droyal1110

If there is a will there is a way. The worst case scenario is scoring it and breaking it out. I've seen lots of people use dremels to do the job, or some other rotatory tool. I personally just used a sawzall with a fine metal tip blade (smooth cut type) and it worked great. Egg crate works but its not perfect, I would go with egg crate with some sort of mesh over it, obviously depends on what you're trying to keep out.

When I first started out I would always invite my little brother over to my place to hang out. Well hanging out usually meant carrying something heavy up 3 flights of stairs, he even help me setup my first tank. 6 months later he has been my right hand setting up my new tank and he expects the same now that he wants to get into it. I figured it was only fair to donate my 10 gallon to him and help him with everything he needs. Not only did I sucker him into helping me when he thought the idea was ridiculous, I got him into the addiction as well.

Oh got ya, thanks!

Well said.

Thanks guys. Stephen, did you sand the union or the actual pipe? My setup currently has a union with the metric pvc, are you saying glue 1" pvc as normal just sand the regular white union to fit the metric?

The removal of the leaky bulkhead I decided to putty. I actually ended up ruining my new 1" bulkhead again, I was moving the tank and I think I caught the pipe on something and it popped the bulkhead and I think stripped the thread or just dislodged the gasket, either way I don't mind throwing 7 bucks to a new one again, I can live with no leaks and a few extra dollars.

OK, finally I am updating this with pictures and a video. I held off because I was trying to recover pictures from my old phone, but unfortunately I can't get them, so this will have to do. Sorry about the crappy pictures, again camera phone. First this is the video I took the weekend I had the tank filled and running for the first time. The setup in the video is different from what the finished plumbing is now. You can also see the embarrassing attempt to stop a leak around the bulkhead. The durso drain is 1 1/4" thick but the actual bulkhead and drain line is 1". One thing that kind of irritates me is that the drain is pumping out a ton of bubbles, I don't know if this is because the durso isn't fine-tuned or if its because bubbles are being created in the overflow and its being sucked by the durso. Like I said I changed my setup a bit so hopefully it will eliminate it. Another thing that irritates me is on the second part of the drain line (second part from the union), I glued the wrong end to the half of the durso, so the setup is actually backwards. I had it all laid out perfectly, it was going to fit in the sump perfectly and it was going to look great... well I screwed up. Eventually I'll re-glue some pieces and remake the last part of the drain line the way I intended. Also the return line was modified because I didn't account for the return pump size, its actually resting against the wall of the sump, thus it is really loud. I also changed my return line in the overflow to eliminate the waterfall noise, hopefully this all works =D The following pictures show some goodies I ordered and the changes I've made. It also shows the silicone job I went and re-glued, I wanted to make sure there were 0 leaks. The part that I screwed up. My makeshift brackets to support the drain line. My new return line setup, the part that is on the left with the union (connects to the pump) is shorter so the pump is actually suspended in the water column. My new return line coming out of the overflow. My silicone job =D The removal of the leaky bulkhead I decided to putty. I actually ended up ruining my new 1" bulkhead again, I was moving the tank and I think I caught the pipe on something and it popped the bulkhead and I think stripped the thread or just dislodged the gasket, either way I don't mind throwing 7 bucks to a new one again, I can live with no leaks and a few extra dollars. I should be moving in on Friday of this week and moving the tank Saturday. Thanks for looking.

Hello, I have an octopus NW Recirc 150 skimmer and my current problem is getting the skimmer to fit in the stand. Right now the skimmer fits perfectly, correct with, length, height, however, the output of the skimmer it too short to reach over the wall of my sump. I didn't design the skimmer to sit in the sump and its really not an option with the height limit. I was wondering if anyone knows the size of metric PVC these skimmers use and where I can get metric pvc. Thanks!

If you could get your hands on an MP10 I'd buy one in a few weeks.

Looks good so far and nice job on the stand. Cool idea with the magnetic door/wall deal, haven't seen that before. Definitely keep us posted.

Well I was finally able to get the help I needed maneuvering the tank back in place and installing the bulkheads and modified plumbing. The plumbing isn't the prettiest, but it works. On top of that... the bulkheads fit, do not leak, and work great! Thank you so much to everyone who helped me through my suffering =D FWIW, the ribs to go down, I know I talked to John at BRK and he said he didn't know that it was supposed to be like that, any several people have installed them ribs up. Either way, ribs down worked for me. Thanks again!

Sweet! Glad they worked, now that someone else has tried them first =D I think I'll pick some up for myself as well.

Hey there. Rewelcome to wamas and congrats on the purchases and the new baby coming! It sounds like you've got a good idea how you're going to do things but, maybe its my computer but I can't see your pictures =/ Either way it sounds like your off to a good start and can't wait to see the final product. What do you plan on keeping in the tank?

Well that's good you got things straightened out. I can only imagine how frantic it was =D

Zygote that is an excellent point. I guess at the point if they are eating and look healthy then chances are they don't have ich. I was at BRK and they brought up a good point, Johnny gets ich in his tank when health starts to suffer, not necessarily a new fish introduced with it. However I'm sure the QT after a stressful transport (remember stress and malnutrition can lead to ich, especially 24+ hours in a box on a plane) is rather necessary, since ich takes time to become visible, I wouldn't worry about QT'ing a fish out of someone elses reef that has been healthy for quite some time. Just my .02

Oh really? Thanks I had no idea, I'll be sure to remove that. Also I pulled out the new bulkhead (the one I shredded last night) and the previous owners bulkhead, the previous owners is slightly larger but its because it is slip fitted on both sides, whereas my new one is threaded on both sides.

What do you mean, they are open today from 10a to 6p.

Hey Johnny quick question, If I were to pay for a, oh say yellow tang for example, could you hold on to it for me for a few weeks? My angle is I don't have a tank big enough to quarantine a fish that needs as much room as it does, and I figure if its under observation for a few weeks with it eating normally and appearing healthy, its the next best thing in my case. If not I understand, just entertaining ideas. -Davin

Actually I found them at marinedepot.com for $6.49, http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~cat...ory~FIHTHA.html Maybe we should get in on a group buy? I doubt we would save all that much money but who knows, if we order 100+ (because I'm sure everyone has the same problems) we could get a cheaper price maybe? Just a thought.

http://zoomed.com/db/products/EntryDetail....SI7czoxOiIwIjt9 Essentially they are magnets with the clip to hold onto stuff. I don't personally have any, but I plan on purchasing a bunch, tired of finding my thermometer floating around and everything else floating around. I have seen these at the Cozy Clownfish and I think the Marine Scene. They may have them at BRK but I can't recall.

Good idea. I thought of taking more pics but I didn't want to reach for the new cell phone with all the crud on my hands and what not. I figure I'll make a little how to essentially. Also I should note, if you ever have to remove a bulkhead or thick plastic (and solid putty on top of that) use a coping saw or other small fine tipped saw. Maybe its the dremel I have, but it just didn't do the job, I think mine might be a POS though. Thanks.

Well, 3 drill bits, 2 cutting blades, some pliers and sheet cutters (used what I had to), I got it off. Turns out the seals on BOTH bulkheads, were upside down. The ribbed portions were facing up, towards the flange, not down like DJBoy98 said. Hopefully that is the problem. Only issue is that now I have to wait till Friday, or just order them online... hmm. I'll post pictures of the carnage in my 90g build thread when I get around to it. I'll post when I finally get it right. Thanks again guys.

See I had originally planned on using an elbow in the water and drilling a whole in the elbow. Some how or another I wound up not doing that (I still might) and ended up with the lock line starting in the overflow and then into the DT. I thought of drilling a hole in the lock line but for some reason decided against it. Guess I'll be doing that as well tonight. Although I have to admit, having the siphon break where it is may be noisy, but it works quick. Thanks!

Yea I've been 50/50 on it. I was at BRK at I forgot his name, not Johnny, anyways he suggested it and said he uses it on his tank. I figure this is more of a fail safe feature, even if it fails, no biggie, I'm prepared for that. It was more of a luxury feature than anything, plus I put it on a union so once a month I can give it a good soak in vinegar or switch out as needed. Plus on my return line I have the siphon break drilled in the 90* elbow where it starts to come out of the overflow box, works like a charm. Only issue is it sprays water out into the water flowing in and it sounds like a sprinkler, I may change where it shoots out or something, this tank has to be as quiet as possible. Also, I will post the video when I get a chance but my drain line is always spewing bubbles, not sure why either. I use a durso standpipe, drilled a 3/16th hole I believed, it doesn't gurgle but it always spews bubbles in my sump. Not a huge deal, its just the popping will lead to more salt creep and what not. Otherwise my bubbles traps work great =D Thanks!

Well for anyone following along I've got a few updates, no pics though, I need to get them off of a memory card from my old phone. Big updates are as follows: -Stand finally where I want it -Electrical issue figured out (just going to run a cable to the adjacent wall and use a floor cover thingamabob to keep anyone from tripping on it) -Skimmer working great -Obtained some free water from Lanman's amazing reef -Cut and glued baffles... then reglued.... finally got the leaks to stop -Sump completed and placed -Received my Mag 7 for return, some reef chili (figured I'd try it once the reef was setup), ATO unit, water pump for ATO, RO/DI unit, TDS meter, and some other goodies for the RO/DI unit -Cut and plumbed all my PVC using 2 unions and 1 check valve in the mix -Cut the power to my return pump and everything worked out, with the check valve I still have maybe 7 or 8 gallons left to go in the sump just in case it fails and my ATO happens to stick open -Got the durso to work but not 100% happy with it -Tank soaked for 48 hours with vinegar mixture, tank is spotless =D -Both bulkheads are leaking and is currently driving me crazy As it stands the tank is nearing completion, however the bulkheads are holding me back. I am going to work on the bulkhead tonight, removing the putty I used to help control the leak for the soaking purpose. Going to assess the situation and see if the bulkhead is salvageable, if not... off to BRK this weekend. My basement is littered with miscellaneous tools, parts, boxes, so on and so forth. My storage room has 2 brute cans full of water, I already had one tiny flood with my skimmate milk jug reservoir, no biggie, just smelly. I'm thinking I'll hold on to my 55g for a few weeks to QT a tang, after that its history. The reason being is my current hospital/QT tank is only a 30g, and I know there are stores that hold tangs in these size tanks for a while, I just would feel terrible stressing it out that much. Not to mention I'm not brave enough to just drop a fish in my DT and hope for the best, no way. As it stands, hopefully this week I will get the bulkhead straightened out, re plumb one section of my return (the pump is resting against the glass and it amplifies the sound x10), get the ATO setup, get my RO/DI unit rolling, and hopefully start filling the tank with water this weekend along with putting some liverock and sand in there. I don't plan on moving the fish just yet because my furniture move is being postponed yet again. Hopefully I will have the video and pictures up by this weekend. As always any comments or suggestions are welcome.