broken by getting air in the line, so keep the end of the hose a little above the water level of the new tank, so that if the pump stops, you won't over flow your sump.
 
Joe-Ceph;137193 said:
Also, think about what happens if your pump quits, will water back siphon from the new tank back into the sump? Yes, but only until the back siphon is broken by getting air in the line, so keep the end of the hose a little above the water level of the new tank, so that if the pump stops, you won't over flow your sump.

Alternately (as we found out BEFORE filling with saltwater but not before putting a gallon or so of water on the floor) you can make a clean hole in the input line to the nursery just below the water level (we are using plastic pipe with holes drilled the length of the pipe to help create circulation so adding a higher hole was easy). Once the water level goes below the hole any siphon will break and the backflow issue is solved.
 
Thanks for all of the info guys. I did a lot more reading last night, flipped through colin and nancy's book again, and finally found this post: [Cuttlefish Eggs]: - Dale's Dwarf Cuttles

Could I just do that in my sump? Make a nursery out of eggcrate and window screening. I have a LOT of empty space since its a 50 gallon long. That would be a lot less of a headache if it is feasible. But then I still have the need to keep shrimp on hand. :/
 
Update! I just installed my first external refugium! Here are some pics:

fuge2.jpg


I used an old odyssea powerhead to pump water from my sump to the fuge.

Cost ~ 38 gallon bin: $10 from Sears
Bulkhead: $10 from LFS
Flex Tubing: $8

total cost for overflow: $28! Not bad.

I'm going to use it to raise shrimp in. Still havent' decided which kind. Any suggestions? Next step I'm going to install a nursery similar to Animal Mothers!
 
I am glad you dropped the siphon idea. It took us two years to finally give up on the one we kept redesigning and just get another tank (the nano has been resurected but will remain sumpless - works for the little mantis fine without). As much as acrylics scratch, I still don't buy glass just because of the ease of modification.
 

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