what do you have and how much do you have in your ceph set up

[Feelers]

Depending on what you want to keep, you will probably not need a chiller - and they are difficult to diy. (you need an aircon unit which is expensive too) .
I wouldnt diy a skimmer unless you are really strapped for cash, but thats just me. Have a look on www.reefcentral.com , they have loads of diy things.

 

[DHyslop]

A chiller isn't worth DIY'ing unless you just happen to be a professional HVAC with a lot of equipment lying around.

My sump is a 29 gallon tank I got used for $10 with 1/8" glass I cut myself for the baffles. My skimmer for that tank I got used for $5 (not including the needle-wheel pump). I built the overflow out of custom cut 1/4" glass ($15), the plumbing is all PVC and the filter is a 5 gallon bucket full of bioballs. A plastic spaghetti strainer in the top is my drip tray and a bulkhead in the bottom drains the water into my in-sump skimmer.

I ordered two float switches, a solenoid and a dosing pump off the internet and made an automatic top-off for about $45.

My power center is an 8-outlet power panel with illuminated switches made for DJs with a 15A fuse. $30.

Someday I'll have pictures of it for you guys. I don't have a digital camera and I've been waiting until I have an octo to borrow one.

Dan

 

[Illithid]

Can you make a chiller or a filter or a light fixture? .

I agree that a chiller is not practical. You can't use a window shaker unit-not enough BTUs. The unit you would need would be too loud and not be very effective.

Cephs don't have any real light requirements-except not much of it. You could use the buzzing shop lights that are only $10, but a simple ballast light is much better and easier to live with.

Filters you can DIY all day long. You have to buy the pump, but a trickle filter is easy and handles a large bio load. Reef Central has alot for filters, but current reef philosophy does not believe in Wet/dry filters. I disagree for cephs. Wet/drys are easy, cheap, and effective. Don't buy bio balls, I even heard someone on this site refering to plastic army men -which would work just fine. I bought the balls to save the most space, but army men would work too, inert, with lots of surface area.

A simple counter current skimmer is doable, but it would have to be big to let the bubbles have enough pull on the water flow for a octo.

Simplest thing is to go small, 30-40 gallons. Get good used equipment from yard sales and ebay. DIY a big filter and get a good skimmer on ebay- get a bimac or bandensis when everything is well cycled and matured.

Have fun making and planning it, and be protect the animal to enjoy him as long as you can. If you don't plan well it will just be a frustrating experience.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[DHyslop]

Simplest thing is to go small, 30-40 gallons. Get good used equipment from yard sales and ebay. DIY a big filter and get a good skimmer on ebay- get a bimac or bandensis when everything is well cycled and matured.

I echo this 100%. Great way to get started, in fact finding a bimac or a bandensis will be the hardest part. I might suggest something a tad larger because even a standard 55 gallon tank can't fit a sump underneath.

A big wet/dry is definately the best way to handle a big bio-load like a ceph generates. With all the reefers switching away you should be able to find cheap used bioballs on the internet. Reefcentral has a really good marketplace for stuff like that. Buying new bioballs is a ripoff. Paid more for them than my skimmer and sump combined.

Dan

 

[Illithid]

My power center is an 8-outlet power panel with illuminated switches made for DJs with a 15A fuse. $30.

Dan

I really like the power panel idea! Professional looking, cheap, and efficient.
Now -stupid question time- does the 15A fuse mean that I don't have to install my ground fault as the outlet (which I am just about to do tomarrow), will the power panel do the same thing safely?

 

[DHyslop]

I really like the power panel idea! Professional looking, cheap, and efficient.
Now -stupid question time- does the 15A fuse mean that I don't have to install my ground fault as the outlet (which I am just about to do tomarrow), will the power panel do the same thing safely?

The power panel is not GFCI. Thus if you want GFCI protection (and we do) you must plug the panel into a GFCI outlet or a GFCI extension cord (which are available, but are more expensive than the outlets, usually).

Remember that the GFCI will protect everything "downstream" of it, so everything plugged into a power panel that's plugged into the outlet will be protected. Likewise if you rewired a fishroom you could use all normal outlets just as long as there was a GFCI between it and the rest of the house.

Dan

Edit: the DJ power panel really is cool. Its one thing I gleaned from Reef Central. Each switch has a red light in it that lets you know if its on or not. I mounted mine right against the back of the stand flush with the tank. Right now my switches control the lights, the pump, the skimmer, the auto-topoff and a heater I'm no longer using. Once again I promise pictures in any number of weeks

Dan

 

[bobwonderbuns]

Dumb question of the day -- how much should one have invested? What is involved in a well stocked system?

 

[Nancy]

This thread can give you at least an idea - read back over the individual posts and look at the graph. Over half have invested over $1000. It's not a particularly cheap hobby because ceph food (live crabs, for instance), are also expensive unless you live by the sea and can catch them yourself.

Nancy

 

[cthulhu77]

Put it this way: If Shanlyn ever finds all of the receipts for money spent on the animals, I would be single in about 5 minutes.
It can be very, very pricey. But, it is also worth every penny spent, look at how much people spend to go see some guy throw a ball at some other guy. Now, to me, that makes NO sense. I'd rather watch my little octopii rearrange the tank again.

greg

 

[Septimus39]

What is GFCI and what are the benefits? I was also wondering if it owuld be worthwhile to have UPS (uninterruptable power supply) for my filter and pump, in case of power failures. Does anyone do this?

 

[Illithid]

A GFI is a Ground Fault Interrupter -it keeps you and your family from dying if electrical stuff comes in contact with the salt water. It is just like in your bathroom receptacle, if you drop a hair dryer in the tub you can't die anymore. Replace your standard electrical wall plug with a GFI plug (the kind with the test and reset buttons) to stop any surges from getting through.

I do not believe that a UPS works the same way. They are like the DJ plug-in thing that was talked about earlier. They protect their own circuitry with a fuse, but not from a ground fault.

I also know that while a UPS would work, there are many other things that can cause overflow stoppages other than power outages. Snails, salt creep, and roaming octos to name a few. The sump still needs to be large enough to handle the possible overflow. Normally short outages are not a problem, 1-2 hours would be all a UPS could probably handle. It is the 1-2 days from Hurricanes or power outages that is bad.

Don't me wrong-it is a good idea. It would protect your tank and pump from lightning damage which is good especially in Florida where I am. It would also be nice not to have to worry about stressing the animals for the 1-2 hour outages that we have every now and then. Ceph maintenance seems to be all about overkill anyway.

 

[Septimus39]

If all of these things make sense the way I think they do (keeping in mind my total lack of electrical knowledge), it would be better to plug the UPS directly into the wall, and then have a GFCI power strip coming from there. That way, if the power gives out, you're still protected from the electrical discharge (if you plugged the UPS into a GFCI outlet, the battery would still deliver the charge, even if the power was shut off by the outlet, right?). I'm just trying to figure out how much space I need to build into the bottom of my stand. There's a lot that needs to go down there already, and it just seems like I keep finding new things I'd like to put in there.

 

[DHyslop]

I don't think a UPS is worth the money. The battery typically doesn't last very long. I had a housemate who had one on a 125 and it only had about 10 minutes worth of juice. Ten minutes isn't going to make an ounce of difference. If you're worried about long-term power outages (ie, if you live in the hurricane belt), you'd be better of spending your money on a small gasoline generator. Then you can plug your fridge in, too.

Dan

 

[shipposhack]

Hey, I just read all the posts, and they are very helpful. I was wondering what the minimum would be though. I know 50 gallons is recommended but if it costs a lot more than 40 would I be able to get by with just a 40? Also what size filter would I need and how much live rock, etc. for a 40-50 gallon? Looking to spend less than $500... $300 would be ideal.

 

[DHyslop]

Its possible for $500, but the trick would be to get just about everything used. That also means it might take months or longer to scavenge everything you need. Think about it this way: you can have fast or cheap, but not both!

Getting used equipment is going to be better than just skimping on tank size. I think you'd actually have a better time with equipment if you go a little bigger, in fact. For example, a standard 55 gallon tank isn't wide enough to be able to accommodate an off-the-shelf tank in the stand as a sump. That means you'd need to buy a commercial sump and make sure whatever skimmer you're thinking about buying will fit inside. A 75 gallon tank, on the other hand, will have room for just about any tank for a sump up to 30 gallons and will give you a lot more flexibility with equipment. The tank may cost you quite a bit more, but you might find it saves you money in those other areas.

Start snooping around on eBay and the buy/trade forums on reefcentral. Before you buy anything make a couple "wish-lists" for different tank setups and price them out to get a good idea of what you're going to get.

Dan